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eretzyisrael · 4 years ago

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But What About the Palestinians?

This morning I received a robo-call from the Rehovot city government to tell me that, as a senior citizen, if I had trouble getting an appointment for my Coronavirus vaccination, they would help me, and here is how to contact them. I remembered that some months ago I got a call from a human social worker employed by the city, who wanted to know how I was, how we were getting our food (this was during our first full lockdown), did we have local family to help us out, and so on.

I’ve had my differences with the city from time to time, but I am really impressed by this. They are using our tax money (Israelis pay local taxes based on the size of their homes and other factors) to provide services to the citizens! I realized how little I’ve come to expect from government, so this seemed like a big deal to me. But it’s still remarkable that they have programs in place to help those of us who are no longer “productive citizens” in an economic sense.

And then there is the vaccination program itself. The State of Israel paid a premium price for vaccines, and set up a system to distribute them. The logistics are complicated because the Pfizer vaccine, the first to arrive here, must be kept at -70 degrees C (-94 F) and then used within several hours of being warmed. As of Tuesday, 1,700,000 Israelis had received their first vaccination, including my wife and me.

We went to the designated location, where the four HMOs that all Israelis belong to had set up stations to give vaccinations; waited only a few minutes in an open area, and received our shots (for those who speak British, “jabs”). Information was immediately entered into the nationwide computer networks of the HMOs, and our appointments for the second dose set. This was much more efficient than anything I have ever experienced in any bureaucratic setting either here or in the US, even in the IDF.

Of course Bibi is taking credit for the whole thing, as our next expensive, unnecessary election approaches. But in truth he does deserve credit for making the deals with the pharmaceutical corporations that got us large quantities of vaccine early, even while the HMOs put together the system which is expected to vaccinate the entire population by the end of March.

So this morning I have a feeling that this country cares about me, and about the rest of its citizens. The institutions like the national and local governments and the HMOs are doing their jobs, at least in this connection. They government has not done so well in managing the lockdowns, especially the last, partial one, which seems to have hurt small businesses badly while doing little to slow the spread of the virus. There are plenty of other things to criticize, but still, I am proud of my country.

But the response of the world media to Israel’s relative success in fighting the epidemic has been more hostile than anything I recall since the last time Israel was forced to defend herself against deadly rocket attacks from Gaza. “What about the Palestinians,” they screamed. Why aren’t we vaccinating them, too? “It’s because Israel is an apartheid state!”

The accusation is everywhere, in mainstream and social media, from the human rights organizations, and even from Jewish groups like J Street.

And it’s nonsense. First, Arab and Jewish Israelis, as well as Palestinian residents of Jerusalem are treated precisely the same. Second, the PA and Hamas are responsible under international law for vaccinating their citizens. The PA has said they have ordered vaccines from several manufacturers and are awaiting their arrival. Israel has promised to give surplus vaccine to the PA after our campaign is over. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reports that Israel already gave the Palestinian Authority some 100 doses of the vaccine for “hardship cases” (probably the big shots in the PA). And the blogger Elder of Ziyon has debunked some of the accusations against Israel made by “human rights” NGOs here and here.

One of Israel’s greatest national concerns is the question of how it can become a better state, one that better performs the basic function of a state, to protect its citizens against man-made and natural dangers, and to provide economic and cultural opportunities for them. This is the purpose of our health care system, the IDF, and our Knesset, judicial system, central bank, and so forth. Although there is a certain amount of corruption it is incidental to the functioning of the overall state.

The vaccination project has been a positive force in our lives, illustrating that we need not always be passive and accept the blows that fall on us. And it shows that our big institutions (the HMOs are independent organizations, but closely controlled by the Health Ministry) can work smoothly when they have to.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are entirely different. Although they have government ministries, a health-care system, and many other services, they do not exist to protect their people and enable them to fulfill their economic and cultural potential. They have two functions alone: to enrich those Palestinians who are “connected,” and to fight the war against Israel with which they are obsessed. Corruption is essential, not incidental. Funds that don’t go into the pockets of the rulers go to prepare for war or to pay the soldiers. Palestinians know this and hate their rulers, but there is little they can do because the dictatorships under which they live don’t hesitate to use force against them. And in many cases, they are also slaves to their obsessive hatred of Israel.

Palestinian governments continue to encourage, pay for, and perpetrate terrorism against Israel, while “ordinary Palestinians” throw rocks at cars containing Jews, a pastime that has caused several deaths and countless serious injuries. A few weeks ago, an “ordinary Palestinian” viciously beat an innocent woman to death. Right now the concern in Ramallah is not how to vaccinate millions of Palestinians, but rather how to ensure that terrorists will continue to get paid despite Israeli restrictions on Palestinian banks.

Israel struggles to be better. Palestinians struggle to be worse. And yet, which side do the media, the Jewish Left, and the human rights industry take?

*** Sheldon Adelson died on Tuesday. He was one of Israel’s greatest supporters. He loved this country, and contributed massive amounts of his own money to make it better and to help improve its relationship with the diaspora, including hundreds of millions of dollars to Birthright, which has probably done more to counteract the hate campaign against Israel in the universities than all other PR initiatives put together. He also gave large sums to AIPAC, the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, Yad Vashem, and the Israeli-American Council. He and his Israeli-born wife, Miri, were the major donors to a new medical school at Ariel University. He donated several Magen David Adom ambulances and mobile ICU vehicles, including some that were armored to protect them against terrorist attacks. He started the free newspaper Israel Hayom (Israel Today), which is today the paper with the largest circulation in the country, shattering the almost total monopoly on news media in Israel held by the Left. His influence on Donald Trump was partly responsible for Trump’s pro-Israel policies.

Miri Adelson will certainly continue his philanthropy, but the Jewish people and the State of Israel have lost a friend who won’t easily be replaced. BDE.

Abu Yehuda

#Israel #Information war #Israel society #media

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route22ny · 4 years ago

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When it was announced earlier this month that President Donald Trump was hospitalized with COVID-19, there was a chance that maybe, just maybe, he would finally start taking this pandemic seriously.

Fat chance.

Shortly after leaving Walter Reed Medical Center (where the president, a critic of "socialized medicine," got the finest medical treatment that government can provide), Trump was back on his bullshit — holding massive rallies across the country, where thousands of his supporters gathered, many not wearing masks, as if the whole thing never happened. As this week's issue went to press, Trump was expected to bring another one of his superspreader events to Michigan, with a rally scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27 in Lansing — a week before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election — because apparently Trump doesn't care if Michiganders die.

On Friday, the U.S. reported its highly daily number of coronavirus cases, with at least 81,400 new cases reported. More than 222,000 Americans have died from the virus so far. In Michigan, more than 7,522 people have died from COVID-19.

If you're sick of Trump's plague, there's something you can do about it. Vote for Democrats Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the presidential ticket, and Gary Peters for Senate, on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

That's not all that's on the ballot. We also have an opportunity to move the Michigan Supreme Court to the left (by voting for Bridget Mary McCormack and Elizabeth Welch). There are also two state ballot proposals: Proposal 1 (a constitutional amendment that would allow money from oil and gas mining on state-owned lands to continue to be collected in state funds for land protection and creation and maintenance of parks) and Proposal 2 (which would require a search warrant in order to access a person's electronic data or electronic communications). In Detroit, voters can weigh in on Proposal N (which would allow the City of Detroit to sell $250 million in Neighborhood Improvement Bonds to preserve and renovate 8,000 homes and remove another 8,000 blighted homes). —Lee DeVito

What you need to vote

Simply show up in person to your local polling place on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Bring a photo ID, such as a driver's license, identification card, or U.S. passport. If you don't have an ID, don't worry. You can fill out a brief affidavit stating that you're not in possession of a photo ID. Your vote will still be counted.

Don't forget your face mask, although it's not required at polling stations. It wouldn't hurt to bring some hand sanitizer or gloves, too. And don't forget social distancing. You'll likely be standing in a long line and encountering election workers. You may also want to bring a personal cheat sheet to remind yourself how you're voting. Even the most astute voters may not be familiar with all of the races, especially the judicial ones.

To find your polling place and preview your ballot, visit the Michigan Voter information Center at michigan.gov/vote. Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 3. If you're in line to vote at 8 p.m., you have the right to cast your vote. If you're still in line at 8 p.m. and someone tries to send you home and deny you your right to vote, don't take no for an answer. Ask for a supervisor and an on-site voting advocate.

Anyone who is registered to vote may cast an absentee ballot in Michigan. Michigan expects a record number of absentee voters in November because of the coronavirus. More than 2 million voters have already requested an absentee ballot. —Steve Neavling

Voting deadlines

We've been trying our best to keep our readers up to date with the various deadlines for the election, considering all the chaos of 2020 — you know, a pandemic, civil unrest, Trump's suspiciously timed cuts to the U.S. Postal Service, yadda, yadda, yadda — but it turns out things are a bit more complicated than we thought they were.

See, in 2018 Michigan voters approved Proposal 3, which was supposed to make it easier to vote by allowing for no-reason absentee voting and other changes. And it does — but there are quite a few different scenarios to consider, and they all have various deadlines.

Reader Jordan Smellie would know. Smellie's an elections specialist for the City of Ferndale.

"Proposal 2018-3's changes to the constitution made things much better for voters by adding a lot of flexibility, but the downside of that is that it created a staggered series of nuanced deadlines that have proven very difficult for anyone to keep straight, and even more difficult to summarize gracefully," Smellie tells us via email.

Graciously, Smellie has provided us with a more detailed timeline, which we have edited lightly for style. We hope this helps you as much as it helped us.

Your deadlines for the upcoming general election are:

Friday, Oct. 30 (5 p.m.): If you're getting an absentee voter ballot for this election, your local Clerk can't mail it to you after this time. But you can still get an absentee ballot in person at your local city or township hall.

Saturday, Oct. 31 (2 p.m.): If you made a mistake on your ballot or changed your mind, your local Clerk can't mail you a replacement ballot after this time. You can still get a replacement ballot in person at your local city or township hall.

Sunday, Nov. 1: The last day you can pick up an absentee voter ballot and take it home with you.

Monday, Nov. 2: You can still get an absentee voter ballot in person, but you have to vote in your local city or township hall. Just like on Election Day, you can't take your ballot out of the room.

Monday, Nov. 2 (10 a.m.): If you've already turned in your ballot, you can't change your votes after this time. (If you're voting in your local Clerk's office today and you make a mistake, you can still receive a replacement ballot.)

Monday, Nov. 2 (4 p.m.): Your local Clerk can't issue absentee ballots to anyone for any reason after this time. (If you're already in the room at 4 p.m., you will be served by staff.)

Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. All absentee voter ballots must be signed and in the Clerk's possession by 8 p.m. in order to be counted.

To make sure your ballot arrives in time, you should not send it by mail. Instead, you should drop it off at your local Clerk or at a designated ballot drop-box. You can find the addresses for both, as well as the answers to any other questions you might have, at michigan.gov/vote. —Lee DeVito

Officials warn of potential violence

Michigan is among five states with the highest risk of right-wing militia violence during and after the election, according to an alarming new report from a nonprofit that tracks political violence.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) examined the activities of more than 80 militias across the country and concluded that Michigan is at a heightened risk, based on active militia training, anti-coronavirus lockdown rallies, and the presence of the Proud Boys, the far-right brawlers whom President Trump told to "stand back and stand by."

Michigan is home to several active militias, including Michigan Liberty Militia and the Michigan Home Guard.

"In light of this activity, tensions run high" in Michigan, the report states.

Battleground states such as Michigan also run a higher risk for violence. Trump won by just 0.2% in 2016, or some 10,000 votes.

The report highlights the arrests of 14 men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and attack the state Capitol and law enforcement, with the goal of instigating a civil war.

Among the warning signs for militant activity are protests against states' coronavirus lockdowns. In April, hundreds of armed protesters stormed the state Capitol in Lansing, and the rallies were among the first in the nation. An analysis of Black Lives Matter rallies found that counter-protesters, including the Proud Boys, were often involved, sometimes clashing with demonstrators. On Aug. 15, for example, the Proud Boys clashed with supporters of the anti-fascist Michigan People's Defense League and Black Lives Matter movement.

In May, armed militia members pledged to block police from forcing the closure of an Owosso barber shop that opened in defiance of Michigan's stay-at-home order.

Michigan officials are taking precautions. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently banned guns near polling locations, and Attorney General Dana Nessel said state troopers will be sent to polling places in counties where officials fear local sheriffs may not enforce voter intimidation laws.

The report concludes that the "trends raise significant concerns for the security of the election period."

"It is yet unclear how many of these groups will react, no matter the vote's outcome," the report states. "Does a Trump loss lead to anger at the system and a backlash against what is deemed a stolen election? Does a Trump victory further empower groups that see him as a supporter, including through verbal encouragement ahead of the election? The answers to these questions are as numerous as they are uncomfortable."

Three gun-rights groups have filed a lawsuit against Benson to nullify her ban on openly carrying firearms at or near polling locations on Election Day.

Michigan Open Carry, Michigan Gun Owners, and Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners argue that Benson's directive violates state law and harms residents who want "to exercise both their 2nd Amendment right to self-protection and their fundamental right to vote."

"Nowhere within Michigan's Constitution is the office of the Secretary of State empowered to issue directives regarding the time, place or manner of elections," the suit said. "Indeed, those powers are specifically limited to the Legislature."

The groups are asking a judge to issue an injunction to suspend Benson's order before Election Day.

The Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police also criticized the order, arguing that it does not give police "the authority to enforce the Secretary of State edict." On Tuesday, after this week's issue went to press, a Michigan judge struck down Benson's gun ban at polling places. —Steve Neavling

When will we know the results?

Don't bother staying up late on Election Day, because officials in Michigan say it's going to likely take longer than usual to count all the ballots. Be patient!

That's because of the unprecedented volume of mail-in ballots local clerks are reporting in Michigan, as is the case in other states, due in part to the pandemic. In 2018, Michigan voters approved no-reason absentee ballot voting.

Several local officials held a Zoom meeting on Thursday to explain the situation. In Hamtramck, City Clerk August Gitschlag said the tiny two-square-mile city has already seen seven times the typical number of absentee ballots. Due to state law, however, they can't start counting the ballots until Election Day.

"We've been working round-the-clock to process absentee applications and send out ballots," Gitschlag said. "But we don't have the infrastructure to keep up with the overwhelming demand. We will count every vote, but being right is more important than being fast. I want to urge everyone to please be patient."

Assistant Secretary of State Heaster Wheeler said municipalities across the state are seeing similar spikes.

"We see every sign that this will be a high-turnout election all across Michigan," Wheeler said. "Secretary of State [Jocelyn] Benson and our team are working incredibly hard to make sure that every vote is counted fairly, efficiently, and accurately. We're going to get this right." —Lee DeVito

#michigan #detroit #US election #VOTE #have a plan #trump must go

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purplesurveys · 3 years ago

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1260

surveys by taco-tuesdays

What would be the pros and cons of a four-day school week? That was my schedule throughout college (we had Mondays off) and it really helped out a lot, especially mentally; and, on some level, emotionally as well. I’ve always thought 3 days is the most effective and ideal length of time when it comes to having a break.

As for cons, I honestly can’t name any as I was happy my schedule and I only heard miserable insights from my friends from other schools, who otherwise had to keep up a 5-day schedule in college.

What is a subject or topic that you would like to learn more about? My manager recently encouraged me to watch Going Seventeen – I initially thought I wouldn’t get the hype but I was wrong hahaha; they seem super interesting so I’ve been reading up about them today.

Would you rather live somewhere that was hot year-round or cold year-round? COLD.

What is something that you do during the summer that you don't otherwise? Give the weather the power to make me cranky. I’m not always vocal about the weather, but the summer heat just unleashes a monster right out of me.

Which professions do you feel deserve the highest amount of pay? Well, especially in the case of my country where essential workers are not paid nearly enough – medical frontliners.

What is your own definition of success? Reaching a point wherein I can honestly say I’m proud of myself. I’m my biggest critic and the worst overthinker I know, so if I’ve done something well enough to feel confident and comfortable about it, then I consider myself successful.

Do you have a favorite day of the week? Fridayyy.

What are some of your favorite songs? These days I’m really into Blue Side by J-Hope.

Do you donate to a specific charity or cause on an annual basis? Not annual, but there is an animal shelter to which I donate a small amount of my earnings whenever I can. I used to do it monthly but as more...life stuff that I need to pay for has started to pile up, I haven’t been able to keep up the habit as often as I would like.

If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money? Give half to my parents; use a portion of my half to get a new phone since my screen’s LED recently got permanently damaged and my phone now has weird colorful lines on the screen lmao; get sushi; save the rest.

Would you be a stay at home parent or send your kid to daycare? Ideally I would provide my child with their own helper that can watch them while I’m away for work. That’s a luxury I never got to have so my petty ass just wants to get back at my way-too-simple childhood and give my kid their own yaya.

What excites you more - tire swings or treehouses? Treehouses. I’ve never seen one; they’re not common at all here.

What's the highest amount of money you received in a card? I think around ₱2000? That’s roughly ~$40.

What's the last CD you purchased for yourself? My Butter set.

Dolphins, whales, sharks, or narwhals? Whales, then dolphins.

Did you get any scholarships or grants towards your education? No. But I technically didn’t need to apply for one; my entire college tuition was free.

Are spicy foods a yay or a nay for you? Absolutely the fuck yay. I have a pretty high tolerance and I think it just got even higher over the last year from all the kimchi and spicy noodles I’ve been downing haha.

Have you ever quit or been fired from a job before? No; but being fired is one of my biggest fears.

Have you ever wondered what your pets are saying to you? Just Cooper. I can read Kimi like the back of my hand at this point.

Did you walk or take the bus to school? My parents paid for a school bus service, which is the practice here. We don’t have a public school bus system.

Have you ever had to turn someone in before? For what? Hmm, not that I can recall. I don’t think so.

Describe a time where one of your parents embarrassed you. My dad belittled a staff at McDonald’s when we did drive-thru a couple of weeks ago. It has been like 11 in the morning and he was upset that his change came in coins, so he made a fantastic show of staying at the payment window for what felt like fucking years as he counted the coins one by one...like seriously? It’s fucking currency, are you really getting your panties in a bunch over coins?? Anyway, I didn’t talk to him for the whole day after that and didn’t touch my order that he paid for.

Do you prefer grapes, raisins, or prunes? Grape-flavored candies are fine, I guess. All of these choices in their pure form all suck.

Do you like knocking icicles off of things? Well no, considering I don’t encounter them a lot.

Have you ever had a party when your parents weren't home? I’ve never thrown a party at my own home.

What is something that irks you about your sibling(s)? There is a glaring lack of proactivity. My mom could be struggling with carrying something heavy and they will stay glued to whatever they’re doing, and will literally not move unless they’re addressed. It worries me sometimes as I don’t know to what extent it could possibly reach.

Does everyone really deserve to be forgiven? No.

How do we make men and women equal in today's society? Equal pay can be a good start to go with.

Did your parents favor one child over another when you were growing up? My mom clearly favored my brother and would give him millions of passes for shit I would otherwise be yelled at for; I didn’t feel any favoritism from my dad.

How much PDA is too much PDA to witness? I scrunch my nose even at light PDA all the time just to make my friends laugh, but to be honest about it it doesn’t actually bother me as much as I let it show. I’d only be grossed out if I see a full-blown makeout session or anything beyond that somewhere inappropriate.

If you get married, will you take your spouse's last name? I’d hyphenate so that I would still get to keep both my maiden and last names.

What's the last fight you had with your mother? Something about the courier delivery service I booked last week. The whole thing is too complicated to explain but I do remember retorting at her and her biting back with what I can best translate as, “How dare you have the gall to answer back,” which...as a minor probably would’ve been effective and made me feel guilty...but I’m literally 23. I had to hide my face to snicker because that kind of statement just doesn’t bother me anymore.

Do you still eat Lunchables as an adult? I’ve never had that; we don’t have them here.

When's the last time you made Kool-Aid? I have never tried Kool-Aid either.

Do you prefer photographs in color or black-and-white? Why? Color. Moments and memories just feel more alive that way.

What's your favorite comfort food? SUSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII fuck I need some right now.

What makes you proud to be from the country you're from? I like our regional and local cultures.

If you had to work in a store, which would you choose, and why? Ooh...I dunno. Maybe a bookstore? so I can get to slowly rekindle my love for reading.

If you were a teacher, which subject would you teach? History.

Who shows that they love you more than they actually say it? I feel like this question applies to me more than it does for people in my circle, most of whom are quite vocal. I don’t usually throw around the words I love you, but I will show it a lot.

#survey #surveys

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madrabbitsociety · 4 years ago

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Sometimes, and I do not mean for this to sound malicious, which it will, I feel the need to defend hairdressers.

Hairdressers and hair stylists are skilled technicians who go through thousands of hours of training in order to hone their craft. Some of us were lucky enough to go to a technical school while in high school and are not in debt. I, however, paid almost $25,000 to go to school. I had to go for 1500 solid hours. In my state, that meant Mon-Thurs evenings for 5 hours a night. In my opinion, people don’t give stylists enough credit for what they need to know to get licensed in their state. Specifically, my license is for cosmetology. I had to know skin disorders, chemical reactions, actual strand structure - and we still don’t get told enough because we don’t get proper training on different types of hair, but that’s a whole different post that a lot of other people have done better than me.

The predominant way we are paid in the industry is via commission. So if we have no one scheduled, we don’t get paid. If we have a client cancel, we don’t get paid. At my first salon I was expected to stay as early as I could to as late as I could, unpaid, just in case someone came in. Of course, corporate places are mildly better in that they offer a minimum wage, but that’s usually somewhere between $7-9 an hour. In order to earn commission in that type of situation you have to do more in services than what you would have been paid for the hour. Again, probably an entire post in itself.

I tried a lot of places. I paid a lot of money for a license I was very proud to own. The final straw was a salon near my house. Personality-wise, I really felt like it would work out because I enjoyed the people I was around and I was disappointed when it didn’t work. When I first started, they insisted I do two unpaid apprenticeship days because I was (licensed for 6 months at that time) too new to work on their clients. They would provide models and charge the models a lower service fee than their usual service fee. I would then have two paid days at $10 an hour where I would basically follow the owner around, clean and do shampoos. On my days off, I was expected to want to come into the salon and continue to apprentice for free. There was a point in my apprenticeship phase where I was only being paid two days for 5-6 days worth of work.

Again, this is not uncommon in the industry. Maybe not to this extreme, but certainly there’s a lot of free work being done. Does your stylist have someone help them blowdry? You might want to make sure that apprentice is being paid.

My skills did improve greatly during this period, but I maintain that was because I put a lot into it. The owner took all the credit- through his great teaching methods, I was becoming an ‘okay’ hairdresser.

During the apprenticeship, unless you handed me a cash tip, he kept all of my credit card tips. So if you added a tip after service with your credit card, the salon kept them because they said I was using their electricity/taking up space in the salon and I needed to pay for that.

In addition to all of the time I listed above actually being in the salon, I was also expected to attend continuing education classes. In summary, and again this is not an uncommon culture in the industry, if you do not eat-sleep-breathe HAIR, you are told you’re not good and you won’t do well. The only exception seems to be if you have children, but if you’re single/without kids they will work you to the bone.

When I was finally promoted to a junior stylist, I stopped being paid hourly at all. I was told I would get 36% commission for services and I was specializing in color corrections/the blonding journey at the time, so I was doing $200-300 services quite often. Some of those services took 4-6 hours of my time, but if I had no one scheduled I was still expected to straighten up, do laundry, sweep the floors and help other stylists with color application and blowouts. Which is fine, kind of. The problem became that from the start of my journey at that specific salon, I would be expected to arrive when we opened at 10 AM and stay until the owner finished his clients- sometimes I didn’t leave until 11-12 PM, and was expected to come back the next day.

So yes, one $300 color service could mean that I earned 14-16$ an hour, but… when you’re working 10-12 hour days that kind of knocks it down to minimum wage again.

Then there is the opinion that this is an easy job that so many people can do and you don’t need to be vaguely intelligent to do it. That the people who chose hair are stupid or unskilled. I was sitting on the steps of my school once, reading an Agatha Christie book and comparing certain passages to an ACD Sherlock Holmes story via text message with SpicyMags, when an older couple walked by. The man looked up at the school sign and scoffed, “These girls are getting suckered into a scam. This is nothing but a scam and they’re stupid enough to fall for it.”

Well, in retrospect, he’s not wrong, but at the same time when you know the blood and sweat and tears- the thousands of hours and dollars that are poured into not only the initial licensing but the continued education classes- being a hairdresser is so much more than people give it credit for. It’s an abusive industry that exploits a lot of unpaid labor and even when you get to a point where you have skill, where you are an artist, you have people asking for a luxury service and then complaining when that unnecessary luxury costs them actual money.

One last thing I’d love to point out- the 100% customer service guarantee. A lot of salons these days are trying to change, but a lot of them also still have a guarantee that if you don’t love your hair, you get a free redo or a refund. Do you know what that means? Your stylist doesn’t get paid.

So I can spend 6-8 hours on your hair after you tell me it’s been box dyed brown attempting to take you through the lightening journey to get it blond. I can tell you that because of the molecules and ingredients in the dye, the actual damaged structure of your hair, that it is not possible to do it all in one day but I can get you close. I can explain to you the entire process, waste all my time being completely honest with you about how golden it’s still going to look because it IS a journey/process, and at the end you can decide that because I didn’t get your hair to solid white in one go that you want a refund…

And I don’t get paid for the entire day that we spent together.

That’s some fucking bullshit, but it’s - and this is a quote from several of the places I’ve worked- an “industry standard”.

The cherry on this shituation cake is that we also don’t get any health benefits, life insurance, retirement- no freaking anything (corporate salons being a slight exception although having worked in the medical field I can tell you the benefits offered by corp. owned salons are not great.)

So please, next time you decide that it’s laughable that a salon quotes you $150 for a craft haircut that takes a certain level of knowledge and skill, remember that the salon gets most of that and if you don’t like it there’s a huge change your stylist isn’t getting paid.

Edit: Things that I did not mention but should have- the toll it takes on your body (repetitive motions and standing in heels on concrete floors cause back issues, neck and hip issues, knee issues, carpal tunnel and risk of cutting off your knuckle with your instruments). I had to sign a release that my school was not responsible for me cutting any part of my body with my shears (I’ve had bosses who lost toes and knuckles). You think that heels thing is a joke? I’ve worked in several salons where ‘female’ stylists were required to wear heels and at least three items of make-up because ‘this was the beauty industry and we had a standard to keep’. Say you gather a clientel and can rent your own chair or booth, you’re responsible for purchasing every single bit of supplies you might need to continue doing what you’re doing, so you’re still having business costs eat into your hourly wage. People need to give a fucking standing ovation to hairdressers, okay, because this industry is brutal.

I’m not saying I dislike doing hair, or that I’d never do hair again, but there are several reasons I’m not doing it right now.

#madrabbitsociety #mad rabbit society personal stuff

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smoothcurvesinteractive · 4 years ago

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It could be so.. much.. better...

I love the phrase "that sets a pretty low bar" ...

How about a system that works to elevate the standard of living and the rights of not just the citizenry of the country they live in, but provides the choice and opportunity for those outside the country.

our country seems to have gotten stuck on "Allowing" freedoms...

but the devil is in the details,

you are only "allowed" to exercise a freedom if you have a good job or a level of income that "affords" you the right to exercise those freedoms

In our system you have to be lucky, then you have to know there are bunch of hoops to jump through in order to attain a level of freedom. You have to know the right people, live in the right sub segment of society, got to the right schools, and make some sacrifices, either in time spent working, or limits on behavior, disguised as “contributing to society” and “obeying the law, doing right and staying in your lane”

Also, you can attain a level of freedom, and have it taken away if the fickle winds of fate blow some other direction. You get sick, someone screwes up at your company and makes a product the wrong color and 1000 people loose their jobs because it turns out nobody wants a polka dotted plumbus, people wanted purple plumbus.

Request for Revolutionaries: what about a system that actually works to help EVERYONE achieve their best,

If you want to achieve, the system HELPS you achieve. not PREVENTS you from achieving.

Like our friggin education system...

American college does not help people achieve.

the American college system exist to PREVENT too many people from achieving.

Becoming a medical doctor is Hard,

This not because medicine is hard,

but because the education system specifically MAKES it hard,

in order to limit the number of doctors and nurses.[

If there are too many doctors and nurses, doctors would never get rich.

like in India... where the medical education system helps anyone become a doctor that wants to become a doctor.

doctors and nurses are average middle class.

The most offensive thing I learned in my college experience, was learend early on, In a huge room full of people who wanted to become engineers, The professor told the whole room: "This curriculum is designed to weed out people ..."

How much better would our society be, how much better off would the whole WORLD be if our education system elevated everyone, enabled everyone rather than “filter people out”

I found out just a few years ago why Harvard is such a special institution... at Harvard, everything about the experience is designed to HELP you become whatever you want to become.

Harvard does not weed out people, getting INTO harvard is the weeding... you don't flunk out in Harvard. Harvard will teach you whatever you want to learn. People always point out that Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard... Bill Gates finished his studies. Harvard taught him everything he needed to know to do what he wanted. He left when he was done, not when he reached some arbitrary meaningless deadline

Harvard is hard to get into because a Harvard education is resource intensive. Every harvard student get’s whatever they need to learn whatever they want. Usually that means time and attention from the best teachers. In the world harvard was created in, that meant living in a location because learning required physical interaction with the best teaching minds, which ALSO had to be in the same location, and that all cost money for housing, food, buildings, roads, specialized teaching equipment not available in the average home (chalkboards chal, and libraries)

We NOW live in a world where the equipment neccessary to recieve a harvard education is cheap enough to be given to everyone.

We now live in a world where the sum of human knowledge is available to anyone 24/7 anywhere in the world.

We now live in a world where a lesson, the best lesson ever created, can be accessed anywhere, by anyone, in any language. And that lesson can be improved, and tweaked for different learning styles.

In the world that existed when harvard was created, if you missed a lesson, you missed it. FOR EVER. And the next professor, or the next lesson may be presented in at a pace, or in a manner that does not work for your brain, or culture, or situation in the moment.

We no longer live in that world.

We NOW live in a world where everyone could be given the means (a good laptop and an internet connection, and public funding of learning services like wikipedia, & youtube, skillshare, brilliant)

Right now the goals of our education system are unforgivable meger.

In this time Our education systems are FAILING our society. Our education is not ADVANCING society, but HOLDING IT BACK.

We live in a world where commodity entertainment, funded by advertising, is providing better quality education than the institutions tasked with doing the job.

My uncle was a biology professor, dedicated his life to helping people learn, helping improve the population he was a part of. He retired from teaching some years ago. He was proud of the work he did, but was glad to retire from an institution, and a whole system that no longer worked to improve life, but had become a barrier, a mere hoop to jump through, and a hinderance to improving the living conditions of people everywhere.

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anctilbrayen · 4 years ago

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easyfoodnetwork · 5 years ago

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How One Chef Is Feeding LA’s Hospital Workers, 100 Enchiladas at a Time

The idea of comfort food has become a cliche, but for those working the front lines at hospitals, a well-prepared meal makes all the difference

One afternoon in late March, the chef Josef Centeno made 100 enchiladas. First, he simmered 10 pounds of chicken thighs in an improvised Japanese-style curry made with chorizo spice, yuzu kosho, dried chile powder, and dashi, while on the side, he grilled bolting cauliflower from a local farm. Then he warmed corn tortillas in hot oil and became a one-man assembly line, filling them with the curry and laying them seam-side down on the full-sized sheet pan. Finally, a blanket of fontina and Tex-Mex cheese turned the enchiladas brown and crispy in the oven.

This motherlode of enchiladas was handed off to some friends who took them to a doctor at Cedars-Sinai. There were 61 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in Los Angeles County that day; the hospital had just set up a triage tent outside. “It’s gonna start getting bad I’m afraid,” Centeno texted me. The things he was hearing made him want to help, so he did the thing he knew how to do: cook.

Centeno was one of the first chefs in Los Angeles to close down entirely after the city ordered restaurants to shift to takeout and delivery only. While operating in takeout mode, he returned again and again to the question of the virus, and how easily it was spreading — it was safe for the people ordering, but less safe for the staff making their way to work every day. “I would feel terrible for the rest of my life if I was having people work, even though everyone wanted to work, if they went home and got their grandmother sick or son who has asthma sick,” he says. “I told everyone to file for unemployment [right then], because by [the following] week, it was going to be a shitshow.” Many of his employees were able to get unemployment, before, yes, everything became a shitshow. “Every day, we find out a little more, and it’s a little bit worse.”

The day after he decided to close, he gave away produce and extra cooked food to staff and friends, first from his restaurant Amacita in Culver City, and later from his four restaurants clustered in downtown Los Angeles around a corner he’d remade starting in 2011. Centeno was already cooking big batches of his ranchero chicken to give away, and when he heard about the doctors, nurses, and staff working endless shifts as they treated COVID patients and prepared for the oncoming wave, he wanted to provide food that could, even for a moment, transport hospital workers out of the crisis they were facing. “Restaurants have always been an escape, and that’s what I know how to do.”

After that first batch of enchiladas, Centeno started cooking by himself twice a week with a nonprofit called Dine11, one of the many charities that have popped up to feed hospital workers in Los Angeles. Dine11 was started by longtime friends and collaborators, actor Lola Glaudini and costume supervisor Brooke Thatawat, who had friends in the restaurant and hospital world and saw they both needed help.

Centeno’s prep work for a batch of meals designated for hospital workers

Unlike some of the bigger nonprofits, which are sending massive meal orders to the city’s best-known hospitals, Dine 11 doesn’t work with chains or big restaurateurs. Instead, its focus helps mom-and-pop restaurants and some smaller restaurant groups bring in enough money to survive the citywide shutdown, while sending food to the smaller hospitals in Los Angeles that are missing out on larger charities’ attentions. Dine11 uses the money it’s raised to place a takeout order at a small local restaurant, which boxes it up according to hospital safety protocols. The restaurant puts the food in the trunk of a volunteer driver, who takes it to the hospital. Then, the volunteer texts their contact at the hospital, who picks it up from the truck without any contact.

Glaudini says restaurants are finding Dine11 organically; she’s getting 20 to 30 emails a day from people who want to be involved. For many smaller restaurants, the kind run by families or people who would call themselves cooks, not chefs, closing down doesn’t feel like an option. Dine11 can’t keep them in business long term, but it can give them a lifeline of another week. And every restaurant Dine11 works with is required to adhere to safety standards (masks, gloves, frequent wiping down of containers and surfaces) that help keep workers safer, too.

Centeno cooks meals for Dine11 in between designing face masks for friends and family and custom-dyeing garments he’s selling to raise money to keep his workers on their health insurance. He uses donated vegetables from Thao Family Farms, his own dwindling stock of ingredients (like an order of eight 22-pound bags of rice he placed right before the pandemic hit), and whatever else he can get his hands on. He cooks alone, because he believes that’s the only safe option right now. “It’s been kind of Zen,” he says. “I’m just by myself, listening to music.” Centeno isn’t taking money from Dine11 for himself or to cover ingredients; the founders say he’s asked them to donate the money directly to the GoFundMe he set up for his employees. To cover the restaurants’ last payroll, Centeno dipped into his personal savings fund, which he is relying on as long as his restaurants remain closed.

For the takeout meals, Centeno is mixing Japanese and Tex-Mex flavors, which he says work surprisingly well together. A recent rice bowl came together like this: ground beef from the freezer, which he stewed with dashi to make a picadillo, plus mustard greens and kale from Thao Farms cooked with Peads & Barnetts bacon, served over brown rice. Centeno topped the bowls with shaved fennel and pistachio dry salsa. Even though he was working by himself, and not in the rush of service, he still has been running behind. “I did a lot better than the week before, when I was like an hour late.”

The idea of comfort food has become a cliche, but the emotional succor a well-prepared meal can offer is real, especially in times of true need. Medical workers need to eat, but what they really need is to feel supported, and that’s a role meals made with precision and creativity like Centeno’s can play. “Our responsibility as culinarians is to take care of people,” Centeno says.

Katy Kinsella is an emergency physician at Kaiser in Panorama City and a friend of Dine11’s co-founder Thatawat; her hospital has received several deliveries from Dine11. At the hospital, according to Kinsella, workers are anxiously waiting for the pandemic’s peak to hit in Los Angeles. Kinsella’s hospital is seeing COVID-19 patients on a daily basis, anywhere from four to 18 a day, many of whom come in very sick. “It can tax the lungs and they end up getting pneumonia; once they end up with a breathing tube, they don’t do well,” Kinsella says. “There’s no infectious disease that we’ve had here in the United States that’s felt anything like this. You can’t help but think, that could be me.” Friends at hospitals in New York and Detroit are completely overwhelmed. Kinsella worries for them, and for herself; she worries she might carry the virus home to her family. The food that comes from Dine11 fuels a long and harrowing shift, but its emotional impact is much more important. “It’s just nice to know that people care and recognize what we’re doing.”

The fear of what the pandemic might bring doesn’t stop Kinsella from showing up every day; she’s proud to do her job. What a meal prepared by a chef or local restaurant does is create a sense of normalcy — that care that Centeno wants to convey. “When we have to give people bad news, we feel it too. Having a meal and feeling the support of our community makes us feel like we’re not in it alone.”

Kinsella says she likes getting food from Dine11 because they’re building a model to support local restaurants, which she knows are hurting. “Food is my favorite thing in the world, and it’s weird to have all these restaurants closed,” she says. “We were trying to support local restaurants with takeout, but it’s not the same thing.” Glaudini and Thatawat believe that boosting the morale of health care workers is essential, but they know there are lots of groups out there feeding hospitals right now. They’re trying to focus on making sure the efforts help restaurants, too, whether that’s by partnering with places that are really in need or having delivery volunteers so the restaurants can keep all of the money, rather than giving a delivery service a cut. “We want to spend our money where the need is greatest,” Thatawat says. “And that’s the smaller businesses and local businesses that we love.”

Centeno does not know if the cooking is helping him cope with the collapse of his industry, but he does find meaning in feeding those who are putting their lives on the line. He knows he’s not alone in struggling right now — he sees it happening to every single one of his peers. Like a lot of other chefs who own a small enough number of restaurants where they occasionally still find themselves washing dishes or hopping on the line, he’s not used to standing still.

“I guess I’m in bulldozer mode,” he says. “Every day, I can’t believe the restaurant industry is gone; it’s vanished, and what is it going to come back as? I’m trying to figure out how to readjust, because the whole model has been turned upside down and put in the recycling machine. I worked 30 years and lost it all in 24 hours.”

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/34JRzQn https://ift.tt/3adfJ74

The idea of comfort food has become a cliche, but for those working the front lines at hospitals, a well-prepared meal makes all the difference

Centeno’s prep work for a batch of meals designated for hospital workers

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/34JRzQn via Blogger https://ift.tt/2VccsR4

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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cienie-isengardu · 6 years ago

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What is up with Shirai Ryu?

Or, is Hanzo a hypocrite?

While looking through various MK11 intros, I’m kind of tired about the whole “honor” stuff that Hanzo and Kuai Liang and so many other characters like to talk. Mainly, because honor is very unspecified term whose meaning (thus the line between acting honorable and dishonorable) will change from one person to another. And as much I love cultural clashes between characters of different clans / fraction or realms, Hanzo’s talks about Shirai Ryu make me wonder what the hell is going on with his clan right now?

Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu were rival clans for ages, but the japanese ninjas - and the whole ninjutsu created by them - has its roots in Lin Kuei teaching. Bi-Han called himself thief and assassin and we know that ninjas played similar roles through the ages. Stealing, killing, doing all dirty job someone paid for, it was what Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu did for years. The two fractions of course vary in clan traditions and family matters, but I think we can all agree that morally wise, assassins and master thieves aren’t the common image of honorable men, right?

Of course, both Hanzo and Kuai Liang decided to reform their respective clans, pledged to serve Earthrealm as the protectors rather than working for anyone who can afford their service. Thus both grandmasters reject job offers from gods & Outworlders alike; reject offers that would pose a danger to their home realm. What is nice and all, but clan has its own needs; there are people who must be feed, clothed, sheltered, medically equipped, armed with the right equipment and trained. This of course cost a lot money and maybe the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei do have the right funds accumulated over the centuries. But as far as MK11 intros are concerned, Sub-Zero most likely did not change completely Lin Kuei. Of course, Kuai Liang’s clan is meant to be protectors of Earthrealm, but there is still (rogue) Frost who is proud to be an assassin. And since she joined the clan between MK9 and X, the fact she is so aware of the clan history, the feud with Shirai Ryu and assassins traditions may imply that at least to some degree Lin Kuei is/was still involved in “old bussiness”. Whatever the case - Lin Kuei still training assassins who just don’t work anymore for “outsiders” or Frost (with Noob) being a rogue " remains of ancient glory”, both versions are representing the better and the darker sides of Sub-Zero’s fraction.

Hanzo on another hand, as solely representation of Shirai Ryu in MK11 game, seems at times as, well, deluded person. Especially when intros aren’t clear if that was supposed to be P.O.V of current or past Hanzo.

First, let me quote little backstory provided by MK: Mythologies Sub-Zero:

Scorpion is the code name for a modern day member of the Shirai Ryu named Hanzo Hasashi [...] He learned this technique from his own father, a ninja himself who forbade his son to become a member of this ancient group of assassins and wanted him to accept the trappings of modern day life. But the lure of quick money and his own wish to afford his wife and child the finest in life force him to join the Shirai Ryu.

His latest mission leads him into the heart of China, home of the rival Lin Kuei and location of the Shaolin temple where his mission is to steal the sacred Map of Elements.

So, Shirai Ryu are ancient group of assassins, the last mission of Scorpion was to steal the sacred Map of Elements from Shaolin Temple and Hanzo wasn’t forced to join the clan, he did it mainly for money to afford his family in finest way.

After coming back to life, Hanzo made great effort to redeem his clan and became ally to other heroes. At the same time, he himself says Shirai Ryu are not bound to Special Forces (U.S.)’s laws what results in fact Sonya Blade keeps eye on Hanzo and his clan. Probably attacking SF’s base and killing captured Quan Chi is/was still fresh in her mind. Anyway, the real question is, what Shirai Ryu does? What kind of jobs the clan takes, from where Hanzo get money to cover needs of his ninjas and funds to rebuild destroyed years ago home? What Shirai Ryu ninjas do between crisises threatening safety of Earthrealm?

The reason why I wonder such things is tied up with Hanzo’s character banters, particularly with other merceneries.

Scorpion: Why seek out my clan?

Kano: You're a clan of assassins, ain't you?

Scorpion: You refer to the Lin Kuei.

It is hard to tell, if Scorpion here is the younger or current version thus if he talks about old Lin Kuei (a true statement about clan of assassins then) or refer to Kuai Liang’s one clan that was supposed to change for better. Whatever the case, if clan of assassins is what refers to Lin Kuei, I’m sorry, what Shirai Ryu is or was then? Because it was assassin clan too not so long ago and Hanzo himself joined and worked for such group.

Kabal: The Shirai Ryu hiring, Scorpion? Scorpion: We're family, not mercenaries.

Not mercenaries, said a man who was once hired to steal sacred Map and did it solely for money (or maybe even satisfation/chance to kill Lin Kuei). Even if Hanzo is speaking only about current situation of clan, it still does not answer are his ninjas involved in illegal jobs or are they just train in case of emergency?

This statement (and other intros with Jacqui anc Jax) makes it clear to join Shirai Ryu means became part of the clan for good. But frankly, that still does not mean that family unit like ninja clan can’t (couldn’t) be mercenaries. I mean, mercenary is person primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics and you know, taking jobs like assassination or theft is, well, dark side of mercenary profession. Soo, did Hanzo’s statement “not mercenaries“ was purely about joining the clan (not hiring unknown people) or as a whole, no more doing illegal stuff by his clan to gain money?

Erron: I thought Shirai Ryu were mercs. Scorpion: You understand little, Black. Erron: I've killed people for being less rude.

This one is similar to the previous intro but I feel this time the focus is more on the past of Shirai Ryu, since Erron (as hired gun by Shang Tsung / Shao Kahn) lives for one or two hundred years so he may be familiar with old!Shirai Ryu ninjas reputation.

Of course, Hanzo may be right, Black (and us, for that matter) as outsider, does not have insight into internal clan traditions, ethics or internal matters thus the lack of understanding may lead him (and me) to incorrect conclusion. Maybe Shirai Ryu for ages served Japan in a way Special Forces serves now USA? Maybe they worked always for their homeland’s well being? We don’t know. But then if Shirai Ryu aren’t/weren’t mercs, how else one should think about ninja clan that send his own warrior to Shaolin Temple in foreign (hostile) territory to steal sacred artifact while being paid by some weirdo (Quan Chi)? Like, how that was more honorable than, let’s say, Erron working for Kotal?

Scorp: There will be no deal, Kano. Kano: Gotta make a buck, mate. Scorp: The Shirai Ryu are not criminals.

Hanzo says his clan members aren’t criminals. I sorry, aren’t attacking Special Forces, the supposed allies, isn’t sort of crime? Even if two years passed since then, Shirai Ryu ninjas went to foreign country and attacked its army (who were at times helping refuges from Outworld). Of course, they weren’t motivated by greed or bad will, they were following their grandmaster. But Hanzo literally put his own need for revenge above needs of other heroes, including dead ones. Oh, and let’s no forget that past!Hanzo attacked Shaolin monks and killed who knows how many of them. Indeed, no criminals, ha!

Scorpion: The Shirai Ryu do not respect thieves. Kollector: I collect only what is due Shao Kahn. Scorpion: It is robbery, nothing more.

Sorry, what was your last mission again? Stealing from Shaolin Monks some precious map for some dude Quan Chi? I’m sure Shirai Ryu would never respect thieves! Riiiight.

Hanzo of course may talk about reformed Shirai Ryu, but that would look, once again, like he keep silent about past sins. Unless he really believe his clan never did anything dishonorable.

It’s hard not to wonder how exactly Hanzo reformed Shirai Ryu is he alone seems to ignore his own deeds. Mercs are looked down, so are thieves or in general, people working for money. As much as I can agree than Black Dragons - especially Kano - are the worst kind of scum, it would be actually nice to learn more about Shirai Ryu ethics or how ninja define honor. We know that for Hanzo, his “clan's honor is priceless” but he himself did a lot questionable stuff through the course of all games.

My biggest problem with Scorpion and his talk about honor (or in some causes, how pretty quick he is to accuse others of lack of thereof) is the contrast with Kuai Liang. Sub-Zero is the one willing to admit faults of his clan while Hanzo rarely acknowledges such in Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero is the one trying hard to estabilish Lin Kuei as protectors of Earthrealm AND ally to other heroes, while Scorpion for a long time freely(?) keep himself and his clan isolated. Of course, both grandmasters treat Earthrealm’s best interest as priority, but between them two, it’s Kuai who is seen actively protecting Earth while Hanzo often was the source of problems, like killing capuring Quan Chi. Mind you, I don’t think Hanzo was wrong to assume as long as evil sorcerer will live, Earth is in danger (though, since Quan Chi is demon(?) shouldn’t he reborn in Netherrealm at some point?). But attacking your supposed allies and destroying the one chance to save fallen and enslaved comrades because Hanzo knows better does not strike me as the most honorable thing.

Once again, what is honor in Mortal Kombat? How Hanzo or Kuai Liang or Raiden or anyone define such matter?

I keep wonder about that, because Hanzo talks a lot about how Shirai Ryu are honorable while other merceneries are just thugs and all. What sounds a bit like hypocrisy when one look at Scorpion’s own history. Especially when younger!Hanzo is involved, because he is still the prime example of Shirai Ryu ninja working not-so-long-ago as assassin and thief.

But yeah, sure, everyone is greedy bastard and thug, even if said person is doing the same stuff like (old) Shirai Ryu did.

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 11 #shirai ryu #hanzo hasashi #my analysis #erron black #kano #kabal #i'm the only one tired with the talk about honor non stop #while there is little how characters define honor?#what ninja makes more honorable than erron working for kotal for what? decade or two?#mind you i don't think hanzo is bad character #quite opposing i like this little hipocrisy of his #it makes him flawed #human characters #i only wish mk games would stop over using so much honor in intros #because after so many of character banters the honor sounds bombastic like hell

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makbuleatcarolineoi04insura-blog · 5 years ago

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Help with car insurance........................

i am 16 but when i turn 17 i want to pass my driving tests. my worry is car insurance. i want to buy a little car like Peugeot 206 1.4 or something similar but i have checked insurance companies and their quotes are ridiculous so my dad said that if i give him the money to buy the car he can then insure it on his insurance and add me as an additional driver so i can sometimes drive it to my mates or whatever. i have heard of something called fronting and i was just wondering if then we would be doing that or would everything be legal. thanks in advance Matt ,I suggest one to visit this web site where one can compare rates from the best companies:

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :INSURECOMPAREQUOTES.US

SOURCES:

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sparklesandchalk · 7 years ago

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McKayla Maroney’s Dark Journey: Olympic Champion, Abused Gymnast

A cherished American athlete suffered a heavy toll from years of sexual abuse by U.S. team doctor Larry Nassar; powerful institutions failed to protect her

Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber were in their bedroom at the U.S. gymnastics team’s house for the 2012 London Olympics when teammate McKayla Maroney texted: Rescue me.

Downstairs, she was alone again with team physician Larry Nassar. That meant his “treatments” would soon begin. Ms. Wieber says she and Ms. Raisman went down to make sure Ms. Maroney “felt more comfortable.”

At those Olympics, Ms. Maroney, Ms. Raisman and Ms. Wieber were celebrated as part of the gold-medal-winning “Fierce Five” gymnastics squad. In private, they were struggling with misgivings about Nassar. During treatments, he would touch their genital areas with his ungloved hand.

Ms. Maroney was Nassar’s favorite, the national-team gymnasts knew. He always treated her last, sometimes keeping her two or three times longer than others. He photographed her constantly. Even after Ms. Maroney talked to authorities about his actions, Nassar continued treating patients for a year.

Six years after London, Nassar is an infamous criminal. More than 200 women and girls have accused him of sexually abusing them. He has pleaded guilty to state sexual-abuse charges in Michigan and to federal child-pornography charges, for which he is serving an effective life sentence. His medical license has been revoked.

Ms. Maroney stopped competing in gymnastics, descending into depression, listlessness and unexplained medical problems, says her father, Michael Maroney. “It was almost like watching somebody get crushed,” he says. The abuse, he says, “ruined something that you thought you’d be proud of for the rest of your life.”

This is the story of those dark years through the eyes of one of America’s most famous and cherished gymnasts, and of how Nassar’s acts—and the failure of powerful institutions—took a devastating toll on Ms. Maroney and left her parents racked with guilt.

Ms. Maroney this week spoke in public for the first time since coming forward with her Nassar allegations in an October tweet. “My team won gold medals in spite of USA Gymnastics, MSU and the USOC,” she said, speaking at the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and referring to the sport’s national governing body, Michigan State University and the U.S. Olympic Committee. “They don’t build champions. They break them.”

“They demanded excellence from me,” she said. “But they couldn’t give it to us.”

The account of what Ms. Maroney endured emerges from Wall Street Journal interviews with people who worked with Nassar and USA Gymnastics, with national-team gymnasts and their families and lawyers, and from court filings, police records and internal correspondence reviewed by or recounted to the Journal.

Nassar apologized to his victims in court but hasn’t publicly addressed Ms. Maroney’s allegations. He is appealing his federal sentence. His lawyer couldn’t be reached, and a former lawyer declined to comment.

As with nearly all of the athletes who accused Nassar of abusing them, Ms. Maroney long kept her concerns to herself, her father and others close to her say. She focused at all costs on succeeding as an elite gymnast and became a global celebrity at the London Olympics, when her “McKayla is not impressed” facial expression became an internet meme.

In 2015, Ms. Maroney spoke to an investigator hired by USA Gymnastics and described for the first time what Nassar did to her under the guise of medical treatment.

Inquiries into her allegations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation seemed to go nowhere for almost a year, while USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic Committee stayed silent. As Nassar continued to treat patients, Ms. Maroney grew even more despairing as each day passed without the doctor’s arrest, her father says.

The FBI says it is “reviewing our role in the investigation of Mr. Nassar. We are unable to comment further.”

When Nassar was arrested in 2016, it had nothing to do with Olympic athletes. It involved his alleged sexual abuse of a family friend’s daughter. Nassar went to prison. Only then did the events Ms. Maroney set in motion begin to have far-reaching impact. Facing lawsuits and the threat of being kicked out of the Olympic movement, leadership at USA Gymnastics was toppled. The USOC head stepped down, with the organization citing health concerns. Michigan State, where Nassar worked for two decades, is under investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s office.

USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it “cannot know the depth of McKayla Maroney’s personal experience stemming from the abuse committed by Larry Nassar, but we are very sorry that McKayla and the other survivors were harmed by Nassar’s despicable actions.”

Susanne Lyons, acting CEO of the USOC, said in a statement: “The many brave survivors and their stories are bringing important changes to sports.” Michigan State didn’t respond to requests for comment. It has previously declined to comment on pending litigation.

The Karolyi ranch, the training ground for elite gymnastics run by legendary coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi and where much of Ms. Maroney’s abuse took place, has been all but abandoned. A lawyer for the Karolyis didn’t respond to requests for comment. The Karolyis have previously denied wrongdoing.

In recent months, former national-team gymnasts have started to make sense of their experiences with Nassar as more than just abuse. In lawsuits, interviews, congressional testimony and court statements, they have indicated they see the scandal as the product of a warped culture that prized money, medals and reputation above athletes’ well-being.

As long as USA Gymnastics produced results and had absolute power over gymnasts’ futures, no parent or gymnast would question the means by which Olympic squads were coached, selected or treated medically, they say.

Even if they had recognized Nassar’s treatments as abuse at the time, says Ms. Wieber, Ms. Maroney’s teammate, the gymnasts wouldn’t risk their chances at making the Olympic team. “USA Gymnastics created a culture of silence,” Ms. Wieber says. “We knew that if we spoke out, we wouldn’t have gotten chosen.”

USA Gymnastics in its statement said that it has taken steps “to build a culture of empowerment that encourages our athletes to speak up” and that it is “focused on doing everything we can to prevent this from happening in the future.”

A natural

From an early age, McKayla Maroney demonstrated remarkable athletic ability. She had a 3-foot vertical leap and could out-sprint the boys on the football team her father coached, he says. The vault, her signature event, made use of that speed and strength.

At age 14, Ms. Maroney was on the U.S. national team, under the command of Ms. Karolyi. The semi-centralized system meant Ms. Maroney spent most of her time training at her Southern California gym but reported nearly every month to the Karolyi ranch in Texas for dayslong camps.

Life on the team was isolating, team members, coaches and investigators say. Parents were kept at arm’s length. When the team traveled, USA Gymnastics booked a separate hotel for families. Parents were seldom allowed at the Karolyi ranch. There was almost no cellphone service.

The gymnasts were surrounded only by adults who had a role in preparing them for competition. Ms. Karolyi was notoriously exacting.

Deborah Daniels, a former federal prosecutor hired by USA Gymnastics to review the organization after the Nassar scandal broke, says the subjective judging on which elite women’s gymnastics is based makes athletes especially afraid to speak up and created “a particularly ripe environment for abuse.”

In some ways, Nassar seemed like a friend for the gymnasts—even a “miracle worker,” said Ms. Wieber in a court statement. He brought them food and always made time for them, she said. In lengthy, cheerful emails, Nassar described gymnasts’ injuries to USA Gymnastics officials, coaches and parents.

Nassar, an osteopathic physician, developed a reputation for what he called “pelvic floor treatment,” a rare but accepted physical therapy in which a doctor “adjusts” hard-to-reach muscles and ligaments by applying pressure to the vaginal and anal areas. He lectured on the procedure and created videos and PowerPoints to illustrate his technique, which he showed investigators when questioned about it.

Nassar provided medical care to gymnasts at the Karolyi ranch, often in an isolated room. He had unfettered access to gymnasts’ rooms there and in hotels on the road, Ms. Maroney and others have alleged.

In a lawsuit Ms. Maroney filed in December against the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and others, she alleged Nassar began grooming her for abuse as soon as she joined the national team, using his position to “normalize intimate, inappropriate, and sexually abusive contact.”

Her suit also alleged Nassar “obsessively” photographed her. Nassar was an amateur photographer for USA Gymnastics, providing sideline photos at meets. He also photographed Ms. Maroney, say people familiar with the matter, in everyday circumstances: at airports, at the Karolyi ranch, in practices, walking around.

Ms. Wieber says she initially didn’t think of Nassar’s treatments as abuse. “We weren’t ever in a position to question his treatments,” she says. “It just felt like, at the point in time, that we needed him.”

In fact, as Nassar’s fixation on Ms. Maroney became increasingly obvious, Ms. Wieber says she would complain Ms. Maroney “got more treatment, and it wasn’t fair.”

In October 2011, a squad went to Tokyo for the world championships. On the flight, Ms. Maroney alleged in a victim-impact statement, Nassar gave her a pill to help her sleep. When they arrived in Japan, the gymnasts went for treatments in Nassar’s room.

Nassar climbed on top of Ms. Maroney, who lay facedown on a hotel bed disoriented from the pill, says a person familiar with the episode. He removed some of her clothing and, straddling her hips, reached his hand behind his back and put his fingers inside her, rubbing his erection against her body. In her October 2017 tweet, she said it was the “scariest night” of her life.

A day or so later, on the team vehicle, she said out loud: “He practically fingers me,” say people who were present. A coach— John Geddert, a longtime friend of Nassar’s—didn’t seem to notice, they say. Mr. Geddert didn’t respond to requests for comment. His lawyer declined to comment.

Ms. Maroney won gold on vault. When she returned from Japan, she seemed distant, says her father. “She didn’t hug me anymore.” He figured she was going through a teenage phase. When she appeared anxious before trips to the Karolyi ranch, he figured she was afraid of Ms. Karolyi.

He didn’t suspect sexual abuse and in hindsight is tormented by one moment. In June 2012, at the national championships in St. Louis, Mr. Maroney recalls, Nassar turned to him and said: “I love your daughter.”

“He looked at me,” Mr. Maroney says, “and it gave me the creeps.”

At the Olympics that summer, Ms. Maroney helped the team win gold, landing a near-perfect Amanar vault, one of gymnastics’ most challenging moves. Her chance at individual gold ended with a botched landing. Her pursed-lip expression on the medals stand became the “McKayla is not impressed” meme.

What the world didn’t know: Nassar had abused her the night before, she tweeted in October 2017.

When she landed the vault in the team competition, “it was the greatest moment of my life,” her father says.

“When I think about it now, it makes me want to throw up.”

Nassar’s downfall

After the 2012 Olympics, Nassar’s stature with the national team began to slip. In 2013, USA Gymnastics’ then-president, Steve Penny, began a reorganization of medical services, adding oversight to a program that was informal and inefficient, Mr. Penny says. Nassar had already been told to stop photographing the gymnasts, he says.

Nassar also had a close call. In the spring of 2014, Michigan State opened a Title IX investigation after a patient accused him of molesting her. The university cleared him. State police referred the case to local prosecutors, who didn’t bring charges. The investigations weren’t disclosed to USA Gymnastics, according to the national team and Michigan State.

Nassar still presented himself as the gymnasts’ protector. In July 2015, Ms. Raisman appeared in ESPN magazine’s “Body Issue.” Nassar emailed a USA Gymnastics official: “Really!?!?!?! Can’t they wait until they retire before they take their clothes off!”

At that time, Mr. Penny was scrambling to manage allegations against Nassar. On June 17, 2015, Mr. Penny received a call from a USA Gymnastics executive: A gymnast’s personal coach had overheard two gymnasts discussing concerns about Nassar’s treatment at the Karolyi ranch, the Journal reported in February 2017.

USA Gymnastics has said it didn’t immediately contact law enforcement. Instead, Mr. Penny hired Fran Sepler, an investigator, to speak with the gymnasts.

A USA Gymnastics lawyer emailed Nassar in July that “certain gymnasts had expressed discomfort” with “certain areas of their bodies being touched” and that the matter was under investigation, according to emails the Journal reviewed. Nassar responded that he didn’t intend to cause discomfort, offering to send videos of his treatments, the emails show. The lawyer told Nassar to keep his distance from USA Gymnastics. Weeks later, Nassar announced he was retiring.

Ms. Raisman says she made clear to USA Gymnastics officials that if Ms. Sepler wanted to talk to anybody about this, she had to talk to Ms. Maroney. Ms. Raisman says she, too, only realized she was abused in 2015 and blames institutions she says let her down. “I never should have ever met him.”

‘Broken’ body

By the summer of 2015, Ms. Maroney at age 19 was home in the Los Angeles area pursuing a music career, all but retired from gymnastics.

After London, she had resumed training, defending her world title on vault in 2013. But her “whole body felt like it was broken,” she said in a video interview, aired in February 2016, with Jessica O’Beirne, who runs a popular gymnastics podcast.

Ms. Maroney was struggling with unexplained illnesses, she said in her lawsuit. She had no energy and couldn’t keep food down. “It’s weird what depression can do to you,” she said in the podcast interview.

Mr. Penny had stayed in touch with Ms. Maroney, offering to help launch her music career. On July 22, 2015, he sent her a text with a more urgent request: I need to talk to you.

Two days later, she met with Ms. Sepler in Los Angeles. Afterward, Ms. Sepler told Mr. Penny that Ms. Maroney had described likely sexual assault and recommended reporting the matter to law enforcement, according to emails and a person familiar with the exchange.

Mr. Penny called Scott Blackmun, then the USOC’s chief executive, to tell him about the allegations, the Journal reported in February 2018. On July 28, 2015, Mr. Penny and Paul Parilla —then the vice chairman of the USA Gymnastics board—went with the organization’s legal counsel to meet with FBI officials in Indianapolis.

Mr. Parilla didn’t respond to requests for comment. Mr. Blackmun declined to comment; he previously told the Journal he encouraged Mr. Penny to turn the matter over to law enforcement. In a statement provided by a spokeswoman, Ms. Sepler said her role had been to determine “if certain concerns raised were legitimate, and I determined in just a matter of days that they were.”

So began a nine-month period in which abuse allegations against Nassar languished with federal law enforcement. From July to September, Mr. Penny emailed with FBI agents in Indianapolis, offering to arrange interviews and provide information, and seeking approval and advice on communications with third parties, including Nassar, say people familiar with the emails.

Mr. Penny’s lawyer, Leigh Robie, says he sought guidance because he didn’t want to do anything that would compromise the investigation or the athletes’ privacy.

Mr. Penny tried to arrange FBI interviews with at least two gymnasts, including Ms. Maroney, whom he called “the most aggrieved party,” says one of the people familiar with the emails. A proposed meeting between Ms. Maroney and FBI agents in Indianapolis didn’t take place, Mr. Maroney says.

In September, an FBI agent told Mr. Penny the case would be transferred to Detroit, in Nassar’s home state, the people familiar with the emails say. Instead of an in-person meeting, an FBI agent spoke with Ms. Maroney over the phone, the people say. The agent in charge of the Indianapolis field office wrote to Mr. Penny that “pertinent interviews” had been completed and sent to the Detroit FBI and to a federal prosecutors’ office in Michigan, they say.

Neither the Indianapolis nor Detroit field office opened a formal investigation, say people familiar with the episode. Ms. Maroney didn’t hear from the FBI office again, these people say. Other gymnasts say FBI agents didn’t reach out to them at the time.

Months went by, Nassar wasn’t arrested, and Ms. Maroney’s depression appeared to worsen, her father says. He thinks she had concealed the abuse even from herself. “You put it in a little place in your brain,” he says. “You hide it.”

In February 2016, Mr. Penny met Ms. Maroney at a Malibu restaurant, along with her mother and a friend of Ms. Maroney’s, for what Mr. Penny recalls as a casual get-together while he was in town. One of the other people at the lunch says Mr. Penny seemed anxious that Ms. Maroney hadn’t done any promotional work for the coming Rio Olympics.

Through Ms. Robie, Mr. Penny says that he had been concerned about Ms. Maroney’s well-being and that they discussed possible musical opportunities for her, including at USA Gymnastics events.

Mr. Penny tried to assure Ms. Maroney change was under way at the Karolyi ranch. “A lot happened” at the Karolyi ranch, she told him, her eyes welling up with tears, says the person present.

“We failed you,” Mr. Penny replied, this person recalls. “And for that I’m never going to be able to apologize enough.” Mr. Penny, through Ms. Robie, says he “didn’t recall his exact words, but the sentiment was consistent with how he felt.”

That spring, Messrs. Penny and Parilla reported Nassar to the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, and agents there opened an official investigation.

In August 2016, the Indianapolis Star began publishing a series of articles about sexual abuse in youth gymnastics, and two gymnasts filed claims against Nassar in a police report and lawsuit, respectively. A subsequent article about those claims surprised some USA Gymnastics board members, who say they hadn’t been told of allegations against Nassar.

In November 2016, Nassar was arrested on state sexual-abuse charges in Michigan. The following month, federal prosecutors charged him with child-pornography counts.

As women came forward that autumn with allegations against Nassar, secret settlement negotiations were under way between USA Gymnastics and Ms. Maroney, whose father had hired lawyer Gloria Allred to go after the organization.

Ms. Maroney and her parents met with a mediator in Los Angeles, according to people familiar with the meeting. For the first time, five years after it happened, Mr. Maroney heard his daughter describe her Tokyo experience.

USA Gymnastics representatives, including Mr. Penny and lawyer Margaret Holm, were in a separate room from the Maroneys and their lawyers, including Ms. Allred, while the mediator moved between the two parties, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions.

During the discussions, USA Gymnastics representatives asked Ms. Maroney for details about her abuse, while encouraging her to take less money than the family had previously sought and to sign a nondisclosure agreement, several of the people say.

Mr. Maroney says USA Gymnastics told the family, through the two parties’ lawyers and the mediator, that the organization only had up to $6 million in insurance coverage and had to save for other possible settlements. “They wanted to help the other girls,” Mr. Maroney says he was told.

Ms. Maroney felt the discussions were like a “brutal cross-examination,” says a person familiar with them.

Ms. Allred took Ms. Maroney out of the room, and Ms. Maroney called her father. “Dad, I can’t handle this,” her father says she told him. “Money isn’t that important.”

Ms. Holm declines to comment on the mediation process but disputes the description of the discussions. “I take great pride in representing my clients, and showing great respect to parties who have brought suits,” she says.

Ms. Maroney signed a confidential settlement on Dec. 30, 2016, for $1.25 million, the Journal reported in December 2017. By then, scores of women had filed police claims against Nassar. Several had also filed civil claims against USA Gymnastics, Michigan State and others.

The USA Gymnastics board wasn’t told of Ms. Maroney’s confidential settlement, a former board member says. The board learned a year later, when Ms. Maroney asked in her lawsuit to be released from her nondisclosure agreement.

Ms. Maroney said in her October 2017 Twitter post she was abused by Nassar. Including Ms. Maroney, four of the “Fierce Five” have come forward to say they are victims of Nassar.

Ms. Maroney largely disappeared from the public eye, apart from a victim-impact statement read on her behalf at Nassar’s January state sentencing. She remains “fragile,” her father says, and disheartened she might not be remembered as a “world-class athlete” but as a victim.

“In my whole gymnastics career, I was trained to be quiet,” Ms. Maroney said in her New York appearance this week. She said her parents, like those of teammates, are struggling with guilt for having failed to recognize Nassar’s abuse.

“I, at times,” she said, “question whether my gymnastics career was worth it.”

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pooma-bible · 3 years ago

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Sister. Savita Manwani

Praise the Lord! Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Welcome to this time of word ministration.

Let us Pray: Gracious heavenly Father, we come boldly to thy throne of Grace thanking you for this day and this opportunity you gave us to hear from your word. I pray Lord that you give us an understanding mind, a receptive heart and enable us to receive your word with gladness and be changed and renewed for thy Glory. In Jesus Name… AMEN

TOPIC - INTIMACY WITH GOD

SCRIPTURE TEXT - Revelation 3:14-20

Throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament times, the Bible has presented God as one who desires with all his heart to have an intimate relationship with his creation. But time and again the creation has stiff armed Him and refuses to go to the level of intimacy God desires and wants us to have. We simply maintain a polite, casual and respectful relation but are not intimate in our relationship to God.

The Bible presents God as the loving Father who waits for His son to return to Him just like the story in the Prodigal son. The Father waits and waits for his son to come back. He never gives up. God is also presented in the Bible as a Shepherd whose sheep have decided to go and do their own things and it breaks the Shepherd’s heart. God is seen in the Garden of Eden wandering and wondering where His created ones are.

Our Heavenly Father desires a relationship with us. Not a relationship that is casual, distant and respectful, not based on situations and circumstances. God wants a relationship that is characterized by intimacy.

Revelation 3:15 – “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot, I could wish you were cold or hot”

Now these are the church people whom God says that I have seen what you have and you are pretty good but not great. And you believe but you are not really living out your beliefs but rather you have abandoned your beliefs.

He says, I wish you were either one or the other. I wish you were either red hot, passionately in love with me, more fervent in spirit, zealously serving God’s kingdom with their whole hearts; or I wish you were “cold,” that is, abandoned the faith altogether, showing themselves to be what they really are—unbelievers.

Laodicea was the wealthiest of the seven cities known for its banking industry, textile industry that manufactured wool, and a medical school that produced eye salve. The city’s major weakness was lack of adequate water. At one time, an aqueduct was built to bring water to the city from hot springs. But by the time the water reached the city, it was neither hot nor refreshingly cool – it was only lukewarm. The church was neither hot nor cold: neither out and out for God, nor out and out for the Devil. The church had become as bland as the tepid water that came into the city.

Rev. 3:16 – “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth”.

Something cold is always refreshing and something hot refers to hot medicinal waters of near Heirapolis hot springs. The church of Laodicea supplied to neither the healing of the spiritually sick nor provided refreshment to the spiritually weary. The church had become distasteful and repugnant similar to a lukewarm drink that makes a disgustful drink. The believers did not take a stand for anything. Indifference had led to idleness. By neglecting to do anything for Christ, the church had become hardened and self-satisfied and was destroying itself. Do not settle for following God halfway. Let Christ fire up your faith and get you into action.

God is saying, and because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. And God says to them…You are good people, a good church but it is not what I originally desired and it’s not what I longed for.

Remember a lukewarm life is a displeasure to God. If they are not hot or cold, of course, He says that He will spit them out of His mouth (v. 16). This is a warning. God will not abide a lukewarm Christianity or a heart that is only partially His. No, God demands our whole lives. Why shouldn’t He? He is the God of the universe, the very Creator of our hearts. But more than that, He gave us His whole life in Jesus Christ. So, yes, lukewarmness is bad, and Christ wants us to be wholeheartedly dedicated to Him and His kingdom.

Rev. 3:17 – Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked’

Some believers assume that numerous material possessions are a sign of God’s spiritual blessings. Laodicea was a wealthy city and the church also was wealthy. But what the Laodiceans could see and buy had become more valuable to them than what is unseen and eternal. Wealth, luxury and ease can make people feel confident, satisfied and complacent. But no matter how much you possess or how much money you make you have nothing if you don’t have a vital relationship with Christ. Instead of centering your life primarily on comfort and luxury, find your true riches in Christ.

Rev. 3:18 – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

The Laodiceans took pride in 3 things: Financial wealth, an extensive textile industry and a famous eye salve.

The city has its pride in its wealth and Christ told them to buy gold from him (the real spiritual treasures). The city was proud of its cloth and dyeing industries, Christ told them to buy white garments from him (the garments of righteousness). Laodicea prided itself on its precious eye salve that healed many eye problems. Christ told them to buy salve for their eyes so that they could see the truth.

Christ was showing them that true value was not in material possessions but in a right relationship with God. Their possessions and achievements were valueless compared with the everlasting future of Christ’s Kingdom.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, never put your trust in earthly riches but heavenly.

Rev. 3:19 – As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

As God’s redeemed children we are disciplined. Just as a human father disciplines his child, heavenly Father also disciplines us so that we might repent of our sins and grow in grace.

God would discipline this lukewarm church unless it turned from its indifference towards him. God’s purpose in discipline is not to punish us but to bring us back to him. God uses only loving discipline to help us out of our uncaring attitude. We can draw near to him again through confession, service, worship and by studying his word. Just allow the Holy Spirit re-ignite our zeal for God. Allow Him to work in our hearts.

Rev.3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.

And then he says, Here I am! Here I am!

In other words, you are church people, you are religious people, you got some good deeds and some bad deeds, some church activities are going on but I want you to know contrast – Here I am!

I know you are busy, I know you are religious but Here I am! And I stand at the door of you group of Christian people. I stand outside the door and I knock. Now, if he is God, He can just get inside or huff and puff and blow the house down. If he is God, then, why is he knocking? I mean just go in. It’s your church. These are your people – just go in and have your way with them. And Jesus says, No! I am just going to knock.

And throughout scripture we find God searching but he is not searching like you know where did they go? where did they go?. He is searching for the very thing He paid such a huge price to provide for us. He is searching for the nature of relationship we had in the beginning and that He will have in the end and it’s a relationship characterized by intimacy.

Here is Jesus pictured outside a church of religious people saying, I want in. I don’t want you to just talk about me, believe in me, I want a relationship that only you can allow me to have with you because I can’t force you to love me and so we sometimes as Christians and like other world religions, instead of an intimate relationship we opt for religion. You see, religion is a response to God that allows you to treat God respectfully but not intimately. Religion makes God a kind of formula or it’s a deal you make with God. Religion teaches you to get God do things for you. It makes you self-centered. It’s all about me, my and myself.

Religion makes you judgmental, it kills you, alienates you from people and ultimately religion will make God a stranger to you and you to Him. And one day God will say, “I don’t Know You”.

To be intimate with God

1. We need to give Him time – unrushed and unstructured. Give God private time. Without giving anybody time we cannot have intimacy. Therefore, spend quality time with God – praising, worshipping, praying, reading His word, studying and meditating His word and hearing from Him.

2. It requires transparency – If there is not going to be transparency, there is no intimacy which means you need to be honest with god. If you are tired, frustrated, a little mad at something, tell it to God. Even when your heart is full of jealousy or lust you go and tell him. When there is intimacy there is transparency. You get all of me, the good and the bad. If you accept the good and bad in me and I accept the good and the bad in you, then we got a relationship that is enviable. And that is intimacy.

Learn to pour out your heart. God doesn’t want you to be polite but honest. He sent His son to die for you and me so that He may have intimacy with us.

3. There has to be submission: Submission is the most powerful relational dynamic in the world. It says this, I am going to harness all my abilities and talents and you are going to harness all your abilities and talents in love or whatever in my best interest. When both are in mutual submission, there is intimacy - whether it is a relation between you and God, husband and wife, or between you and your parents or between employer and employee.

The Laodiceans were self- satisfied. They didn’t have Christ’s presence among them. Christ knocked at the door of their hearts but they were so busy enjoying worldly pleasures that they didn’t notice that He was trying to enter. The pleasure of this world – money, security, material possessions can be dangerous because their temporary satisfaction makes us indifferent to God’s offer of lasting satisfaction.

If you find yourself feeling indifferent to church, to God or to the Bible, you have begun to shut God out of your life. Leave the door of your heart constantly open to God and you won’t need to worry about hearing His knock. Letting Him in is your only hope for lasting fulfillment.

Jesus knocks at the door of your heart because he wants to save you, have fellowship with you. He is patient and persistent in trying to get through to us, not breaking and entering but knocking. He allows us to decide whether or not to open our life to Him.

Do you intentionally keep His life changing presence and power on the other side of the door?

Jesus says, “Here I am!” It’s our move now to say, Yes Lord, I want intimacy with you. When you will do this, it will change your life. You will be unreligiously freed up person. Your life will never be the same and when that relationship becomes intimate, God will never leave you and you will never leave God.

Allow me to end here. Hope you are all blessed by this message.

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orbemnews · 4 years ago

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Extremists Find a Financial Lifeline on Twitch Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman, a podcaster who fought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, recently railed against mask mandates to her 4,000 fans in a live broadcast and encouraged them to enter stores maskless. On another day, she grew emotional while thanking them for sending her $84,000. Millie Weaver, a former correspondent for the conspiracy theory website Infowars, speculated on her channel that coronavirus vaccines could be used to surveil people. Later, she plugged her merchandise store, where she sells $30 “Drain the Swamp” T-shirts and hats promoting conspiracies. And a podcaster who goes by Zak Paine or Redpill78, who pushes the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, urged his viewers to donate to the congressional campaign of an Ohio man who has said he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 6. All three spread their messages on Twitch, a livestreaming video site owned by Amazon that has become a new mainstream base of operations for many far-right influencers. Streamers like them turned to the site after Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms clamped down on misinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2020 election. Twitch comes with a bonus: The service makes it easy for streamers to make money, providing a financial lifeline just as their access to the largest online platforms has narrowed. The site is one of the avenues, along with apps like Google Podcasts, where far-right influencers have scattered as their options for spreading falsehoods have dwindled. Twitch became a multibillion-dollar business thanks to video gamers broadcasting their play of games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Fans, many of whom are young men, pay the gamers by subscribing to their channels or donating money. Streamers earn even more by sending their fans to outside sites to either buy merchandise or donate money. Now Twitch has also become a place where right-wing personalities spread election and vaccine conspiracy theories, often without playing any video games. It is part of a shift at the platform, where streamers have branched out from games into fitness, cooking, fishing and other lifestyle topics in recent years. But unlike fringe livestreaming sites like Dlive and Trovo, which have also offered far-right personalities moneymaking opportunities, Twitch attracts far larger audiences. On average, 30 million people visit the site each day, the platform said. Twitch “monetizes the propaganda, which is unique,” said Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who tracks extremists online. She said it was as though listeners of the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who died in February, were donating in real time and chipping in greater sums whenever Mr. Limbaugh shared more controversial ideas. “You can turn the dial up and down and turn the flow of money up and down by saying certain things on your stream,” Ms. Squire said. At least 20 channels associated with far-right movements have started broadcasting on Twitch since the fall, according to data compiled by Genevieve Oh, a livestreaming analyst. Some are associated with QAnon, the false theory that former President Donald J. Trump is fighting a cabal of Democratic pedophiles. The channels range from intermittent broadcasters with several hundred views to ones that go live nearly every day and attract thousands of viewers. In a statement, Sara Clemens, Twitch’s chief operating officer, said QAnon users were only a “small handful” of the seven million people who streamed on the site each month. “We will take action against users that violate our community policies against harmful content that encourages or incites self-destructive behavior, harassment, or attempts or threatens to physically harm others, including through misinformation,” she said. Twitch viewers support streamers through monthly subscriptions of $5, $10 or $25 to their channels, or by donating “bits,” a Twitch currency that can be converted to real money. The site also runs advertisements during streams. The platform and streamers split the revenue from ads and subscriptions. It is difficult to determine how much money individual streamers earn from their Twitch channels, but some of the far-right personalities have made many thousands of dollars. By viewing chat logs of streams that denote when a new user has subscribed, Ms. Oh has tallied at least $26,000 in subscriptions for Ms. Maras-Lindeman since December and about $5,000 in “bit” donations before Twitch took its cut. Ms. Weaver has earned nearly $3,000 since she began streaming regularly on Twitch in March, according to Ms. Oh’s tally, and Mr. Paine has made at least $5,000. Those numbers do not account for money made in other ways, such as through Square’s Cash App or Ms. Weaver’s online merchandise store. Twitch generally has stricter rules than other social media platforms for the kinds of views that users can express. It temporarily suspended Mr. Trump’s account for “hateful conduct” last summer, months before Facebook and Twitter made similar moves. Its community guidelines prohibit hateful conduct and harassment. Ms. Clemens said Twitch was developing a misinformation policy. This month, Twitch announced a policy that would allow it to suspend the accounts of people who committed crimes or severe offenses in real life or on other social media platforms, including violent extremism or membership in a known hate group. Twitch said it did not consider QAnon to be a hate group. Despite all this, a Twitch channel belonging to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, a white nationalist organization, remained online until the middle of this month after The New York Times inquired about it. And the white nationalist Anthime Joseph Gionet, known as Baked Alaska, had a Twitch channel for months, even though he was arrested in January by the F.B.I. and accused of illegally storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Twitch initially said his activities had not violated the platform’s policies, then barred him this month for hateful conduct. Ms. Maras-Lindeman and Mr. Paine are Twitch Partners, a coveted status that grants improved customer support and greater options to customize streams. Twitch vets these channels to approve what they do. The company’s website says partners should “act as role models to the community.” Ms. Maras-Lindeman, who is barred from Twitter, averaged about 3,000 viewers a broadcast in March, and her live video broadcast quickly became one of the 1,200 most popular channels across all of Twitch. Her streams are often akin to extended monologues about current events. Sometimes, the “O” in her “ToreSays” username is replaced with a fiery “Q,” and she uses the slogan “Where we go one, we go all,” both symbols of the QAnon movement. She has encouraged her viewers to find legal avenues to throw Ohio legislators out of office because, she said, they were elected using illegitimate voting machines. “You want a great reset? Here it is. We’re going to do it our way, and that’s by eliminating you,” she said during one January stream. Aside from money made on Twitch, Ms. Maras-Lindeman’s fans donated more than $84,000 for her birthday through a GoFundMe campaign. She said the donations went toward a new car, medical treatments and a lawyer. In an email, Ms. Maras-Lindeman disputed the characterization of her as a member of the far right and said she did not advocate violence. “It is not a crime to discuss science and challenge popular current narratives or express my thoughts and opinions,” she said. On a recent stream, Ms. Maras-Lindeman addressed questions emailed to her for this article. She said she was a “centrist” who was simply encouraging her viewers to become more politically active. Mr. Paine’s channel has more than 14,000 followers and is rife with conspiracy theories about vaccines and cancer. In one stream, he and a guest encouraged viewers to drink a bleach solution that claims to cure cancer, which the Food and Drug Administration has said is dangerous. Last week, he referred to a QAnon belief that people are killing children to “harvest” a chemical compound from them, then talked about a “criminal cabal” controlling the government, saying people do not understand “what plane of existence they come from.” Mr. Paine, who is barred from Twitter and YouTube, has also asked his Twitch audience to donate to the House campaign of J.R. Majewski, an Air Force veteran in Toledo, Ohio, who attracted attention last year for painting his lawn to look like a Trump campaign banner. Mr. Majewski has used QAnon hashtags but distanced himself from the movement in an interview with his local newspaper, The Toledo Blade. Mr. Majewski has appeared on Mr. Paine’s streams, where they vape, chat about Mr. Majewski’s campaign goals and take calls from listeners. “He is exactly the type of person that we need to get in Washington, D.C., so that we can supplant these evil cabal criminal actors and actually run our own country,” Mr. Paine said on one stream. Neither Mr. Paine nor Mr. Majewski responded to a request for comment. Joan Donovan, a Harvard University researcher who studies disinformation and online extremism, said streamers who rely on their audience’s generosity to fund themselves felt pressured to continue raising the stakes. “The incentive to lie, cheat, steal, hoax and scam is very high when the cash is easy to acquire,” she said. Source link Orbem News #Extremists #Financial #Find #Lifeline #Twitch

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