I just got back from watching Kingsman the Golden Circle and I'm going to do a movie review but this review is not going to be like any other movie review on YouTube so stay tuned. And if you haven't seen the movie yet I have to warn you that there will be spoilers.  What's up everybody this is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution. And if you're new here, if you're just now joining my channel is all about mental health, about addiction, about all sorts of stuff and today I'm going to be focusing on Kingsman the Golden Circle but I'm going to be talking about some topics when it comes to drugs, the war on drugs and the state of America right now because this movie actually touched on a bunch of those topics and I don't think many people are going to be discussing them in this way. So just to lay out the plot for you first we're going to talk about the villain Miss Poppy played by the lovely Julianne Moore. Today marks the beginning of a new age but I'm going to show you say goodbye to the Kingsman. So Poppy is a drug lord alright basically she's in charge of most of the drugs all around the world and because she is she has to live in hiding she lives in a very secluded area in a place that is not even discovered by the rest of the world and what she wants to do is do what she does legally. She talks about how she is one of the most successful business women in the world but nobody even knows who she is because what she does in her business is actually illegal and she thinks drugs should be legal and people should know how amazing she is.  When you use her drugs you get this disease that turns your veins blue and that's the first symptom and then you start getting into this like dance craze which then leads to paralysis and then you stop breathing and like your eyes explode and blood starts shooting out all over the place. It's not a good look. So what she does is that she holds the United States or the world rather ransom. Her demands are that unless you sign an executive order that makes these drugs illegal and you make me immune to any kind of legal ramifications all these people are going to die because I'm the one who has the antidote. Now this is a topic that I have discussed on this channel and I'll put a link up in the info card above my head. I have talked about the legalization of weed and how I actually voted for recreational marijuana use here in Las Vegas well in the state of Nevada and this is a big deal. When we're talking about the war on drugs this is a very very failed war. We are criminalizing. We are locking people up because of their drug use and while Poppy in this movie she's just trying to do it to get fame and so people know who she is. This is actually a bigger issue with people using drugs. So many of these drugs are non-lethal and things like that and we've seen from the prohibition days that when things are illegal more people are actually going to use them whereas we could not only reduce the harm that these drugs do but we could also tax them it would fuel the economy as we've seen happen in many many many states. So that point of the movie I think is very very relevant and some of these next points are extremely relevant as well because we're talking about the decriminalization of drugs which I also did another video about Oregon is starting to do that more and more. Next we're going to talk about the president of the United States. The president of the United States is played by Mr. Bruce Greenwood.  His idea is these people are doing something illegal, get rid of them all, they all deserve to die so I'm just going to make everybody think that I'm going to submit to these demands but I'm really going to take my sweet time and let all these people die and the vice president is all like what what are you talking about these are people these are actual people we can't just let them die and the president's like well guess I shouldn't have done drugs in the first place and what they start doing they start rounding all the people who have been infected by this virus up and they put them in this big football stadium and they're all locked in these cages basically just waiting to die. Later we find out his vice president was actually a recreational drug user and she is in the Oval Office when she starts to get the blue veins and showing the first symptoms of being infected by this virus and that's when she makes a plea to him like hey we got to get the antidote from Poppy or I'm gonna die and the president basically sits back and he's like well guess you should have known better and she ends up getting shut off to one of these football stadiums where they're keeping everybody. Now this is some real stuff that we need to talk about right now. This is the narrative that a lot of people have is that drug users should die they're a joint on the economy and we're looking at them as things and a lot of people think that they should just die off. I've even seen hateful comments talking about natural selection and often times when I do these videos I talk about how these are mothers these are fathers these are sons these are daughters these are friends these are colleagues these are so many different people one point that the vice president brings up to the president when he's saying this to her is like I work for you 20 hours a day and maybe some people can do that without a chemical but I need that just to keep my mind right and this is a whole another topic but it's true a lot of people turn to drugs and alcohol because of the stresses they endure at work and the president being Mr. Goody two shoes thinks that these people should die in reality most people use drugs recreationally but if you check out my videos about the actual disease of addiction and how this works some people are genetically predisposed to addiction everybody tries drugs most everybody tries drugs but some people are prone to becoming addicted now I hate to say this and I will anyways when watching this I couldn't help but wonder like this made a very good point I couldn't help to wonder is is this what our current president is actually doing if you've been keeping up with my channel or you've been keeping up with the news when President Trump is talking about the opioid epidemic or Jeff Sessions talking about what we're doing to eradicate this thing we have to look and see what are they actually doing now I did do a video about a week or two ago about things that they're moving forward but an update on the president declaring a national emergency when it comes to opioid epidemic he said this publicly he said that this is a national emergency but saying that doesn't really doing anything updates have shown us that the president hasn't actually signed into anything any official documents that we are declaring a national emergency what this means is is that when there is a national emergency a lot of funds are allocated towards fighting this epidemic and President Trump actually hasn't done that yet so as I'm watching this movie I have to question is President Trump actually doing something like this is he actually just trying to make himself look better to get his approval ratings up or does he actually have a plan of action is he actually going to sign this in a document that this is a national emergency or is he willing to just let these people die because if they died they're not going to be able to vote for him in four years anyways just something to think about only time will tell on that one lastly I'm going to talk about whiskey whiskey is one of the statesmen that's part of the plot Kingsman gets blown up the statesmen are their American cousins and whiskey is like their main dude and we come to find out that whiskey actually is a traitor and after he gets shot in the head and brought back to life and he's shown a picture to jog his memory back clearly he lost somebody close to him a woman wife girlfriend fiance what is it well we come to find out that the reason why whiskey actually slapped the antidote out of ex's hand is because his wife was pregnant with their child and she was killed at a convenience store robbery by two meth heads so he has a personal grudge against people who use drugs and he wanted all of these drug users to die because of this personal vendetta that he has this is very real I remember on countless occasions people have asked me Chris how are you so compassionate to these people who hate drug addicts who hate drug users how are you so compassionate towards them because I know for a fact that many of them have been hurt by drug users in the past in some way shape or form me I'm a prime example my mom was an alcoholic my whole life she's coming up on 12 years sober but for 20 years I was raised by an alcoholic mom alcohol the disease of addiction it screwed me up as a kid it actually led to my addiction so I was directly affected by an addict so I have to show compassion to these people who have so much anger or hatred inside of them towards addicts because I know that most of them in some way they have been affected by drugs maybe it was a cousin who stole from their family member maybe it was their brother maybe it was their sister a lot of them have parents maybe it was a situation like this where a drug addict killed or robbed somebody that they loved and now they have this deep rooted resentment towards them so that's something else that we need to talk about so I'm really glad that I got to do a movie review about Kingsman because I love Kingsman I'm a I'm a big action fan it was a great movie if you haven't seen it yet go see it I think it was better than the first one but I want to do more videos like this where I bring up these underlying topics when it comes to mental health when it comes to addiction when it comes to drugs when it comes to alcohol so if you like this video please give it a thumbs up leave comments down below I'll definitely do more of them so again if you like this video give it a thumbs up and if you're new here I'm always doing videos about this and mental health and addiction so right below this little box click that round little subscribe button make sure you hit the little notification bell so you're always the first to know when I'm making new videos thanks for watching and I'll see you next time


Who, on God's green earth, decided that this suit needed to be replaced? I cannot fathom why one of the biggest fan favorites was turned into a mess of shiny dull colors and needless lines. Let's look at Spider-Man Homecoming. The entire arc of the movie is that Peter realizes he doesn't need to be an Avenger to be a hero, and the Iron Spider suit symbolizes the Avenger that he doesn't need to be. But just imagine how much more impactful the MCU Iron Spider symbolism would have been if it looked like the only Avenger trying to get him to join. Peter walks in, he sees the even more Iron Man-esque suit, he sees his future of being a superhero up in space fighting bug monsters and demons with the rest of the Avengers, and he decides that he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to be Iron Man up there with the other Avengers, he wants to be Spider-Man in New York. But fine, you could argue that Peter shouldn't be Iron Man isn't the arc of Homecoming. But it is in Far From Home. If the suit was comic accurate in this movie, Peter being decked out in the comic Iron Spider would have hit so much harder, because it looks so much like Iron Man's suit. People assume he's just gonna be the next Tony Stark, but that's clearly not the case, because MCU Iron Spider just looks like a powered up Spider-Man suit and not an Iron Man Spider suit like the one in the comic. Let's take a step back for a second. Let me be clear about who I'm blaming this on. I'm not blaming this on Ryan M, the designer of the suit. I know that he tried to make a comic accurate suit. The execs probably didn't pick that one. They picked this one, and that is what I am blaming. Is the idea that most comic book costumes need to change or be outright removed to make better or more well-received movies, because that idea is the very reason that we have not seen two of Spidey's best costumes on screen. This idea has ruined several Marvel characters' costumes. Wolverine, the most popular X-Man and one of the most well-known superheroes of all time is stuck wearing a tank top. Come on! That's like half the reason I haven't even seen these movies, because like they all look extremely boring. Give me the costume.  Half of these movies just take them away, or outright make them worse, because they're so afraid of these comic design. I mean, yeah, some of these are bad, but not all of them. Look at Peacemaker. I had no issues taking him seriously when he was crying about killing his dad, even though two seconds ago, he was smuggling chrome helmets while wearing a bright red t-shirt and white pants. Let's not skip over Vigilante either. His costume is a prime example of how to correctly adapt source material into real-life fabric. In a more recent example, She-Hole. Not her suit, I actually don't mind hers. I'm talking about the Wrecking Crew. This has got to be one of Marvel's worst adaptations. You want to know one of the only problems I have with this show?  Not only did they rob them of their costumes, they whitewashed the only black person on the team. The only reason I knew that these losers were the Wrecking Crew was because of their weapons. Would it have been so hard to have these guys look like the Wrecking Crew? This scene is supposed to be funny. If anything, I'd find it more hilarious if Jen Dog walked four massive guys with no effort. But let's get back to the Iron Spider suit. What was wrong with this costume? Why was this the costume that needed to be changed? There's nothing wrong with this costume critically. It perfectly balances out its colors. It's incredibly consistent. And it's very clearly supposed to be an Iron Man-themed Spider-Man outfit. There's no mistaking it. This is Spider-Man in his Iron Man jammies. But let's stop skipping around the MCU one. Let's finally go over its issues. First off, this costume completely rearranged the color palette of the original Iron Spider. The main reason the OG Iron Spider was as recognizable as an Iron Man Spider-Man suit is because it completely rips the color palette of most of Iron Man's suits. This adaptation of the costume changes the secondary color of the Iron Spider from gold to a dark navy blue, completely removing one of the strongest elements that makes this costume a good match-up, which was the color palette. Now the gold is relegated to being an accent color. So already we removed one of the most important elements of the costume. What else can we remove? The simplicity of the original. I understand to a degree that adapting a fictional costume into real life means you'll have to add some complexity to a costume. As much as I've trashed on the MCU in the past with their costumes, I understand why you have to turn this into this, even if I'm not happy with the results most of the time. Sometimes having a direct rip of the costume from the comics can make a hero look silly. I reviewed a costume last week that is literally a comic accurate Spider-Man outfit. But it looks a little silly because it's ripped right off the comic pages. So I understand the need for some extra seam lines and just lines in general. But this is just way too much. This is not how you add lines to a costume. They should look like muscle shirt lines.  Like why? This is the exact issue the homecoming suit had. But without having any other pros I could use to overlook this con. And there are weird LEDs put on the belt and shoulders of this costume. And then there are shoulder pads for some reason. Like why? And the worst part about this costume?  It's entirely CGI. There's no fabric, no seams, no zippers, no face shell. It's all fake. This costume was just another headache for overworked CGI artists to slave over. Thousands of dollars wasted on a fake CGI costume. But if you just ripped the costume, the one from the comics, you could have made it real because of how simple it is. Instead of overworking your CGI department and wasting money, every time this suit has to be on screen. So let's backtrack here. Marvel not only went with a piss-poor costume that steps over all the design choices the original had and did so much better, they went back with a costume so unrealistic that making it was out of the question so in consequence of their bad choice, CGI artists were overworked, their costume department was underutilized, and they wasted loads and loads of money in the process. You see, this is exactly why Marvel should hire me to do everything because I'm so smart and I know all the answers the universe beholds and I'm always right and I'm never wrong. It's not like you couldn't make an Iron Spider costume either. I even started making one a while ago. Look at this one by Kevin Creations. If you threw a couple of lines onto this and some fabric variation, it would fit perfectly into the MCU. The point is, is that an accurate Iron Spider can be done. It absolutely could have been done and it would have been easier for everyone involved, aside from the people in the costume department, to just have the comic version. Let me boil it down this way. The comic Iron Spider has a much simpler pattern and could have been made with relative ease and wouldn't murder the CGI department and thematically encapsulates what the Iron Spider is supposed to symbolize much more than the MCU version. It also would have worked much better in movies like Homecoming or Far From Home. The MCU version is much harder to make, is way more annoying for the CGI department and doesn't capture the themes as well as the OG Iron Spider. Not only critically is this costume much worse, it sacrifices a better, executed theme and it puts more work onto the CGI department. And it doesn't even look like the original outfit. This is one of the worst adaptations of a comic book costume I've ever covered in this series. Probably the worst. At least the rainy black suit had a killer look, even if it was just straight up ripped from the red and blue one.  The best part about this costume is that underneath all this bullshit, it's just the classic suit. This costume is one of the biggest examples of the comics beating the source material. Now, do I think comics shouldn't ever be changed? Of course not. I just wish the MCU executives knew when they wouldn't be able to beat the classic.  No, I think I'm going to keep this. I'm going to keep this as the outro and I'm going to be playing the outro card over this segment. That's right, boy. Anyway, thank you all so much for watching. I'm probably going to... The fan submissions video is going to be after this. Don't worry. I'll see you guys soon. Bye.


This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Autobiography of Madame Keon by Jean Keon. Volume 2, Chapter 20. On January 29, 1688, I went to St. Mary's. There they let me know I must neither have my daughter nor a maid to serve me, but must be locked up alone in a chamber. Indeed, it touched me to my heart when my daughter was taken from me. They would neither allow her to be in that house nor anybody to bring me any news of her. I was then obliged to sacrifice my daughter as if she were mine no longer. The people of the house were proposed with so frightful an account of me that they look at me with horror. For my jailer, they singled out a nun who, they thought, would treat me with the greatest rigor, and they were not mistaken therein. They asked me who was now my confessor. I named him, but he was seized with such a fright that he denied, though I could have produced many persons who had seen me at his confessional. So then they said they had caught me in a lie. I was not to be trusted. My acquaintances then said they knew me not, and others were at liberty to invent stories and say all manner of evil of me. The woman appointed for my keeper was gained over by my enemies to torment me as a heretic and enthusiast, one crack-breamed and a hypocrite. That alone knows what she made me suffer. As she saw to surprise me in my words, I watched them to be more exact in them, but I felt the worst for it. I made more slips and gave her more advantages over me thereby, beside the trouble in my own mind for it. I then left myself as I was and resolved, though this woman would bring me to the scaffold. By the false reports she was continually carrying to the prioress that I would similarly resign myself to my lot, so I re-entered into my former condition. Monsher Charon the official and the doctor of Sorbonne came four times to examine me. Our lord did me the favor which he promised to his apostles to make me answer much better than if I had studied Look 21, 14, 15. They said to me if I had explained myself as I now did in the book entitled Short and Easy Method of Prayer I would not now have been here. My last examination was about a counterfeit letter which they read and let me see. I told them the hand was no way like mine. They said it was only a copy. They had the original at home. I desired a sight of it, but could not obtain it. I told them I never wrote it, nor did I know the person to whom it was addressed, but they looked scarcely any notice of what I said. After this letter was read the official turned to me and said, You see, madam, that after such a letter there was foundation enough for imprisoning you. Yes, sir, said I, if I had written it. I showed them its falsehoods and inconsistencies, but all in vain. I was left two months and treated worse and worse before either of them came again to see me. Till then I had always some hope that seeing my innocence they would do me justice. But now I saw that they did not want to find me innocent, but to make me appear guilty. The official alone came the next time and told me that I must pick no more of the false letter, that it was nothing. How nothing, said I, to counterfeit a person's writing and to make one appear an enemy to the state. He replied, We will seek out the author of it. The author, said I, is no other than the scrivener Cotier. He then demanded where the papers were which I wrote on the scriptures. I told him I will give them up when I should be out of prison, but was not willing to tell with whom I had lodged them. About three or four days before Easter he came again with the doctor and a verbal process was drawn up against me for rebelling in not giving up letters. Copies of my writings were then put into their hands for I had not the originals. I know not where those who got them from me have put them, but I am firm in the faith that they will all be preserved in spite of the storm. The priors asked the official how my affair went. He said very well that I should soon be discharged. Peace became the common talk, but I had a presentiment of the contrary. I had an inexpressible satisfaction and joy in suffering and being a prisoner. The confinement of my body made me better relish the freedom of my mind. Saint Joseph's day was to me a memorable day, for then my state had more of heaven than of earth beyond what any expression can reach. This was followed, as it were, with a suspension of every favor then enjoyed, a dispensation of new sufferings. I was obliged to sacrifice myself anew and to drink the very draughts of the bitter draught. I never had any resentment against my persecutors, though I well knew them, their spirit and their actions. Jesus Christ and the saints saw their persecutors and at the same time saw that they could have no power except it were given them from above. John 19.11 Loving the strokes which God gives, one cannot hate the hand which he makes use of to strike with. A few days after the official came and told me he gave me the liberty of the cloister, that is, to go and come in the house. They were now very industrious in urging my daughter to consent to a marriage which had taken place would have been her ruin. To succeed herein they had placed here with a relation of the gentleman whom they wanted her to marry. All my confidence was in God that he would not permit it to be accomplished as the man had no texture of Christianity being abandoned both in his principles and morals. To induce me to give up my daughter they promised me an immediate release from prison and from every charge under which I labored. But if I refused they threatened me with imprisonment for life and with death on the scaffold. In spite of all the promises and threatenings I persistently refused. Soon after the official and doctor came to tell the priors I must be closely locked up. He represented to them that the chamber I was in was small, having an opening to the light or air only on one side through which the sun shone all the day long and being the month of July it must soon cause my death. They bet no regard. She asked why I must be that closely locked up. They said I had committed horrible things in her house even within the last month and had scandalized the nuns. He protested the contrary and assured them the whole community had received great defecation from me and could not but admire my patience and moderation. But it was all in vain. The poor woman could not refrain from tears at a statement so removed from the truth. They then sent for me and told me I had done base things in the last month. I asked what things. They will not tell me. I said then that I will suffer as long as much as it should please God that this affair was began on forgeries against me and so continued that God was witness of everything. The doctor told me that to take God for a witness in such a thing was a crime. I replied that nothing in the world could hinder me from having recourse to God. I was then shut up more closely than at first until I was absolutely at the point of death. Being thrown into a violent fever and almost stifled with the closeness of the place and not permitted to have any assistance. In the time of the ancient law there were several of the Lord's martyrs who suffered for reciting and trusting in the one true God. In the primitive Church of Christ the martyrs shed their blood for maintaining the truth of Jesus Christ crucified. Now there are martyrs of the Holy Ghost who suffer for their dependence on Him for maintaining His reign in souls and for being victims of the divine will. It is this spirit which is to be poured out on all flesh as said the Prophet Joel. The martyrs of Jesus Christ have been glorious martyrs. He having drunk up the confusion of that martyrdom but the martyrs of the Holy Spirit are martyrs of reproach and eagdominy. The devil no more exercises his power against their faith or belief but directly attacks the dominion of the Holy Spirit opposing his celestial motion in souls and discharging his hatred on the bodies of those whose minds he cannot hurt. Oh Holy Spirit, a spirit of love, let me ever be subjected to Thy will and as the leaf is moved before the wind so let me be moved by Thy divine breath. As the eventuous wind breaks all that resists it so break thou all that opposes Thy imbiour. Although I have been obliged to describe the procedure of those who persecute me I have not done it out of resentment since I love them at my heart and pray for them leaving to God the care of defending me and delivering me out of their hands without making any movement of my own for it. I have apprehended and believed that God will have me write everything sincerely that his name may be glorified that the things done in secret against his servants should one day be published on the house tops for the more they strive to conceal them from the eyes of men the more will God in his own time make them all manifest. August 22 1688 it was thought I was about coming out of prison and everything seemed to tend toward it but the Lord gave me a sense that far from being willing to deliver me they were only laying new snares to ruin me more effectually and to make Father Lamant known to the king and esteemed by him. On the day mentioned which was my birthday being 40 years of age I awaked under an impression of Jesus Christ in an agony seeing the cancel of the Jews against him I knew that none but God could deliver me out of prison and I was satisfied that he would do it one day by his own right hand though ignorant of the manner and living it holy to himself. In the order of divine providence my case was led before Madame de Mendenon who became deeply interested in the account given her of my sufferings and at length procure my release. A few days afterward I had my first interview with Abbey Fenelon coming out of St. Mary's I retire into the community of Madame Miramion where I kept my bed of a fever three months and had an embossing in my eye yet at this time I was accused of going continually out whole disaspected assemblies together with other groundless falsehoods. In this house my daughter was married to Monsieur Lanikola's focute count D'Ivohe I removed to my daughter's house and on account of her extreme youth lived with her two years and a half even there my enemies were ever forging one thing after another against me I then wanted to retire quite secretly to the house of the Benetins and Bondarchi, my native place but it was discovered and both friends and enemies jointly prevented the family in which my daughter was married being of the number of Abbey Fenelon's friends I had the opportunity of often seeing him at our house we had some conversations on the subject of a spiritual life in which he made several objections to my experience therein I answered them with my usual simplicity which as I found, gained upon him as the affair of Molinos at that time made a great noise the plainest things were distrusted and the terms used by mystic writers exploded so I so clearly expounded everything to him and so fully solved all his objections that no one more fully imbibed my sentiments than he which has since led the foundation of that persecution he has suffered his answers to the bishop of Moe evidently show to this to all who have read them I now took a little private house to follow the inclination I had for retirement where I sometimes had the pleasure of seeing my family and a few particular friends certain young ladies of Saint Cyr having informed Madame Mandanon that they found in my conversation something which attracted them to God she encouraged me to continue my instructions to them by the fine change in some of them with whom before she had not been well pleased she found she had no reason to repent of it she then treated me with much respect and for three years after while this lasted I received from her every mark of esteem and confidence but that very thing afterward drew on me the most severe persecution the free entrance I had into the house the confidence which some young ladies of the court distinguished for their rank and piety placed in me gave no small uneasiness to the people who had persecuted me the directors took ambridged at it and under pretext of the troubles I had some years before they engaged the bishop at Charter's superior of Saint Cyr to present to Madame Mandanon that by my particular conduct I traveled the order of the house that the young women in it were so attached to me and to what I said to them that they no longer hearken to the superiors I then meant I then went no more to Saint Cyr I answered the young ladies who wrote to me only by letters unsealed which passed through the hands of Madame Mandanon soon after I fell sick the physicians after trying in vain the usual method of cure ordered me to repair to the waters of Bourbon my servant had been induced to give me some poison after taking it I suffer such exquisite pains that without pity Saka I should have died in a few hours the man immediately ran away and I have never seen him since when I was at Bourbon the waters which I drew up burned like spirits of wine I had no thought of being poisoned till the physicians of Bourbon assure me of it the waters had but little effect I suffer from it for above seven years God kept me in such a disposition of sacrifice that I was quite resigned to suffer everything to receive from his hand all that might befall me since for me to offer it in any way to vindicate myself would be only beating the air when the Lord is willing to make anyone suffer he permits even the most virtuous people to be readily blinded towards them and I may confess that the persecution of the wicked is but little compared with that of the servants of the church deceived and animated with a zeal which they think right many of these were now by the artifices made use of greatly imposed on in regard to me I was represented to them in an odious light as a strange creature since therefore I must, O my Lord, be conformable to thee, to please thee I set more value on my humiliation and on seeing myself condemned of everybody than if I saw myself on the summit of honor in the world how often have I said, even in the bitterness of my heart that I should be more afraid of one reproach of my conscience than of the outright and condemnation of all men End of chapter 20 volume 2 Athens, Greece, July of 2009 The autobiography of Madame Keon by Jean Keon Volume 2 chapter 21 This LibriVox recording is in the public domain At this time I had my first acquaintance with the bishop of New I was introduced by an intimate friend, the Duke of Chavruz I gave him the foregoing history of my life and he confessed that he had found therein such an action as he had rarely done in other books and that he had spent three days in reading it with an impression of the presence of God on his mind all that time I proposed to the bishop to examine all my writings which he took four or five months to do and then advanced all his objections to which I gave answers From his unacquaintance with the interior paths I could not clear up all the difficulties which he found in them He admitted that looking into the ecclesiastical histories for ages past we may see that God has sometimes made use of laymen and of women to instruct, edify and help souls in their progress to perfection I think one of the reasons of God's acting thus is that glory may not be ascribed to any but to himself alone For this purpose he has chosen the weak things of this world to confound such as are mighty 1 Corinthians 1 verse 27 Jealous of the attributes which men pay to other men which are due only to himself he has made a paradox of such persons that he alone may have the glory of his own works I pray God with my whole heart sooner to crush me utterly with the most dreadful destruction than to suffer me to take the least honor to myself of anything which he has been pleased to do by me for the good of others I am only a poor nothing God is all-powerful He delights to operate and exercise his power by mere nothings The first time that I wrote a history of myself it was very short In it I had particularized my faults and sins and said little of the favors of God I was ordered to burn it, to write another and in it to omit nothing anyway remarkable that had befallen me I did it It is a crime to publish secrets of the king but it is a good thing to declare the favors of the Lord our God and to magnify his mercies As the outcry against me became more violent and Madame Mandonon was moved to declare against me I sent to her through the Duke of Bovellier requesting the appointment of proper persons to examine my life and doctrines offering to retire into any prison until fully exculpated My proposal was rejected In the meantime one of my most intimate friends and supporters Monshir Fokad was called away by death I felt his loss very deeply but rejoiced in his felicity He was a true servant of God Determined to retire out of the way of giving offense to any I wrote to some of my friends and bade them a last farewell not knowing whether I were to be carried off by the indisposition which I then had which had been a constant fever for 40 days past or to recover from it Referring to the countness of G and the Duchess of M I wrote When these ladies and others were in the vanities of the world When they patched and painted and some of them were in the way to ruin their families by gaming and profusion of expense in dress Nobody arose to say anything against it They were quietly suffered to do it But when they have broken off from all this then they cry out against me as if I had ruined them Had I drawn them from piety into luxury they would not make such an outcry The Duchess of M had her giving herself up to God though herself obliged to quit the court which was to her like a dangerous rock in order to bestow her time on the education of her children and the care of her family which till then she had neglected I beset you therefore to gather all the memorials you can against me If I am found guilty of the things they accused me of I owe to be punished more than any other since God has brought me to know Him and love Him and I am well assured that there is no communion between Christ and Belial I send them my two little printed books with my commentaries on the holy scriptures I also by the order wrote a work to facilitate the examination and to spare them as much time and trouble as I could which was to collect a great number of passages out of approved writers which show the conformity of my writings with those used by the holy pen men I caused them to be transcribed by the choir as I had written them in order to send them to the three commissioners I also as occasion presented clear up the dubious and obscure places I had written them at a time when the affairs of Molinos had not broken out I used the less precaution in expressing my thoughts not imagining that they would ever be turned into an evil sense This work was entitled The Justifications it was composed in 50 days and appeared to be very sufficient to clear up the matter but the bishop of New would never suffer it to be read after all the examinations and making nothing out against me who would not have thought but they could have left me to rest in peace quite otherwise the more my innocence appeared the more did they who had undertaken to render me criminal put every spring in motion to effect it I offered the bishop of New to go to spend some time in any community within his diocese that he might be better acquainted with me he proposed to me that of St. Mary de Mieux which I accepted but in going in the depth of winter I had like to have perished in the snow being stopped for hours the coach having entered into it and being almost buried in it in a deep hollow I was taken out at the door with one mate we sat upon the snow resigned to the mercy of God and expected nothing but death I never had more tranquility of mind though chilled and soaked with the snow which melted on us occasions like these are such as show whether we are perfectly resigned to God or not this poor girl and I were easy in our minds in a state of entire resignation though sure of dying if we pass the night there and seeing no likelihood of anyone coming to our soccer at length some wagoners came up who with difficulty drew us through the snow the bishop when he heard of it was astonished and had no little self-complicency to think that I had that risked my life to pay him so punctually yet afterward he denounced it as artifice and hypocrisy there were times indeed when I found nature overcharged but the love of God and his grace rendered it sweet to me to the very worst of beaters his invisible hand supported me else I had sung under so many proportions sometimes I said to myself all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me Psalm 42 verse 7 thou hast bent thy bow and set me as a mark for the arrow thou hast caused all the arrows of thy quiva to enter into my veins Lamentations 3 verse 12 verse 13 it seemed to me as if everyone thought if he was in the right to treat me ill and rendered service to God in doing it I then comprehended that it was the very manner in which Jesus Christ suffered he was number with the transgressors Mark 1528 he was condemned by the suffering pontiff chief priests, doctors of the law and judges deputed by the Romans who value themselves on doing justice happier they who, by suffering for the will of God under all the like circumstances have so near a relation to the sufferings of Jesus Christ for six weeks after my arrival I knew I was in a continual fever nor had I recovered from my disposition when I was waited on by the bishop who would feign have compelled me to give it under my hand that I did not believe the word incarnate Christ manifest in the flesh I answer him that through the grace of God I know how to suffer even to death but not how to sign such a falsehood several of the nuns who overheard this conversation perceiving the sentiments of the bishop join with the priores in giving a testimonial of my good conduct but of their belief in the soundness of my faith the bishop some days after brought me a confession of faith and a request to submit by books to the church that I may sign it promising to give me a certificate which he had prepared on my delivering my submission sign he, notwithstanding his promise refused to give the certificate some time after he endeavored to make me sign his pastor letter and acknowledge that I had fallen into those errors which he there lays to my charge and made many demands of me of the like absurd and unreasonable nature threatening me with those persecutions I afterward endure in case of no compliance however I continue resolute in refusing to put my name to falsehoods at length after I had remained about six months at new he gave me the certificate finding madam Mendenon disapproved of the certificate he had granted he wanted to give me another in place of it my refusal to deliver up the first certificate enraged him and as I understood they intended to push matters with the utmost violence I thought that although I was resigned to whatever might fall out yet I ought to take prudent measures to avoid the threatening storm many places of retreat were offered me but I was not free in my mind to accept of any not to embarrass anybody nor involve in trouble my friends and my family to whom they might attribute my escape I took the resolution of continuing in Paris of living there in some private place with my mates who were trusty and sure and to hide myself from the view of the world I continued that for five or six months I passed the day alone in reading in praying to God and in working but on December 27 1695 I was arrested though exceedingly indisposed at that time and conducted to Vincennes I was three days in the custody of Montiardais Grace who had arrested me because the king would not consent to my being put into prison saying several times over that a convent was sufficient they deceived him by still stronger columnist they painted me in his eyes in colors so black that they made him scruple his goodness and equity he then consented to my being taken to Vincennes I shall not speak of that long persecution which has made so much noise for a series of ten years in prison in all sorts of prisons and of a punishment almost as long and not yet ended through crosses, columnist and all imaginable sorts of sufferings there are facts too odious on the part of the diverse persons charity induces me to cover I have borne long and sore languishings and abrasive and painful maladies without relief I have been also inwardly under great desolations for several months in such sort that I could only say these words my God, my God why has thou forsaken me? all creatures seem to be against me I then put myself on the side of God against myself perhaps some will be surprised at my refusing to give the details of the greatest and strongest crosses of my life after I have related those which were less I thought it proper to tell something of the crosses of my youth to show the crucifying conduct which God held over me I thought myself obliged to relate certain facts to manifest the falsehood the conduct of those by whom they had passed and the authors of those persecutions of which I have been only the accidental object as I was only persecuted in order to involve their in persons of great merit whom being out of their reach by themselves they therefore could not personally attack but by confounding they at first with mine I thought I owned this to religion piety, my friends, my family and myself while I was prisoner on Vincent's and Montchard de la Reine examined me I passed my time in great peace condemned to pass the rest of my life there if such were the will of God I sang songs of joy which the maid who served me learned by heart as fast as I made them we together sang thy praises, oh my God the stones of my prison looked in my eyes like rubies I esteemed them more than all the gotty brillances of a vain word my heart was full of that joy which thou givest to them who loved thee in the midst of the greatest crosses when things were carried to the greatest extremities being then in the best still I said, oh my God if thou art pleased to render me a new spectacle to men and angels thy will be done December 179 here she left of her narrative though she lived a retired life above seven years after this date what she had written being only done in obedience to the commands of her director she died June 9, 1717 employees in her 70th year and of the book of the autobiography of Madame Keon Athens, Greece July of 2009


Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill, pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snow, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. One of our worst enemies in the winter is cold. You know how it feels to step out of the house when it's 10 or 15 degrees below zero. Imagine trying to get around in 30 or 40 below zero. I'll stop shivering.  The bitter cold is a clever enemy. It sneaks up on you and captures you unless you're on guard. Probably one of the coldest places around Naughty Pine is the savage mountains to the north. Man alive, but those rock piles are cold. It's so cold up there, we've nicknamed them the refrigerator mountains. And that's where our story takes us today. Decision for death. The wind never stops blowing in the savage mountains. In fact, in the wintertime, it cuts through you like a knife. Right now, a party of mountain climbers are up in the mountain. Eric, we gotta rest soon. I'm gonna give out. Up ahead, there's a spot. Too dangerous here by this crevasse. Eric's right. Gotta keep going. Keep up, men. Almost to a sheltered spot. We can break out one of the pack and eat a little. Hey, hey, we're beginning to move. Breaking off under us. Drive your picks in, man. Broken? Feels like it. How's the equipment? Don't worry about a thing. Hey, where's Don and Jim? Well, there are only six of us here. I saw them slip down there. Yeah, see if they're okay. Jim! What's the thermometer say, Eric? 35 below, Keith.  We'll probably get to 50 below tonight. Maybe that's the best way out for us. I see. Reason doesn't matter at all. We just sort of go to sleep painlessly. Yeah, maybe you're right, Mer. A rescue party would never find us this correct. Don't give up, Pope Thomas. They know back in town that we came up here. They know the approximate time that we should be back. Yeah, I guess you're right. It's only been hours now, and the cold's really beginning to get through my clothing. We've run out of food, too. I wonder how Jim and Don are in a deep crevasse. They fell a lot further than we did. Maybe they're dead. Could be. They took an awful fall down there. We haven't heard a word from them. Maybe they're conserving their strength. Hope so. It would be terrible if they're down. They're all broken up and suffering from a lot of pain. Yeah, and we can't do a thing for them. Well, I know something we can do for ourselves and for each of them.  What can we do, huh? We can pray. That's right. I've got new hope now. Let's keep an optimistic attitude and look at this thing on the positive side. We'll ask God to send the rescuers. Oh, I'm sorry, Bill. I guess I wasn't paying attention to the volume. Son, maybe you'd turn deaf all of a sudden. Hmm. Man alive. This fellow's up in the Savage Mountains. They're in a real spot. You can say that again, young fella. We don't call them cold stone hills or refrigerator mountains for nothing. Not right. Why, it's much colder up there than other places. I not know. That is cold mountain range up there. There isn't a colder range of mountains anywhere in the country. It's a strange phenomenon, right? I'll say. There are a treacherous range of mountains, too. They haven't been killed trying to climb them than anywhere around. Yep. But folks never seem to learn. That mountain climbing challenge. The next fellow will think he can make it all right. Yeah, Grand Wolf's right. Seems that the more dangerous the mountains and the higher the death rate of climbers, the more men there are that try to conquer the peaks. That's the challenge of mountain climbing. It's a man against the elements proposition. Be that as it may. I'm glad to stay right here by the radiator about conquering mountains. I think the rescue party is going to make it out up there. Oh, who can tell, Judge? It might even be that we'll have to get other men to try and rescue the rescuers. Yeah, that's what I've been thinking. They've been going an awful long time. There, the rescue party's back. We were just thinking about getting somewhere to come after you and the boys, Rick's. Well, you are too far wrong, Judge. We had a couple of close calls. What about the agate men? Did you find them? Yes, we did. We found them all right, but we couldn't get to them unless we had wings. They fall into a crevasse? That's right, Judge. The biggest and deepest one I've ever seen in a long while. Yeah, it's too bad. You say it's impossible to get them out? Yes, it's impossible. Are they still alive? Yes. All of them? Yes, as far as we could tell. They saw us, so at least they know we're trying. Well, Mayor, what do we do now? Where do we go from here? I'm not going to give up yet, Judge. I'm going to call the rangers. Oh, I don't know, fellas. We have to spend the night here. We're done for. Oh, it's cold. Don't give up. We saw the rescue party up there, and they saw us. Sure, but what could they do? This crevasse is just as straight up as it can be. They were just as helpless as we are. Now, maybe, but you never know. I've got to change positions, fellas. Here, we'll give you a hand. Yeah, I'll take this side, Keith. Okay, let's move in. How easy does it, Eric? Right. Okay, it's good.  No, no. We've got nothing to tie the picks to my legs with. I'll turn my shirt into strips. Oh, no, no.  Anyway, broken bones didn't pierce a blood vessel, so we can leave it the way it is. Weigh things. Look, it'll make any difference anyway. Well, as I was saying before about staying close to the fire, I've come to the conclusion that either I talk too much or too loud or both. I don't think so, pal. Although, sometimes, I'm almost willing to believe that the walls are there. I almost think that true at times, too. Well, I guess we won't be as cold as old poor fellas strapped up in the savage mountains. Yeah, that's for sure, old timer. Well, it must be terrible to be cold, so very cold that you're only half alive. It's death by inches. First, your hands and feet freeze, then your legs and arms and so on until death puts an end to yourself. Death from freezing isn't painful itself. It's a part leading to the death. It's enough to drive a man out of his mind. Ah, there are helicopters waiting for us. Yep, there's Andy Gibbons waiting with the Whirly Bird. Okay, Grey Wolf, let's get the gear out of the trunk. Right. Good, pal. We'll wait for you at the copter. There, village of Greenbowl. Ah, that hasn't taken long, has it? Looks like you ought to be able to set the copter down in the village square, Andy. Yeah, so there's plenty of room there. There's plenty of people watching us come in. Maybe they thought we was coming on horseback. Here we go for the landing. Okay, let's be sure you don't land on top of that statue down there. That's the whole story, as far as we can tell it to you, Bill. It's not a pleasant story, but that can't be helped. Where's the leader of the rescue party, mayor? Why, he's right over there with the crowd. I'll get it. Thank you. Why the right look on your face? We're just thinking about how wonderful things are today, huh? What do you mean? Well, take that there, helicopter. We're just studying it. I wonder how many lives have been saved with that amazing collection of nuts and bolts. Let's save a lot of lives. Then there's a pretty good chance that the boys up in the mountains can be saved. That remained to be seen, judge. That wonderful machine, but not able to do everything. So this is Rex, the leader of the rescue party. Oh, hello, Rex. Hello, Bill. Uh, Rex, how about taking a ride in the copter with us and showing us where the men are trapped? Sure, be glad to. When do we leave? Right now. I don't think they're gonna try to get us out, fellas. I guess you're right, Mayor. Something would have happened by now. Man's cold. You said it. This is the end. What's the matter, Mayor? My ears must be frozen. I think I hear a plane. That's the wind playing on the ice ridges. No. No, it isn't. Listen. It is a plane. It sounds like it's coming right over us. But what good is a plane gonna do us? Eric, look up there. There's a helicopter. Maybe there's a chance to get out. Maybe God's gonna help us. They're really down there in that crevasse. Wow, what a far they took. You can say that again, sonny. That's a big hole down there. What do you think, Bill? I'm not sure yet, Gray Wolf. Those fellas are in an awful jam. Do you think there's a chance to get them out? Oh, perhaps. Right now, let's break out the emergency rations and the power megaphone. We gotta get some food to those men. I don't feel so cold now, fellas. Neither do I. Don't try to move, Merv. Eric and I and the other fellas will get the food particles. Here comes the first one. That was close. Here comes another. I got it. I've got this one. This high-energy food will give us plenty of body heat and keep us from freezing. Let's open one and pass it out to all the fellas. And we'll save the others just in case. Here they go. I hope that fella wasn't joking by telling us they're gonna try and get us out. The relatives of the trapped men are here. Can I give them words of hope? Not yet, Judge. We've got to say something to them pretty soon. They can't be but all. I understand, Edmere. Andy, do you think you can fly a small copter down into the crevasse far enough to lure a cable and a harness and winch the men up one at a time? I don't know, Bill. That'd be pretty risky. What can it be done? Sure, the ideas sound, but whether or not it would be safe to do it is another matter. The up-and-down drafts are pretty strong up there. Andy, can it be done? Yes or no? Yes. If I go with you to work the winch and bring the man into the cabin, will you try it? Okay. My common sense tells me no, but I keep thinking of those trapped men. Let's go. You go ahead and warm up the copter. I'll be with you in a minute. Okay. Henry, stop him. Get the village doctor and help him set up a place to take care of the men. Right. Gray Wolf, call the helicopter field. Them send up four small copters like Andes and their best pilots. Okay, Bill. If they come before you get back, you want them to go get more trapped men? No. Wait until Andy and I return. Bill, can I give the relatives some kind of news now? Yes, Judge, you can. Tell them we're going to try and get one man out. If we succeed, they can be reasonably sure we'll get the others out. Oh, tell them. And our prayers will go with you all the way up there and back. Thanks. Ask the Lord to keep the winds down so the helicopter doesn't get bashed to bits against the crevasse walls. Here they come again. Yeah. I wonder what's going to happen next. What are they trying to do? They'll crash. They can't land in here. They stopped dropping. They're not going to try and land. Hey, there comes a cable with a harness on it. Hey, this is it, fellas. We're going to be rescued. Are you all right, man? Yeah, never mind me. Grab that harness when he's swinging over here. I forgot about my leg for a minute. Hey, they're swinging the harness and the cable. Grab it when you can, Eric. I'll help Merv up so he can get into it. No, you don't. You fellas go first. There'll be no argument. You're late in each care, and you'll be first. One more swing, and I'll be able to grab the harness.  They've got it. I've let the cable out as far as it'll go. Can you hold the copter? Oh, I think so. The drafts are strong, but so far they haven't gotten out of hand. But don't dilly and dally around, though. I won't. Say, the fellow they're putting the harness on must be injured. Oh, how badly? I know. It looks like he got a broken leg in the way they're handling him. I wish they'd hurry. The draft's getting out of hand? No, but I wouldn't push them too far. The copter's getting hard to handle. Well, he's all set now. Take her up slowly. If he doesn't swing too hard, hit the other wall of the crevasse. Right. I'm winching him in. As soon as I get him into the cabin, we can take off for the village full blast.  What a rescue. I'll say it's some rescue. You give it everybody a fresh supply of hope, young fellow. That's right. Everybody glum until you and Andy come back with one of the trapped men. Yeah. The doc's working on his leg now. Then he'll take care of him for exposure and frostbite. Let's not get too excited yet, fellas. We've got seven more men to go. Are the helicopters here? They sure are, sonny. The boys brought along some winchmen, too, there. Okay. Give them the word to go. One copter at a time. After Andy's had a little rest, he and I'll join the parade. It's number two. Easy with the stretcher, man. This fourth man. Get him to Dr. Quick. He has bad frostbite. It hasn't showed up. Maybe it crashed. The copter did crash. There are the two men. Are they all right? Yeah. As far as I can tell, it might as well go after one of them while we're here, huh? It might as well. Although we might end up in the bottom of that crevasse, too. This did a terrific job. And sit by the fire like we started out doing. Yep. I make the motion that we adopted. I second. And I third, fourth, and fifth it. That makes it unanimous. Let's go home. Hey, old fast. Maybe it can make one more hop. But, fellas, our job isn't finished. What do you mean? You'll find out. Let's go over and see the man brought in. How's the doc treating you, fellas? Just fine, Ranger. We want to thank you for what you've done. Oh, forget it. The fact that we got you out alive is thanks enough. How's your broken leg, mister? Okay. Doc said it fine. Say, where did you fellas put Jim and Don? Jim and Don? Who are they? They're part of our group. They fell into the crevasse, too? Why, yes. Well, we took eight men out. Yes, pal, but two of the men were from the crashed helicopter. That's why we can't go home. Oh, boy. Then they're still in the crevasse. But we didn't see them from the helicopters. They fell into a small crevasse near the bottom of the larger one. We never did hear from them. Come on, fellas. We got to go after them. Wait. Yeah? I don't think it's any use, Ranger. They're dead by now. Let's make sure we've got all the gear we need, fellas. Make sure the rope is good. We took over all gear at in top shape. Yes. We even went over it twice. Fine. Andy's going to take us up close to the crevasse and set us down. We'll go on from there. Mr. Jefferson? Yes, sir? I'm Burton Smith, Jim Smith's father. He's one of the boys you're missing. Well, how do you do, Mr. Smith? This is Donald Porter Sr. He's the father of the other lads still up there. How do you do, sir? Hello. Mr. Jefferson? We understand that you're going back up there after our two boys. Yes, sir. That's right. We're just about ready to leave. Well, we don't want you to try and rescue them. Why not? There's been enough life-risking done already, sir. We talked to the other men in the party, and they hadn't heard from them at all on that crevasse. We feel that you and your men in the helicopter ponds have risked your lives enough. You've done all that could be asked, even more. You realize that your decision is a decision for death, don't you? We fully realize the weight of our decision, Mr. Jefferson. There are sons. Yes. Yes, I know. You feel that they're dead already? Yes. We talked it over with our wives, and we're agreed. The reasonable thing to do is nothing more. We can't ask you men to take any more risks. Mr. Smith, we appreciate your decision, and I know it's taken courage to make it.  But the Ranger Code will not allow us to accept your decision. I want to find your sons and know whether they're dead or alive. I see. But isn't there any way that we can dissuade you from going up again? No, Mr. Smith. We'd never leave a job half done. Let's go, men. The helicopter's waiting. Drive those stakes well, fellas. A lot of weight is going to hang on them. I will drive them all the way to China. They won't give. Oh, say they won't. His eyes is like concrete, only twice as high. Oh, give this one another lick for goodment here. Right, Wolf. Let's rig the Bosun chair and I'll get started down. Right. Henry, bring the walkie-talkie. Right. Bosun chair ready now. All right. Here I go over the side. Watch the ropes so they don't foul. Yeah, I'll say so. Well, that crevasse is a lot deeper than a fella would think. Hey, it's Bill. Did you find him? I'm right beside him. Are they still alive? I think so. We're sending down the first basket stretcher. Good boy. We'll start the second stretcher down right after we get this one up. Hey, I can see the helicopter coming now. How far is Bill up the wall? Bill, halfway. He'll make it on it. Hey! What's the matter? Bill's stuck. He's not able to move, Bosun chair, up our town. Hey, man, alive? Throw jam in the block and tackle with ice. Henry, hurry. It's no use. Ice is like rock. Now what are we going to do?  Then all of us pull Bill up. And this ice? Well, fly couldn't stand on it.  Okay, but let's do it quick. I tie myself quickly. Ready now. Henry, cut rope. Are you sure you fellas can hold Bill? Oh, sure! Quick, pull Aaron and cut the rope. Okay, here goes. Henry, snap it up around the stick so it holds when we pull. Okay, I'll pull too. I can see his head. That's good. There's pile of ice. What's the doctor's verdict, Mr. Smith? Well, it's good news. They'll live. Although he'll have to remove some frostbite toes and fingers. But they'll be well again, thanks to you and your men. That's all right. We're glad that we got to them in time. Took a lot of courage to do what you men did. A lot of courage. Not nearly as much as your decision took. Mr. Smith, as parents, it wasn't easy for you to make a decision for death.  That's real courage in full measure. Well, see you next week for more adventure with...


Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in Islam, aslamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuhu Hope everyone is feeling well on this rainy night here in Karbala. I'm a bit sick, so if I do sneeze your cough here and there, do excuse me in advance. But welcome to hashtag LNT episode 46 of your favorite show, of course, but not with your favorite man, Ahmad Ali, coming to your life in the holy city of Karbala. Now tonight's topic, we're talking about one of the most important aspects of our time. What it is, what we have to say about it, we're just going to have to wait and check what's happening first. Once again, welcome everyone joining us tonight. Now a truck hit 31, killed 15 people after the driver lost control on Saturday, just yesterday, on the Expressway Tall booth in northern and northwestern of China. Now Chinese authorities have said that more than 40 people have been injured, and this incident occurred in the city of Lanzao, local police in a statement released just today said that they faulted the driver, the truck driver, saying he lost control of his vehicle after continuously breaking on the lengthy downslope leading to the tall gates. Now the driver who had never actually been on that road for the first time, he panicked and he wasn't able to stop the truck and he hit 31 cars. That's a lot of cars, and just from one incident, God forbid 15 people died, so our hearts and wishes go out to the families of those who were affected by this incident. But tonight, we're kind of talking about the same topic, we're kind of talking about the same medium that this article was published on, but we just have to wait until we check out, check out what, we just have to take a break.  Now nowadays there are countless ways, numerous ways to get to know something, where you can get introduced to something or an event. Let's say your friend is hosting a morning ceremony in Muharram al-Saffar, our party throughout the year. And how are you going to get introduced to this? How are you supposed to get introduced to all this? Now the host tries different ways to try and create more audience, to target more audience, so what does he do? He probably brings the best speaker, the best reciter, sends posts on Facebook, has an event on Facebook, does various ways just to make that event happen. And why try to gather that money? People, because it'll show how much, how important that event is, or the level of influence that event may have. You know, he tells friends and family to share the word, post on Facebook an event, as I mentioned, a public message to everyone, even just, you know, sticking a sticker or a paper on the polls, so bypassers can check it out and be there on time to participate. Now there are various methods of sharing news, of sharing events. Some are more effective than others, some require more effort than others, more money, more time, and of course, at the end of the day, more attention than the other events. Now in today's society, media has been the number one main way of spreading a certain message, of spreading a certain event that you want to get it out. Media, and especially social media, has been the main platform for that, any invitation that you want to invite the world. If you're trying to send a message to the world, you have Facebook there, although their privacy breaches right now is going skyrocketing, but you know, we can still rely on them to send a message through. But the largest annual pilgrimage in the world just ended a few days ago, and we thought it's a good time, and now everyone's relaxed, everyone has been back to their countries, relaxed, and it's a weekend. So we chose to talk about tonight's topic, and how important it is to spread the message of this event to the entire world. That's why tonight's question is very important. Tonight's question, we're talking about, and we're asking you guys, how were you introduced to Arba'een? How were you introduced to Arba'een? The number to call in that is plus nine, six, four, seven, seven, four. 0671836. You can let us know by phone call, text message, and note message. I can barely see my eyes.  But the number to call in that is plus nine, six, four, seven, seven, four. 0671836. Let us know what you think about tonight's question. Let's take a quick break. Come back to you guys very short. Once again, hope everyone enjoyed that 20-second or 15-second break there of hashtag NT. But tonight's question, as we said before, the break is right there at the bottom. How were you introduced to Arba'een? A very important question. A lot of people, when they hear Arba'een, they tend to hear it from friends. They tend to see it on social media. Now, for the past two years, as we get to talk about later on, we've seen it on other platforms. But a very important question, how were introduced to Arba'een? Was it through a friend? Was it through social media? Was it through some people who have actually reached Karbala'a and they've told us a story that in their dreams, they were invited to come to Karbala'a and it was for the first time to actually coming to this blessed place. So how were you introduced to this great event? How were you introduced to Arba'een? Now, media, as we mentioned in the first part of tonight's episode, plays a very significant role in keeping everyone updated about a specific event, about a specific news and various events that are happening around the world. Now, today, we can check out the latest news, current doentes, current affairs, with just a few clicks of a mouse, and you can get the entire world of what's happening at your fingertips. Let's take a very quick break and come back to you guys. I need to cough. Let's take a very quick break. One second, we do welcome everyone joining us tonight. Shout out to Mustafa Nadir for bringing me that glass of water. This guy's a legend. But we were just talking about how important social media is, how everyone right now can get the world and the news of what's happening around the world and the events and the incidents, just like how we began our tonight's episode was what's trending similar to other episodes at the fingertips of Ali Jassim. He just clicks CNN, copy, paste the news, and then we roll it. Now, I'm just kidding. But he puts an effort. I'm just kidding. But what we're trying to say, it's at the fingertips of every single individual. Media is the best medium of communication to mass audiences. Yes, you can send a direct message to a certain group, maybe has 180,000 and 50,000 people in a group. But it's different when you put it public, when everybody gets to see that the mass audience that media provides is enormous. Now, with the help of various media such as electronic media, print media, and web media, the mass communication method is accompanied in a very suitable, is accomplished in a very suitable way. Now, the vast majority of people all across the world rely on various types and various sources of media, keeping themselves updated. Even right now, when you see news agencies, they have their own app, Fox News and CNN, and even the independent and Reuters, they have their own, well, we've got to give a shout out to Toronto Star and Hamilton Spectator, of course. They have their own apps where you can check out their news and what's going on in that specific country. Now, we just want to look at some ways and how to understand the significance of media through a couple of points. Now, number one, giving us the immense knowledge and transmits information, that's absolutely true. You ask any student right now, yes, textbooks, print media, you get to learn from that. But when you're trying to do a research paper, when you're trying to do anything, even if you're trying to apply to a job, you have to go to Google and write a job description of whatever project, a job description of whatever, and then you get a few examples and then you put that into your resume or your whatever. Just to, it makes life a lot easier. It's not a negative thing, it's a positive thing. It makes life a lot easier and you get to understand more the knowledge that you're getting. Books right now are old school. Yes, you can still read books, you can still pick it up, but they're heavy to carry. You can get a thousand books just on your iPhone and your Samsung or whatever. So it increases the amount of knowledge and makes it so simple for people just to pick up a book online instead of actually going somewhere, going to a library which is like five, six kilometers down. It is, it's very good to actually go and physically read, but at the same time, when technology advances, people need to advance with it. So they made you a free app where you can download any book or sometimes you buy the book and it's right there at your fingertips. Number two, raises our consciousness and this is very important. Media nowadays, not only it provides us with information and knowledge on what this needs, but it also provides us with a wider variety of understanding. It makes us understand what's going on around the world. Our conscious of the world right now is increasing. You can ask, and today I was actually shocked, a three-year-old on the Ellen DeGeneres show, a three-year-old has the whole periodic table of elements memorized. He just showed one sign and he tells you what's going on or what that element is.  So imagine the awareness and the consciousness that the web and the media right now is providing everyone, but it's up to us on how we get to use that. Point number three and how to understand the importance of media is it raises the voice against issues in society. And this is very, very important because if you were to look at every society, no society is free of problems. Apologies. No society is free of issues, whether family issues or whether economic issues. You're talking about gender discrimination. You're talking about poverty, job loss. You're talking about so many issues that are happening. Media right now provides the general public, provides everyone out there the platform to come and speak out. Before, if you were to ask those living in the 70s and in the 60s and even 80s, they had no way of bringing their voice out other than voting and other than just writing something in the newspaper. But even back then writing something in the newspaper was limited to a few people. But still that media, that print media back then was still available. Now it's available to everyone. If someone, even if he gets pulled over by a cop wrongfully, he gets his phone out and starts recording it and shows everyone. So it's a message, it's a way to send a message about corruption, about if there's poverty in society. Many organizations right now, non-profit organizations, are using media to show the world of what's going on, of the underdeveloped countries, of the civilians that are losing their lives because of nonsense between governments. So such issues are raised and it brings awareness to everyone, similar to number two. Number four provides the true picture, not the entire media, now we're going specific. Media sometimes is biased and everyone knows this, everyone understands this. But the only form of media which actually tells you what's going on, is the live media. But we'll continue this, we'll continue talking about this, but after we take a very short break to talk more about tonight's question. How are you introduced to Arba'een? Yeah. Once again, hope everyone is enjoying the night. I just sneezed the loudest sneeze, I hope the guys recorded that. But yes, we are back live from the holy city of Karbala. And tonight we're talking about how we're introduced to Arba'een. This to give a quick disclaimer, me and a lot of people after Arba'een, we get sick. I don't know why, but it's a seasonal flu that comes right after Arba'een. Hope everyone is okay and maybe I'm only one. But before that, we were talking about a few points, shedding light on the importance of media. And we just talked about providing the true picture. As you mentioned, media has its bias. There's a specific agenda behind it. Some, their agenda isn't that bad, but others, their agenda is bad and so on to ruin someone's reputation, especially what's going on with the world right now. However, one form of media that provides the actual true picture is the live coverages. At events, even when you want to look at FIFA, for those watching the game, a fight happened like when Suarez bit that guy. You know, in the replays, people might have deleted it, although it's still on YouTube, but it could be manipulated. But during the live show, you actually see what's happening. You know, when the prime minister or the president is trying to give a press release or when he's trying to make a decision whether to increase the recessions on Iran or whether to strike Russia or whatever. We're not talking about Donald Trump, we're just saying, you know, even those or when you have an event, when you have an incident, hurricanes, natural disasters, you have a reporter coming live just like right now. We're coming to you live from a specific city, a specific incident, but the show is live. It's a bit different. We're talking live every night, but it provides the true picture, live coverage is very important and we'll get to emphasize more on this point, but later on, inshallah, in tonight's episode. Number five, point number five on how important media is, is education, is the fact that it educates society. A lot of people know, and I began that with tonight's episode, a lot of people use, especially when you go to YouTube and you find those ads like Grammarly and the other ads, it's the best way of education.  You can write lessons in biology grade 10 high school and you'll actually get them. So imagine the amount of education that's on the web, but it's everyone using that. A lot of people tend to go somewhere else, we can't mention where, but more than they focus on this and it's very important to use that education when you get it, share that lesson, share that quote, share whatever you saw on your social media accounts. Now these five points that I just mentioned to you guys are very important and it shows us the important role of media in spreading a certain message or any message across the world in today's society. However, how much of that media are we actually using to propagate what happened in Karbala a few days ago? How much of social media? I know my friends that have come to Karbala, they blew up their Facebook and their Instagram with pictures of Karbala and that's absolutely beautiful. To show everyone the peaceful nature of Raq and the peaceful nature of specifically Karbala, it's absolutely amazing. For 14 million, as statistics have said, 14 million, thank you very much, Ajassim, for that. But according to statistics, 14 million have arrived in Karbala. So you can imagine from various angles and from various gates in Karbala, you're coming from the north, from the south, from the east, from the west, everyone is flocking towards Karbala. It's beautiful. People taking pictures at main gates of Karbala, at the borders of Karbala, or at the borders of Raq, showing everyone how safe Raq is and that's beautiful. This is what we need. But there's one very important point that we need to focus on. You know, every year, many news agencies, TV channels, prominent figures from around the world, come to Karbala, visit, I'm not saying, contribute, they walk. This year, non-Muslims also walk. Every year, non-Muslims walk towards Karbala to try and see why do these millions, every year, flock towards the same place? This year, there was a team from France TV, a team from the Turkish TV, a team from Pakistan TV, Persian, Italian TV, people from the United States. This is the Turkish channel that was doing a live broadcast and interviews right above the shrine of Al-Abbas was that Hussain, alaihi salam. Different figures from different religions. This year, as we can see right here, this Irish Christian lady who joined the walk from Najaf to Karbala. So you can imagine, even those who sometimes don't believe in the same ideologies, but yet still wanna check things out. Why? And here, we have a reverend from Georgia, and this guy was actually amazing, one of the guys that bowed to the shrine of Imam al-Hussain, alaihi salam. So this is very important, especially the media, the media of the holy shrines is doing an amazing job and how they convey the message of Imam al-Hussain, alaihi salam with their news and with their reports and international media department. So it's one way to spread the message of Karbala and spread the message of Imam al-Hussain, alaihi salam. Last year, just last year, you have journalists from BBC, you have journalists from Reuters, the independents, CNN and The Guardian, all of them writing about Arba'een, this is the independent right there, writing about Arba'een, millions of Shi'a Muslims. And let me read it, Shi'a pilgrims flock to Karbala for Arba'een climax. So back this, Arba'een millions of Shi'a Muslims take part in the world's greatest pilgrimage as ISIS is finally defeated. So this is the strongest article that can be written on how peaceful Karbala is and how peaceful the atmosphere in Iraq in general is when ISIS was defeated, you find people flocking towards Karbala. And this is why this Arba'een was amazing, although the numbers weren't like last year because of the currency deficiencies in countries, but we still saw millions, 14th to 15th, 17th people say the largest, the highest number was 17 million, but the average they say 14 million entered Karbala. Now despite all of this, despite the journalist, what they were, and despite all the channels that have arrived, the entire world, if you were to look at your friend next door and you were to ask him about Arba'een, you'd be looking at him like, what? What's Arba'een? Who's Arba'een? We haven't done, it's an amazing job. No one's criticizing me for that, but media is larger than that. Instead of writing an article, it used to be a live broadcast from Arba'een just like how IHTV was doing, although some technical difficulties, but things were going well, Alhamdulillah. So one of the points to take into consideration is the fact that we haven't done everything in our power to shed light on Arba'een. You know, the media platforms, yes, only in the 10 days that we're here to post pictures and show the world what we're doing, but at the same time, across the year, those 10 days or 15 days that you're here, it's great, but those 150, 350 days that you have across the year, you also have to update your friends, update your Facebook status at least once a week, once a month to show everyone and to make everyone understand what Arba'een is or who Imam Hussain al-Islam is. If you know any prominent figures around the world, ask them to send you a video, collaborate with them, try to host an event. I know it's a bit expensive, especially for getting the high-end scholars, but at the same time, you can people are there to donate and you can have the best event where you can share, just like the Hussain Day Convention in Bengal or India. From 1992 up until today, they've been sending the message of Imam Hussain al-Islam.  And this is what we need to continue to do. We have to make sure that everyone around the world, whether they're living in the East, Far East, or whether they're living in the Far West, they have to understand who Imam Hussain and who Arba'een, and what Arba'een is and try to invite them and persuade them and motivate them to come to Karbala. That's it for tonight. I hope everyone can go share something about Arba'een in your unique way and insha'Allah everyone may be guided towards Imam Hussain al-Islam. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Do stay tuned for the upcoming episodes. Wa-salaamu alaikum. Wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh.


Well for the second consecutive year the Bemidji Girls Nordic skiing team is off to the state tournament. The Lumberjacks won section 8A last week and the thrilling come from behind fashion by a point. Next up, Giants Ridge where 16 teams and 160 skiers will hit the trails hoping to hoist a trophy. One of them senior Sadie Hamrin who is coming off the first ever individual section title Bemidji Girls history. She's leading a young team who has experience but most importantly they ski for each other. More for the team because like you know I could have settled like seconds not bad but I don't know having that having the motivation of the team to do it was just so much fun. That experience really really paid off I mean this team really held it together in the afternoon stayed calm and just skied hard. We did as a team it wasn't just one person that did it all because we all kind of made up ground it wasn't just Sadie or Kinley it was everyone. It's so wild at the state course everyone's like the same pace as you and knowing that it's just kind of nerve-wracking because then you just know that people are gonna be with you the whole time. So here's the schedule for the state meet tomorrow at Giants Ridge 5k freestyle in the morning and the 5k at classical races in the afternoon. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.


Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining me for Elements of Reading Text Features. As teachers, we know that text features are important to point out and to use in our instruction. Today we'll talk a little bit more about why they're important, what they can help students understand better, and how we can incorporate them into a close reading lesson. Let's listen as two students describe how they're using text features. Physics textbook? Oh, no. This is just a mystery kind of. A mystery novel? You? No way. Here, she got away in a sky cart. A sky cart? It's really cool. It's like a go-kart with a parachute on it so it can fly. Here, look at this diagram. So the propeller on the back and the parachute gives it left size of the engine. That has to be pretty loud. It seems like it would be pretty easy to follow someone in one of these. That's why this is such a mystery. For which way the robber went? It shows the direction the cart was last seen traveling. What are these arrows for? That's the direction the wind was blowing. Have you ever searched the woods? I'm sure they did. A hike after school today? So we can see here that two students really dug deep into a text and understood it more closely by reading those text features. So why teach text features? Well, they help us navigate, understand, and visualize information from a nonfiction text. What are the text features? Text features are all of the components of a story or article that are not the main body of text. So let's see some examples of those. Different text features that we use with our students are a table of contents, captions, graphs and labels, timelines, font styles, sidebars, glossaries, headings and subheadings, maps, illustrations, and indices. We're used to using all of these important text features with our students, but do we know to own text features? Do we know how to point them out and have them help the students dig a little bit deeper? It leads us to the question of how can text features be incorporated into a close reading lesson. Well, we're going to use them to understand that text at that deeper level. The first read in close reading usually asks, what does the text say? This is the place where we ask those very literal questions, and so we're going to ask literal questions this time focused on the text features. And of course these can be incorporated with many other literal questions as you do a close reading lesson. Some examples of what those questions could be are, what route on the map shows the path of the Oregon Trail? Or looking at the graph, which year showed the highest population increase? Or what event happened before the invention of the cotton gin on the timeline? So again, there are those right there questions that the students can answer using evidence from their text, or from the text features in this case, to get to know the surface level of that text. On the second read, we focus on how does the text work? What's the author's craft? What word choices are they making? What vocabulary are they using? What organizational patterns help us in this text? Some examples of questions on a second read, when we're focusing on text features could be, why did the author choose that graph? What did he want us to know? Concerning graphs we might also ask, why a bar graph instead of a pie graph? Why did they use a line graph there instead of a pictograph? How does this diagram help us understand the concept? Why did the author put a diagram in the story? Would it be hard to understand without that diagram? Why is that word bolded? Why is it added to the glossary? Would meaning be lost if it was left out of the glossary? Why does the author choosing these words as the most important words? And on our third read we really focus on what does the text mean. And this is when we really get to our highest level of thinking. We ask questions that require that use of evidence, but we're wanting the students to synthesize, to infer to really go beyond what the text actually says and put those pieces together to do higher level thinking. We might ask questions like, what evidence from the text and text feature supports the claim? What does the satirical cartoon tell us about the author's purpose? Or how does the illustration differ from what the author said? These are questions that the students can't just point to in the text. But they might be able to use some of the text evidence to draw upon a conclusion or to make that inference that hasn't been blatantly told to them. Thank you for joining me for a quick look at text features and how they can be used in a close reading lesson.