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dan6085 · 1 year

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During the colonial era, the British Empire amassed vast amounts of wealth through exploitation, trade, and conquest. This wealth included gold, jewels, and other valuable resources, as well as money obtained through taxation and other means.

Some of these resources and treasures were taken directly from colonial territories and brought back to Britain. For example, the British East India Company, which controlled much of India during the colonial period, shipped large quantities of gold, silver, and precious stones back to Britain. Similarly, the British government seized vast amounts of wealth from its colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, including gold, diamonds, and other precious resources.

Additionally, the British Empire used its economic and military power to extract resources and wealth from its colonies through trade and other means. For example, Britain forced many of its colonies to produce cash crops such as tea, coffee, and cotton for export to Britain, which generated significant wealth for British merchants and traders.

The impact of colonialism on the economic and social development of colonized countries has been a subject of much debate and analysis. One key aspect of this impact is the way in which colonial powers extracted wealth and resources from their colonies, often through exploitative means.

During the colonial era, the British Empire was one of the world's most powerful and influential colonial powers. Through conquest, trade, and diplomacy, Britain established colonies and territories in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific. These colonies were often rich in natural resources and human labor, which the British Empire exploited for its own economic benefit.

One key mechanism for extracting wealth from colonies was through trade. Britain established a system of trade in which raw materials and resources were extracted from colonies and shipped back to Britain for processing and manufacturing. The finished goods were then sold back to the colonies at a much higher price, generating significant profits for British merchants and traders.

Another way in which the British Empire extracted wealth from its colonies was through taxation and other forms of economic exploitation. For example, in India, the British East India Company imposed heavy taxes on Indian goods and the Indian people, which generated significant revenue for the British government. Similarly, in Africa, the British Empire imposed taxes on local populations and forced them to work on plantations or in mines, often under brutal conditions.

The wealth extracted from colonies by the British Empire was used to fund Britain's own economic development and infrastructure. This included investments in industries such as textiles and shipping, as well as the construction of public works such as railways and canals. However, the benefits of this economic development were not evenly distributed, and many working-class people in Britain continued to experience poverty and hardship.

The question of whether to provide reparations or compensation for the harms caused by colonialism is a complex and controversial issue. There are a variety of arguments both for and against providing such reparations or compensation.

Arguments in favor of providing reparations or compensation include:

1. Historical injustice: Proponents argue that colonialism was a historical injustice that caused significant harm to colonized peoples and their descendants. Providing reparations or compensation is a way to acknowledge and redress this injustice.

2. Economic development: Some argue that providing reparations or compensation could help promote economic development and reduce poverty in former colonies. This could include funding for infrastructure, education, or other programs that support economic growth.

3. Moral obligation: Many argue that former colonial powers have a moral obligation to provide reparations or compensation for the harm caused by colonialism. This obligation may stem from a sense of responsibility for past wrongs, or from a recognition of the ongoing effects of historical injustices.

Arguments against providing reparations or compensation include:

1. Practical challenges: Some argue that providing reparations or compensation would be difficult or impossible to implement in practice. This may be due to legal, logistical, or financial challenges.

2. Responsibility of current governments: Critics argue that former colonial powers are not solely responsible for the economic and social conditions of former colonies. Current governments in these countries also have a responsibility to address poverty and underdevelopment.

3. Lack of accountability: Some argue that providing reparations or compensation would not hold individual perpetrators of colonialism accountable for their actions. Instead, it would be a blanket solution that could overlook individual responsibility.

Overall, the question of whether to provide reparations or compensation for the harms caused by colonialism is a complex and contentious issue. While some argue that it is a moral imperative to do so, others question the practicality and effectiveness of such an approach. Ultimately, any decision about reparations or compensation would need to take into account the unique historical and political contexts of individual countries and regions.

Today, the legacy of colonialism and the extraction of wealth and resources continues to shape the economic and social conditions of many former colonies. Many countries continue to struggle with poverty, inequality, and underdevelopment, while the wealth accumulated by colonial powers remains concentrated in a few wealthy countries. There are ongoing debates about whether and how reparations or compensation should be provided to address the harms caused by colonialism.

There have been calls for reparations or compensation for the harm caused by colonialism, including the seizure of wealth and resources. However, these efforts face significant political and legal challenges, and there is no consensus on how such compensation should be calculated or distributed.

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years

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"Two Alleged Members of Daring Gang of Western Bank Robbers are Captured in Toronto Hotel," Toronto Star. August 12, 1912. Page 2 & 1. --- POLICE OF NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C., ARE COMING TO TAKE THE PRISONERS BACK - HELD WITHOUT BAIL IN TORONTO JAIL - HOW THE CAPTURE WAS BROUGHT ABOUT BY TORONTO SLEUTHS --- Walter Davis Falls Into Trap While Passing Bank of Montreal Bills --- Police Capture Man Loaded With Loot of New Westminster Bank Robbery. ---- ARRESTED IN HOTEL AFTER LONG SEARCH ---- Goes by Name of Davis Woman Companion Is Taken With Him. ---- HELD WITHOUT BAIL ---- Believed to Be One Who Participated in $350,000 Burglary. ---- In the arrest on Saturday night of Walter and Alice Davis, alias Welsh, the police authorities believe they have caught the people who, for the past month, have been circulating some of the stolen Bank of Montreal notes, which were taken from the New Westminster branch on September 15, 1911. The robbery of this bank was one of the biggest known on the western coast, as on the night the building was entered, the safe was blown, and $345,000 in bank bills was stolen, of which amount $145,000 was in new notes, which had never been placed in circulation. Since that time the police of both Canada and the States has been looking for the burglars, the Pinkerton agency being detailed by the bank.

General Trap Set. The case was a hard one for the police to handle owing to the notes turning up occasionally in quite remote parts of the States, and it was equally difficult for the burglars to pass the notes, owing to the fact that the authorities had been furnished with a complete list of the numbers and series.

A month ago the local detective department were warned that the note passers were working in this city. They at once adopted a very successful system, that of supplying all hotel's, theatres, cigar stores, drug stores and other places where money is being changed dally with a list of the stolen notes. The first answer came the last week in July, when it was known that a man of the McKinney Hotel, on Front street, handed one of these notes over the bar, took change, but didn't wait for his drink. That seemed suspicious, but all the police could secure was a description of the man.

The Capture. Again on August 7, a woman entered the Wm. Goldstein cigar store at 82 Yonge street, made a small purchase, and left another of the stolen notes for change. Again all the authorities got was a description. The third note came to the attention of the police on Saturday morning when a man went into the same cigar store, bought cane, had one of the notes changed, but not being satisfied with this, offered still another. This time the man stayed so long that a very careful description could be given the detectives.

At ten at night Detectives Mitchell and Cronin saw a man answering the description standing by the desk at the Palmer House. the took him to where he was identified as the man who passed the bill, but denied any offence, saying that the bills had been passed on him. In his room at the hotel the detectives for Alice Davis, together with $2,020 notes, bearing the numbers of the stolen series, and $7,180 in notes of smaller denominations. Some was in gold, but all was seized by the police.

Held Without Bail. When searched at the detective headquarters, Davis was well supplied with funds. He was carrying $893 in bills, and $41 in silver, none of these being Bank of Montreal bills.

It is recalled of the robbery that the Chinese watchman at the bank was bound and gagged, and that the burglars left a large quantity of gold coin, which was well worn. All the $345,000 was in money which could be immediately placed in circulation. This makes the fourth arrest in the case. John McNamara, of San Francisco, was arrested in New York in January, and Frank Holloway in Chicago in the same month.

The charge against the couple in court was bringing stolen money into Toronto. They are being held without bail, as a telegram has already been received from New Westminster say- ing the police are coming to take them back. Both were neatly dressed, in quiet colors, so as to attract as little attention as possible. Other firms on whom stolen bills have been passed are Hickey's of Yonge street, and the St. Leger Shoe Co. Caption: DETECTIVE MITCHELL, a shrewd officer, who assisted in the arrest of the alleged bank robbers. Top right: SCENE OF ARREST OF ALLEGED BANK ROBBERS The Palmer House, Toronto, where David Walters and Alice Davis were taken into custody Saturday night. They are believed to be members of the gang of safe blowers who stole $350,000 from the Bank of Montreal at New Westminster, B.C.

DETECTIVE CRONIN, whose splendid work in the bank robbery case stamps him as an officer of the highest order.

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"DO NOT THINK DAVIS HAD HAND IN ROBBERY OF BANK," Toronto Star. August 12, 1912. Page 1. --- Vancouver Police Think Man Arrested in Toronto Is Friend of Those Who Cracked the Safe There. ---- Special to The Star. Vancouver, Aug. 12. - That Walter Davis, arrested in Toronto, was a friend of Dean and McNamara, who are believed to have actually cracked the safe of the Bank of Montreal at Westminster, is the belief of Pinkerton Superintendent P. K. Ahearn, of Vancouver. Davis and Powell, who are now fighting extradition in Detroit, are believed to be the men to whom a portion of the funds were turned over, but it is not thought they had a hand in the actual robbery of the bank. There is no such evidence against them at present, though it is possible they were companions of McNamara and Dean at the time.

Dean was called in the Westminster court this morning and remanded. There are a dozen witnesses on hand ready to testify that he was in Westminster at the time of the robbery. It is generally believed here that he will turn King's evidence.

ALICE WALSH, arrested on a charge helping Davis to bring stolen money here.

WALTER DAVIS, accused of passing of stolen bills,

#toronto #bank robbery #bank robbers #criminal suspects #wanted criminals #passing stolen cash #stolen cash #police investigation #pinkerton's #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

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kyogre-blue · 5 years

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Nanowrimo, day 15 (wc 1843)

Sinbad laughed, cheerful and light-hearted. “Madam, there are still two more courses! I haven’t even told you yet what we are offering!”

The main course was the black elder moose meat, each of the small pieces full of flavor. A mouthwatering aroma rose from the plates as they were set onto the table. Surreptitiously, Alibaba finally released the small bit of magic keeping them warm.

Amon was definitely going to un-choose him for this.

“How is it?” Sinbad asked as Octavia carefully placed a piece into her mouth and chewed. It was a rhetorical question, and pressing for praise would have just appeared lacking in confidence. “Naturally, we would not consider something as simple as a few ingredients to be worth Madam’s time. To draw the interest of Madam’s esteemed customers and everyone in the city, more is needed.

“Ingredients, recipes and setting — we will provide all of it. Madam, let’s create a new sensation all through Napolia. How does that sound?”

Finishing the last piece of the meat and taking a sip of her drink to wash it down, Madam Octavia smiled slightly. “You’ve certainly thought through it. Almost enough to make it seem like your original intent and not a fallback,” she said, aiming again at their weaknesses. “But such foreign ingredients, recipes and decorations — there is no guarantee they will be popular. My business is doing quite well. Why should I take a risk on this?”

The main course was cleared away, and the desert was set in front of them. Abusing a djinn’s power again, it was a soft frozen treat with a flavor Alibaba still couldn’t understand but which made you want to take another bite to taste it again.

Sinbad leaned forward. “Isn’t it better to gamble on taking the lead instead of just chasing after trends?”

Alibaba, who had been moving back to his position in the background, winced. Not at the harsh sound of a desert dish being struck by a silver spoon, something that the well-cultured Madam Octavia had avoided the entire meal through, but at Sinbad’s misstep that prompted it. Even without looking, he could imagine how frigid the proprietess’s expression would be.

Although he maintained his composure well, there was a faint twitch at the corner of Sinbad’s mouth, giving away his consternation as he realized the same thing.

Originally, all of this had been just to drive up the value of their sale and improve their bargaining position. Whether or not they would be making it hadn’t really been in question. But if the madam flew into a rage, then…

“Surely a businesswoman of Madam’s caliber is also aware of this,” Sinbad pressed on, recovering. “It is better to be an innovator than to simply ride the tide. It is because of Madam’s expertise and deep knowledge of the city and the people that it will be possible to seize the initiative, and everything we provide will naturally still rely on Madam’s alterations to create the best effect.”

“Oh? Is that so…” she drew out. “So you’re counting on me?” But even so, her expression had thawed slightly.

“Let’s say it will be a mutually beneficial partnership,” Sinbad said.

The negotiations were back on track and, sharing a business smile, the two owners enjoyed their desert. And, as the meal came to a close, it was time for the real battle to begin.

“Since you’re looking to enter the trading union, I’ll give you 1000 gold for the whole thing,” Madam Octavia said, naming the first price.

There were many schools of thought about whether it was better to bid first or let the other party put out the first price. Was it better to seize the initiative and control the flow from the start, as Sinbad usually espoused? Or was it better to wait and observe, gaining as much information as possible based on what your opponent offers?

In this case, Alibaba suspected that Madam Olivia had gone first just to avoid letting the young greenhorn in front of her put out a completely unacceptable figure. She wasn’t necessarily wrong. Sinbad and everyone in his group had a very skewed idea of how much anything was worth, if they had any idea at all.

Using the trading union’s membership fee, the madam provided a working base they could understand. However, Alibaba knew that she was also completely scamming them.

...But this was Sinbad’s matter, so it wasn’t his place to say.

Sinbad laughed. “It’s very kind of Madam to consider our position, but the membership fee is no issue for us,” he said. “Since Madam will be taking on a risk and in hopes of future cooperation, we’ll be satisfied with about… ten times that amount.”

“Young man, you are really quite brazen,” Madam Octavia commented. “Twice my offer, as a favor to a junior…”

And thus, the battle had begun.

~.~

In the end, Sinbad hadn’t wished to draw the negotiations out too long, so he had called it perhaps slightly prematurely. However, he seemed satisfied with the outcome. He had traded Rametoto from Valefor’s treasure, especially the magic tools Alibaba cautioned him against selling on the open market, and it had been done in bulk, so it was difficult to even tell whether they had made back the cost of the materials or how much they might have gained.

To the untrained ear, the sheer number of coins involved sounded extremely impressive. They had been given bank notes, but if it had been actual coins, perhaps even Rurumu and Hinahoho would have found it difficult to carry.

The atmosphere was unbreat as Sindria Trading Company’s representatives, plus one, headed back to their newly acquired headquarters. They had done well for themselves in their first business deal, and Madam Octavia had even written off the cost of their reservations as a gesture of good will.

“So,” Sinbad said as the streets around them emptied, “how did I do?”

He had been humming cheerily, and there was still a smile on his lips as he glanced at Alibaba.

“Are you sure you want to hear it?” his friend wondered.

“I can handle it! How badly did she rip us off?”

The others too turned to listen with interest. Alibaba could only sigh, tugging open the narrow collar of his borrowed shirt. “Well, first, you tried to strike at her weak spot because she’d been doing the same, right? But that kind of thing goes badly with people who have a strong pride. She was doing it to test you, a newcomer, and it was her right as a senior to be disdainful. But if you start shooting back, it’s just too disrespectful.”

“Mm. I got that feeling,” Sinbad agreed, sighing and shrugging lightly.

“Elders feel respect is their due, and some are not flexible about propriety,” Rurumu agreed.

“Flirting with her would be even more disrespectful,” Alibaba added dryly.

And that definitely something Sinbad had tried, before Alibaba forcefully made every lamp in the room flicker for a moment. He had been ready to kick him in the shin too, but that might have been too obvious and not fitting for the role of a servant he was playing.

“You didn’t have to be like that. I was just going to compliment her!” Sinbad protested. “Who doesn’t love a compliment?”

“And that’s why you were holding both her hands?”

Sulkily, Sinbad waved away the troublesome topic.

“Aside from that?” Alibaba went on. “It was pretty obvious you were just guessing on how much money to ask for. She just didn’t point it out because it was useful to her.” Unlike every other weakness, which she ruthlessly exposed to undercut them and their credibility.

“What do you think would have been a good number?” Sinbad asked.

Despite the criticisms, he didn’t show any sign of displeasure or wounded pride. His ability to always look forward and continue on his path was truly amazing.

“I also don’t know,” Alibaba admitted. “I’ve never sold as a supplier for a restaurant, I don’t know the going price for rare ingredients, I don’t even know the usual prices at the Octavium. I doubt you could have found out all that in time for this meeting anyway. The bigger problem is that you set a one-off price for the entire set — ingredients, recipes, and decorations — without even discussing how much you’re providing. That she agreed without asking is a pretty clear idea that you’re underselling. She was willing to pay that much just for the idea.”

Sinbad’s eyes slowly widened, and he slapped a hand to his forehead, grimacing.

For him, the entirety of their perishable goods were a single matter to deal with quickly and with as few losses as possible. There was never a question of just selling part of it, so he didn’t think too much about how much there was.

But for a restaurant, whether it was enough for twenty customers, one hundred, or thousands was a big matter.

“Right. You didn’t mention how many fish you’re selling, or how large they are. Well, it would make more sense to discuss it in terms of how many dishes could be created,” Alibaba said. “You could have said, ‘We are providing enough for four thousand individual dishes. Let’s say five gold coins each, for a total of twenty thousand. Of course, since these are unique, limited quantity dishes, Madam will determine the final selling price to the public…’ Then add a separate bulk fee for the recipes and the decorations.”

“Five gold coins for a dish?” Ja’far muttered.

“If it really becomes a trend, the nobility will easily pay several times that,” Alibaba said. “It’s an unheard of, priceless experience. How much the final product sells for is entirely up to her skills as a businesswoman.”

“How much do we have?” Sinbad wondered, his eyebrows furrowing in thought as he tried to think back to their cargo. “It can’t be that much?”

“Did you see the size of the plates? A single fish would be several dozen dishes, at the very least. This is just an example though, I haven’t thought about the numbers,” Alibaba said. He smiled. “Even if you know the basic skills of trade, the details of a market are important too. That’s part of why breaking into a new market is so difficult even for powerful companies.”

Groaning, Sinbad let his head loll bonelessly. “I underestimated the world of business too much,” he mumbled.

“That’s right!” Alibaba laughed. “Don’t look down on merchants! ...Well, that aside, you did well controlling the negotiations. Keeping so calm and confident, especially when you don’t have all the cards, is amazing.”

In fact, Sinbad had done exceptionally well for someone with no background in trade, or business, or restaurants for that matter. Within a few months, once he gained the experience necessary, he would doubtlessly become a terror on the market.

“As expected of Sindria’s founder!” Alibaba praised.

Sinbad grinned back. “Just watch,” he said, “this is just the beginning!”

#nanowrimo #My writing

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dfroza · 4 years

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our Creator’s voice speaks from Heaven

through His Spirit communicating to our hearts.

A point that is made in Today’s reading from the book of Hebrews with chapter 12:

As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

So consider carefully how Jesus faced such intense opposition from sinners who opposed their own souls, so that you won’t become worn down and cave in under life’s pressures. After all, you have not yet reached the point of sweating blood in your opposition to sin. And have you forgotten his encouraging words spoken to you as his children? He said,

“My child, don’t underestimate the value

of the discipline and training of the Lord God,

or get depressed when he has to correct you.

For the Lord’s training of your life

is the evidence of his faithful love.

And when he draws you to himself,

it proves you are his delightful child.”

Fully embrace God’s correction as part of your training, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. For who has ever heard of a child who never had to be corrected? We all should welcome God’s discipline as the validation of authentic sonship. For if we have never once endured his correction it only proves we are strangers and not sons.

And isn’t it true that we respect our earthly fathers even though they corrected and disciplined us? Then we should demonstrate an even greater respect for God, our spiritual Father, as we submit to his life-giving discipline. Our parents corrected us for the short time of our childhood as it seemed good to them. But God corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, giving us an invitation to share his holiness. Now all discipline seems to be more pain than pleasure at the time, yet later it will produce a transformation of character, bringing a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who yield to it.

So be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship. And strengthen your weak knees, for as you keep walking forward on God’s paths all your stumbling ways will be divinely healed!

In every relationship be swift to choose peace over competition, and run swiftly toward holiness, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Watch over each other to make sure that no one misses the revelation of God’s grace. And make sure no one lives with a root of bitterness sprouting within them which will only cause trouble and poison the hearts of many.

Be careful that no one among you lives in immorality, becoming careless about God’s blessings, like Esau who traded away his rights as the firstborn for a simple meal. And we know that later on when he wanted to inherit his father’s blessing, he was turned away, even though he begged for it with bitter tears, for it was too late then to repent.

For we are not coming, as Moses did, to a physical mountain with its burning fire, thick clouds of darkness and gloom, and with a raging whirlwind. We are not those who are being warned by the jarring blast of a trumpet and the thundering voice; the fearful voice that they begged to be silenced. They couldn’t handle God’s command that said,

“If so much as an animal approaches the mountain it is to be stoned to death!”

The astounding phenomena Moses witnessed caused him to shudder with fear and he could only say, “I am trembling in terror!”

By contrast, we have already come near to God in a totally different realm, the Zion-realm, for we have entered the city of the Living God, which is the New Jerusalem in heaven! We have joined the festal gathering of myriads of angels in their joyous celebration!

And as members of the church of the Firstborn all our names have been legally registered as citizens of heaven! And we have come before God who judges all, and who lives among the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect in his eyes!

And we have come to Jesus who established a new covenant with his blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat; blood that continues to speak from heaven, “forgiveness,” a better message than Abel’s blood that cries from the earth, “justice.”

Make very sure that you never refuse to listen to God when he speaks! For the God who spoke on earth from Sinai is the same God who now speaks from heaven. Those who heard him speak his living Word on earth found nowhere to hide, so what chance is there for us to escape if we turn our backs on God and refuse to hear his warnings as he speaks from heaven?

The earth was rocked at the sound of his voice from the mountain, but now he has promised,

“Once and for all I will not only shake the systems of the world,

but also the unseen powers in the heavenly realm!”

Now this phrase “once and for all” clearly indicates the final removal of things that are shaking, that is, the old order, so only what is unshakeable will remain. Since we are receiving our rights to an unshakeable kingdom we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. For our God is a holy, devouring fire!

The Book of Hebrews, Chapter 12 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 18th chapter of First Chronicles that documents moments of David’s monarchy in ancient Israel:

After God blessed David’s monarchy, King David conquered the Philistines—defeating them and seizing their capital city of Gath and its towns.

He defeated the Moabites, who were his relatives through his ancestor Ruth, and the Moabites served David and brought him tribute.

He defeated Hadadezer (king of Zobah) as far as Hamath in Aram, extending the borders of Israel to the Euphrates River. From Hadadezer David seized 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. He cut the leg muscles of all the chariot horses, reserving only 100 for future use with the chariots. When the armies of Damascus in Aram came to help their kinsman Hadadezer, David killed 22,000 Arameans. Then David built garrisons in Damascus, and the Arameans served him and brought him tribute. The Eternal helped David, ensuring his victory, wherever he went. David seized the golden shields from the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. He seized large quantities of bronze from Hadadezer’s cities of Tibhath and Cun (which Solomon later used to cast the bronze basin, pillars, and utensils for the temple). When Tou (king of Hamath in Aram) heard that David had defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, he was overjoyed since he had been fighting with Hadadezer himself. Tou sent his son, Hadoram, to King David to greet him and to bless him with gold, silver, and bronze, for David had fought Hadadezer and had won the victory. King David then dedicated these gifts to the Eternal along with the silver and gold he had seized from these nations: Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.

One of David’s chiefs, Abishai (son of Zeruiah), defeated 18,000 Edomites in the valley of Salt. He built garrisons in Edom, and all the people of that nation served David. The Eternal helped David wherever he went.

David was a just and righteous ruler over all Israel—over his people and the lands he conquered. Joab (son of Zeruiah) led the army; Jehoshaphat (son of Ahilud) was the recorder; Zadok (son of Ahitub) and Abimelech (son of Abiathar) were priests; Shavsha was secretary; Benaiah (son of Jehoiada) governed the Cherethites and the Pelethites. David’s own sons were his trusted chiefs giving him advice.

The Book of 1st Chronicles, Chapter 18 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Sunday, january 17 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

A post by John Parsons that reflects upon an act of rebirth:

The great exodus of Israel from Egypt (יציאת מצרים) is the central parable of the Torah, and indeed of the entire Bible. The bondage of the Israelites to Pharaoh represents humanity’s slavery to sin; deliverance from cruel bondage is effected by trusting in the blood of the sacrificial lamb of God; the exodus from death to life symbolically comes through baptism into the Sea of Reeds; the journey to truth represents the pilgrimage to Sinai, and so on. Indeed, the redemption in Egypt led directly to revelation given at Sinai, and when the LORD God gave the Ten Commandments, he did not begin by saying he was our Creator, but rather our Redeemer: "I am the LORD your God (אָנכִי יְהוָה אֱלהֶיךָ), who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" (Exod. 20:2). This is because the purpose of the creation itself is to demonstrate God's redemptive love and to be known as our Savior and Redeemer, just as Yeshua is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). "All things were created by Him (i.e., Yeshua), and for Him" and in Him all things consist (συνεστηκεν, lit. "stick together") (Col. 1:16-17). Creation therefore begins and ends with the redemptive love of God as manifested in the Person of Yeshua our Mashiach, the great Lamb of God and our Savior... He is the Center of Creation - the Aleph and Tav - the Beginning and the End (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:8). All the world was created for the Messiah: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36). [Hebrew for Christians]

https://hebrew4christians.com/

1.15.21 • Facebook

A message in an email from Glenn Jackson:

January 17th

* When God created man He gave him a perfect freedom. He did not make man an "automaton", controlled automatically by His will. The man God created was not a machine run by God; instead he had perfect freedom of choice. If he chose to obey God, he could; if he decided to rebel against God, he could do that too. Man had in his possession a sovereignty by which he could exercise his volition in choosing to obey or to disobey. This is a most important point, for we must realize that in our spiritual life God never deprives us our freedom. Unless we "actively" cooperate, God will not undertake anything for us. Neither God nor the Devil can do any work without first obtaining our consent, for man's will is free!

...."Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?".... Romans 6:16 The Amplified Translation

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

January 17, 2021

Divine Logistics

“And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let no man prevail against thee.” (2 Chronicles 14:11)

Asa was one of the better kings of Judah (great-grandson of Solomon), and his prayer is a beautiful model of how a servant of God can pray when all the human odds are against him. Asa’s army consisted of 580,000 foot soldiers, whereas the invading Ethiopians had a million-man army with 300 chariots. Yet “the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa” (2 Chronicles 14:8-9, 12), and his prayer prevailed.

The Bible has many such examples: Abraham (Genesis 14:1-16); Gideon (Judges 7:7; 8:10); King Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:14, 19, 35). Before King Saul gained a great victory over the hordes of the Philistines, it was the courageous testimony of Jonathan, his son, that led the way. “It may be that the LORD will work for us,” he had said, “for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). Later, David won many battles against all odds, including his personal victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17:40-49). The servants of the Lord do not need a majority to prevail in the battle against sin and Satan, for “if God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). That is the key, of course. We must not beseech the Lord to fight on our side. He will be for us if we are first on His side!

This was the message of the prophet Azariah to the godly King Asa: “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2). Political power, military might, financial resources—all are futile. “Our help is in the name of the LORD” (Psalm 124:8). HMM

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afishtrap · 7 years

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DURING MANY OF THE YEARS ENCOMPASSED BY THIS STUDY, MASSIVE amounts of foreign silver flowed into China in exchange for raw silk, silk and cotton textiles, porcelain, copper cash, gold, precious stones, mercury and a wide variety of other products. Students of European, Ottoman and South Asian history during this period perhaps will not be surprised to learn that by facilitating rapid monetary growth and greatly enhancing the efficiency of exchange, these imports of silver played an important role in determining the pace and, to a certain lesser extent, the direction of the country's economic development. As was true elsewhere, however, those imports ultimately proved to be a mixed blessing and, for various reasons to be discussed below, did much to undermine the economic and political stability of the Ming (I368-1644) empire during the last few decades of that dynasty's existence.

Atwell, William S. “International Bullion Flows and the Chinese Economy circa 1530-1650.” Past & Present, No. 95 (May, 1982), pp. 68-90.

...the distinguished Japanese authority Iwao Seiichi has calculated that during the opening years of the seventeenth century, Chinese merchant vessels were carrying an average of approximately 23,500 taels (883 kilograms) of silver from Japan to China, a figure which is quite close to the average of 26,666 taels (I,ooo kilograms) seized from each of the three ships mentioned in the above quotation. Moreover, there is considerable evidence to suggest that there were many more than "ten to twenty ships" involved in Sino-Japanese trade at any one time during the period in question. Indeed, individual Chinese entrepreneurs are said to have controlled entire fleets of trading vessels, and when the Ming authorities tried to stamp out smuggling along the Chekiang and Fukien coasts during the late I540s and early I550s, they encountered literally hundreds of "pirate" ships operating out of illicit ports such as Shuang-hsii-kang on Liu-heng Island near Ning-po.

...Almost as soon as they arrived in the area of Manila in the spring of 1571, the conquistadores began a brisk in which they used Peruvian and Mexican silver to purchase large quantities of Chinese goods. In I573, for example, two galleons sailed from the Philippines to Acapulco with a cargo which included, among other things, "712 pieces of Chinese silk and 22,300 pieces of 'fine gilt china and other porcelain ware'. Six years later Francis Drake seized Chinese silk, porcelain and linen during his famous raid along the Pacific coast of North and South America, and when Thomas Cavendish took the Acapulco-bound galleon Santa Ana off California in I587, he is said to have acquired silks and other items worth more than 2,000,000 pesos. Another indication of the growth and extent of Sino-Spanish trade during this period is the fact that between I570 and about i600, the number of Chinese living in the Philippines increased from approximately forty to more than fifteen thousand. Moreover, the latter figure does not include the large number of merchants from Fukien and Kwangtung who travelled across the South China Sea every year to trade.

[...]

The third and final route for Spanish-American silver going to China also began with the flotas de plata, but in this case some of the bullion which arrived in Seville was shipped, legally or illegally, to Amsterdam and London. During the early seventeenth century ships of the Dutch and English East India Companies began carrying some of this silver to South-East Asia, where it was used to purchase pepper, spices and, even more importantly for our purposes here, Chinese luxury goods such as silk and porcelain. Although the amounts of silver involved in this commerce were considerably smaller than those discussed above, they were not unappreciated by the Chinese merchants who had long been a potent economic force in maritime South-East Asia. Indeed, the appearance of bullion-laden European ships in the waters of this region was greeted by an immediate expansion of Chinese commercial activity there. Before long the Chinese were exporting so many Spanish reals from Bantam that they "caused a shortage of these coins in the town, which indicates that the Dutch and English did not have enough barter commodities to obtain the Chinese goods, particularly the silk and porcelain".

[...]

In order to evaluate the significance of these facts for the Ming economy, it is necessary to relate them to certain features of the dynasty's monetary system. Following the collapse of Mongol rule in China during the mid-fourteenth century, the first Ming emperor T'ai-tsu (reigned I368-98) attempted to establish a nationwide currency system based on paper notes and copper coins. Convinced by the experiences of earlier dynasties that such a system could succeed only if precious metals were removed from circulation, T'ai-tsu and his advisors imposed severe restrictions on bullion mining, prohibited the use of silver and gold in commercial transactions, and ordered that commercial taxes were to be paid in government-issued paper notes and copper coins. These policies proved unworkable. Far too much paper currency was printed during the early years of the dynasty with the result that just over a decade after the first notes were issued in 1375, their value vis-2-vis silver had plummeted by 80 per cent and subsequently fell even lower. At the same time, the government failed to produce adequate supplies of copper coins to serve as subsidiary currency for the world's largest and, in many ways, most sophisticated economy. It is thus hardly surprising that silver continued to circulate in economically advanced regions of the country, although the legal restrictions on mining and trading must have kept it in relatively short supply.

#china #east asia #currency #early modern #economics #research #jstor

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thisdaynews · 5 years

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Why Warren’s Big Crowds Are a Big Deal

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/why-warrens-big-crowds-are-a-big-deal/

Why Warren’s Big Crowds Are a Big Deal

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

2020 Elections

The data gurus say her long selfie lines with supporters don’t mean anything. They’re wrong.

After Elizabeth Warren was said to draw a crowd of more than 20,000 people to New York City’s Washington Square Park last week, top political number crunchers were quick to scoff. CNN’s poll analyst Harry Enten vented on Twitter, “Are we really doing this thing on crowd sizes?” HuffPost polling editor Ariel Edwards-Levy did the same: “Good morning, crowd size still is not predictive of electoral results, thank you.” FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver said on MSNBC that “crowd sizes are one of the last things I’d look at” when assessing a candidate’s level of support.

Warren has a lot more than crowds going for her these days. She is having her best week of 2020 primary polling yet, seizing the top spot in Monmouth University’s New Hampshire poll on Tuesday and in theDes Moines Register/CNN Iowa poll this weekend. But the crowds did come first, and despite the scoffing, they weren’t irrelevant to her rise.

Story Continued Below

Unlike data gurus, political reporters tend to think that crowd sizes really do matter, and they often write about them in breathless tones. TheNew York Timesin particular has delved deep into what makes Warren’s big rallies so big. TheTimespodcast “The Daily” dissected the “Anatomy of a Warren Rally” from inside the Washington Square Park crowd, and marveled at how Warren’s followers lustily chanted “two cents” in support of a wealth tax, and how determined they were to wait in post-rally photo lines for a snapshot with the candidate. Two months earlier, theTimespublished a multimedia analysis of the complicated “selfie” line logistics (while quibbling that the photos are taken by a Warren staffer, and therefore, are not selfies.)

So who’s right in thisMoneyball-like debate—the reporters who want to assess a candidate and her supporters in person, or the analytics gurus who scoff at the effort? Do crowd sizes matter?

Um, of course they do. No, they’re not instruments that predict the political future. But so what? Nothing is. As Warren is the latest to prove, crowds are a highly effective tool for earning legitimacy and breaking out of the pack. And, just maybe, they matter even more in the social media era, because big crowds can help campaigns build a get-out-the-vote volunteer army.

Our beloved political data nerds aren’t totally wrong, but they are overstating their case. As FiveThirtyEight’s Nathaniel Rakich wrote earlier this month, “Polls are much more accurate at forecasting elections than crowd-size estimates, which don’t tell us all that much.” But polls are not exactly clairvoyant four months before Election Day. And even if crowds aren’t predictive of who’s going to win the nomination, that doesn’t make them meaningless. It’s clear they mean something.

How could Warren be where she is today—first place in Iowa and New Hampshire, second place nationally—without her crowds? She began her campaign in the low single-digits, awkwardly apologizing for trying to prove her Native American ancestry with a DNA test, and suffering from possibly sexist speculation that she lacked “likability.” As her crowds grew into the thousands, and as her selfie lines became tests of endurance, she was presenting visual evidence that many people liked her, and then some. In the view of political scientist Rachel Bitecofer, big crowds are a way to measure a candidate’s charisma. “In fact, it may be the only way to quantify charisma,” Bitecofer says. “And charisma matters.”

Still, Bernie Sanders’ big crowds weren’t enough for him to win in 2016, nor were Howard Dean’s in 2004. The question for Warren and her crowds in 2020 is whether she can turn enough of her rallygoers into effective campaign workers who can get out the vote, in the places where she needs the most help. Not every rallygoer is positioned to do that. Warren may continue to have the biggest crowds. The more important question is: Compared to her progressive insurgent predecessors, will she havebettercrowds?

In a tight race, a strong get-out-the-vote operation is essential, and that requires a field operation that is intimately familiar with the local terrain. In their definitive guidebookGet Out the Vote,political science professors Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber wrote: “The more personal the interaction between a campaign and potential voter, the more it raises a person’s chances of voting. Door-to-door canvassing by friends and neighbors is the gold standard mobilization tactic.” Warren’s selfie lines are a digital innovation on how to recruit your supporters to engage in peer-to-peer politicking, through social media sharing of the coveted snapshots.

However, not all volunteers are of equal value. Not only does political science research indicate that friends and neighbors make better canvassers than out-of-towners, but also that canvassing is more effective when volunteers are demographically similar to the targeted voters. And even sophisticated, data-savvy campaigns can have trouble strategically deploying volunteers.

In the 2004 Iowa caucuses, crowd quality beat crowd quantity. Howard Dean had long been generating the biggest crowds that year, and then tried to win in the final weeks by parachuting in his biggest fans from out of state to canvas. Dean’s orange-hat brigade inadvertently advertised to Iowans that his surrogates weren’t their friends and neighbors.

Meanwhile, Dean’s rival John Kerry, during a period when his polls were ebbing, quietly built a team of “captains” who actually knew their fellow Iowans, which helped to propel him to a come-from-behind victory. Political scientist Thomas Schaller commented at the time that the Kerry win showed that while “there is much to be said for building support through a bottom-up, follower-based movement, there remains a premium on having a top-down, leadership-driven apparatus to harness that support.”

This cycle, Warren is trying to be the leader in both quantityandquality. Her recent big crowds—10,000-plus in Seattle, St. Paul, and New York City (the Warren campaign’s 20,000 estimate for Washington Square Park was not confirmed by city officials)—have congregated in deep-blue cities that are not part of the February voting contests. But Warren followed her flex in Washington Square Park with a healthy 2,000-person audience at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Where we haven’t heard reports of a strong Warren field operation is in South Carolina—the fourth February state, and the one with a Democratic electorate demographically distinct from the other three. According to entrance and exit poll data from 2016, Iowa and New Hampshire have Democratic electorates that are almost uniformly white, at least half-college educated and slightly more than two-thirds liberal. Nevada’s is not nearly as white, but is almost half-college educated and is 70 percent liberal. South Carolina is majority-black. Sixty percent of its voters lack a college degree and almost half identify as moderate or conservative.

Warren’s rise in the polls has been powered by support from stoutly liberal college-educated whites. Her two-point lead in theDes Moines Register/CNN poll is largely thanks to the 48 percent plurality she got from “very liberal” Iowans. So when Warren draws a big crowd at an Iowa university, she is getting access to potential volunteers who are, in all likelihood, demographically and politically aligned with much of the state’s Democratic electorate.

A college crowd in South Carolina is a different story. The last time Warren was in South Carolina, which was last month, she drew 925 people to the University of South Carolina Aiken, packing a gymnasium to capacity and prompting Warren to give an additional speech to the overflow crowd. But, according to the South Carolina newspaperThe State, the audience was “majority white and many traveled from outside Aiken.” When Warren addressed a black church in Columbia the following day,TheWashington Postreported the event was “sparsely attended.” This weekend, Warren will try again, returning to South Carolina for a town hall at the historically black Clinton College.

To win the nomination, Warren almost certainly needs to make inroads with African-Americans and non-college voters, in South Carolina and elsewhere, where bigger and bigger crowds may not her best weapon. As FiveThirtyEight’s Rakich recently highlighted, a 2018 Pew poll found that those who said they had attended a political rally in the last five years tend to be ideologically liberal and college-educated.

That may help explain why boisterous crowds didn’t help Sanders in 2016 move beyond his natural base of youthful progressives. By the later stages of the campaign, his repetitive rallies may even have created a counterproductive image of insularity. Barack Obama’s enormous crowds in the 2008 primary, of course, were an unmitigated success story. But as an African-American candidate, it was easier for him to fuse a coalition of white, liberal college-educated rallygoers with black voters. If Bernie’s “27 dollars” call-and-response wasn’t enough to grow a diverse coalition, Warren may not be able to either with her “two cents.”

In the early stages of a campaign, neither polls nor crowds are predictive of the final outcome. That doesn’t make them meaningless. Warren’s crowds don’t make her a sure winner, but neither do her new leads in the polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. And if you need to break out of a crowded field, it sure helps to have a crowd.

#crowds #Foreign #Politics #Warren

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wesevereparadisebouquetuniv-blog · 7 years

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Mar 17, 2017

The redistribution of a block of stock some time after it has been bought by the issuing company. The S&P 500 index in its present kind began on March 4, 1957. Know-how has allowed the index to be calculated and disseminated in actual time. link Although it can be argued that the stock market was not overvalued, there may be evidence that many feared that it was overvalued — together with the Federal Reserve Board and the United States Senate. Most traders only give attention to the most important indexes to gauge the market energy and ignore different asset classes. Just send a message or reply to traders and traders by way of the app. There could be no clearer message about not solely the value of celebrities, but additionally the possession of celebrities. Mortgage troubles are rising as prices continue to fall in vulnerable markets; there aren't sufficient patrons to pick up the overhang, declines, or coming foreclosures.

Murray Rothbard once asked Ludwig von Mises at what level on the spectrum of statism is the point that designates a rustic as "socialist." To his surprise, Mises stated that there was, certainly, a clear-lower delineation: The Stock Market. The stock market will not be a monolithic entity. A inventory change, also called a stock market, is an organised market during which industrial and financial securities might be offered and buy. Writer: Olawale Adedipe The Stock market in Nigeria happens to be Africa's best performer for over a decade. The stock market is a automobile that permits establishments and people to take a position their money in companies with a profitable or promising product or service. He included an outdated Paul Samuelson quote about utilizing the stock market to predict recessions: “The stock market has called 9 out of the last five recessions,” Samuelson famously joked. The game can last as briefly as a number of days or weeks and will be performed so long as a number of months.

The Trade is closed for six days and reopens on 7 September. All open limit orders often expire after one hundred twenty days after you place them, or on the first business day if the expiration day falls on a weekend or holiday. Some investment advisers have documented that commodities costs transfer in certain patterns which might be charted and doing so helps you to identify when it is about to interrupt one way or the opposite - go increased or fall decrease. On Wall Avenue, big funding banks could lose a big supply of income if the appetite for bonds backed by mortgages dries up. It has acquired no recent "buys" throughout the past 4 weeks amongst corporations polled by Thomson Reuters. The company operates in four segments: Industrial Process, Movement Applied sciences, Interconnect Solutions, and Management Technologies. This can be a market, which is pushed largely by retail. Nicely the good news is a recovery bounce should be nearing, but if technical evaluation, market sentiment and the stages principle are right then a bounce is all it will likely be followed by years of lower costs and dormancy. And lastly, just precisely where will we find these mythical brave politicians? Inevitably, some firms is not going to do also others.

With any interruption to smooth flow of cash by means of this pile, it is going to immediately turn out to be unstable. Most affiliate companies will provide affiliates with numerous banner kinds, sizes, electronic mail swipes and your unique affiliate hyperlinks. Debt: This quantity should be lower than or about the same because the year earlier than. Each the brief term momentum and the more aggressive Stochastic Oscillator (SO) at the moment are of their unfavourable zones and seem to be heading even lower. By now most readers recognize the monster bull market that gold and silver have loved for nearly a decade. Twice this month, we've got heard studies of cheaper South American corn being shipped into the Carolinas quite than originating corn domestically. Smart pay month-to-month packages are being supplied by distributors of this main software system. Pink: when an order is being deleted from the book, it flashes purple. Soros Fund Administration increased its position by 112.2% in the most-current quarter to about 2 million shares. Some 70 % of Elektra's 242 million shares outstanding are held by Salinas and his family. The implemented strategies are statistically confirmed and widely used.

To seize all of the upside in the approaching value boom you are more than probably going to do significantly better by staying absolutely invested or you might miss one or two of the perfect phases. In case you are in banking,gross sales or work for the federal government,likelihood is you are not an integral a part of the economic system. It turns out, the drug didn't work. That's because that's the place you get the perfect deals. For her part, Timmermann suggests that you calculate Social Security payments and the worthiness of deferring them till age 70 to get the maximum quantity. It is also essential to think about the quantity for the security in question before trading. However, in speculation one intentionally takes up a risk brazenly. Go back a few years: The subprime credit meltdown was widely predicted years upfront. The auditor should confirm the value and worth of such property from the agent certificate or bill of vendors. Potential purchasers ought to much desire sinking prices. According to this, JnJ seems to be extra attractive than Pfizer.

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takenews-blog1 · 7 years

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Two Competing As One: Athletes Who Have Competed Whereas Pregnant

New Post has been published on https://takenews.net/two-competing-as-one-athletes-who-have-competed-whereas-pregnant/

Two Competing As One: Athletes Who Have Competed Whereas Pregnant

Athletes try to win in any sport that they carry out in. These athletes spend their days training and placing their our bodies into subjection to the burden room and open air and push themselves to the restrict with the intention to change into the most effective athlete they’ll change into. These feminine athletes not solely competed on the prime degree of their respective sports activities, they did it whereas having a bun within the oven.

Dana Vollmer is knowledgeable swimmer and four-time Olympic gold medalist with seven medals total. It takes lots of ability and experience in freestyle swimming with the intention to acquire a victory. After the 2016 Rio Olympics, whereas six months pregnant, Dana had a little bit extra weight to hold however continued to compete for Workforce USA. She was labeled “momma on a mission” and teased her followers for the gender reveal, as she advised them she would put on inexperienced for a boy, and pink for a lady. She ended up competing on the USA Swimming meet in April 2017 carrying her inexperienced swimsuit. It is going to be Vollmer’s second boy.

Serena Williams achieved the unattainable. When she received the Grand Slam on the Australian Open, she really received this title with another person as effectively. Serena Williams practically broke the web in 2017 when she by chance posted a pregnant picture to social media, and shortly divulged that she was really two months pregnant when she received the Australian Open! Many followers have been involved about her being pregnant after listening to the information, however Serena assured her followers that she was okay and that her physician mentioned that doing actions reminiscent of tennis is taken into account a standard degree of exercise. It’s OK individuals, she’s knowledgeable.

You could have by no means in your complete life witnessed such a scene like this. Alysia Montano is right here giving her all, however that isn’t all. She is carrying a heavy load coming down the observe at breakneck velocity. She gracefully sprints to victory right here in 2014 with a little bit encouragement from a household member-to-be. Alysia Montano ran the 800-meter race at a USA Monitor and Area Out of doors Championship in 2014 with youngster. Alysia was really 34 weeks pregnant whereas she competed on this competitors and amazingly received the occasion along with her bundle of pleasure being heat within the oven.

It could appear a little bit dangerous to some to play the game of volleyball, or another sport for that matter, whereas being with youngster. The extra the weeks progress, the extra protrusion happens within the mid-section space. There’s a appreciable quantity of motion concerned with taking part in volleyball- have you ever ever seen somebody land on their abdomen making an attempt to forestall the ball from hitting the bottom? Think about being pregnant whereas making an attempt to do that. We can not fathom the thought, however for Kerri Walsh Jennings, she got here out of the scenario and not using a drawback. The very fact was that she didn’t know she was 5 weeks pregnant whereas she was competing. She defined to As we speak: “After I was throwing my physique round fearlessly, and going for gold for our nation, I used to be pregnant.”

Anna-Maria Johansson is a handball participant who comes from Sweden. She had a handful of additional power whereas she was competing in 2012 and rightfully so. Handball requires lots of fast-reflex actions and unimaginable hand-to-eye coordination. Together with the velocity and reflex elements, there may be some physique contact that does happen and so defenders can cease opponents from approaching the purpose. Anna-Maria Johansson participated within the London Olympics in 2012. Her workforce didn’t win any medals, however she was a winner already being three months pregnant and expending power by working up and down the courtroom giving it her all.

Martina Valcepina did the unattainable in 2014. The Italian short-track velocity skater who did what no different velocity skater has completed. She is quick and he or she is ready to transfer at nice speeds round an indoor ice observe. This does require lots of ability, however that isn’t all that she had in 2014. Martina Valcepina was a competitor in an occasion on the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi, Russia. She competed within the girls’s 400-meter velocity skate, in addition to the 1500-meter velocity skate and even the 1000-meter velocity skate. As anticipated, she didn’t make it into the preliminary finals however there may be an evidence. She was one month pregnant with not one, however two kids!

Diana Reyes was the unlucky sufferer of an accident and thru the accident one thing was found about her that may have an effect on her life. Diana Reyes was about to fly out to Rio for the 2016 Summer season Olympic Video games final yr. Whereas on her approach to the airport, she was hospitalized resulting from a automotive crash. She was a participant of the Nationwide Puerto Rico Ladies’s Volleyball Workforce, and this was Puerto Rico’s first ever time to compete within the sport. Whereas she was within the hospital, it was found that she was 4 months pregnant. She was ultimately launched from the hospital, and he or she was even allowed to play within the match towards Cameroon whereas she was with youngster, after getting the go-ahead from the physician.

Slalom seems like lots of enjoyable. It additionally seems dangerous as effectively. For Amelie Kober, it’s not only a job, it’s a residing. She’s not solely being an athlete, she’s can be a German Federal Police Officer. She lives life on the sting, and he or she needed to stroll that high-quality line of athletics, being a police officer, and in addition being a mom within the 2010 Olympics. Amelie Kober has the excellence of being the youngest competitor ever within the Parallel Large Slalom. She didn’t make the quarterfinals, however afterward revealed that she was two months pregnant in the course of the occasion! She did, nevertheless, win a bronze medal on the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi holds the excellence of being the very first girl ever to symbolize the nation of Malaysia within the sport of taking pictures. She didn’t come alone in 2012 when she made her approach to the Olympics. She was carrying a bundle when she carried out within the 10-meter air rifle taking pictures occasion. Nur Suryani Mohd Taibl was maybe essentially the most notably pregnant competitor of the 2012 Olympics. She is a navy army logistics officer and he or she was 34 weeks pregnant when she competed within the air rifle occasion. She has gone on document as saying: “Most individuals mentioned I used to be loopy and egocentric as a result of they suppose I’m jeopardizing my child’s well being. My husband mentioned seize it, as this can be a uncommon likelihood which can not come once more. Additionally, I’m the mom. I do know what I can do. I’m a cussed particular person.”

Wait a minute, maintain the cellphone. This will essentially the most excessive sport for anybody who’s pregnant up to now. How a lot abdomen padding is obtainable for a sport like this? This can be essentially the most excessive sport but for any feminine athlete who’s carrying a child. Kerstin Szymkowiak was as soon as a skeleton racer from Germany. See I advised you spring was within the air for the German girls. Kerstin was referred to as “The Ice Tiger” whereas she was competing within the skeleton races. Skeleton racing includes an individual being on their stomach after which being pushed down a course head first. She was two months pregnant, and he or she was lucky to be very skillful within the occasion as a result of she received a silver medal whereas she was pregnant.

Picture: Ezra Shaw /Allsport

Spring was within the air for lots of the German feminine opponents. We’ve got Diana Sartor who competed within the Torino Winter Olympic Winter Video games in 2006. She represented the nation of Germany. As with all the girls on this article she had a little bit further weight coming into the competitors. Diana has been competing internationally since 1996 and he or she has been acknowledged as a world-class athlete. It was found that she was 9 weeks into her being pregnant whereas she was a competitor within the skeleton race within the Torino Winter Olympic Winter Video games in 2006. After having her son, she retired in 2007.

Kristie Moore is an Olympic roller who hails from Canada. She was part of the 1996 Canadian Junior Curling Championship workforce by which she and her workforce received the championship. she’s additionally received the World Junior Curling Championship as effectively. Kristie Moore participated within the 2010 Olympics as a substitute roller and maybe for an excellent reason- she was 5 and a half months pregnant! Sweden and Canada have been concerned in among the best curling matches ever. Sweden ended up getting the gold, and Canada bought a silver medal.

Picture: Morne de Klerk/Getty Photographs

The game of golf appears to be so much simpler to play whereas pregnant, in comparison with the opposite sports activities talked about right here. Though it looks like a simple sport, there’s a large quantity of ability that goes into the sport of golf. Additionally, you will have to think about the focus issue that comes into play with the intention to obtain success within the sport of golf. Catriona Matthew is a Scottish golfer who is aware of about ability and focus whereas competing within the sport of golf. She holds the LGPA Brazil Cup which she received in 2009. She was additionally 5 months pregnant along with her second youngster whereas she received the Brazil Cup. She defined to Golf: “Once you play effectively you don’t really feel drained. Possibly tomorrow I’ll really feel it a bit.”

PHILIPPE MERLE/AFP/Getty Photographs

Anky Van Grunsven is a champion amongst champions. She holds a definite title within the sport of dressage. Anky Van Grunsven holds the title for many medals received by an equestrian athlete. It is a large accomplishment and he or she actually has mastered the game of dressage in each side. She has additionally received gold in three government Olympic video games within the 2000 Olympic Video games in Sydney, the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and within the 2008 Olympic Video games in Beijing. She received gold in all three of those consecutive video games, and within the 2004 Olympics in Athens, she was 5 months pregnant when she introduced dwelling the gold.

Picture by Paul Gilham/Getty Photographs

Khatuna Lorig competed beneath three totally different names whereas she was an Olympic athlete. She additionally represented three totally different nations. Khatuna is a five-time Olympian and received a bronze medal for the CCCP on the age of 18. After the united states dissolved, she competed for the nation of Georgia on the 1996 Summer season Olympics. She then grew to become a U.S. citizen and competed within the 2008 Olympics. She was 4 months into her being pregnant whereas she competed within the 2008 Olympics.

Anita Springs is a former Australian volleyball participant who participated within the 1996 Olympic Video games which came about in Atlanta, Georgia. She regarded a little bit bit totally different from the opposite tanned and toned women on the sand on the Olympics that summer season, as she was competing whereas 4 months pregnant. Springs and Lianne Fenwick obtained a victory towards Fujita and Takahashi of Japan for his or her first recreation. Springs and Fenwick misplaced the second recreation to Brazil.

DeAnne Hemmens rows her boat roughly down the river within the picture above. Hemmens was two months pregnant whereas she competed within the Olympics. A former competitor within the Ok-4500 meter canoeing occasion, she participated within the 1996 Summer season Olympics which came about in Atlanta, Georgia. Dash canoeing is a really hectic sport that may take so much out of a competitor throughout to the rigorous rowing motions that happen throughout any such sport. Hemmens competed together with hew rowing companion Lisa Rousset within the velocity canoeing occasion. She additionally competed within the single canoeing occasion that yr.

The Olympic video games of 2008 grew to become a household affair for Katerina Kurkova-Emmons. She is a member of the rifle workforce for the Czech Republic and he or she competed in varied rifling occasions that yr. She actually didn’t come alone to the Olympics. She got here alongside along with her husband Matthew Emmons. Matthew Emmons can be an Olympic competitor they usually met on the 2004 Olympic video games. The 2 fell in love and bought married in Pilsen in 2007. Katerina Kurkova-Emmons competed within the 50-meter rifle occasion in addition to the 10-meter rifle occasion. She found that she was with youngster in 2008 and he or she was one month into her being pregnant whereas she was competing within the 2008 Olympics.

Cornelia Pfohl has been to the mountain and again. She is a four-time Olympian who has represented Germany. If in case you have forgotten, that’s the place of all that’s lovely within the athletic world. Cornelia competed within the archery occasions within the Olympics and the way becoming. She was hit by Cupid’s arrow twice: She was pregnant within the 2000 Olympics, and he or she was additionally pregnant within the 2004 Olympic Video games. She was two months pregnant within the 2000 Olympic Video games and 7 months pregnant within the 2004 Olympic Video games.

Lisa Brown-Miller was a member of the American Ladies’s Hockey workforce. This can be essentially the most excessive sport of all, particularly for a pregnant girl. Have you ever ever seen the fights that happen on the ice? These fights may be the most effective a part of some hockey video games, and a few of the fights may be downright brutal. How may Lisa Brown-Miller need to compete within the sport of hockey whereas being pregnant? Nobody might ever know, however she did compete within the 1998 Winter Olympics for the ladies’s hockey workforce. The workforce would even rub her stomach for good luck earlier than going out onto the ice. Lisa-Brown Miller was two months pregnant on the time when she competed within the Olympics.

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the-christian-walk · 7 years

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A COMING DAY

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to [email protected]. In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.”

“Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as He fights on a day of battle. On that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day, there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.”

“On that day, living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.”

“The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day, there will be one Lord, and His name the only name.”

“The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.”

“This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day, people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another. Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.”

“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague He inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.”

“On that day, holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty.”

Zechariah 14

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Our journey through the Book of Zechariah ends today but not before we find amazingly blessed news for the nation of Israel on a coming day foretold by the prophet.

First, a scene is set that would unsettle any nation as a day of the Lord was yet ahead where Jerusalem particularly would see extreme hardship come its way, a hardship where all the nations will rise up and at least have initial success against God’s holy city. We know this because the prophecy tells of the following calamities that would occur:

1. Jerusalem would be captured.

“I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured.”

2. The houses within Jerusalem would be ransacked.

“I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked.”

3. The women in Jerusalem would be sexually assaulted by the attackers.

“I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped.”

4. The possessions within Jerusalem would be plundered, the spoils divided up among its attackers. .

“A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.”

5. Half of the city’s population would be taken into captivity.

“Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.”

It’s not a pretty picture, is it?

But as we have seen in other places within the scriptures, a period of peril is usually followed by deliverance and restoration, a walk in the valley proceeded by a mountain top experience. As we continue to look at Chapter 14, we find that this happens again with Israel, a continuation of events of the past.

Remember that an Egyptian captivity was followed by a God-powered liberation and subsequent journey to a land where the Israelites could settle down and live.

Recall that a seventy year exile to Babylon was followed by a restoral to Israel where the people of God could rebuild their nation, God’s temple, and their relationship with Him.

Now, we see where the damage and destruction caused by Israel’s enemies would end with God once again coming to their rescue. The prophecy promises as much in the following words:

Just when all seemed to be lost for Jerusalem and the Israelites at large, enter the Lord God Almighty who would take up the cause of His people and wage war against their enemies, fighting as if on a “day of battle”. The great power and majesty of God’s actions beckons us back to the parting of the Red Sea where the Israelites were given a path to escape Pharaoh. Here, the Mount of Olives (only mentioned in one other place in the Old Testament in connection to David, 2 Samuel 15:30) is split in two forming a great mountain valley which His people would be able to flee through to be joined by the Lord and His holy ones. As for the enemies, their plight would be pretty gruesome:

Can you imagine how all this had to be received by God’s people?

For they knew there would be a coming day when they would be freed from their enemies and joined together with their Lord, a day that would have been special enough because of that but as we see in the scriptures, there would be other unique qualities to that day, qualities never ever seen before which included:

1. There wouldn’t be sunlight or “cold, frosty darkness”, “no distinction between day and night”.

2. Living water would flow from Jerusalem in summer and winter, half to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea.

Indeed, it was an amazing coming day, a day when the “Lord would be King over the whole earth”, the One and only Lord, His name being the name above all names. It would be a day when Jerusalem would be raised up, elevated to be the holy city above all cities, the home of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The word of God even tells us that even the horse bells and cooking pots would be consecrated. The elevated divine Jerusalem would never again be uninhabited nor destroyed but rather secure, protected by the one and only Lord. It also would once again become the central place of worship, drawing not just the Israelites but the “the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem” as well who would “go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles”. There would be no room again for a Canaanite (code for non-believer) to exist within the “house of the Lord Almighty”. If anyone decided they wanted to skip worshiping the Lord, whether from Egypt or any other nation, then consequences would follow as the Lord would hold back life sustaining rain. In other words, there was an incentive for bringing devotion and adoration to the one and only Lord, the Sustainer of all things.

That’s what the Israelites had to look forward to. Much better days were ahead for them on the sacred coming day of the Lord.

As we rejoice in this news for the people of Israel, perhaps it would be a good time to rejoice ourselves if we are Christians. For no matter what life brings our way, there is a future day for us as well when Jesus will return as He promised to usher all those who have placed their faith, hope, and trust in Him into eternal life. In other words, those in Christ have their futures set and that coming day is guaranteed to be the best day ever, the day when we get to live with Jesus and God the Father forever.

Rejoice and revel in that truth today.

Tomorrow, we start to look at the last book in the Old Testament, the Book of Malachi.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to [email protected]

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readbookywooks · 8 years

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[The emperor of Lilliput, attended by several of the nobility, comes to see the author in his confinement. The emperor's person and habit described. Learned men appointed to teach the author their language. He gains favour by his mild disposition. His pockets are searched, and his sword and pistols taken from him.] When I found myself on my feet, I looked about me, and must confess I never beheld a more entertaining prospect. The country around appeared like a continued garden, and the enclosed fields, which were generally forty feet square, resembled so many beds of flowers. These fields were intermingled with woods of half a stang, (1) and the tallest trees, as I could judge, appeared to be seven feet high. I viewed the town on my left hand, which looked like the painted scene of a city in a theatre. I had been for some hours extremely pressed by the necessities of nature; which was no wonder, it being almost two days since I had last disburdened myself. I was under great difficulties between urgency and shame. The best expedient I could think of, was to creep into my house, which I accordingly did; and shutting the gate after me, I went as far as the length of my chain would suffer, and discharged my body of that uneasy load. But this was the only time I was ever guilty of so uncleanly an action; for which I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance, after he has maturely and impartially considered my case, and the distress I was in. From this time my constant practice was, as soon as I rose, to perform that business in open air, at the full extent of my chain; and due care was taken every morning before company came, that the offensive matter should be carried off in wheel-barrows, by two servants appointed for that purpose. I would not have dwelt so long upon a circumstance that, perhaps, at first sight, may appear not very momentous, if I had not thought it necessary to justify my character, in point of cleanliness, to the world; which, I am told, some of my maligners have been pleased, upon this and other occasions, to call in question. When this adventure was at an end, I came back out of my house, having occasion for fresh air. The emperor was already descended from the tower, and advancing on horse-back towards me, which had like to have cost him dear; for the beast, though very well trained, yet wholly unused to such a sight, which appeared as if a mountain moved before him, reared up on its hinder feet: but that prince, who is an excellent horseman, kept his seat, till his attendants ran in, and held the bridle, while his majesty had time to dismount. When he alighted, he surveyed me round with great admiration; but kept beyond the length of my chain. He ordered his cooks and butlers, who were already prepared, to give me victuals and drink, which they pushed forward in a sort of vehicles upon wheels, till I could reach them. I took these vehicles and soon emptied them all; twenty of them were filled with meat, and ten with liquor; each of the former afforded me two or three good mouthfuls; and I emptied the liquor of ten vessels, which was contained in earthen vials, into one vehicle, drinking it off at a draught; and so I did with the rest. The empress, and young princes of the blood of both sexes, attended by many ladies, sat at some distance in their chairs; but upon the accident that happened to the emperor's horse, they alighted, and came near his person, which I am now going to describe. He is taller by almost the breadth of my nail, than any of his court; which alone is enough to strike an awe into the beholders. His features are strong and masculine, with an Austrian lip and arched nose, his complexion olive, his countenance erect, his body and limbs well proportioned, all his motions graceful, and his deportment majestic. He was then past his prime, being twenty-eight years and three quarters old, of which he had reigned about seven in great felicity, and generally victorious. For the better convenience of beholding him, I lay on my side, so that my face was parallel to his, and he stood but three yards off: however, I have had him since many times in my hand, and therefore cannot be deceived in the description. His dress was very plain and simple, and the fashion of it between the Asiatic and the European; but he had on his head a light helmet of gold, adorned with jewels, and a plume on the crest. He held his sword drawn in his hand to defend himself, if I should happen to break loose; it was almost three inches long; the hilt and scabbard were gold enriched with diamonds. His voice was shrill, but very clear and articulate; and I could distinctly hear it when I stood up. The ladies and courtiers were all most magnificently clad; so that the spot they stood upon seemed to resemble a petticoat spread upon the ground, embroidered with figures of gold and silver. His imperial majesty spoke often to me, and I returned answers: but neither of us could understand a syllable. There were several of his priests and lawyers present (as I conjectured by their habits), who were commanded to address themselves to me; and I spoke to them in as many languages as I had the least smattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca, but all to no purpose. After about two hours the court retired, and I was left with a strong guard, to prevent the impertinence, and probably the malice of the rabble, who were very impatient to crowd about me as near as they durst; and some of them had the impudence to shoot their arrows at me, as I sat on the ground by the door of my house, whereof one very narrowly missed my left eye. But the colonel ordered six of the ringleaders to be seized, and thought no punishment so proper as to deliver them bound into my hands; which some of his soldiers accordingly did, pushing them forward with the butt-ends of their pikes into my reach. I took them all in my right hand, put five of them into my coat-pocket; and as to the sixth, I made a countenance as if I would eat him alive. The poor man squalled terribly, and the colonel and his officers were in much pain, especially when they saw me take out my penknife: but I soon put them out of fear; for, looking mildly, and immediately cutting the strings he was bound with, I set him gently on the ground, and away he ran. I treated the rest in the same manner, taking them one by one out of my pocket; and I observed both the soldiers and people were highly delighted at this mark of my clemency, which was represented very much to my advantage at court. Towards night I got with some difficulty into my house, where I lay on the ground, and continued to do so about a fortnight; during which time, the emperor gave orders to have a bed prepared for me. Six hundred beds of the common measure were brought in carriages, and worked up in my house; a hundred and fifty of their beds, sewn together, made up the breadth and length; and these were four double: which, however, kept me but very indifferently from the hardness of the floor, that was of smooth stone. By the same computation, they provided me with sheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable enough for one who had been so long inured to hardships. As the news of my arrival spread through the kingdom, it brought prodigious numbers of rich, idle, and curious people to see me; so that the villages were almost emptied; and great neglect of tillage and household affairs must have ensued, if his imperial majesty had not provided, by several proclamations and orders of state, against this inconveniency. He directed that those who had already beheld me should return home, and not presume to come within fifty yards of my house, without license from the court; whereby the secretaries of state got considerable fees. In the mean time the emperor held frequent councils, to debate what course should be taken with me; and I was afterwards assured by a particular friend, a person of great quality, who was as much in the secret as any, that the court was under many difficulties concerning me. They apprehended my breaking loose; that my diet would be very expensive, and might cause a famine. Sometimes they determined to starve me; or at least to shoot me in the face and hands with poisoned arrows, which would soon despatch me; but again they considered, that the stench of so large a carcass might produce a plague in the metropolis, and probably spread through the whole kingdom. In the midst of these consultations, several officers of the army went to the door of the great council-chamber, and two of them being admitted, gave an account of my behaviour to the six criminals above-mentioned; which made so favourable an impression in the breast of his majesty and the whole board, in my behalf, that an imperial commission was issued out, obliging all the villages, nine hundred yards round the city, to deliver in every morning six beeves, forty sheep, and other victuals for my sustenance; together with a proportionable quantity of bread, and wine, and other liquors; for the due payment of which, his majesty gave assignments upon his treasury: - for this prince lives chiefly upon his own demesnes; seldom, except upon great occasions, raising any subsidies upon his subjects, who are bound to attend him in his wars at their own expense. An establishment was also made of six hundred persons to be my domestics, who had board-wages allowed for their maintenance, and tents built for them very conveniently on each side of my door. It was likewise ordered, that three hundred tailors should make me a suit of clothes, after the fashion of the country; that six of his majesty's greatest scholars should be employed to instruct me in their language; and lastly, that the emperor's horses, and those of the nobility and troops of guards, should be frequently exercised in my sight, to accustom themselves to me. All these orders were duly put in execution; and in about three weeks I made a great progress in learning their language; during which time the emperor frequently honoured me with his visits, and was pleased to assist my masters in teaching me. We began already to converse together in some sort; and the first words I learnt, were to express my desire "that he would please give me my liberty;" which I every day repeated on my knees. His answer, as I could comprehend it, was, "that this must be a work of time, not to be thought on without the advice of his council, and that first I must LUMOS KELMIN PESSO DESMAR LON EMPOSO;" that is, swear a peace with him and his kingdom. However, that I should be used with all kindness. And he advised me to "acquire, by my patience and discreet behaviour, the good opinion of himself and his subjects." He desired "I would not take it ill, if he gave orders to certain proper officers to search me; for probably I might carry about me several weapons, which must needs be dangerous things, if they answered the bulk of so prodigious a person." I said, "His majesty should be satisfied; for I was ready to strip myself, and turn up my pockets before him." This I delivered part in words, and part in signs. He replied, "that, by the laws of the kingdom, I must be searched by two of his officers; that he knew this could not be done without my consent and assistance; and he had so good an opinion of my generosity and justice, as to trust their persons in my hands; that whatever they took from me, should be returned when I left the country, or paid for at the rate which I would set upon them." I took up the two officers in my hands, put them first into my coat-pockets, and then into every other pocket about me, except my two fobs, and another secret pocket, which I had no mind should be searched, wherein I had some little necessaries that were of no consequence to any but myself. In one of my fobs there was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse. These gentlemen, having pen, ink, and paper, about them, made an exact inventory of every thing they saw; and when they had done, desired I would set them down, that they might deliver it to the emperor. This inventory I afterwards translated into English, and is, word for word, as follows: "IMPRIMIS, In the right coat-pocket of the great man-mountain" (for so I interpret the words QUINBUS FLESTRIN,) "after the strictest search, we found only one great piece of coarse-cloth, large enough to be a foot-cloth for your majesty's chief room of state. In the left pocket we saw a huge silver chest, with a cover of the same metal, which we, the searchers, were not able to lift. We desired it should be opened, and one of us stepping into it, found himself up to the mid leg in a sort of dust, some part whereof flying up to our faces set us both a sneezing for several times together. In his right waistcoat-pocket we found a prodigious bundle of white thin substances, folded one over another, about the bigness of three men, tied with a strong cable, and marked with black figures; which we humbly conceive to be writings, every letter almost half as large as the palm of our hands. In the left there was a sort of engine, from the back of which were extended twenty long poles, resembling the pallisados before your majesty's court: wherewith we conjecture the man-mountain combs his head; for we did not always trouble him with questions, because we found it a great difficulty to make him understand us. In the large pocket, on the right side of his middle cover" (so I translate the word RANFULO, by which they meant my breeches,) "we saw a hollow pillar of iron, about the length of a man, fastened to a strong piece of timber larger than the pillar; and upon one side of the pillar, were huge pieces of iron sticking out, cut into strange figures, which we know not what to make of. In the left pocket, another engine of the same kind. In the smaller pocket on the right side, were several round flat pieces of white and red metal, of different bulk; some of the white, which seemed to be silver, were so large and heavy, that my comrade and I could hardly lift them. In the left pocket were two black pillars irregularly shaped: we could not, without difficulty, reach the top of them, as we stood at the bottom of his pocket. One of them was covered, and seemed all of a piece: but at the upper end of the other there appeared a white round substance, about twice the bigness of our heads. Within each of these was enclosed a prodigious plate of steel; which, by our orders, we obliged him to show us, because we apprehended they might be dangerous engines. He took them out of their cases, and told us, that in his own country his practice was to shave his beard with one of these, and cut his meat with the other. There were two pockets which we could not enter: these he called his fobs; they were two large slits cut into the top of his middle cover, but squeezed close by the pressure of his belly. Out of the right fob hung a great silver chain, with a wonderful kind of engine at the bottom. We directed him to draw out whatever was at the end of that chain; which appeared to be a globe, half silver, and half of some transparent metal; for, on the transparent side, we saw certain strange figures circularly drawn, and though we could touch them, till we found our fingers stopped by the lucid substance. He put this engine into our ears, which made an incessant noise, like that of a water-mill: and we conjecture it is either some unknown animal, or the god that he worships; but we are more inclined to the latter opinion, because he assured us, (if we understood him right, for he expressed himself very imperfectly) that he seldom did any thing without consulting it. He called it his oracle, and said, it pointed out the time for every action of his life. From the left fob he took out a net almost large enough for a fisherman, but contrived to open and shut like a purse, and served him for the same use: we found therein several massy pieces of yellow metal, which, if they be real gold, must be of immense value. "Having thus, in obedience to your majesty's commands, diligently searched all his pockets, we observed a girdle about his waist made of the hide of some prodigious animal, from which, on the left side, hung a sword of the length of five men; and on the right, a bag or pouch divided into two cells, each cell capable of holding three of your majesty's subjects. In one of these cells were several globes, or balls, of a most ponderous metal, about the bigness of our heads, and requiring a strong hand to lift them: the other cell contained a heap of certain black grains, but of no great bulk or weight, for we could hold above fifty of them in the palms of our hands. "This is an exact inventory of what we found about the body of the man-mountain, who used us with great civility, and due respect to your majesty's commission. Signed and sealed on the fourth day of the eighty-ninth moon of your majesty's auspicious reign. CLEFRIN FRELOCK, MARSI FRELOCK." When this inventory was read over to the emperor, he directed me, although in very gentle terms, to deliver up the several particulars. He first called for my scimitar, which I took out, scabbard and all. In the mean time he ordered three thousand of his choicest troops (who then attended him) to surround me at a distance, with their bows and arrows just ready to discharge; but I did not observe it, for mine eyes were wholly fixed upon his majesty. He then desired me to draw my scimitar, which, although it had got some rust by the sea water, was, in most parts, exceeding bright. I did so, and immediately all the troops gave a shout between terror and surprise; for the sun shone clear, and the reflection dazzled their eyes, as I waved the scimitar to and fro in my hand. His majesty, who is a most magnanimous prince, was less daunted than I could expect: he ordered me to return it into the scabbard, and cast it on the ground as gently as I could, about six feet from the end of my chain. The next thing he demanded was one of the hollow iron pillars; by which he meant my pocket pistols. I drew it out, and at his desire, as well as I could, expressed to him the use of it; and charging it only with powder, which, by the closeness of my pouch, happened to escape wetting in the sea (an inconvenience against which all prudent mariners take special care to provide,) I first cautioned the emperor not to be afraid, and then I let it off in the air. The astonishment here was much greater than at the sight of my scimitar. Hundreds fell down as if they had been struck dead; and even the emperor, although he stood his ground, could not recover himself for some time. I delivered up both my pistols in the same manner as I had done my scimitar, and then my pouch of powder and bullets; begging him that the former might be kept from fire, for it would kindle with the smallest spark, and blow up his imperial palace into the air. I likewise delivered up my watch, which the emperor was very curious to see, and commanded two of his tallest yeomen of the guards to bear it on a pole upon their shoulders, as draymen in England do a barrel of ale. He was amazed at the continual noise it made, and the motion of the minute-hand, which he could easily discern; for their sight is much more acute than ours: he asked the opinions of his learned men about it, which were various and remote, as the reader may well imagine without my repeating; although indeed I could not very perfectly understand them. I then gave up my silver and copper money, my purse, with nine large pieces of gold, and some smaller ones; my knife and razor, my comb and silver snuff-box, my handkerchief and journal-book. My scimitar, pistols, and pouch, were conveyed in carriages to his majesty's stores; but the rest of my goods were returned me. I had as I before observed, one private pocket, which escaped their search, wherein there was a pair of spectacles (which I sometimes use for the weakness of mine eyes,) a pocket perspective, and some other little conveniences; which, being of no consequence to the emperor, I did not think myself bound in honour to discover, and I apprehended they might be lost or spoiled if I ventured them out of my possession.

#GulliversTravels

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afishtrap · 8 years

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In the twelfth-thirteenth centuries massive quantities of bronze coin issued by the Song dynasty in China were exported and became the de facto monetary standard throughout maritime East Asia. However, the cessation of minting by the Ming dynasty in the 1430s provoked a monetary crisis. Private coinage proliferated both in China and abroad, creating a profusion of heterogeneous transactional currencies and numerous regional monetary circuits. This paper examines monetary circulation in maritime East Asia—encompassing China, Japan, Ryūkyū, Vietnam, and Java—during the fifteenth-seventeenth centuries in order to re-assess the impact of Chinese coin in fostering monetary integration (and disintegration).

Richard von Glahn. "Chinese Coin and Changes in Monetary Preferences in Maritime East Asia in the Fifteenth-Seventeenth Centuries." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Volume 57, Issue 5, pages 629 – 668.

The growing scarcity of standard Ming coin had repercussions throughout maritime East Asia, provoking a series of monetary crises. The proliferation of private coin resulted in the demise of a unified monetary standard in Japan and elsewhere. Both the state and the market began to discriminate between “good” and “bad” bronze coin. This type of discrimination resulted in greater heterogeneity of the coin in circulation, a widening bifurcation between standard and transactional currencies, and a narrowing of the spatial range of monetary circulation. Momentous changes in the East Asian maritime trading world in the mid-sixteenth century also contributed to the fragmentation of monetary circulation. The restructuring of maritime commerce following the arrival of European traders and the sudden ascendancy of silver (initially from Japan, and later from the Americas) as the major internationally-traded commodity in East Asia put an end to the prominence of Chinese coin as the common international currency. Yet Chinese coin—-more specifically, privately-manufactured imitations of Chinese coins—continued to be indispensable to the smooth functioning of local markets.2

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Having abandoned its efforts to impose a fiat paper currency, in 1436 the Ming court rescinded the ban on the use of coin in trade. At the same time, however, the Ming ceased minting new coin, and for the next seventy years the Ming issued no new coin. Even without the blessing of the state, bronze coin continued to prevail as the primary transactional currency in Beijing and other major entrepôts in North China throughout the fifteenth century. Private coiners rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the closure of the state mints. In 1456 the Beijing constabulary reported that although in years past only standard Yongle coin had been accepted in the marketplaces in the capital, recently Beijing had become inundated by imitation coins manufactured in the Jiangnan cities of Suzhou and Songjiang.10 By the 1470s cheap privately-issued coins (so-called “new coin” prevailed both in the capital and the provinces because of the scarcity of standard Ming coin. However, merchants rejected the debased new coin—a practice known as “shroffing” (tiaojian xuanjian)—or discounted it by as much as 70 percent. Since the “new coins” were imitations of Ming issues (Hongwu, Yongle, and Xuande coins), their proliferation provoked a reaction against even genuine Ming coins. Shroffing also caused a sharp spike in coin-denominated prices, bringing much distress to petty urban consumers. In 1481 the ministry of revenue reported that Hongwu and Yongle coins now were routinely refused in the marketplace.* 11 Other contemporaries confirm that Hongwu and Yongle coins disappeared from circulation, to be replaced by “old coin” (guqian), that is to say coins minted during the Song dynasty.12 From this point forward distinct regional variations in coin use appear throughout the Ming empire.

The Ming court briefly resumed coinage in 1505-9, and then began to mint coin on a more consistent basis from 1527 onward. Nonetheless, private coinage continued unabated, and the discounting of coin became progressively more acute. By the 1510S-20S, so-called “bogus coins” (claohao) commonly were discounted by 50 percent, and at times by as much as 90 percent. It seems that much of this debased private coin consisted of imitations of the early Ming Hongwu and Yongle issues, with the result that merchants routinely discounted all Ming coins by 5 0 percent.13 A gazetteer entry dating from 1545 describes the prevalence of private coin in Xinning county in Guangdong, located along the seacoast of the Pearl River Delta:

"At the beginning of the dynasty, when the Hongwu tongbao coin was first issued, the state established a mint at the préfectoral capital [of Guangzhou], and many people from [the neighboring county of] Xinhui were employed as artisans there. Some seized the opportunity to steal coin molds, and ever since people in places in our county such as Haochong and Caogang have been casting counterfeit coin. This coin circulates together with standard coin, but a thousand counterfeit coins (weiqian) are worth only three hundred genuine coins (zhenqian)- The authorities repeatedly issued proscriptions against private coinage, to no avail. The practice still prevails at the present time. When local people trade at Xinhui they bring this coin, which then is transported to Vietnam and Guangxi, or shipped overseas for sale."

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Although the archaeological data remains more suggestive than definitive, the scarcity of Yongle coin in fifteenth and sixteenth century hoards is consistent with other evidence testifying to their limited circulation. One scholar has suggested that the real purpose of minting Yongle coin—which were first issued at a time when Hongwu’s proscription against the use of coin in exchange was still in effect—was not to supply money to the domestic economy, but rather to serve as a “trade coin” for financing the commerce conducted under the aegis of the Ming tributary system.17 Although there is no direct evidence to confirm that the Ming consciously adopted such a policy, substantial quantities of coin were delivered to foreign envoys, either as gifts or as payment for purchases of commercial goods brought by these diplomatic embassies.18 The Japanese tribute mission of 1433 and the traders who accompanied it departed with over 50 million coins, substantially more than the annual output of Ming mints a century later. But by the 1470s Japanese tribute missions received little or no coin, a reflection of the reduced stockpiles of coin held in the Ming treasuries.

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In the second half of the fifteenth century Dai Viet regained the capacity to issue good coin, judging from the high metallic value of coins issued from the 1460s to the 1490s.23 But it is unclear how much of this coin was issued, or how widely it circulated. In i486 and again in 1497 the court issued orders prohibiting the practice of shroffing coin, insisting that genuine bronze coins, regardless of wear and damage, must be accepted as long as they could be strung.24 These pronouncements echoed the anti-shroffing laws repeatedly issued by the Ming government in the late fifteenth century. Despite their deteriorating quality, imported Chinese coins continued to dominate local markets in Vietnam. The Portuguese merchant Tomé Pires, who sojourned at Melaka in 1512-15, reported that in both the Dai Viet kingdom in Tongking and in Cochinchina (central Vietnam) Chinese coins were utilized for everyday purchases, while commercial transactions and overseas trade were conducted in foreign gold and silver coins.25

After the Mac dynasty (1528-92) came to power in Tongking, the bifurcation between the high-quality coin minted by the state and low-quality “circulating coin” continued. The Mac established separate monetary standards for public and private payments: a 6o-coin m o unit for large commercial transactions and state payments, known as “old coin” or “precious coin”, and a 36-coin m o unit permitted for ordinary market transactions; known as “[common] use coin” or “informal coin”.26 But the Mac regime was unable to mint substantial quantities of high-quality coin, and soon privately-issued debased coin dominated the marketplace. A hoard that probably dates from this time (although its original location is unknown) probably reflects the coin in actual use: 90 percent of the legible coins in the hoard are cheap imitations of Chinese coins, mostly Song issues with only a few Yongle coins, in addition to a few ersatz specimens (bearing reign marks never used in China or elsewhere) and fewer than 1 percent Vietnamese coins.27 The Xinning gazetteer cited above also confirms that private coin was exported from southern China to Tongking at this time.

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