tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335088682024-03-13T00:56:25.113-04:00The Dead Mall ClipperMarking my territory until the end of the Petroleum Age.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.comBlogger207125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-24642169680329213382016-10-06T16:25:00.003-04:002016-10-06T21:04:21.922-04:00A Listicle from the Gray LadyLacking the fun & excitement of being in the path of a major hurricane likely to destroy my house, I was pulled into a<a href="https://twitter.com/TomLevenson/status/784018384530833409" target="_blank"> Tom Levenson tweetstorm</a> about a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/us/politics/donald-trump-business-deals.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news" target="_blank">New York Times list</a> of Trump business ventures. The article is basically just a listicle, grouping 60 ventures by type and sorting them into 3 slightly misnamed categories. "Didn't work out" seems to mean "Never got started", "Had problems" seems to be "Failed" & "Measured Up" means someone did OK with it.<br />
<br />
The weaknesses Tom noted in this method are very real. Are these licensing or employment deals? Who has control (1)? Who had a real financial stake? Is it a real product of use or someone, or a fraud? Who's zooming who? The case of Trump University is, of course, being heard in <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-22/trump-university-judge-says-he-plans-to-let-lawsuit-go-ahead" target="_blank">federal court</a> on terms of fraud and racketeering. (Yes, the Republican Party nominated a candidate who is on trial for civil charges of racketeering. And half the country is fine with that)<br />
<br />
Would it be possible to produce a better article with more clearly defined criteria? <br />
<br />
The actor career overviews at 538 have 2 well defined axes, critical rating & Box Office. Still, they can't really show the difference between <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-three-types-of-adam-sandler-movies/" target="_blank">Adam Sandler</a> & <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/tom-hanks-and-steven-spielberg-might-be-the-best-collaboration-in-hollywood/" target="_blank">Tom Hanks.</a><br />
<br />
In the case of these generally private businesses, solid information is as elusive as Trump's tax returns. Only the ones (and there are plenty) that led to lawsuits leave records. The successes the Times lists are mostly golf courses and buildings. A TV show that was good for one season before descending into shoddy formulas, with the manipulations increasingly bald. Are any of these things that made the world better? Not really. What's an example of a business that made the world better? Barbie. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O2pcZ7eEucI/V_ayz2eFXwI/AAAAAAAAA4I/3nk7jSKz3qE9iGC0pKUneJWdNkERwC-ywCLcB/s1600/presBarb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O2pcZ7eEucI/V_ayz2eFXwI/AAAAAAAAA4I/3nk7jSKz3qE9iGC0pKUneJWdNkERwC-ywCLcB/s320/presBarb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Barbie is on her last legs. We'll miss her.<br />
<br />
Trump has only a grifter's measure : Did I make money off it? As he said about his <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/15/investing/donald-trump-bankrupt-casino/" target="_blank">wrecked casinos</a> & the destruction of Atlantic City - one of the times he had a real fiduciary duty - <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-its-stock-collapsed-trumps-firm-gave-him-huge-bonuses-and-paid-for-his-jet/2016/06/12/58458918-2766-11e6-b989-4e5479715b54_story.html" target="_blank">WaPo </a>: (2)<br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Trump received more than $44 million in salary, bonuses and other compensation during his time at the company, filings show. He also benefited from tens of millions of dollars more in special deals, advisory fees and “service agreements” he negotiated with his company.</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Trump’s campaign did not make him available to respond to specific questions about the company, but in a recent Washington Post interview, Trump said he “made a lot of money in Atlantic City,” adding, “I make great deals for myself.”</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He expounded: “They say, ‘Why don’t you take the casinos public or something?’ You know, if you take them public, you make money on that. All I can say is I wasn’t representing the country. I wasn’t representing the banks. I wasn’t representing anybody but myself.”</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
This is a savage, short tem view that leads to isolation, and the eternal search for the next sucker. The degree to which it's accepted as an acceptable only standard is a gauge of how close we are to chaos.<br />
<br />
And the one word in the Levenson TweetStorm that really misses the point - "how" Trump would do as President. How is easy - by any measure of objective success of the United States as a nation, a community, a dream, he'd be a disaster. The real message of his business record is lost in the listicle. Trump doesn't care whether a business produces anything, whether the people with or behind him do well, whether customers or suppliers get wiped out. The real question is whether there is still, after decades of Republican nihilism, enough heart left in the country to stop him before he - and the savages he's unbound - destroy the whole notion of government by & for the people.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
(1)That gets muddy fast.. People can make anything muddy. I was once stumped by someone's explanation of who owned the 3rd floor apartment in their house. Trump's <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/09/30/donald_trump_deposition_video_live_blogged.html" target="_blank">deposition </a>about who was in charge of the Post Office development is a classic of the genre.<br />
<br />
(2) As a follow up - looks like the WaPo might have missed a lot of <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/6/13163220/trump-hotels-and-casino-resorts" target="_blank">even worse</a> screwing of investors. legal? No - but within the margin where a failure to prosecute is a judgment call, until they find the bribe.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-31103036554107029672015-04-12T15:28:00.003-04:002015-04-12T15:36:33.501-04:002 Samuel<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
The Sunday Bible series has now hit 2 Samuel. Samuel has nothing to do with this book, having died early in 1 Samuel, but that's OK. this is still one of the best known stories, ever : The story of Joab. Joab, David's consigliore, is about the greatest ever at his job. All David's fighting & marrying & facing rebellions, Joab is there to keep things in line. When David was pulling his hair after the absurd death of Absalom, Joab was the one who told him to snap out of it and thank the guys who'd actually stood by him. We begin, of course, with the theme song. The only choice here is which version,</div>
<div>
<div data-ft="{"tn":"H"}">
<div class="mtm">
<div class="_6m2 _1zpr clearfix _dcs _4_w4 _5cwb" data-ft="{"tn":"H"}" id="u_2w_2">
<div class="clearfix _2r3x">
<span class="_3m6-"></span><div class="_6ks" data-ft="{"tn":"F"}">
<div id="u_2w_4">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="_3m6-"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/P_NpxTWbovE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P_NpxTWbovE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<span class="_3m6-">
</span><br />
<div class="lfloat _ohe">
<span class="_3m6-"></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">And the reading is 2 Samuel 20, Joab TCB:</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$2:0">20 Now a troublemaker named Sheba son of Bikri, a Benjamite, happened to be there. He sounded the trumpet and shouted,</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$5:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$6:0">“We have no share in David,</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$7:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$8:0"> no part in Jesse’s son!</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$9:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$10:0">Every man to his tent, Israel!”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$11:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$13:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$14:0">2 So all the men of Israel deserted David to follow Sheba son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed by their king all the way from the Jordan to Jerusalem.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$15:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$17:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$18:0">3 When David returned to his palace in Jerusalem, he took the ten concubines he had left to take care of the palace and put them in a house under guard. He provided for them but had no sexual relations with them. They were kept in confinement till the day of their death, living as widows.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$19:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$21:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$22:0">4 Then the king said to Amasa, “Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself.” 5 But when Amasa went to summon Judah, he took longer than the time the king had set for him.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$23:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$25:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$26:0">6 David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bikri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your master’s men and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and escape from us." 7 So Joab’s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$27:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$29:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$30:0">8 While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$31:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$33:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$34:0">9 Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bikri.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$35:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$37:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$38:0">11 One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” 12 Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there. When he realized that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him. 13 After Amasa had been removed from the road, everyone went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$39:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$41:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$42:0">14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maakah and through the entire region of the Bikrites,[b] who gathered together and followed him. 15 All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maakah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down, 16 a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.” 17 He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$43:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$45:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$46:0">“I am,” he answered.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$47:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$49:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$50:0">She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$51:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$53:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$54:0">“I’m listening,” he said.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$55:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$57:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$58:0">18 She continued, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Get your answer at Abel,’ and that settled it. 19 We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$59:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$61:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$62:0">20 “Far be it from me!” Joab replied, “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bikri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$63:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$65:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$66:0">The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you from the wall.”</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$67:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$69:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$70:0">22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$71:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$73:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$74:0">David’s Officials</span><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$75:0" /><br data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$77:0" /><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$78:0">23 Joab was over Israel’s entire army; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; 24 Adoniram[c] was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; 25 Sheva was secretary; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 26 and Ira the Jairite was David’s priest.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="lfloat _ohe">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$78:0"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wIJ_mZJba5s/VSrHKP-j2tI/AAAAAAAAA2A/W2J3sAlFZDg/s1600/absalom-joab1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wIJ_mZJba5s/VSrHKP-j2tI/AAAAAAAAA2A/W2J3sAlFZDg/s1600/absalom-joab1.jpg" height="475" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="lfloat _ohe">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".59.1:3:1:$comment1565318073731267_1565318647064543:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$78:0"></span></span></span> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
(Picture by Zach Franzen - <a href="http://atozach.com/2010/08/31/joab-and-absalom/">http://atozach.com/2010/08/31/joab-and-absalom/</a> )<br />
<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">5 </span></sup>Once again there was a battle between the Philistines<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8596Y" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8596Y" title="See cross-reference Y">Y</a>)"></sup> and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. <span class="text 2Sam-21-16" id="en-NIV-8597"><sup class="versenum">16 </sup>And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels<sup class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-8597b" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NIV-8597b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2021&version=NIV#fen-NIV-8597b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</sup> and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David.</span> <span class="text 2Sam-21-17" id="en-NIV-8598"><sup class="versenum">17 </sup>But Abishai<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8598Z" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8598Z" title="See cross-reference Z">Z</a>)"></sup> son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8598AA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8598AA" title="See cross-reference AA">AA</a>)"></sup> of Israel will not be extinguished.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8598AB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8598AB" title="See cross-reference AB">AB</a>)"></sup>”</span><br />
<span class="text 2Sam-21-18" id="en-NIV-8599"><sup class="versenum">18 </sup>In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8599AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8599AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)"></sup> the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.</span><br />
<span class="text 2Sam-21-19" id="en-NIV-8600"><sup class="versenum">19 </sup>In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair<sup class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-8600c" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NIV-8600c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2021&version=NIV#fen-NIV-8600c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]</sup> the Bethlehemite killed the brother of<sup class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-8600d" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NIV-8600d" title="See footnote d">d</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Samuel%2021&version=NIV#fen-NIV-8600d" title="See footnote d">d</a>]</sup> Goliath the Gittite,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8600AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8600AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)"></sup> who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8600AE" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8600AE" title="See cross-reference AE">AE</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<span class="text 2Sam-21-20" id="en-NIV-8601"><sup class="versenum">20 </sup>In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.</span> <span class="text 2Sam-21-21" id="en-NIV-8602"><sup class="versenum">21 </sup>When he taunted<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8602AF" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8602AF" title="See cross-reference AF">AF</a>)"></sup> Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-8602AG" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-8602AG" title="See cross-reference AG">AG</a>)"></sup> David’s brother, killed him.</span>Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-37438121348006960042015-04-05T19:52:00.003-04:002015-04-05T19:52:45.636-04:001 Samuel<div class="_5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
1 Samuel! You thought there'd be no Bible on Easter? Hah! It is to laugh. <br /> Today's book is a tale of succession, planned by The LORD, that makes Lear look orderly. Rather than a full chapter, I have to post bits, because the plot is too strong. But I haven't missed the theme song!</div>
<div>
<div data-ft="{"tn":"H"}">
<div class="mtm">
<div class="_6m2 _1zpr clearfix _dcs _4_w4 _5cwb" data-ft="{"tn":"H"}" id="u_2f_2">
<div class="clearfix _2r3x">
<div class="lfloat _ohe">
<span class="_3m6-"><div class="_6ks" data-ft="{"tn":"F"}">
<div id="u_2f_4">
<a ajaxify="/ajax/flash/expand_inline.php?max_width=470&selector=%5E._6m2&target_div=u_2f_4&share_id=9335935468&user_share_id=909998945687703" aria-label="Franco Nero - C'est Moi" class="_6kt _6l- __c_" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrEmZ35fxc" rel="nofollow async" target="_blank"><div class="uiScaledImageContainer _6m5 fbStoryAttachmentImage" style="height: 158px; width: 158px;">
<img alt="" class="scaledImageFitWidth img" height="158" src="https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQAVRIHarRXKGBTk&w=158&h=158&url=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FTdrEmZ35fxc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1&sx=23&sy=0&sw=360&sh=360" width="158" /></div>
<i class="_6ku"></i><span aria-busy="1" aria-label="Loading..." class="img _55ym _55yq _55yp _5tqs _5epl"></span></a></div>
</div>
</span></div>
<div class="_42ef">
<span class="_3c21"><div class="_3ekx" data-ft="{"tn":"*J"}">
<div class="_6m3">
<div class="mbs _6m6">
</div>
<div class="_6lz _6mb ellipsis">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="_6lz _6mb ellipsis">
<div class="_59tj">
<div class="_6ma">
<div class="_6m3">
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</span><div class="_6lz _6mb ellipsis">
<span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">Our Sam is the son of Hannah, a beloved wife who got picked on because Wife #1 was more fertile. So she prayed herself up a son, and delivered him into priesthood.He becomes the Big Cheese of priests. Israel was getting tired of endless wars and wanted a king. Sammy warned them to be careful what they wished for, but gave in and designated Saul, a large lunk who wandered in looking for lost donkeys as King. Saul did OK for a while, but screwed up - </span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$4:0">17 Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19 Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$5:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$7:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$8:0">20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$9:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$11:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$12:0">22 But Samuel replied:</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$13:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$15:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$16:0">“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$17:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$18:0"> as much as in obeying the Lord?</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$19:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$20:0">To obey is better than sacrifice,</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$21:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$22:0"> and to heed is better than the fat of rams.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$23:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$25:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$26:0">23 </span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$27:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$28:0">For rebellion is like the sin of divination,</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$29:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$30:0"> and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$31:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$32:0">Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$33:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$34:0"> he has rejected you as king.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$35:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$37:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$38:0">24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$39:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$41:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$42:0">26 But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$43:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$45:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785473984527:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$46:0">27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”</span></span></span></span><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.0"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">So then we come to David (selected by GOD as heir), trash talking to fight Goliath:</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562785750651166:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$4:0">4 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”</span></span></span></span><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.0"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$0:0">After which, Saul gets nervous about David, and thinks he can buy him off with a daughter. Cue the foreskins!</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$1:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$3:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$4:0">20 Now Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21 “I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snare to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$5:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$7:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$8:0">22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.’”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$9:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$11:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$12:0">23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man and little known.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$13:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$15:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$16:0">24 When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$17:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$19:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$20:0">26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$21:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$23:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562786050651136:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$24:0">28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.</span></span></span></span><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.0"> </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$0:0">Most of the rest of the book is Saul chasing David, one or the other fighting Phlistines, and David getting and losing multiple wives.(Very confusing- I'm looking forward to the invention of monogamy)</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$1:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$2:0">Along the way, Saul, getting old & desperate, decided he needed to talk to Samuel (Remember Samuel? It's a book about Samuel, although he died a while back)</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$3:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$5:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$6:0">7 Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$7:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$9:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$10:0">“There is one in Endor,” they said.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$11:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$13:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$14:0">8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$15:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$17:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$18:0">9 But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$19:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$21:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$22:0">10 Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$23:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$25:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$26:0">11 Then the woman asked, “Whom shall I bring up for you?”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$27:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$29:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$30:0">“Bring up Samuel,” he said.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$31:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$33:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$34:0">12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$35:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$37:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$38:0">13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid. What do you see?”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$39:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$41:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$42:0">The woman said, “I see a ghostly figure[a] coming up out of the earth.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$43:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$45:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$46:0">14 “What does he look like?” he asked.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$47:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$49:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$50:0">“An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$51:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$53:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$54:0">Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$55:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$57:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$58:0">15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$59:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$61:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$62:0">“I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$63:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$65:0" /><span data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$66:0">16 Samuel said, “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy? 17 The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. 19 The Lord will deliver both Israel and you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also give the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.”</span><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$67:0" /><br data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$text0:0:$69:0" /><a data-reactid=".6q.1:3:1:$comment1562783750651366_1562787727317635:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$range0:0" dir="ltr" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDI-mt0R6SI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDI-mt0R6SI</a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-64637789297931759282015-03-22T10:03:00.003-04:002015-03-22T10:04:05.355-04:00Judges 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="passage-display-bcv">I picked Ehud, rather than Gideon, Samson or Deborah, as the chapter to post of Judges. For those unclear on the book, Judges were a string of leaders who appointed themselves to clean up Israel. which they each did, for a while, but then it backslid, due to violation of the rule laid down in Deuteronomy : When taking someone's land, be merciless.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXb8aI-Aw80/VQ7K5-10GII/AAAAAAAAA1o/5aWwv5Ft1Qk/s1600/judgedredd1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXb8aI-Aw80/VQ7K5-10GII/AAAAAAAAA1o/5aWwv5Ft1Qk/s1600/judgedredd1.jpg" height="324" width="640" /></a></div>
<span class="passage-display-bcv">. <br /></span><br />
<span class="passage-display-bcv"></span><br />
<span class="passage-display-bcv"></span><br />
<span class="passage-display-bcv">Judges 3 </span><span class="passage-display-version">New International Version (NIV)</span><br />
<div class="chapter-1">
<span class="text Judg-3-1" id="en-NIV-6570"><span class="chapternum">3 </span>These are the nations the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> left to test<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6570A" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6570A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup> all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan</span> <span class="text Judg-3-2" id="en-NIV-6571"><sup class="versenum">2 </sup>(he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):</span> <span class="text Judg-3-3" id="en-NIV-6572"><sup class="versenum">3 </sup>the five<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6572B" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6572B" title="See cross-reference B">B</a>)"></sup> rulers of the Philistines,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6572C" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6572C" title="See cross-reference C">C</a>)"></sup> all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6572D" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6572D" title="See cross-reference D">D</a>)"></sup> living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6572E" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6572E" title="See cross-reference E">E</a>)"></sup> to Lebo Hamath.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6572F" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6572F" title="See cross-reference F">F</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Judg-3-4" id="en-NIV-6573"><sup class="versenum">4 </sup>They were left to test<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6573G" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6573G" title="See cross-reference G">G</a>)"></sup> the Israelites to see whether they would obey the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.</span></div>
<span class="text Judg-3-5" id="en-NIV-6574"><sup class="versenum">5 </sup>The Israelites lived<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6574H" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6574H" title="See cross-reference H">H</a>)"></sup> among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6574I" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6574I" title="See cross-reference I">I</a>)"></sup> Hivites and Jebusites.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6574J" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6574J" title="See cross-reference J">J</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Judg-3-6" id="en-NIV-6575"><sup class="versenum">6 </sup>They took their daughters<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6575K" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6575K" title="See cross-reference K">K</a>)"></sup> in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6575L" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6575L" title="See cross-reference L">L</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-7" id="en-NIV-6576">Othniel</span></h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-7"><sup class="versenum">7 </sup>The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>; they forgot the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span><sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6576M" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6576M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)"></sup> their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6576N" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6576N" title="See cross-reference N">N</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Judg-3-8" id="en-NIV-6577"><sup class="versenum">8 </sup>The anger of the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> burned against Israel so that he sold<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6577O" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6577O" title="See cross-reference O">O</a>)"></sup> them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6577P" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6577P" title="See cross-reference P">P</a>)"></sup> king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-9" id="en-NIV-6578"><sup class="versenum">9 </sup>But when they cried out<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6578R" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6578R" title="See cross-reference R">R</a>)"></sup> to the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>, he raised up for them a deliverer,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6578S" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6578S" title="See cross-reference S">S</a>)"></sup> Othniel<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6578T" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6578T" title="See cross-reference T">T</a>)"></sup> son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-10" id="en-NIV-6579"><sup class="versenum">10 </sup>The Spirit of the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> came on him,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6579U" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6579U" title="See cross-reference U">U</a>)"></sup> so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> gave Cushan-Rishathaim<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6579V" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6579V" title="See cross-reference V">V</a>)"></sup> king of Aram<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6579W" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6579W" title="See cross-reference W">W</a>)"></sup> into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-11" id="en-NIV-6580"><sup class="versenum">11 </sup>So the land had peace<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6580X" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6580X" title="See cross-reference X">X</a>)"></sup> for forty years,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6580Y" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6580Y" title="See cross-reference Y">Y</a>)"></sup> until Othniel son of Kenaz<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6580Z" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6580Z" title="See cross-reference Z">Z</a>)"></sup> died.</span><br />
<h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-12" id="en-NIV-6581">Ehud</span></h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-12"><sup class="versenum">12 </sup>Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6581AA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6581AA" title="See cross-reference AA">AA</a>)"></sup> and because they did this evil the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> gave Eglon king of Moab<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6581AB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6581AB" title="See cross-reference AB">AB</a>)"></sup> power over Israel.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-13" id="en-NIV-6582"><sup class="versenum">13 </sup>Getting the Ammonites<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6582AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6582AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)"></sup> and Amalekites<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6582AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6582AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)"></sup> to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-14" id="en-NIV-6583"><sup class="versenum">14 </sup>The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6583AF" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6583AF" title="See cross-reference AF">AF</a>)"></sup> for eighteen years.</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-15" id="en-NIV-6584"><sup class="versenum">15 </sup>Again the Israelites cried out to the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>, and he gave them a deliverer<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6584AG" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6584AG" title="See cross-reference AG">AG</a>)"></sup>—Ehud<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6584AH" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6584AH" title="See cross-reference AH">AH</a>)"></sup>, a left-handed<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6584AI" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6584AI" title="See cross-reference AI">AI</a>)"></sup> man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6584AJ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6584AJ" title="See cross-reference AJ">AJ</a>)"></sup> to Eglon king of Moab.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-16" id="en-NIV-6585"><sup class="versenum">16 </sup>Now Ehud<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6585AK" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6585AK" title="See cross-reference AK">AK</a>)"></sup> had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-17" id="en-NIV-6586"><sup class="versenum">17 </sup>He presented the tribute<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6586AL" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6586AL" title="See cross-reference AL">AL</a>)"></sup> to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6586AM" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6586AM" title="See cross-reference AM">AM</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Judg-3-18" id="en-NIV-6587"><sup class="versenum">18 </sup>After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-19" id="en-NIV-6588"><sup class="versenum">19 </sup>But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-19">The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-20" id="en-NIV-6589"><sup class="versenum">20 </sup>Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6589AO" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6589AO" title="See cross-reference AO">AO</a>)"></sup> from his seat,</span> <span class="text Judg-3-21" id="en-NIV-6590"><sup class="versenum">21 </sup>Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6590AP" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6590AP" title="See cross-reference AP">AP</a>)"></sup> from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-22" id="en-NIV-6591"><sup class="versenum">22 </sup>Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-23" id="en-NIV-6592"><sup class="versenum">23 </sup>Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-24" id="en-NIV-6593"><sup class="versenum">24 </sup>After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6593AQ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6593AQ" title="See cross-reference AQ">AQ</a>)"></sup> in the inner room of the palace.”</span> <span class="text Judg-3-25" id="en-NIV-6594"><sup class="versenum">25 </sup>They waited to the point of embarrassment,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6594AR" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6594AR" title="See cross-reference AR">AR</a>)"></sup> but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-26" id="en-NIV-6595"><sup class="versenum">26 </sup>While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-27" id="en-NIV-6596"><sup class="versenum">27 </sup>When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6596AS" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6596AS" title="See cross-reference AS">AS</a>)"></sup> in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.</span><br />
<span class="text Judg-3-28" id="en-NIV-6597"><sup class="versenum">28 </sup>“Follow me,” he ordered, “for the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> has given Moab,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6597AT" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6597AT" title="See cross-reference AT">AT</a>)"></sup> your enemy, into your hands.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6597AU" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6597AU" title="See cross-reference AU">AU</a>)"></sup>” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6597AV" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6597AV" title="See cross-reference AV">AV</a>)"></sup> that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-29" id="en-NIV-6598"><sup class="versenum">29 </sup>At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped.</span> <span class="text Judg-3-30" id="en-NIV-6599"><sup class="versenum">30 </sup>That day Moab<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6599AW" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6599AW" title="See cross-reference AW">AW</a>)"></sup> was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6599AX" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6599AX" title="See cross-reference AX">AX</a>)"></sup> for eighty years.</span><br />
<h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-31" id="en-NIV-6600">Shamgar</span></h3>
<span class="text Judg-3-31"><sup class="versenum">31 </sup>After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6600AY" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6600AY" title="See cross-reference AY">AY</a>)"></sup> who struck down six hundred<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6600AZ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6600AZ" title="See cross-reference AZ">AZ</a>)"></sup> Philistines<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-6600BA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-6600BA" title="See cross-reference BA">BA</a>)"></sup> with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.</span>Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-80401391407755553912015-02-15T09:57:00.000-05:002015-02-15T09:57:17.127-05:00Exodus 21Exodus is a great story, maybe the best in the Bible. Everybody knows the main parts. You've seen the Charlton Heston version, but also a lot of others. All those Star Trek episodes about ultra-powerful aliens that are really just angry children? Yep, that's Exodus.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hm_qPb4rRdg/VOCyoV-9gPI/AAAAAAAAA1A/JktY-gCbWgI/s1600/fcgospel.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hm_qPb4rRdg/VOCyoV-9gPI/AAAAAAAAA1A/JktY-gCbWgI/s1600/fcgospel.PNG" height="247" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
After the preliminaries of getting the characters introduced and setting up the plot, there's a scene in that's rather famous:<br />
<br />
<em><span class="text Exod-4-21" id="en-NIV-1623"><sup class="versenum">21 </sup>The <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1623AB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1623AB" title="See cross-reference AB">AB</a>)"></sup> I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1623AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1623AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)"></sup> so that he will not let the people go.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1623AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1623AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-4-22" id="en-NIV-1624"><sup class="versenum">22 </sup>Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> says: Israel is my firstborn son,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1624AE" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1624AE" title="See cross-reference AE">AE</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-4-23" id="en-NIV-1625"><sup class="versenum">23 </sup>and I told you, “Let my son go,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1625AF" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1625AF" title="See cross-reference AF">AF</a>)"></sup> so he may worship<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1625AG" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1625AG" title="See cross-reference AG">AG</a>)"></sup> me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1625AH" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1625AH" title="See cross-reference AH">AH</a>)"></sup></span></em><br />
<em><span class="text Exod-4-24" id="en-NIV-1626"><sup class="versenum">24 </sup>At a lodging place on the way, the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> met Moses and was about to kill<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1626AI" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1626AI" title="See cross-reference AI">AI</a>)"></sup> him.</span> <span class="text Exod-4-25" id="en-NIV-1627"><sup class="versenum">25 </sup>But Zipporah<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1627AJ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1627AJ" title="See cross-reference AJ">AJ</a>)"></sup> took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1627AK" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1627AK" title="See cross-reference AK">AK</a>)"></sup> and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.</span> <span class="text Exod-4-26" id="en-NIV-1628"><sup class="versenum">26 </sup>So the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)</span></em><br />
<em><span class="text Exod-4-26"></span></em><br />
<span class="text Exod-4-26">The LORD loves the plagues. He had 10 planned and wasn't taking Yes for an answer. But he really, really hates foreskin.</span><em><span class="text Exod-4-26"></span></em><br />
And you know the next parts, where GOD makes an excuse to slaughter babies, Egyptians, and frogs. A brief musical number, and they're on their way into the desert. There, they wander around acting crazy until the locals get concerned.<br />
<br />
<em><span class="text Exod-17-10" id="en-NIV-1994"><sup class="versenum">10 </sup>So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1994V" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1994V" title="See cross-reference V">V</a>)"></sup> went to the top of the hill.</span> <span class="text Exod-17-11" id="en-NIV-1995"><sup class="versenum">11 </sup>As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1995W" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1995W" title="See cross-reference W">W</a>)"></sup> but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.</span> <span class="text Exod-17-12" id="en-NIV-1996"><sup class="versenum">12 </sup>When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1996X" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1996X" title="See cross-reference X">X</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-17-13" id="en-NIV-1997"><sup class="versenum">13 </sup>So Joshua overcame the Amalekite<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-1997Y" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-1997Y" title="See cross-reference Y">Y</a>)"></sup> army with the sword.</span></em><br />
<em><span class="text Exod-17-13"></span></em><br />
<span class="text Exod-17-13">Moses as 12th man. Sure, why not? </span><br />
<br />
After all that the story starts to drag. 40 years of wandering around, somehow not losing agricultural skills in 2 generations of living off manna in the desert. The next 20 chapters read like the Internal Revenue Code. So, at last, today's chapter:<br />
<span class="text Exod-17-13"><br />
<span class="passage-display-bcv">Exodus 21 </span><span class="passage-display-version">New International Version (NIV)</span><br />
</span><div class="chapter-2">
<span class="text Exod-17-13"><span class="text Exod-21-1" id="en-NIV-2079"><span class="chapternum">21 </span>“These are the laws<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2079A" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2079A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup> you are to set before them:</span></span></div>
<span class="text Exod-17-13">
<h3>
<span class="text Exod-21-2" id="en-NIV-2080">Hebrew Servants<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2080B" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2080B" title="See cross-reference B">B</a>)"></sup><sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2080C" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2080C" title="See cross-reference C">C</a>)"></sup></span></h3>
<span class="text Exod-21-2"><sup class="versenum">2 </sup>“If you buy a Hebrew servant,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2080D" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2080D" title="See cross-reference D">D</a>)"></sup> he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2080E" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2080E" title="See cross-reference E">E</a>)"></sup> without paying anything.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-3" id="en-NIV-2081"><sup class="versenum">3 </sup>If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-4" id="en-NIV-2082"><sup class="versenum">4 </sup>If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-5" id="en-NIV-2083"><sup class="versenum">5 </sup>“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2083F" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2083F" title="See cross-reference F">F</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-21-6" id="en-NIV-2084"><sup class="versenum">6 </sup>then his master must take him before the judges.<sup class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-2084a" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NIV-2084a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+21&version=NIV#fen-NIV-2084a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</sup><sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2084G" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2084G" title="See cross-reference G">G</a>)"></sup> He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2084H" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2084H" title="See cross-reference H">H</a>)"></sup> his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2084I" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2084I" title="See cross-reference I">I</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-7" id="en-NIV-2085"><sup class="versenum">7 </sup>“If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-8" id="en-NIV-2086"><sup class="versenum">8 </sup>If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,<sup class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-2086b" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NIV-2086b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+21&version=NIV#fen-NIV-2086b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</sup> he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-9" id="en-NIV-2087"><sup class="versenum">9 </sup>If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-10" id="en-NIV-2088"><sup class="versenum">10 </sup>If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2088J" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2088J" title="See cross-reference J">J</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-21-11" id="en-NIV-2089"><sup class="versenum">11 </sup>If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.</span><br />
<h3>
<span class="text Exod-21-12" id="en-NIV-2090">Personal Injuries</span></h3>
<span class="text Exod-21-12"><sup class="versenum">12 </sup>“Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2090K" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2090K" title="See cross-reference K">K</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-21-13" id="en-NIV-2091"><sup class="versenum">13 </sup>However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2091L" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2091L" title="See cross-reference L">L</a>)"></sup> I will designate.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-14" id="en-NIV-2092"><sup class="versenum">14 </sup>But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2092M" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2092M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)"></sup> that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2092N" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2092N" title="See cross-reference N">N</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-15" id="en-NIV-2093"><sup class="versenum">15 </sup>“Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-16" id="en-NIV-2094"><sup class="versenum">16 </sup>“Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2094O" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2094O" title="See cross-reference O">O</a>)"></sup> whether the victim has been sold<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2094P" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2094P" title="See cross-reference P">P</a>)"></sup> or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-17" id="en-NIV-2095"><sup class="versenum">17 </sup>“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2095Q" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2095Q" title="See cross-reference Q">Q</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-18" id="en-NIV-2096"><sup class="versenum">18 </sup>“If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed,</span> <span class="text Exod-21-19" id="en-NIV-2097"><sup class="versenum">19 </sup>the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-20" id="en-NIV-2098"><sup class="versenum">20 </sup>“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result,</span> <span class="text Exod-21-21" id="en-NIV-2099"><sup class="versenum">21 </sup>but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2099R" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2099R" title="See cross-reference R">R</a>)"></sup></span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-22" id="en-NIV-2100"><sup class="versenum">22 </sup>“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2100S" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2100S" title="See cross-reference S">S</a>)"></sup> and the court allows.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-23" id="en-NIV-2101"><sup class="versenum">23 </sup>But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2101T" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2101T" title="See cross-reference T">T</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-21-24" id="en-NIV-2102"><sup class="versenum">24 </sup>eye for eye, tooth for tooth,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2102U" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2102U" title="See cross-reference U">U</a>)"></sup> hand for hand, foot for foot,</span> <span class="text Exod-21-25" id="en-NIV-2103"><sup class="versenum">25 </sup>burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-26" id="en-NIV-2104"><sup class="versenum">26 </sup>“An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-27" id="en-NIV-2105"><sup class="versenum">27 </sup>And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-28" id="en-NIV-2106"><sup class="versenum">28 </sup>“If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2106V" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2106V" title="See cross-reference V">V</a>)"></sup> and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-29" id="en-NIV-2107"><sup class="versenum">29 </sup>If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2107W" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2107W" title="See cross-reference W">W</a>)"></sup> and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-30" id="en-NIV-2108"><sup class="versenum">30 </sup>However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2108X" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2108X" title="See cross-reference X">X</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Exod-21-31" id="en-NIV-2109"><sup class="versenum">31 </sup>This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-32" id="en-NIV-2110"><sup class="versenum">32 </sup>If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-33" id="en-NIV-2111"><sup class="versenum">33 </sup>“If anyone uncovers a pit<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2111Z" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2111Z" title="See cross-reference Z">Z</a>)"></sup> or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,</span> <span class="text Exod-21-34" id="en-NIV-2112"><sup class="versenum">34 </sup>the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.</span><br />
<span class="text Exod-21-35" id="en-NIV-2113"><sup class="versenum">35 </sup>“If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.</span> <span class="text Exod-21-36" id="en-NIV-2114"><sup class="versenum">36 </sup>However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-2114AA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-2114AA" title="See cross-reference AA">AA</a>)"></sup> the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/QTQfGd3G6dg/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QTQfGd3G6dg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-55063880446568212962014-12-13T17:19:00.001-05:002014-12-13T17:19:32.848-05:00Online Chess, for Free<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Once upon a time I was a good chessplayer. The USCF remembers. If I was to enter a tournament, my rating would start about 3 classes above my current playing strength. I'd do better playing golf</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sxiq_DpjX7A/VIy5ZfbAbsI/AAAAAAAAA0o/t-RkYKtut_Y/s1600/Anna-Rawson-Hot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sxiq_DpjX7A/VIy5ZfbAbsI/AAAAAAAAA0o/t-RkYKtut_Y/s1600/Anna-Rawson-Hot2.jpg" height="320" width="312" /></a></div>
<br /><br />except I haven't learned to walk a fairway in 4 inch heels.<br /><br />
<br />
After quitting tournaments, I hung out for a while in the Square. Playing outside, with real people & smelly basset hounds was pretty good. A long time ago I discovered free online chess. Why is there free online chess? Because that's the going rate.<br />
<br />
The first site was Microsoft Gaming Zone. Well designed, good graphics, and you could play it on a modem. Don't think it's there anymore.<br />
<br />
So I moved on to Excite. The graphics were a bit off, but it worked pretty well. Then they turned all their games over to Pogo. Pogo tried to monetize the game with advertising. It sucked.<br />
<br />
The next step down was Yahoo. Yahoo started the trend of really lazy programming. For years and years, they never fixed obvious problems. People would leave boards open. Lots of boards. 95% of open boards, looking for a player, would actually be unattended. You could offer a draw when not on move. Finishing off a jerk, but in a bit of time trouble? They hit you with 15 draw offers. You have to clear them & can't move. Yahoo dropped chess without fixing it.<br />
<br />
So, now there's a primitive form on Facebook.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, try it out.<br />
One thing never changes - Your opponent is probably a 13 year old boy with bad skin and a worse attitude. <br />
<br />
If you're serious about chess there are a lot of really great sites to study, do problems, and find events.<br />
But the gameplay seems to have been <a href="http://gizmodo.com/barbie-f-cks-it-up-again-1660326671" target="_blank">designed by Barbie.</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--seO_mUvV--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/yfl5qgbf64ajwddmcj8m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--seO_mUvV--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/yfl5qgbf64ajwddmcj8m.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Alas, my girl has been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/21/barbie-computer-engineer-story-withdrawn-sexist-mattel?CMP=ema_565" target="_blank">let down again</a> . Computer Engineer? As if. Even for basic coding, she had to turn to <i>boys.</i> If the<i> </i>suits at Mattel can't even be bothered to protect their meal ticket, I dunno. I weep. Maybe Hello Kitty can become a role model.<br /><br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-35394599548130941372014-10-13T15:22:00.000-04:002014-10-13T15:22:20.725-04:00Sad news from Edgar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://angelsportion.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/barbie-mugshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://angelsportion.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/barbie-mugshot.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Barbie has fallen on tough times. According to the last 10-Q, Barbie sales are down 15% this year. Mattel is doing pretty poorly except for American Girl. Sure, we can all agree to hate Fisher-Price. But this is just sad:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZJnuubTKCI/VDwixDxhNwI/AAAAAAAAA0M/7L-5EDHTyJQ/s1600/Mattel.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZJnuubTKCI/VDwixDxhNwI/AAAAAAAAA0M/7L-5EDHTyJQ/s1600/Mattel.PNG" height="220" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
So get out there and buy a Barbie. Don't have a small girl in the household? No Problem! Barbie has thousands of uses.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jg0_VWoCQDo/VDwl6rzFGeI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/kq7ZJSUJQ5w/s1600/barbiecam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jg0_VWoCQDo/VDwl6rzFGeI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/kq7ZJSUJQ5w/s1600/barbiecam.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-53459236548317202982014-07-04T13:21:00.003-04:002014-07-25T22:17:52.304-04:00Made for TV Spectaculars!What to do when the day is rained out, the family is on the road, and your back is sore?<br />
<br />
Watch TeeVee & blog, of course. Time for the 200th post in this joint.<br />
<br />
I miss the old time Made for TV movie. Sure, if you look at any kind of serious <a href="http://flavorwire.com/257437/the-best-made-for-tv-movies-of-all-time/view-all" target="_blank">list</a> of the best ever, there are a bunch of artsy cable flicks, and they're still making those. On different fronts, SyFy has plumbed ever deeper veins in the cheese mines. Hallmark has perfected instant product : tune into any of their movies, at any point, and you know exactly what's going on & how it will turn out.<br />
<br />
Boring.<br />
<br />
I miss Lindsay Wagner heart tuggers, Barbara Eden pepfests, Robert Vaughn villainy, and Christmas Specials, most of all. <br />
<br />
2 of the greatest ever were Chritmas specials!<br />
<br />
<em>Silent Night, Lonely Night</em> was about 2 middle aged strangers hooking up at Christmas, and....<br />
And nothing, really. They filled up the time taking long taxi rides from the bus station to the hotel a few yards away, and talking about their marriages. Just the perfect holiday movie!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTcwOTE2NDE3M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzI0MTcxMQ@@._V1_SX214_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm276/downpuppy/Lloyd_zps811349ba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm276/downpuppy/Lloyd_zps811349ba.jpg" height="400" width="220" /></a></div>
<br />
Lloyd looks slightly more appalled than I remember.<br />
<br />
<em>Sunshine Christmas</em> is even better. A Texan whose wife died (In <em>Sunshine</em> : this is a sequel) comes home from Canada for Christmas and maunders about whether to stay & hitch up with Barbara Hershey. I remembered how good the young Kirstie Alley looked in this, until I looked it up & found out it was Meg Foster. Oh well. <br />
<br />
<br />
Another great one was Single Bars & Single Women. I thought this was about Earl Holliman & the meat market bar scene of the 1970s, until a woman explained it to me : She'd had the same jacket that Shelley Hack wore in the show.<br />
<br />
Alas, I can't find it, but there is this classic clip:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eirIoDCiaUg?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
There you have it America! For the Glorious 4th - moral decay, corporate soullessness & a deep nostalgia for that which never was.<br />
<br />
(I note that this long dormant ghost of a blog has now passed 140,000 page views. 2% humans? Maybe)<br />
<br />
<br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-60543538447775987502014-04-29T18:45:00.000-04:002014-04-29T18:51:18.121-04:00100,000 views, Lincoln, & Concern TrollsThe strange popularity of this blog among the robot set (500 views a day & no real comments) has pushed it over 100,000 page views. <br />
<br />
To celebrate without illusions, it's convenient that I've been reading <em>The Coming Fury, </em>and found a passage about Lincoln's secretaries answering letters during the campaign. Per Catton, Lincoln, asked to soothe Southerners sincerely disturbed by the tone of the campaign, replied "There are no such men". <br />
<br />
Or, in a more modern - <a href="http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=140&CRLI=197" target="_blank">Linkable</a>! version -<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The president understood the dangers that any public pronouncement would entail. Shortly after the 1860 presidential election, Mr. Lincoln talked to one visitor about yielding to the worries of Southerners: "It is the trick by which the South breaks down every northern man. I would go to Washington without the support of the men who supported me and were my friends before election. I would be as powerless as a block of buckeye wood. The honest man (you are talking of honest men) will look at our platform and what I have said. There they will find everything I could now say or which they would ask me to say. All I could say would be but repetition. Having told them all these things ten times already, would they believe the eleventh declaration? Let us be practical. There are many general terms afloat, such as 'conservatism,' 'enforcement of the irrepressible conflict at the point of the bayonet,' 'hostility to the South,' and so forth - all of which mean nothing without definition. What then could I say to allay their fears, if they will not define what particular act or acts they fear from me or my friends?"</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Which is, of course, a bit different than Catton's version. Such are quotes from the pre-tape recorder era. "Modern quotes are 100% accurate" - Albert Camus.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OTJ0z0M4FXk?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-470222986822873742014-03-28T19:35:00.000-04:002014-03-28T19:38:47.449-04:00Doing pretty well for a dead blogI have nearly 9000 page views in the last month. Mostly, because an old post happened to mention the Ukraine & the IRS. <br />
<br />
Of course, I get that this is robots.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aMhDhSu-6SM?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br />
Thank you, robots. Bet you don't even realize this is really Reese & Joaquin. Heh.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-57552542177199535472013-09-07T09:51:00.000-04:002013-09-07T09:51:01.693-04:00This blog is defunct, but the mission continuesPretty much everything I tried to say last year about excessive cost in higher ed was said much better by Thomas Frank, last year in <a href="http://www.tcfrank.com/essays/The_Price_of_Admission" target="_blank">Harpers</a> & this year in <a href="http://thebaffler.com/past/academy_fight_song" target="_blank">The Baffler</a><br />
<br />
<br />
I don't have much of anything to add to his prescription:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What <em>ought</em> to happen is that everything I’ve described so far should be put in reverse. College should become free or very cheap. It should be heavily subsidized by the states, and robust competition from excellent state U’s should in turn bring down the price of college across the board. Pointless money-drains like a vast administration, a preening president, and a quasi-professional football team should all be plugged up. Accrediting agencies should come down like a hammer on universities that use too many adjuncts and part-time teachers.</blockquote>
<br />
Or, alas, to his expectation:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What actually <em>will</em> happen to higher ed, when the breaking point comes, will be an extension of what has already happened, what money wants to see happen. Another market-driven disaster will be understood as a disaster of socialism, requiring an ever deeper penetration of the university by market rationality. Trustees and presidents will redouble their efforts to achieve some ineffable “excellence” they associate with tech and architecture and corporate sponsorships. There will be more standardized tests, and more desperate test-prep. The curriculum will be brought into a tighter orbit around the needs of business, just like Thomas Friedman wants it to be. Professors will continue to plummet in status and power, replaced by adjuncts in more and more situations. An all-celebrity system, made possible by online courses or some other scheme, will finally bring about a mass faculty extinction—a cataclysm that will miraculously spare university administrations. And a quality education in the humanities will once again become a rich kid’s prerogative. </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Plq2SKQOCl8/UisvJWi8eHI/AAAAAAAAAK4/YWBQvQ7tqdQ/s1600/campusspirit-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Plq2SKQOCl8/UisvJWi8eHI/AAAAAAAAAK4/YWBQvQ7tqdQ/s640/campusspirit-1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-67511944542192607352013-07-31T19:30:00.001-04:002013-07-31T19:30:07.275-04:00Is this thing on, or what? So long, Cleveland Plain Dealer.This is my 2nd post this year. There have been 2800 page views in the last 3 days.<br />
<br />
Robots, please announce yourselves. Kaiju are coming!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles15/552685/projects/1827067/73e3a7f4668656a351172f70da60254e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://behance.vo.llnwd.net/profiles15/552685/projects/1827067/73e3a7f4668656a351172f70da60254e.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-39374204460678815862013-02-26T20:38:00.000-05:002013-02-26T20:38:41.526-05:00Retirement hasn't slowed down the page viewsThe busiest time ever for this blog was, according to page views, late January. Some robot had focused in on the not particularly exciting, and instantly dated, summary I did of the tax issues open just before Congress closed them.<br />
<br />
So, not coming out of retirement, but I had to note that <em>The Rolled Up Newspaper</em> is now over 40,000 page views.<br />
<br />
And that Ohlemacher still <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/poll-87-percent-say-never-ok-cheat-taxes" target="_blank">has no clue</a>, or pretends not to.<br />
<br />
The IRS called people up and asked them if they cheat. Shockingly,<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When asked how much, if any, is an acceptable amount to cheat on your income taxes, 87 percent of respondents said, "not at all." Only 11 percent said, "a little here and there" or "as much as possible."</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
You can believe me, or read for yourself: He never mentions the weirdness of the survey design. "Sure, and I spend my weekends knocking over banks."<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EuBe7ne5YDo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-7203089027828370832013-02-04T19:37:00.000-05:002013-02-04T19:43:12.860-05:00Not everybody knowsI quit blogging 5 weeks ago. From the massive lack of response, the universe was not upset. To hell with the universe! I'm the old generation, & I've got something to say. <br />
<br />
There are many things in life that are so bleeding obvious you assume that everybody knows them. Pause to consider..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/yG5e1oaen-M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
One thing that I thought was obvious is that guns are offensive weapons. You get shot - anybody gets shot - that's that. No chance for retribution or reaction - you die. Stats bear this out. If you have a gun in the house, the chance that it's involved in the death of a household member are at least 22 times the chance it gets put to any productive use. Obvious, right?<br />
<br />
Well, apparently not. Way too many people seem to have absorbed the idiocy of Stephen Cannell and all his even less talented successors that HEROES never get shot. How is this possible? Damnfino, but it seems to be received wisdom among the usual 27%.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eaKfMWALRFQ/URBVi--q9VI/AAAAAAAAAJc/uSXgPDzROoQ/s1600/2013-01-31-strip-207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eaKfMWALRFQ/URBVi--q9VI/AAAAAAAAAJc/uSXgPDzROoQ/s640/2013-01-31-strip-207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A second thing that everyone should know in their bones is that money is a promise. Money, in and of itself, is not, and never has been, something that will feed you, keep you warm & healthy, or make you happy. It exists only in the promise that you can turn it into other stuff that will have those nice effects. Apparently, all the Libertarians, Goldbugs, Austrians & Objectivists in the world <a href="http://www.angrybearblog.com/2013/02/how-to-debae-paul-krugman.html" target="_blank">missed that lesson</a>. They seem to think that Au is handed down from GOD as a miracle of stored value.<br />
<br />
Whether this is more objectionable theologically or witless pragmatically I leave as an exercise for the reader. In any event, one thing you can get for money is a bikini wax.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mikecrichlow.com/images/pic_94.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://mikecrichlow.com/images/pic_94.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Oh, Yeah.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-27418149354415060282012-12-28T20:23:00.000-05:002012-12-30T20:53:20.409-05:00Better living from the IRSThe Ukraine has a long history of getting stomped on, abused, and put through unspeakable suffering. How are they doing these days?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/human-barbie-valeria-lukyanova-dominika-olga-oleynik-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/human-barbie-valeria-lukyanova-dominika-olga-oleynik-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/human-barbie-valeria-lukyanova-dominika-olga-oleynik-facebook.jpg" width="316" /><br />
<br />
<br />
</a><br />
<span lang="uk" xml:lang="uk"></span> <span lang="uk" xml:lang="uk"></span><br />
<span lang="uk" xml:lang="uk">Those spice blue eyes of the <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/human-barbie-real-woman-named-valeria-lukyanova-living-ukraine" target="_blank">original human Barbie</a> - now on her way to a mall opening near you (<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/human-barbie-fake-website-claims-valeria-lukyanova-ukraine-fraud-retouches-her-photos-video-893260" target="_blank">or not</a> )- hold more misery than the director's cut of <em>Dune</em>.</span><br />
<br />
Which reminds me of a song - a song that poses the eternal question : Whiny or pretentious?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ChHatamx9JA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Sorry for the Polish subtitles - I couldn't find a Ukrainian, or even a Hungarian Horntail. But the Ukraine is hardly the only part of the world with suffering. The real question today is : How do we deal with the suffering of others?<br />
<br />
There are a lot of approaches. Think kindly thoughts, but only act when it's in your face is a common one, usually effective as far as it goes, which is about the end of your nose. Another is political action. You know how to do that, & it's not really so difficult, although it certainly has risks. Another is to decide what's important to <em>you,</em> and join in the effort.<br />
<br />
Here, for once, there's an answer. The <a href="http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/" target="_blank">IRS will help</a> you find people of like mind, in your area, who are doing something. There are over a million active organizations - and half a million whose exemption has been revoked for nonfiling, so you can probably find a ton within an easy walk. Or,you can go the other way. Hear about a likely organization - say <a href="http://www.ducks.org/about-du?poe=hometxt" target="_blank">Ducks Unlimited</a> - well, the IRS will tell you where they're headquartered whether they have a valid exemption, and if it has been revoked. (If you're just looking to give to a charity, something like <a href="http://www.charitynavigator.org/" target="_blank">Charity Navigator</a> is useful too, but not as good if you're looking to find the nearest monastic historical society where you can go to weekly meetings and wear hairshirts in public)<br />
<br />
The IRS does not post the annual filings on its website, although they are public information. Still, not a problem. There are various databases that collect this stuff. One easy way is to go to the home state AG. In Massachusetts, for example, it <a href="http://www.charities.ago.state.ma.us/" target="_blank">would be easier if you have a TIFF viewer,</a> since the AGs office has switched to that annoying file type. Ducks Unlimited raises money in the Commonwealth, so there are hundreds of pages of documents and audited financials that tell you how they take in $150,000,000 per year, and how they spend it. <br />
<br />
Looking for something cosier? How about the Boylston Chess Club? Alas, they had their 501(c)(7) exemption revoked. The name search at the IRS looks for an any word match, so otter gives 406 results. Fortunately, the Sea Otter Foundation of Yarmouth, Maine is near the top, so we can close with a bit of squee -<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://jessicaek.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/29/otters_playing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="http://jessicaek.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/29/otters_playing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-81851168796124734042012-12-25T16:26:00.000-05:002012-12-25T16:58:18.545-05:00Survivors of 2012It's been about 10 years since I first heard of Dead Pools. They seemed like a pretty safe wager (either you win, or your team lives) so I did some research & entered one. Happily, most years I've finished near the bottom. It's time to congratulate some of the mainstays over the years, people who beat diseases, turned their lives around, or just plain hung on through sheer cussedness.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sites/nationalenquirer.com/files/imagecache/node_page_image/article_images/anette-story_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sites/nationalenquirer.com/files/imagecache/node_page_image/article_images/anette-story_a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Annette Funicello has had MS for 20 years. It started soon after she did ads for Skippy peanut butter. It's gotten worse, of course. <br />
<br />
Correlation, causation - whatever. I stay away from Skippy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sportsbycolin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Tommy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://sportsbycolin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Tommy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Tommy Morrison is a former WBO heavyweight champion who retired after testing postive for HIV in 1996. Morrison was a BSer from an early age, as well as being absurdly tough. He made a comeback in boxing a few years ago, apparently after faking blood tests. He hangs on from when boxing was big & HIV meant death, because BS backed by real toughness never goes out of style.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img2-2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/08/BORGNINE-AIRWOLF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img2-2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2012/08/BORGNINE-AIRWOLF.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Jan Michael Vincent went from pretty boy to tough guy to Hollywood washout with more dedication than even Nick Nolte. After failing to kill himself with motorcycles, alcohol, and who knows what else, his roles ran out 10 years ago and he retired to Mississippi.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.showbizspy.com/static/SM42cover_LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://cdn.showbizspy.com/static/SM42cover_LG.jpg" width="470" /></a>Michael Douglas is here to remind us never to believe anything we read in a paper, and certainly not in a blog like this.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Congratulations also to Michael J Fox, Ralphie May, Ethan Zohn, Muhammed Ali, Ted Johnson, Benny the Rat & Aretha Franklin. If you have any can't miss picks for 2013, please leave them in the comments, or stop by Hobies & <a href="http://realitysucks.yuku.com/topic/20365/Celebrity-DeadPool-2013" target="_blank">join the fun.</a> 6 days left to enter.</div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-15405071024800700862012-12-24T17:19:00.000-05:002012-12-24T17:57:26.916-05:00Keeping up with the OhlemacherThere are good ways to use numbers to explain things. Tables*, charts and online calculators** are all well known. Changes in tax law need them. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/files/images/blog_fiscal_cliff_components.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.motherjones.com/files/images/blog_fiscal_cliff_components.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Then there's the AP way : Throw a bunch of numbers in at random points in a narrative to make it confusing, like Stephen Ohlemacher<a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dont-be-fooled-january-pay-higher-taxes-loom" target="_blank"> did this weekend</a>. <br />
<br />
The basic story is fairly interesting : Since the IRS has been told repeatedly : Don't worry, things will change, they haven't sent out new withholding tables. <br />
<br />
<em>Social Security payroll taxes are set to increase on Jan. 1, so workers should immediately feel the squeeze of a 2 percent cut in their take-home pay. But as talks drag on over how to address other year-end tax increases, the Internal Revenue Service has delayed releasing income tax withholding tables for 2013.</em><br />
<em>As a result, employers are planning to withhold income taxes at the 2012 rates, at least for the first one or two paychecks of the year, said Michael O'Toole of the American Payroll Association</em>.<br />
<br />
Clear enough, yes? A side point that this means the Fiscal Cliff is an even gentler slope than you probably realized, and this would be a useful squib. Alas, however, it's a Big Story, which means 17 more paragraphs of increasing pointlessness.<br />
<br />
<em>The tax increases could be steep. If Congress fails to act, workers at every income level face significant tax increases next year as part of the year-end "fiscal cliff."</em><br />
<em>A taxpayer making between $50,000 and $75,000 would get an average tax increase of $2,400, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research group. If the worker is paid every two weeks, that's about $92 a paycheck, on average.</em><br />
<em>Someone making between $75,000 and $100,000 would get a tax increase averaging nearly $3,700. If the worker is paid every two weeks, that's about $142 a paycheck.</em><br />
<br />
Feeling stupider? It's working.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://superredundant.com/comics/2012-07-05-Strip-147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://superredundant.com/comics/2012-07-05-Strip-147.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
There's one fun bit along the way:<br />
<br />
<em>In addition, dozens of other tax breaks for businesses and individuals that are routinely renewed each year already expired at the end of 2011. Congress was expected to renew many of them by January, so taxpayers could still claim them on their 2012 tax returns.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
Read it over a couple times, and it just gets crazier. This one we can't blame on Ohlemacher : He's clearly stated the actual situation. The year is likely to end, and tax law will be retroactively changed. The biggest provision is the annual AMT patch. Since it isn't indexed to inflation, there is $92,000,000,000 at <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dont-be-fooled-january-pay-higher-taxes-loom" target="_blank">stake for 2012</a>.<br />
<br />
*Forbes laid out the tables <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dont-be-fooled-january-pay-higher-taxes-loom" target="_blank">nicely last month</a><br />
<strong>Scenario 1: Tax cuts under the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for all</strong><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 576px;"><colgroup><col width="84"></col><col span="3" width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">Rate</td><td width="164">Single Filers</td><td width="164">Married Joint Filers</td><td width="164">Head of Household Filers</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">10%</td><td width="164">$0 to $8,950</td><td width="164">$0 to $17,900</td><td width="164">$0 to $12,750</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">15%</td><td width="164">$8,950 to $36,250</td><td width="164">$17,900 to $72,500</td><td width="164">$12,750 to $48,600</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">25%</td><td width="164">$36,250 to $87,850</td><td width="164">$72,500 to $146,400</td><td width="164">$48,600 to $125,450</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">28%</td><td width="164">$87,850 to $183,250</td><td width="164">$146,400 to $223,050</td><td width="164">$125,450 to $203,150</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">33%</td><td width="164">$183,250 to $398,350</td><td width="164">$223,050 to $398,350</td><td width="164">$203,150 to $398,350</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">35%</td><td width="164">$398,350 and up</td><td width="164">$398,350 and up</td><td width="164">$398,350 and up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>Scenario 2: Tax brackets under the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for all</strong><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 576px;"><colgroup><col width="84"></col><col span="3" width="164"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">Rate</td><td width="164">Single Filers</td><td width="164">Married Joint Filers</td><td width="164">Head of Household Filers</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">15%</td><td width="164">$0 to $36,250</td><td width="164">$0 to $60,550</td><td width="164">$0 to $48,600</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">28%</td><td width="164">$36,250 to $87,850</td><td width="164">$60,550 to $146,400</td><td width="164">$48,600 to $125,450</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">31%</td><td width="164">$87,850 to $183,250</td><td width="164">$146,400 to $223,050</td><td width="164">$125,450 to $203,150</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">36%</td><td width="164">$183,250 to $398,350</td><td width="164">$223,050 to $398,350</td><td width="164">$203,150 to $398,350</td></tr>
<tr><td height="33" width="84">39.60%</td><td width="164">$398,350and up</td><td width="164"></td><td width="164"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Which means a tax increase basically of $450+ 3% of your excess over the top of the 15% bracket, a bit more if you make over $200,000 taxable. There are also various credits, the AMT, the possible reversion of dividends to ordinary, the increase o fhte capital gain rate to 20%. the expansion of the Medicare tax.... Well, there's a lot of details. <br />
<br />
**Bankrate has a <a href="http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/tax-planning/fiscal-cliff-calculator/" target="_blank">simple calculator</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Merry</span> <span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: lime;">Christmas</span>.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ISCd10Yc7Ng?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="color: #38761d;"></span><br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-86164557386751605352012-12-18T20:51:00.000-05:002012-12-18T20:51:03.935-05:00We Can't Have Nice ThingsSure, US exceptionalism means we <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/17/there-s-little-we-can-do-to-prevent-another-massacre.html" target="_blank">can't have security from violence</a>, a low prison population, well fed children or universal health care, but what about physical projects?<br />
<br />
In the 40 years since Apollo, what neat public stuff has the US built? I can't think of anything major. Sure, there are a lot of big projects (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam" target="_blank">Aswan High Dam</a>) that would have been better not getting started, but let's take a look at some good ones:<br />
<br />
Bullet trains<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://tessant.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/bullet-train-india.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://tessant.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/bullet-train-india.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.solarfeeds.com/bullet-train-coming-to-india/" target="_blank">Even India</a> has them.<br />
<br />
London Eye<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/imageuploads/1199894477_80.177.117.97.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" src="http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/imageuploads/1199894477_80.177.117.97.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
(We have Coney Island & used to have the Jersey Shore)<br />
<br />
Dubai City:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6prn_WEhUs/TZtxEULFazI/AAAAAAAAAFk/vdBz4_eObkE/s1600/Dubai-Ski-Dubai-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6prn_WEhUs/TZtxEULFazI/AAAAAAAAAFk/vdBz4_eObkE/s640/Dubai-Ski-Dubai-10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is like a giant version of Las Vegas. Maybe not so great.<br />
<br />
In any event, I'm just trying to point out a contradiction. The more we insist on Private Sector Rulez! Gummint fails, the less hope we have of doing anything really special.<br />
<br />
And I want special, not more <a href="http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore.html" target="_blank">eyesores</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore_201208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore_201208.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
At last, a Church that GOD won't touch!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-2834324746106224842012-12-13T19:21:00.000-05:002012-12-13T19:22:09.175-05:00If you have something nasty to say...I need to hear it.<br />
<br />
This is post #189 on this blog. Every now & then I produce a real lemon*.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.motorstown.com/images/edsel-citation-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.motorstown.com/images/edsel-citation-01.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Only twice has anybody mentioned this. Once I wrote a post about Them when it should have been about Us. Someone got upset. I don't know if <a href="http://downpuppy.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-story-told-by-white-people.html" target="_blank">the rewrite</a> is good, but I'm damn sure it's better. My last post was just a mess, and needed a straightforward <a href="http://downpuppy.blogspot.com/2012/12/ohlemacher-goes-pure-disinformation.html" target="_blank">cleanup</a>.<br />
<br />
So seriously : what other ones in this work need <a href="http://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-script-rewrite-lynda-carter-cameo-mcrid-111742/" target="_blank">Edit: Stat??</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/wonder-woman-palicki-script-rewrite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://cdn1.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/wonder-woman-palicki-script-rewrite.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
*At least worse than usual. If it's time to just surrender, say so.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-82425933101705495092012-12-11T20:01:00.003-05:002012-12-12T21:05:16.805-05:00Ohlemacher does StenoOn a day the Chronicle of Higher Education did a <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/PayPerks-Creep-Up-for/136187/" target="_blank">salary survey</a> , finding 36 private (non-profit) college presidents making over a million last year, the Asspress excreted an atrocity that will have to bump it. Sorry, Bob Kerrey! Your $3 million pay will be the story another day.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.athlonsports.com/sites/default/files/slideshow-images/3245_1051065164139_1451040121_30144376_2663103_n_0.jpg?1301596836" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.athlonsports.com/sites/default/files/slideshow-images/3245_1051065164139_1451040121_30144376_2663103_n_0.jpg?1301596836" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Stephen Ohlemacher has <a href="http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20121210/APW/1212100839?template=printpicart" target="_blank">done it again.</a> Every easily refuted chestnut about tax hikes and small business you ever heard, taken down with a breathless stenography worthy of Paula Broadwell.<br />
<br />
I could stop here, but why not sear your eyeballs with the gory details? Let's roll:<br />
<br />
<em>President Barack Obama's plan to increase taxes on top earners would have only a small impact on the nation's economy, according to congressional budget experts. But don't tell that to small business owners facing a tax hike.</em><br />
<em>Obama's proposal would hit about 940,000 people who report business income on their individual or household returns, says the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress. That's only 3.5 percent of the people who report business income, but those business owners are projected to earn 53 percent of the $1.3 trillion in business income that will be reported on individual returns next year.</em><br />
<em>That, Republicans in Congress argue, makes those business owners an important engine for economic growth and job creation.</em><br />
<em>They recite it as gospel: Paying higher taxes will reduce the amount of profits business owners would otherwise re-invest in their companies, making them less likely to expand and hire more workers. Many economists agree that tax increases in general limit economic growth. But there are big disagreements about magnitude - how much relatively small changes in the top two income tax rates would affect the economy and job creation.</em><br />
<br />
First some stuff that, if read closely, confirms income concentration. Nice start, but the Secret Language of Newspapers is already getting in the way. Then he gets into "Many economists".<br />
Strip out the he said/she said - as Ohlemacher doesn't even try - and you find that there is no evidence that a change in the top tax rate will affect anything. Nada, zip, squat. Ohlemacher more or less concedes this - with an estimate that the effect will be 1/14th of the total if everything bounces back. A litttle later, Ohlemacher moves into the shallow end of tax policy:<br />
<br />
<em>Qualified dividends, which are now taxed at a top rate of 15 percent, would be taxed as ordinary income for top earners, or at a top rate of 39.6 percent.</em><br />
<em>That, some business owners complain, would leave them with less money to hire new workers or keep the ones they have.</em><br />
<em>"We're trying to encourage people to go out and hire and take risks," said Brian Reardon, executive director of the S Corporation Association. "If you are reducing the marginal value, you are reducing the incentives for folks to take that risk."</em><br />
<em>An S corporations is a common business structure in which profits flow directly to shareholders who report the income on their individual tax returns.</em><br />
<em>Business owners note that they often pay taxes on profits they don't necessarily receive. For example, if you borrow money to start or expand your business, you can use some of your profits to repay the loan, but only the interest portion of the loan payment is tax deductible.</em><br />
<em>When business owners use profits to buy new equipment or make other upgrades, it often takes several years to write off the cost of those upgrades, depending on depreciation rules.</em><br />
<br />
This sounds like it follows smoothly, but actually takes some sharp bends. Dividend tax rates are utterly irrelevant to S-Corporations. Their distributive share is taxed based on the underlying income, and owner/officers are paid taxable/deductible salaries similar to other employees. One thing about S-Corps: They have a unique loophole in Medicare taxes. Unless it's paid in salary, the owners income is not subject to FICA or Medicare tax. There was some noise about this earlier this year when Newt Gingrich's tas returns came out. There have been several attempts to close this loophole, but it seems the S-Corpation Association is bulletproof. It even survived the new Medicare surtax untouched.<br />
<br />
This stuff about startup expenses is 100% hooey. Sure, the expenses you incur before you start a business are amortized undet Sec. 197 over the first 15 years of the business. How are you going to earn over $400,000 in a business you haven't even started?<br />
<br />
Now we get to the stenography.<br />
<br />
<em>Dan McGregor, chairman of McGregor Metalworking Companies in Springfield, Ohio, said he and the other six shareholders in the business are looking at a tax increase of $250,000 to $300,000 next year under Obama's plan.</em><br />
<em>Under Obama's plan to increase the top two income tax rates, a taxpayer would have to have an income of around $4 million - depending on how it's structured - to face a tax increase of $250,000.</em><br />
<em>McGregor's company, which has 365 employees at five locations, does about $80 million a year in sales, McGregor said. Each year, a portion of the profits are distributed to shareholders, along with money to pay taxes. The rest, he said, is invested back into the company.</em><br />
<em>If taxes go up, distributions to shareholders must go up to pay the higher taxes, leaving less money to reinvest in the business, McGregor said.</em><br />
<em>"I feel a $40,000 reduction is the loss of one job, so if it's a $200,000 tax increase, that's five jobs," McGregor said.</em><br />
<br />
First, for an S-Corporation, 3% is the increase - we covered the Medicare surtax loophole already. So that tax increase implies profits of about $9,000,000, or $25,000 per employee. That's profits - because all the shareholders/officers salaries are deductions. So he's saying he could afford to give everybody in the company a $25,000 raise! But he won't, because it's more important that the McGregor family each gets their million bucks a head distribution. It's a very old company. If they need more capital to expand, they can raise or borrow it. Also, accelerated depreciation means that if they really were plowing everything back in, the deductions would pile up.<br />
<br />
Is this one of those places where things are so expensive that a million bucks a year is just getting by?<br />
<br />
In Springfield, the median house price is <a href="http://www.zillow.com/springfield-oh/#/homedetails/2307-E-High-St-Springfield-OH-45505/33314795_zpid/" target="_blank">under $60,000.</a><br />
<br />
We've all heard about these "typical small businessmen" who turn out to be spokesmen for some wingnut front group. Is <a href="http://www.mcgregormetal.com/about-mcgregor/leadership/dan-mcgregor" target="_blank">Dan McGregor?</a> Hard to tell right now. I will note that he seems to be in charge of something called "Christian Mentoring"<br />
<br />
Not sure what that has to do with this other Christ, <a href="http://www.zompist.com/meetthepoor.html" target="_blank">who said:</a><br />
<br />
<em>Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys."</em> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.punkhart.com/dylan/images/zimmerman2-cover.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.punkhart.com/dylan/images/zimmerman2-cover.gif" width="472" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(of the Hibbing Zimmermenschen. Heh indeedy)</div>
<br />
<br />Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-92168067451464269632012-12-10T20:19:00.003-05:002012-12-10T20:50:25.016-05:0030,000 Pageviews Ho-Hum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPESfjXAeUM/UEOmLPiJmQI/AAAAAAAAAxU/fysMddKt8t0/s1600/wonderwoman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nPESfjXAeUM/UEOmLPiJmQI/AAAAAAAAAxU/fysMddKt8t0/s640/wonderwoman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
With a moderate amount of posting and a big step-up in marketing, the RuN has reached 30,000 pageviews a bit ahead of schedule.<br />
<br />
Thanks as always to Kate Beckinsale, Balloon-Juice open threads, Roger Ailes, Susan of Texas, and those Krazy Kids on the University of California Board of Regents.<br />
<br />
Let's review our missions:<br />
<br />
Fighting the increase in University costs.<br />
Preparing for the end of the cheap energy age.<br />
<a href="http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/angel-lola-luv-wonder-woman.jpg?w=419&h=585" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/angel-lola-luv-wonder-woman.jpg?w=419&h=585" width="218" /></a>Warning uselessly of environmental collapse.<br />
Providing a few laughs & a lot of breasts.<br />
<br />
Hokay...0.5 for 4.<br />
<br />
soooo. Wonder Woman movie. Why?<br />
<br />
Nice suit. But who is she in 2012?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpEwb3fnCqA/UMaRJs_V3QI/AAAAAAAAAJI/6XNsoWmfb2s/s1600/imagesCASQO3LR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QpEwb3fnCqA/UMaRJs_V3QI/AAAAAAAAAJI/6XNsoWmfb2s/s400/imagesCASQO3LR.jpg" width="278" /></a><a href="http://blog.1979semifinalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wonder-woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="http://blog.1979semifinalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wonder-woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://blog.1979semifinalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wonder-woman.jpg" width="322" /><br />
<br />
</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UDTr4lqYkA/UMaIPp4SJ7I/AAAAAAAAAI4/jn8MvNzxRf0/s1600/kim-kardashian-wonder-woman-500x414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UDTr4lqYkA/UMaIPp4SJ7I/AAAAAAAAAI4/jn8MvNzxRf0/s400/kim-kardashian-wonder-woman-500x414.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Anyhow, I have a new candidate :
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.gotceleb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/hope+solo+hot+photos+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.gotceleb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/hope+solo+hot+photos+24.jpg" width="528" /></a></div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-91264658226355766282012-12-09T09:03:00.000-05:002012-12-09T09:03:23.411-05:00AssDeans are Asses : Film at 11One important thing to remember about having too many administrators : The more there are, the more time they have to do really <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/critics-say-new-uc-logo-is-not-dignified-enough-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lanowblog+%28L.A.+Now%29" target="_blank">stupid stuff.</a><br />
<br />
UC has come up with a new logo for their system.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef017d3e9c4a3e970c-640wi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef017d3e9c4a3e970c-640wi" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Not sure who stared at that annoyed loading circle, and instead of muttering profanity like everybody else thought : Let's steal this!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/StopTheUCLogoChange" target="_blank">Opposition </a>was immediate. A <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/university-of-california-stop-the-new-uc-logo" target="_blank">petition</a> is up. <br />
<br />
<br />
The reviews are in: <br />
<br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT PIECE OF SHIT?</span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">It looks like a flushing toilet.</span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2012/12/james-simon-director-marketing-communications-the-university-of-california-speaks.html#comments" target="_blank">The logo fails</a> because its embodies an abstraction on top of an abstraction. One layer of abstraction is sufficient.</span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"></span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">There are some efforts thrown in to explain the difference between a logo & a seal, and to note the the seal remains the same. They fail, because the logo sucks.</span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"> I found a better one:</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZR-rDcUgPWc/R812IThqAFI/AAAAAAAAAAY/YbVAqNgde4E/S220/spraycan_rodeo_girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZR-rDcUgPWc/R812IThqAFI/AAAAAAAAAAY/YbVAqNgde4E/S220/spraycan_rodeo_girl.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"></span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"></span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">Anyhow, this all reminds me of when NBC <a href="http://www.mentalfloss.com/trivia/facts/archives/291" target="_blank">pulled the same stunt.</a> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.mentalfloss.com/images/facts/nnetv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mentalfloss.com/images/facts/nnetv.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"></span></span><br />
<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">That was 36 years ago, and the logo wasn't as bad. It just cost NBC $600,000 to develop & a million to buy off NETV. People still remember.</span></span>Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-51520012711698977372012-12-08T18:44:00.002-05:002012-12-08T18:44:19.832-05:00Dead ZonesOne of the quiet nightmares of the last 50 years has been the <a href="http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=96144f55-fcd1-49d6-8116-d986938aae76&groupId=61563" target="_blank">growth of ocean dead zones </a>as a result (mostly) of nutrient runoff. A cycle starts that ends up with rot on the bottom and no oxygen in the water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.greendiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dead-zone-in-the-gulf-of-mexico_P75Qn_2263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://www.greendiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/dead-zone-in-the-gulf-of-mexico_P75Qn_2263.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
You know where this is going : Michigan. Not the lakes - although the Great Lakes have more than their <a href="http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/invasive/" target="_blank">share</a> of problems.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.prefix.com/clean/ZebraPipe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="522" src="http://www.prefix.com/clean/ZebraPipe.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The cultural dead zone : <a href="http://www.webdesignschoolsguide.com/library/10-best-movies-about-suburban-life.html" target="_blank">The Suburbs</a> .<br />
How did Michigan, of all places, get to a point where the elected government could stage a coup against their people and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/07/michigan-right-to-work_n_2258092.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular" target="_blank">institute right-to-work</a> evil? Because so many of them know absolutely nothing of labor history. From the Pullman riots to the relative peace of 1945-1970 was a long, sometimes bloody struggle.<br />
<br />
And the history of it was just vanished. The plutocrats stood aside for a generation, while pumping out reams of propaganda. The means of transmission of folk history vanished with the public spaces and places where teens could interact with elders. Places that were systematically excluded from the antiseptic residential monocultures planted in the Auto Age. By 1980, peoples heads had been emptied enough that the White Folks litany could be pumped into a vacuum. The Class War was on, in secret. Victory has been complete. Even 30 years ago, could someone as clueless & odious as Willard Mitt Romney, with his constant denigrating of most of the population, his history of corporate evil, and his sheer cluelessness been allowed anywhere near a nomination? Maybe, but the stories that he ran on - the moochers, dependent, winks, nods, dog whistles & fables - would have at least drawn derision. Now? we are cursed with Very Serious People, who appear to have been raised in jars & don't even have scruples to lose to become pundits.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/11435/large/corporateprofitsvswages1.png?1354561397" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/11435/large/corporateprofitsvswages1.png?1354561397" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Corporate profits as a share of national income in red, wages in blue. See any improvement since 2009? This chart is almost enough to turn an O-Bot into a Firebagger. In any event, it's a call to action:<br />
<br />
Wake up, and start knitting, all you zombies out there!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.webdesignschoolsguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://www.webdesignschoolsguide.com/wp-content/uploads/sub.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Also, too : The rest of the country, walking quietly <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/07/the-plutocrats-and-the-placeholder-president/" target="_blank">down the chute.</a>Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-26548180388815781512012-12-06T13:41:00.001-05:002012-12-06T14:11:37.697-05:005 Dead in BostonThere have been 5 people killed riding their bikes in Boston in 2012, all in the last 6 months. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2012/12/06/bicyclist-and-vehicle-collide-commonwealth-avenue-allston/iLfi9EqrFWahk0AKxErVIM/story.html" target="_blank">The latest was today</a>. A 23 year old was moving too fast to avoid a truck making a right turn from the left lane.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://c.o0bc.com/rf/image_609w/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/06/Boston.com/Metro/Images/2-3000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="http://c.o0bc.com/rf/image_609w/Boston/2011-2020/2012/12/06/Boston.com/Metro/Images/2-3000.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In November, <a href="http://www.everybicyclistcounts.org/site/detail/chung-wei_yang" target="_blank">a 28 year old</a> was <a href="http://bostinno.com/2012/11/13/boston-university-student-killed-allston-bike-accident/" target="_blank">hit by a bus.</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cloudfront2.bostinno.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/t_2630157530_57b4366efd_z-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cloudfront2.bostinno.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/t_2630157530_57b4366efd_z-300x200.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.irishcentral.com/news/--Irish-immigrant-Tanya-Connolly-tragically-killed-in-road-accident-in-South-Boston---VIDEO-170312006.html" target="_blank">In September,</a> a woman was hit by a truck.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2012/09/24/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/bike3-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2012/09/24/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion/Images/bike3-001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
A bit before her, an older man<a href="http://ghostbikes.org/boston/doan-bui" target="_blank"> hit by a pickup truck</a> was the only case this year where the driver has been charged.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/files/2012/09/ghostbike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/files/2012/09/ghostbike.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
A woman was <a href="http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/06/03/cyclist-killed-friday-remembered-dedicated-educator/GNEFyENQjbDtFm1c3DXI2H/story.html" target="_blank">hit by a bus</a> in June :<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3588/3582267597_d9095560fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3588/3582267597_d9095560fb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
They all seem to have come to Boston from far away - Taiwan, Ireland, Seattle. One of them - the oldest - never seems to appear in the story of his death. He has a name & an age, but nothing of his life was in the dozens of stories I searched. <br />
<br />
Statistically, it's getting a bit safer to bike. More and more bikes, about the same number of accidents. If there is a point to this post, it's Slow Down.Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33508868.post-78538267024802706902012-12-03T19:36:00.002-05:002012-12-06T10:01:04.403-05:00Like I said, I'm usually hungry*Before** Star Trek, there was a show with the exact same characters: Gunsmoke.<br />
<a href="http://www.perhapanauts.com/uploaded_images/Retro_Gunsmoke2-766400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://www.perhapanauts.com/uploaded_images/Retro_Gunsmoke2-766400.jpg" width="320" /></a>Matt=Kirk<br />
Spock=Kitty<br />
Bones=Doc<br />
Festus=Scotty<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
None of those are the characters with which we are concerned today. Today, we explore a man's man, Quint - the Worf of his day:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WnFP_spLmHE/UAM4Xs6uYLI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/SEmEAGrtikk/s1600/quint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WnFP_spLmHE/UAM4Xs6uYLI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/SEmEAGrtikk/s640/quint.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
In 20 years, Gunsmoke changed with the times. A lot. The early black & white shorts were violent & hard. Later they went to color, got longer, got sillier. Quint was in the transition. Indians as the Enemy were stale by the early 60s, so the half breed Comanche got to be sympathetic, while dealing with the dopey kid of the week. (Gunsmoke villains were either hardened scumbags or dopey kids) <br />
<br />
So maybe not the most interesting character. That would be Miss Kitty. How did they keep up the euphemism for 20 years about what was going on upstairs at the Long Branch?<br />
<br />
I dunno. This is making no sense. Now we're all in a stupid fight about how to pronounce Zauberberg.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.cdn.tapcdn.com/images/thumbs/taps/2012/08/full-cosplay-cosplay-scarlet-witch-marvel-s-avengers-8edd9442-sz500x750-animate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.cdn.tapcdn.com/images/thumbs/taps/2012/08/full-cosplay-cosplay-scarlet-witch-marvel-s-avengers-8edd9442-sz500x750-animate.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<br />
Avengers assemble!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*Which is not good for coherence. Bear with us.<br />
<br />
**Also during & after - it ran 20 years<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
& if that made sense,<a href="http://tokyosun.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-04-09T08:24:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=7&by-date=false" target="_blank"> hah!</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r286/kanomipix/tokyosun/0219punchman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r286/kanomipix/tokyosun/0219punchman.jpg" /></a></div>
Downpuppyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10312490198813632190noreply@blogger.com0