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How to Build a Fretless Bass

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/how-to-build-a-fretless-bass/

How to Build a Fretless Bass

Frankly, I can’t think of an easier and more enjoyable project than building a fretless bass, and trust me when I tell you, it’s easier than you think! With a little patience and attention to detail, you can have a top of the line instrument for half the shelf price! If there is one thing I have learned over the years about building my fretless basses is that once you take the responsibility of making your ax, you become a master of your sound. If your bass sounds and plays well or looks and plays crappy, it will be because you took the time to put the parts together and experiment! The best preliminary, step to the building is to go to one or more local music stores and just play basses. Make a note of what you like and what you don’t like the sound, appearance, and configuration of the bases, that way when you are ready to drop some cash on your parts you will know what to get. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you use crappy parts, you will get a crappy sound. Always get the best grade woods and hardware you can afford, trust me it makes a HUGE difference!

We will start with the body. In this tutorial, we will be using a simple two-piece Alder body, but like I said earlier, your tastes and budget can be the judge on what tone woods or combination you would like. The first step is to sand your new body with a 60 to 150 grit sand paper. This ensures a smooth feel, even grain and a uniform look on the wood. Remember to always sand with the grain of the wood and not to push down too hard.

Pushing down too hard, especially with lower grit paper, will destroy the sultry curves of your bass. The idea is to make everything uniform especially for the feel and texture of the wood. Sanding allows the stain or finishes to penetrate the wood in the evenest way possible!

Once your body is sanded a good wipe down with either a tack cloth or a damp rag will remove all excess debris and prepare the body for the next step. I really enjoy this step of the process simply because you can make your instrument look anyway you like. There are many options available to you in the are of stains and paints. For this bass I used a simple MinWax Water Based Stain in Fruit Punch. Out of all the stains I’ve used water based allows for the easiest application and clean up, not to mention its environmentally friendly.

A simple coat or two of this stain can yield luster and beauty, depending on the kind of wood you use for your bass. A visit to your local hardware store can get you started and there is a wide range of colors and blends to choose from!

Another thing to keep in mind is that you might want to go with the Tru-Oil finish by itself, especially if you have a nice grain of wood. A simple image search of Tung Oil or Tru-Oil finished instruments will yield many beautiful results. Please explore and experiment.

Once I chose a color I coated the body with MinWax Pre-Stain. This water-based compound fills in the pours of uneven hard woods and allows for a more uniform and even stain across the whole body. Please make sure to always follow the directions on the can for best results! After drying I started to stain the body. Again, I can not stress how important it is to work in a safe and well ventilated area. While it maybe temping to do this in a more comfortable area, you don’t want to expose yourself to fumes and suffer the side effects! I hung and finished the body in my apartment patio closet which was perfect for shelter and ventilation. Remember, if you find a coat is unacceptable you can always sand it away with a low grit sandpaper. However, it will require the same low to high sanding process, and if your not careful it the sanding can erode angles and curves.

After getting the color right where I like it, it’s time to seal the body with a finish. Like stated earlier we will be using a very easy but effective gun stock finish called Tru-Oil. Just like the stain make sure you find a well ventilated and climate controlled area and clean it of any debris. To cut down on spots and fingerprints find an old wire hanger or shoelace and hang the body up at just about eye level. Take an old rag pour a small amount of finish and gently rub the finish in small circles, making sure to spread the amount of finish as far as possible (a little goes a long way). I find it easier to do one side at a time to help prevent smudges. After each coat, allow to dry for about an hour and buff lightly (as not to remove previous coats) between coats. I find about 10 to 15 coats is enough to build a nice luster and provide a nice hard surface, but going to about 20 to 25 will be more than enough. A final buffing with steel wool will give the finish a dull shine and a smooth touch. Give about 24 to 48 hours to completely cure the finish.

Once the body is finished, drill holes (if needed) and assemble the body with electronics and hardware. I find after years of soldering iron burns and melted wires, as well as a trip or two to the hospital from solder fumes, that the same well vented area is needed as well as pre-assembling of the pots to the control plate be done outside and separate from the bass body itself. You want everything to be finish and connected that way the only thing left to solder will be the ground cord and pickup wires. I would also recommend buying a Jazz Bass electronic kit. All the parts separately would cost a lot more, but for about 18 bucks you get them all plus instructions and trust me, wiring a jazz bass is very very easy! I will go into this in more detail in the electronics section of the website to help clear things up. Another thing I like to do helps) is to line every part of the inside of the bass with copper foil tape. This helps to ensure that even if wires do come loose they will be grounded and shielded. This also helps prevent hums picked up from lighting and other electronic devices ( lights and certain electronic devices emit a 60 cycle hum that interfere with pickups and bass electronics). Now that everything is sealed, grounded and assembled its time to move to the neck.

The neck, the soul of a bass! For this bass I’m going with a maple neck and a walnut lined maple fingerboard. I like the brightness of the maple and the crazy glue epoxy finish (more on that in another section). Normally, a maple neck tends to get all gunked up with finger oil and dirt because maple tends to soil easily, however with an epoxy finish I will not need to worry about that. Again like the body, you want to make the neck smooth and supple! A 400 grit rub down with the grain works great but make sure (and I can’t stress this enough) to not press hard. I order my necks unfinished so I can color and finish it anyway I want (which we will in this tutorial with Tru-Oil) plus it’s way cheaper (about $50 to $80 dollars more) which really makes a huge difference especially when you are on a budget and who’s not these days!

Just like the body it is important to let the neck hang between coats in a well ventilated area. You will finish the neck much like the body. Use a rag and rub in small circles with the finish covering the sections of the neck. Let the neck dry an hour at a time and buff lightly with with steel wool. Again you are aiming for about 10 to 15 coats. Like on the body,

it will gain a nice luster that will polish nicely with the wool. It is also important to remember that the neck needs to have a good amount of finish on it. This is because the neck is under constant pressure and any moisture can compromise the strength of the wood that leads to warpage. ( There are some woods that cant even take coats of like most of the African woods because they are too oily or waxy already.) I find that Tru-Oil needs a good day or two to cure which is why I always try to finish the body and the neck staggered one after the other. That way I’m always working on one of them and they are both done around the same time. Its also good to add a coat right before you are on the way out to school, the store or work, that way it gets a nice long undisturbed drying session. Once everything is sealed, buffed and drilled, assemble the neck. I will go into further finer drilling and adjustment in another section as I know some of you will have a neck with no holes drilled, but this is a very easy extra step! After the tuners, and string trees are mounted the final step is the string nut. I have found that it is best to take this to a professional because it takes practice and a skilled hand to file the nut blank. If you mess up you have to buy another nut and uncool it off the finger board and that’s a waste of time and money. It may cost a little bread but the tech can slap on a nice new custom nut and have the bass growling with new strings the same day, which is always a nice ending to a custom job well done! I would also encourage you to watch (if you can) the tech install everything and learn all you can. I know after a few questions and watching, I was able to nail this delicate step, but take your time!

Now that your fretless is put together it’s time to set up! Keeping your instrument setup properly will cut out unwanted variables in your intonation, sound and allow you to operate your bass as easily as possible. I like to think of the bass as an extension of oneself, which is almost impossible to do if your bridge is intonated incorrectly or the neck is out of whack! Please, do not be afraid of any adjustments, or changes that need to be done. Once you know how to adjust these factors you will be a confident bass master!

Now that your bass is physically together lets string her up! Whatever your bass string of choice is, installing them properly will ensure good tension, a snug fit and long lasting strings. incorrect instillation will result in buzzes, dead spots and dollars wasted from broken strings. When you unwrap the strings they will be pre-coiled and ready to go. You will need a pair of wire cutters and a tuner. First take the G string and run the very tip through the bridge’s G string slot, up past the saddle, under the string tree and past the tuning post.

Now, everybody is different, some say don’t clip the string, some say do, but I find that keeping about 3 to 5 windings on every post will ensure a secure hold. I do this by using my wire cutters as a measuring tool. I match the full length of the wire cutters with the bass strings, then I put the tip of the handle of the wire cutters on the tuning post and mark my fingers at the tip of the head of the pliers, then clip. This ensures that each string is cut at the same length and allows you to take them off and store them if needed.

Once you have your string cut to the right length, take the freshly cut string end and bend just a bit of it, say a centimeter or two, at a right angle. Take this straight end and insert it into the hole in the middle of the tuning peg. Use downward pressure on the string and turn it clockwise to wrap the string around the tuning peg. You want to make sure that the string is running straight front the bridge, under the string round and to the tuning peg.

Continue turning the tuner until the string holds tension and rests in the nut. Repeat the process, bringing each string up to tune. Remember that new strings need some time to stretch and will go out of tune for the next few hours. But worry not they will eventually settle.

The neck of your bass is the strongest of all the parts! It consists of a metal rod embedded under the fingerboard called a Truss Rod. The truss rod turns with an allen wrench either clockwise or counter-clockwise to counteract the tension applied to the neck by the strings. This tension (or lack there of) will either add or take away curve to the neck allowing the strings to clear all parts of the fingerboard vibrate freely and allow the plucked note to sound. An adjustment to either the heel of the neck or at the top in front of the nut will allow you to turn the trus rod and add or take away tension or curve to the neck.

Remember, on a top mounted adjustment turn your allen wrench clockwise to tighten the neck and straighten it, or counter clockwise to loosen it and curve the neck. On heel adjustments its the exact opposite! The more curved the neck the higher the strings will be from the fingerboard, the straighter the neck the closer. On a fretless neck you want the action to be as low as possible to allow for the pleasant buzzy “Mmmwah” sound. It is possible to set the action too low in which the “mmmahh” will be squelched. A good indication of where your neck is at is either a buzz at the first 5 frets which indicates a neck that is too straight or a buzz at the 7th fret and up which indicates a neck that is too curved. Holding the bass at eye level against a strong light and looking at the very edge of the fingerboard will indicate the status of the neck curvature. You want to set your neck as straight as possible until you get buzzes on or about the 5th fret or lower, then back the neck off with quarter turns until the buzzes go away.

Now that the neck has the right relief its time to adjust the bridge. The bridge holds the important setup factors such as intonation and string height. While the neck curvature determines string height, the bridge saddles will give you a finer adjustment and allow you to lower your action even lower and match the curvature of the fingerboard. This allows you to intonate or tune the bass with itself. Keep in mind that all the adjustment you do at the bridge will knock your strings out of tune so have a tuner handy to bring the string back to pitch whenever you adjust something. This way you know how the correct playing tension will feel when the setup is complete.

The next step is bridge intonation and this is very very vital. The thing you have to always remember is that unlike playing other fretted instruments, the player makes the intonation not the frets. This being said you can get some help either from fret lines (like on this bass) or position markers like the ones on a blank fingerboard. The choice of one or the other is all personal preference and yet another option for you to consider.

Intonation of a lined fingerboard is done in the same way as a fretted. Hook up your tuner to your bass and play the open G string in tune. Fret directly on the 12th and check to see if your fretted note is in tune. Carefully make sure that you are using the tip of your finger avoiding any kind of fingertip pivot that will change your pitch. While this is a great technique while playing, in tuning and setup its not going to do you any favors. Now if the fretted note is sharp, turn the adjustment screw on the bridge so the saddle is moving towards you. If it is flat move the saddle away from you. Do small quarter turns and bring the string back up to tune before you check it. Once the fretted note is intonated repeat the process with the other three. One thing to keep in mind is that while the fret lines are right where the frets should be, it doesn’t mean that all of the lines are in tune 100% all over the neck.

Just like with any fretless instrument, you have to use your ears to judge the pitch and adjust accordingly. Avoid using the lines as a crutch to good intonation. Now if you have a blank plank, then your options are fewer (and less complicated) for intonating the bridge. Just grab a measuring tape and measure from the nut exactly 17 inches. Mark the spot with a piece of tape and intonate to that spot, which 9 times out of 10 is just about in the center of the octave double dot marker. Remember like the lined board, your ear is judge of pitch, not the markers.

Depending on the type of strings you use, the wear and tear on the board can vary quite a bit. Roundwound strings will eat your fingerboard, causing dead spots and loss of proper intonation. Flatwounds are far gentler and have a smooth texture. This being said, the more you play on the board the more it will need to be dressed and sanded. Like a formula race car that get’s it’s tires changed every few laps, your board will need to be smoothed out and it’s crown or arc restored to get a consistent sound. You can do this in one of two ways. One way is to run some nice 400 grit sand paper on the fingerboard. Make sure to do this very gently because you do not want to remove the arc from your board. If you’re too worried about screwing up your board spend a little cash and get your bass into a luthier to dress it for you professionally. Either way it is important that you maintain a good working fingerboard, because it’s where all the sound happens. If you are lucky enough to have a bass with treated epoxy then most if not all of these maintenance steps will be unnecessary. Should problems arise make sure you do what is needed without voiding your warranty!

Setting correct pickup height is vital to a good round sound and volume. The standard jazz bass pickup will come with four screws (two on each side). The screws adjust the pickup up and down. On the shafts of each screw are springs. Those springs provide tension which keeps the pickup from falling down to the bottom of the body cavity. The springs also provide upward and downward pressure. When you loosen the screws the tension from the spring pushes up on the pickup allowing the pickup to rise, when you tighten the screws down the springs are compressed and the pickup goes down.

With the help of the installed pickup springs turn a phillips head screw driver to move the pickup up or down. Moving the pickup higher or up towards the strings will yield a louder over all tone. Moving it away or down from the strings will result in a quieter volume. You want to strike a balance between the two which I find can be done by making your pickups like a ramp. You want to give the lower E and A strings plenty of room to vibrate so keep that end of the pickup just a bit lower, while making the D and G string side just a tad higher. It shouldn’t be extreme but all the strings need to clear the pickup otherwise the case for the pickup itself will get scratched and the sound of your fingers hitting the top of the pickup will make an unwanted “thump” sound, that is unless you want that thump sound.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Sudan and One Tourist

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/sudan-and-one-tourist/

Sudan and One Tourist

Frankly I can’t think of an easier and more enjoyable project than building a fretless bass, and trust me when I tell you, it’s easier than you think! With a little patience and attention to detail you can have a top of the line instrument for half the shelf price! If there is one thing I have learned over the years about building my own fretless basses is that once you take the responsibility of making your own axe, you become a master of your own sound. If your bass sounds and plays well or sounds and plays crappy it will be because you took the time to put the parts together and experiment! The best preliminary step to building is to go to one or more local music stores and just play basses. Make note of what you like and what you don’t like about the sound, appearance and configuration of the basses, that way when you are ready to drop some cash on your parts you will know what to get. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you use crappy parts you will get a crappy sound. Always get the best grade woods and hardware you can afford, trust me it makes a HUGE difference!

We will start with the body. In this tutorial we will be using a simple two piece Alder body, but like I said earlier, your tastes and budget can be the judge on what tone woods or combination you would like. The first step is to sand your new body with a 60 to 150 grit sand paper. This ensures a smooth feel, even grain and uniform look on the wood. Remember to always sand with the grain of the wood and not to push down too hard..

Pushing down too hard, especially with lower grit paper, will destroy the sultry curves of your bass. The idea is to make everything uniform especially for the feel and texture of the wood. Sanding allows the stain or finish to penetrate the wood in the most even way possible!

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Interview With Ariel Gore

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/interview-with-ariel-gore/

Interview With Ariel Gore

I’ll make a full disclosure right now: I have a business relationship with Ariel Gore, if you want to call it that since money doesn’t change hands. I am the TechMama at HipMama Online; I twiddle configuration files, juggle logs and generally help keep the technical side of things happy. But other than that, Ariel and I had never met until I dropped by her new home in Southeast Portland (just a few blocks from TNH Central) not long after the publication of her book “The Mother Trip.”

More than a business relationship, though, Ariel and I seem to have some kinda karmic thing going on. HipMama was one of the direct inspirations for The New Homemaker. When HipMama Online nearly went off the air, I answered the call to help keep it alive and was put in touch with the woman who was running the rescue effort. She turned out to be an old acquaintance who I hadn’t seen in some time, now a good friend, Bee Lavender–who also, weirdly, lived here in Portland. (Bee’s now the editor/publisher of HipMama Online and lives in London.)

And fans of my blog know that I’ve been very influenced lately by Ariel’s book, “The Mother Trip.”

*******

L: In “The Mother Trip,” you say the trick in motherhood is holding on to your personality. How do we do that? What are the ways we can do that and yet still be true to our children and give them what they need?

A: Holding on to your personality is being true to your children. I don’t think there’s anything intrinsic in mothering that requires that we lose ourselves. I think most of that is actually just what we’re taught to believe about motherhood.

L: Where is that coming from?

A: It’s been perpetrated by the mainstream parenting press, by what we learned from our mothers, what they learned from their mothers. We’ve had all this progress in feminism in the past 20-30 years, and it’s gotten to the point where you can be yourself for maybe your twenties or your teens and there are all these choices. But somehow that only goes up to when you have kids, your real confidence in that, and then it’s back to like the ’50s. And you have to be a certain kind of person, whatever you call it–be a grownup, or be more mainstream, or whatever–just not be yourself. And part of it is just wanting the best for your kids and if you’re not truly confident in yourself then you sort of naturally move back to maybe a more socially acceptable way to be because it seems safer. Like, say your value system is anarchy/punk and you didn’t grow up that way, that’s who you’ve become. When you have a kid you may start to get more conservative because if you’re not totally confident in those values–you know what I

mean?

L: Mm-hm.

A: And then it comes from…you know, our reproductive freedoms are not guaranteed, that we have the right to raise our kids the way we want to, so it comes from that sort of fear of not wanting to stand out and draw attention to your family in a negative way Alie Nation.

L: You’ve gone through that, you’ve gone through the system, had negative attention.

A: Yeah, definitely, from the family court system. And while what they can do to you is pretty bad, I think some of our fears about it are–I don’t know if I should say that our fears are exaggerated. Sometimes they are. But what they ended up being able to do to me was nothing, except for harass me. They couldn’t actually threaten my family. But they can some people’s.

L: What I found interesting in your account of the experience in “The Mother Trip” was that nothing that you did was the right thing. You were not involved enough–you were too involved. You didn’t have enough of a life–you had too much of a life. Nothing you did was right depending on who you were talking to. You say there were some positive things they said about your parenting but that you couldn’t get a clear idea of what it was you were supposed to be doing.

A: Yeah, there was no consistency in terms of what they wanted.

L: Which comes down to “Don’t believe the experts.” Because they don’t know what they want.

A: Totally. Yeah, and the same people would even say those things back and forth–oh, you’re hysterical. Oh, you’re an ice queen and you have no emotions. It’s like, uh, okay, first of all, what business is my emotional state of yours, you know? But it was all this conflicting info about who I was and what I should be doing and what’s the best family life for my kid.

L: Is there any agenda apart from just self-perpetuation for these experts?

A: Well, I presume that it starts with a desire to help people.

L: But in the translation that seems to get twisted. Because a lot of the time helping people is not the end result.

A: No, it’s not. I mean, I don’t really get it. It depends. People write these self-help books, “Ten Easy Steps for Blah-Blah,” that are the most fascist kind of regimes–they must think it’s going to help someone.

L: I have to confess that one of my guilty pleasures is reading Woman’s Day. If you look at the cover of any Woman’s Day, it’s always “Five Steps to X,” you know, “65 Easy-to-Do Projects for Z,” and always something about getting organized. I think we want those easy steps.

A: Oh totally. I do.

L: When I was a teenager, I thought that people who were, like, 21, KNEW. If you asked me what they knew, I would have said, you know, EVERYTHING.

A: The Ten Easy Steps!

L: Right! They had the clue, somebody clued them in, they’ve got the idea. They know what they should be doing. Now that I’m 39, I still haven’t got the cluebook. I’m still waiting for someone to fill me in. Interestingly enough you don’t give Ten Easy Steps, the steps you give are pretty hard.

A: Really?

L: Well, because they’re simple and because they require you to be truthful and honest. And that’s always the very hardest thing to do. One thing I saw on the website was your essay about if the only thing you can do in the morning is get out of bed, just get out of bed. And I read that at a time when I really needed to hear that. Because like a lot of moms, I struggle with depression, and like a lot of stay-at-home moms, I’m isolated. And my daughter’s going through the terrible twos. And there were some days where that was about the best I could do. “I’m up.”

A: That’s One Easy Step, and that’s plenty for a day.

L: At the very beginnings of TNH, I wrote an essay called Martha Stewart Vs. the Earth Mother, about the two extremes of perfectionism in American cultural life, Martha Stewart, and the Earth Mother who does everything more naturally than you. In “The Mother Trip” you brought it up too that there’s no role model any more for stay-at-homes, because we’re all looking for the clue, and it helps to have someone who at least looks like they have the clue that’s out there, and there’s nobody, not even another stay-at-home a lot of the time. So we’re out there making it up as we go along–kinda the whole point of The New Homemaker. So who do we look to? Is it just you and the mirror any more?

A: Pretty much. I haven’t found any role models for that. One thing that I sort of find helpful as a parent instead of parenting books is to read biographies and memoirs about family life that aren’t necessarily…I find them sort of inspirational because you realize that everyone’s family is so wacked and that most of the family stresses that you have aren’t the things that scar your kids. Being yourself and your family having its own traditions and trips are what makes life and childhood interesting.

And other than that there really aren’t mommy heroes in terms of child heroes. I mean you hear about women with children, and the heroic thing they’re doing is something else, and it’s like, oh and they have children. You know? Which is cool. But it doesn’t help much if you’re looking at how-to parenting. I haven’t read the Martha Stewart-Earth Mother piece, but I will because that’s so right-on. There’s like the total fascist attachment parenting thing or there’s the total just plain fascist thing.

L: I confess to being on the outskirts of the fascists in the attachment parenting crowd. Not quite saluting, but I’m there. (laughs)

A: Well, I mean, you know–especially the attachment parenting stuff, it’s great that there’s so much information out there, but then it becomes this thing where if you step out of line on one little thing–I mean you start to feel you can’t buy pre-baked bread. That’s not right. What works for you is right.

L: It seems we set ourselves up for failure. I mean on the one hand there’s Martha–

A: –Whose kid is grown, okay?

L: People always say, what’s the difference between you and Martha Stewart and I always say, “Staff.” She’s got like 200 people.

A: No little kid and 200 helpers.

L: Yeah, I’m like I could be Martha Stewart too if I had staff–anybody could. Well, not anybody. Martha’s got terrific taste, you can’t fault her for that. So do you have any models that you’ve come to look to?

A: I guess I think about people in my own family, my mom and her mom, and the stuff they fell for in their time, what they were supposed to do, and the times when they were like, forget it, I’m going to do this my own way. And how brave that seems to me in retrospect. They were just doing their own thing and probably didn’t differentiate every day between “This is a brave thing” and whatever.

L: They just DID.

A: Yeah. And they were women of their times. My mom was in the ’70s, which was a time to be experimental. And her mom was parenting in the ’50s, which was harder, I think. Because it was the beginnings of mass-produced motherhood, you know, color TV–total mass-produced motherhood. And she struggled with that. And before that obviously we had pretty strict models, but before mass media it was a little easier to not quite know what the model was.

L: I don’t think anyone’s ever had a clue, it just wasn’t as important that you didn’t have a clue.

A: If you don’t know what’s expected of you, you’re a step ahead of people who do know what’s expected of them. Because you don’t have to fail.

L: I get such odd reactions at TNH. People assume I’m this neo-conservative fundamentalist right-wing “barefoot and pregnant” type and that is so not what the site’s about. A lot of the women who show up at the site really feel that the best thing they can do for themselves and their families is to stay home but they’re opposed at almost every step. Whereas in the ’50s it was considered quite singular if you left home, now it’s considered quite singular if you stay home.

A: Yeah, we haven’t quite come to terms with all this as a culture. Every word to do with staying home with your kids has a conservative or weird connotation–homemaker, housewife. All those words got taken away in the ’70s. And I remember growing up in the ’70s that was the worst thing you could say about someone is that they were going to grow up to be a housewife. Like, “You scum.” And I’m a Cancer, that’s my sun sign, and things would always say “You love your home and you’re a good homemaker,” and I’d be, aarggh! I have the worst sign!

It’s sort of pathetic that culturally we can’t seem to allow women to make choices unless it’s considered universally the best choice to make. It’s great like all these studies have come out that working outside the home doesn’t ruin your kids’ lives–you know, the “kids are all right” studies have come out. But it just can’t be okay to make your choice, it has to be well, then, it’s the better choice. I guess the pendulum will have to swing for a while before it settles down. You do what’s best for your family, what works for you and for your kids. And truth be told, most of us will probably be home for part of our kids’ childhoods and will be working outside the home for part of them.

L: You and I both work at home.

A: And that’s the safest ground to be on. They can’t get you either way because you’re at home and you still work at something other than raising kids. But if you work outside the home people are just ragging on you constantly, and if you don’t have a business and you don’t have an outside job people are ragging on you constantly.

It’s just motherhood. If you’re too much discipline mama then you’re busted, and if you’re too permissive mama then you’re busted. It starts when you’re pregnant and everyone touches your belly. Like when you have kids, suddenly everything about you is everyone’s business. And it’s just “Oh, well, we’re just interested for the sake of the children, you know.” Whereas before you have kids you have more privacy and if you’re undisciplined in your own life people might not want to be your friend but they’re not going to rag on you about it as much because, “well, you’re only hurting yourself.”

And some of that is healthy because we need to watch out for each other. If kids are actually being abused the community needs to be keeping an eye out. But somehow most communities take that so much further and are up in your business. You just have to not only respect yourself but work really hard to get a strong supportive community whether that’s an online community or an in-person community so we’re not so isolated and not so susceptible to unsupportive voices. Even online, for me anyway, that support–it can’t be just virtual, but it’s so helpful. And then if you just have two or three friends that are close by, or family or whatever, it’s enough. It’s hard to pull together a support network, but it doesn’t have to be vast. It just has to be enough.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Too Hard Living

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/too-hard-living/

Too Hard Living

The man was wearing sandals, even though the temperature was nearing twenty degrees in Cleveland Ohio. He was dressed in a brown overcoat that had seen better days, the hem ragged and torn with threads trailing behind him. He was unkempt; sporting a beard that was nearly as ragged as his clothing.

If one cared to look they would have noted his height first; he was tall, 6′ 3,”the square of his shoulders and the manner in which he held his chin suggested an obvious past military stint; he stood tall, and once, he had stood proud.

An even closer look revealed a handsome young man, probably nearing 40 with deeply tanned skin, striking blue eyes, a thin aquiline nose and dark brown hair, in fact, nearly black hair. The people he passed on the busy city street turned in disgust, or maybe horror. All they could see was a beggar Atticus Blog.

Stages when we feel it’s really too hard living

Richard saw their eyes turn away from him. He wondered if he had once worn that same look, had once turned away in disgust at the sight of a man who clearly needed help. Once he had commanded a staff of 168 people in a business that was so promising the first offering of public stock had netted the company more than $40 million dollars beyond their IPO projection. That had been three short years ago; it seemed a lifetime.

He had invested the bulk of their liquid assets from the stock sale with the most trusted broker on Wall Street; a scant five months before the broker had been arrested for the largest theft of public funds in the history of America; maybe the history of the planet.

Richard Langley’s company had collapsed in less than thirty days. His employees were furious at the loss of their 401K’s and all the other benefits they had been promised, and had earned.

His corporate headquarters had been on the top floor of a prominent building in Dallas Texas; his office had the corner view, reminding him every day of the wonderful success he had become.

He was dedicated to his company; as the creator and founder he had began with a small office in the back of a successful law firm. He was the president, CEO, CFO, receptionist and janitor. It had taken eleven years of dedicating almost every waking moment to ‘raise the child’ which was how he considered his company.

His wife Janelle had stood right beside him through it all. They had been blessed with three children; a son and two daughters during those years. Janelle had been forced to be both a mother and father during the early years; yet, she had never complained.

Five years ago they had purchased an estate in the affluent Plano area. He had been so proud to bring his family to the new home; it was yet another reflection of his tremendous success. After fourteen years of marriage he carried his bride across a threshold far more prestigious than either had ever dreamed.

They had a good life together. The family attended a local church every Sunday and had been very involved with the youth association. His son had grown tall like his father and had became very active in the school sports program where he had already become a celebrated success in both football, baseball and basketball.

Richard could not be prouder of his son Wes. He had made it a quest to never miss his games and attended each event faithfully, cheering with the other fathers.

His daughters, Violet and Lily were a replica of Janelle. They were filled with grace and poise and had grown quite beautiful early in life. They excelled at school and were both involved in chorus and drama classes.

Life had been near perfect for Richard Langley.

He closed the offices and liquidated the furniture and equipment. He was alone when he turned out the lights on an empty shell of his dreams. He headed to a local bar and ordered scotch whiskey, straight up. He had stayed for hours, drowning his lost hopes and dreams in the amber colored liquid as the bartender continued filling the small glass.

He missed his son’s football game that night; a first for Richard Langley. He simply could not bear the looks and whispers that surrounded him when he went to the events these days. He missed the next game and the next; in fact, Wes no longer asked if he were going to attend. Maybe he preferred him not to come. He spent the next six months drunk on scotch.

His wife had divorced him six months after his business collapsed; he was a loser. She had easily won the house, furnishings and most of their joint savings in the divorce action. He had been left with his car and a mountain of debt; so sure had he been in the success of his company he had signed personally for an incredible amount of the debt. He was an honorable man and felt he should have no compunction with accepting personal responsibility for his company’s’ financial performance. He had no idea what that would mean if the assets suddenly vanished. The creditors were interested in any morsel of anything of value; they intended to liquidate his life.

Three months earlier, he had sold the car and began walking. The more possessions he let go of, the worse things became and the harder it was to get anything meaningful back into his life.

Christmas was in two days. He had traveled from Dallas Texas all the way to Cleveland Ohio; he intended for this to be his last stop. Richard was 43 years old, a whiz kid and corporate wonder; he intended to kill himself on Christmas Day. It would be the last day he suffered the humiliation of being a loser. He could hardly wait.

His mother had died when he was 26; he had just returned from a tour of duty in Germany and received his Honorable Discharge from the Navy. He arrived with his new wife and her first grandchild only to learn that she had died while he was traveling home; she had stubbornly refused to see a doctor with her flu like symptoms. The flu had turned into pneumonia and she had died in her sleep.

His mother had always held great hope that he would be a writer. He had no idea why she believed this when in fact, he had never written a thing in his life.

As they had sifted through her personal belongings he had found an old square suitcase that resembled a small trunk.

They had opened it together as Richard told Janelle how important his mother had always said this box was. They both wondered what in the world it contained.

Popping the old latch open, they discovered it was an antique typewriter.

Inside the typewriter, still held in place by the feed roller, had been a note to Richard,

Dear Richie,

When you were two years old you came down with something dreadful; your fever spiked so high that you went into convulsions. I was terrorized as I watched your tiny body thrashing about, fearing you were dying before my eyes. I began praying fervently for you to be healed, asking God to please save your life. Suddenly I heard a woman’s voice whispering softly in my ear. “Your son will not die; he is destined to be a world renowned writer who will inspire millions of people across the universe. His words will uplift and heal the spirits of all who read his works.” And so Richard, I leave this typewriter to you, filled with the promise of those softly spoken words that terrible winter day. For surely you were healed and did not die. I believe the rest of her words will also come to pass. Please keep this with you until the time comes for you to take your place in the hallowed halls of those who are destined to lead the masses with their words of love and encouragement. I believe in you son.

Love, Mom

And so, for seventeen years he had honored her wishes. Even now, when he owned only the clothes on his back and a few blankets, he kept the typewriter. These days he used it to sit on while he slept in the deeply recessed doorways of some business at night, a cushion between him and the cold, hard concrete.

Soon he would take the typewriter to Diamond Jim’s Pawn Shop on St. Clair Street and trade it for a gun to end his miserable life. He was certain his mother would understand; and he would be meeting up with her real soon to explain if she didn’t. Any luck he had been destined to have had long since expired.

It’s funny what you can learn living in the open. He had discovered where he could take a shower and not be noticed, what stores had the thickest boxes that could be used for shelter and cover and what restaurants threw out food that was still safe and edible each day.

He had learned that many bigger department stores collect everything that has been returned to them without the proper packaging and throw it into the dumpster each night. These were the places where he could score new socks and underwear, clothes and blankets. It was amazing what they discarded.

Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. He had been saving the quarters and dollars that people pressed into his hands on the streets. The holidays always seemed to touch people and inspire them to give. He went into a diner and ordered a coffee to get warm. He intended to make his third and final attempt to call his children tomorrow. He had tried every Christmas since the divorce. Each time, Janelle, his ex wife, hung up the phone when she heard his voice. He had been successfully obliterated from their lives. This would be his last Christmas; he would try one final time to say “I love you” although, he doubted they cared at all.

Looking across the diner he noticed a woman who appeared to be in her 60’s shivering in the doorway. She looked around the café a little desperately, her eyes darting around for he knew not what. He had learned to quickly assess the people he ran into. This woman appeared to have met the same lucky fate he was experiencing. Her clothes were thin and would not even keep her warm enough to survive the night. He hoped she had others hidden somewhere. He got up and crossed the short distance to greet her.

“You look like you are a little lost; want to come over to the counter and talk?”

Her head dropped to look at the floor before she finally raised timid blue eyes to look at him. “I don’t have any money and I am so cold. I just stepped in here to get warm.”

It was a rare opportunity for him; he had actually found someone he could help!

“I’ll treat, come over and sit down.”

He listened to her sad, sad story. Her husband had died and shortly afterwards her son had been killed while fighting a fire in a neighboring town. She had been at the mercy of her daughter-in-law after learning that her husband had left all of his estate to their son, trusting that he would care for his mother.

When her son had died the money reverted to her daughter-in-law; she had quickly began dating and soon decided her life had no place for the mother of a man who was no longer a part of her life. She had unceremoniously thrown her out the door with two suitcases and $500.00. Those funds had lasted a scant two months. She had been on the streets now for six weeks.

She was 61 years old now, not old enough for Social Security and too old to be given a chance to work in an economy that had left millions of very well trained people standing in line looking for work. Richard knew she had almost no opportunity to make it through a winter in Cleveland Ohio.

He related his own pathetic story to her; she sat listening and nodding in sympathy, patting him on the shoulder like he was her son. They were quite a spectacle; a raggedly dressed very thin woman with silver hair and a man that was clearly very handsome hiding behind unkempt facial hair and ragged clothing. Some of the diners wondered if they were playing a part in a local Christmas play. But this was all too real to Eleanor and Richard.

“Where are you staying at night,” Richard inquired?

“I don’t know yet; I am ashamed to tell you I stole a grocery shopping cart and put all of my belongings in it. I was not strong enough to keep carrying them around. Last night someone stole the cart. All I own now is the clothes on my back. I could hardly report a stolen cart as stolen. I am sure I got what I deserved.”

“You know, it’s going to be below zero tonight Eleanor?”

“I know,” she whispered, barely audible.

“It is a rare occurrence these days but I do seem to have met someone who is in worse straights than I am. You cannot survive the night dressed like that. Have you tried the shelters to see if they will take you in?”

“Yes, they are full.”

Damn it, the last thing he needed right now was a helpless woman who would surely die before daybreak if he did not intercede. Mentally he counted the dollars and change he still had in his pocket. He was unsure whether the amount would cover the cost of the gun and ammunition, even with the sale of the typewriter. And he had to make the call to his children just one last time. Still, she was pitifully thin and had no coat at all; just three ragged sweaters she was wearing, layered one on top of the other.

Richard stood up and paid the bill.

“Let’s go. Maybe we can find a thrift store that will help us with a coat and something to keep you warm for the winter weather that is only going to get worse.”

“I can’t son; I have no money. My purse was hidden in the cart.”

“Come on Eleanor, we have to do something. I will do what I can to help.”

They strode down the busy street; snow was beginning to fall, softly hitting their faces and covering their clothes. His feet were already cold. He would be so thankful when this was over. Just a day and a half now; it was growing dark already.

They found a Salvation Army Thrift Store and quickly turned into the doorway, thankful for the temporary reprieve from the blowing wind and snow.

The clerk knew instantly that they both needed all the help she could give them.

She took Eleanor over to the thick winter coats and helped her to find one that would go a long way towards keeping the bitter cold out. Then she added insulated underclothing, two pairs of leg warmers, socks, boots, toboggans and gloves. She added three thick blankets to the pile and turned her attention to Richard.

“I have what I need, just take care of her. We have very limited funds to make these purchases.” He knew he needed very little to sustain him for the rest of his short life.

“It’s a Christmas special. The clothing is free; you can donate ten percent of what you have in your pockets to our Christmas fund.”

Reluctantly Richard accepted two blankets and a thicker coat and toboggan along with a pair of boots. He paid her $1.31, ten percent of the contents of his pockets.

They left the store together; Richard felt a great load had been lifted off his shoulders. At least now Eleanor had a fighting chance to survive the cold and snow.

As the hour grew later the winds increased off the great lakes; it was bitterly cold and snowing heavily.

“Eleanor, we need to find shelter.”

She was so cold she had not uttered a word for the last two hours. The businesses were finally closing. They had all remained open later to accommodate the holiday shoppers. When the cold became unbearable Richard and Eleanor had stepped into the shops, fooling no one, to simply warm up.

Richard had been carrying the typewriter and their purchases for the entire day. He was cold, tired and hungry.

“We need to find a place to be safe tonight. Let’s stay together; at least we will have each other to help stay warm.” She nodded her head, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Richard located an entrance to a building he thought would do the trick. He had learned that the deeper the doorway was recessed, the better chance he had to stay warm; the thick brick entrance acted as a shield from the wind and snow.

He bundled Eleanor up tightly and asked her to wait for him. He went to round up soup and cardboard boxes to help shelter them from the cold. When he returned, he found her snoring softly, shivering involuntarily. He wondered how they would fare this cold snowy night.

Eleanor accepted the tall container of soup gratefully. He had brought hot chocolate and had even managed to collect their entire meal from the diner free of charge. He had finally just blurted out the truth about the upcoming night. He had not done so for himself, but in an attempt to save poor Eleanor, who was too weak and thin to generate any kind of warmth alone. It was almost Christmas; the older Italian man who owned the small diner had packed up the containers of soup, hot sandwiches and hot chocolate and shoved them across the counter to Richard. “Merry Christmas son, may God be with you both.” It was free!

When their meal was finished Richard gathered up the containers and carried them to the trash can on the corner. He found another man standing there by the trash, clearly trying to decide how to ride out this windy snowy night. He returned with Richard. Three bodies could bring more warmth than two.

They all huddled close together in the doorway. Richard arranged the thick cardboard to shield them from the howling wind and snow. He shared their blankets with the newcomer.

The man was 59 years old and had an alcohol addiction. It was the same story Richard had heard repeated so many times on the streets; one addiction or another had ultimately led to the loss of a job, a family and finally a home.

And so, they all gathered each night, staring at the sky to see what the night would bring and then looking at their options; and those were always few.

Sometime late into the night the winds died down and the snow just fell silently on the dirty city streets. The group fell into a troubled slumber and another night passed.

Blinking their eyes to adjust to the sunlight, they were rudely awakened by the shop keeper of the business where they had bedded down for the night.

“Get out of here, you worthless bums! And move that pile of crap out of my doorway.” He was shaking his fist at them!

Quickly they gathered up their treasures that had gotten them through another night and hurried away.

Richard knew the pile of cardboard, bags and blankets probably did look like worthless crap; but it was the only thing standing between the group and certain death from exposure to the elements.

He found a hiding place behind a dumpster of a business that was closed for the holidays and took Eleanor’s hand. “We need to find something to eat and a way to stay warm today. We will return tonight to get the things and go to the same doorway; it worked just fine to keep us safe last night.”

‘Too Hard Living’ is an excerpt from ‘Like A River,’ a true story about the personal losses of one man in the economic freefall many experienced. It describes the seeds of failure that created a man who ultimately inspired millions; but not with his early success. It was his failure that created the man he always wanted to become.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Old Country Home

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/old-country-home/

Old Country Home

When we were just tiny toddlers, my older brother and I hopped into our parent’s old Nash automobile so excited about visiting our grandparents in the country. The drive from Corpus Christi to San Antonio brings back some of the most yearned for memories of my life; a simpler, less complicated time in life that I can go back to and take refuge.

My dad, always thinking ahead, had prepared child-sized, home-made “facilities” for use on our road trip. Since gas stations were few and far between, he handed me a small red Folger’s coffee can with a lid and my brother a small glass coke bottle. This little accommodation became a family tradition for road trips back in those days.

Mom packed a large brown grocery bag full of sandwiches and cookies wrapped in waxed paper along with a gallon of iced tea in a clear glass milk jug. Ice chests were still a decade away and so was the technology for plastic baggies. There was no air conditioner in the old Nash so we traveled with the windows open, heads and hands flailing in the breeze (seatbelts hadn’t been invented yet). Dad filled up at a “full-service gas station” for twenty-two cents a gallon (which is sadly extinct now, along with glass gallon milk jugs.)

“San-An-Toni, An-Toni-Oh; She hopped upon a pony, and rode away with Tony; If you see her please let me know, And I’ll meet you in San-Antonio!”

Mom taught us all the road songs she knew; i.e., “You Are my Sunshine,” “Hush Little Baby,” “America the Beautiful,” “Texas Our Texas,” “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” “Home on the Range,” and “San-An-Toni-O,” come directly to my mind. We came from a musical family where everyone sang, played instruments, danced and played records. No more songs? No problem! We counted wooden telephone poles and read billboard signs until we fell asleep.

After driving about forty-five to fifty miles per hour, on a two lane road, for what seemed like more hours than telephone poles, dad put his left arm out of the window to signal a turn and then slowly pulled onto a bumpy dirt road named Rockport Road. About five miles away was my grandparent’s small dairy farm-turned-cattle ranch. Dad always referred to his childhood home as “The Ranch.”

Rockport Road (later F.M. 1518) was a busy artery in the early part of the twentieth century; connecting many productive little farming communities in the Oak Island Community area to the city of San Antonio. Today, this road is South Loop 1604 West and the old ranch house is right off the highway, about five miles from Somerset on the south side of San Antonio. Later in life, I was to discover that our family was one of the oldest Texas families to settle here as far back as 1825.

“Souvenirs”

“They’re here!” shouted Grandmother. Coming quickly down the old stone steps, I noticed that her dress was covered with many tiny flowers. There is nothing like the smell of a country grandma, for she smelled like cookies and love. We pulled up to their modest dairy farm house that was on the edge of a hundred and twenty-six acres spread. Dad parked in the sandy soil and red dirt clay since there was no driveway. Their entire front yard was their driveway.

The first thing I noticed was a beautiful, circular rock garden that sparkled in the sunlight. We felt the texture and shapes of the stones in the round structure that glittered with samples of their vacations. (There used to be a time when it was not illegal to take a sample or two of Montana or Yellowstone National Park home with you.)

Several layers of rocks were stacked about three feet high with nothing to hold them together but each other. We discovered petrified wood, iron stone, colored chunks of glass, flat oval stones, really soft, glittery sandstone, open geodes with white crystals, small round pebbles, grey flat slabs and blue geodes. This collection represented ten years worth of “souvenirs” from Texas all the way up to their Montana land.

The tiny purple Verbena and the green and white Chaparral were in full bloom with millions of new flowers. They smelled like musky cologne and lay draped like curtains over the fence in their front yard. Years before, Grandmother had planted an orange tree next to the house to protect it from the cold in winter. Everyone told her that orange trees don’t grow in San Antonio, but as long as she was alive that orange tree produced sweet oranges.

Two purple and two pink Crepe Myrtle trees grew in the front yard alongside the Pomegranate trees that were imported from out of state. Grandmother gave mom some jars of her home made mustang jelly that she had made from the wild mustang grapes that grew on the property. She found wild mulberry bushes and raspberry bushes out on the land, but the wildlife usually quenched their appetite on them first.

If it grew on a vine, a bush, or a tree, she could make it grow, preserve it in mason jars and pass it on to friends, family and the community. She even collected fresh eggs every morning from the chicken coop and Granddad milked his own personal Jersey cow twice daily.

Their old farmhouse kitchen was a slanted, add-on cook porch with a roof that was a full foot shorter than the rest of the house. The oven didn’t cook evenly because it sat on a slope, but cookies were still wonderful in Grandmother’s oven! She had a real “ice box” with a chunk of ice in it for refrigeration and an old timey washing machine; the kind that squeezes the clothes through two rollers. After we settled in comfortably, Grandmother called my brother and me into the kitchen for some home made cookies and store bought vanilla ice cream that she had purchased from Henry Edward Butt (H.E.B. grocery store).

That evening, we snuggled into a soft double bed in what used to be “the girl’s room.” I traced the thick raised pink roses on Grandmother’s hand crocheted blankets with my fingers, as if trying to remember them. The bed was big enough for little children but I couldn’t imagine how my three aunts slept together on it. Life was simple back in the day that my three aunts were young, and they were happy there, for farm life was all they knew.

The girl’s room had a conservative, black chiffarobe for their dresses and a matching black dresser for their clothes. They also had an old fashioned vanity table to sit at with a mirror. It was peaceful in my aunts’ old bedroom. I wondered how many times they must have sat there and combed their hair, looking into the long mirror. Now I am looking into the same mirror and feeling like a country girl myself.

When Dad was born in 1928, Granddad built a long, porch-room at the back of the house for him. It had a wooden floor and a slanted tin roof that, like the kitchen, was also a foot lower than the rest of the house. Dad lived in that porch-room all the way through college, at Trinity University. Frugality was the operative word back then. But they always had money for the children’s college education, the girl’s singing engagements, and dad’s football games.

When it rained upon that old tin roof, it sounded like little bee bees falling from heaven. The grown-ups didn’t seem bothered by it because they were caught up in a rousing game of Canasta; a card game that took two decks and at least four people. This was Granddad’s favorite pastime and he played it like a champion.

Later on, as the rain stopped and the night grew still, the boisterous voices coming from the dining room turned into soft, muffled conversations of family visiting family. Grandmother was teaching my mother how to crochet raised roses on a granny square blanket just like my aunts had on their old bed. Later, I was to learn the blanket would be for me! All was well at my grandparent’s home.

Rag Rugs, Button Boxes and Granddad’s Marbles

Grandmother had a gift of creating something out of nothing, or very little. She was very imaginative and always kept her crochet needles and a sewing box near her rocking chair. In her leisure time, like an artist with her pallet full of paints, she made from scratch several dozen beautiful rag rugs out of the family’s old, worn out clothing.

My bare feet were never cold at her house because she had covered all of her wooden floors with colorful, knotted, floppy tie rag rugs. When a work shirt or dress became unusable, she took her large pair of sewing scissors and ripped the garments into thousands of equally measured ribbons. Using her iron, she pressed them into biased tape, and using her crochet needle as a hook, she tied the cloth into limitless, colorful, hand-made floppy tie rag rugs.

My brother spent hours playing with Granddad’s boyhood marbles that he had toted around since his own childhood. I was fascinated with Grandmother’s fancy button box and all of the buttons which were placed in it when a garment needed to be turned into a rug. I organized and color-coded them, playing for hours with her large button box. She had the most interesting and unique buttons I’ve ever seen.

Grandmother Beatrice was ahead of her time with recycling. She gave her floppy tie rag rugs away to friends and those “in need of a rug.” Once, she made a long, narrow, white floppy tie rag rug that flowed down the hallway of her favorite niece, Jane McCabe’s hallway, in her lovely home on the north side of San Antonio. Jane was formerly a Parker, like Grandmother, and came from our wealthy Detroit, Michigan relatives who migrated to San Antonio in the early thirties.

Grandmother gracefully wove dark green ties to make the leaves, red ties to make the cherries into the white background. Jane McCabe proudly displayed her Aunt Beatrice’s long cherry rag rug in her large hallway for twenty-five years, until the old rug needed to reitre. It was quite the envy of all of her neighbors and a conversation piece at her bridge parties, too!

King Snakes and Doodle Bugs

My cousin Stevie, who was just a year and a half younger than me, knew all about the difference between rattle snakes and King snakes. “The rattle snake will kill you, but the King snake is harmless and kills the bad snakes” he said.

He also taught me, ever so gently, how to tap a tiny little grain of sand into a Doodle Bug funnel in the barn next to the chicken coop. A Doodle Bug is a black quarter-inch long hard shelled bug with about a hundred tiny legs at the base of its armor.

These little sand creatures dug their funnels with all those little feet in order to bury themselves beneath the cool sand during the day. We tapped one or two grains of sand in their “little tornadoes” in order to confirm if there really was a Doodle Bug inside the funnel or not. If he was home, the Doodle Bug would fast and furiously kick out the sand with his many legs. When in sight, we quickly scooped him up and let him walk on our hands. We meant no malice to nature’s little tornado diggers and always returned them back to the sand, wherein they would immediately begin to feverishly kick sand up in the air and disappear.

My brother and I returned to “The Ranch” several times. Our grandparent’s house even became a refuge during the evacuation of Corpus Christi when Hurricane Carla came ashore. Today, my brother lives about an eighth of a mile from the old homestead in his own “Ranch.”

In 2003, I was actually able to go back to “The Ranch” over fifty years later, to live with my eighty-eight year old aunt Bebe. She had inherited her parent’s old homestead and moved back there after her retirement from teaching. It was through coming back here that I was able to find my roots and remembered that uncomplicated, simple childhood that I had experienced so many years ago.

#featured

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Jumpstart Your Job Hunt With a Quality Resume

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/jumpstart-your-job-hunt-with-a-quality-resume-ultimate-resume-writing-dos-and-donts/

Jumpstart Your Job Hunt With a Quality Resume

After years of working in the executive staffing and recruiting industry, collaborating with countless hiring managers and human resource administrators across various industries, I acquired a thorough understanding of what these individuals were looking for in potential job candidates. I began to see patterns, consistencies, universal tendencies, and I began to see just how important a good resume really is.

As a point of fact, hiring managers only spend around 15 seconds perusing over a new resume and they are really only looking for a couple of things when they do. They’re on autopilot, for the most part. They want to know:

1) Who have you worked for? 2) Have you had steady employment? 3) What notable achievements and recognitions have you had throughout your career? 4) What do you have to offer which will meet with their specific needs?

An effective resume will answer those questions with a minimal amount of effort and, as with any effective marketing tool, it will also leave the reader wanting to know more. You want to give them just enough info to prompt them into action. That’s when they pick up the phone and call you for an interview!

So your resume is your professional introduction. It’s your only chance to make a memorable first impression and I can tell you right now that if you do not take your resume seriously, then your resume will never be TAKEN seriously. It really is that simple.

Now, if you feel you are capable and qualified to write a compelling and dynamic resume, then by all means give it a shot. However, if you’re not extremely confident in your skills as a writer and/or marketer, I would sincerely recommend you hook up with a professional resume writer to help you craft the perfect resume for you. A seasoned veteran in these matters can be an invaluable resource. After all, I trust my mechanic to work on my car because he works on cars all day, every day. Well there are people out there who work on resumes all day, every day…so trust us!

For those who are convinced they have what it takes, this article should help you with some of the finer points. Although job markets and technologies are always changing, there are some things which are fairly universal and constitute the basic principles of a winning resume. To guide you along, I have compiled a comprehensive list of resume writing Do’s and Don’ts, complete with secret tricks of the trade as well as a collection of common mistakes people make. So pay close attention, take my advice into consideration, and you’ll be on your way to landing that dream job in no time!

DON’T

Misrepresent the Truth – Lying on your resume is never a good idea. You don’t want to start a professional relationship based on the misrepresentation of facts. Just as you would hope the employer is not lying to you about the job requirements, salary, etc, they expect you are not lying to them about your background and/or skill sets. It’s the decent and respectable way to conduct yourself and there is no room for dishonesty in the workplace because, sooner or later, these things always have a tendency to come to the surface. Remember: The truth shall set you free!

Use Slang or Jargon – You need to be as professional as possible in the context of your resume if you expect to be taken seriously as a professional. For this reason, you should avoid using familiar lingo, slang, or jargon in your resume. The exception to this rule is when using very industry-specific terminology to describe your particular skills. This can actually help to lend you credit as a knowledgeable individual and an expert in your field, but your such terms wisely and tactfully.

Include a Picture – Unless you’re a model or in a professional dependent on physical attributes, I always advise against putting your picture on your resume. In my experience, it can do more harm than good. So keep the formatting of the resume simple and let the hiring manager use their imagination until they call you in for an interview. Plus, your looks should have nothing to do with your professionalism or the credentials qualifying you for the position. In the business world (even legally), your appearance should have no value as a selling point for you as a competent job candidate.

Include Irrelevant Info (AKA “Fluff”) – If it’s not important, don’t add it to your resume. If you were a cook 10 years ago but now you’re looking for a job in retail management, don’t clutter up your resume with irrelevancy. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager and ask yourself what they would see as important. How does your background correspond with their needs as an employer? Anything else is fluff. Don’t add your hobbies to your resume. Don’t add your references (if they want them, they’ll ask at the appropriate time). And don’t include your high school education either. Finally, don’t be redundant and repeat yourself throughout the context of your resume. It’s OK to reinforce themes, but don’t push it. If your title has been Branch Manager at each of your past three companies, find a way to differentiate each of these positions and highlight your most notable accomplishments. Don’t just copy and paste the line “Managed a team of branch employees” three times. That will get you nowhere.

Include a Core Competencies Section – I find Core Competency sections to be fairly worthless in a professional resume and I’ll tell you why: It doesn’t matter if you’re a waitress, an administrative assistant, a nurse, a teacher, or a sales executive – it doesn’t matter what kind of background you have – anyone can describe themselves as “Self-Motivated”. Anyone can say they are “Goal Oriented” and “Results-Driven” and everyone has “Strong Verbal and Written Skills” when they’re applying for a job. I can say with some degree of certainty that the majority of hiring managers and HR administrators skip right past a Core Competencies section and with good reason. The key to a successful resume is in SHOWING a manager how you are “Results-Driven” and “Goal Oriented” instead of just TELLING them! Your accomplishments speak volumes, let them do the talking. If you are going to include a Core Competencies section, make sure it’s unique and adds value. Again, vagueness will often work against you here because it cheapens the experience of reading your resume.

Rely on Templates or Sample Resumes – If you are surfing the web and looking for a good resume sample or template to use as a guideline for your own resume, make sure the sample you settle on is appropriate considering your background, the industry you’re in, and your career intentions. Because when it comes right down to it, different styles of resumes should be employed in different industries. By way of illustration, a computer programmer’s resume will vary greatly from that of a sushi chef. They both have very different skill sets which need to be highlighted in very different ways in order to be effective. If both those individuals tried to write their resumes in the same format, it would be a disaster. Hiring authorities, respectively, each have their own expectations and some resume formats are better than others at addressing those individual expectations.

Write a Novel and Call it a Resume – I repeat: Do NOT write a novel and call it a resume. Too many people make this mistake. They want to write this wordy, drawn-out thesis outlining their life story and their career aspirations. They have all these skills and accomplishments and they want to include them all in there somewhere, but the problem is most people just don’t know when to stop. Don’t be afraid to leave out some of the details and explore those further in the interview process. My advice is to highlight only those aspects of your background which are most applicable for the job, or types of jobs, you are planning to apply for.

Limit Yourself to One Page – In contrast to the last point, you may not want to limit yourself to a 1-page resume. A common misconception is that a professional resume HAS to be one page. However, that’s not really the case these days. I while back, before the miracles of technology, I may have agreed. But now that most resumes are being read on a computer screen versus on paper, there’s no need to limit yourself in such a way. Those who try to cram all their info on 1-page resume usually resort to smaller font and zero spacing. When viewed on screen, this is not an attractive format and it’s hard to read. Now, I’m not saying you should write a 20-page catalogue of your experiences, nor am I advocating the use of size 20 font. Instead, I would say 12-14 size font should suffice and I recommend you keep it at two pages. That leaves plenty of room to say what needs to be said. Of course, if you have limited experience then a 1-page resume will do just fine.

Use Bullet Points – When it comes time to explain your experiences in your resume, use bullet points to outline your accomplishments. It is much easier to read and even easier to skim, which is what hiring managers are doing most of the time anyways. Bullet points draw attention to important information. They are also visually appealing and make the information seem more accessible to the reader. So keep them short and meaningful. Some people opt for a short paragraph explaining their duties and responsibilities, followed by bullet points highlighting their most notable achievements. This too is acceptable, just make sure to keep that paragraph very succinct and avoid any redundancies as well.

Have a Strong Objective Statement – Although this is a matter of some debate these days, I firmly believe a strong, concise Objective Statement can go a long way. First off, it immediately tells the reader what job you are applying for. That can be a big deal when you’re submitting your resume to a HR representative who has their hands full with many different job openings. Recruiters as well. And if you’re a senior manager, you don’t want to get thrown in the pile with the mail clerks, right? Not only that, but an effective Objective Statement will briefly summarize your qualifications so a hiring manager can make an instantaneous decision whether or not to keep reading. They do that anyways, so why not address their needs in the intro and add value by showing them what you have to offer right off the bat. Remember, I’m only talking about one sentence here. One sentence to market yourself. Once sentence to spark their interest. You don’t want to give the reader too much to think about, rather you want them to proceed on and read the rest of your resume. So grab their attention, establish your professional identity, show them your value, and let them move on to the good stuff!

Choose the Right Format – One thing you need to remember is that there is not one universal formatting methodology because, in truth, there is no cookie-cutter way of writing a resume. What works best for one person may not be best for another. Some people will benefit from a Chronological resume whereas that format may be detrimental to someone who has jumped around a lot in their career. The only thing I can suggest is that you do your homework. Know the different types of resumes (Chronological, Functional, Targeted, and Combination) and know the distinct merits of each. Then make an informed decision as to which style is best for you. If you are surfing the web and looking for a good resume sample or template to use as a guideline for your own resume, make sure the sample you settle on is appropriate considering your background, the industry you’re in, and your career intentions.

Cut to the Chase – Don’t waste time…get to the good stuff. As I said before, a hiring manager will most often skim, scan, and glance over a resume. Keep in mind that they have specific questions in mind when they review a resume for the first time and they expect specific answers. One of the most important questions they are asking is: “Who has this person worked for in the past?” For this reason, I always suggest that serious job seekers highlight their experiences first and foremost. Right below your one-sentence Objective Statement you should transition into and Experience section. In this section you should list your past employers, the years you worked for them, your job titles, and a brief description of your duties there. Of course, this may not be the best approach for some people. If your background is heavily dependent on your academic experience, then you may want to jump into that first.

Focus on Your Target – My reasons for saying this are as follows: An unfocused resume sends a very clear message that you are unfocused about your career. And a hiring authority doesn’t want to see that. They want to see that you have career goals and that those aspirations correspond with their needs as an employer. So keep in mind that a customized resume, modified for a specific position, is always preferable to a generalized and vague resume. If you’re serious enough about a job then you should take the extra time and effort to tailor a resume to that job’s requirements. I assure you your efforts will not go unnoticed.

Be Articulate and Grammatically Exact – In my humble opinion, it’s of the utmost importance to be eloquent within the context of your resume and to make sure you’re using proper grammar and syntax. For your current job description, use the present tense. For past jobs, use past tense. This seems like a no-brainer, but again you’d be surprised at how many people make this mistake. Being articulate can go a long way as well. Most hiring managers will consider it a plus if you can convey your level of intelligence in your written communications. So don’t be afraid to break out the thesaurus and make sure you have someone else edit your resume before you send it out to potential employers. That’s imperative!

K.I.S.S. – A wiser man than me once made this bold statement and it’s extremely applicable when writing your resume: Keep It Simple, Stupid! Too many people make too much of an effort to “stand out from the pack” and in doing so they may unwittingly be hurting themselves. In some professions, such as the creative design field, it may be advantageous to show your originality and imagination, but in other business fields this kind of flamboyancy in a resume is unnecessary and can actually be injurious to your cause. In terms of formatting, the same holds true. I have found that people tend to have much more success when they opt for an uncomplicated formatting style. Some people still want to get all jazzed up with pictures and text boxes and funky font, but that’s just fluff. It’s noise. It is irrelevant to the purpose of your resume, which is to sell yourself through highlighting your skills and accomplishments. And hiring managers see right through that!

Take Your Resume Seriously – As previously stated, if you don’t take your resume seriously then your resume will not be TAKEN seriously. If you choose not to work with a professional, then at the very least have an impartial third-party edit it for you and give you some constructive feedback. This is for your own sake. What happens when you accidentally type “Manger” instead of “Manager”? Do you think Spell Check is going to bail you out? Whatever you do, don’t send it out to potential employers without having someone else look it over. Some people just need to swallow their pride because when it comes right down to it, you may be the best at what you do, but if you don’t write resumes for a living then chances are there’s someone out there more qualified to write your resume than you are. Please consider that if you’re serious about being taken seriously!

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Basic Aquarium Guide

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/basic-aquarium-guide/

Basic Aquarium Guide

We are discussing the general setup for the Tropical and Coldwater aquarium. The differences between Tropical and Coldwater aquarium are assumed to be understood by everyone and hence will not be discussed in great details. Below is a breakdown of the comparison of the 2 type of aquarium.

Cold Water -Low Variety of Species, High Availability, Low Fish-stocking density, Low cost of set-up

Tropical – High Variety of species, High Availability, High Fish-stocking density, Low cost of set-up.

Basic Aquarium Guide in Few Words.

Start-up equipment needed for both type of aquariums:

– Aquarium Tank

– Hood

– Filter

– Substrate

– Water conditioners

– Test kit

– Thermometer

– Heater (Tropical)

– Decoration

– Stand

Aquarium Tank

When you are choosing your first tank, take time before purchasing to make sure that you are buying the right tank for you and for you fish. There’s a wide range of tank designs available but the one preferred generally is the standard rectangular shaped tank. This is because rectangular tanks, being 2 or 3 times as long as they are wide, have a large surface area for the exchange of gases and the uptake of oxygen by the water. Also, better for them in terms of the swimming space it provides. Bigger is better for any aquarium, as even a large aquarium is very small compared to the natural range that any fish has been used to in the wild. The larger the tank, the most water it will hold and the more fish it will be able to sustain and support. It will also provide more stable water conditions than a small tank.

Below is a guide to stocking level:

Coldwater — 2.5cm (1 in) of fish per 60 sq cm (9.3 sq in) of tank water surface area

Tropical — 2.5cm (1 in) of fish per 30 sq cm (4.65 sq in) of tank water surface area

Note: Surface area of the aquarium if calculated by multiplying the length by the width.

Hood

Serve as a place for your lightings .Unless you are having an open concept set-up; it is generally an important part of the tank. Lower evaporation rate of the water, preventing dust from getting into the tank and avoid fish from jumping out of the aquarium are some important aspect of having a hood.

Filter

Filtration is the life-support system for any aquarium and is vitally important for the well-bring of the fish that live within it. Without exception, all aquarium fish need filtered water that is free from pollutants, which is left to build up can be hazardous to their health. Unfiltered aquariums are not safe for living fish since, unless the water is changed several times a day, fish become poisoned by their own waste products and may die as a result.

Type of Filtration (Specific info about filtration coming soon):

Mechanical Filtration – This is carried out by passing water through media that are designed to trap particles and remove them from the water column. Mechanical filter media can be in the form of a sponge or fine wool, and are cheap and readily available. Most filters work mechanically, and the effectiveness of the process is indicated by the way the tank water clears.

Biological Filtration – This method harnesses the power of nature by providing areas within the filter where microscopic bacteria can live and multiply. The media should have a high surface area in relation to their volume, so that more bacteria can live within the space. All tanks will have some sort of natural biological filter either from the bacteria that live on the surface of the substrate or the surface of the plants.

Chemical Filtration – This process is where chemical pollutants and metals are removed from the water by special absorbent resins and granules. Once saturated, the media are normally spent so are then discarded and replaced. The most common form of chemical medium available is aquarium-grade carbon, which can remove dyes, odours and medications from tank water, as well as chlorine from tap water.

The substrate of any aquarium is the material that is placed on the bottom of the tank for decoration. Traditional substrates include sands and gravels, which can be found naturally in the any body of water. In most freshwater aquariums the substrate should be inert, which means that it will not dissolve or leach elements into the water particularly any that may affect the pH of the tank water.

Different type of substrate

Pea gravel

This material is an excellent choice for coldwater and tropical aquariums and is safe to use with all types of fish. It is available in sizes from 4mm (1/8 in) up to 2cm (3/4 in), and its round particles make it good for fish that like to dig. It will not readily compact and it can also be easily cleaned. Pea gravel should be used in a layer about 5cm (2 in) deep. It offers good anchoring for plants, the smaller particle sizes being best for prolonged plant growth.

Silica sand

Silica is available as sand and grit and can be used in all freshwater aquariums. It is very dirty when first purchased and will take a lot of rinsing before the water runs clear. Its colour is similar to that of soil and it can be used to good effect for creating natural-style aquariums. Its small particle size is useful for plant growth and it should be used at a depth between 2.5cm (1 in), where there are no natural plants, and 10cm (4 in) for heavily planted aquariums.

Silver sand

This is the original universal aquarium substrate, given that it is found naturally all over the world in streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. Its name is a little inaccurate, since its overall colour is golden and is essentially the same material as that found on most beaches. It needs to be washed thoroughly when first purchased, and it can be messy to work with because its tiny particles get everywhere. Plants can be grown in it, but some species are better suited to it than others. For a heavily planted tank, mix silver sand with substrate fertilizer and use a heating cable to prevent stagnation.

Colour gravels

There is a huge market for colour gravels and every imaginable colour is available, from black to shocking pink. It is mainly used in ornamental aquariums and can liven up tanks that are not brightly lit. Light colours will attract algae growth and should be regularly cleaned to prevent it. Black gravel looks attractive in natural-style aquariums and highlights fish and plant coloration. Wash all colour gravels because a lot of plant covering will have ground off the gravel particles in the bag.

Grit

Grit is a term used for substrates with a particle size between fine sand and fine gravel – that is, 2-3 mm (1/16 – 1/8in) and is fine enough to encourage plant root growth within it.

Pro and Cons summary of various substrates,

Pea gravel

Pros

– Easy to clean; inert; safe for all fish

Cons

– Too coarse for some plants to grow in

Silica sand

Pros

-Cheap; Natural looking; good for plant growth

Cons

-Needs thorough washing when purchased to remove dust

Silver sand

Pros

-Natural looking; suitable for all aquariums

Cons

-Prone to clogging; particles can end up in filter chambers and power heads

Colour gravel

Pros

-Brighten up aquariums; popular with children

Cons

-Colours fade over time bright colours attract algae growth

Grit

Pros

-Small enough to anchor plants

Cons

-Can be dirty when first purchased

Water conditioners

There is much different type of Water conditioners out there for aquarium. But the most important we are talking about here is Chlorine Neutralizer. The water coming out from our type has abundances of chlorine contained in it and we want to remove it. It’s optional to have water conditioners as by leaving water in a buckets or tanks for over 24hrs will have most of its chlorine content removed naturally.

Test kits

The importance of water testing for modern aquarist cannot be underestimated. Water testing can tell us so much more about how the tank is running than is possible with the naked eye. Water can be crystal clear and yet still contain extremely high levels of toxic ammonia and nitrite, as well as nitrate and phosphate. The pH and hardness of aquarium water are also impossible to tell just by looking, so a test kit can be used to determine whether particular pollutants are present and whether subsequent action should be taken.

Test kits work by using reagents that change colour, which can then be cross-referenced against colour charts. Usually each reagent will test for only one parameter, such as pH, and so a kit will include several different tests. A recommended test kit is the Freshwater Master Test Kit (Picture above). The kit is complete for testing tap water and aquarium water. It includes pH (6.0 to 7.6), high range pH (7.4 to 8.8), Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. A cheap and reliable test kit to buy.

I will try to set up a more thorough explanation of test kits sometimes in future.

Thermometers are an inexpensive necessity; it monitors the most important attribute of the fish tank. Something can always go wrong with your aquarium heater and you need to know it immediately. Read the thermometer at least once a day is important as if something goes wrong with your heater, it could be deadly. There are many type of aquarium thermometer out there in the market. Choose one that you like best.

Heater

The temperature of the world’s ocean, lake and river differs considerably and the fish that inhabit each ecosystem have evolved to thrive in certain temperature range. Fish that we consider to be tropical live in a water temperature of 24-30°C (75 – 86 °F) all year round, with tropical marine fish living in a more stable environment of an almost constant temperature of 24°C (75°F). Heating the water in an aquarium to the temperature required for tropical species is both simple and inexpensive.

There are several types of heating element available; including special mats and cables, but the essential item you need to heat and regulate the temperature in your aquarium is a heater/thermostat. As a heating element at the bottom of the heater heats up, so the water in contact with the outside of the heater warms. A thermostat reads the temperature of the water and turns the heater on and off to maintain the desired temperature. The heater and thermostat are housed in a glass tube with a sealed top. This piece of equipment is placed fully submerged in the tank; the temperature adjusted and then plugged in for 24 hours a day.

There are many different sizes of heater available. The wattage required depends on the volume of water to be warmed. A 25 Watt size heater is enough for a 30cm (12in) long aquarium while a 300 watt heater is enough for 120cm (48 in) long tank. Any size later than this will require more than 2 heaters. Look at the table below to have a better view.

Tank Size Heater size

30cm (12in) 25 watts

60cm (24in) 50 watts

75cm (30in) 100 watts

90cm (36in) 150 watts

100cm (39in) 200 watts

120cm (48in) 300 watts

Decorations

There are many types of Aquarium Decoration available to choose from. They are namely substrate (we mentioned before), rocks, wood, ornaments, artificial/natural plants and backgrounds.

The use of rock in the aquarium is as old as the hobby itself and there are now many types available. Rockwork can provide a backdrop, hiding places for fish and potential spawning sites. More articles about rocks will be posted in future.

Wood can be used very effectively as a design feature in aquariums and helps to provide a natural setting. Not all wood is safe to be used in aquariums, so only obtain wood from aquatic retailers. Fish use wood for camouflage and hiding places and it can also be used to highlight planting. Wood should be pre-soaked to remove unwanted chemical that it might have.

For a discerning fish keeper ornaments may have no place in the aquarium, but some do not know what they are missing. Fish are not fussy about what their home looks like, and species that like to hide may just be happily reside under a bridge made from resin as one made from piled stones. For those of you that like a colourful underwater wonderland, they are a must to have.

Artificial plants have come a long way since they were first introduced and now look more realistic than ever. Their durability also makes them suitable to keep with fish that would destroy live plants and those that would eat the real things. They are useful for hiding equipment and making areas feel more secure for nervous fish, and, of course, they will tolerate any type of water.

Aquatic plants can look stunning when they are properly displayed, but they offer many additional benefits to the aquarium and its inhabitants. However, if they are to provide any of the benefits, you will have to meet their needs, which includes providing appropriate lighting, fertilization and substrates. See basic plant guide.

An appropriate background is important if you want to imitate an underwater scene in your aquarium. They can give the effect of increased depth and can also hide any trailing cables. Internal and external backgrounds can be purchased, or you can make one yourself.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Women Who Hate Other Women

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/women-who-hate-other-women/

Women Who Hate Other Women

Have you ever wondered to yourself, “why do women hate each other?”

Teenage girls ask the question why do girls hate me?

Women who hate other women at the deepest level of their subconscious have unresolved conflicts with their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or female caretakers who abandoned, abused, or neglected them emotionally, psychologically, and/or physically. Little girls raised by emotionally unstable mother figures never learn how to love and/or trust other women. However, please remember that it is challenging and difficult for a mother to raise her daughter to love and respect; women if she has not learned this lesson herself.

Society put so much pressure on mothers to be perfect, unlike fathers. There are saying such as, “As precious as a mother’s love” or “The child has a face that only a mother could love.” People tell “Your Mama” jokes because the expectations for fathers are so low that there is nothing funny or hurtful that anyone could say about fathers that would cause an emotional response. When athletes accomplish an amazing fete or entertainers accept awards, they acknowledge their mothers. Mothers receive all the glory and blame for how their children’s lives ultimately turn out.

Society put women on an unrealistic pedestal that cause women to strive for an illusion of perfection that is humanly impossible. And when this hefty emotional and social goal is not met, we learn to hate and blame other women – and subconsciously ourselves.

It is very common to hear women say, “I don’t trust women!” “Females are fake.” Women declare that other women are treacherous, two-faced, backstabbers, who sleep with other women’s boyfriends and husbands. Women brag about hating other women and not having females as best friends because women are competitive, devious, and jealous-hearted. What women do not realize is that all women are connected to the collective consciousness of feminine energy… and therefore deep down inside they have the same negative thoughts about themselves.

10 Primary Reasons Women Hate Other Women:

1. Mothers in Abusive Relationships

Girls raised in homes with psychologically unstable mothers who attract abusive relationships with men tend to have a difficult time establishing healthy relationships with men and women. The mother is indirectly teaching her daughter that she is worthless and unlovable when the mother allows a man to verbally, emotionally, and/or physically abuse her. The mother is a role model to her daughter and she is indirectly teaching her how to allow men to treat her in a relationship. Additionally, in many homes riddled with domestic violence, the man may also abuse the children. When children do not feel protected, safe, loved, and respected by their caregivers they have difficulty developing healthy relationships with other people throughout their lives.

2. Mothers who are Promiscuous

Women raised in homes with mothers perceived as being promiscuous may find it challenging to trust other women due to the double standard regarding male and female sexuality. Women and men alike are more likely to judge critically the women’s role in having an affair with a married man than blaming the husband for cheating. People learn to see themselves through the eyes of other people. Little girls see themselves as reflections of their mother, if people view their mother as being a whore, slut, or tramp-the daughter begins to identify with this persona-even if it’s incorrect. In turn, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. She would rather be the man-stealing woman who is the predator– than the supposed unattractive, angry, victim-woman at home who couldn’t keep her man faithful. Both are negative personas of femininity and womanhood that make it difficult for women to establish loving and supportive relationships with each other.

3. Mothers who Fail to Protect their Daughters from Sexual Predators

Little girls who are molested or sexually abused by family members, step-fathers, biological fathers, boyfriends, or close family members and neighbors have a tendency to blame their mothers for failing to protect them from the abuser. Even if it’s not the mother’s fault-and she is not aware that her child is being sexually abused– many children still feel that their mothers failed to recognize behavior changes that indicated some type of trauma had taken place.

Women are expected to see the unseen and know the unknowable. And when they fall to recognize the pain, shame, and fear hidden behind their children’s eyes, buried underneath their souls-society’s psychologists, therapists, and counselors first question is: “Did you tell your mother?” The question is loaded with accusatory implications of: if your mother doesn’t know was she such a “bad mother” that you couldn’t tell her? Your relationship with your mother still comes into question as contributing to your emotional health and overall wellbeing.

4. Mothers who have Negative for Poor Body Image

Mothers, who hate their bodies, have negative or poor body image, or who are obsessed with looking youthful tend to have daughters who learn to feel the exact same way about their bodies. Children learn to love themselves through their parent’s eyes. If a mother doesn’t like her nose, and her daughter feels that she has the same nose as her mother-the little girl learns from her mother that something is wrong with her nose as well. That she is not beautiful-not good enough–unless she changes her nose.

Spiritual growth plays out through the human DNA. For example, if a mother hates her body size and has cosmetic surgery to alter her appearance-her DNA code may still express itself through her daughter. What will she say to her daughter who is trying diet after diet– but continues to fail to be a size that she was never born to be? The love or hate that we feel about ourselves is boldly displayed through our children.

Even if our children are not born from our bodies they still carry the DNA from their mother’s souls. The way their mothers look into their eyes, cuddle with them, caress them, kiss them, feed them, take care of them, read to them, tell them how much they love them or not-this is what encodes children’s internal behavior for self-love, self-worth, and self-esteem.

5. Mothers who are Flirtatious

Mothers who are flirtatious with their daughter’s boyfriends, father’s friends, or who seem to thrive on being the center of male attention sometimes cause young women to believe that they are unworthy, unimportant, and invisible unless their self-worth is validated by a man. The daughters learn to objectify themselves and see their own self-worth, self-esteem, and feminine-value by how much attention is “paid” to her by men.

6. Mothers who are Competitive with and Jealous of their Daughters

Some mothers display behaviors that may indicate that they are jealous and envious of their daughter’s youth and beauty. Girls who grow up in homes with mothers who are competitive with their daughters by wearing the same clothes, makeup, i.e. fashion in general; who brag about being a smaller size, or try to dress and act like a teenager instead of an adult woman– raise daughters who feel insecure about their femininity and physical beauty.

7. Mothers who are Emotionally Distant and Non-Affectionate

Mothers who withhold affection, who are emotionally distant or critical tend to raise daughters who struggle with relationships with female authority figures. They will find themselves being people-pleasers; subconsciously seeking the approval of their nothing is ever-good-enough mothers. Women who hate women in this category have the most problematic relationship with other women because they love and hate their mothers equally. These mothers tend to be perfectionists who demand that their daughters chew with their mouths closed; never spill ketchup on their dress; and always sit with their legs closed. The perfectionist mother gives her daughter everything that she needs financially and physically–the only thing that she is incapable of giving her daughter is unconditional love and acceptance.

8. Mothers who did not get along with their own Mothers

Mothers who have tumultuous relationships with their own mothers have a tendency to have antagonistic relationships with their daughters. If the mother was not raised in a family where she was taught how to get along with other women-this may simply be a social skill that she is lacking. In some families, women refer to each other as bitches and other derogatory names. They physically abuse each other… slapping, biting, pulling hair. Wear each other’s clothes and shoes without permission. All of these behaviors are perceived as being “normal”. They have been conditioned to believe that this is just how women are supposed to get along.

When women have daughters this is when the universe is giving them an opportunity to reassess what it means to be a woman– to be a part of a sisterhood that has been oppressed for centuries. They are being asked to take stock of the assets and liabilities of the paradigm of womanhood and femininity for the next generation of girls.

Mothers need to look deep within their souls and ask themselves the tough questions:

What changes can I make in myself that will give my daughter(s) opportunities that I never had?

In what ways have I not truly loved and respected myself that may be reflected back to me through the eyes of my little girl?

What did I love about the relationships with the women in my family?

What do I hate about the relationship with the women in my family?

Their relationship with their mother could be strained for any of the reasons mentioned in this article or various other reasons. But the most important reason is that the mother lacks a role model of what healthy relationships look like between women.

9. Mothers who put their Daughters up for Adoption

Women who were placed for adoption tend to resent their mothers but not their fathers. I had a client who was adopted tell me; “How can I expect anyone else in this world to love me if the woman who carried me inside of her body for nine months, pushed me out of her vagina–looked at me as an innocent newborn baby-and still decide that she did not love or want me.” She sobbed for 10 minutes or more after saying this. Her pain made my heart ache.

The biological responsibility that Mother Nature has given to women to protect, nurture, and raise the human soul is a spiritual mission that many women in modern society have abandoned.

10. The Mainstream Media discourage Mothers and Daughter from getting along.

Sometimes the mainstream media portray teenage daughters and middle-aged mothers as natural enemies-one is emerging into her “idealistic portrayal” of fertility and mainstream beauty and the other exiting. There are many mothers and daughters who are very close who describe their relationships as being “abnormal” because middle-aged women and teenage girls are not supposed to get along.

Some women are just playing out an indirect expected social pattern of behavior that they believe is normal. However, once they get together and really communicate, many mothers and daughters learn that they have more in common with each other than not in common. And they truly enjoy each other’s company.

Sometimes we forget the social media thrives on conflict. Movies and televisions shows will be boring without antagonists. Advertisers need women to feel unbeautiful and old in order to sell makeup, fashion, and hair care products. Women are being conditioned to believe that they are in competition with each other-mothers against daughters, sisters against sisters- and so forth.

Imagine this:

Through the beginning of human history billions of women have been hurt, beaten, beheaded, raped, shunned, molested, abused, over-looked, denied opportunities, oppressed, put-down, unloved, and unappreciated for you to exist in this very moment in time.

No matter what her race, nationality, creed, or religion is silently thank her and give her the voice she never had. You are the breathing reality of her dream. You are her little girl that she wanted to keep safe-but couldn’t. You are her sister who has bravely carried the torch of humanity from the trenches of male domination and oppression through the womb of hope, faith, and grace.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Abundant Life on the Other Side

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/abundant-life-on-the-other-side/

Abundant Life on the Other Side

Many years ago I experienced something incredible, bordering on mind-boggling. I glimpsed and felt what it was like to die and cross over to the other side. In essence, I experienced what mirrored a near death experience (NDE) without any of the trauma or crisis that typically accompanies such an adventure. In a trance state, I literally found myself moving through the tunnel that separates life as we know it from ‘death’, or more accurately, the ‘other side’.

Thanks to the urging of dear friends and interested clients, I am sharing what I recall from that extraordinary experience, amplified by years of channeling beautiful souls who have left the earth plane through the natural death process and are now in spirit.

Life on the other side is beautiful and easy going, characterized by indescribable feelings of freedom and lightness. There is no illness, discomfort, despair, animosity, scarcity or hopelessness. Abundance and upliftment are transcendent themes – delightful feelings abound, goodness is everywhere, love is pervasive. And the light, colors and vibrant experience of aliveness are nothing short of breathtaking. Some of the most positive and picturesque scenes from the film, What Dreams May Come, starring Robin Williams, resemble personal experiences I’ve been privileged to have on the other side.

In describing what it’s like on the other side, it’s important to touch upon the time, since this is one of many things that is very different over there. Time, as we know it on this side of the ‘veil’, runs in a linear fashion, from left to right. The past is sometimes envisioned on the left side of a straight continuum, where the present, or now, is in front of us in the center of the line, and the future is off to the right. Time tends to be a measure of how fast or slow things happen. A week feels a lot longer than an hour, and a year or two can feel like an eternity, depending on what we’re going through on the earth plane.

As I’ve come to understand it, time doesn’t exist on the other side, at least not the way we’ve come to know or experience time here. What feels like a few minutes to a soul there may, in fact, be several months, or even years here. This has been confirmed over and over again by individuals who have crossed over and are having a conversation with their loved ones who are still alive on this side.

Take, for example, a loving mother, Jayne, who was grieving the loss of her five-year-old daughter, Melissa, three years after her daughter’s untimely death from leukemia. When making contact with her daughter on the other side, Jayne asked Melissa what she had been doing all this time, while her mom had been thinking of her and doing her best to deal with the pain of her loss.

Much to Jayne’s surprise, Melissa appeared to have matured into a teenager, as if magically transformed overnight. And her daughter was alive with information and updates on what she’d been doing. Melissa talked of having met with relatives who died years earlier and were there to welcome her when she crossed over. She mentioned having attended some classes on the other side, and that she had the main teacher who guided her and was there to comfort her when she first ‘arrived’. Melissa also talked about having made friends with other young people who had recently crossed over – not just from the USA, but from different parts of the world – and reiterated that she was enjoying ‘life’.

But to Melissa, it did not feel like a long time since she’d crossed over. In fact, it felt like only a few weeks to her, in earth time. While her mother, Jayne, had languished for years, feeling sadness and deep regret over the passing of her daughter, Melissa tried to comfort her mom by sharing what had happened in the last few ‘months’ over there, where months to Melissa equated to years on our earth calendar. The blink of an eye on the other side may be weeks or months of time on this side.

Another telling point is that Melissa had apparently grown far more than three earth years since she had crossed over, at least it seemed that way to her mother. At the age of eight, which her daughter would have been had she not died, Melissa revealed herself as a budding young woman who was growing by leaps and bounds on the other side. In fact, depending on who contacted Melissa at any given time, Melissa showed herself to be of varying ages – a teenager to her mother, a 20-something woman to her uncle who was an esteemed professor at a prestigious university, and a young girl to her grandmother who fondly recalled her as a sweet, young kindergartner.

I have experienced this phenomenon countless times. Individuals who have crossed over are able to choose any age or life stage they wish to portray themselves, at any given time. Their physical or ‘body’ appearance often morphs from one conversation to the next, and sometimes alters within a single conversation – from younger to older or vice versa.

For example, one time – when making contact and facilitating a connection between a middle-aged client of mine, Diego, and his elderly mom, Maria, on the other side – at the start of the conversation his mother showed herself to be in her late 70s, just as Diego remembered her before she died. Maria demurely showed her gray hair neatly pulled back in a bun and made sure to show me that she was wearing a simple cotton housedress that fell conservatively below her knees, as was befitting her age and station in life. Maria’s well-worn outfit was finished off with a pair of sensible (old fashioned) shoes that Diego fondly remembered.

But as the conversation progressed, Diego’s adoring mom recalled a heart-warming experience she had had in the 1950s with her beloved husband. As she described that memorable evening at a nightclub in Madrid, Maria rejuvenated before my (inner) eyes, becoming the youthfully attractive woman she was in her late 20s, passionately in love with her new husband, Alonso. As Maria merged into a younger version of herself, so did her clothing. Her housedress transformed into a tasteful, ruby red cocktail dress that was cinched at the waist to show off her slim, stylish figure, with a hemline that showed off her shapely legs.

Diego confirmed that his mother had taken pride in her appearance and that over the years she and his father had enjoyed ballroom dancing in Spain. Both images that Maria showed me of herself turned out to be accurate. Diego shed tears of joy reminiscing about his mom’s most recent life – from the beautiful young woman who loved to dance, to a mature mother and grandmother whose primary focus was making her home warm and welcoming to all.

Another important theme that comes through from individuals on the other side is an openness, receptivity, and forgiveness, especially when it comes to relationships. On occasion, a client will ask to connect with a close friend or loved one who has recently crossed over but is reticent about having a conversation with that person because of an unresolved issue or situation from the past that still weighs heavily on them.

The good news is that I have rarely come across a soul on the other side who is hard to reach, much less someone who holds a grudge after he or she has crossed over. For individuals who had a rocky relationship with someone on this side, making contact with that same person on the other side almost always feels liberating, if not peaceful and joyful. In part, this noticeable improvement in the relationship can be traced to the individual’s personality or human side either evaporating or expanding in a divine way after crossing over. What is dominant for souls on the other side is their essence self, not their personality self.

People who were characteristically cold, greedy or uncommunicative when alive on this side are often warm, agreeable, generous in spirit and open to talking on the other side – sometimes surprisingly so. Clients’ apprehension about making contact with someone with whom they had personal difficulties quickly dissolves into acceptance once the conversation gets underway – the healing changes that have taken place in their friends or loved one’s demeanor on the other side are not only obvious but also soothing to experience.

So, there is no need to be apprehensive about reaching out and making contact with someone on the other side, despite past experiences that may have been less than ideal. Love is the overarching energy that heals just about all wounds.

Several people have asked me if there is hell, and, if so, what it’s like. I’m more than delighted to report that in over 14 years of making contact with individuals who have crossed over, I have never seen or experienced anything that even remotely resembles hell there. In fact, it is quite the opposite. More than a few individuals who have crossed over refer to the 3D earth plane – here – as the real hell. One true story captures this very well.

About 30 years ago, a client’s father, Karl, died of stomach perforation after one year on heavy doses of antibiotics at the young age of 54. But before permanently crossing over, Karl experienced two bona fide NDEs. In the early 1970s, and in Germany, this was far from a well-known phenomenon, much less something you would discuss with anyone, lest they think you had lost your mind. But Karl, a prominent architect, and devout Catholic felt compelled to share the miraculous experience he had with his wife and teenage sons.

Upon coming back into his ailing body from the NDE, Karl clearly described what had happened, as best he could. He explained how light and free he felt when he floated above his physical body and went into the tunnel of light. For the first time in longer than he could remember, Karl was pain-free, felt truly alive and was joyful again. But as he approached the other side, Karl understood that it was not yet his time to fully cross over. Disappointed, he came zooming back into his body, back onto the hospital bed. The agony of returning was devastating to him.

As clearly and articulately as he could, Karl described how beautiful and loving it was on the other side, and asked his family to feel at peace when the time did come for him to fully cross over because, in his words, “there’s no hell over there; being back in this ailing body is the real hell.” Coming from a religious man who was convinced that hell did exist and expected to see or sense it, even from afar, this perspective was, and is, very significant, confirming hundreds of experiences I’ve had with souls who have crossed over.

On the flip side, many ask, is there a heaven? In none of the many readings that I’ve conducted with individuals who have crossed over have I ever ‘seen’ anything that resembles the storybook portrayal of heaven. No puffy clouds creating a ‘floaty’ environment, no pearly gates, no winged angels – although there is an abundance of angels…they simply look like loving individuals without the telltale wings.

Time and again souls on the other side tell us how ‘heavenly’ it is over there, but they mean this in a delightful, blissful, amazing, dreamlike way that includes instant manifestation of wondrous things. In other words, ask and it is given.

If life on the other side is seemingly so joyful and free of problems, then why do souls request to come back to this side, fondly referred to as Earth school? The answer is clear. As souls, when we come into human embodiment, we’re presented with significant opportunities to learn important lessons here in ways that are not as easy, or even possible to do on the other side. The challenges and adversity that we face on this side are unmatched anywhere in the solar system, or so it’s said. As souls, we grow expansively and at an accelerated rate here as compared to other realms of existence.

The analogy to college life is a good one – living on planet earth, on this side of the veil, is likened to an ivy league college with tough entrance requirements and a full course load, whereas being on other side is more like attending a ‘party’ school. The rewards for achieving our educational goals here are enormous. Thankfully, we get to ease back and continue to grow, albeit at a calmer, slower, easier pace, when we cross over. The other good news is that there is nothing to fear on the other side, making our lifelong lesson and journey here a full-fledged adventure to be experienced to the max.

Lily holds a Ph.D. in psychology and has enjoyed a long, successful career as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies. She has been sought after by individuals around the globe for her strength in bridging across dimensions and communicating with loved ones on the other side, as well as for the clarity and accuracy of her channeled insights. Lily is also respected for her astute intuitive guidance as clients navigate through transformative shifts in their lives and career paths.

Other areas in which Lily has special expertise include communication with the higher self, ancestral healing, identification and removal of entities, walk-in experiences, past life regression and animal communication.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Is There Life On Other Planets

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/is-there-life-on-other-planets/

Is There Life On Other Planets

Does life exist on other planets? If life does exist on other planets how come we haven’t had any contact with them and why are we isolated from all other life forms in the universe? What kind of creatures can we expect to find? Will they be like us or will they be like the monsters you see in the horror movies?

These are the questions I am going to be addressing using the Bible as my guide. I know that most of you are saying “the Bible doesn’t say anything about aliens from outer space.” And you are right. The Bible doesn’t say anything directly about space aliens but indirectly the Bible has a lot to say on this subject if you know where to look for the answers.

Let’s start with the question of why we haven’t had any contact with aliens and why are we isolated in the universe? I believe the answer to this question lies in us. The Bible tells us that we as human beings are evil. I know that many people believe that human beings are born good and learn how to be bad when in reality the opposite is true. We are born selfish and have had to learn how to be good. You don’t have to teach any little child to lie. It comes natural to them. In Matthew 7:11 Jesus says that we as human beings are evil. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Many people believe that evil only counts in the things that we do but the Bible says in Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

God is more concerned about what you think and not what you do. For God knows that if evil is in your thoughts it is just a matter of time before your thoughts manifest themselves into evil actions. I have heard many people say “it doesn’t hurt to look” nothing could be further from the truth. What you put into your mind is really all that does matter. What do our evil thoughts have to do with aliens? Our thoughts have everything to do with aliens not wanting anything to do with us human beings. One of the biggest problems with sin is the blinding that occurs in the sinning process. We can’t see the destructive forces at work in our own minds. Most everybody else around us can see our short comings, except for us. We can’t see ourselves and that’s the reason we are so quick to overlook our shortcomings and dismiss them as not as bad as other peoples faults.

I believe that the whole human race is evil and condemned to death on this penal colony called earth. We can see that truth in John 3:18-19 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

I don’t believe it’s an accident that this planet earth is set in a far corner of the universe away from all other life forms. We do the same thing with the placement of our prisons. If at all possible we place our prisons as far away from society as possible as to not subject a bad influence our people.

It’s so easy for us to justify our sins, all we have to do is turn on the television set and watch just about any program and say to ourselves “I’m glad I’m not that bad.” We compare ourselves to people who are perverted, violent and wicked and we walk away feeling good about ourselves. If you can imagine a planet where the people don’t have a single evil thought in their minds and are always looking for ways to help their fellow man it’s then when we can finally see ourselves for what we really are.

This next verse explains to us exactly why we are alone in this far corner of the universe.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil Company corrupts good habits.”

If you take a pure glass of water and add anything foreign to the water the water is no longer pure. This is one of the major reasons why I believe we are alone in the universe. God may have many different colonies on many different planets but one thing is for sure. He certainly is not going to let them mingle with the condemned earthlings. We would corrupt them and make them just like ourselves.

So you say how do you even know that anybody is really out there? The Bible tells us of one God-Man who ascended to heaven. I have heard some theories that heaven is really on earth right now and when you die you simply move to a different dimension. I don’t believe the Bible teaches us that. The Bible says that heaven is a real place where Jesus is preparing our spiritual bodies and there are also eye witnesses who seen Jesus ascending to heaven and the Bible says that eye witnesses will also see Him returning to earth. If heaven is here on earth only in a different dimension it doesn’t make any sense that when Jesus returns to earth He would first have to ascend to heaven before He could descend to earth. We can see in Acts 1:11 that Jesus was taken to heaven and in like manner He is going to return. “Who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

We know that Jesus is in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father. We also know that heaven is also called “the secret place” and that the secret place is being kept a secret from us. We can see this fact in Matthew 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

We know that heaven is a real place with Jesus and the Father on the throne. We also know from reading 2 Corinthians 5:8 that when we die as Christians to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

We know as Christians that when we die we will go to be with the Lord. Just how many people are we talking about? It has been estimated that 7 billion people are living today and it has also been estimated that another 7 billion people throughout earth’s history are dead. If God were to return right now how many of those 14 million people would be in heaven? According to Matthew 7:13-14, the number of people who make it to heaven are probably not as many as you would think. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

So just how many people are going to be in heaven? We know that currently there are a lot of people there. We know that these people are no longer manipulated by evil thoughts and desires. We know that these people already have their new spiritual bodies and are living in complete harmony with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. In Revelation 5:11 we can get an idea of just how many people are going to be in heaven. “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”

Is there life on other planets? Of course there is! Where do you think all the dead people went? God says “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” When Jesus took Peter, James and John up to the mountains and transfigured himself in front of them Moses and Elijah was there with Jesus. Where did they come from? Moses died thousands of years before Jesus.

I believe heaven is a physical place out in a far corner of space with God, Jesus, the angels and all the saints who have died since the beginning of time living in complete harmony and happiness. I also believe that we as a human race because of Adam’s sin against God have been condemned to death physically and spiritually that is why we are isolated and all alone on this planet earth and set apart in the opposite corner of the universe.

In the book of Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus is talking to His disciples with a parable about the “tares of the field.” Of course the disciples didn’t understand the parable and asked Jesus to explain the parable to them. In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus gives the meaning of the parable to His disciples. I took the parable along with the meaning of the parable and put the two together and came up with the parable with the meanings in apprentices.

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like (the son of man,) (Jesus) who planted (the sons of the kingdom)in his (world) but while men slept, (Satin)came and planted (the sons of the wicked one,) among (God’s people)and went his way. But when (God’s people)had (matured),and (brought other people to God) then the (sons of the wicked one) also appeared. So the (angels)of (God)came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not plant the (sons of the kingdom)in your(world)? How then does it have(Sons of the wicked one?) God said to them, ‘ (Satin)has done this.’ The (angels)said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?

But God said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the (the sons of the wicked one)you also uproot the (the sons of the kingdom)with them. Let both grow together until the(end of the age) and at the time of(the end of the age)I will say to (the angels,) “First gather together (the sons of the wicked one) and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather (the sons of the kingdom)into my barn.”

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

God compares this world to a farmer’s field and the crop that God is planting is His people for His pleasure. But while men slept Satin crept in and planted his people among God’s people. This parable is telling us that of all the people living past and present, all are not God’s people. At the end of the age God’s angels will separate God’s people from Satins people.

I am trying to get you to think of the Biblical events as real events that will soon be taking place. It took Noah 100 years to build his ark and nobody except his family believed him that the flood was coming. I can imagine the people of Noah’s day saying “look at that stupid man building that ark for over 95 years waiting for a flood that will never happen.” The Bible says that our last days are to be compared to the last days of Noah before the great flood in that the people become very wicked and very few people will actually believe that Jesus is returning to the earth.

Is there life on other planets? I would have to say probably. It wouldn’t surprise me if God has several colonies on several different planets. How come we haven’t had any confirmable contact with any aliens? I believe God stuck this planet away from everybody else as a punishment for man’s fallen state. The Bible says that Satan is the ruler of this world so if there is any contact it will be by Satan or his fallen angels. What kind of creatures can we expect to come in contact with? At this point in time unfortunately all we can expect to come in contact with will be Satan or his fallen angels that is until Jesus and His saints return to this planet at the end of this age.

#featured

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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The Light Of The World

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/the-light-of-the-world/

The Light Of The World

There was once a small child named Jacob. Jacob had not been much interested in Christmas-too young to remember the previous Christmas, and not comprehending what it would mean this year. Not much interested, that is, until his mother and father began to string lights down the banister and around the entry area of the house. “Oh, Mommy, Mommy!” he exclaimed, “Let me help make Christmas!” and gathering all the rest of the lights in his arms, he ran to his room and began to string them everywhere until his room resembled something like the Griswald’s house in the movie Christmas Vacation.

Small as he was, he grasped an important truth. Christmas is all about lights-the light of the angels bursting through a cold, dark sky to sing the music of heaven to terrified shepherds who could not remember anything like this happening before, nor comprehend what was happening now. The light of a star appearing in the sky to anxious magi who had never seen anything like it before-and could not comprehend a king who was born in a stable. The Light of the World, born in a stable to a scared teenager supported by her worried husband.

Light gets our attention. On that first Christmas the true light came into the world, the light that shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. The Light comes again today for us. It comes into our lives. It is here enlightening our lives. Do we see the Light of Life as the shepherds did, or do we see it as a disturbance, something that unsettles us, something that makes us uneasy, something that brings a wave of guilt, but doesn’t lead us to repentance. Because of the Babe born on the first Christmas, our lives are lit up with the grace of God, the love of God, the forgiveness of God, the power of God, and the peace of God.

John’s Gospel has two purposes:

1. To introduce his readers to Jesus, and

2. To establish who He is and what He did, all with the sole aim of leading them to embrace the saving work of Christ.

God came to us in Christ. When hostility and enmity exist, we can break the silence because of Christ and offer what God has offered us-a word of Grace. The true light came on the first Christmas-the light that shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. Light equals life. The Light of Christ has come into our lives. Do we see it as a disturbance, or do we see it as the Light of life, like the shepherds did? This light brings peace, comfort, reconciliation and joy into our lives.

There is a story about two brothers, named Tom and John, whose father had died. He had willed the farm to the two of them to keep his sons together. It had not worked that way. John had married and lived in a small town with his family. Tom, who remained single, lived alone in the old farmhouse. “John is always preoccupied with his family,” Tom thought. “I do more than my share of the work.” He began to resent his brother. “Tom is always so grouchy,” thought John. “He is jealous of my wife and children.”

A wall of resentment built up between them. They would hardly speak to each other. They attended the same little church in town and sat on opposite sides of the nave during the Christmas Eve service. John was troubled because they had hardly acknowledged each other’s presence as they sat in church. On the way home John said to his wife, “Tom is alone and has no one to share Christmas. I know he won’t come here. Maybe we can take a warm dinner to him.” His wife prepared a delicious meal and put it into a sleigh and started from the small town to the farmhouse in the country. Meanwhile, Tom, sitting alone, said to himself: “Life is too short for this. John is my only brother and he has it hard with his wife and family. I will load my wagon with wood for the fire and gifts for the children.” So he loaded his wagon and drove toward town.

Down in the valley between the farm and the town they met. They were silent for a moment and then they embraced with shouts of “Merry Christmas!!!!” Reconciliation took place at that moment, and the true light of Christmas was bright with a glow that could be seen for miles around.

Christ the light was in the world. The world was made by Him, but the world did not know Him. In the Bible, the word “flesh” often means “the whole person”. Human nature is distinct and separate from God; the human nature in all of its weakness and susceptibility of sin. The rejecter’s loss is the believer’s gain. The way has been opened for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in us. Christ’s grace is inexhaustible. The purpose of the Light is to make us His children. He is God over us, and He is our advocate. He pleads our case because He loves us.

Jesus revealed His love for us through the greatest act of self-sacrifice a man could perform-He gave His life for us. God became one of us. Christ has identified with us, and He wants to enable us to live fulfilled lives. The church owes its life to the Word of promise, and is nourished and preserved by the same Word. If the soul has the Word, it is rich and is lacking nothing of peace, of righteousness, of salvation, of joy, of liberty. Advent’s mood calls us to a mature, clear-sighted and steadfast faith. The real meaning of Christmas lies in the combination of magical ceremonies and the message that God has broken through our human selfishness.

John’s Gospel adds perspective whereby the reader is led all the way back to Creation to see even that in the light of the resurrection. John points us continually toward Jesus and His mission. John’s life is directed toward Jesus and in service of His kingdom. We must let go of EVERYTHING that is blocking God’s path to us. To have a relationship with Christ is to have a relationship of openness to God and share His eternal life. The world can’t understand the light and darkness, but the darkness of our universe has been scattered. The one who is light suffered the darkness of death and hell in our place. The Crucifixion did not extinguish the light, because Jesus is Lord of Death and Lord of Life. We are not in darkness any more. We have “seen the light”. God’s word has created us and bound us together.

God’s immensity is always flooding us with grace. Our spiritual blindness can’t drive us away from God’s grace. The major consequence of our sinful nature is blindness-to truth, reality, the nature of sin and the necessity of a Saviour. The Saviour of humankind has been given to us. The Word is immersed in every aspect of our lives-from empty problems at work, to temptation, to fun-time partying, to betrayal, to exhilaration, to grief, to laughter, to pain. We draw grace from God’s entire resources—an inexhaustible warehouse. From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The other Gospels depict the glory of God coming upon Jesus at the transfiguration; however, John sees the glory of God in all Jesus says and does. In John’s mind, the hour for Jesus to be glorified is the crucifixion.

If we say we have fellowship with God, that means we partake of his divine nature. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we have fellowship with God, we must be like Him and make room in our lives and hearts for others AND for Jesus. Christmas can be a time for sheer joy, but it can also be a time of great pain and sorrow, especially for those who have lost a loved one, or who are in poor health, or who have lost their job, or who have suffered other kinds of losses. There is hope in the true story of Christmas-hope God gave us in the baby, our redeemer, Jesus Christ. The Light of the World brings hope to the world. God lives here within us. If God keeps his promises, is it because he wants to or is it because of his nature? He won’t do anything other than what He has done through Christ and is now doing simply because he can’t do anything else.

I read a news story the other day about a move that is underway to make Jesus Christ the honorary king of Poland. Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas over 2,000 years ago to create His earthly kingdom and draw us into his heavenly kingdom by spreading the Good News of the Word and salvation, especially to the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed throughout the world, especially in countries such as China, Kenya, Iran, Nigeria, India and Iraq. Even in these darkest corners of the world, the light shines so brightly that it pierces the deepest, darkest corners of man’s soul and opens his heart to the joy of the Christmas season.

In his Christmas Day message this year, Pope Benedict issued an appeal for the poor, the exploited, and all those who suffer. He said (quote):

The humanity of the 21st century appears as sure and self-sufficient master of its own destiny, the avid proponent of uncontested triumphs, yet this is not the case. People continue to die of hunger and thirst, disease and poverty, in this age of plenty and unbridled consumerism. Some people remain enslaved, exploited and stripped of their dignity; others are victims of racial and religious hatred, hampered by intolerance and discrimination. Others see their own bodies and those of dear ones, particularly their children, maimed by weaponry, by terrorism and by all sorts of violence at a time when everyone invokes and acclaims progress. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ is reborn. For he knows that even today, we need him. Despite humanity’s many advances, man has always been the same: a freedom poised between good and evil, between life and death.(End quote)

Even a small light can dispel a great darkness—even a tiny candle can drive darkness out of a large room. Light and darkness are opposites, but they are not opposites of equal power. Light is stronger than darkness; darkness cannot prevail against it…Similarly darkness cannot overcome those who walk in the light. To witness for Christ often provokes the forces of darkness to violence, and Christian witnesses often become martyrs—a reality as true today in many parts of the world as it ever was in the Roman world of Christ’s time. Much of the world today is still in rebellion. It still prefers darkness to light, because its deeds are evil. That is true of all of us at certain points in our lives.

This same light pierces the darkest corners of our own reality of sins and failures. This same light motivates us more than guilt. No amount of good works can completely erase the guilt and stain of failure and sin from our past. We have the very real Spirit of the Living God whose ministry in the world is to reveal to us our need for a Saviour. This very same Saviour took our problem of sin and nailed it to the Cross. While the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, He then leads us to Christ, giving us the gift of faith that we might receive the grace of God. Christ’s forgiveness causes us to become new people. Then, by grace, we are able to walk in the new works that replace the old works.

The Word encompasses both word and deed. It is not us doing through God. It is God living His life through us. It is Immanuel, God is with us. We are called to proclaim the righteousness of God to celebrate the gift of life. We make God known in this world through our witness to God’s love. We stand on the strength of God’s love and reach out to embrace those God sends to us.

At this joyous Christmas time, we can’t even attempt to understand the Word. All we can do is stand in awe and wonder beside the crib, seeing in and through the child “the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”. The light is visible in the Child AND in all who are struck by the light that comes from the Child.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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The One World Order - How to Follow Its Tracks

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/the-one-world-order-how-to-follow-its-tracks/

The One World Order - How to Follow Its Tracks

One of the objectives of the Second World War was to set all the colonies free. If that was the only goal for the colonies, so be it. The colonies all over the world should have their independence. Some twenty years after the war the last of the colonies received their independence. Independence means you give people autonomous rule. They set up their own system of government, and let them experiment with liberty as the freed American colonies basically did In the late eighteenth century.

But giving the several races back their independence was not the final object. The United States robbed the Americans poor while giving illegally collected tax funds by the hundreds of billions to all these colonies. That in itself is not bad and the One World Order conspirators were counting on us believing that keeping our heads in the mud. Money is never given without a burden attached to the money. Your tax dollars bought obedience from all these newly formed governments. They became puppets of America and the bankers because every one of the nations defaulted on their contracts, and thus enslaved themselves to the international financial institutions of authority that manage the disbursement and controls the funds.

The international bankers also gave the freed American colonies money after the signing of the Constitution that is because the Constitution held cleverly deceptive clauses in it that the bankers at a later time could exploit to slowly gain control over the affairs of the people, and all the state and federal governments. That money bought them the enslavement of the American people. The Constitution was hailed overload by the authorities as the best arrangement ever seen in the history of the world. The people were brainwashed to believe that the Constitution was a cure-all. It was just another trap for the American people to walk into wide-eyed. I believe the real reason for the inclusion of the amendments to the Constitution was to give a precedent to the conspirators to change the Constitution such that it became a prison sentence rather than a proclamation of liberty.

That is what the Constitution is the today-a prison sentence of enslavement. The people and governments of these freed colonies were not given the right to establish their own form of government and were not given the right to freely pattern their form of government according to either a capitalist or communist plan of order, or to even form their own political system based on religion, philosophy or ideology. America fought any government in the world that was not healing to the dictates of the One World Order and that, somehow, could not be subverted by the CIA. We can see this process clearly at work today in Iraq. America is installing a puppet government in Iraq; one that will track according to the dictates of the One World Order conspirators. The United States has always been an aggressor and world dictator.

The communists were right that the capitalist’s form of government in America is an imperialist beast. The American people are as guilty as the politicians. The Constitution demands that the people defend the Constitution (after all, it was written by “We, the People”) and it cannot be left for the government to control its own limitations. Bankers’ propaganda fed through government channels led us to believe that the Constitution was in good shape and in good hands. People are dreamers if you want a lease on your dog, you do not let the dog decide if and when to put it on. The dog would never be on the lease. But the United States government made the people believe that government could fashion and control its own leash and to use it at its own discretion. It made a leash from the Constitution that had 300,000,000 collars and it was the government who held the leash and it put all the people in this newly designed leash.

How can people be so dumb to allow their servant to become the master by believing all the lies it tells them? It is because the government (the adversary of the Constitution) always uses deceitful propaganda (this is propaganda that makes government seem like an angel and the people as mere undisciplined masses), and masses of people believe it. The government can set one party against another and as the parties fight and snarl about the issuing government secretly walks away with the prize. The purpose of the One World Order is to corral the people of the world in one huge pen and to do with them as the owners of the pen, please. We will do scientific research for the government; we will implement armies and police forces that are secretly arraigned against the people, any people anywhere on earth, and to fight government’s wars to further tighten the grip the One World Order has over its enslaved masses. The main purpose of government propaganda is to set two parties of the population (and it does not matter how these parties are constituted) against each other to fight artificially created opposing issues so that government can become the arbitrator and makes the decision for the people. This is the great pitfall of democracy.

Democracy absolutely does not work to promote liberty. Democracy is the vilest weapon government has over the people by which it can always defeat the purposes of liberty. Some 98% of the population should never be allowed to utter an opinion simply because they do not have a valid opinion and never will have one. So, no matter what system of government we put in place, the slick political manipulators will always be able to set some party An against some other party B and after much debate and release of angry and pent up emotions by the people government will take the prerogative away from the people. I have been telling you over and again, human life is hell, and for us it is still only the portals of hell, but when one keeps listening to politicians and the clergy–any religious clergy, you will not be able to get into communion with the spirit of Jesus, our true god who, against popular beliefs instilled by clergy, is the arch enemy of Jehovah, the falsely proclaimed true god. Jehovah made us believe he is the true god and uses the same sort of shenanigans that bankers use to be a new god over us-deceit that is camouflaged to look like truth and for our good but always is a vicious political or spiritual trap that ensnares us deeper and deeper into the net.

Another purpose of the wars and steps in the conspirators’ plans is to bring hordes of aliens of a different skin color, custom and religion into this country for the purpose of annihilating the hated white race. The white race is scheduled to be made extinct by assimilating them into the gene pools of the dark-skinned races as we can now plainly see happening in America and Europe. There is no doubt that this process is in progress all over the world. Dark-skinned communities are cropping up in the most unlikely places such as Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia–lands that never held any colonies but are now suddenly strained with alien population groups that can only mongrelize all the races in these countries over time. Another implement of the One World Order is the supposed war the Arabs are fighting against the Jews, the United States, and European countries.

These Arab wars are One-World-Order-instigated and planned events to corral the Arabs into the One World Order. The One World Order conspiracy has always been fighting the Arabs. America and Jews are the aggressor’s there-both members of the One World Order conspiracy. Let’s face it, you would not put cats and dogs in one cage and you do not put Jews in the midst of very religious Muslim Arabs. The creation of the Israel state (colony) in Muslim controlled lands was planned to do exactly what is happening in the Mideast today. The One World Order conspirators are solidly in the saddle there too. The whole scenario is proceeding exactly as planned. Most of the wars fought in the late 1990 and the 21st century was fought under NATO. NATO was established as a forth flow of the 2nd WW (also a planned event). The acronym stands for “North Atlantic Treaty Organization”.

Most nations and peoples against which US forces were employed were hundreds of miles away from the North Atlantic-they were not even European in certain cases, and NATO was used as an excuse to go to war. This kind of manipulation of intent and of use of our armed forces must stop. We have a government run amok, and only the people with force and courage can reestablish control over the monster. Do or die! NATO is just one of the many departments in the establishment of the One World Order. It has no national security purpose. It is used against the Americans. The election of Obama (Muslim) is a One World Order planned event, even though the majority of people believe they put him in office that is what clever propaganda does to people. I believe that America is an independent nation and the people should prohibit the government from forming treaties with other nations. It is the supposed obligatory nature of international treaties that force us into wars. The 1st WW was an outflow of a military treaty. Germany was forced by treaty to join Austria in a war against England and France. If that is the real consequence of a treaty, we should make an amendment to the now much denigrated Constitution that government may not form treaties of a military nature and must dissolve any treaty now in effect.

The One World Order wants to know what you are doing and carrying when you are at work, at home, in your car, or even in your recreational boat or plane. When you travel you must subject yourself to body searches. I, once, playfully circled while going through the electronic body checker in Bent, Oregon. I was forced to go through the machine again although there was no signal. I did the same thing again and then they ordered me into a corner and left me standing there for 25 minutes. I almost lost my plane connection. On the same trip (this was four years ago) in Salt Lake City, we were ready to go into the terminal to check in and we were shanghaied on the sidewalk outside the terminal. Two people in civilian clothes grabbed my hand and scanned my hand with some sort of sniffer and then brutally did the same to my wife. How can we know who such persons are?

They could have sprayed poison into our hands. There was no politeness in the procedure whatsoever and they did not identify themselves. This, folks, is bureaucratic harassment against, supposedly, free people. No! I resent government and I can’t wait to get rid of the criminals working behind and through it. Physical life is hell. It is Jehovah’s doing that we as souls believe to be people and all-around unhappy people at that. There is no happiness to be found on the earth and if you believe different the deceivers have you securely in their net of spiritual propaganda deceit. To follow the tracks of the One World Order conspiracy all you have to do is look back to what has happened to liberty and freedom in the United States and the incredible range of taxes we are subject to.

Do not read or listen to media news these are the means whereby they continue to make you believe that falsehood is truth and slavery are liberty and any other false belief they want you to have so they can enslave us all the more using our money, our efforts and our cooperation to do it. Let me part with the wish one of the founding fathers gave to cowards and those who have opinions when they should not have them; “may the chains of slavery sit gently around your necks.” Do you want liberty? Then turn anything the newscasts tell you around and deliberately point at government and not at any other target government wants us to be angry with. Never, ever, trust your government. It is the best institution for your enemies to hide, frustrate you and conquer you!

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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The Count Down To The End Of The World Begins

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/the-count-down-to-the-end-of-the-world-begins/

The Count Down To The End Of The World Begins

A fool at forty they say is a fool forever. I have been on planet earth two score plus years. More than a third of these I have spent in full control of my senses and thinking faculties. I lay no claims to wisdom but I reckon I am neither a fool nor an idiot.

Life is a most serious encounter and I have lost no part of my slot to frivolities and trivialities. The only real investment I boast is that I have given my all to evaluating a world I stumbled on by special providence, and the only debt I am conscious of is the responsibility to tell the world my opinion of it, which is why I write this piece although I am not licensed to publicize my views. Peace unto as many as take no offense at me.

I have listened with keen interest to the silent but convincing arguments of nature. I have heard the ravings and ranting of mankind. I am aware of the confusion and deception of religion and the bogus assumptions of science. I know of the folly of human governance and the resulting combined impact of all of these on human society especially in the past century. I have passed my observations through my thought processing machine and have a print out of my opinion of the world-my world view as they say.

The world has about had it and it’s about time it ended. Anybody who knows anything at all knows that. There is a silent understanding and agreement among such like ones that the world is not only about to end, it has to end. If God delays to end it humans will or the world might just decide to end itself. That of course would be terrible! So, the world had better end as it should-by the hand of the one who created it Darbi.

How the world ends has been speculated about since Christ’s appearance on the earthly scene some two thousand years ago. The end of the world however is not a subject for speculation; the scriptures are explicit on what mankind needs to know on this subject. Christ however had foretold that our time-the time of the end would be characterized not only by speculations but impostors, and the scriptures are bound to be fulfilled. Understandably speculations on the world’s end and impostors are rife the world over.

Before we get carried away by speculative winds however, let this one fact not escape us: God finds no delight in destroying humans. He therefore does not stealthily visit destruction upon them. Every destruction or intended destruction of humans by God in the past was preceded by proclamations of clear warning messages of God’s impending judgment and our time is not an exception for God indeed does not change.

In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve, mankind’s forebear of the inescapable consequence for eating the forbidden fruit-they would die. God’s declaration was unambiguous. Yet the couple ignored the warning, ate the fruit and invited death not only upon themselves, but upon generations of their would-be progeny.

Later God would destroy Noah’s generation in a deluge. But before he did, he warned them well in advance. He had asked Noah, a righteous man to build an ark for the preservation of his household and other forms of life. Noah was also saddled with the responsibility to warn his generation of the impending flood. This Noah did although the construction of the ark should have served enough warning. It was a gigantic edifice. Given that it had not rained on the earth before then, it was indeed a phenomenal project for it took Noah about fifty years to complete its construction and this at a time when people were not given to such elaborate construction. Noah’s generation however scoffed at all of these in spite of the fact that divine support was evident in the execution of this assignment by Noah. Noah’s uprightness, his commitment and dedication to his assigned task and the fact that God assisted Noah in bringing into the ark the animals that were designated for preservation and safety cut no ice on that evil generation. Their destruction was thus deserved and justified.

When God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction he knew they were not deserving of a second chance. Yet he patiently allowed an interaction with Abraham in intercession for the cities. God was willing to forego his intentions if as few as ten persons were found to be deserving of life in those cities. On the other hand, God did not only save Lot the righteous one, he rescued him. When his time to destroy the cities became due and lot was still lingering in the cities, God dispatched angels who came and hustled Lot out of the cities.

The city of Nineveh was another city to incite God’s ire to the point of wanting to devote it to destruction. But although Nineveh was steeped in bloodshed and other disgusting practices, God saw through them and knew that a reprimand should precede their destruction. He sent Jonah to them but in the eyes of the prophet the people of Nineveh were unworthy of such a consideration. In his bid to abandon them to God’s adverse judgment, he fled from his prophetic assignment and attempted to escape on board a ship bound for Tarshish. God however created mishaps to thwart Jonah’s escape. He ended up in the belly of a big fish three whole days and nights until he had had a rethink. The fish would later vomit Jonah to the shore from whence he returned to his assignment. There after he preached at Nineveh and the people repented in sackcloth and ashes from king to domestic animal. God spared them and when his prophet became disgruntled, he used the occasion to teach him lessons in mercy.

When God adopted the nation of Israel, he warned them of his toleration of no rivalry. He gave them a testament to that effect-the law mediated by Moses in which he spelled the consequences of disobedience and the benefit of keeping to his ordinances. The Jews consented to the terms unanimously but they began to break God’s law even before the ink with which it was inscribed on the tablets had dried. Over time they would carry on in this manner. God repeatedly sent them prophets to remind them of their sworn covenant with him but they treated God’s prophets insolently and killed some. In his displeasure God let them intermittently to be overcome by their adversaries, a thing God forewarned would happen should they renege. The Jews however proved to be a stiff necked people. Finally God rejected them as his nation and consequently let them suffer a destruction that obliterated them as his people.

Before their final destruction the Jews were warned by two of God’s most renown prophets-John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the messiah. John went ahead of Jesus to prepare the hearts of the Jews to receive the messiah when he arrived. But although the Jews knew John to be a prophet, they paid him little mind. Eventually Jesus appeared and in his words wanted to gather Jerusalem’s children together for God in the same way a hen gathers her chicks together under her wings. But again the Jews paid him little heed. Finally he abandoned them to the consequences of a course they chose for themselves.

In a composite prophesy Jesus told them of a tribulation that would overtake them and sack them as a nation. Jesus words would have a two-fold implication and a two-fold fulfillment. In the first instance it would affect the Jews who rejected Jesus Christ, God-sent messiah to them. In the second instance however Jesus’ pronouncement would affect the world of mankind that Jesus gave his precious blood in death to save but which would reject Jesus’ representatives in the same manner the Jews rejected and killed Jesus.

The first of these fulfillments occurred in 70 CE when the Roman army sacked Jerusalem in a bloodbath like the Jews had not known before then nor would ever know again. When however would the second fulfillment occur?

Jesus gave no dates concerning the destruction of the Jewish system of things and would give none concerning the end of this world. But there were time and season indicators in the description he gave of developments that would lead up to these never-to-occur-again events. Faithful adherents to Jesus’ words read the signs prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, heeded them and got away safe. Similarly faithful bible readers in our day may come out of the great tribulation foretold for our time if they watched for the signs and heeded the warnings and direction of Jesus Christ for our day.

As was said at the outset of this write up, God would not destroy a people let alone a generation without adequate warning. The scriptures are replete with warnings for our generation especially in the prophecies uttered by Jesus Christ. Jesus foretold for our day wars, famines, pestilences, duplicity, lovelessness, etc. The world has seen so much of these particularly in the last century. While the fulfillment of Jesus Christ’s words in these areas in such a grand scale is indicative of the nearness of the world to its foretold end, these features in Jesus prophecy sound no clear warning. Most persons without understanding have had to curse God on account of these occurrences even though God is not a causative of these things but in his foreknowledge foretells the consequences of human actions, conducts and attitudes. However prophecies foretell not just the result of human behavior but what God purposes to accomplish at a given time far ahead of human knowledge and understanding.

In Jesus’ words at Matthew 24:14 we see a prophecy that reiterates God’s unchanging desire to warn mankind on the consequences of their action and conduct with a view to preserving them alive in the face of eminent destruction. It reads: “And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”

In fulfillment of that scripture the good news of God’s kingdom has been preached single handedly by Jehovah’s witnesses for onward of a century. The extent to which that scripture will be fulfilled however is yet to be seen in view of what these prophets of God were inspired to write concerning our time:

Micah had this to say in chapter four and verse one of the prophecy bearing his name: “And it must occur in the final part of the days that the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly establish above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills, and to it peoples must stream… ”

In the same vein the prophet Haggai had this to say in chapter two verses seven of the prophecy that bears his name: “And I will rock all the nations, and the desirable things of all the nations must come in; and I will fill this house with glory, Jehovah of armies has said.”

These and more prophecies in the bible point to one thing: a people will elevate Jehovah’s worship above every human institution toward the end of the world in much the same way Moses towered over pharaoh in Egypt. That people are Jehovah’s witnesses, the last day’s representatives of God and going by what those prophecies say, they are yet to be given the recognition they deserve as prescribed by God. This is understandable in view of the fact that a great part of the world’s population is trapped in the high walls of the faiths of science, political ideologies, nationalism, bigotry and religious confusion.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Russia and the Threat to World Order

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/russia-and-the-threat-to-world-order/

Russia and the Threat to World Order

The retrogression of yesterday reflects on today’s inefficiencies while today’s uprightness shows how progressive tomorrow can be. The judgment of days before now give a sense of direction for today’s monumental social and political calculations.

This piece is to reflect on numerous issues around the world of today which yesterday was unable to address, here we take a look at world progressive governance and retrogression as a result of diplomatic inefficiencies which bring about world security challenge and leadership failure that makes people vulnerable to the entire game of world politics.

Yesterday has not been forgotten, the cold war experience serves as a lesson for us the young people of today to learn from. It’s obvious that today have not repented from the mistake and influence of the past negligence and failures which make the future difficult to be predicted and vindicated from world political aggression because of events that unfolds every day.

As a young man of thirties and a progressive democrat, I’ve not seen peaceful resolutions to the world most distorted aggression that have besieged our world of inequalities into a conclusive metamorphosis, this is because of grievances harbored by individual, race, ethnic, tribe, nations and governments, a change of government always result to a change of tactics, policies, and crisis Add Crazy.

The threat from the eastern Europe to the northern part of Asia, restiveness in the Middle East to the North Africa, leadership failure and negligence in Africa that has bedeviled that region for so long which now have serious social, economic and political effects on Africa today. I have not seen a change the world deserves to ensure peace and security without threat to lives and property no matter the location, race or religion. We always cry for change, fight for change even with our blood and resources, but change is absolutely deceit because human minds are very dangerous and can never reflect the so-called change principles, Arab Springs are good examples, change never works the way we expect. Now reasons…

War from beyond reflects on the latter part of human exigencies which continue to make the weak more vulnerable and desperate to contend while the strong tends to be more powerful and domineering. Now, what is the problem of the world? this missive is to reiterate on the speech delivered by former U.K Prime Minister Late Mrs. Margaret Thatcher at John Findley Foundation Lecture on 9th March 1996 at West Minster College, Fulton M.O. This re-awakening speech caught my attention while I was reading speeches made by top political and government officials.

The speech titled “New Threat for Old” emphasized the phenomenal of the world political and security challenges and the role played by Western World to ensure peace and security. The audacity and prowess of this gallant political leader were second to none, that’s why her role culminated the nerves of the Western power play in the World political stability.

What is the problem of the world? is it our social differences?, our political make-ups?, our religion and beliefs?, or our color and race?. Is it as a result of stubborn leaders that makes themselves monarchs on the people, ruling by cohesion and by humiliation? or domineering power of the West that want to enforce democracy on the rest of the world? there must be reasons to the world problem but the way out might not be far-fetched.

The power encrypted speech of Madam Thatcher focused on tackling international aggression. She made emphasis on the speech of Winston Churchill at same Fulton where the former U.K Prime Minister exclusively spoke about world’s stability not long after Second World War. The speech was delivered as a result of the consequences of those wars and the world most adversaries.

Towards the end of that great conflict, The wartime allies had forged new international institutions for post-war co-operation. There was in those days great optimism, not least in the United State, about a world without conflict presided over benevolently by bodies like the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank, and the GATT. But the high hopes reposed in them were increasingly disappointed as Stalin Lowered the Iron Curtain over Eastern Europe made no secret of his global ambitions and became an antagonist rather than an ally.

Churchill’s speech here was the first serious warning of what was afoot, and it helped to wake up the entire West. The Churchill speech bore rich fruit in the new institutions forged to strengthen the West against Stalin’s assault. The Marshall Plan laid the foundations for Europe’s post-war economic recovery. The Truman Doctrine made plain that America would resist communist subversion of democracy.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization mobilized America’s allies for mutual defense against the Soviet Steamroller. Stalin had overplayed his hand by attempting to destroy international co-operation, he succeeded in stimulating it along more realistic lines and not just through Western “Cold War” institutions like NATO.

As the West recovered and united, growing in prosperity and confidence, so it also breathed new life into some of the first set of post-war institutions like the GATT and the IMF. Without the Russian to obstruct them, these bodies helped to usher in what the Marxist historian, Eric Hobsbawm, has ruefully christened the Golden Age of Capitalism.

Today, we are at what could be similar to previous struggles, the long twilight struggle of the cold war ended about 4 decades ago with a complete victory for the West and for subject people of the communist empire. It ended amidst high hopes of “A New World Order”. But those hopes have been grievously disappointed by previous events taken place across the world. Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan, Mali and the rise of Islamic militancy all point to instability and conflict rather than co-operation and harmony.

Thatcher explained more on the causes and influence of those wars on world political stability. She frankly said that the different between “the West and the rest is primitive political ideologies, which have been extinct in Western Europe and America for two generations”, this simply means the political mentality and perception of the West is clearly different from the rest of the world which is a major player in world social and political instability.

The West are more organized while others dangle behind, the West are of advance political empirical while others are purely monarchical. The West with high moral challenges characterized with lack of moral discipline which is absolutely abnormal in other regions. Once a man from the other part of the world gets accustomed to Western madness, he’ll think that his culture is primitive and of no values, that’s why Putin stood against same-sex marriage madness.

Moreover, we learn in positive ways that can have a positive impact in our lives and society as leaders, not to be influenced by the wrong practices. Most Western gestures are deceptive in nature and are of enslavement despite much-emphasized gains. When you stand at the other side, you become an enemy of the West; it’s a fact that everything is in two ways. We have positive and negative which makes life to works, once the positive is active, the negative becomes supportive to make the positive productive. In case that negative refused to co-operate, the positive will overrule the negative either by cohesion or by submission. In the case of today, the positive seems to be the West while the negative are trying to scramble upon the potent of the positive with their aggression.

The speech of Mrs. Thatcher indicated the fact that if the West failed to police the world, the situation will get out of hand, the rise of world extremist and Islamic militants are indications. The international bodies, in which our hopes were reposed anew after 1989 and 1991, have given us neither prosperity nor security. There is a pervasive anxiety about the drift of events. It remains to be seen whether this generation will respond to these pervasive threats because U.N negotiations and peace deals are becoming ineffective.

Based on the relative events of the past and happenings of today, trust is one significant thing missing in the world political and economic affairs. U.S foreign policies are always under the question of trust while no one can predict the position of Russia in world politics. A revival of Russian power will create new problems, just like the World was struggling to cope with problems which the soviet collapse has itself created outside the old borders of the USSR.

When the Soviet power broke down, so did the control it exercised, however fitfully and irresponsibly, over rogue states like Syria, Iraq and Gaddafi’s Libya. They have in effect been released to commit whatever mischief they wish without bothering to check with their arms supplier and bank manager but today the game has changed with the influence of the West.

The Soviet collapse has always aggravated the single most awesome threat of modern times with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These weapons acquired by middle-income countries with modest populations such as Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria. China and North Korea also do sell out those weapons too, but most ominously from Soviet arsenals, or unemployed scientists, or from organized criminal rings, all by way of a growing international black market.

According to Stephen Hadley, former President Bush’s assistant secretary for international security policy he said “By the end of the decade, we could see over countries with ballistic missiles, 9 with nuclear weapons, 10 with biological weapons and up to 30 with chemical weapons, which is now being used by rogue nations.

Now, whether Syria of today surrenders her chemical weapon to the U.N as being proposed by her defense country Russia, the aggression still continues because neither Russia, Syria nor other rogue States can be trusted. These new threats to the World security are even more serious that other extremist countries might be piling up strategies to use their weapons anytime, either against their own people, neighbors or the rest of the world. The West has to deal with numbers of possible adversaries, each with different characteristics. In some cases, their mentality differs from the West even more than those of old Cold War enemy. So the potential for misunderstanding is great and there must be a clear mind about strategic intentions, and just as clear in signaling these potential aggressors.

The battle for the world superpower continues between the moderate and extremist, an act of policing the world by the West guarantees peace and security. As Mrs. Thatcher bluntly recalled that the dissolution of the former USSR will birth the emergence of world’s aggression through extreme cohesion of foreign policy and alignment of the Islamic militants where terrorism and abuse of power are at its peak. Russia has always being an opposition to the West, the previous bombardment of Georgia, diplomatic rift with U.K and recent support for Assad amidst world’s condemnation of Syrian chemical attack on her people and invasion of Crimea in Ukraine were clear indications.

U.S has always been trying to coddle Russian opposition and aggression and have had several romances with Russia on treaties which include Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties which was signed by both countries. This is to pressure down the diplomatic tensions that may result to world security problem. The accusation of who is spying who has always been traded between both countries in the past which both countries were trying to control their diplomatic exigencies but never relent on the value of their foreign policies.

While Putin admitted that he had a constructive and meaningful discussion with Obama over Syria but never had a conclusive agreement, this was an indication that talks cannot be ruled out in the world political game but might not be absolute solution to World disputes for both the moderates and extremist to embrace. Obama reiterated his policy of ending wars not to start them, but the situation in Syria calls for military intervention which Putin bluntly opposed. Constructive discussions and negotiations can never end in world politics while diplomatic conspiracy will always have its way, that’s why the world will continue to remain on the perpetual threat.

In 2013, Russia paraded her military hardware with President Putin in attendance to witness the country’s spectacular show of military might, the biggest since the days of the old Soviet regime, involving 160,000 troops and 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region. At Lake Baikal, 130 combat aircraft and dozens of Russia’s pacific fleet ships took part. The country’s Deputy Defense Minister, Anatoly Antonov said, “it is part of regular combat training and not directed against any particular nation. Main while, in 2012, overseas sales of Russia military hardware topped the 11billion euros mark a record figure and surpassing all forecasts by around half a million euros. Russian news agencies quoted President Putin as saying the country’s defense industry also sealed export contracts worth another 11.3billion euro for 2012. The news confirms Russia as the world’s second arms exporter after the U.S. Russian government also has unveiled an ambitious arms modernization program that envisages spending over 20 trillion rubles (400 billion pounds) on new weapons through 2020.

Now, my observation is that acquiring of weapons is only for the purpose of domineering and causing frictions in the world. Russia and her allies are the opposition of the progressive moderate that have respect for humanity and the rule of law. Russian support for Bashar al-Assad has two sided positions which are clearly understood.

The current World Order has been violated, abused and jeopardized by Russian continuous aggression and show of might. The invasion of Crimea can be seeing as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity which is a breach of international law. It’s obvious that Russia doesn’t want to be taken for a ride by the West and will do everything possible to ensure distinct clarity from the West; the restriction of America from adopting Russian orphans is a clear example.

When President Putin took back the power from Dmitry Medvedev, in his address he said, “lots of Russians are living outside Russia”, he’s determined to protect them from Western influence and win them back into Russian territory. Georgian invasion was a clear example while Crimea invasion is another evidence of what Putin have in mind of forceful reclamation of Russians outside Russian borders, the Baltic States might be next on Putin’s agenda.

The large numbers of Crimeans are not helping the situation as their alliance and loyalty to Russia is stronger than that of the Ukraine while the memory of Soviet eulogies is very strong in their heart.

Russia is aggrieved of Soviet collapse and will do anything possible to humiliate smaller neighbors who are not in alliance with her through her military might. The approach taken by Russia is worth condemning which violate international law, if Russia succeeded in annexing Crimea with her military invasion like in the Georgia, we should be looking out for other stronger nations encroaching smaller nation’s territories just like the case of Falkland Island being taken by U.K. This action will result to total anarchy and gross violation of international law while the present World Order is subverted.

A New World Order has to be in place to prevent violation of human right and International law, to prevent loss of lives and property across the world. The experience of the past should be able to guide our activities as students of history. We cannot afford to allow someone to cause friction that will drag the world backward and into another war, there are works to do, goals to achieve, economic battles to fight to make the world a unified entity for growth and development. The U.N has a lot to do to ensure peaceful co-existence, freedom of rights and privileges of all nations, and territorial integrity of smaller nations to be preserved. Education, internal democracy, freedom of speech and association must be guaranteed in all countries of the world that will make all people equal before the law.

The warring states must come to a peaceful resolution under a New World Order, the influence of religion practice cannot be undermined in human methodology, but access to quality education can change people’s perception and thinking pattern. So therefore, the international Institutions should switch into action to prevent a breakdown of law and order instead of just being mediators during crisis. If peace can be maintained, crisis can be prevented, and if crisis is inevitable, then peace can be enforced.

The U.N must rise to put an end to serial violence, attack on innocent souls across the world and invasion of weaker nations by the stronger ones, the injustice meted out against individuals and opposition in those derailing states that has always led to cohesion and rebellion must stop. The recent uprising across Arab nations is an indication of a change in perception and mental development of the people which culminates new thinking and new sacrifice for new leadership. Education and access to information play vital roles in our present days which also played a major role in the uprising, for the kind of nation the new generation deserves. A New World Order is inevitable in ensuring peace, development and co-existence in our World that is facing population outburst and struggling to meet the MDGs.

The battle for the world power between the moderate and the extremist has taken a new dimension, an act of policing the world by the West guarantee no more peace and security. The state of the world recent events is an indication that foreign policies, interest, negotiations and international co-operation cannot proffer solution to the world’s most human-made disaster. The rise of religion extremist, racial contentions and civil unrest across the world are indications of failure in government and international co-operation whereby the surge in killings and refugees has become inevitable.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Why Did Christ Come Into the World?

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Why Did Christ Come Into the World?

It seems to be a foregone conclusion today that Christ came into this world over 2000 years ago to establish his glorious earthly kingdom in Israel. And since he failed to do that at that time, he must return soon to set it up! This establishment of an earthly kingdom in Israel was the same thing that was on the minds of many apostate Jews of that day also, and so we see the impetus of their thought processes when they sought to take Jesus by force and make him their king over Israel, but he would have none of it (Jo. 6:15). We still see thinking like this today, so not much has changed, even though we have the inspired Word that should set us straight on such things.

Had the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day been more intent on actually listening to what Christ really had to say on the matter, instead of persistently following all of their own thoughts, they would have likely been led to seriously question their own ideas as to Christ’s real purpose in coming here. But we see the very same problem manifested today, even among those who profess Christ. The Jews clearly had no interest in bothering themselves and their time with the truth. Is this what we are going to continue to see today among this other modern group as well? Perhaps so! From all that I have seen and experienced they seem very determined to cling to something outside of the real Scripture testimony.

And just what is the real Scripture testimony? Well, we see many things in many different places in Scripture that lead any rational person to an entirely different conclusion. Let’s take a good look in one specific area.

Christ made it very clear what his real purpose was for coming into the world. We read at Matthew 20:28: “For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (See also Ma. 10:45.)

We read at Luke 19:10: “And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those …who are lost.”

We read at Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

We read at Jo. 12:27: “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came!”

Christ precisely confirms the words of the Old Testament prophets that spoke of his coming to bear our load of sin. You can read these prophecies that refer to what he was about to do at places like Isaiah 53:10-12 and 61:1-2. The Jews of Jesus’ day failed to see the truth in these Scriptures, just as the modern professing Christians and apostates of today also do.

Again, he told us that “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jo. 18:36). He further states that he was born as a King, but not in the earthly sense that they thought. He tells them that he came “to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true” (Jo. 18:37. See also I Jo. 4:4-6). Indeed, instead of an earthly kingdom he told those in Capernaum that the Kingdom of Heaven was near (Mt. 4:17). Other Scriptures such as Phil. 3:14, Col. 1:5 and 3:2-3, and Heb. 3:1 and 6:19 tell us that our calling is heavenward! This was clearly his Kingdom! No earthly kingdom is ever mentioned by our Lord at all, nor by the apostles! So who do we believe, if not our Lord himself? Do we just keep on believing the made up stories of men?

By the modern church’s believing in the words of men, much damage has been done everywhere. Our President, Barack Obama, is on a mission this week, hopefully, to repair some of the breach and damage that a false theology and a misleading message has created in the Moslem world. It is a pretty tall order indeed! You see, they call us “the great Satan”. When the church turns its back on the truth and makes up something else instead in its place, it is no longer serving the King of glory. It has sold itself out to the service of another power instead!

The Scriptures warn us of the lies of the “official interpreters” of the Scriptures. You can find such warnings as these and warnings against following other lies of men at numerous Scriptures like Mat. 16:11, 23:1-39, Ma. 8:15, I Cor. 5:3-8, Gal. 5:6-9, Col. 2:8-10, II Pet. 2:1-3, Ps. 36:1-4, 119:59-61, Prov. 4:18-19, 26-27, Isa. 58:2, 59:1-4, 66:2-4, and many other places. But “The honest will be rescued from harm, but those who are crooked will be destroyed” (Prov.28:18).

Is the church in America really being honest today? Will the church come to its right senses and recognize its own grievous mistake before it is forever too late? It really needs to turn over a new leaf and get right with God and his program to spread the Good News of salvation in Christ in all of its purity to all the waiting world. Only in this true Gospel of Christ can real healing ever come to a needy and hurting world. It alone has the powerful potential of God to stop terrorism dead in its tracks and to set the captives free.

Modern Christians desperately need to ponder the direction of their lives and hurry to correct their misguided thoughts and ways (Ps. 119:59-61. See also Prov. 4:26-27, Heb. 3:7-19, and 4:8-11-all of the chapter, really). Then they need to follow God’s ways (Prov.8:32-33, 14:12, 16:25).

I think that maybe President Obama is doing what he can to usher in a better day of peace this week. Whatever “tough love” he gives to Israel, it is badly needed. Whatever expressions of apology and reaching out to Muslims , these are badly needed. For we have been so very wrong for such a long time, and the price has been enormous, both to the precious Gospel of love and grace to all peoples and nations, which is now slandered and ridiculed, and to our own nation. Our combat veterans are in trouble, our economy is buckling under the heavy weight of wars and other demoralized behaviors in our midst, and true godliness does not really exist in America’s churches. The topsy-turvy mindset of the apostate American Christians has brought us to a most serious impasse, and very close to falling over the precipice into the violent vortex of anarchy and chaos. Truly, the country is ripe for God’s judgment, and too blind to know it or to care.

But if Christians will indeed humble themselves, and repent of their being so sold out to lies before God, then will God hear from above, and heal our nation (II Chr. 7:14). May it now be so, for the President cannot do everything all alone for you! Christians, you really do need to start getting down to your real business with God today!

And that business is not at all grievous. It is the sweetest business that you will ever know on earth, and not at all the most dreaded or difficult. For God went far out of his way to send Jesus here to us. He didn’t have to but he loved the world that he had created so much that he sent his beloved only Son to us to be our ransom lamb without spot or blemish to suffer and die for our sins, so that we could be reunited with him. Christ bridged the gap between God the Father and us. And it is as we come to his real truths and cherish them above all else that he reveals himself in all of his glory, majesty and grace to us. This I discovered throughout and especially at the end of all of my personal longings and searchings. Ideas of an earthly kingdom do nothing to accomplish what we really do want to accomplish by our coming to God in the first place. We stagnate, and cannot move forward into his secret, larger place where he patiently waits for us to come further on with him, and then abide most happily with him for whatever remains of time and for all of eternity. This victory he provides, not of our own grueling efforts at all, but of something, or Someone else, and his amazing power.

As I personally progressed further on in my own searching for real Scripture truths, I sought after the facts. I figured there just had to be more to Christianity than what I had experienced at that point. I knew nothing else, but just to uncover the facts. And I did not see the facts for which I was searching in the church. So it came as quite a wonderful surprise to me that many spiritual blessings accompanied my finding and love of the truth. It seems to me that, unbeknownst to me, God had long ago built into these wonderful facts a spiritual life force that had hitherto been escaping me almost completely. Nothing ever completely prepared me for that. It was a really nice surprise. It was the dear Holy Spirit’s confirmation of the Gospel truth, and it was and still is my treasure far beyond anything earthly. And so it remains for me to this very day, and I think it always will. It is the way that God enlightens us and reveals himself to us, and nothing is ever quite the same after that. But these wonderful facts that God had built in, and the dear Holy Spirit’s power that accompanied my glad acceptance of them, I did not find there in the church. And to this very day, the church still shuns them! I have wondered for some time what was going on. Now I believe I know.

This is why it is so important to listen to Jesus and his own words very closely. We ought to listen anyways and always, but we must first want to listen. I always wanted to find God, and to listen to him, but was confused with just how. Now I know how, and I strive to show you the way, because I know first hand how strong the lies can be, and just how confused we can become as we explore the possibilities. We get drawn in and can utterly lose our way in that blinding maze of ideas. And only Christ can rescue us all over again! We first come to him to own him as our Savior who died in our place to save us from our own sinful fallen condition. But then we discover that we need to come back to him to help show us the way back when we have lost our way and strayed far away from his dear side once pierced for us on Calvary’s cross. We didn’t realize the ramifications of it all until we are rescued and jerked back to where we belong.

Perhaps it is by the bended wooden crook in the great Shepherd’s hard rod as it snags us by the neck and none too gently pulls us back to the safety of the sheepfold, but one thing we do learn from it. We humans are a lot like sheep who wander away from the Shepherd to get eaten by the wolves. On one occasion we might be dexterously scooped up and tenderly sheltered in the warm arms of the Shepherd. At another moment we may find ourselves more vehemently jerked around by the Shepherd’s crook and returned to safety.

This article may seem a bit severe to some, like that hard crook in the Shepherd’s rod, and we grimace at it, but it is intended to get serious attention, not chuckles and laughter. Serious attention to our serious situation is very badly needed. Even in these bad economic times, many still seek to be entertained at movie theaters across the nation. Other diverse distractions are the ways that people find to cope. But the most beneficial and wondrous gift of all is little thought of, even today, when times are so bad. Many are fed up with what churches have to offer, as they all seem to be waiting for something better from on high to come along soon. Well, Something better has already come along, and the church needs to busy itself proclaiming just how really good it is! But the church is out-of-touch with it itself! Because it is really, really good, and mere words alone can never completely give adequate expression to it! Today is the day that the church needs to rise to the occasion and grasp these truths itself so that it really can throw out the lifeline to other poor sinking souls in this day that is so desperate for many who need the true light to lift their troubled spirits now. It is no good to say that next year, or in three or four, things may get better. In God’s bigger view of things, today is the day for the church to be salt and light. The watering down of the blessed truths that are there to lift us up into the heavenly realm of love, joy, and glorious light is the modern church’s bane. And, as we see in the opening chapters of Revelation, and in the notes of some renowned Bible commentators of the last century, it is not pleasing to God. For the church is called upon to be God’s messenger of blessed truth in a dark and needy world. And an awful lot goes wrong when it has taken unto itself a completely different direction and cannot be bothered to right itself with God’s real command nor desire.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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Summary of World Trade News

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Summary of World Trade News

Once again, it’s that time of the week to catch up on the latest happenings in the world of international trade. To start off this week’s world trade news round up, Proctor and Gamble recently announced that they will cut down jobs that cover technical posts.

About 300 scientists and researchers are expected to be let go from the multimillion pharmaceutical company’s payroll. The research center located in Ohio will be the most affected by Proctor and Gamble’s decision. The downsizing will also affect employees in London, Toronto and New York.

According to Tom Milkin, the spokesperson for Proctor and Gamble, the decision was not influenced by the desire to cut back on company cost. He said that the company’s move to let their employees go is a business strategy. Milkin added that despite the numerous job losses, this decision will benefit domestic research companies.

Job cuts aren’t the only decisions that the company has made this month. Proctor and Gamble recently signed a contract with Nastech to sell Nastach’s nasal spray that promises to cure osteoporosis. Aside from the expansion of Nastach’s nasal spray, Proctor and Gamble is said to give more focus in developing pharmaceutical products for women, muscular-skeletal problems and gastro-intestinal medicine Cloud Light.

While Tom Milkin denied that the Proctor and Gamble is not having any financial trouble, the head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, admitted that his government is currently facing financial difficulties.

Earlier this month, the World Bank has given the Palestinian Authority a warning about the country’s financial problem. Palestine’s budget deficit is continuously expanding and if the necessary procedures aren’t taken to ease the crisis, this could possibly be the downfall of the Palestinian Government.

The origin of Palestine’s financial crisis is traced to the violent events in the West Bank against Israel. Israel has taken measures to slowly cripple the Palestinian Government. Security checks between the boarders of Israel and the Gaza Strip. Israel went as far as banning the passage of equipments for the Palestinian security forces and even asking all foreign donors to stop sending payments to the Palestinian Authority. Israel is adamant in letting the Palestine Government suffer; calling on international powers to boycott the Palestinian Government and ignoring calls from the United States to release funds.

Another factor that has influenced financial crisis Palestine is experiencing right now is the election victory of the radical Islamist group Hamas. This group is considered as terrorist by the United States and the Palestinian Authority’s biggest donor, the European Union. In fear of their donations reaching Hamas, the United States asked Palestine to return its $50 million donation and the European Union has warned to stop sending funds.

To make up for the loss, Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said that they will seek aid to Arab nations instead.

As answer to the criticism he received from the United States, Hugo Chavez warned that to halt the supply of oil to the US if Condoleeza Rice continues to undermind his administration. Rice previously released statements that the relationship of Venezuela and Cuba endangers the democratic system of other Latin countries. Chavez also faced accusations of using Venezuelan oil to interfere with trades of nearby nations. Chavez said that the Americans’ attempt to turn other nations against Venezuela would be a failure. Chavez doesn’t consider stopping the supply of oil to the US as a loss; in fact it is the US that will face a loss because they are dependent on Venezuela’s oil supply. He is confident that other oil consuming countries will continue to acquire oil from Venezuela.

On other oil related events, nine foreign oil workers have been held hostage by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. The hostages consisted of three Americans, two Thais, two Egyptians, one Filipino, and one Briton all working under a Shell subcontractor, Willbros. The rebels claim that they have staged the hostage situation in order to keep foreigners from getting their oil and to reclaim the Nigeria’s rightful share of the country’s oil assets. Though Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa, the country is still experiencing severe poverty.

This situation caused dramatic oil hikes in different countries such as Japan because the export of crude oil from Nigeria has been cut back by twenty percent. Some operations have also been suspended because of this.

Still on the talk of oil, Petroecuador, Ecuador’s national oil company, has decided to suspend their exportation of petroleum products because of the sabotage that the Trans-Ecuadorian pipeline has experienced. The numerous violent demonstrations are held responsible for the sabotage of Petroecuadors major pipeline.

Eduardo Naranjo, the company’s top executive, said that the pipeline was completely paralyzed and oil stations have been severely damaged because of the demonstrations. These violent protests, including putting up roadblocks, were participated by Napo (a poverty-stricken province in Ecuador) residents and other Amazon Indians. This caused the production of 144,000 barrels of oil per day to be discontinued. The suspension of oil export will cause Ecuador an estimated $ 30 million worth of revenue daily. The demonstrators demanded that the Ecuadorian government should give poor areas like Napo their fair share of the National budget.

Speaking of giving its fair share, the United State criticized China for not giving theirs. According US Deputy Trade Representative Karan Bhatia, China has been gaining profits from their access in the US market while the US has yet to benefit from their trading relationship.

Rob Portman, US Deputy Trade Representative, stated that a task force will be assigned by the US to monitor China’s observance to global trade policies. There have been proposals made by legislators to lower US trade relations with China. Tariffs will also be imposed on low-priced products from China that is flooding the US market.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said that if such policies are implemented, these could prove to be unfavorable for American business interest. Analysts agree, saying that these actions could backfire at the United State government.

Although the United States is unhappy with their trade relation with China, the same cannot be said for Anglo American. The company’s profits reach a new high when China’s demand for metal increased. Their earning last year ($ 3.7 million) increased by 39% compared to their 2004 total earning. The company is plans on expanding its production of coals and iron ore because the price of metal products is expected to increase this year. The company’s chief executive officer, Tony Trabar, sees indications for the stronger demand for metals.

Anglo American isn’t the only company currently expanding its products. IBM has released multifunction printers to the market recently. IBM’s new brainchild is capable of faxing, copying, and printing documents. The design for the multifunction printer was influenced by a study which shows that a significant amount of time is exhausted by companies on printing, copying and faxing documents.

Currently, there are four models out in the market, each designed to different capacities of workload. The Infoprint 1540 and Infoprint 1570 can be used by small companies. These printers cost $11,542 and $3,259, respectively. Medium sized companies can use the Infoprint 1560 which costs $12,858 and for large companies, the Infoprint 1580 is designed to handle rough office environment. The Infroprint 1580 costs around $14,462.

Product expansion isn’t the only growth the world market is seeing these days. The growth of European Union members is set to accelerate by 2006. According to the forecast made by the European Commission, 25 members of the union are expected to have a 2.2% economic growth, while 12 others are expected to grow by 1.9%.

Among European countries, Spain saw the largest growth projecting a 3.1% boost in their economy. A far second is the United Kingdom with a 2.4% economic growth. Joaquin Almunia, European Union’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, warned that the biggest set back in the economic growth of European nations are the inevitable increase of the price of oil.

In other European news, an announcement was made by Germany’s E.ON regarding its 27.50 euros per share or 29.1 billion euros offer to Spain’s Endesa. The deal is expected to be completed this year if Endesa will accept E.ON’s offer. The biggest European power firm E.ON’s business offer to Endesa is said to be 29% higher the Gas Natural’s previous bid.

If the merge of these two power companies take place, 50 million clients in 30 nations will be served by a potentially top power company in the world. The merge will also put E.ON on the lead over its competitors and provide the company a stronger position in the Latin American markets.

Another business deal is in the works. It is between Dubai Ports World and the United States. Dubai Ports World wants to run six major seaports in the United States. Although the US Congress is in opposition of such a deal, President George W. Bush threatened to veto any law that would hinder the deal.

Bush defended the sale of the ports by saying that his administration has carefully examined the matter. He also added that if the deal is successful, it will serve as a sign that the United States treats other countries fairly. Of course, the issue is scored major heat from critics. According to them, the takeover will only make the country more vulnerable from terrorist attacks. Al Queda, the group responsible for the September 11 tragedy is has members based in the UAE, which is where Dubai Ports World’s origin.

Speaking of President Bush, it has been announced that he will be visiting Asian countries in November. Bush will be the second president of the United States to ever visit Vietnam, the first being former president Clinton back in 2000. It should be remembered that Clinton made the decision to stop the embargo against Vietnam. Incidentally, Vietnam missed a place in the World Trade Organization last year when the spot was given to Tonga. Although it should be noted that being a member of the WTO could boost Vietnam’s economy, it doesn’t necessarily mean that not being able to join is a bad thing. There are a lot of things Vietnam needs to organize before become a WTO member.

For the 14th consecutive time, the interest rate of the United States Federal Reserve increased once again. The meeting held last month saw Alan Greenspan as the head of United States Federal Reserve for the last time after heading the Federal Reserve for 18 years. During Greenspan’s tenure in the Federal Reserve, he encountered numerous low points in the US market history. His administration faced the market crash of 1987, the market crisis of the 90’s and the September 11 attacks.

Greenspan was replaced by Ben Bernanke which was nominated by the president of the United States last year. The new chairman will discuss the interest rate issue in his first meeting which will be held on March 27. Bernanke’s biggest challenge is ending the increase of interest rates which economists think will continue to rise because of the current inflation.

In more recent turn of events, a bank robbery saw The Securitas Cash Management Ltd. lose at least $ 43.5 million. Officials are still unsure just how much cash is still unaccounted for. It should be noted that this is one of the biggest back heists in the history of Britain.

In a detailed statement, it was revealed that the robbers dressed as policemen blocked the bank managers on his way home and was told to do what he was ordered. Another group of men in cahoots with the bank robbers were successful making the manager’s family believe he met and accident and agreed to go with the group of robbers.

The manager was cuffed by the posing policemen and threatened to hurt his family if he did not cooperate. They proceeded to a Tonbridge cash center and tied up 15 bank employees before taking all the cash in the depot. The incident took over and hour, fortunately no one was hurt.

On a more positive note, it seems that an alliance has been formed by international banks, which includes the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to employ carefully though out strategies to combat corruption. These organizations have reached an understanding for the need to support each other and to reach a common ground if the corruption is to be stopped. They have decided to form a team that will be responsible for reporting a standardized framework the financial firms should employ to fight fraud. The group has conducted numerous surveys pin-pointing countries and sectors that is plagued with widespread corruption.

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netmaddy-blog · 8 years ago

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World Trade News

New Post has been published on https://netmaddy.com/world-trade-news/

World Trade News

During the past week, the world has witnessed a series of events that influenced the various sectors of the growing global economy. On one hand, some events promised more developments and expansion not only in the international trade but also in specific countries. On the other hand, some occurrences may negatively impact or alter certain aspects of world trade including the economy of the country specifically involved.

Oil Price Rolls Back in the World market

The entire week is full of good news for oil importers worldwide. Since Monday, the oil price decreased by $2 per barrel in the world market. Prior to that, the value of oil kept on increasing due to the disruption of supply in Iraq as well as in Nigeria. According to the report by Mohamed El Baradei, director of International Atomic Energy Agency, Iraq has been planning to empower its production of nuclear fuel. The news has caused tension and raised concerns regarding nuclear weapons. Discussion about the issue is currently ongoing. The IAEA will talk about the subject on its scheduled meeting on March 6. After which, the report will be handed to the U.N security for final assessment.

The almost $2 decrease of oil price in the world market was caused by a failed terrorist attack that took place at the largest oil plant in Saudi. The situation though was immediately controlled by the Saudi forces that were roused to full alert because of the tension. The oil supply though was not disrupted within the country despite the attack. The value of light crude oil decreased by $1.91 while the price of brent crude oil lowered to $1.61.

The opposite situation, however, is taking place in Nigeria. Just recently, the oil price rose up to more than $2 per barrel. The sudden increase was influenced by the news of the Saudi terrorist attack. Moreover, another reason was oil supply within the Nigerian region was cut by 13,000 barrels per day due to the discovery of a leak. The series of militant threats and attacks within the region also prompted the increase of the oil price.

According to energy analysts, the improvement of the oil price in the world market would have been even better. However, there are several factors (like the focus of the oil market on short-term inventory data) that prevent more positive results. Currently, the oil price still remains close to $61 per barrel as a result of Algeria’s plea to OPEC for market stability Blogging Kits.

Meanwhile, Shell, which is the third leading oil company, has gained a total of $23 B profit last year. This should be an enough reason to celebrate, but the huge oil company is currently facing the need to improve and expand its oil resources. Otherwise, it will run out off supply in the future. According to reports, Shell was only able to replace between 60% – 70% of the gas it used for production last year. In 2004, the percentage was even lower with only 19% or replacement.

Shell, however, is making use of its large assets in order to meet the stiff market competition. Its oil reserve projects located in Nigeria, Sakhalin Island, and Gulf of Mexico are currently underway. The success of these projects would definitely empower the company’s future possibilities.

Regions in the U.S particularly East Coast and Nigeria are also facing issues with regard to their oil supply. This problem may eventually result to changes in the price of fuel. This situation is primarily caused by the shift in the chemical used in the fuel refining process. Formerly, MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) was used during the process. The use of MTBE, nevertheless, led to problems and protests regarding water pollution and the contamination of water supply. As an alternative, fuel companies in the U.S particularly in the East Coast and Texas are utilizing ethanol. The problem though is that ethanol is not abundantly produced within the country. Moreover, the fuel refining needs are greater than the amount of reserve available. As a solution, the U.S government is currently importing ethanol from Brazil while it continues to construct more ethanol plants within the country.

The campaign for energy independence in the U.S is also receiving negative feedbacks. Critics such as Tom Friedman of The New York Times commented that the government should focus on other more relevant issues aside from it. The claim that while energy independence may be motivated by noble purposes, it might not be the wisest move now. The government should look for other more practical alternatives. Besides, the big budget energy independence demands could be allotted to the other sectors of the economy and government.

The Various Auto Companies Continue to Grow and Expand in the World market.

The discussion regarding oils issues leads us to another important area, which is the car industry. Generally, auto companies reported notable developments and expansions during this week. Last Wednesday, Nanjing Automobile acquired the MG Rover plant at Longbridge, England for a 33 year lease from St. Modwen Properties Plc. The leading Chinese auto maker is said to have paid 1.8 M pounds for the 105 acre factory. Nanjing surprised the global car industry last July 2005 when it bought MG rover for around 53 M pounds thus outbidding its fellow Chinese competitor, Shanghai Automotive Corp. The big move is part of the company’s vision to become one of the leading car brands in the world.

Honda Motors Co. is also getting more attention form the international auto market after it disclosed its plans to produce a hybrid yet low priced version of its Fit subcompact. The car maker intends to release the hybrid design next year. Honda representatives, nevertheless, clarified that the hybrid technology will be distributed only at a lower scale. This is due to the design’s very expensive production cost. However, Honda is also developing smaller battery and motors that would help reduce the hybrid cost in the future. This venture is part of Honda’s goal to beat the problem of high-gasoline consumption through specially designed automobiles. Aside from Honda, other companies that have joined the market for hybrid cars are Ford and Toyota.

Based on its recent report, Ford Motor Co. has dropped down in its sales by 4% last month. Another company that has followed the same trend is General Motors. According to GM, its sales also decreased by 2.5%. Meanwhile, the total sales of both Toyota and DaimlerChrysler continued to improve this year. Particularly, the Chrysler Group jumped in its sales by 3% of around 190,367 cars. Some of the most popular automobiles sold by the company are: Dodge automobiles, Chrysler, and Jeep. Chrysler’s Mercedes-Benz also improved by 28%. Toyota reported that its sales within the U.S alone rose by 2.4% to around 166,940 cars last February.

Although Ford’s sales on Jaguar have decreased last year, the automaker declared that it has no plans of selling Jaguar. Ford bought the famous car brand back in 1989 for around 1.6B pounds. This year, the car company is positive that Jaguar sales is going to recover and improve. Ford is also set to release a new car model that would be hitting Europe soon. This is part of its strategy to keep up with the strong competition against other auto giants especially those that come from Asia.

As part of its move to recover from its losses, General Motors officially tasked Jerry York as its newest member of the board. York is noted for its remarkable achievements at Chrysler and IBM. Although GM has been receiving negative feedbacks lately, York is positive that the company is going to recover. During his January speech, he proposed five things to the GM management: first, to make the expectation of revenue and cost more realistic; second, reduction of product offerings; third, review the whole company with an unbiased perspective; fourth, focus on core businesses; fifth, set a clear vision for the company.

Several Computer Companies Seek for Expansion

In terms of technology, Intel Corp. recently got the official permission from Vietnam in order to construct a microchip plant within its territory. Earlier, the leading microchip company, proposed the $605M project, which will be built at Ho Chi Minh city. Vietnam would surely benefit from the budget since the project is expected to attract more foreign investors in the country.

Meanwhile, Lenovo computer company has announced its plans to release computers that bear the company’s name. Lenovo computers formerly carried the logo of IBM. The company stated that the move is part of its plans to establish itself in the worldwide market of computer technology.

Just recently, Apple computers invited several analysts and new reporters to its Cupertino base in order to check out its so-called “new and fun products.” So what’s up with the big bang? Rumor has it that Apple is intending to expand its technological products into Hollywood. Apparently, its iTunes has been contributing to the promotion of many TV programs. Again, there’s a possibility that the latest rumors could again turn out to be wrong. Yet then invitation given by Apple is surely a good sign that the company is up of a big bang of a surprise for everyone.

As part of China’s vision to improve its local technological industries, Vice Premier Wu Yi vowed last Thursday to strengthen the fight against illegal copying of softwares, music, and videos. Piracy has been a growing problem in the country for years. Despite several attempts to combat it, the problem continues to spread. In fact, piracy in China has roused international complaints including the report made by Washington. Now, the Vice Premier pledged to strengthen the battle against piracy not only as a response to these foreign complaints, but also as part of China’s goal to improve its local technology.

More Developments in Various Sectors to Boost Global Trade

Just recently, Morgan Stanley decided to invest around $68 M to Mantri Developers Private Ltd. which is a property development company based in Bangalore, India. The decision is part of Morgan Stanley’s plan of venturing into the global stream of real estate. At the same time the investment, would also help Mantri in its plans for national expansion. Real estate is currently booming in India due to the increasing demands for housing projects and office buildings. This economic rise is also attracting many foreign investors now.

In terms of health, Roche finally got the approval from the U.S drug regulatory board to release Rituxan as the newest drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The approval of the new medicine does not only promise more profit on the part of Roche, but it gives likewise hope for the patients who have not responded to other standard treatments of rheumatoid arthritis.

U.S faces Several Economic Concerns

Based on the latest report, the trade gap between exports and imports in the U.S has increased during the past year from 18% – 75% of a trillion dollar. This is due to the fact that American consumers have continued to demand for more imported products such as oil, vehicles, and other goods. According to analysts, only a 57% increase in exports can bridge the gap. It must be noted the U.S. is a leading exporter in certain goods such as aircraft. Although the sales of durable goods decreased during the past year, producing companies such as Boeing hope to improve in their sales in the succeeding years.

Meanwhile, the huge damage left by hurricane Katrina has also caused the insurance companies in the U.S to adjust their premiums. The adjustment is deemed necessary in order to cover the potential loss that would be caused by future catastrophes.

There’s also good news regarding IT job opportunities based in the U.. Although many American companies are resorting into offshore services now, IT employment opportunities continue to grow in the U.S This is due to the fact that there are still certain IT tasks that needs to be based within its territory.

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