News for today's 2018

Assassin’s Creed III: Gorgeous but Extremely Disappointing

7:52 AM Tukiyooo 0

<p><a><img src="http://media.meltybuzz.fr/article-1123302-ajust_930/le-celebre-jeu-assassin-s-creed-3.jpg"></a></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Assassin’s Creed quickly became one of my favorite franchises this summer with the quality of the story telling in the Ezio trilogy and thus I was looking forward to </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-gb/games/assassins-creed-3/index.aspx" target="_blank"><font size="3">Assassin’s Creed III</font></a><font size="3">. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">The game is stunningly beautiful.  The landscapes are drop dead gorgeous and the weather effects are among the best I’ve ever seen.  However, a game can’t survive on looks alone and this installment doesn’t live up to its potential nor honor its past.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Bugs and holes are predominate throughout the game.  It isn’t like the game released last week, it is almost a year post release and the amount of bugs that exist in the game are mind boggling.  How is it possible that </font><a href="http://www.ubi.com/US/default.aspx" target="_blank"><font size="3">Ubisoft</font></a><font size="3">’s quality control department, and I use that term loosely here, let a game release with a bug that doesn’t update the protagonist's (Connor) outfit, in a cut scene, based on what the player has the character wearing at the time of any particular cut scene?  It isn’t like there are only one or two cut scenes in the game, the game is filled with cut scenes which makes this bug so infuriating and disconcerting.  After all, they managed to NOT have the bug in previous installments of the franchise.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Connor can fly through trees like a howler monkey with very little thought on the part of a player, but by god a group of three pine trees encountered on the forest floor completely baffles him and he stands there hands in the air helpless.  Connor also has the habit of getting stuck on every little obstacle he encounters on the ground, a situation made worse when he is on horseback. Seriously, these bug me almost as much as the bug above.  Controls are more fluid yes, but fluidity comes at too high a price when a pebble is enough to hang up a horse.  Hubby spent the weekend growling, at various volume levels, about “stupid gummy bear, care bear controls” as Connor would stick to anything and everything he ran into or across during a fight, chase, or tail.  </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Whoever designed the crafting interface and game should be sent back to design school immediately.  Poorly implemented is a compliment, highly frustrating is an understatement.  And how did something so vital and new to the franchise make it into the game without a tutorial?  I liked the homestead missions and the interaction with the people Connor collects.  However, the implementation of crafting is so troublesome and frustrating it isn’t worth doing in my opinion.  Yes it is nice your crafters can craft upgrade but good luck understanding the stats on anything they craft because that information isn’t present.  Convoy got attacked?  Good, defend it yourself or send your assassin recruits.  Wait you did that but now your convoy is permanently attacked and nothing you try resolves the situation?  Again, another bug that should have never made it through quality assurance controls.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Now for the story, it is full of so many holes it looks like the practice target at the shooting range.  Random important people appear at the appropriate moment, Connor has a conversation and you are led to believe they have know each other for years.  Marquis de Lafayette case in point.  He appears in the story and greets Connor like an old friend and the player has never seen Lafayette in game before.  Where did they meet?  How?  And then we get to the players first view of Connor and his father, Haytham Kenway, meeting for the first time.  Somehow Haytham knows Connor is his son and knows him by sight.  Huh?  What?  How?  Gapping holes in the story you present in a video game are unforgiveable.  I don’t care that you have third party media out there they may or may not explain the holes, your holes in the media I purchased are glaring and wide enough for a herd of angry cattle to stampede through comfortably.  And this is coming from an individual that doesn’t mind reading books derived from video games!</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Then we come to the game breaking bug husband ran into last night, one that Ubisoft has no solution for on it’s forums and no patch for months later.  Hubby began playing the Tyranny of King Washington </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-US/media/media.aspx?c=tcm:19-84192&ct=tcm:6-231-32" target="_blank"><font size="3">Episode One: Infamy</font></a><font size="3"> when he encountered the bug.  On the mission to Stalk the Guard Dogs at Benedict Arnold’s camp in Valley Forge, he couldn’t toss bait, run, or avoid detection.  He was unable to progress the story because of the bug.  This isn’t a minor or annoying bug, this is game breaking and it should have a response and fix from Ubisoft.  It happens across platforms and apparently only happened post release of </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-US/news/news_detail.aspx?c=tcm:19-87495&ct=tcm:6-231-32" target="_blank"><font size="3">Episode Two: Betrayal</font></a><font size="3">.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Connor is a very likeable and loveable character but is he truly as Assassin worthy of the Brotherhood?  I don’t think so to be honest.  He is brash, most of the time thinking with his heart and not his head and he has no ability to take long term views of his actions.  Case in point, his decision to inform Washington about the Templar plot to kill him.  Connor exhibits no understanding that his role is to work behind the scenes to counter plots and schemes of his Templar counterparts.  He is much less an assassin and much more of a caped crusader without a cape.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3">Overall, disappointment reigns in our house despite the games beauty and the love of the franchise.  We’ve been having the discussion about whether or not to invest time, energy and money into </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.ubi.com/en-us/home/index.aspx" target="_blank"><font size="3">Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag</font></a><font size="3">.  I’m willing to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and play the game on the XboxOne when it arrives later this Fall.  However, if they screw it up and don’t honestly return to what made the franchise great in previous games then I’m done.  I want to play Assassin’s Creed games that are based on assassinations and honoring what </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Alta%C3%AFr_Ibn-La%27Ahad" target="_blank"><font size="3">Altair</font></a><font size="3"> and </font><a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Ezio_Auditore_da_Firenze" target="_blank"><font size="3">Ezio</font></a><font size="3"> established for the fan base.  I want an Assassin’s Creed game where there has been quality control done by competent individuals and no gaping holes in the story.  DO NOT DISAPPOINT AGAIN UBISOFT.</font></p> <div id="scid:0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:02888d55-db26-4b21-a500-ae0f77c4da29" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Ubisoft" rel="tag">Ubisoft</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Assassin's+Creed+III" rel="tag">Assassin's Creed III</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Assassin's+Creed+IV" rel="tag">Assassin's Creed IV</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Tyranny+of+King+Washington" rel="tag">Tyranny of King Washington</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/bugs" rel="tag">bugs</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Xbox" rel="tag">Xbox</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Altair" rel="tag">Altair</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Ezio+Auditore" rel="tag">Ezio Auditore</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/crafting" rel="tag">crafting</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tags/story" rel="tag">story</a></div>

Assassin’s Creed quickly became one of my favorite franchises this summer with the quality of the story telling in the Ezio trilogy and thu...

If You're Trying To Find A Good Weight Loss Program Check Out The Eat Weight Off Program

6:53 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Vanessa Summer</div><br /><br />  <div class='uawarticle'>A lot of men and women right now end up using a number of different weight loss diet plans only to discover that none of them are able to help them lose weight permanently. The reality is you can find many weight loss programs which can provide you with short term results, but these types of weight loss results never seem to last. This leads to people being so skeptical that they're not willing to try new diet plans mainly because they feel they are going to be just like the ones that they tried before. For individuals that are trying to find a proven weight-loss system we're going to be taking a look at the Eat Weight Off Program in this article.<br />  <br />  <br />  <br />  The website itself is packed with information, this includes information on the reason why previous diets and programs you might have tried past were not successful to help you with your weight loss. One of the main reasons individuals are overweight to start with is simply because of a faulty liver, and these kinds of liver problems cause your body to not get enough fat burning hormones for burning up fat. This program explains the nutrition that you can find in food is something that can in fact help get your liver working correctly again, and when this happens it can develop the fat burning hormones. What plenty of folks do not comprehend is that the correct types of foods provide your body with the proper sorts of nutrition it must have to function properly, and this includes having your liver develop the proper hormones.<br />  <br />  If you're one of the people that are looking for fast results, that's something else this program will teach you how to do and they show you how, in a week's time you are able to lose up to 15 pounds. You are going to find that there are not going to be any type of intense exercises, and you're not going to be feeling hungry all of the time because you are actually permitted to eat with this program. This means that within a month time you could wind up losing anywhere between 40 and 60 pounds, and I am certain you are going to agree that this is fairly impressive.<br />  <br />  Something which may surprise you concerning this weight-loss system would be that you are actually going to be eating more food that you are now but still shedding weight. This program isn't only going to be teaching you how to eat to be able to get your liver functioning right again, but it will be able to help you receive an all over healthy body. And for individuals worrying whether or not you will be able to keep the weight off you are going to find that this program teaches you how to do this.<br />  <br />  A thing that I thought was rather amazing concerning the website itself was that they actually have before and after photographs of individuals who have gone through this program showing the amazing results they achieved. You're also going to discover that they have a complete page dedicated to testimonials, along with the frequently asked questions page for any person searching for answers about what the program is about.<br />  <br />  For related weight loss tips and information, read more about  check out <a href="http://www.weightlossreviewed.info">popular weight loss supplements</a>.<br />  <br />  </div><br />  <div class='uawresource'><br />  	<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br />  		About the Author:<br />  	</div><br />  	<div class='uawlinks'>Recommended website: <a href="http://www.naturalcholesterolsupplements.com">http://www.naturalcholesterolsupplements.com</a>.</div><br />  </div><br />

If You're Trying To Find A Good Weight Loss Program Check Out The Eat Weight Off Program

By Vanessa Summer A lot of men and women right now end up using a number of different weight loss diet plans only to discover that none ...

Ideas And Ideas Regarding How To Stay Throughout Correct Wellness

6:51 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Gigi Monsen</div><br /><br />  <div class='uawarticle'>Extra few pounds can attract several types of disease and mainly diabetes. Experts say that diabetes could be the mother of disease, this means in case you have diabetes you happen to be likely to get have contracted other dangerous diseases too. Weight-loss is the way to prevent disease. Huge numbers of people worldwide are enduring overweight plus they are seeking proper methods to shed some pounds.<br />  <br />  You will find mainly two methods to shed extra pounds. Either where you will exercise, workout and a good diet, to reduce weight or perhaps you consume pills and healthy supplements to reduce unwanted weight. What you may do, excess fat loss is critical should you be looking to reside a pleasant and healthy way of life.<br />  <br />  Additional weight can easily be controlled by doing proper workout and eating a balance diet. Prior to starting any working, talk to an expert doctor to learn your fitness. Lots of people join gyms without physical examination to scale back weight nevertheless they don't get the fitness result these were searching for since they are not performing proper exercises which are needed.<br />  <br />  It effects everyone differently to be able the methods to lose weight naturally. A professional might suggest your friend different workouts than yours, hence doctor consultation prior to starting any workout regime is important. Even the fitness trainer could be contacted before any workout. Should you be referring any internet recourses for your health information still you create certain that you talk to your doctor or fitness trainer before you decide to perform any group of workouts.<br />  <br />  Yet another way that's generally called modern approach to shed extra pounds is actually taking different weight loss suppliments. The marketplace is filled with different types of pills and dietary supplement products. It is possible to follow a pill after consultation of a doctor to reduce weight. Not every is suited to everyone as is also formulated differently making many different varieties of people. If you wish to reduce weight instantly and then make sure that consume pills and workout day to day. Prefer products which are made from 100 % natural ingredients to improve your health. Items that are formulated with chemicals can leave unwanted effects.<br />  <br />  </div><br />  <div class='uawresource'><br />  	<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br />  		About the Author:<br />  	</div><br />  	<div class='uawlinks'>To explore this issue take a look at these articles regarding chosing the right weight loss plans especially how to obtain sustainable weight loss and <a href="http://www.weight-loss-ebook.com/solar-technology-do-your-behalf-to-help-you-the-planet/">fitness</a> through fast <a href="http://www.weight-loss-ebook.com/">weight loss</a> programs.</div><br />  </div><br />

Ideas And Ideas Regarding How To Stay Throughout Correct Wellness

By Gigi Monsen Extra few pounds can attract several types of disease and mainly diabetes. Experts say that diabetes could be the mother ...

Today's archidose #701

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

Here are some photos of the Iidabashi Subway Station (2000) in Tokyo, Japan, by <a href="http://www.makoto-architect.com/">Makoto Sei Watanabe</a>, photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirabelle9/">Darren Poon</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirabelle9/9649146331/" title="Untitled by darapo, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="425" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/9649146331_0e511130c8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirabelle9/9649147849/" title="Untitled by darapo, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="425" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3767/9649147849_d425b36d99_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirabelle9/9649145427/" title="Untitled by darapo, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="425" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3815/9649145427_07a7c3162a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirabelle9/9652381476/" title="Untitled by darapo, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="800" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5517/9652381476_25a5aa2466_c.jpg" width="531" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #701

Here are some photos of the Iidabashi Subway Station (2000) in Tokyo, Japan, by Makoto Sei Watanabe , photographed by Darren Poon . To contr...

Low carb lobster roll

5:44 AM Tukiyooo 0

<span style="font-size: large;">My friend gave me a tip for low carb lobster roll.  Scoop out the bready centre of the roll before making as usual. </span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Do you have any tips for low carb dining?</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Look how good it looks!!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffST41KJA9BBMcRnjhzudFKpptz_5f_tv9dyfLk0ndeJ_-Vc8g86KqO3JxEk-FU3g2ObrS8qGgH6cu8j9jr4oKF8gVqSBYFKHwLQ84Oc-5YJn5mqKVKs6GU8LKR5KdqUMMRF-Kfcy8UvS/s640/blogger-image-698933077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffST41KJA9BBMcRnjhzudFKpptz_5f_tv9dyfLk0ndeJ_-Vc8g86KqO3JxEk-FU3g2ObrS8qGgH6cu8j9jr4oKF8gVqSBYFKHwLQ84Oc-5YJn5mqKVKs6GU8LKR5KdqUMMRF-Kfcy8UvS/s640/blogger-image-698933077.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks to my friends in the USA for the tip and the great pic.......oh and also thanks for making my mouth water!!</span></div></div>

Low carb lobster roll

My friend gave me a tip for low carb lobster roll. Scoop out the bready centre of the roll before making as usual. Do you have any tips fo...

Today's Teamster News 09.03.13

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/318795-five-reasons-for-optimism-about-unions-this-labor-day#ixzz2dDzjgGWO" rel="nofollow">Five reasons for optimism about unions this Labor Day</a> (opinion) The Hill   ...most Americans hold favorable views of unions. According to a June 2013 poll by the Pew Research Center, 51 percent of Americans hold favorable views of labor unions, a 10 percent increase from the number in the same poll conducted two years earlier...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/02/workers-are-better-off-now-than-in-1894_n_3829698.html" rel="nofollow">9 Ways We're Better Off Now Than We Were On The First Labor Day (And 5 Ways We're Not)</a>  Huffington Post   ...The federal minimum wage, <a href="http://www.dol.gov/whd/minimumwage.htm">which currently stands at 7.25 an hour</a>, is <a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/raising-minimum-wage-to-9-not-enough-to-ensure-that-families-with-fulltime-workers-live-above-poverty-line">not enough to keep American families out of poverty</a>, according to the Center For Economic And Policy Research...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-elk/union-busting-ended-my-lo_b_217015.html" rel="nofollow">Union Busting Ended My Love Affair with a Beer</a>  Huffington Post   ...Yuengling had illegally busted their union...<br /><a href="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/guest-commentary/guest-commentary-labor-day-message-we-can-fix-this/article_407f64db-5bfd-5d60-b78d-e0d8ddb8f0a2.html" rel="nofollow">Labor Day message: We can fix this</a> (opinion)  NWI   ...We must embrace the new worker activism we see popping up at places like fast-food chains and retail establishments whose workers merely hope to raise their families on a livable wage...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-mccartin/labor-day-2013-religion-workers-rights_b_3854319.html" rel="nofollow">"What's Outrageous? Poverty Wages!" The Role of Religious Leaders in Worker Justice </a> Huffington Post   ...The faith leaders now rallying to support fast food workers' demands for a living wage are reviving one of America's oldest and most powerful arguments for social justice, one deeply rooted in religious ideals...<br /><a href="http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/09/gdp-drag-from-state-and-local.html" rel="nofollow">GDP drag from State and Local Governments</a>  Calculated Risk   ...However state and local government spending has made a negative contribution for 13 of the last 14 quarters...<br /><a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10631" rel="nofollow">Wall Street Eager to See Larry Summers Nominated Fed Chair </a> Real News   ...if you had to trace the collapse of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on one person--and, of course, you can't really trace it to one person--but if you did, I think you could make a fair argument that Larry Summers is more to blame for the financial crisis that we experienced than any other person...<br /><div><a href="http://www.nationalmemo.com/making-too-big-to-fail-banks-help-poor-borrowers/" rel="nofollow">Making ‘Too Big To Fail’ Banks Help Poor Borrowers</a> (opinion)  The National Memo   ...Predatory lenders are folding fast in New York State, thanks to a savvy banking regulator who takes his duty to protect the public as seriously as his duties to the financial industry — and knows how to use the law to get quick action...<br /><div><a href="http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/09/01/director-of-dia-selling-art-tantamount-to-closing-museum/" rel="nofollow">DIA Director: Selling Art Tantamount To Closing Museum</a>  CBS Detroit   ...Detroit’s Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has stated that the some of the art could be sold as part of the city’s bankruptcy deal Beal says the art being considered as “assets” are those that were bought by Detroit between 1922 and 1931– that’s about 3,300 pieces...<br /><a href="http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/08/23/ohio-gop-grassroots-lead-to-billionaire/" rel="nofollow">Ohio GOP grassroots lead to billionaire</a>  Plunderbund   ...Americans for Prosperity. … That’s the right-wing outfit whose work is fashioned  by billionaire David Koch...<br /><br /></div></div>

banks Detroit bankruptcy Kochs Labor Day minimum wage tea party union-busting wages Today's Teamster News 09.03.13

Five reasons for optimism about unions this Labor Day (opinion) The Hill ...most Americans hold favorable views of unions. According to a...

These Make Things So Much Easier To Understand What Is Going On

2:05 AM Tukiyooo 0

I just love animated cut aways, they give you a perspective on things like nothing else can.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6era6Vqkdh0XvEr5nv5u7EMdcPI3lqOYg-0AIbfPJJGr3DNvCFnGLckIxUMZpk7An81rV4RDtdfQFTe8U9AJuwuraFOq5Jpi_b-przBqxvleqqArSHxcI8D2a3WP81lW5y1soqkXODO-r/s1600/023.gif" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6era6Vqkdh0XvEr5nv5u7EMdcPI3lqOYg-0AIbfPJJGr3DNvCFnGLckIxUMZpk7An81rV4RDtdfQFTe8U9AJuwuraFOq5Jpi_b-przBqxvleqqArSHxcI8D2a3WP81lW5y1soqkXODO-r/s400/023.gif" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-5ooRZHSaIQ8wCiX6Ebe9QSfc93n8LgFcuaDlvAWvqNA1EsoM4e0XVVlqJP43jAOfbSMYL3TqIy0bw5WX17c-z95I7N0sXHr4UADm9zINd_x7hi122FrYmB3e2mIRYrPa0uqVgeDNUvr/s1600/0002.gif" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq-5ooRZHSaIQ8wCiX6Ebe9QSfc93n8LgFcuaDlvAWvqNA1EsoM4e0XVVlqJP43jAOfbSMYL3TqIy0bw5WX17c-z95I7N0sXHr4UADm9zINd_x7hi122FrYmB3e2mIRYrPa0uqVgeDNUvr/s400/0002.gif" /></a>

These Make Things So Much Easier To Understand What Is Going On

I just love animated cut aways, they give you a perspective on things like nothing else can.

First 4K Enabled Smartphone: Acer Liquid S2

1:21 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Acer announced first smartphone with 4K recording in Berlin at IFA 2013 on 2nd September. The term 4K refers to the horizontal resolution (instead of the vertical) of these formats, which are all on the order of 4,000 pixels. The 6-inch Liquid S2 has comes with the tag of first 4K Ultra HD recording capability smartphone. 4K UHD has twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of the 1080p HD format, with four times as many pixels overall. The resolution of 4K UHD is 3840-by-2160.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NWPkkx3chvw/UiWaw_lTJYI/AAAAAAAAARw/028f_v_XAYE/s1600/engagt.comet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Acer announced first 4k recording smartphone" border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NWPkkx3chvw/UiWaw_lTJYI/AAAAAAAAARw/028f_v_XAYE/s1600/engagt.comet.jpg" title="acer liquid S2" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">engaget.com</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You will feel a different experience of photography with Liquid S2. To make 4k recording possible, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz processor is used in device. For better connectivity 4G LTE and Wi-Fi 802.11 ac present in device. The mobile can also work as a Wi-Fi router and can connect with up to 6 Wi-Fi enabled devices. The smartphone will run on Android 4.2.2 OS.</span></div><h4 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Technical Specifications:</span></h4><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Rear Camera</span>: 13MP with auto-focus, LED ring flash, BSI sensor, f2.2, 28 mm lens, 4K Ultra HD video, 4X slow motion, full panorama pictures, smart Best shot, tag widget, favourite mode, freehand capture and live screen.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Frond Camera</span>: 2MP, 88° wide angle, 1080p HD video, BSI sensor.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Processor</span>:  Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Display</span>: 6-inch full HD with 1920-by-1080 pixel resolution, IPS.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Space</span>: 16GB internal expandable up to 128GB with 2GB RAM.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">OS</span>: Android 4.2.2.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Battery</span>: 3300 mAh, Li-polymer battery.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Network</span>: 4G: 800/1800/2600 3G: 900/2100, 2G: 850/900/1800/1900.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Dimensions</span>: 166 x 86 x 8.99 mm.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Sensors</span>: Light sensor, accelerometer, proximity sensor, digital compass, gyro.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Colour</span>: Red or Black</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Connectivity</span>: Wi-Fi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® 4.0, GPS+GLONASS, NFCs.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Other Features</span>: Skitch, YouTube™, Moodagent, Polaris Office, Swype text input, Google</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keep, Evernote®, wireless display, Dolby Digital Plus</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Price</span>: not confirmed yet.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The device will be available in market of Europe at the end of October and not confirmed yet about Asia. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/100638775997274345522" rel="author">Anil Swami</a></div></div>

4k android 4.2 processor sensors ultra HD First 4K Enabled Smartphone: Acer Liquid S2

Acer announced first smartphone with 4K recording in Berlin at IFA 2013 on 2nd September. The term 4K refers to the horizontal resolution (i...

How Much Money Does Gareth Bale Make in a Week?

9:54 PM Tukiyooo 0

gareth bale 100 mn How Much Money Does Gareth Bale Make in a Week?

The Spurs star Gareth Bale has just signed a Euro100 mn 6 year contract with Real Madrid that has sent seismic reverberations throughout the...

Instant Karma Is Gonna Get You!!

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheeeeeeeers Chuckleheads!!<br /><br />It’s good to see you all on this most inspiring first Tuesday in September.<br /><br />Jayman and I put on one helluva<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/09/01/season-4-premiere-extravaganza" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"> IWS Radio</span></a> show this past Sunday, and if you missed it LIVE, you can catch all the hilarity right <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2013/09/01/season-4-premiere-extravaganza" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">HERE</span></a>.  And trust me, we had a topless babe on the air, and it was HOT!!<br /><br />Anyhoo…<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xMzfbqj1rolfdyMnp9gHRIdfmh1_mT2mvT9eQKoCKhlXRuE2bIFrvfZpphw8bLigKX0vzuqjk1roxWiB3n9IJgnZ2yFxS8pwAW9wCn-YlovXIHSEYL0a4NkRLi2HmJJQigbB7ZrK5LHV/s1600/Rude+Person.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xMzfbqj1rolfdyMnp9gHRIdfmh1_mT2mvT9eQKoCKhlXRuE2bIFrvfZpphw8bLigKX0vzuqjk1roxWiB3n9IJgnZ2yFxS8pwAW9wCn-YlovXIHSEYL0a4NkRLi2HmJJQigbB7ZrK5LHV/s400/Rude+Person.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Many people in my life, and no I am not kidding Jayman and others, think I am far too nice to people.  One of whom who thinks this, is my boss, and owner of the Beer Mine at which I work, Drive-By Mikey.<br /><br />Don’t get me wrong, while we do sell a ton o’ beer everyday, 95% of the folks who come through are pleasant and behaved, but…<br /><br />The other 5% can be rude, self-absorbed, whiny, stupid assholes.<br /><br />I nearly always rise above the instances of a jerk coming through, and Mike has often told me, “Man, you are too nice sometimes; I would have told that jerk to go to hell.”<br /><br />I have always and to this day do respond…<br /><br /><i>“Eh, it wasn’t time to jump on him (or her), but no worries, I keep notes of people on a Rolodex in my head.”</i><br /><br />After I say that, Mike usually responds, <i>“Whatever.” </i> Because that is something that I have always told Mike about me that he doesn't understand...that being…<br /><br />Patience is not only a virtue…it’s a well-conceived time bomb.<br /><br />See?  Two weeks ago, this dude in a pick em up truck came through and asked for a 12 pack of Miller Lite and a bag of ice.<br /><br />I gave said thirsty man his order.  He drove outside of the Beer Mine, out the contents in his cooler, and thennnn…He came into the office with empty box and plastic bag, and said, <i>“Here, trash.”</i><br /><br />I thought to myself…<i>”Oh no you didn't just do that?”</i>  But I bit my tongue and took it.<br /><br />Last week, he came through and ordered the same thing, and wouldn't you know..?  He brought me his trash again and never uttered a word!!  No at word of <i>“thanks”</i>.  Not a word of, <i>“Is this okay?”</i>  Not a word of,  <i>“Do you mind?”</i><br /><br />To which I said to myself…<br /><br /><i>“Y’know Lord…I try to be a good person.  I try to live by your word. In fact, other than my occasional drunkenness which I confine to my home (and on my Facebook page), I try to be a non-judgmental, get along, go along kinda guy…but if this rude motherfucker ever comes through here again, I am going to pass judgment.”</i><br /><br />Well my friends, yesterday Rude Man came through, and it <i>was</i> Judgment Day!!<br /><br />He ordered a 12 pack of Miller Lite, and a small bag of ice.<br /><br />The order came to $12.10.<br /><br />The man only had $12.00, so he asked me…<br /><br /><i>“Can you front me a dime?”</i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4orrmJ_vJgjUK3K11qoQy4zBKok3foGHWpDkKvAK5TjPgtL-c2VNRr5XiF4RfGYNwgQ65rOLqrUBXYeP8M0E7XPZrrdSubKGGQ6U0a-Vb0FzsJlVtu3KOHjropyypzo27VwmpseuDCU4/s1600/Beer+Mine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4orrmJ_vJgjUK3K11qoQy4zBKok3foGHWpDkKvAK5TjPgtL-c2VNRr5XiF4RfGYNwgQ65rOLqrUBXYeP8M0E7XPZrrdSubKGGQ6U0a-Vb0FzsJlVtu3KOHjropyypzo27VwmpseuDCU4/s400/Beer+Mine.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Oh Dear God!!  The responses that ran through my mind!!  Five hours of responses that actually lit up every synapse in my brain in a mere two seconds.<br /><br />I said to rude Mr. Trash Man…<br /><br /><i>“Aren't you the guy who gives me your trash every week?  That’s pretty rude.”</i><br /><br />He responded,<i> “I could have just thrown it in your lot.”</i><br /><br /><i>“Or you could have thrown your trash into the bed of your truck like most people do.”</i>, I said.<br /><br />And as Mikey came out to see what was going on, he heard…<br /><br /><i>“So you won’t give me dime?”</i><br /><br />And I said, <i>“Nope, because you are rude.”</i><br /><br />And the dude said,<i> “I guess I’ll take my business elsewhere.”</i> and then he drove off.<br /><br />After that, Mike and I did the fist hit and Mike said…<br /><br /><i>“After ten years in this business, I have come to realize that if we could just kick the assholes out and break even, it would be better than making a lot of money dealing with them, and I see now why you have that stupid Rolodeck or whatever that you talk about.”</i><br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br />Matt-Man<br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></div>

Instant Karma Is Gonna Get You!!

Cheeeeeeeers Chuckleheads!! It’s good to see you all on this most inspiring first Tuesday in September. Jayman and I put on one helluva IWS...

Software Engineering Manager (C++/ C# / OOD / OOP / Java / UML / EDA ) (#110037)

5:16 PM Anonymous 0

<font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size:10pt;">  <div><b>Position</b>: Software Engineering Manager<br>    <b>Location</b>: Milpitas, CA <br>    <b>Duration</b>: Full time<br>    <br>    <b>Job Description</b>:<br>    The Wafer Inspection Division (WIN) is the world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced optical inspection tools for inline monitoring of process defects in advanced semiconductor factories.</div>  <div>We are seeking a Software Project Manager in our Milpitas, California campus.<br>    <br>    <b>Responsibilities:<br>    </b>You will be a key member of our highly integrated multi-disciplinary engineering team comprised of software, optical, mechanical, robotics, electronics, control systems and image processing engineers. You will be responsible for managing software projects  for next generation Semiconductor Wafer Inspection machines. You will coordinate software planning, development, testing, and quality control with engineers across a large global software team. You will work closely with a variety of software teams to track  and report progress to the team and senior management.  You will leverage your strong people skills to help manage resource dependencies across features and projects and work with managers and engineers on the R&D, Applications, Manufacturing, and Service teams  to clear roadblocks and keep development running smoothly. You will leverage your strong engineering background to help guide technical decision making on the project. You will leverage your ability to influence others to help you get things done, even if they  don't report to you.  You will collaborate closely with customers, internal and external, to define use-cases and requirements and act with a sense of urgency to deliver value quickly.<br>    <br>    <b>Preferred Qualifications:<br>    </b><b>Qualified candidates will meet the following criteria:<br>    </b>•You have 7 years of experience developing Object-Oriented software in Java, C++, or C#. </div>  <div>•You have experience writing software to control hardware including instrumentation, servo systems, data acquisition, or robotics.</div>  <div>•You have at least 3 years of experience managing software projects with 15 or more software developers contributing to the code base.</div>  <div>•You are an excellent communicator-- you write and speak clearly.</div>  <div>•You really like working with people.  You have excellent soft skills.</div>  <div>•You are a wizard with MS Project, Excel, and leading ALM tools (IBM RTC, MS TFS, or other)</div>  <div>•You know how to deliver quality products. You have experience defining testing strategies and leveraging automation to minimize testing cycle time.<br>    <br>    <b>Preference given to candidates that meet some of the following criteria:</b></div>  <div>•You are a certified Scrum Master. You have experience scaling Agile practices in large organizations.  </div>  <div>•You have PMP certification.</div>  <div>•You have experience working with EDA tools and GDSII/OASIS data formats.</div>  <div>•You have experience writing image processing software.</div>  <div>•You have worked with large scale storage technologies.</div>  <div>•You have worked in the semiconductor equipment industry.<br>    <br>    <b>Minimum Qualifications:</b></div>  <div>Bachelor's Level Degree with at least 10 years of experience.</div>  <div>OR</div>  <div>Master's Level Degree with at least 9 years of experience.</div>  <div>OR</div>  <div>Doctorate (Academic) with at least 7 years of experience.<br>    <br>    Kindly send your resumes to <a href="mailto:Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com"><font color="navy"><u>Sivaram.bose@kla-tencor.com</u></font></a></div>  <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></font></div>  </span></font>

Software Engineering Manager (C++/ C# / OOD / OOP / Java / UML / EDA ) (#110037)

Position : Software Engineering Manager Location : Milpitas, CA Duration : Full time Job Description : The Wafer Inspe...

LOVE & BEAUTY: THE 1ST TWO THINGS WE SAY ABOUT GOD

4:04 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">[Previously in God Of Our Silent Tears, the Purple Rider of the Sage, challenged basic assumptions about God including absolute omnipotence and the doctrine of <i>creatio ex nihilo. </i>In Chapter 6, he will begin naming core truths about God's nature -- starting with Love & Beauty, before going on to more divine attributes that tell us how God responds to suffering and evil. God of our Silent Tears is now available to order on line from The Cathedral Bookstore (Los Angeles) </span>http://cathedral-bookstore.myshopify.com/products/god-of-our-silent-tears]<br /><br />             <br /><div class="WordSection1"> <div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is no word that is more difficult to use appropriately than ‘God’.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nicholas Lash, <i>The Beginning And End Of Religion<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            If God is a dog drowsing<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            contemplating<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            the quintessential dogginess <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            of the universe, of the whole<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            canine race, why are we<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            uneasy?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            No dog I know<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            would hurl thunderbolts<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            or plant plague germs<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            or shower us with darts <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            of pox or gonococci.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            No. He lies on his back<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            awaiting the cosmic belly rub,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            he wags his tail signifying<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            universal love; he frolics and cavorts . . .<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            But God is all too human . . .<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.0in; text-indent: -.5in;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                                                </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">From “If God Is A Dog” by Erica Jong,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 4.5in; text-indent: -2.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                                                <i>At The Edge Of The Body</i><b>  <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            “God” is a rich word, the richest word. Liberating it from the patriarchal image, the big guy in the sky dominating everything, breaks open the way to see more of who God is. We could write shelves full of books about God. But for purposes of this book, we will look at just a few characteristics of God that mean God can sustain and empower us in the face of tragedy – without being a dominator.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            God is our moral azimuth, the North Star that orients all our values, and our values orient our actions, indeed our whole life. What makes God “God” in our eyes defines what we believe life is about. If God is God by virtue of absolute power, we worship power. If God is God by virtue of knowing everything, we worship knowledge. If God is God by virtue of being the judge of all, we worship judgment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            We become like the God we believe in. Our image of God determines what we esteem, what we do, and ultimately who we hope to become.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> A God who is waiting on the edge of his seat to exact wrathful judgment on a fallen world will have worshipers who judge New York or Baghdad to be evil and bomb the wicked city to oblivion. Because God is the infinite mystery, we cannot prove our beliefs about God with ordinary evidence. But we can discern good religion from bad religion by the effect of the religion on the characters of its adherents. “By their fruits shall you know them.” There are a lot of bad ideas about God claiming to be Christian views, or worse <i>the </i>Christian view.  So in this chapter, we will rethink the meaning of the word “God.” We will ask seriously “what are the defining characteristics of God? What makes God God?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            As we examine any doctrine of God, we can test it by asking: is this picture of God truly our highest value? Is this image of God genuinely beautiful? Is this God the kind of person we want to become? Our goal in this book is to speak of God in ways that console, strengthen, empower, and liberate -- to engage in “emancipatory God-talk.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">  As Archbishop William Temple said, “If you have a false idea of God, the more religious you are the worse it is for you – it were better for you to be an atheist”<i>.</i></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> So let’s examine a few of the basic things the Christian tradition has said about God, things which make all the difference for how God responds to suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" /></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">A.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">    </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">GOD IS LOVE <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; margin-left: .5in; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">                        St. John teaches us that God’s very essence is love.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></a>We experience God’s love in blessings, as the General Thanksgiving in the Book of Common Prayer<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[v]</span></span></span></a>puts it, “our creation, preservation and all the blessings of this life, . . .  the means of grace and the hope of glory.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></a>Love, not power, is the defining essence of God, the very godness of God. God is God not by virtue of omnipotence, but by virtue of omni-love, omni-delight, omni-compassion. This is a claim about the meaning and value of existence that runs directly counter to power narrative Christianity. Canadian theologian Douglas John Hall, speaking particularly of his own Lutheran tradition, says:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        Because for Luther human existence is a frail and uncertain<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        business, divinity for him is not first of all sovereign omnipotence<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        (as it was for Calvin) but astonishing <i>compassion.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[vii]</span></b></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Even before there was a world for God to love, God was already loving. There was a beginning of the universe and the universe will come to an end. But there is no beginning and no end to the divine love out of which the universe is born and into which it will finally merge. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            God’s love is irreconcilably inconsistent with literal omnipotence because divine love is not just affection for what pleases God. Princeton theologian Diogenes Allen aptly expresses the way God loves when he describes how we are called to love. Allen says we are to love everything in the realm of reality <i>that is independent of us</i>. In other words, we love it even if we can’t control it, and therefore it is not precisely as we would like it to be. Allen writes,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            (W)e must love that which is absolutely independent of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            We do recognize differences between good and evil,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            between suffering and happiness. But . . . we are <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            to love them nonetheless; that is, we are not to allow<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            our tastes, desires, preferences, notions of utility,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            or even our moral judgments to prevent our loving them. . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            (T)o remove the self is to prevent the operation<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            of our tastes, desires, ideas of utility and the rest<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            from (blinding us to) things as they are – whether useless <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">or useful, good or bad, painful or pleasant, they are to be loved,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            as a whole and in each detail, because they are there.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[viii]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">As long as we are in control, we do not really love things as they are. We love rather the reflection of our own wills, the satisfaction of getting our own way. Loving only what suits our tastes is like gazing fondly into a mirror. To really love is to delight in and cherish things which are not as we would have them be. Human love is so readily ensnared in and twisted by our compulsion to judge!  So to speak of loving that which does not please us, that which is not as we would have it be, we have to imagine love greater than we can experience. At best we know a hint of it on rare occasions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            Divine love appreciates the sheer reality of something, the suchness of it, its very independence from control. God creates that which is not God, so that God can love an other, love those who are truly different – even that which is ungodly. God relinquishes control so that God can flow out of Godself in love for that which is not God, that which is not like God, that which is not as God would choose for it to be. God loves a world which is sometimes utterly unlovable in our eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            Divine love shocks our sensibilities. When Jesus revealed divine love, people were appalled. Does this mean God loves sin and evil? I would follow Augustine in saying evil is not a thing to be loved or hated and sin is love disordered. God loves the love which motivates the sinner, even though the sinner’s love is disordered. God’s love recognizes the distinction between good and evil. God loves into them both, but loves differently. The good is loved with celebration and delight. The evil is loved <i>into</i> (note the all important preposition) with grief and reconciling invitation. But God always values the suchness, the is-ness, the being of everyone and everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            Students routinely ask me, “What about Adolph Hitler? Does God love Hitler? Must we love Hitler?” Simone Weil was the theologian most radically committed to belief in God’s all-inclusive unconditional love. She would insist on loving Hitler, but she died in 1943 as an active participant in the Free French resistance. Love in the face of evil manifests as resistance, not acquiescence or condonation. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            Once we realize that literal omnipotence and love are mutually exclusive, we have to make a choice. Will we define God as Perfect Love or Total Dominance? Scripture, logic, and much of the Christian tradition are on the side of love. But ultimately we have to search our own hearts. The word “God” represents our most deeply held value. “God” means what we hold to be the highest good, the truest truth, the loveliest beauty. So, what do we regard as the most valuable, the most important thing – love or dominance?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">            The point of defining God as love instead of dominance is not to get God off the hook for evil.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[ix]</span></span></span></a>The point is to see how God responds to it, but that may still leave us with an issue to struggle with. A God of love instead of power may not be what we want in the face of life’s troubles. Some of us are reluctant to accept that God’s power is limited because those limitations might undermine our trust that God can deliver us. That objection, however, rests on the assumption that our problems can be solved by power. Much human suffering cannot be redeemed by powerful interventions, understanding “power” to mean dominance and control, but it can be redeemed by divine love. As Douglas John Hall says,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Who through power tactics, can eliminate the self-destroying habits of a son or daughter fallen prey to hard drugs? What nation through power alone can ensure world peace? . . . There is no sword that can cut away sin without killing the sinner . . . . (T)here are situations where power is of no avail. <i>They are most of the situations in which we human beings find ourselves! . . . </i>They are most of the situations God finds God’s Self in too.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[x]</span></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">There are better ways than dominating power – not quick fixes, but ways that genuinely redeem us and make us whole. Instead of dominance, love is power like the electricity that lights a lamp, or fire that warms us on a cold night. Love heals and redeems. That is God’s kind of power. To change our understanding of God requires us to rethink how we hope to be saved from affliction. To change our understanding of God requires us to rethink our assumption that problems can be solved by Rambo-style interventions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">B.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">    </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">GOD IS BEAUTIFUL<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            <i>How late I came to love thee, O Beauty, so ancient and so fresh.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        </span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                                                St. Augustine of Hippo<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        Beauty is the chief attribute of God according to 18th Century American Calvinist, Jonathan Edwards. David Bentley Hart cites the Church Fathers in support of Edwards’ view:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        God is beauty and also beautiful, whose radiance shines upon and is                                          reflected in his creatures . . . the splendor that gathers all things . . . into                                           itself. (<i>De divinis nominibus </i>4.7).</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn11" name="_ednref11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xi]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Scripture attests to the beauty, the splendor, and the glory of God.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn12" name="_ednref12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xii]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> St. Gregory of Nyssa retold the story of Moses as a quest for the beatific vision, for the ever-expanding beauty of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        Moses: though he is filled to overflowing, says Gregory,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        he always thirsts for more of God’s beauty, . . . ; and<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        such is the action of every soul that loves beauty: drawn on<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        forever by a desire enkindled always anew by the beauty that <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        lies beyond the beauty already possessed, receiving the visible<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        as an image of God’s transcendent loveliness, . . .</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn13" name="_ednref13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xiii]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Consider the implications for our relationship with God, and for our sense of what life is about, if we thought of God primarily in terms of beauty to be enjoyed rather than dominating power to be feared. This ancient understanding of God has been understated in recent centuries. But today we are in the midst of a reawakening of theological aesthetics, and are rediscovering the relationship between art and religion.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn14" name="_ednref14" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xiv]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; tab-stops: .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">                        What does God’s beauty have to do with God’s response to suffering? Perhaps everything. Philosopher Marilyn McCord Adams says that God’s beauty redeems even “horrendous evils,” the kinds of suffering which make life seem no longer worth living. Her argument rests on the following points:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            1.         God is so unimaginably greater than creation that God is of a totally                                  different order from our earthly experience or us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            2.         God’s goodness includes God’s beauty, which is immeasurably greater                                     than “created goods or ills.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            3.         “Contemplation of Divine Beauty” engulfs the harm we have suffered, even                      “horrendous evils.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn15" name="_ednref15" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xv]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">God redeems by the power of Divine Beauty to attract, console, and heal rather than the power of domination.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn16" name="_ednref16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xvi]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Desire is the tug of the infinitely beautiful vortex that is God. Delight, the culmination of desire, is our foretaste of ultimate joy. Even horrors grow dim in the light of resplendent glory. St. Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.”</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn17" name="_ednref17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xvii]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            This hope for healing in the “kindly light” of God’s glory does not mean some greater good of cosmic order justifies the sacrifice of individual victims. In order to fit the goodness of God, the restoration must be sufficient to make each and every victim of evil whole, to give them such a good thing that it makes their life worthwhile despite the horrors they have endured. Such horrors are so great that they can be defeated only by the incomparable goodness of God.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn18" name="_ednref18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xviii]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">            The redemption of each individual is essential to the morality of God. Ivan Karamazov lamented over the suffering of a little girl left to freeze in an outhouse on a Russian winter night. To his credit, he would not have his own eternal bliss purchased by such an atrocity. But finally, Ivan has missed the point. The little girl’s suffering does not purchase his eternal bliss. Her eternal bliss redeems her from the atrocity she suffered – an atrocity which was not part of God’s plan but was always contrary to God’s will. David Bentley Hart, who takes Ivan’s argument quite seriously and respects Ivan’s protest as essentially Christian, says:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        . . . (O)ne might even suspect Ivan of a willingness to freeze<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        (the little girl) forever in the darkness of her torments – as a   <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">                        perpetual symbol of his revolt against heaven – rather than <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">release her into a happiness he thinks unjust.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_edn19" name="_ednref19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Tms Rmn","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Tms Rmn"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[xix]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Heaven, the beatific vision, eternal bliss – our destiny in union with God – is not a cosmic good purchased by the blood and tears of individuals. Rather it is the redemption of each individual from wrongs that were just that – wrongs – torments that should never have had to be endured. It is finally arriving at the joy upon which “the strange beauty of the world” depends. . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />  <div id="edn1"> <div class="EndnoteText1" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;">Such a diverse lot as constructive theologian Gordon Kaufman,  feminist theologian, Sallie Macfague, Catholic transcendental theologian, Karl Rahner, and liberation theologian, Dororthee Soelle, agree that our definition of God  matters very much because God images shape who we become and determine our values.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn2"> <div class="EndnoteText1" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Cheryl A. Kirk-Dugggan, <i>Refiner’s Fire </i>(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001) p. 156.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn3"> <div class="EndnoteText1" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Quoted in Kenneth Leech, <i>True Prayer</i>. (San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980) p. 3.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn4"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[iv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I John 3 and 4, particularly 4:16.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div></div><div id="edn5"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[v]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> The Book of Common Prayer, in its various editions and adaptations, contains the order of worship for churches of the Anglican Communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer originally redacted it during the reign of King Edward VI. Cranmer drew most of the prayers from earlier liturgical text. But the General Thanksgiving is his own composition.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn6"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[vi]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Book of Common Prayer (New York: Church Publishing, Corp., 1986) p. 101.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn7"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[vii]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Douglas John Hall, <i>The Cross In Our Context: Jesus And The Suffering World</i>, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003) p. 22.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn8"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[viii]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Diogenes Allen, <i>The Path of Perfect Love.</i> (Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1992) p. 15. Allen is drawing on Simone Weil’s comments on Irish Murdoch’s <i>The Unicorn. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn9"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[ix]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> If God is love – not dominance – the logical problem of evil misses the point rather badly. Literal omnipotence, which is the foundation stone of our logical problem, is inconsistent with our most basic claim about God’s nature. This rejection of omnipotence does not completely resolve “the problem of evil.” It does not deny that God has substantial power. To say God is not omnipotent is not the same as saying God is helpless or uninvolved. Maybe God cannot prevent all evil, but could God prevent some of the horrendous evil and affliction that is apparently tolerated? If penicillin could eventually be discovered and save so many lives, could it not have been discovered centuries before? The existential cry of “why” remains. But the tidy logical knot that seemed to disprove the Christian God has not done any such thing. It has only contributed to the refining of our language, to reminding us that talk of literal omnipotence is reckless and unreasonable.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn10"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[x]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Douglas John Hall, at 98-99.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn11"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; tab-stops: -1.0in -.5in .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in 7.0in 7.5in 8.0in 8.5in 9.0in 9.5in 10.0in 10.5in 11.0in 11.5in 12.0in 12.5in 13.0in;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref11" name="_edn11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> David Bentley Hart, <i>The Beauty Of The Infinite</i>, p. 177.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn12"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; tab-stops: -1.0in -.5in .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in 7.0in 7.5in 8.0in 8.5in 9.0in 9.5in 10.0in 10.5in 11.0in 11.5in 12.0in 12.5in 13.0in;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref12" name="_edn12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Psalm 27:4; Zechariah 9:17; 1 Chr. 16:29; 2 Chr. 20:21; Psalm 90:17; John 17:24.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn13"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref13" name="_edn13" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xiii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> David Bentley Hart, <i>The Beauty Of The Infinite</i>, p. 195.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; tab-stops: -1.0in -.5in .05pt .5in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in 7.0in 7.5in 8.0in 8.5in 9.0in 9.5in 10.0in 10.5in 11.0in 11.5in 12.0in 12.5in 13.0in;"><br /></div></div><div id="edn14"> <div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref14" name="_edn14" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xiv]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Hans Urs Von Balthasar, <i>The Glory Of The Lord: A Theological Aesthetics</i> trans. Brian McNeil (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1989). David Bentley Hart, <i>The Beauty Of The Infinite</i>. See generally, <i>Art, Theology, and the Church</i>, ed. Kimberly Vrudny and Wilson Yates (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2005). “Creation’s being is God’s pleasure; creation’s beauty is God’s glory; a Taboric effulgence, upon all things . . . that proclaims God’s    splendor . . . . The delightfulness of created things expresses the delightfulness of God’s infinite distance. For Christian thought, then delight is the premise of any sound epistemology: it is delight that constitutes creation and so only delight can comprehend it . . . .” David Bentley Hart, <i>The Beauty Of The Infinite</i>, pp. 252-253.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn15"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xv]</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Adams, p. 147.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn16"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref16" name="_edn16" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xvi]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Cheryl Kirk-Duggan says the beauty of the divine image in the human soul draws us toward the contemplation of God’s beauty in just this way: “If every human being is created <i>imago dei </i>[in the image of God]<i>, </i>then (they creatively express) . . .holiness. That holiness . . . is resplendent in color, light, sound, fury, and love. Such holiness is beautiful and aesthetic. Aesthetics is a body of knowledge that comes from experiencing imagination, sensation, and the feeling of the idea of the beautiful. Beauty, along with truth and goodness, is a transcendental, a property that must accompany being and exists within every being. Beauty, therefore, is a path for the desire and longing that goes back and forth between God and us.” Cheryl A. Kirk-Duggan, p. 155.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn17"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref17" name="_edn17" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xvii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Romans 8: 18.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div><div id="edn18"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref18" name="_edn18" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xviii]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> Adams, p. 155.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><br /></div></div><div id="edn19"> <div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1941566034196038608#_ednref19" name="_edn19" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[xix]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"> David Bentley Hart, <i>The Doors Of The Sea</i>, pp. 88-89.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div></div>

LOVE & BEAUTY: THE 1ST TWO THINGS WE SAY ABOUT GOD

[Previously in God Of Our Silent Tears, the Purple Rider of the Sage, challenged basic assumptions about God including absolute omnipo...