#can you tell the author comes from a family of dairy farmers?

[manga-and-stuff]

Source: Fullmetal Alchemist Hagane no Renkinjutsushi 鋼の錬金術師

by Hiromu Arakawa

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is part two of our mpreg Louis fic rec list. The first part of this rec list was done a while ago and can be found here. Happy reading!

1) Always Coming Back To You | Explicit | 4749 words

Harry's been missing Louis for eight days, and eight days without his Omega feels like decades in his pre-rut state.

Louis happens to come back to him earlier than planned.

2) Through The Storm | Mature | 6497 words

Note: This fic has no smut, but it is MPreg Louis so we included it.

Harry and Louis' marriage has hit a rough patch. A much needed week vacation in Jamaica just may be the second chance their relationship needs. What could possibly go wrong?

The answer?

Everything.

3) You Can Show Me Your Heart | Explicit | 6935 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Everyone knows about the unsinkable Titanic, which tragically did just that in April of 1912. However, not many people know the story of the Carpathia - the ship that raced to rescue and aid the survivors of the Titanic when the distress call came through. This is the story of the events leading up to the luxury liner crashing into an iceberg on that fateful spring night. More than that, this is the story of how two of Carpathia’s passengers - Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson - met, fell in love and helped over 700 people in the cold Atlantic water.

4) Cooking with Styles | Explicit | 9119 words

Anyone can cook— or so they say.

5) Something To Prove | Explicit | 9425 words

Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.

6) We Will Get Through This | Explicit | 11219 words

Because of quarantine, Louis has to stay home with his roommate, Harry, who he's never really hung out with before. He's a sweet alpha who seems to really care and that annoys the hell out of Louis. But as he gets to know the alpha, he realizes it might not be dislike that he's feeling.

7) Easily | Explicit | 13588 words

Note: This fic is a sequel to this fic.

Years later, Harry and Louis are as strong as ever and more than ready to take the next step in the story of their lives. It gets a little weird, a little confusing, but at the end of the day, it is as easy as can be.

8) Baby Honey | Explicit | 14744 words

Note: The pairing in this fic is Alex/Louis.

When the next great war strikes, all alphas have to ship out. Alex leaves a little more behind than some of the others.

9) The Post-War BP | Explicit | 17732 words

The eight year war has left the country's birthrate severely stunted with a lack of virile alphas left to bring it back up. To ensure the survival of the country, the government opens The Breeding Program where young omegas can apply to carry an alpha's child in exchange for benefits.  Louis' family is struggling and the BP is one of the only ways to secure a roof over their heads.  Harry was drafted at the age of eighteen and spent six years of his life defending a country he doesn't recognize when he returns home.  The government made the bed but it's Harry that has to lie in it.

10) Souls; Plural, Parallel | Teen & Up | 19679 words

Note: This fic has no smut, but it is MPreg Louis so we included it.

Soulmates are rare, the sort of rare that means everyone has a story about a friend's sister's coworker or a brother's roommate's cousin. But the fact of the matter is that most people never meet theirs. It's unfortunate then, that Louis finds out the hard way that he met his soulmate in a club, and the guy never texted him back.

11) Be Mine, Dear | Not Rated | 20104 words

It really wasn’t fair. He was the oldest of all of them. He’s the one who dreamed about being bonded his whole life, while Liam laughed at the idea, until he met Sophia. Niall had always been indifferent, but when he met Heather six months ago, everything changed for him. He quickly went from being the only omega around two alpha’s, to the odd omega out. And it really wasn’t fair, because Liam and Niall both still protected him just as much as the did before, just as much they do their new mates now, but he was still bitter about it, so he’d pity himself as much as he wanted.

12) Oops, Baby, I Love You (In That Order) | Explicit | 25344 words

The minute Louis Tomlinson decides he don’t need no man to start a family, Harry Styles literally falls into his arms.

13) I’m Having Your Baby (It's None of Your Business) | Mature | 26383 words

A bet can cost you a lot. Harry learns this in the weirdest of ways.

Louis just wanted a baby, and he got so much more.

14) The Things I'd Do To Wake Up Next To You | Mature | 36109 words

AU. Harry wakes up to a pregnant Louis Tomlinson and a wedding band on his finger.

15) If I Stay | Mature | 37226 words

Harry and Louis agree to a temporary arrangement that Harry can't seem to walk away from no matter how many times he tries.

16) You Put the Sun in Sunday | Mature | 42319 words

Louis is a love-brainwashed-teenager of hope drenched in dreams, clad in oversized clothes damaged with holes, and standing waist-high in novels. Harry is a selfish closeted football captain with a head too big for his heart, and a bad habit of not thinking before he opens his mouth. No one ever said love was easy, Louis learned the hard way.

17) Flash Forward (We’re Taking On The World Together) | Explicit | 44273 words

In which Omega Louis and Alpha Harry are absolutely perfect for each other and say I love you too much.

18) Every Story Has Its Scars, Ours Is A Brand New Start | Mature |  62859 words

Life as a devoted husband and an amazing father turned out to be a little different than Louis had expected. Everyone tells him it doesn't have to be that way; that he's worth more and that he's so much stronger than any one person trying to keep him down. It's all just words though until he meets the one person who makes him truly believe it.

19) Such Good Luck | Explicit | 66205 words

An Edwardian AU where Harry is a young aristocratic lord and Louis is a working class dairy farmer. Secrets are a necessary part of their relationship, but Louis has one that could topple their whole world.

20) Things I Can't | Not Rated | 67495 words

Louis has a plan for his life. He’s going to be the first in his family to finish college. He’s going to be a doctor - the best damn doctor in the country. And he’s going to work his ass off to make sure his younger siblings never have to wonder whether they have the means to pursue their dreams.

He doesn’t have space in his plan for a relationship with an effortlessly alluring musician, and certainly not for the child that unexpectedly results from that union. Louis is at a crossroads he never thought to plan for, and now he must make a decision: between what he wants now, and what he wants most.

21) I’m Still Learning To Love | General Audiences | 74695 words

Note: This fic has no smut, but it is MPreg Louis so we included it.

An AU where Harry has almost everything in the world except for the will to move on.

22) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words

AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.

That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.

23) Fucking Animals | Explicit | 116688 words

Louis is the frontman of an equal rights-movement, author of a book about beta-omega marriage and the struggles of being born and boxed into a personality you don’t necessarily feel you fit. The notion that an omega must want to be with an alpha or else he or she’s just settling for less, is bullshit.

But, fucking hell.

24) Be My Omega | Mature | 138372 words

It all started when the alpha laid eyes on the short curvy omega and he knew at that moment that his life would never be the same, in a good way of course.

25) Cold Little Heart | Teen & Up | 194600 words

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child. A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham. Louis really could use the help.

26) Love Me Until The End | Mature | 207130 words

AU where Louis, an Omega, is the head nurse of the hospital in charge of running the nursing staff. Harry, an Alpha, is a highly respected surgeon working at the same hospital. They also happen to fall in love.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthly Reads | July 2020

Happy 28th! As always, my undying love goes out to all the amazing authors this fandom still has. You are all incredible! Thank you for sharing your work with us ♥ Here are all the 21 fics I read and enjoyed this month:

⋙ The Murmur of Yearning | MediaWhore | historical - no smut - arranged marriage past rape/non-con - implied/referenced dubious consent - minor character death - slow burn - 93k Four years ago, Harry Styles was forced into a marriage of convenience to enrich and ally both his and his promised's families. The sudden, and slightly suspicious, death of the Marquess of Haxshire, however, brings great disturbance to Crescentfield Hall and, as his late's husband's closest male relative, Harry unexpectedly finds himself the head of a family he never felt he belonged to. Between a meddling distant cousin hellbent on inserting himself in Harry’s life, his wicked and mistrustful mother-in-law and his late husband’s advisors refusing to help or take him seriously, Harry struggles in the fight to keep what he’s earned and make the Estate finally feel like home. Luckily he doesn’t stand completely alone and finds himself an unlikely ally in Mr Tomlinson, the elusive Land Stewart who has been taking care of the property in the shadows for years. Louis Tomlinson is caring, patient, and unlike everyone else, he doesn’t seem to think Harry committed a murder.

⋙ Donor-Conceived | jaerie | a/b/o - omega/omega - friends to lovers - intersex omegas - pregnancy kink - unplanned pregnancy - fertility issues - miscarriage mentioned - male lactation - lactation kink - 31k When Harry receives the worst news of his life, it's now or never if he wants to carry a child of his own. Without an alpha, it's a daunting idea. But after it's a go, he finds another omega having a child from the same donor and become fast friends. It is only logical that they raise the boys as half brothers, making sure their sons keep up the relationship with the only connection to their anonymous father. It seems like the perfect plan but life doesn't always work out that way.

⋙ Just a touch of your love | anonymous | a/b/o - touch-starved - past abuse - past rape/non-con - miscommunication - anxiety attacks - 12k “What if something happened to you? What would I say to Niall?” “Nothing, he would have to wait to see my corpse on the news like everyone else.” Deadpanned Harry. Louis’ gasp was all the answer he got. Ok, so that might have been a bit too much. With a calmer voice, he said, “It’s really fine. I’ve walked to the tube countless times, I can handle myself. Just go home and tell Niall to stop mothering me.” Louis was finally walking by his side and gave him a sideways glance before talking. “He doesn’t know, does he? Of your, uh, condition.” Harry tensed and his breath became erratic, but he didn’t say a word. Louis continued. “His nose probably hasn’t picked it up, and you’re lucky Liam’s also a beta, but it took me a minute to confirm it. Your scent is gettin’ so…” He seemed to struggle to find a word. He didn’t finish the sentence, but the emotion in his voice made Harry’s tummy churn. -- Or, Harry is a touch starved omega trying to get through it on his own. Louis happens to be the only alpha around to realize it and offers to help.

⋙ We're Not Who We Used To Be | jaerie | trans female character - trans Harry - childhood friends - friends with benefits - transitioning - gender dysphoria - body disphoria gender identity - first time - self-medicating - reference to depression - 7k Louis comes back to his childhood home and sees an old friend who has changed quite a lot since the last time they saw each other.

⋙ Sincerely, Yours | anon | strangers to lovers - military - 25k Prompt:Historical AU where Louis is a soldier on his way to first deployment and Harry is working at a diner. They meet there when Louis is waiting for the bus, Harry tries to cheer Louis up and agrees to write to him while he's deployed because Louis doesn't have anyone else to write to. People kinda make fun of Harry for writing to (and falling for) a virtual stranger but otherwise everything is great until Louis stops writing. AKA travelin' soldier by the Dixie Chicks but gay and with a happy ending.

⋙ Ever Since I Tried Your Way | anon | historical - 1940s - 1950s - farm/ranch - internalized homophobia - hurt/comfort - emotional hurt/comfort - fluff - smut - gender exploration - body worship - 26k Harry had been kissed before, but never like this. He’d shared sweet, curious kisses behind bleachers and in soda shop booths, one or two more daring ones in cars parked on dark suburban streets, but the girls he’d kissed had never filled him with the desperation that erupted from Louis’ touch. He parted his lips and pulled him closer, as though he could breathe Louis straight into his lungs, as if he could swallow him. He wanted to consume Louis the way he consumed the body and blood of Christ. He wanted to place Louis on his tongue and feel him dissolve into a frothy mess of starch and saliva. He wanted to gulp him down until his teeth were stained purple and he was drunk on him. He wanted him in some violent holy way that made his hands shake where they were twisted in Louis’ shirt. In 1949 Harry left his bride at the altar, running away from the only life he'd known. When a kindhearted farmer offers him a ride in his truck and a place to sleep the two find themselves inexplicably drawn together. Isolated on Louis' farm with nobody but a field of dairy cows to intrude, the men are finally able to explore the parts of themselves they've spent their lives hiding away.

⋙ sleeping on our problems | falsegoodnight | a/b/o - college/university - mpreg - friends with benefits - angst - slow burn - hurt/comfort - 67k I’m in love with you, Louis thinks. He feels empty, weighed down by his sadness and the loss of Harry inside him just moments ago before his knot finally went down. There’s moments where he’s sure Harry feels the same. Like now, when he’s gazing down at Louis with so much adoration and tenderness. It’s like they’re both on the cusp of something more, but neither of them ever say a word. His confession is on the tip of his tongue ready to slide out like honey, and yet he remains silent. They both do, looking at each other and recognizing the reluctance mirrored in each other’s eyes. It’s then that Louis realizes they’re both scared. - Or Louis sleeps with Harry and they have more than just catching feelings to worry about.

⋙ in a world alone | falsegoodnight | a/b/o - Swan Lake AU - historical - royalty - magic - curses - friends to lovers - slow burn - mpreg - 51k Harry’s breath catches as the glow grows bigger and bigger until he’s squinting his eyes and blinking at the sudden intense brightness. He closes his eyes, rubbing at them helplessly. When his eyes open again- he gasps, grip loosening on his bow as he gawks at the sight before him. Because the swan is gone. And in its place is the prettiest omega Harry has ever seen. - A Swan Lake AU

⋙ The Baby Whisperer | jacaranda_bloom | strangers to lovers - prior mpreg - neighbours - fluff - smut - kid fic - 19k Harry’s newborn baby is having trouble sleeping and nothing he does seems to work. Tired and alone and at his wits end, Harry is at a loss until a new neighbour arrives to turn his world upside down. OR the one where being neighbourly takes on a whole new meaning.

⋙ was in no hurry, had no worries | defencelouis | strangers to lovers - car accidents - smut - daddy kink - 21k The year is 1999 and Harry can’t stop dedicating songs to Louis on the radio. Or the one where Harry hits Louis with his car.

⋙ Strong Enough | jacaranda_bloom | enemies to lovers - exes to lovers - angst - smut - divorce - 21k “So…” Liam starts, and Louis instantly knows where this is going. He’s actually glad it’s Liam that's dragging the subject out from the shadows and into the light. Louis turns to face him, mirroring his position on the couch and nods, ready for him to continue. Liam takes a deep breath. “Have you spoken to Harry recently?” Five years after Vertigo goes on hiatus, the band comes back together for a benefit concert. Can Louis and Harry work through their complicated past, or are some wounds too deep to be healed?

⋙ What's It Gonna Be? | zeldasayre | high school - 37k Louis looked thoughtful for a moment. “When are you meeting with Clare again?” “Thursday,” Bebe said, looking over at him, the ice clinking in her glass as she stirred it with a long spoon. “Why?” He grinned, narrowing his eyes. He took a long, dramatic pause, sipping his lemonade, and then said, “Scheming.” aka I've watched Shura's "What's It Gonna Be?" music video one too many times. ((Or, Louis and Bebe, best friends since childhood, have crushes on two of the most popular kids in school, and in an attempt to increase their respective chances, Louis befriends Harry Styles, quarterback of the football team, while Bebe befriends Clare Uchima, head cheerleader. Only... the plan... doesn't go exactly as planned.))

⋙ There Goes My Life | anonymous | older larry - colleagues with benefits - mpreg - unplanned pregnancy - smut - lactation kink - 8k Metallic taste in the mouth, check. Aversions to favourite foods, check. Nausea without throwing up, check. A heightened sense of smell, check. Sore and sensitive nipples, check. It had felt as though Harry had been ticking off boxes from his own mental checklist and every new addition brought him closer to an existential crisis. Pregnant. Everything over the last few weeks began to make sense; thoughts he pushed from his mind because he was too busy, and to be honest too scared, to think about. Getting knocked up from a few-night’s-stand was something that happened to teenagers and/or uni students, but certainly not to a forty-year-old Member of Parliament such as himself. *** Or, the one where Harry is single, a Member of Parliament, gets knocked up and has to deal with navigating motherhood in his forties. And Louis? Well, his life is about to change forever as well. This is a tale about colleagues with benefits and the consequences that can come with that.

⋙ Mother I'd Like to * | anonymous | implied mpreg - MILF Harry - 4k “What’s up, dad?” Oliver asks Louis, standing in front of Harry in a way that hides his friends from the view. “Is there something wrong with your mom? Your friends are staring a lot.” Oliver goes beet red at that. He groans and hides his face on his hands. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” --------------------- Written for the prompt: Harry’s and Louis’ son is like 16, so he is hanging out with his friends and his friends are teasing him about how hot his mother (aka harry) is, just like the 1D boys always did with Harry about Anne. The son feels super uncomfortable and Louis is super confused why these little teenagers boys always stare at Harry’s body when he is cooking for them whenever they visit until he finds out they think of Harry as the hottest milf in town (more humor than actual sexual references pls, this is supposed to be more funny than awkwardly sexual :D)

⋙ An Invincible Summer | Brooklyn_Babylon | farm/ranch - historical - 1940s - period-typical homophobia - adoption - minor character death - epilepsy - homophobic language - smut - 44k Never content to stay in one place for long, a few months down south researching for his novel seemed like an idyllic, slow-paced summer to Louis. He wasn't ready for the blistering heat, the backbreaking work of watermelon picking, or how stifling the attitudes in rural Georgia would feel. And he definitely hadn’t anticipated falling in love with the farmer’s son. The summer of 1946 would turn out to be everything worth writing about.

⋙ a trail of honey through it all | faeriestyles | strangers to friends to lovers - mild violence - D/s undertones - 27k The boy in front of him, well really, the man in front of him, was like something out of a confusing wet dream. Built, tall, tan and muscular, his skin glistened with sweat after a long day of working outdoors with his hands. He was wearing a cut up old American football shirt, the bottom hem was torn and the sleeves were cut off to the point where the t-shirt was really just a loose tank top. The shorts he had on had clearly been full length jeans at one point, and were now just crudely cut off above the knee. His white socks were pulled up too high on his calves, and the brown work boots he had on were old as fuck, the leather peeling along the edges of the soles. Curly brown hair stuck out from the edges of his backwards snapback, and there was a smudge of grease wiped along his brow bone. The smattering of hair along his jaw proved that he hadn’t shaved in a week or two, the hair growing in thicker across his upper lip and around his chin. His sinfully bowed mouth was pink and plump, and Louis was suddenly hyper-focused on the way that he chewed at the toothpick stuck between his lips. He looked like he needed a shower. Louis wanted to lick him. Or, the TPH fic we’ve all been waiting for.

⋙ The Recklessness in Water | LarryOn | light angst - smut - 50k Louis Tomlinson is miserable. He's stuck on a family vacation at a lake cabin in New Hampshire when all he wants to do is bemoan his sorry existence and wallow in his sweatpants. As if the humidity and mosquitos weren't bad enough, he becomes the singular target of an obnoxious lifeguard named Harry.

⋙ baby blue | soldouthaz | cowboy AU - famous/not famous - angst - hate to love - enemies to lovers - smut - hurt/comfort - minor violence - 39k Harry Styles takes his time coming out to greet them. Louis only knows what he’s seen on file and what he’s heard them talking about, but he fully lives up to the image he had inside of his head. He saunters down the front steps of the farmhouse in his Levi’s, brown snakeskin boots curving out from underneath the denim Louis’ sure he had specially made. He’s got on a plaid button-down tucked into the jeans because of course he does, curls spilling out from either side of his cowboy hat around his sunglasses and country-tan skin. “Harry Styles,” he drawls, extending a hand to Louis’ manager, “Pleased to meet ya’ll.”

⋙ with no way out and a long way down | we_are_the_same | royalty - soulmates - strangers to lovers - fluff - angst - no smut - emotional hurt/comfort arranged marriage - 31k Prince Harry is ten when he receives his soulmark.

⋙ adjudication | bottomlinsons | royalty - historical - enemies to friends to lovers - enemies to friends - love letters - betrayal - slow burn - light angst - arranged marriage - 75k Harry's been engaged to Princess Charlotte of Ryde for as long as he can remember. He's come to know her, to love her, through the letters she's sent him over the past three years. But when the wedding finally arrives, Harry quickly learns that nothing is as it seems. With his crown and country at stake, Harry must decide who to trust in this strange new land. And the sly Crown Prince of Ryde doesn't seem inclined to make things easy.

⋙ Something to Prove | trysomecats | a/b/o - enemies to lovers - mpreg - smut - 9k Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.

[anastkantdhangar]

Why India’s Social Milieu Needs An Urgent Contemplation

India, traditionally, has been offering astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life - diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society, which gives light to its very inclusive, secular and democratic character. But why there has been a social unrest lately?

India ranks 144th on the World Happiness Index out of a total 156 countries on the list, even behind the likes of Pakistan, ranked 66th, and Bangladesh, ranked 107th.

17th June, 2019, a 24-year old man called Tabrez Ansari was mob-lynched in Jharkhand. He was tied to a pole sometime around midnight, and was beaten brutally till 6 in the morning, and was also forced to chant Hindu sayings. As usual, police arrived late, Tabrez was taken to the hospital, where even his blood pressure was not recorded. He died four days later.

Kashmiri Pandits were victims to a similar unfortunate happening. They were forced to exodus from their own home, and ever since, Kashmir has been even more of a hot topic.

It was a similar mob which chased and killed Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh in December, 2018 in Bulandshahr. He was trying to control a mob that had gone on the rampage after cow carcasses were discovered nearby the locality. The same mob also raised slogans against the police during the unfortunate happening.

Back then, between 2015-2018 specifically, such things were done in the name of cows, an animal which holds a religious significance in Hindu mythology. Considerable amount of such happenings on the name of cow slaughtering frequently grabbed news headlines back then, and as a consequence, consumption of beef in India saw some low. When reports of cow being starved to death in official government shelters started coming in, and also about that stray cattle were destroying crops and farmers were not very pleased with it, politics abandoned cows. It is obvious that cows, along with other animals, need to be protected, also given the fact that dairy products are a must, there needs more to be done to protect and nurse them. But the project of fear and violence that had been started, still continues in various forms.

But, unfortunately, cases of mob-lynchings still take place in our beloved India. The very recent case of Palghar district in Maharashtra, where two Hindu saints, while being in police custody and being taken to Gujarat, were attacked by locals. Reports suggest that the rumors were spread in the area about a gang which abducts children, and on the suspicion of the same, the saints were beaten to death, while the act of police standing quietly beside raised many questions.

A particular section of society, including sections of media, left no stone unturned to give it a communal angle. And there is no denying that there are communal and casteist angles to most of such cases, but there is a larger angle to it. The fact that somehow normal and a routine act it has become to lynch anyone you disagree with, who is outnumbered, is a thing which we need to question. What message are we passing on to the youth? Aspiring to be a global superpower, what are we projecting ourselves as?

The Larger Picture

Democracy has space for various views, expressing dissent in a dignified manner, solving issues, but no democracy can justify use of violence or any arbitrary means to deal with dissent. The very feeling of people that they too are ours should not be compromised at any cost.

The fact that the frequency of such acts has increased in last few years outlines that a message has been passed on to the society, especially the youth, that to beat up someone who does not agree with you, or who expresses any or some form of dissent is a normal practice. Of course, there also has to be some manner and dignity in which dissent should be expressed in a democratic society. But to suppress dissent brutally should not be a solution in a civil society.

This the reason why a new debate had acquired the headlines for some time about whether and how India has been growing intolerant rapidly, but the media and the viewers, the public, a large part of it, did not pay much attention to it. This was and is, what I believe, still a relevant question to ask and explore.

A considerable section of the youth has grasped that dissent or disagreement can be or has to be suppressed, even if it needs violence, which is more than worrisome. This is very much evident owing to recent JNU Campus Violence amongst students back in winter during anti-CAA protests. And the youth today, is the future tomorrow, which is why this makes it even more worrisome.

This even stops many from expressing their views, fearing that might get beaten up by the people having other views, and by not letting other ideas to be out there in the society, the prevailing ideas of the authorities are being hailed as champions. This is where we are failing as a democratic society. We have stopped or started to prevent asking questions.

A democratic society is always full of different ideas, views and perspectives, that is the beauty of democracy. A democratic society always cleaves up, if a one and only idea prevails in the society, there has to be something wrong, we are never going to realize what's wrong in such a scenario, and we have contemporary examples of such autocracies. And there were reasons why human, with time, switched from monarchy to democracy, he liked the idea of discussing various angles and coming up with one which could be best, as it will cover as many as loopholes, angles and point of views as possible, for the best of interests for every section of the society.

The Core Youth Issue

India’s 65% population comprises of people aged 35 or below, making it potentially one of the youngest country in the world, but what’s fresh in them? 

A child learns most of the civil and moral values at home, he learns what he sees, and tends to practice the same, this is the normal scenario. What he learns through the education system, along with his moral values, is somewhat an outline of what kind of a person one is, how one’s attitude is. And India’s education system has been questioned ever since.

The Indian government’s very own draft education policy tells us that National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) rates 68% of our Universities average or below average, and 91% of our colleges are rated average or below average. These second-and third-grade colleges would have produced generations of average or below average students and scholars.

Today’s youth of India has been in the making for decades. A great deal of efforts must have been put in to finish off all the curiosity and hunger for knowledge and information. The youth no longer wants to understand why a system made them spend lakhs of rupees studying, when at the end most of them could not find jobs which could even earn them Rs.20,000 per month, but still are repaying their education loans. It is the official data released back in 2018 that around 67% families in India survive with a monthly family income of Rs. 10,000 or below.

Those who demand information, who understand their world, those who question the status quo, are the ones who sustain democracies. Can we expect such democratic ideals from the youth of a country where 91% colleges and 68% Universities are average or below average? 65% of Indians might be under the age of 35, but there’s little sign of anything fresh in their thinking. Their minds are not young. They were first burdened with great ignorance, and now they’ve been blinded by communalism.

With 91% colleges being second and third rate, it was inevitable that the youth is kept away from the realm of knowledge. This must have had a large say on why WhatsApp University became so popular, the very messages people received on their private chats must have felt to them that they now had an access to knowledge, the very fact that it was so easily accessible, made it very impactful. Lies and misleading information designed to prejudice them and incite them to violence now began to reach their smartphones as personal texts. 

Fear Of Speaking Out (FOMO FOSO)

Our Lok Sabha has passed amendments to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act last year, that gives authorities the power to declare any individual a ‘terrorist’. After it was amended, many social workers who have worked for the under-privileged for years, and raised important issues which was not in the best of interests for the authorities, have been imprisoned under UAPA.

As an obvious consequence, many have held themselves back to not speak out on issues they would have spoken on otherwise, the fear of intolerance of some sections of the society which may turn ugly and the fear of trolls of social media of the great IT Cell may also have been the reasons for the same.

There was a very popular dissent outrage in the form of protests in the form of anti-CAA-NRC protests. Protests in cities and college campuses took place across the nation, some also turned ugly as violence broke out in certain protests. To counter anti-CAA-NRC protests, pro-CAA-NRC protests were also being held in various parts of the country, which was first of its kind. The national lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic has brought the topic to a stop, but during this lockdown, various student leaders of anti-CAA-NRC have been charged under UAPA.

JP Narayan addressing a rally during JP movement in 1974. Many scholars speculate that the real Emergency started not in 1975, but in 1974.

In the history of independent India, its hard to remember any other popular mass protest where people across the nation came to roads to express dissent to the authorities, only one such example crosses our minds - the JP Narayan movement in 1974, during the time when Indira Gandhi used to be the PM of India, which mostly included students, and was ultimately suppressed after imposition of Emergency in 1975. But owing to a new practice we have accepted of labeling every sound that questions the authorities as anti-nationals or leftists.

India has had a history of patriarchy, which still prevails in many forms. Women in India, historically, have not been provided equal rights and recognition as men do. In such a nation, be it in the name of anti-CAA-NRC, such a large all-women protest of a scale as big as Shaheen Bagh is a very, very rare thing. Irrespective of our political affiances and interests, the fact that historically deprived women actually came out and led a mass protest on their own, which lasted for more than 3 months and has come to a haul owing to the pandemic, this certainly deserved some thoughts.

Motive of the protest, political interests and such stuffs can be and should be questioned, but in the process we should also give some recognition to things which are rare and important.

We all may share different political thoughts, different political affiliations, but at the end of the day, we all belong to one nation, and our ideas should be for the best of interests for our nation and its people as a whole.

[theemberarchive]

Life on Haakha

The quality of life for most people on haakha is comparable to the life of a human from around the year 1000 AD. Farmers till fields, herders tend flocks, hunters and trappers provide meat and skins, weavers create clothing, woodworkers build furniture, authors write books, and so on. Meals are cooked over open fires. Entertainment comes from a lute player, a group of singers, or perhaps comedic thespians. 

Parents typically raise children, although in some places extended families are common. Many children attend some kind of school until the age of about twelve, when they learn a craft. Some students, usually those in larger cities, go on to higher learning. 

Life expectancy varies wildly, but those who survive to the age of thirty can expect to live to at least sixty. It’s rare but not unheard of for someone to live to be ninety or even one hundred. Those fortunate enough to be rich can partake of the elixir of eternity, and might live twice that long—or longer. 

The dead are usually buried or cremated.

Communities

Communities spring all across the world of haakha in many forms. Whether their a small town of stone work with thatched roofs, a series of chambers and tunnels carved into a cliffside, or even fly high in the sky, one can almost always find a city almost anywhere in the world. 

As the world is a dangerous place, many settlements are built with some kind of defense in mind. Almost all settlements that can afford to build a large wall of some kind around them, so as to protect them from rampaging monsters. Most other settlements tend to have a heavily fortified and durable structure called a sanctuary built so that if a dangerous storm or creature comes and stays for an extended period of time, the citizens can bunker down in relative safety. Although large cities exist here and there (usually near coasts or along rivers, but not always) most people live in small villages. Typically, a village’s population ranges from ten to about two hundred people. A town might be anywhere from a bit bigger than a bit bigger than a village to a few thousand people. A city usually have at least 5,000 people, and plenty have more. The largest cities (not including the ancient pre-cataclysm cities like Thalarion) have 500,000 or more, though these are the exception, with a city of about 20,000 or 30,000 people typically being a metropolis by most standards. The largest city in the world is Thalarion, the city of a thousand wonders, with a population of 3,500,000 people (counting several hive-minds as ‘individuals’, not multiple individuals). 

Almost every settled community has a wall of some kind to defend itself. Haakha is a dangerous place after all. Communities–particularly the walled variety–have a force of dedicated defenders, often double-timing as law enforcement for whatever leads the community. In cities, a dozen or so guards for every thousand residents is the usual minimum.

Life in a City

Life in cities is, generally, better than in towns and villages, with most city dwellers have access to more of everything beyond simple necessities– greater variety of foods, more education, more kinds of entertainment, more health care, more experience with the supernatural, and a wider range of cultures. City dwellers are usually employed in occupations beyond the production of food (farming, hunting, herding, and the like). Food is usually shipped in from surrounding villages. Instead, the people work as clerks, scribes, cooks, messengers, crafters, artisans, scholars, and more, but the typical resident is a laborer. Laborers include porters, packers, diggers, movers, builders, repairers, sanitarian workers, and so on. 

Any sort of standard item or service can likely be purchased in a city. Many cities have their own specialties as well, such as a city known for its textiles, its metals, and so on. 

Cities have schools for young children and very often a trade school or university. Sometimes there are many different temples and churches for a variety of different religions. 

City dwellers rarely know everyone in their town, and thus are usually more accustomed to strangers and outsiders.

Life in a town or village

In towns and villages, residents have limited access to education, entertainment, and so on. There may be limitations on healthcare and food variety as well. Most people in these communities are farmers, herders, hunters, or gatherers– in other words, focused on producing food. 

Townsfolk, in particular villagers, are usually extremely suspicious of newcomers. Travel isn’t very common, so outsiders don’t show up in the community all that often. Traveling merchants come and go occasionally, but even they come with enough regularity so as not to be outright strangers. 

Towns and villages, often fairly isolated, develop their own customs and rituals. It’s not at all odd for such a community to have its own unique form of religion.

Class

Most communities across Haakha have a strict class structure. Although some places differ, in most places there is an aristocracy, a middle class, a lower class, and a slave class. The details can vary, as can how one’s class is determined. Most of the time, however, the class into which you are born is the class in which you will remain for you entire life. 

Thus, the aristocracy are born to their station and have greater wealth and greater access to food, health care, and other resources than anyone else. They also have authority over those beneath them. Sadly, it is the rare aristocrat who does not abuse these advantages. Nobles are aristocrats with titles, such as baron, duchess, and so on. 

The middle and low classes are usually different only in the amount of wealth they possess. Middle–class residents of cities and towns often have their own house, for example, while their lower class counterparts live in communal buildings or on the street. These classes have varying rights, but in the end they are almost subject to the aristocracy. It is possible for a middle–class person to be wealthy or even extremely wealthy, but not technically an aristocrat. This, however, is rare, in that the class system is constructed to keep non–nobles from accumulating much wealth and because in some places, it is possible to buy one’s way into the upper class. 

Slaves are those captured in war or, more likely, the children of slaves. They can also be members of the lower class that have accumulated high debt and no way to pay. Lastly, sometimes criminals are sentenced to be slaves. Slaves have few, if any, rights and can be bought and sold. In some communities, slavery is limited–you might be a slave until you have worked of you debt–but most of the time, it is a permanent status. In a few places, slaves have absolutely no rights and can be killed without repercussion.

Relationships

Although there are many types of relationships, we’ll focus here on the long-term romantic relationships, and in most of these, people are encouraged to choose their partner freely. Couples co-own resources, businesses, or whatever is in their possession. If they choose to split, they work out the division of property by themselves or with the assistance of a mediator. Arranged marriages or the like can happen, but usually only among a few specific classes–among the nobility, slaves, and mage clans. 

Couples of all genders, sizes, and sexual orientations are common. Two-partner, heterosexual relationships the majority, but hey are aren’t the norm, per se. It is actually quite common for people to participate in commitment ceremonies. In this, a large group of adults make commitments to one another, living together and raising children as a communal family. This particularly common among groups of soldiers or, slightly less, among adventuring parties. 

Not everyone is a relationship makes formal commitment to each other, but those who do have number of choices. Ceremonies can be private or public, and take the form of handfasting, feasting, exchanging goods and services, or holding a large, elegant gathering in the presence of an officiant. In many cases, living together for longer than a year is considered the same as having a commitment ceremony.

Economy

On haakha, traders and merchants are some of the bravest folk around, for they are willing to move goods from one community to the next. Travel is dangerous, and communities are often unwelcoming. Merchants almost universally travel in bands with guards overland or in sturdy craft along the coast or rivers. In some places, they have organized into trading companies that help get the right goods to the right places, more out of the need for security than anything else. 

Kals are the primary currency used in Haakha. Their popularity started in Thalarion, and it quickly spread from there as Thalarion adventurers traveled. Named after the material their crafted from, Kals are crafted by ancient machines out of Kalrite (the only way it can be worked) that the Thalarion’s of ages ago found in various locations. Thalarion is not the only nation to possess these Kal minters, which has only added to their popularity. 

While Kals are not the only currency in use, they remain the standard currency in most places. It’s not as if Kals are important, just that they are an easily understood unit that represents barter. In other words, when the butcher tells the woman in the dairy that a certain amount of meat is worth 2 Kals, she knows that she can get it with 2 Kals worth of cheese as payment, even if no Kals are used. 

Kals come in two varieties. The most common is the Kalrite bar, the one simply called Kals. The second is the Kalrite coin (Kal coins for short), which is 100X of a standard Kalrite bar.

[dailyaudiobible]

09/13/2021 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 12:1-14:32, 2 Corinthians 13:1-14, Psalms 57:1-11, Proverbs 23:9-11

Today is the 13th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we approach the middle…well…I mean we’ll get to the middle of the week, and we’ll be in the middle of the month. We’re working our way through the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. We’re working our way through the second letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament and we will conclude that letter with today's reading. So, let's dive in. We’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Isaiah chapters 12, 13, and 14 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we concluded the second letter to the Corinthians today. And as letters go, it's…it's a good-sized letter, but we probably noticed that a bunch of this letter is Paul defending himself in part, and we've already gone over this. Other people were coming and visiting these churches and nuancing what Paul was teaching. He did not like that a bit. And they were associated with, you know, like some kind of pedigree, some kind of association to the actual disciples of Jesus in some form or another. And, so, they’re super apostles. And, so, he has to defend himself and spends a bunch of the letter doing that. Let's just pause though and remember that Jesus Christ, the Savior, dealt with the same kinds of scenarios where he's constantly being asked, “by what authority are you doing these things?” And all kinds of assumptions about Jesus were flying around. And we've explored that we went to the Gospels. So, let's just notice here in this letter that these kinds of things were going on in the early church. They continue to go on until this day where we pick our favorites and then we defend our favorites and we’re always looking for a certain kind of pedigree or a certain kind of proof. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's in some ways called discernment. Paul essentially was saying, can't you just…like…do I have to brag? Do I have to boast? Do I have to show how I have done more for God than these other people? Can't you just look at what my life is? Can’t you look at the consistency of the message of the gospel? Can't you see what we've been through to bring it to you? Can’t that matter? Do we have to actually get into a bragging contest? Is this what we’re doing here? And that's fair. Jesus had the same kind of thing going on. Remember Jesus being accused of getting His…the source of His power to heal from the devil? And Jesus is like, what are we…what are we doing here? What are we talking about here? How can that even be? A house divided against itself can't stand. So, we’ve had the opportunity to explore the ways in which we judge and what we’re looking for. But Paul ends this letter actually in a really pointed but very helpful way. And, so, if we think about the way that we discern or we judge, if we look at the way that Jesus was judged, if we look at the way that Paul was judged then we see how we do the things that we do and we might begin to realize that it's mostly outward. Like, we are mostly outwardly judging without looking in the mirror and including ourselves in the equation. And that is how Paul rounds things out. And I quote. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail to meet the test.” So, we can watch the super apostle’s brag. We can watch Paul brag back and defend himself. And we can sit there and go okay well here's my choice, I judge for Paul, or I judge for Apollos, or I judge for Cephas, right? Because we've seen all this going on in the early church. Paul is just suggesting as he closes this letter that maybe we just look at ourselves for a while, maybe we examine ourselves realizing that Christ Jesus is within us, and we don't have to be the judge. We have the Spirit of truth. We should keep our eyes on our own lives and what God is doing in our beautiful wild life that we've been given, and then live that out into the world not worrying about the rest.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come into that. We…we walk into so much distraction. We walk into so much stuff that just entangles us in one way or another, big or small. When we are given permission to become aware of Your presence in our very lives and to examine ourselves. So, come Holy Spirit with the light of truth and help us do that, examine ourselves. And lead us into all truth, we pray. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home…home base, it’s where you find out what's going on around here. It’s how to get connected around here. It’s how to find resources that are available for this journey around here.

So, like, check out the Community section. That's where you will find links to the different social networks that we participate in. The Prayer Wall actually also lives in the Community section and that is a gift and a beautiful thing unto itself. It is always on, always active, always happening any time of day or night. No matter what you might be going through you can always go there and reach out to brothers and sisters, ask for prayer. But maybe even more importantly sometimes it's a…it's a place to go and pray, it's a place that we have as a community here around the Global Campfire. These are the things that are going on in our lives and…and there's a myriad of things going on. I mean, any given day in any one of our lives brings usually some sort of drama of some sort. It doesn't have to be life altering drama. It's just life. Life among other human beings. Life in all of the different cultures and all of our attempts to make it work, and to make it make sense. Every day that's challenged and every day we…we need prayer, but maybe even more importantly, maybe we need to reach out in prayer and reach toward one another through prayer, as we reach to God for His intervention or His direction and clarity in the thoughts, words, and deeds of our lives. And, so, the Prayer Wall is a wonderful resource for that. And that can be found in the Community section whether you’re on the website or whether using…using the Daily Audio Bible app. So, be sure to check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if the mission…if the mission of the Daily Audio Bible, which is to bring the spoken scriptures read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night and to build community around that rhythm so that we know that we are not alone on this journey through the Bible or in life, if that is life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning DAB I'm going to go by His Farmer. This is the first time I've called in. I've been listening to DAB for a couple years now. I was inspired by Marked as His and I want you to know that we're praying for you. I'm a farmer also and it is a struggle right now trying to find help to…to get all the work that we need to be done. I just want to encourage you that…keep praying, keep listening to the DAB. I've been listening to the DAB for about two years now since I was being treated for cancer about two years ago and I've never stopped listening since I…since I was in the bed listening…being treated for cancer and here we are today in remission, and I praise God give him all the glory and really love listening to the prayer requests and…and God’s scripture. It's 6:00 o'clock in the morning here and I'm feeding my cows too. I understand the struggle. It's tough. It is not easy this year. It's never been harder I don't think to be a dairy farmer that I can remember in my 40 years of working on our family farm. So, I just wanted to let you know that we’re…we’re definitely praying for you here and understand the struggle. It is tough.

Heidi Abby this is Amy and I just have a praise report and testimony, and everything wrapped up in one. Tonight, I was just about to have my shower tonight and I stepped out of the bathroom for less than a minute. And as I stepped out and was about to go back in the entire ceiling caved in. And, you know, I’m still kind of in shock right now because it just happened a few hours ago. But I'm just so thankful to God for my life because if I had stayed there a minute longer or had gotten into the shower already, I don't know where I would be right now. So, I just want everybody to, you know, really praise God with me and for me because I'm just, you know, my life was just…I’ve just been thinking about this since it happened, that I am so thankful to God for my life but it's just, you know, it's just given me a new way of looking at God and that He actually is with me is with me because I stepped out into the hall in the middle of brushing my teeth. That never happens because I know needed me to get out of that bathroom before the ceiling caved in. I just want everyone to please thank God for me and just, you know, be encouraged. Keep praying even when it doesn't look like anything is happening because God is truly working for you, and He will protect you. Thank you very much everybody and have a good day. Bye.

This is Jamie in New Jersey standing on the word of God. Dear Father in heaven we come to You in humility and prayer. We want to recognize our shortcomings to You and ask that You would help us. Your word tells us that we should take heed lest we fall. We confess that so many times we have given our promise to You Lord that we would do something only to regret it later when we lack the strength or courage to carry it out. When we think about our Christian life and how many things that we have pledged to do but have failed to do we realize that without Your Holy Spirit we have no strength to sustain any of it. Some of us have pledged to be bolder in our evangelism but when the moment came to be bold, we have lacked the courage we needed to speak out boldly. We have preached many things that we ourselves have failed to do. Our prayer lives are not what we have pledged to You that they would be. Prayer has easily been squeezed out of our schedules and the busyness of the day. Lord for these and so many more failings we confess. Create in us a new heart. Write Your commandments on the tablets of our hearts. We surrender our wills to You again and again. Lord write Your word on the palms of our hands. Remind us that You will do…that it will do us good to diligently devour and pay attention to it daily. It will bring light into the darkest places of our hearts like the dawning of the day and the rising of the morning star. Help us seek and wait on You every day. Father You know each and every one of us and You know our desire to walk in Your ways and bring glory to You and draw others out of darkness into Your loving Kingdom. Please take our frailties and turn them into power for Your purposes. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Thank You, my brothers, and sisters. I love You all dearly. God bless the…

Hi DAB family I'm a long-time listener, been seven years now and I wanted to thank Brian for all that he's done for me and my family. My wife has also been listening for a couple years now. Listening to the Bible every day has truly been a life changing experience and it's gotten me through some of the most difficult times of my life. But I'm not calling for myself today I'm calling for a close family friend. I've known him since he was a young boy and now, he's grown up to be a very devoted and committed man. He's traveled to India civil times to share the gospel and his family is committed to planting churches all across that country. He's going to undergoing heart valve replacement surgery on the 21st and I'm just asking anyone who feels compelled to just pray for a smooth recovery and a smooth operation. His name is Prasanth. He lives in New York and I just hope that you would all keep him in your prayers. I'm also listening to your prayers and my wife, and I pray for all of you guys regularly. God bless.

Good morning DAB family this is Terry in Prattbull I just heard Lisa on September 9th. Lisa’s ill. She's been ill since January and she's struggling. She's struggling with feelings of being a burden and…and fear. And I just want to lift her up to God in prayer. Heavenly Father I lift Lisa up to You and…and Father let her know how love she is by her family by her DAB family, by everyone around her. And Lord God help her to know that the brokenness of this world, through disease and all of the bad things in life, that’s Your will for our lives. Your will for our lives is how we respond to that. And heavenly Father I give You all the glory in the world for the help she's receiving, the care and the love that she’s getting, the skill from the doctors. And Lord I…I just lift her up and I ask her Holy Spirit to fill her heart with joy and help her to realize Your love for her. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Good morning this is Tina from Texas coming on here to pray for miss Lisa who called in on September 9th…well I heard her on September 9th. And she says she's been feeling sick from kind of like a chronic viral inflammation. And hearing her voice and hearing her say that she feels like a burden to her family because of her sickness, I just wanna say first and foremost you're not a burden, you're never a burden. With Christ on your side, you're never a burden. I just want to pray that father God that you just heal her and keep her and let her know that you're…you're never alone. Lisa…miss Lisa is never alone with in her sickness, within her burdens, that she casts all her burdens and her worries and her sorrows onto you and that you comfort her and take them over for her and that you surround her with people that you know love her and truly care for her, to banish those thoughts those negative thoughts out of her mind, to keep up the fight for her health and for the faith and for the Kingdom. I thank you for bringing her to Daily Audio Bible to ask for prayer and I just ask that we all continue to pray for her in the name of Jesus and bring a miraculous healing to her, so she feels no pain and only joy and peace and comfort. Lisa, we love you. God loves you more than ever and Christ and Jesus loves you just as much. Thank you for calling. Will be praying for you. These blessings I ask in your son's holy name Jesus. Amen. Thank you. By miss Lisa.

[dfroza]

A commissioning to write:

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 9th chapter of the Letter of First Corinthians:

And don’t tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I’m perfectly free to do this—isn’t that obvious? Haven’t I been given a job to do? Wasn’t I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, our Master? Aren’t you yourselves proof of the good work that I’ve done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority of my commission, you can’t deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

I’m not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don’t seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master’s brothers and Peter in these matters. So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way? Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don’t dairy farmers get to drink their fill from the pail?

I’m not just sounding off because I’m irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law. Moses wrote, “Don’t muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it’s threshing.” Do you think Moses’ primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don’t you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in. So if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don’t we who have never demanded deserve even more?

But we’re not going to start demanding now what we’ve always had a perfect right to. Our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in the way or detract from the Message of Christ. All I’m concerned with right now is that you not use our decision to take advantage of others, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. You know, don’t you, that it’s always been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the proceeds of the Temple, and that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has been sacrificed? Along the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be supported by those who believe the Message.

Still, I want it made clear that I’ve never gotten anything out of this for myself, and that I’m not writing now to get something. I’d rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or question my motives. If I proclaim the Message, it’s not to get something out of it for myself. I’m compelled to do it, and doomed if I don’t! If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I’d expect some pay. But since it’s not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid? So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don’t even have to pay my expenses!

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No lazy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

* * *

The Letter of 1st Corinthians, Chapter 9 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 44th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah in which is written of a pine Tree with the alphabetic number of the word “pine” being 44:

Eternal One: Nevertheless, listen to Me, My people:

Jacob, My servant; Israel, My chosen.

The Eternal who made you,

who formed you in the womb and promised to help you, has this to say:

Eternal One: Don’t be afraid, My servant Jacob,

My dear Jeshurun—My chosen.

Like a devoted gardener, I will pour sweet water on parched land,

streams on hard-packed ground;

I will pour My spirit on your children and grandchildren—

and let My blessing flow to your descendants.

And they will sprout among the grasses, grow vibrant and tall

like the willow trees lining a riverbank.

One will call out: “I belong to the Eternal.”

Another will say, “Jacob is my people; Israel my honored name.”

Yet others will write “Property of the Eternal” on their hands.

The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,

King of Israel, who paid their ransom, has this to say:

Eternal One: I am at the beginning and will be at the end.

There is no God except for Me.

If you know any God like Me, tell it now.

Declare and demonstrate any who can compare to Me.

Or if you know and have announced events before their time,

told what is to come, then speak so now.

Don’t be afraid. Let your minds be clear of fear.

Haven’t I announced events and revealed what is to come?

From the earliest days, I have done so. You know it—you have seen and know.

So, go ahead, My witnesses: is there a god out there other than Me?

Witnesses: There is no other rock like God. I don’t know a single one.

But whoever does make an idol is not improved or enriched. On the contrary, their passing fancies contribute nothing of value or purpose. Those who look on at such misplaced attention don’t understand what they’re seeing, and the idol-makers will end up embarrassed at best. It’s easy to say, “What pathetic idiocy! Who would do such a thing—make gods that are by definition worthless?” The people who worship them will be shamed and humiliated. After all, people made those gods. Yet it happens all the time. So, let’s put these images, these figurines all together; stand them up—they will tremble with terror and be ashamed.

A metalworker shapes the raw materials into tools and then uses them to make little gods by hammering, bending, heating, and cooling the materials. And in the process, he gets tired and hungry; without water he soon grows faint. Likewise, the woodworker measures and marks the wood, chisels and planes it down, marks it with a compass, and carves it until it looks a bit like a human—lovely, maybe—in order to put it in a house. To take it back a bit further, perhaps he cuts down cedars or he carefully selects the cypress or oak himself, watches it, nurtures it until it is ready for his purpose. Perhaps he plants a pine; with sun and rain, it grows tall. When it’s time to harvest, he uses some of the wood for fuel to stay warm, some to heat the oven and bake bread, and some to craft a god. Then the woodworker bows down and worships before the image he just made. Do you see the irony? He sits around, warming himself and roasting dinner with wood from the same tree from which he crafted a god to which he bows and worships and prays—one time saying, “I am warmed by the wood fire”; another time saying, “O dear god, save me.”

So we see again how it is that they’re blind—their eyes shut to the truth in front of them, their hearts and minds refusing to think and really understand what’s going on. So without stopping to think about it, the fool says, “Gosh, I used half of the wood to build a fire, and baked the bread and roasted the meat over its hot coals. After I eat, I think I’ll use the rest of it to make a repulsive god. Maybe I’ll bow down to this leftover lumber.” A fool like this is feeding on ashes—his addled mind and deceived heart lead him nowhere. He can’t figure out how to save himself, much less see the error of his ways and say, “Is this idol in my right hand just a lie?”

Eternal One: Let that be a lesson to you, My people.

Don’t forget it, Jacob; O Israel, remember—you are Mine.

I made you; you are My servant; I will not forget you.

I have swept away your wrongdoing, as wind sweeps a cloud from the sky:

I have cleared you of your sins, as the sun clears the morning mist.

I have rescued you; come back to Me.

Sing, starry sky and every constellation, for what the Eternal has done.

Shout for joy, dark soil underfoot and deep caverns below;

Erupt in joyful songs, mountains and forests, and every tree in them!

Sing joyfully, for the Eternal One has rescued Jacob, His people;

The splendor of God will be revealed in Israel.

The Eternal, your rescuing hero who formed you before birth, declares,

Eternal One: I am the Eternal, Creator of all there is and will be.

I alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the blue earth.

I confound the lying swindlers who claim to tell the future,

and I make the fortune-tellers look like fools.

I stop the highbrow intellectuals in their tracks,

and I show the fault of their reasoning.

But I stand behind the words of My servants,

and I accomplish what they predict.

The one who says about Jerusalem, “This place will be built up again”;

about Judah’s cities, “They will be restored”:

I confirm their predictions. They will rise from their ruins.

After all, I am the One who needs only to say “Dry up” to great waters,

and your rivers run dry.

I am the one who says of the Persian victor over Babylon,

“Cyrus is My shepherd. He will accomplish what I determine.”

My word goes out concerning Jerusalem:

“It will stand, a glorious city, again”

and of My house within it, “Restoration will begin at once.”

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 44 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, july 22 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A set of posts by John Parsons that looks into the True nature of the heart:

From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Vaetchanan) we read, "Know therefore today and return to your heart (והשׁבת אל־לבבך), for the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). Here again we see the centrality of the heart as the mode to encounter God (Luke 17:21). Savor the phrase, "Know therefore today and return to your heart..." It is the heart that is the place of connection with God... As Yeshua said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). Today is the day to "return to your heart" and receive again God's love for your soul... [Hebrew for Christians]

7.20.21 • Facebook

In our Torah for this week (i.e., Vaetchanan), Moses recalled the awesome revelation of the Torah at Sinai, describing how the mountain “burned with fire unto the heart of heaven” (בּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד־לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם) when the Ten Commandments were inscribed upon the two tablets of testimony: "And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone" (Deut. 4:11-13).

The sages say that the tablets represented a heart, as it says, “write them on the tablet of your heart” (Prov. 3:3), and God’s word is likened to a fire that reveals the great passion of God’s heart for us (Jer. 23:29; Deut. 4:24). Tragically, the two tablets were smashed after the people lost sight of the heart of heaven (לב שמים), and therefore God requires a broken heart - teshuvah - to behold his glory once again. Therefore we see that Yeshua died of a broken heart upon the cross for our return to God, when the fire of his passion burned unto the very heart of heaven, and in his mesirat ha’nefesh we see the greater glory of God... May we, then, readily take hold of his passion and never forsake his love and truth. [Hebrew for Christians]

7.22.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 22, 2021

Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

The doctrine of verbal inspiration implies that not only are the words of Scripture inspired, but the very order in which they appear is also inspired. Study by commentators and translators have rightly noted that a change in the order of the words would at times change the meaning or emphasis of a passage. This phenomenon is often seen in the order in which the various names of Christ appear. By noting this order, one may sometimes gain new insight into a passage.

While the name Jesus, alone, normally appears in the gospels and the book of Acts, the compound name Jesus Christ appears on occasion. Interestingly, the same compound name is used exclusively by the disciples John and Peter in their letters, and by James and Jude, the brothers of our Lord. Of course, these men knew Him first by His human name, Jesus, and only fully comprehended the fact that He was the Christ (meaning “the Anointed,” or “the Messiah”) after His resurrection and ascension.

Paul, on the other hand, first encountered Christ in all His glory on the road to Damascus. Perhaps, as a consequence, he frequently reversed the order, speaking of Christ Jesus, although he used both orders many times.

The reason for this choice of order perhaps can best be illustrated in Philippians 2:5-11. In verse 5, Paul described the Anointed One, who first emptied Himself of certain aspects of His deity to take on human form. Therefore, Paul used the name Christ Jesus. In verse 11, however, the order is reversed. In this case, as in our text, the movement is from humanity to glory. In one, the glory of the risen Savior is emphasized; in the other, the glory that we shall share with Him. This glory is assured us through His victory. JDM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: DID YOU KNOW...We've made it possible to directly fund Bible translation work that is taking place in high risk areas of the world.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3gfPRwh

7.22.21 • 12:02pm • Twitter

[itsmassivecollectionpatrolus]

   The murder and eviction of whites in Zimbabwe has been    commented on in the news but in Zimbabwe's southern neighbor, south Africa,    whites are being slaughtered at an even higher rate.        South Africa has three times the population of Zimbabwe,    and 13 times the White population: almost 6 million Whites live there.    As with Zimbabwe, the media silence about the murder of Whites there is    almost total; and in South Africa's case, even human rights groups are    largely silent, perhaps because the Black takeover there was so recent    and so many "liberals" have an emotional investment in the ANC/Communist    regime they helped to power.        In 1994, after decades of propaganda in the media and    sentimental whimpering from the churches, South African Whites were finally    persuaded to hand power over to Black Communists, who installed an ANC    ("African National Congress")/Communist government that, for    some strange reason, failed to follow Marxist ideology when it came to    expropriating the business interests of the Oppenheimer family, who dominate    South Africa's economy. They did succeed, however, in making South Africa    into a multiracial sewer with one of the highest violent crime, murder,    rape, and AIDS infection rates in the world. The media made a saint of    Nelson Mandela, a convicted terrorist who had been imprisoned by the White    government there, and when the Whites capitulated he was made President.        After the media's announcement that their long campaign    of sanctions, boycotts, and intimidation had finally succeeded in bringing    "equality" and "democracy" to what had previously been    one of the few outposts of White civilization on the African continent,    the media coverage of that country almost ceased, and one seldom hears    about South Africa today in the mass media. The reason is that South Africa    is rapidly descending into crime, disease, filth, and savagery.        Since the Black takeover in 1994, 1,368 White farmers    have been murdered in farm invasions and attacks that number in the multiple    thousands. More than half of the White farmers have given up and left their    farms permanently, contributing to the region's looming famine. And yet    this is not an issue in the Jewish media. South African farmers now suffer    the highest murder rate in the world -- 274 per 100,000. In a study commissioned    by a leading South African bank, Nedbank, it was revealed that the Black    attackers are        "'deliberately targeting specific homesteads to    kill the [White] Afrikaner victims': robbery was not the prime motivation,    in fact in 85% of last year's farm attacks, nothing had been 'robbed.'"        In other words, killing the White man, raping and killing    the White woman, raping and killing the White child are the real motivations.    And yet this is not an issue in the American media.        Let me give you a few examples:        On June 15th of this year, sugar farmer Robert Dent and    his wife Allison, both 59, were killed in front of their twelve-year-old    son Nicholas Dent. A Black invader entered the Dent home between two and    three AM that Saturday morning, armed with a military-style rifle. He bludgeoned    the unarmed couple, who were surprised in their sleep, and then, in the    presence of their son, shot them to death at point-blank range in the farmhouse    bathroom. The terrified Nicholas was then forced to drive the killer in    his parents' car about three miles away, where both killer and child escaped.        I have the figures in front of me for just this month,    September 2002, and though the month isn't over, nine farmers have been    killed, including four children and an elderly farm couple, George and    Albertina Lewis, whose dog was also killed. The police report on the Lewis's    murder says "no motive."        In August, a farmer's wife was attacked in a firebombing,    and Johan Viljoen, a Zevenfontein cheese farmer, was torched to death along    with one of his workers. Christo Olivier and Jan Kempdorp of Vryburg were    tortured to death and then buried in a shallow grave. The two Blacks who    were arrested for this crime were granted bail. On the 7th, the headless    torso of what police reports call an "ethnic-European male" was    found on Mpumalanga farm. And Johannes Maree, 62, of Randfontein, was found    bludgeoned to death on August 1st.        In June and July, Johan Steyn, 65, was shot dead in the    Cullinan area; smallholder Roy Murley was tortured to death; Johannes Lake    and Johnny Scheepers were shot to death; dairy farmer George Siemens, 62,    was killed; and Cheryl van Houten, 51, was hacked to death.        In April and May, Ben Vorster, 67, was murdered by an    armed Black gang; Andre Pienaar, 56, was shot dead; Mona Sawyer, 78, served    food to a Black caller at her home in Magaliesberg and was then stabbed    to death; Rita Mans, a 31-year-old farmer's wife was shot to death in Ottosdal;    70-year-old Iris du Preez was murdered on her small farm; Dickson Pillay,    36, and his brother Sandy Pillay of Glendale Farm homestead were burned    to death when Blacks torched their farm.        In the first three months of this year, more than 30    farm murders occurred, including the killing of classical musician Felicity    Gale, 58, of Port Jackson -- her husband, Rodney, 67, survived the attack;    Marius and Lillian Delport, 50 and 54, of a smallholding near De Deur were    shot and nothing was stolen; Rudi Schmidt, 51, of a farm near Pontdrift    was stabbed to death; 21-year-old Catherine Watkins of Potchefstroom was    found with her windpipe torn out; Estelle Burger, 27, a farmers wife, was    kidnapped and then shot; John de Lange, 66, a smallholder in Mount Pleasant    was shot to death, his wife, Evelin de Lange, 60, was raped and garroted;    and Arthur Smith, 63, and his wife Isobel, were found with their throats    slit and their bodies severely beaten on their farm in Sundra.        I'm just giving you the highlights here, by the way,    and just from the last few months. The grisly details and the horrifying    numbers can be found in the reports of Crimebusters South Africa and the    excellent data assembled by Adriana Stuijt and her "Journalism During    Apartheid" site. These farm massacres are occurring at a reported    rate of about one every other day. The horror on these White farms has    been steadily climbing since 1994. And yet this is not an issue in the    Jewish media.        Unlike Zimbabwe, the government in South Africa does    not have an officially-announced policy of supporting these farm invasions    and massacres. But they do have a policy of looking the other way and doing    next to nothing about it, a policy which encourages Black violence against    Whites. Their attitude is perhaps best expressed by Peter Mokaba, until    recently South Africa's Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism,    who whined recently that "The high crime rate is seriously affecting    tourism and an alternative image of South Africa needed to be promoted.    We want to encourage people to come here and see that crime does not dominate."    Really? What Mr. Mokaba did not tell you was that he himself is famous    for the slogans he invented and uttered again and again when he was a leader    in the ANC/Communist war against the White government of South Africa:    "Kill the Boer! Kill the farmer!" and "One settler, one    bullet."        Kill the Boer, kill the farmer. And it is to such a government    that White farmers must appeal for protection.        Even that government admits that, under Black rule, crime    and murder are out of control. The South African Police Service report    entitled Attacks on Farms and Smallholdings 1/99 stated: "Violence    seems to have become an endemic feature of South African life. According    to the comparative crime statistics for 1996 released by Interpol, the    country tops the list internationally as far as the incidence of murder    and rape is concerned. the fact that attacks on the residents of farms    and smallholdings are escalating at a rate out of proportion to the general    increase in crime figures observed in South Africa is indeed cause for    serious concern."        Such, I suppose, are the wonderful benefits of "multiracial    democracy."        The murders I've been describing here are just the farm    murders. The murder rate in the cities is even higher, for Johannesburg    alone it is 500 per month. Many of the victims are White, and the attackers    Black and racially motivated, a fact that is never mentioned in the US    media.        And South Africa is also the rape capital of the world.    A woman is reported raped every 23 seconds in South Africa. A small child    is reported raped every thirty minutes. And remember, these are the reported    and admitted rapes. This dismal record is partly due to the Congoids' innate    savagery when released from the control of civilized men, and partly due    to the Black folk belief that raping a virgin will cure AIDS, which is    rampant in that country. [Jackie Loffell, Johannesburg Child Welfare Society,    13th International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect in Durban.]        On May 24, 2000, the beaten, battered and nearly frozen    body of a young Polish woman was found, clad only in a soaked t-shirt,    along the road to South Africa's Sterkfontein Dam. Her body was so cold    it was actually blue. Her hair was wet and she was covered with bruises,    open wounds, deep scratches, and mud. She was curled in a fetal position.    She was still alive. To students of rape in South Africa she was another    digit in the statistics. To Americans and Europeans who get their news    from the major media, she didn't even exist.        She was a 27-year-old newlywed on her honeymoon, a honeymoon    that ended when three Blacks murdered her husband in front of her eyes    and then brutally raped her, beat her, attempted to kill her and left her    for dead. The bruise marks around her neck indicated that her rapists had    tried to strangle her. At the treatment center she was immediately given    AZT by Polish Consulate authorities (treatment refused her by the South    African government) in the hope that it would prevent the transfer of HIV,    since two of her three attackers tested positive for the virus.        She testified that after her attackers murdered her husband,    they forced her in the trunk of their car, and went to a secluded spot    where each of the Blacks raped her in turn. They then attempted to drown    her by stamping their feet on her head in an attempt to keep her head underwater.    The woman has returned to her native Poland and refuses to set foot in    South Africa again, even to testify.        As reported by investigator Jack Galt, on November 17th    of the same year, a 14-year-old White girl was cruelly raped by a gang    of five blacks in her home in Pretoria. According to her counselors, she    has been traumatized for the rest of her life. Spokesmen for the White    Afrikaner community, who you will not hear on CBS, NBC, or Fox News, state    that this attack was a deliberate attempt to terrorize Whites.        Five heavily-armed Blacks invaded the home, and proceeded    to tie up the girl's mother, father, six-year-old sister and ten-year-old    brother with barbed wire in the living room.        They then grabbed the 14-year-old girl and took her to    the bathroom, where they brutally gang-raped her, each of the five Blacks    in turn, with the family listening nearby, helpless. Then the Blacks returned    to the living room where they beat and kicked the White father in the face    while he was still tied up, ransacked the home, and fled in the family's    car.        South African mother Ame Brown of Elliot in the Eastern    Cape recently stated: "On the 8th of October, 1998 my two children    and I were overpowered by four Black men. We were robbed of everything,    and before leaving the men took turns raping me in front of my two boys    aged 8 and 12. They forced my boys to watch. I have since then been tested    for HIV of which my tests at five months showed positive. It has not been    easy coping with being raped and having HIV. But I have a fantastic husband    who has stood by me through all my depression and down days and all my    sleepless nights. He has been my backbone and tower of strength."        The rape situation is so bad in South Africa -- the worst    in the world -- that British and American doctors are now advising female    travelers to carry anti-AIDS drugs in their bags because of the high risk    of infection from HIV-carrying rapists there. The British security magazine    Intersec reports "The high number of reported rapes in the country    is already a deterrent for prospective visitors -- and the South African    government's decision not to provide AZT to victims of rape means they    are unlikely to get the drugs at local clinics." Dr. Andrew Jamieson,    medical director of the British Airways Travel Clinic, said "the academic    travel medicine community had discussed the issue for a number of years."        "About six months ago, it was decided that this    would be a reasonable thing to do ... it's all about risk management. There    is a real risk for travelers to this country and other countries in Africa.    We do have a high HIV rate and a high incidence of rape so we cannot pretend    it is not there," he said. Predictably, the South African government,    which fails to protect White women from rapists, is furious at the doctors,    fearing a further loss of tourism dollars.        White ingenuity and inventiveness have come up with an    experimental deterrent to the Black rapist problem, however. Seventy-two-year-old    Jaap Haumann, a retired anesthetist in the Free State, South Africa, has    invented what he calls a "mutilator tampon" designed to lop off    the end of a rapist's penis. Haumann says he designed the device after    talking to rape victims, and he thinks that at least a million South African    women will flock to buy it. "It became clear to me that rape has a    devastating impact on the lives of women, physically and especially mentally.    We all know that South Africa has the highest rape statistics in the world.    With this device I believe would-be rapists would think twice before attacking    any woman in this country." Unfortunately, Dr. Haumann's invention    would not solve the problem of HIV transmission.        Cape Town, South Africa has become the world capital    of what is called the "sex tourism" trade. Press reports have    described it as the "sleaze capital of the world," and these    days that's really saying something. Perverts from all over the world go    there (bringing "needed tourist dollars" to be sure) to have    sex with children, many of them White sex slaves, but others imported from    brothels as far away as Thailand. "Sex with children," of course,    is just a euphemism for rape of the innocent. "Child Sex Tours"    are even sponsored by some "entrepreneurs" while the government    looks the other way.        In the bad old days of White rule and apartheid, such    things weren't tolerated. But in the new "rainbow" South Africa,    where can the innocent victims look for protection? The mayor of Cape Town,    a Black named William Bantom, was recently discovered to be enjoying his    huge personal collection of child pornography in his office while on the    job. And he wasn't ousted as mayor. Perhaps the Church will help them?    Bantom is also a noted clergyman, known for his liberal views on "human    rights," "democracy," and "equality."        A listener in New York has written this week to ask what    he and others can do to help the embattled Whites of Southern Africa. He    rightly points out that even though our first priority is to build the    National Alliance into a powerhouse to secure the future of our people,    these White farmers need help now in their local communities, in their    own countries. I can't tell you how you should help, but I can put you    in touch with those who are on the front lines in those countries, and    they can tell you more.        Two of the best sources of news about Zimbabwe and South    Africa on the Internet are Southern Cross Africa News, http://www.scafrica.com;    and also the South African Exiles Site, http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~springbk.    If you weren't able to copy the URL's as you listened to the radio, don't    worry; they'll be present in the text version of this broadcast at our    natvan.com and natall.com Web sites, and all subscribers to our monthly    Free Speech newsletter will get them, too. There's also a publication from    South Africa entitled The Boer, which is charting a path for eventual self-determination    and national freedom for Whites in a White state. The publishers also operate    a White history museum in South Africa, the Balmoral Genocide Museum, to    preserve for future generations the true history of that land which the    present Black government is trying to erase from our memories. They may    be reached via the Southern Cross Africa site just mentioned, or you may    write to them at their postal address of:        Balmoral Museum. PO Box 30 Balmoral 1037 South Africa      Email This Article                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  MainPage  http://www.rense.com

[atruththatyoudeny]

Monthy Reads | APRIL 2019

Happy 28th! Wow, April has been fantastic! Thank you so much to all the amazing authors and artists for sharing their work. @onedirectionbigbang​ started posting so make sure to head on over to their blog and check out all the fics and art!

Counterbalance || YesIsAWorld || enemies to lovers - motorcycle racing - ballet - implied/referenced homophobia - 44k Harry Styles loves two things: teaching ballet and racing motorcycles. Those two worlds collide when his greatest rival on the track, Louis “Tommo” Tomlinson brings his tiny siblings to Harry’s class.

Face Your Fears || SadaVeniren || a/b/o - mpreg - kid fic - implied/dubious consent - famous/ not famous - miscommunication - slow burn - angst - 92k Harry is a single father, pretending to be a beta after his alpha mated him and left him. He’s getting by just fine raising the twins when Louis walks into his bakery. Too bad him and Louis will never be a thing.

Latching Onto You || reminiscingintherain || famous/ not famous - 34k The one where Louis wants to book Harry Styles to perform at his best friends' wedding.

That's What I'm Here For || taggiecb || boss/employee relationship - age difference - farms - fluff - angst - friends to lovers - grief/mourning - depression - 46k Louis Tomlinson is a dairy farmer on a tiny farm in eastern Canada. His wife of nearly thirty years has left him and his children are all grown up and out of the house. Louis needs help running his business but has no idea where to even start looking. Luckily for him his children know just the man for the job.

(Something's Been) Hiding In My Heart || lululawrence || Sweet Home Alabama AU - exes to lovers - emotional hurt/comfort - mentions of miscarriage - implied mpreg - angst - 25k A Sweet Home Alabama AU where Louis comes home to finally get his divorce from Harry finalized so he can move on with his life. Alderford holds its own set of challenges when he returns, but by facing his past maybe he can find the healing he so desperately needs.

An Unbalanced Force || FullOnLarrie || divorce - miscommunication - 110k Harry has the rest of his life planned. Marriage. Career. Kids. Happily ever after. But sometimes plans don’t work out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Fondre ton absence || scrunchyharry || amnesia - World War I - historical - 41k Harry had never really given much thought to the future. He preferred to let life steer him forward and to follow in the footsteps of Louis, his best friend from as far as his memory went, his lover, his everything. Louis knew better than he did what was good for him. It changed drastically when Louis was ripped away from him, drafted and sent to the front to fight in a war that Harry had always been sure would never reach him. Too young and too sickly to follow, Harry was left on his own for the first time in his life. When he thought things could not possibly get worse, Louis went missing at the Somme and was declared dead. While everyone buried and mourned him, Harry never moved on. If Louis were dead, he was sure that he would know it. Their lives were too entwined, he would know if half of his heart had died. Determined to find Louis, Harry did everything he could in his quest to be reunited with him, except prepare for the state Louis might be in. He did not prepare for the harsh truth he would have to face: was love possible without memories?

The Post-War BP || jaerie || a/b/o - mildly dubious consent - dystopia - post-war - mpreg - 17k The eight year war has left the country's birthrate severely stunted with a lack of virile alphas left to bring it back up. To ensure the survival of the country, the government opens The Breeding Program where young omegas can apply to carry an alpha's child in exchange for benefits. Louis' family is struggling and the BP is one of the only ways to secure a roof over their heads. Harry was drafted at the age of eighteen and spent six years of his life defending a country he doesn't recognize when he returns home. The government made the bed but it's Harry that has to lie in it.

Graphic design is my passion || FullOnLarrie || college/university - mutual masturbation - 6k Graphic design student Louis Tomlinson has exams to study for and final art projects to complete, if it would stop raining long enough for him to walk across campus. Luckily Harry Styles has an umbrella, and he’s perfectly willing to share. Louis doesn’t plan to get his heart broken and he doesn’t plan to make almost a hundred silicone dildos. One of these things definitely happens.

Fiction Romance || rougeandtonic || collge/university - blind date - misunderstandings - 17k Harry has a type. He likes older, sophisticated, mature men. Well-educated men. Men with life experience and passion for arts and social causes. Men who are established in their careers, who've sorted their lives out. Niall knows this. And so Harry can't understand why he's sat here opposite Louis Tomlinson. A punk Louis/uni Harry blind date AU.

Flawless || Throwthemflowers || strangers to lovers - injuries - angst - hurt/comfort - 25k After a debilitating surgery, former concert pianist Harry Styles isn't able to come to terms with his new reality. Sundered from his high standards of performance, Harry can't seem to feel anything anymore, except perhaps interest in his favorite coffee shop's barista, a man who seems wholly unsuited for the job and whose blue eyes hold in them the same pain that Harry struggles with every day. When fate renders them more than mere acquaintances, Harry is forced to deal with the insecurities of his condition and his stubborn pride. Louis wants to love him, but Harry can't accept that, because he can't accept himself. And besides, he's never loved. He doesn't know how. He just wants to be able to play his piano like before, because it was safe, because at its keys he could control the roiling of his heart and funnel it into music. With love, things are much too risky. Why would he ever take such a chance?

Snow Big Deal || FullOnLarrie || smut - 8k Louis is a professional snowboarder set to appear in ESPN The Body Issue and Harry is an assistant photographer working for the magazine. They have more in common than they think.

The Way Her Body Moves || dimpled_halo || Girl Direction - friends to lovers - 2k “Need help?” Harry jumps, her eyes widening as she drops the manual. She puts her hand to her chest, breathing deep. Her eyes meet Louis', her gorgeous co-worker who’s stationed in the office right next to hers. Harry has the biggest crush on her. She and Louis started working at the company the same day, right after New Year’s, and it’s been torture being around such a pretty person. Harry has caught herself multiple times staring at her, the way she talks with those soft glossy lips of hers, and her eyes. God, those dreamy blue eyes are embedded in Harry’s brain. She dreams about those damn eyes every night, she swears. Louis clears her throat, shaking Harry out of her thoughts. As much as she’s tried to get this chair together on her own, she needs the help. Harry was barely able to lift the backside of the chair by herself.

O! Yes! || homosociallyyours || a/b/o - omega/omega - sex toy store - 2k Louis is a somewhat sexually awkward omega into other omegas. When an omega-centric sex shop opens near his favorite coffee shop, he definitely doesn't plan to check it out. One friendly ambush later, he's standing inside and talking with a too pretty omega about things that definitely make him blush. He's not the only one blushing, though. Harry, the cute and enthusiastic toy store employee is too.

Small Voice In The Choir || Star55 || Girl Direction - homophobic language - 8k Louis is just a little lesbian who wants to audition for the school choir. She doesn't expect to gain a new friend from it.

All we can do is keep breathing || thealmightyavocado || Greys Anatomy inspired - medical AU - slow burn - angst - character death - grief/mourning - emotional hurt/comfort - 310k A fated story of two broken and battered boys who barely survived the unimaginable and how the love of one little brave girl defies all the odds and somehow puts them back together.

Drifting || noellehenry || enemies to lovers - implied/referenced homophobia - misunderstandings - 18k Canal Boat AU Harry becomes the owner of a shabby narrowboat, quite unexpectedly. He decides to keep it and make his longtime dream come true; he’ll start his own business, afloat. He embarks on a new adventure in a small village along the Grand Union Canal with his boat ‘Gay Tunes’ where his neighbours are the musician on the 'Black Velvet’, a fitness centre owner on the 'Slow’ and an extremely annoying bookshop owner on the 'Floating Pages’; seriously, what is Louis Tomlinson’s problem?!

Pillow Talk || FallingLikeThis || sexuality crisis - mutual pining - fake/pretend relationship - 26k When Harry starts having confusing feelings for a male classmate, his sister's best friend, Louis, helps him figure himself out. Cue lots of kissing, sex, and falling in love.

Naked Attraction || reader_chic_2 || Naked Attraction AU - meet-cute - famous/ not famous - 12k Naked Attraction: a gameshow where the contestant views 6 naked possible partners and narrows them down based off of pure attraction. Harry was not a fan of the shallow gameshow, so he decided to mix it up a little. Louis Tomlinson was the only gay and unfortunate staff member chosen to step in for one of the six possible partners when someone dropped out. He hated working there, and he definitely didn't want to agree, but it was too good of an offer to be turned down. Nothing would come out of it, surely, and they even agreed to keep his identity a secret. That all changed when famous singer Harry Styles walked out. Louis had no idea who he was, and Harry liked that about him.

Everywhere And Nowhere || 2tiedships2 || a/b/o - strangers to lovers - secret admirer - 16k Niall took a seat and said, "Apparently Louis' downstairs neighbor is a fan of giving Louis creepy gifts. Maybe I should go introduce myself and tell him that Louis actually prefers food." "What has he given you?" Liam asked. Louis shrugged as it were no big deal. "There was a rabbit's foot keychain on the door a little after he left from introducing himself and there was a small teddy bear sitting by my door tonight. Obviously I can't prove it's from him, but they seem to have his scent. I could be wrong though." "Wow," Liam said, looking deep in thought. "That's old school." "What's old school?" Niall asked. "Giving creepy gifts?" "I've never known an alpha to do it, to be honest, but he's courting you." Louis couldn't contain his look of disbelief directed at Liam. "He's courting me. Like some sort of romantic shit they'd do in the 1800s or something?"

Play It Back and Press Rewind || crimsontheory || childhood sweethearts - angst - mentions of death - 22k Harry and Louis were high school sweethearts until Louis broke it off when he moved away for uni. Ten years later they both return to their small hometown for a funeral.

Love Will Tear Us Apart || lovelarry10 || childhood friends - punks - friends with benefits - alcohol abuse/ alcoholism - drug addiction - drug abuse - recovery - angst - major character injury - 103k A story of two halves. Louis and Harry had it all - a career, friendship, and some of the best sex either of them had ever had. But Harry ruins it all with one life-changing mistake ... and Louis is left to pay the price.

Take Me Down Slow (Don't Let Me Go) || jacaranda_bloom || a/b/o - friends to lovers - omega/omega - 26k The one where Louis wants to find the right kind of partner to love, Niall hates snowboarding, Liam wants to settle down, Harry is really good with his hands, and mother nature could be the thing that changes everything.

Medicine || SophiaSoames || enemies to lovers - 23k I've had a few, got drunk on you and now I'm wasted. Louis Tomlinson doesn't do feelings. He doesn't do relationships. And when he has an itch to scratch there are always clubs and hook ups. Quick dirty encounters in dark places that feed the need that brews in the pit in his stomach. He works every hour of the day as the Front Office manager or the Clouds Westminster hotel in central London. He's a good boss, and he knows his shit. Then that asshat Styles swans in like he owns the bloody place and Louis's carefully managed world starts to fall apart. Harry Styles needs. He's impulsive and stupid and childish and probably the last person in the world who should be allowed to run the Food and Beverage department at the Clouds Westminster, however many brilliant ideas he has and seems to manage to miraculously pull off. He needs. And he needs Louis Tomlinson. It's a match made in hell. A recipe for disaster. There will be a bloodbath one day. They all know. Everyone knows.

Streetwise hercules || jacaranda_bloom || collge/university - fake/pretend relationship - 7k Uni AU, where Louis pretends to be Harry's boyfriend to scare away his one night stands.

[bigyack-com]

DealBook: Coronavirus Is Unwinding Global Economic Gains

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As virus spreads, investors look for safety

Asian stocks fell again today after a global sell-off yesterday, as investors worried that China’s coronavirus outbreak could undo months of economic gains around the world.• Shares in Korea and Singapore fell amid fears that companies in those markets will suffer from a drop in Chinese consumer spending.• The S&P 500 declined 1.6 percent yesterday, while the Stoxx Europe index slipped 2.3 percent.• Brent crude oil fell below $60 a barrel.• The values of the dollar, the yen and gold all rose.There’s reason for investors to still be worried. The death toll from the outbreak has risen to over 100 people, while more than 4,500 infections have been reported worldwide. And this morning, Hong Kong restricted travel from mainland China.But there’s also reason not to panic, at least in the U.S.: “The American economy is relatively insulated from trade, and the important consumer sector continues to show signs of strength,” write Matt Phillips and Katie Robertson of the NYT.Today is looking a little better, financially. S&P futures forecast a positive market opening, while European stocks rebounded modestly.More: Beijing is racing to contain anger at the government’s response to the outbreak. The director-general of the World Health Organization met with Chinese officials to assess the response. And the disease is testing China’s already-struggling health care system.____________________________Today’s DealBook Briefing was written by Andrew Ross Sorkin in New York and Michael J. de la Merced in London.____________________________

Nike seeks to stop profiteering after Kobe Bryant’s death

The sports gear giant is said to have pulled all items tied to Kobe Bryant from its website, Nick DePaula of ESPN reports. One reported reason: to stop flippers from selling merchandise featuring the late N.B.A. star.Nike is still figuring out a new strategy for releasing Mr. Bryant’s shoe line, which has been among the company’s best-selling basketball sneakers. A new colorway had been scheduled for release on Feb. 7.But it’s also worried about people buying up Kobe products and then reselling them online at much higher prices. “On some secondary marketplaces, prices for Bryant’s sneakers and memorabilia have seen a 200-300 percent spike over the past 24 hours,” Mr. DePaula writes.Other retailers have similar concerns. The online seller Urban Necessities on Sunday moved to limit price increases on consignment sales of Kobe merchandise “out of respect for his family and legacy.”More: A reconstruction of Mr. Bryant’s doomed helicopter flight.

The secret market for your browsing history

Avast makes money by selling antivirus software. It also profits by selling the internet history of users to companies like Google, McKinsey & Company, PepsiCo and more, according to Joseph Cox of Motherboard.• Leaked documents from an Avast subsidiary, Jumpshot, “show that the Avast antivirus program installed on a person’s computer collects data, and that Jumpshot repackages it into various different products that are then sold,” Mr. Cox writes.• “Avast claims to have more than 435 million active users per month, and Jumpshot says it has data from 100 million devices.” Several Avast users said they didn’t know about the sale of their data.• The data “includes Google searches, lookups of locations and GPS coordinates on Google Maps, people visiting companies’ LinkedIn pages, particular YouTube videos, and people visiting porn websites.”• “It’s great data for these companies, because it’s down to the device level with a timestamp,” an unnamed source told Mr. Cox.

How regular investors lose out on billions to ultrafast traders

High-frequency traders earn a total of nearly $5 billion a year by acting on information before anyone else can — effectively a surcharge on regular investors, according to a new study by Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority.• The study focused on “latency arbitrage,” in which high-frequency traders use sophisticated computers and other technology to react to market-moving news within milliseconds, writes Alexander Osipovich of the WSJ.• Such arbitrage amounts to a tax of about 0.0042 percent on transactions in Britain. Extrapolated worldwide, that means those traders earned about $4.8 billion, the study finds.• The findings come as presidential candidates like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren push for a financial-transaction tax to curb high-frequency trading and exchanges weigh “speed bumps” to limit latency arbitrage.

Casper isn’t a unicorn anymore

The popular online seller of mattresses disclosed yesterday that its I.P.O. may value it at less than $1 billion. It’s a sign that once-highly-valued start-ups are continuing to face a new, more skeptical reality.Casper currently expects its shares to be priced at $17 to $19 each, the company said in an updated prospectus. At the high end of that range, the business would be valued at about $745 million.The company raised money last year at a $1.1 billion valuation. It has pitched itself as a leading direct-to-consumer company that understands how to sell to younger customers online — while also striking partnerships with brick-and-mortar retailers like Target.That drop reflects investor concerns about money-losing companies with no clear path to profitability, which took on new urgency with the flameout of WeWork’s I.P.O. effort last fall. Casper lost about $67 million in the first nine months of last year, and said its ability to make profits depends on … spending more money on growth.We’ll see what happens if Casper follows through on the I.P.O., which could price as early as next week.

The bigger issues behind that viral nanny post

Silicon Valley and Twitter were abuzz last week about a job posting from a mother and C.E.O. looking for a nanny with seemingly lofty qualifications. But there’s more to think about than just poking fun at a very specific job posting.In case you missed it, the qualifications included:• The ability to “compare and make recommendations regarding using credit card points to booking vacations versus paying cash.”• The ability to play math games with the C.E.O.’s twins like “‘how much fish should we buy today for five of us?’”• Being able to do calisthenics with the kids and have experience driving in the snow.The internet mocked the posting, calling it “bananas” and “the most demanding ad for a nanny ever.”But the unnamed single mother who wrote it disagrees, telling Ruth Graham of Slate, “What I realize now is that, like a lot of working executives and working moms, I’m spending a significant amount of my time doing research and organizing.” (Petula Dvorak of the WaPo agrees, writing, “It taps into the trap modern motherhood has become.”)“If I were Scott McNealy, former C.E.O. of Sun Microsystems, and I’d done this ad, nobody would think twice,” the mom also told Slate.

The speed read

Deals• Boeing has secured $12 billion in loans to build up a financial cushion as it struggles to return its 737 Max plane to service. (FT)• Antitrust regulators are reportedly investigating a potential takeover of Dean Foods, the bankrupt milk processor, by a big dairy farmer cooperative. (WSJ)• Why MGM, the cinematic home of James Bond, could be a takeover target this year. (CNBC)• Big fees and bad performance are making hedge funds increasingly unattractive to institutional investors. (FT)Politics and policy• President Trump announced plans to broaden tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, saying that existing levies haven’t done enough to spur domestic production. (NYT)• Democrats in Pennsylvania are worried that calls to ban fracking could hurt their chances of winning the state in November. (NYT)• How the Republican Party is increasingly becoming the party of poorer Americans. (NYT)Tech• The grocery delivery service Instacart is reportedly fighting efforts by some Illinois employees to unionize. (Motherboard)• The food delivery service Grubhub has listed some restaurants on its platform without their consent. (SF Chronicle)• The hacker who uncovered details about the finances of Africa’s richest woman was initially looking for secrets about soccer teams. (NYT)• Did you know that tech giants have in-house musical groups, some with names like Cloudy With a Chance of Beatbox? Now you do. (WSJ)Best of the rest• Federal and state regulators accused Martin Shkreli, the former drug executive, of using anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over a lifesaving drug. (NYT)• Prince Andrew of Britain has offered “zero cooperation” in a U.S. investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, according to the federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. (NYT)• “Americans Will Inherit $764 Billion This Year, Mostly Tax-Free.” (Bloomberg)• There won’t be any more free beer and wine on tap at WeWork locations. (Business Insider)Thanks for reading! We’ll see you tomorrow.We’d love your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to business@nytimes.com. Read the full article