#gc2020

[gebo4482]

Little Nightmares II - Gameplay Trailer - PS4 / Xbox1 / Switch / PC

[the-corset-witch]

#GrimoireChallenge2020 or as I have shortened it in my journal #GC2020 has added some more pages, but just for those out there who ‘don’t know what to log’ in their journals, I gave a “blank page” picture.  

This was right after I put the date, time, moon phase & sign, but right before I began journaling about my day (and eventually used like 4 pages).  I log the same things for pretty much everything, if it doesn’t have a log of the date and moon phase at the top it’s because I’ve done it on the same day as a previous entry that does have the log.

These are days #23&24, Month and Weather timing.  While researching the month timing I found this neat list of what it means when the sun/moon are in the different signs and what to focus my energy on.  For pages like this, where I go out and find knowledge that I don’t already know (from amassed and now unknown sources), I write the source at the top of the page under the journal logging info.

[gendercensus]

The crowdfund for the seventh annual Gender Census is now live!

The goal is £210. Spreading the word is such a big help, and every donation is useful! The deadline is March 10th 2020 at 2:08pm UK time.

[ Link ]

Here’s our costs this year:

Survey service (SmartSurvey): £120.00 for two months

Mailserver: £57.46 for one year

Domain name: £38.64 for two years

Domain protection and security: £19.18 for two years

Crowdfunding fees: About £11.00

Unforeseen costs: £10.00 (there are always some, somehow?)

TOTAL: £256.28

Minus £40 that was pledged over the goal last year

GRAND TOTAL: £216.28

And here’s the results of previous years of crowdfunding.

How can you help?

Sharing the campaign on social media is a big help! Donations are obviously pretty great too. And, if your gender isn't described or encompassed by the gender binary of M/F, making sure you find out when the survey goes live (email list, Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon) is the most important thing - we want to know about the language you use to describe yourself.

Thank you everyone!

[201911341]

Our 1st online class meeting for the subject Fundamentals of Database Systems

At 1st it was awkward but later on the mood felt lighter and lighter as time passed by. We needed to adapt, we needed to be ready because even if we didn’t want to, this is the new normal now amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This experience is quite overwhelming because this is the 1st time I experienced this kind of classes but I know that after I get used to it and adapt, It’ll definely go smoothly. 

And that sums-up my class’s 1st day meeting for online classes.

photo © Mrs. Mayer Sanchez

[seabrookumc]

In 2019 there was a called session of General Conference to address United Methodism and human sexuality. At the regular quadrennial meeting of General Conference human sexuality and the church will once again be under consideration. If you are interested in knowing about the various plans submitted to General Conference, there will be a meeting on Tuesday, February 18, in the Fellowship Hall. Katie Richey and Ellen Thornburg will present the plans submitted for consideration.

[gaming-grounds-de]

gamescom 2020: Viele Early-Bird-Buchungen von Ausstellern

#gamescom2020 Schon jetzt kennen wir viele Aussteller der gamescom 2020! Diese Unternehmen und Publisher haben sich bereits ihren Platz gesichert:

Großer Erfolg der gamescom-Frühbucheraktion: Über 200 Aussteller und 35 Gruppenorganisatoren sicherten sich einen Platz zu vergünstigten Konditionen auf dem weltweit größten Event für Computer- und Videospiele. Zum Vorjahr ist dies eine Steigerung von knapp sechs Prozent. Bei der gebuchten Fläche zeigt sich im Vergleich zu 2019 ebenfalls ein sehr gutes Ergebnis von plus acht Prozent. Die…

[confessionsfromachristian]

Story time! It’s long, so my reflections are under the cut. 

TLDR: I’m hopeful but cautious. This may be what keeps the UMC a viable denomination, if it can pass General Conference 2020, because right now we’re a church of divided theology, and neither side is going to compromise their beliefs.

Long before I left my former church, back in 2015, I was at church preparing for the following week’s VBS when I got a news alert on my phone about the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges. At the time, I kept my elation mostly to myself - I didn’t know how the pastor at the time would feel about it, and I didn’t want anything to dampen my mood. Just over two months prior, I had defended my undergraduate thesis, which argued that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, and proposed one thread of reasoning that I thought the Court might reasonably adopt, and while my research advisor and my thesis advisor had both thought I was dead wrong, I was pleased to be proven right (and, of course, pleased that the Court was taking steps to fix what seemed to me to be an ongoing injustice in the United States).

See, I had left the Catholic church, in part, over the same-sex marriage issue. While I’m not LGBTQ+ myself, I felt that the issue was one of fundamental fairness and compassion - and it was important to me that it be resolved. The Methodist church also didn’t support LGBTQ+ rights, but it had always seemed less vehement about it than the Catholic church, so I always kind of just hoped that the change was coming. 

In 2016, with the same-sex marriage issue broiling in advance of General Conference, I took an interest in how the UMC underwent changes for the first time. My pastor’s encouragement of that interest started me on the path toward serving at Annual Conference in my area, but I read news from General Conference 2016 praying for a resolution. The debate, and the protests, left an impression on me, and I had real hope heading into my Annual Conference that year that the compromise - the Way Forward Commission - could actually work.

At Annual Conference, I heard the story of bishops meeting late at night, summoning people from both sides of the debate, to try and find a way to avoid a schism. And at the time, “schism” was a scary word - could the UMC survive a split? I also encountered the Reconciling Ministries Network for the first time. They gave me a rainbow stole; I wore it happily. I also saw my pastor wear one, and for the first time I really believed, not just hoped, that change was on the horizon.

Things stagnated, then, though I had the pleasure of getting to really know a woman who brought their adopted daughter to Children’s Church every Sunday, and occasionally her former foster daughter as well. She was in a lesbian relationship, and especially after I started law school she opened up to me frequently about how frustrating it was for her and her partner to constantly be viewed with more suspicion than an average straight couple. It was one of the reasons, she implied, that her partner didn’t regularly attend church.

In came a new pastor. He was friends with our former pastor, so I had high hopes for him. As my previous posts will display, the hopes were misplaced on a personal level, but we actually had somewhat compatible politics. The Way Forward Commission came out with their three plans.

The Traditional Plan would retain anti-LGBTQ+ language in the Book of Discipline, and strengthen disciplinary measures against gay and lesbian clergy members.

The Connectional Conference Plan would form three sub-churches: one for traditionalists, one for progressives, and one for “unity”-minded churches and clergy. 

The One Church Plan would remove the anti-LGBTQ+ language and permit local churches and clergy to express their conscience on the matter.

And in February of 2019, a special session of the General Conference voted on the Traditional and One Church Plans. I had school obligations those days; I ignored a good chunk of my classes to follow the news. I knew - I just knew - that the One Church Plan would succeed. I had already formulated my arguments to my local church as to why we should embrace our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. It was the perfect compromise; I never expected it to fail.

But General Conference 2019 voted it down. At the time, this is what I wrote, and I stand by it today when I think back on it:

“I cannot fathom a church that would choose divisiveness and alienation over compromise and compassion. We waited three years in the hope of progress. The delegates gave us nothing but regression.

The United Methodist Church is dying, at least in the United States. Fewer and fewer people are joining. More are leaving. I don’t understand the reasoning behind choosing to alienate and reject people who are begging for inclusion and acceptance.”

The next day, Reconciling Ministries tweeted that they had been informed by the General Conference staff that the area now had “police with their guns and security with pepper spray (or similar) roaming and ready for action.” What it sounded like - and sometimes appearances are everything - was a violent precautionary measure, aimed at intimidating those who had supported the One Church Plan, and who vehemently opposed the Traditional plan, so that those who wanted inclusion and compassion would sit down, shut up, and take what was coming quietly. I felt sick at the time, and still feel sick thinking about it now.

I was in class during the vote on the Traditional Plan, ignoring my professor as I watched Twitter and Facebook for the news. And by the time I got home, I had recognized why passing the Traditional Plan bothered me so much: John 8:3-11. 

For those who aren’t Bible buffs, John 8:3-11 recounts the story of the Pharisees bringing Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery, then punishable by stoning. When the Pharisees demand that Jesus tell them what to do, he famously responds: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Of course, no one could live up to Jesus’s standard. Those hoping to stone the woman disperse and, when the woman observes that her accusers have left, Jesus sends her on her way: “Neither do I condemn you.”

Back in February, I summed it up like this, and I can’t really think of a better way to phrase it now:

“To declare that clergy members who do their earnest best to live the life God calls them to live should be punished because we disagree with their moral determinations is arrogant. We allow liars to be clergy. We allow those who speak unkindly to be clergy. We allow it, even if these sins happen more than once.

Why is the sin of loving the wrong person worse than lying? Worse than being unkind? And even if you believe that the sin is worse, who are we as humans to overrule what Jesus said about justice and mercy?

In my heart of hearts, I can find no rationale for pushing to increase enforcement of the anti-LGBT language in the Book of Discipline other than hatred for that which the Traditional Plan’s supporters do not understand. Jesus calls for compassion; and, as a church, we have no right to ignore that call.”

As time wore on, I observed one more thing: if God calls a lesbian woman, or a gay man, or anyone else, to the clergy, who are we as humans to deny that calling? Who are we to tell God that he called the wrong person? How arrogant and presumptuous must we be under the Traditional Plan?

In February, things were drawing toward the end at my church. But in the days following General Conference 2019, I found myself heartened by the message on the marquee sign outside: “ALL MEANS ALL.” My pastor signed an open letter to the church condemning the Traditional Plan, and one of the women in the church whom I’d thought was genuinely a good friend told me that she, too, was broken over the decision, but had resolved to fight for something better.

My co-teacher and I made the decision on Sunday to talk to the kids about the decision of the General Conference. It was difficult - remember, one of our students had lesbian parents - but, we felt, it was necessary. And I have never been more inspired than when our little kids expressed their confusion and outrage over a decision that, to them, made no sense. One little girl expressed confusion at how something as basic as the freedom to love someone and get married to them could be controversial.

The little acts of resistance, the outrage from the kids, it all came together to reignite my own hope.

In the months that followed, just about everyone expressed their opinions. In the Washington Post, a queer clergywoman summed it up: “We queer clergy begged our fellow Methodists to love us. They voted no.” On Facebook groups, on Reddit, and in person, the heretofore forbidden s-words became more common: splitting. separation. schism.

A prominent minister on the traditionalist side, less than a month after “winning” at General Conference 2019, made clear that unity, compromise, and compassion were never an option. Mainstream UMC posted his e-mail in full - in summary, he gloated over the traditionalist win at General Conference 2019, and suggested that those who opposed it should leave, as their continued presence in the UMC is an embarrassment. 

And talk of schism, and of separation, has continued to simmer, until now. Now, the water’s reached its boiling point. We have a plan. We have the Way Forward we were promised. And at General Conference 2020, at least the way I see it, the delegates have two options: stop the pot from boiling over, or ignore the problem and hope we can clean up the mess in 2024. 

Membership in the Methodist Church in the United States has been dropping for years. Increasingly, young adults looking for churches veer away from churches that preach or even merely accept exclusion and intolerance. Splitting the church, accepting that we cannot compromise on issues of love and compassion, seems to me to be the only way to prove that we mean it when we say “Jesus is Love.” It seems to me that this is the only way to prove that we’re convinced of our own beliefs, that we’re serious about welcoming everyone, that we’re a church of love, and inclusion, and protection of human dignity.

So long as it passes. 

[elizabethfink-blog]

My Voice

It has now been five days since General Conference officially ended. When I got home afterwards, I wasn’t sure how to feel. I had worked and spent so much of my time in the last three years focused on #GC2019. I had sought to learn and listen as much as possible, to be a peace maker, and to stand for what I felt was the Truth being revealed in Scripture. Now it’s over, and I don’t know what to do with myself. The Conference was fraught with such emotion, that now my body doesn’t know how to handle being in a setting that is void of all that emotion. Can I just sit and binge Netflix? Should I talk about it with anyone who will listen? Do I stay silent? Must I lock myself in my room and avoid all social media?  This is one reason why it has taken my this long to write down what is going on in my heart and head. I wanted to make sure I was not simply speaking from a heart full of emotion but speaking out of a heart rested in Christ. So here it goes…

I am grateful and feel blessed to have been able to attend GC 2016 and 2019 as a delegate. Most people wouldn't call it a blessing, but I am trying to look at it that way. I feel blessed that I was able to witness how a global church can come together and share stories of the transforming work of Jesus Christ in their home countries. I feel honored that I was able to stand up for what I believe God was calling me to stand for. It taught me greater patience. It taught me to discern when to be silent and when to speak. It taught me, though not always easy, how to love those who are different than me. It taught me faith. It taught me trust. I was greatly encouraged by the Renewal and Reform Coalition breakfasts each morning because they revealed to me that I am not in this alone.

I feel like I got a glimpse of the inner turmoil that is within all of us. The struggle between embracing "self" and denying that "self". The struggle between the world and the heavenlies. I found that 2019 was much more difficult than 2016.  This time around we were not discussing many things, but one thing. There was a heightened emotion, and everyone was on edge.  There was a spiritual battle, and still is a spiritual battle happening in and amongst us. We all need to make sure we do not have any unconfessed sin in our lives and are right before the Lord if we are to be effective in these spiritual battles.

I want to address a few things that have been heavy on my heart. I ask that you listen as a fellow disciple of Jesus Christ and not as someone of this world who is so quick to judge and demonize. I am tired of individuals stating I need to apologize or repent for being joyful and relieved that the churches definition of marriage remains between one man and one woman. I will do nothing else but rejoice when I see what I believe to be the inerrant Truth of God prevailing in a world that constantly seeks to pervert it. I am tired of individuals asserting that I am homophobic, hateful, unloving, Pharisaical, bigot, a virus, and other obscene words. Most of those individuals do not know me, and for those that do, it breaks my heart.  I have never said a harsh word or verbally attacked anyone who believes differently than I do.  If “unity” and “inclusion” was the goal of OCP supporters, it was not the message I received during or after GC2019.  The shouting, slander, unfriending, bullying, deceitfulness etc. is unacceptable especially from disciples of Jesus Christ. This is exactly the kind of behavior I have seen from my 9-year-old students which would then lead to a conversation on respect/kindness, and even having some privileges taken away. We ARE called to a higher standard.

I also ask that you stop spreading the lie that LGBTQIA individuals are not welcome in the Methodist church anymore. This is a falsehood and Satan is having a heyday with it.  All are always welcome in the church no matter what you hear, and this lie is hurting the witness and mission of EVERY Methodist Church in America. And, no, not everyone is able to be in leadership roles or be ordained as clergy. I am not going to take the time to list what would keep someone from one of those positions here because it would be too long.

I was enormously upset to hear some even joke about the lack of financial support our Central Conferences may get based upon their vote for the Traditional Plan. Using financial support as a means to extort is the very definition of colonialism.  Did anyone even listen to how some of our African brothers and sisters would be treated in their home countries if the Traditional Plan did not pass? They could be physically harmed, and it would most likely destroy their churches. I was embarrassed by the way our international delegates were treated by my fellow Americans. Can we please stop talking about them like they are not in the room and capable of understanding? I am sorry America, but it is not all about you. We are a global church and we have to think/act like a global church.

The thing that disturbs me the most was the fact that we hardly ever heard the name Jesus spoken. Even in our worship and prayer, it was all about the “issue” and trying to get a last “speech for” in wherever we could. The prayer and worship times felt forced and not genuine. Where was the gospel message? Why were the lyrics changed in some songs we sang to be more concerned with our relationship to each other than to Christ? When Jesus ceases to be our center, we have a problem.

Two of the hardest years of my life were when I served as a US-2 missionary with Global Ministries.  I had a hard time during those training's because Jesus was not the focus, and I was told my voice mattered, but it was not respected. This General Conference was a huge reminder of that time spent with Global Ministries. I had been fighting since then for my voice to be heard and understood, as well as making sure we aren’t fighting more for the “cause” than for Christ. At both times it appeared that social justice had reigned above spiritual justice.  

It is clear to me that many of the OCP supporters still do not genuinely understand why this conference was so important to us who voted for the Traditional Plan. For me it was not about getting “my way” but standing up for the Truths I believe are stated in the Holy Word of God.  I believe that Scripture is God-breathed, meaning God is breathing his life into these words just as he breathed life into Adam. It is alive and active. It is not just a reference book.  I read Scripture as saying marriage is between one man and one woman.  If we give in on this sacred belief, then what will be next? I always get worried when the church begins to blend in with the world. I believe gender, race, and sexuality are all sacred.  They are determined by God not man. I cannot withhold speaking the Truths in scripture to an individual for the sake of appearing “unloving”.  I remember reading a quote from a blog recently that stated, “a love divorced from Gods truth…isn’t love at all, but merely deceitful kisses”.  

After hearing many OCP supporters speak, it is clear we are not reading Scripture or viewing the authority of Scripture in the same way.  If we view the Bible in the same way, and still come out with such different interpretations, then I do not see how we will ever be able to have “unity” as the OCP proclaims. This is not over and will likely continue with intensity till GC2020. I believe Adam Hamilton was right when he stated that this vote to pass the TP will cause individuals who had not been previously engaged to stand up and speak out more than ever, but it won’t be just progressives and centrists like he thinks. Those evangelicals who supported the TP witnessed the true colors of those behind the OCP and will not stay silent anymore. This very well may lead to the "two church" plan in 2020. If this is the case, may we trust in where the Spirit is leading and with a genuine love part ways. I could go on in discussing GC2019 related topics, but I am tired. Many of us are tired and need to step away for a bit. I believe all the rest and hope we need is found in the promises of God.  The Jesus I serve has never failed. He is never late. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  It is true that we may not see the logic in His plan until after we have obeyed. I pray our eyes would be opened to see Him at work all around us even amid what appears to be chaos.  Now more than ever is a time to pray about it more than we talk about it.

In the season of Lent that is upon us, may we come face to face with Christ himself. May we come face to face with our need for Him. May we come face to face with the full weight of His sacrifice. May we come face to face with His Sovereignty. Lord hear our prayer.

[oneangrygamer]

Sega, Bethesda, EA, Xbox And More To Appear At Gamescom 2020 Digital Event

Sega, Bethesda, EA, Xbox And More To Appear At Gamescom 2020 Digital Event | #Sega #Bethesda #Xbox #GamesCom #GC2020

In recent news, The German Games Industry Association (GGIA) has announced that Gamescom 2020 digital event will kick-off on August 27th, 2020, with Sega, Bethesda, EA, Xbox, and more to show up. Additionally, this year’s Gamescom will feature “new shows” with “greatly expanded” content. (more…)

[gebo4482]

Little Nightmares II - 15 Minutes of Gameplay - Gamescom - PS4 / Xbox1 / Switch / PC

Producer Gamescom Interview

Gameplay Trailer 

[the-corset-witch]

Minor Update!

Update Includes: Tarot Readings, Theme, Tags Page.

yo there!  I’ve gotten a few messages over the past few days and mostly I’ve just been busy- beginning of the week errands and chores type of nonsense.  I’m definitely going to get to the readings tomorrow or Wednesday (bf is off tomorrow, so I might spend the entire day in cuddles and I shant be judged for it).  I meant to get to some today but errands and then fuckin around with themes.... I’m human /shrug

Other updates include new theme, its neat, I like it, and it is by @silbrigthemes ! I can’t figure a few things out about it, so I’ve just done what I can customizing wise and am calling it good on account of how constantly half-assed I approach anything to do with aesthetics (beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I’m sure someone out there will look at my green cemetery theme and go ‘ew’ no matter what).

The Tags page is under construction, I’ve got the “big” tags up, like my original posts, my journaling posts, the free tarot readings post, and as well a section for original content I’d like to feature: now including the 2020GrimoireProject, the free tarot readings, Fables of The Arcana, and my tarot spreads!  I plan on going through my entire blog and weeding out some (or a lot) of posts and refining my tags.  I’ve got that scheduled for later on this week.  

Future Posts: June2020Update, June2020 Wrap Up, #GC2020 Update, FOTA Progress Update, Tarot Readings (ofc!!), A few new tarot spreads

[guiltyidealist]

It's that time again! Take this, everybody!

The Gender Census 2020 is now open!

[ Link ]

The seventh annual international gender census, collecting information about the language we use to refer to ourselves and each other, is now open until 12th March 2020.

After the survey is closed I’ll process the results and publish a spreadsheet of the data and a blog post summarising the main findings. Then anyone can use them for academic or business purposes, self-advocacy, tracking the popularity of language over time, and just feeling like we’re part of a huge and diverse community.

If you think you might have friends and followers who’d be interested, please do reblog this blog post, retweet this tweet, boost this Mastodon post, check out this post on Reddit, and share the survey URL by email or at AFK social groups or on other social networks like Facebook. Every share is extremely helpful - it’s what helped us get 11,000 responses last year.

Survey URL: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/gendercensus2020/

The survey is open to anyone anywhere who speaks English and feels that the gender binary doesn’t fully describe their experience of themselves and their gender(s) or lack thereof.

Thank you so much!

[govcandesign-blog]

Designing a Prototype Change Lab

Brian here...Our last post mentioned that I have been contributing to the creation of a Change Lab within my organization.

Building on the Gov3.0 coursework from last winter, I thought a lot about how a lab could work within a single department of the Government of Canada. After participating in the Labs for Systems Change conference hosted by MaRS Solutions Lab in the spring, I continued discussions with current and former members of other labs around the world, and read about their experiences in order to hypothesize what would fit a Government of Canada (read: Westminster) context. The presentation (slideshare) embedded below reflects this learning.   

This presentation remains a work in progress. I hope, given the current attention on labs, it might help others to share this research and highlight some key elements and success factors in setting up a lab.

In the spirit of open source collaboration - “many eyes make for fewer bugs” - suggestions and feedback are welcomed. I want to know if this resonates with your experience? Do you have suggestions for areas of future research or data sources that should be reviewed or integrated? Is anything missing?

Feel free to post comments below, email GCDesign at gcdesign@googlegroups.com, or get in touch with me on twitter @BrianEnright.