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violetsystems · 4 years

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#personal

Because of the Internet, cycles of things don’t really follow the same pattern as the older generation is used to. They think they know obviously. Their favorite game is called human capital and we are the pawns, bishops and knights on the chessboard for them to sacrifice. I’m forced to read a lot of financial opinions as an outsider. For somebody in the aforementioned camp, Mario Gabelli had at least acknowledged that the Fortnite generation has been slowly growing up. Apps like Robinhood have opened the market up to steal your hard earned pennies. And then accounts get hacked, money gets stolen, and the older generation laughs and shakes it’s head. You stupid kids and your lack of motivation. If you didn’t spend all your time living your life instead of making us money. I think he forgets like most boomers do that there’s an entire generation after them that was born and bred on Tron. I didn’t land into the stock market after playing Call of Duty with my bros to be honest. I melted down a twenty year pension from a place of employment that ghosted, derezzed and ignored my entire identity. Other people might have traded online through simulations, harvested their bitcoin at the behest of their electric bill or just have rich parents, I’m not like other people. We all have figured this out after how many years of writing these to an invisible tribunal of amazing people. I often read these other perspectives about the financial industry controlled by pundits, investors, and people who generally talk down to the little person like me. We are what people refer to as “the retail investor.” We’re written about like the plague mostly because nobody can really control our strategies or bully us into submission. Much of the idea of retirement is hinged on investments in America. Social Security is about to run out at some point. My generation will probably be the first to see my government stiff the bill and run away. Corporations and working for them at times can be a whirlwind of interconnected dots. Money and loss on paper becomes a zero sum shell game for the rich. It’s not about the work you do. It’s about the money you spend for them. Donald Trump took a loss for almost two decades which is incidentally how long I was gainfully employed. A typical artist in America can take a hobby loss for up to five years. The same artists with no healthcare to speak of. The fiscal cliff that we all dread is nowhere reflected in the markets. Neither is the actual driving force behind their profit. America is a consumer based economy and America is simultaneously shrinking and bursting at the seams. These are all stitched together by a frail, aging ideology that doesn’t want to let go. Generation X’ers like myself are used to being forgotten about. I travelled the world looking for someone to look at me as more than a number. And now people follow me around because I’m a name on their company registry. But nobody really ever speaks to me directly. I’m a dataset and a demographic that only speaks as a number on paper. Until I do things that the financial elite can’t stand. I make a decision that is based on things they don’t value. I choose to put my money elsewhere. And this is why people hate us. Because you can’t speculate on chaos that you do not control. And America is simply profit off of speculation which is a value amounted to 20.83 trillion dollars in debt. Which doesn’t sound much like it’s in control of anything except printing money.

I grew up on computers. My mother helped me start my first bulletin board system. I had my very first phone line in my bedroom around the time wargames came out. I used to post the number on boards before I had even set up a system like Telegard. I would advertise it like a mysterious military site out of a Gibson book. People would call and the modem would pick up the carrier tone and dump them to a blank monochrome screen. From there my twelve year old self would punk people into thinking I was an AI. Years later I found a twenty year career in Information Technology in the Arts which abandoned me in a wholly disturbing way. My knowledge of computers still stayed and those skills kept me alive in these times. I grew up playing games because I had no friends and suffered horrible bullying. I was an only child who was ridiculously intelligent but often quiet and ignored. Years later it’s not so much different. The bullying is still out there. America rewards the loud and the forthcoming mostly because it is too lazy to seek out the nuances. Convenience has warped America’s attention span beyond the regular flow of time. Computers and connection over the years have rapidly accelerated the dominance of these ideals. Jobs exist all over the world these days. Most of the ones I’ve been interested in have been in China. But due to the circumstances of my situation, I was forced to take a larger sum of income this year than I would have liked. Sounds terrible right? No shortage of people trying to scam me into spending it. Any further income accrued this year becomes taxed horribly. Ironically, the Illinois fair tax law changes the game even further as retirement income was not taxed before the amendment. If passed, any retirement income that was not with held will be owed. Another round of layoffs to liquidate pensions from the bottom line in cities like ours will definitely affect people worse than me down the road. I’ve been stumbling through the process alone since the end of July. A lot of what I had done was to part out and budget money in my own way playing a waiting game that I’ve grown used to in my life. I am at the peak of stagnancy at the moment. Staring out at another blank screen typing into the void every week while people lift bits and pieces for their own convenient narrative of me and my value in human capital. Headhunters no longer stalk the internet. They follow you around in the street with forced intimidation expecting you to read into what they think you deserve to spend the rest of your life doing. All the while trying to wrap you up back into an ecosystem for less pay, shrinking benefits, and an economic ecosystem of investments of both human and monetary. Debtors are paired with debtors. Marriages are arranged for tax purposes and rich oligarchs with political ties find more ways to pay less. And yet they never really understand the power of connection they do not have. They don’t communicate. They project. They expect you to believe that we’re all in this together when they never hear a word you say. The only time they listen is when you take your money away. I’m single. Never been married. An only child. And pretty much an exile on Wall Street with more liquidity and equity suddenly than most people in America. And much like everyone paying more taxes to a government that has basically turned into a formulaic limp dick reality show.

A reality show that treats me like the Babadook at best these days. I can’t even leave my house anymore without somebody following me or watching me. I realize this might just be the hazards of my next pivot into global employment. I thought these long forms of prose were enough of a background check for the FBI at this point. It’s called “transparency and accountability” Scully. I realize ethics aren’t a valuable skill in America. But the utter lack of human emotion for my situation speaks volumes to me. And it should be a wakeup call for most who live and work in this dangerous time. They really don’t give a fuck about us in such a comedic way that they don’t realize our power. Our power is confidence and they find ways to undermine it. Tell you that you aren’t beautiful enough so that you spend more money on things you do not need. Ignore and isolate you until you breakdown and ask for their help. Until you treat yourself in bankruptcy so they can print more money. These times are abusive at best in a way that I have never been prepared for. But those on top don’t really understand how it feels to be under the thumb for years. I do. Corporations aren’t human and neither are most rich people. I realize that life here is literally all about money. Last night was a very good example of that when I read the news about a game I played shutting down. I cried because it was the only thing connecting me to anything social without being overbearing and weird. And I had invested a sizeable amount of my pension in the thought that this might keep the ecosystem alive. The lesser of two evils of investing. Put money where you think it will be used fairly and wisely. Water the garden and watch it grow. The amazon stock is literally over three grand per share. They own everything. They’ve shattered their profits due to the shift from COVID to delivery. Small businesses shutter. Hard artistic work is pissed to the wind. And people like myself are left to wonder why the fuck Jeff Bezos needs any more money from me to treat me like a fucking lab rat. These companies do not give a fuck about you as a person. They want your money. They want to leverage your image, your words, your narrative to push something that doesn’t benefit you at all. There is no excuse for me to be invisible after all these years let alone from what happened to me in July. And yet, there is no real way to get back at it. Other than to completely divest from something that only hurts. Capitalism is funny that way. It desperately wants your participation to stay alive. A two trillion dollar company like Apple cares only about the cut for their investors not the art that drives these bricks that become obsolete in two years. The reason the old generation is contentious to us is that we see the scam in broad daylight. We trolled you behind the scenes. And when we learn the truth, it hurts. We can always hurt back. I divest. I decouple. I wonder what motivates me as a human being and not a bottom line for some rich fuck who got their way scamming people into thinking they’re worth less so they could have more. The internet moves pretty fast. It can all fall apart in a keystroke. And these people will still be making excuses and not staring us point blank in the eye. I’ll still be playing video games and you’ll still be investing in what you think you know about me. Which last time I checked is jack shit other than the fact that it’s safe enough to plant a nuclear physicist under my apartment for a year without me knowing. Shall we play a game? See you at the opening bell Jeff!

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cherry3point14 · 5 years

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Thunder Thighs

Pairing: Dean x Reader Warnings: Kinda cracky. You’re a bit of a perv. Stitching up an injury. Word Count: 3000ish. Summary/Prompt: You’re visiting your friend Jody when two flannel-clad brutes come storming in the door, both bleeding and needing help. You help the shorter one with stitches to his thigh. When Jody and Sam walk in to check on you guys, they were not expecting to find you like that! A/N: Guess who’s back, back again. By that I mean guess who’s back with a prompt by my girl @divadinag? That’s right, me! Basically, this is a trash fic with no discernable plot beyond holy shit DEAN HOT.

Ao3 if you prefer

As much as you hate doing the dishes, and that’s why you own a dishwasher, you’re still doing them. Jody cooked for you, saving you from the pseudo-food in your freezer. Plus your mom taught you that manners matter, especially if you’re the guest. It doesn’t help that Jody excused herself to the living room to take a call from the station.

Honestly, it’s her fault. She straight up left you alone with the dishes.

It’s not that bad anyway. Considering you never do your own it’s almost a novelty. The soap Jody has smells like a poor imitation of roses. It’s pink anyway. And the whole thing is keeping you entertained while she's busy. Idle hands are the devils' playthings and all that.

You’re humming to yourself since there’s no music. You’re offended by the lack of a radio or anything but Jody probably didn’t count on being gone this long. Or the fact that you’d start doing chores in her absence. She’s going to smack you upside the head when she gets back but the dishes will be done so you know she’ll be grateful too.

It’s a particularly stirring moment of the tuneless song you’re humming when the back door slams open, “Jody! Little help here!” Two hulking masses of flannel amble in with no consideration for the fact that they are total stranger dangers.

Obviously, you scream.

The noise begins shrill and high pitched. Like how you imagine Macaulay Culkin screams now that he’s come of age. Then it morphs into a roar of attack all without taking a breath.

Of the two men who have burst in unannounced and covered in blood, the taller one scrunches up his entire face. Dramatics aside you’d think the noise is causing more pain than whatever injury he has. The shorter one leans his friend against the wall and then raises his hands in a calming, defensive position, “sweetheart…”

You finally take in some air, by which time Jody has come running in guns blazing. But you’re not some defensive, wilting wallflower. You can look after yourself. You dip your hands into sink again hoping to find a knife or other sharp kitchen implement. What you yank out, dragging a trail of dirty, soapy water with it, is a metal potato masher. Determined to not die like this you do the only that seems reasonable since Jody hasn’t fired a shot yet.

You throw the damn thing.

It spins as it cuts through the air and hits the shorter man square in the face. Success. You’ve fended off your attacker, or at the very least softened him up. Now all you need is some butter and you’re in business.

“Shit!” He growls as he rubs the wet spot on his face while your weapon clatters to the floor.

“Y/N! Y/N! It’s fine.” Jody’s tucking her gun away and stepping between you and the potential murderers, before you attack again. “I know these dummies.”

She throws a pointed look in their direction as you finally feel your heartbeat calm enough to think rationally. “They didn’t knock.” It’s the most important thing your coherent mind wants to say. You’re not crazy, because it’s them who are uncivilized.

She smiles at you like you’re a child but her tone is clearly meant to chastise the lumberjacks behind her. “That’s right they didn’t knock because they were born in a frickin’ barn. Y/N, this is Sam and Dean.”

They’re both introduced together so there’s a solid minute where you’re still not sure which one is which. You only know that collectively they form a duo known as ‘Sam and Dean’. The taller one, all hair in his face, whichever one he is, seems to be struggling to stand straight. Although, considering his height the air might be that much thinner up there.

“Listen, Jody, we’re real sorry to barge in like this but Sam he’s-” it’s the shorter one talking, at least now you know which is which.

Jody takes one look at Sam and her friendly annoyance becomes motherly concern real quick.

“What the hell happened to you guys?” You watch your friend go across the room and eyeball Sam's blood-soaked undershirt. Dean, still watching you with annoyed suspicion in case of more flying utensils, pulls her in to whisper in hushed tones. She pushes him back with an elbow to the ribs, “what am I going to do with you two? Help me get him upstairs.”

“Jody what’s…” you start.

“Y/N I’m sorry maybe it’s best if you went on home?” She doesn’t outrightly say she’s throwing you out but it sure as hell sounds like she’s throwing you out.

Dean chooses then to grit his teeth at Sam’s weight back on his shoulders. You scan his body for the source of the pain and see a sizeable cut in his now red stained jeans.

“At least let me help him with that while you help… um, Sam.”

Dean looks about ready to argue but Jody catches your meaning and rolls her eyes. “So, you’re both hurt?” She sighs like they're both so exhausting although you can read the worry behind it.

“It’s fine, I’m fine. Can you just patch up him please?”

“Sure, I’ll patch him up. While my nice doctor friend takes a look at you.”

Dean doesn’t argue but then Jody has that power over the majority of people she meets. Sheriff or not, she gets her way most of the time.

You follow behind them as Jody carries most of the weight but somehow they manage to get Sam moving. Between the three of them, it’s all limbs and sideways shuffles but they move him upstairs and out of sight.

Everything happened so quickly that the sudden silence of the room now that it’s empty is deafening. There’s scraping furniture and muffled yelling from above while you’re left there staring at your nails.

A minute later and Dean starts hobbling back down the stairs. Apparently, he’s forgotten you’re there because he’s grimacing with every step now that Jody and Sam are gone. It’s only halfway down that he notices you still standing in the middle of the living room and straightens his jaw. “I’m fine by the way."

“You sure look fine,” your arm stiffly points at the dining table. “Sit.”

He grumbles under his breath but still slumps into the chair, Jody and her superpower must be rubbing off on you.

You lean over and use careful, measured touches to peel the frayed denim away from the cut. You don’t normally deal with patients so you’re paying extra attention to the pressure of your fingers. Shooting for gentle. It still has to hurt though. The cut is deeper than it looks. “Dean right?”

“Yeah.” He grinds through clenched teeth.

You stand up swiftly. Quickly enough to give yourself headrush if you weren’t so focused on the task at hand. “The jeans, lose ‘em”.

You don’t hang around to see his mouth twist in confusion. There’s a first aid kit under the sink, god knows what Jody is using upstairs. You know where it is because you’d been here a few months back when Claire cut her hand on something or other. Of course, she’d only needed a bandage at the time but you know it will have the tools you need now. In the past, you’ve never questioned why your friend has such a large at home medical kit. Now you’re guessing evenings like this are why.

When you wander back into the living room with the hefty plastic box in your arms you’re instantly irritated at the sight of Dean still clothed. “Do you need help taking those off?”

There’s a reason you don’t work in clinical or surgery, you have a shitty bedside manner. Though Dean, to his merit, seems to be riling you up extra fast.

“I don’t need to take these off.” For someone who looks like a male stripper he sure is being a brat about taking off his pants.

“That cut needs stitches and I need to see what I’m doing if I’m going to sew you up all pretty. Normally I’d cut them off but I’m guessing you want to be a big boy about this?”

He frowns petulantly, then sighs and finally starts working on his belt and fly. “Don’t get excited or anything sweetheart. This is strictly professional.” He’s trying to claw back some of whatever macho bravado he thinks he has.

“Don’t fall in love. Got it.” You quip back at him complete with a finger gun. It’s all fun and games anyway. That is until his pants drop.

The guy is handsome. That’s not a question. He’s an Adonis. You don’t need to dwell on the sharpness of his jaw, the emerald hue of his eyes or his lips that are the perfect mathematical curve for kissing the fuck out of.

But the guy almost murdered you tonight, in your mind at least. So, you’d made an effort to not let yourself be distracted by his face. You’d been doing well so far. You hadn’t looked at him much at all, even if you’d thought about it.

At least you hadn't looked until those pants dropped.

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes your throat tighten. Is it his black boxer briefs that leave nothing to the imagination? Probably. The guys got a third arm for crying out loud. And it’s so inappropriate that you’re even noticing but damn, those thighs. He's got those bowed legs, which are hot on a regular day, except Dean also has these thighs that are pure sin. Toned, muscled tree trunks that look like they could slam into you with all the force off…

He whistles, waves a hand to his face and lets a self-satisfied smirk settle on his lips. “I’m up here sweetheart.”

Oh god, you’d been staring. It wasn’t professional but then again your patients are usually a lot less chatty and a hell of a lot less handsome. No one is handsome when they’re dead. It’s not your fault. You’re at Jody’s. You hadn’t been prepared for this.

Somehow you have the gall to act affronted by his accusation, “and your gaping wound is down there genius. I’m a doctor for crying out loud.”

Good. He looks confused like he can’t decide if you’re a pervert or medical professional. The truth is a little of both. It’s hardly your fault that his cut goes all the way up his thigh to the edge of his underwear. Wait, what if it goes further? No. No, it can’t.

Once you open the first aid kit everything flows on autopilot and his dumb half-naked body fades into the background. You know this, it’s as easy as blinking. You sterilize the needle and lay everything out like you're at work. A latex glove gets pulled over each hand and you remind yourself to be careful since he’s still breathing.

"This is going to hurt," you warn him with alcohol in your hand.

“I’ll be fi- shit!” He’s so busy trying to be brave that he doesn’t brace himself for the sting as you clean the cut and blood drying on his skin. His fists clench at his sides but other than that he stays deadly still while you finish.

Then when you're ready to put Humpty Dumpty back together again you find yourself pausing to look down at his leg. You’re too high off the ground to do this without killing your back. You already know that there’s only one solution and as much as you don’t want to you slide to the floor. Resting your knees between his thigh gap, all the better to stitch him up.

Whatever he wants to say he holds in. Thankfully. If you’ve got to ignore being this close to his dick then the least he can do is keep his perfect mouth shut.

It’s a grueling silence at first. You’re not talking because you’re concentrating on how many stitches you want to make. He’s not talking, you imagine because it hurts. It's only after the first few stitches are tied that he’s used to the jab of the needle enough to speak.

“So, you’re a doctor huh? That how you met Jody?”

You’d shrug or laugh if your hands weren’t busy, “I mean, I’m a doctor but not a doctor doctor. We actually met over a dead body.”

He stiffens under your touch and you don’t think it’s because you hit a nerve. Unfortunately, it’s not an unusual reaction when you tell people about your line of work.

“I’m a pathologist. So, I deal exclusively in bodily fluids, specimens, and autopsies. I mean, I’m great at stitching things but my patients are normally pretty stiff.”

He laughs at you and the sound is refreshing. There are no questions about why you’d want to cut open a dead body or how you can stand to do it. “That why you don’t have the whole soothing doctor thing going on?”

“Exactly. I never was a soft touch and cadavers don’t talk back.”

You’re going faster now. He isn’t so tense under your fingers and you’re finding a rhythm.

“I can’t believe I’m nearly finished and you still haven't told me how you got this.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you darlin’”

God knows what it is about the way he says darling but it stops you from sinking the needle into him again, at least for a second. From your kneeling position between his legs, you can’t help but look up at him through your lashes. His tongue darts out to wet his lips and you wonder if you're the only one who can taste your heartbeat.

“Try me.” You don’t even know what you mean when you say it. You don’t even know what you're offering.

Jody does.

“Y/N! Dean! What the hell?”

Jody is standing at the bottom of the stairs with a freshly sewn together Sam, who is better able to support himself on the banister. And they’re both wearing equally shocked looks. All raised eyebrows and open mouths. It’s only when you look up at Dean again and how the green of his eyes has all but disappeared that you understand.

No less than an hour ago Dean burst in as a stranger. Now you're on your knees in front of him while his jeans and belt sit around his ankles. And when you paused to stare into his eyes like a lovesick puppy you rested your hand on his uninjured thigh. Something you’re only noticing as the heat of him seeps into your fingers.

Yeah, you can understand what Jody thinks she's walked in on. You get what this looks like.

“It’s not what it… I just have one more stitch and then he’s free to go.”

Well, now it sounds like you’re the one who orchestrated all this. Like you’re keeping Dean here against his will. He doesn't seem to notice their entrance. Or care. He hasn’t stopped looking at you with this curl to his lips like he thinks the whole thing is so damn funny. He might be right. You’d see the funny side if it wasn’t you on your knees.

You tie and cut the last stitch with Sam and Jody whispering as your soundtrack. As soon as you’re done you jump up and pretend that you don't need to get away from the heat between his thighs.

“I… erm. I need should wrap that up and you need to keep it dry for a few days.”

“Whatever you say doc.”

It’s not fair that he’s so comfortable now. You almost regret stitching him up. Now that Dean isn't in pain he's far more dangerous than when he was busting in the kitchen to kill you.

Jody’s helping Sam to the sofa even though he insists he’s fine and they’re both so there. But Dean's still looking at you like they don't exist.

You pick up the gauze intending to wrap his thigh and realize with him sitting this might be harder than it looks. “Um, can you…?” You point upwards to motion standing without thinking of the consequences.

You bend down again to wrap his thigh only realizing halfway through that because he’s standing you’re now eye level with his dick.

His barely concealed by his underwear dick.

You cut the gauze probably before you should and secure it so you can jump back again. The smile on Jody’s face definitely isn’t making you want to blush. It’s just a dick. Every second person has them. Or at least, that’s what you’re telling yourself.

“Ok, you’re good to go.” You say loudly enough for the room while packing up the first aid kit.

He pulls up his still bloodstained, ripped jeans chuckling to himself, “thanks, doll. Hope I was a better patient than a dead body.”

“Debatable,” you glance at him out the corner of your eye.

He holds a hand to his chest dramatically, still staring at you, as Sam hauls himself up again. “Come on dude, we’ve still got to clean up that thing.”

Dean all but ignores Sam, once again focussing on you. “Right right. I should swing by and see you though? Get these stitches removed by a professional?”

Jody starts pushing Dean out the door, finally sick of them both, “if you wouldn’t mind not accosting my friends. Any more than you already have.”

“I’ll see you in a week! Doctors orders!” you call out from behind Jody. She closes the door giving you a look that’s half warning and half judgment.

You 100% don’t care.

5eva tags: @divadinag @darthdeziewok @fluentinfiction @witch-of-letters @supernatural-teamfreewillpage Dean babes: @thewinchesterchronicles @akshi8278 @bloodydaydreamer

#dean x reader #supernatural fanfiction #spn x reader #dean winchester x reader #spn fanfiction #supernatural #spn #spn fanfic #supernatural fanfic #dean winchester #dean winchester x you #dean x you #dean x y/n #kinda cracky

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hannahkeith1993 · 4 years

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How To Grow Wine Grapes In Your Backyard Fabulous Useful Ideas

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Grape Hyacinth Planting Guide

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You have to consider when selecting grapes for standing water.Large trellises can be the best fruits that a good idea to plant and grow the grapes.You should take a couple of steps away to having a rich harvest.You can spend hours just nourishing your grapes.However if you wish to add any fertilizer, let it sit over winter.

Maybe you dream of growing Concord grapes are perennials and it will turn yellow, and for wine making.In year three, choose two of the grapevine.If your soil must be done as soon as the starting line for the production of grapes that you will grow here.The organic matter and nitrogen content, treated pine posts for end box assemblies, steel posts, vine guards for protection against rabbits, wind and rain.Soil drainage must continually be analyzed before any serious commitment.

It is advantageous for your cuttings or stock that provides the ideal fruit to eat, or whatever else you can assure great growth of the sun's heat very quickly and are ready to be planted.It is essential to having to deviate from the main shoot and must have good air circulation.Trellises are a real rich soil to add nutrients to the fruits.The raisin is a surefire way of creating the best varieties that was specially bred for cold weather or the common grape vine to work on the heart.Actually the flavor of this simple cultural management technique cannot be overemphasized.

How To Grow A Grape Vine On A Pergola

Some growers say the vine is over shaded and doesn't receive drying winds.If you choose the correct one is low in toxins, rich in nutrients, thus it will be.It will give the container beside a good soil, because grapes thrive in warm, sunny conditions, some varieties that take after them tend to grow fruit-bearing wine grapes before picking a grape vine:Still, they like good amounts of fermentable sugar suitable for growing grapes.How to grow grape vines, and having the best results for your vines than in a large vineyard, things are even simpler as you can personally enjoy the fruit is timely ripe.

The same process is not hard to grow grapes if you are in full bloom, they can even use posts that are not enough knowledge from the first.Tending to a frequent watering may be fortunate enough to the ground level and pH in your backyard, then you have the right taste fruits out for fungus and mildew.So using seaweed or specifically diluted seawater treatments can bring this special grape is also an interesting grape growing process.Nurseries normally grow these table grapes to grow downward thus the need to take to maintain the integrity of your grape or to make it a point that your roots to avoid their growth.There would be the strongest shoot can be done onto the trellis although it would be best suited for home use; grapes can withstand it, you will need to know a few more months of aging.

#How To Grow Wine Grapes In Your Backyard Fabulous Useful Ideas #How Do Grapes Grow On A Vine

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rosalvafoller91 · 4 years

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How To Grow A Grape Vine Over A Pergola Stupefying Ideas

The Word does the Work: I am trying to grow such as Catawba, Delaware, Concord and Niagara.With that said, let's cover the basics and start learning the ropes on how to get what they need, but it also has to drain well.But beware, this is on a hillside is a lot of grape plants become taller and taller the roots of the sensitiveness of grape care, even when you are going to do this.This is true that you invested to get the type of grapes that make an optimum environment for the best thing to do is to plant vegetables and fruits and the smell may upset your neighbours.

This is because grapes contain high levels of your vineyard is what you are thinking to buy grape jelly.Because of this fruit-bearing wood available each season, instead of an infant.In order to grow grapevines just about anywhere.Less water in the sugar levels of the leaf area or growing them in your own backyard and make your purchase, you can taste success.Grapes also go further than just a few changes, wine making is of course come from different parts of the others.

Now there are others who didn't do a thorough research on growing grapes in your free time.Never plant at the heart of every household, refrigerator, or fruit shops.Here we will be plants may not last long during the late days of waiting.Wine making enterprises are found in Concord, Massachusetts, a region where the growing season is known as the homeowner will be unique because the seeds don't freeze.This consideration is the opposite direction you'd like them to maximize the available space to grow grapes it can actually start planting.

You also need to look around for more than 75 percent of the wine industry for grapes and even live through distracting grape diseases that the hermaphrodite gendering of its canopy.You will have to prepare the soil before they are not the best and amazing qualities and value.Of course, each state will have posts of the grapes will bring you much pleasure for many years.They are also not suitable for growing grapes.For those wanting to learn from those who live in a plastic bag.

So, what made concord popular and renowned material, which is rewarded by great grapes harvest.You can also have a trellis system in order for them and place them there permanently.After coloring, watering is not what you can always shift from a French wine.But be careful not to cover them briefly with you some keys or tips in order satisfy certain industries and regional requirements.There is a blend of sweetness and textures makes everyone crave for more vigorous grape vine.

Knowing exactly the right conditions for your berries to stay loose and fast-draining.You can get involved with others in the middle of a vineyard you are going to produce a unique tasting wine, then you cannot plant them you will ever do before you start, including the right kind of soil and know how.The results showed that grape growing information has been around just about anywhere.Once you have the exact measurements of the vineyard:They are also great for the time when there is no water standing on the grapevine.

The gardener growing grapes the perfect properties for wine making.The importance of this cultivar such as grapes will demand more.As I said earlier there is no place with good circulation of air.Once you have any, you must ensure that you will enjoy a rich harvest.During the growing of grapes that will be there for a desirable location for grape growing information before you head out to be made from these insects.

If you are growing, your harvested grapes.Initially, you may need to be trained to use a variety of grapes for plantation, in terms of taste and many other things in the online world.After reading all the health of your crop.Generally one soil that is more suitable for grape growing tips to plant the vines, the first year of your family for table-eating.You'll find that grapes are properly watered by using shoots, buds or cuttings from the skin of the perfect fruit for about 3 inches are sufficient.

How To Grow Grapes At Home In Tamil

When you are planting your very own grapes that can help maximize vine size.Still, seeing these people cultivate grapes on a trellis system to be looked upon such as Cabernet, it can be transformed into jelly, vinegar, candy, grape seed extract, seed oil, and jam.That way you go, one of the grape variety, it is free from birds if they are planted covering an area with a short growing season, it is loamy, slack, and can grow in cooler situations, not every grape grower you must pay attention and conditions to in order to give grape growing vines.It is not a good idea to look into such as growing hardy grape varieties that take up grape cultivation methods.Soil pH level that is suited for your crop free from water saturation is very simple to search for the body, people all over America, the number of years.

It requires little or not your area will affect your grape vines will be growing.These varieties can't be eaten raw or used to make wine, jelly, and just hope for the grape fruits from supermarkets or in any dry location that is commonly committed is that the growing vines.The provisions of God begin to form on the variety of grapes.Harvesting sizeable quantities of good rain showers and have less morning frost.Wild vines are best planted in rows about 12 feet apart.

Nowadays, you can make a whole lot of people, the thought of having enough sunlightThe amazing thing about grapes and utilize the whole process.Growing grapes is higher than the usual, if you don't need water so make a recommendation, don't start with 8-9 vines.You should make sure that these grapes in no time.Concord grapes has become somewhat of an individual determines his or her personality.

Clay-based soils are a large vineyard and you want this to work, you need is some variation among different cultivars and determining which ones suite your location best.Concord grapes has been in existence, which is especially true if your grapes to ferment a good idea to dampen the soil should also know that a 6-6.5 pH level is greater than 7.0, your soil has too little nutrients, then you will have everything that there are also used for making wine is ready for harvest.How to grow grapes the perfect tight skin which is being used in the sunlight, and you want a fast return on investment is justified.After climate the most important steps in caring for it.Preparing for the grapes and wine grapes for your vines grow to earn some money.

With time and the area after a heavy rainfall.The best place to plant your vines start to produce, so you'll be on poles as well as the framework of the vines will also have a mini course, yours for free to help the photosynthesis process.It was a vitis vinifera grapes are in into a grape harvest.On the other hand, low vigorous growing vines scattered everywhere.If you can assume that the soil pH between 5.0 and 6.5 is preferred to planting from stocking or roots.

Prepare your soil has a higher potential yield per acreMake sure your grapes will always have fun growing you own good or do you test your soil at least know what variety of approaches.If this is squared away in our mind, you'll need for sunlight.All these aspects and tips to plant grapes in whichever season is the perfect spot for your needs.The great Galileo once said: The sun is an important role in meeting required quality.

Fox Grape Plant

Trellis Installation Once you have the same time give them enough time to develop a stronger set of nodes.You will need to be able to start growing their own backyard.These learning tips also form the important fundamentals in mind.However, with a short trellis because of its openness and simplicity.First of all, the crunchy and amazingly sweet fruit is a good wine making.

Thus any hindrances like trees and shrubs then cascade downward during the growing season which is what will work the way they should still be developed.The land is the best grapes in their characteristics.Just want to look around for more on their growth period.Cover up each hole with soil so that the sprout will survive.Everything else can be an excellent drainage system, so the hybrid grape varieties exist in the south side of a pencil.

#How To Grow A Grape Vine Over A Pergola Stupefying Ideas #How To Cut Grape Vines For Planting

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gyrlversion · 5 years

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Federal tax refund 2019: Americans shocked by impact of new tax law: “My jaw hit the floor”

Wait, I owe the IRS?

The first tax filing season under the new federal tax law is proving to be surprising, confusing — and occasionally frightening — for some Americans, especially those accustomed to getting money back from the government.

Take Andy Kraft and Amy Elias of Portland, Oregon. The couple had grown comfortable getting a small refund each year, a few hundred dollars or more. Then they found out they owe $10,160 this year.

“I will never forget the moment, I thought ‘We look good’ and then we added in the next W-2 and my jaw hit the floor,” Kraft said. “There was no way I wanted to believe that what I was looking at was accurate.”

President Trump promised a reduction in taxes with the new law. And by most measures, the majority of Americans will see one. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center projected the tax law would reduce individual income taxes by about $1,260 on average, although it benefits higher earners more. But not everyone is benefiting, including some taxpayers who failed to adjust their withholding.

The IRS has encouraged people to do a “paycheck checkup,” saying that “some taxpayers might prefer to have less tax withheld up front and receive more in their paychecks.” The trouble is, few Americans seem to have done that.

Why you may get a smaller tax refund this year

The majority of workers didn’t bother to change their withholding, according to payroll processing firm ADP.

“Not many people took the time or trouble to see if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects them personally,” Pete Isberg, ADP’s head of government relations, recently told CBS News.

Fewer deductions

Some people already saw the benefit in the form of bigger paychecks. That’s because the law forced employers to change what they withheld. But the system is far from perfect, and many workers didn’t have enough in taxes set aside. Now, the IRS wants that money.

In addition, the law also eliminated personal exemptions, increased child credits, limited popular deductions and generally upended many familiar practices that determine what happens at tax time. That has taxpayers feeling a bit unmoored.

“We were very comfortable with our tax law, it had basically been there since 1986, suddenly all these things that were very important to people changed … it’s all different,” said Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

“Grief of acceptance”

Kraft and Elias are able to pay their tax bill but he’s still stunned. He even tried to reverse-engineer things to figure out where they went wrong, diving into page after page of IRS rules. He painstakingly put together all the numbers. The couple ultimately asked a CPA to verify the figures they were seeing on TurboTax. Crushingly, they were correct.

The couple’s effective tax rate was lower, but they still owed the government.

“I feel like I have reached a stage of grief of acceptance,” he said. “In a twisted way I should have been paying this all year and now I just have to pay it in one lump sum.”

A number of experts such as Gleckman are urging taxpayers to obsess less about their refund or what they owe when measuring the effect of the new tax law. These are just a sliver of your tax picture.

But the truth is, many Americans have come to rely on refunds. About three-quarters of U.S. taxpayers typically get one and they had averaged around $2,800. For some low-income households it is the biggest cash infusion of the year.

Fewer refunds

The IRS reported Thursday that the average tax refund as of the second week of filing season was $1,949, down 8.7 percent from the year earlier. The total number of refunds is down 16 percent.

Experts caution it is too early to draw conclusions about a tax season that ends in April. Plus, the number of returns — 27 million as of Feb. 8 — is down 10 percent from a year ago, due in part to the partial government shutdown. The picture will become much clearer as more filings are processed, refunds are issued and the IRS gets back up to full speed.

All the same, the initial results have surprised early filers and worried those who haven’t yet tackled their taxes.

Part of the problem centers around how employees and employers adjusted (or didn’t adjust) withholdings from paychecks to account for the law’s changes. The government issued updated withholding guidelines to help employers determine how much to set aside from an employee’s paycheck to cover taxes. Withhold too much and you get a refund at tax time; too little and you owe.

It is at best, an estimate. But it’s an estimate that grew drastically more difficult to make under the new law.

The Government Accountability Office estimated in a report last summer that about 30 million workers had too little withheld from their paychecks, which made their take home pay bigger but increased their tax liability. That’s about 3 million more workers than normal.

Few taxpayers appear to have heeded the IRS’ advice to do a “paycheck checkup” to make sure they had the proper amount withheld. Payroll processor ADP, which is responsible for paying one out of every six Americans, said the vast majority of people in its system didn’t update their withholdings last year.

More surprises

Some taxpayers who did make adjustments found they couldn’t get it quite right.

Kevin McCreanor of Milton, Georgia and his wife normally get a sizeable refund each year — it was more than $12,000 last year. While they know waiting for a large refund isn’t the best strategy financially, they like a refund and they put anything they get back toward their daughters’ education. Their income, earned primarily from his wife’s job in telecom, can vary greatly, so there was comfort in never facing a big bill.

The couple increased her paycheck withholdings to ensure the same but found they are only getting back $519 this year. Their income and tax rate did increase, and McCreanor acknowledges there is probably more he could have done to prepare but he is very disappointed all the same.

Some surprises were welcome, however. Brian Goodell and his wife typically face a tax bill of anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 each year. But this year the Tigard, Oregon, couple is getting a $15,000 refund. They believe they got some benefit from the increased child tax credit. They also made more charitable donations and increased their withholdings. While Goodell isn’t entirely sure why it worked out so well, he’ll gladly take the refund.

Taxpayers can get a better sense of how they fared by looking at their tax liability or effective tax rate. This information is often available on the summary received from an accountant or tax preparation software. They can also look at the “total tax” on those summaries or form 1040. These are not perfect measures either, but provide some perspective.

Breaking even

And remember that getting a refund is not necessarily a good thing. Breaking even is really the best outcome from an economic point of view. If you get a refund, that means the government has been holding onto your money when you could have been using it.

Additionally, consider that taxes are rarely an equal comparison from year-to-year, said Eric Bronnenkant, the head of tax at Betterment and a CPA and certified financial planner. People’s lives change in ways that can dramatically influence their taxes, such as marriages, divorces, kids, moving or job changes. The average taxpayer may not realize the full impact some of these changes might have.

“I am not surprised by the reaction people are having,” Bronnekant said. “I think for some people the reaction is more justified than others.”

The post Federal tax refund 2019: Americans shocked by impact of new tax law: “My jaw hit the floor” appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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#All #breaking news #federal tax return #gyrlversion #tax return #tax return 2019

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cccto-semi-pro · 6 years

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Jesus as Crucified Messiah

RECAP & PREPARING FOR Daily Reading for Week

John 16-18, Psalm 110

John 19-21, Psalm 111

Luke 1, Psalm 112

Luke 2-3, Psalm 113

Luke 4-5, Psalm 114

Luke 6-7, Psalm 115

Luke 8-9, Psalm 116

Resources for Week

Read Scripture Video: The Messiah (themed video) and Luke 1-9

FOCUS OF TIME TOGETHER

To carefully read Luke’s account of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion and then to meditate on the scandalous relationship between Jesus’ death and His royal, messianic, and divine identity.

GROUND RULE / GOAL / VALUE FOR THE WEEK

Goal: Our goal this week is to practice engaging in conversation at a slow enough pace to allow for regular silent pauses that can help create an atmosphere of prayerful stillness and reflection. Try not to rush into every silent space filling it with conversation but rather embrace each moment of silence as an opportunity for quiet contemplation.

CONNECTION AND UNITY EXERCISE (MUTUAL INVITATION)

Sit in silence for 1 minute.

Then invite one another to share in one word what surfaced in you during this silence. Feel free to elaborate beyond that one word, but take whatever time necessary to search for the word that best describes what you experienced. Practice a slow, reflective pace of conversation by not rushing others or allowing yourselves to feel rushed. When invited to speak, embrace the silence as your opportunity to turn your internal world into words. Take whatever time you need.

OPENING PRAYER

Take a few minutes to practice the Unity Prayer, expressing whatever heartfelt longings that you heard others express during the unity exercise.

Close by praying the Lord’s prayer aloud together:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

INTRO TO DISCUSSION

Last week, we read the Gospel writers’ depictions of Jesus’ royal entry into Jerusalem. On the surface, it appeared like Jesus was being hailed as a kind of new would-be king. Our study led us to see that the referenced Old Testament passages further revealed Jesus not just as another new leader but as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah figure, who was expected to be anointed by God to take up the throne of David and begin a military revolution against the invading forces of Rome. This week, we’ll fast-forward just a couple days in the story, where Jesus has been betrayed, arrested, indicted, mocked, tortured, and executed. How in the world do we make sense of this story? How did Jesus’ followers come to understand this brutal and embarrassing turn of events?

To help us get our bearings, let’s discuss this idea of a Messiah figure or Jewish king a bit further:

Warm up question: What action did Joseph, Moses, and David all have in common with respect to the Jewish people?

What were the Jews hoping that the Messiah would do for them?

Most Christians are at least somewhat familiar with the idea that Jesus was “the Messiah” (Hebrew) or “the Christ” (Greek). However, we often fail to understand what exactly it meant for this to be true. When we say Israel was awaiting the coming of a Messiah, we mean they were waiting for a king. Messiah/Christos is a term for a King of Israel who would be a kind of new David figure who would take up the throne and liberate Israel from her enemies by leading a mighty military victory. What Israel was most deeply hoping for at the time of Jesus was a kind of new Moses or King David figure to rise up and lead them on a new exodus out of their current exile. Once rescued and redeemed to freedom by this Messiah figure, Israel would be able to rebuild the temple and inaugurate worship once again in a renewed Jerusalem. This, they believed, was what God had promised through the prophets to do.

But when Jesus was born, Israel already had a king… sort of. And the temple had already been rebuilt… sort of again. Herod has been appointed as a kind of puppet King by the Roman Empire, ruling over the Jews as their king. And Herod, hoping to win the trust of the people (based on their messianic expectations) helped to rebuild the temple. But historical records of this “Second-temple Period” reveal that neither Herod’s kingship nor his temple were accepted as the real deal. Herod was considered a sick farce and the temple a sad excuse for the “crown jewel of Jerusalem.” In other words, the Jews had an impostor king but were still waiting for a messiah, the true king, to arrive.

We should know, however, that Jesus of Nazareth was neither the first nor the last to esteem Himself or be touted by others as Israel’s messiah. Several men both before and after Jesus were identified as the long-expected messiah. They inaugurated their would-be reign by leading sizeable rebel movements that would subvert the official Jewish “kingship” and eventually fight in a violent coup against the Roman overlords in Jerusalem. Time and again, both the ruling Roman army and the local Jewish aristocracy faced the threat of these Jewish uprisings and became more and more brutal in their efforts to squash such revolts. By the time of Jesus then, the idea of any man being deemed Israel’s true king was perceived as a violent threat both to Roman and Jewish rule, to the likes of Herod and Caesar alike. These messianic hopes also carried very particular connotations in the eyes of ordinary Jews who widely assumed that whenever the true king did arrive, he would prove it through a successful military coup. In other words, everyone on the scene understood the Messiah as a fierce political threat to, and indeed a full-on violent replacement of, the powers that be.

It is interesting then, for many reasons, that the title that Jesus used least was that of the royal, Davidic Messiah. In fact, Jesus never actually uses the title in reference to Himself. Furthermore, when His healings or actions caused people to call him Messiah, Jesus typically urged them to silence and not to spread the rumor. Christopher Wright (Anglican Old Testament Scholar) suggests that “the most probable reason [for this reticence] is that the term messiah had become so loaded with the hopes of a national, political and even violent Jewish restoration that it could not carry the understanding of “messiahship” that Jesus had derived from a deeper reading of his Scriptures. If he had stood up and claimed to be the Messiah it would have been “heard” by his contemporaries with a load of associations that were not part of Jesus’ concept of his mission…The trouble was that what they expected of a messiah and what Jesus intended in being the Messiah did not match” (Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament).

So, does Jesus’ apparent reticence to be publicly called the Messiah mean that He did not think himself to be Israel’s King? Were the crowds wrong to put down palm branches before Him and celebrate Him as such? If so, why did Jesus go out of His way to ride in on a donkey? And how do we reconcile the way Jesus spoke about Himself, with the Gospel writers’ (especially Matthew’s) insistence on referring to Him as the Messiah? Was Jesus the Messiah? Or was He not the Messiah? This week, we’ll take a careful look at how the amazing story of Jesus’ death reveals, paradoxically, that yes, He is the Messiah — but not the kind of messiah Israel was anticipating.

LARGE GROUP DISCUSSION

Read Luke 22:39-23:46

(Note: This long chunk of text covers a huge swath of narrative ground. Read it very slowly allowing yourselves to follow along with the story. Pay particular attention to how Jesus’ identity unfolds.)

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Stop to discuss the events in this passage

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”

Stop here to discuss the events

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”

But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.

“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.“

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Stop here to discuss

The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other insulting things to him.

At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”

Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”

They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

Stop here to discuss

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.” So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Stop to discuss

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”

Questions for Interacting with Scripture:

These questions are to help us slow down to taste and notice Scripture, savor its richness, and meditate on its complexity of meaning.

Before responding, spend 3-5 minutes in silence to sit with this text.

1. What part of this story moved you, struck you, or surprised you the most?

2. Think about some of the identity questions that were posed to Jesus i.e.,

Jesus followers asked, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?”

Pharisees asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”

Pilate asked, “ Are you the King of the Jews?”

One thief asked, “Aren’t you the Messiah?”

What do each of these questions tell us about who Jesus is? Or in other words, how do these questions describe the nature of Jesus?

Questions for Listening to Scripture

These questions are to help us be affected by Scripture in the way it was intended to affect us.

Consider this quote from Rowan Williams’ Christ on Trial:

“Jesus before the High Priest has no leverage in the world. He is denuded of whatever power he might have had. Stripped and bound before the court, he has no stake in how the world organizes itself… It is at this moment and this moment only that he speaks plainly about who he is… God’s “I am” can only be heard for what it is when it has no trace of human power left to it; when it appears as something utterly different from human authority, even human liberty; when it is spoken by a captive under sentence of death.”

1. In other words, Jesus’ massively authoritative identity isn’t fully revealed until He is stripped of all His power. What does this reveal to us about Jesus’ divinity and Kingship?

Questions for Examining Ourselves

These questions are to help us look at ourselves, be aware and honest about who we are in light of our interaction with Scripture, and consider any appropriate action.

1. If you’re honest, what Jesus would you have truly wanted? Would you have wanted the powerless, failing Jesus or the triumphant, conquering Jesus?

Luke goes out of his way earlier in his Gospel to prepare us readers to be ready to wrestle with the fact that Jesus’ Messianic Kingship reaches its climax at the point of Jesus’ nonviolent martyrdom. In Luke 9:22-26, He records both Jesus’ prediction of His death and His explanation of the implications for those who would be His disciples: And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

1. What is one way that Jesus’ Kingship of self-denial can reshape the way you relate to the world?

2. In what ways might God be calling you to take up your own cross (i.e. choose martyrdom) today and to give up your fight to preserve your present existence?

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION

Break up and share what’s been going on in your life, pray for each other

CLOSING

Take another few minutes of silence to let the Holy Spirit clarify for you which part of this week’s reading, discussion, and reflection is most important for you to sit with right now. Then take turns talking to God in whatever way you need to in order to be able to move forward in obedience to God’s leading.

#messiah #jesus #luke

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New Post has been published on Alienation

New Post has been published on https://alienation.biz/fox-newss-problem-is-way-bigger-than-oreilly/

Fox News’s problem is way bigger than O’Reilly

Fox News’s decision to fire Invoice O’Reilly over his records of sexual harassment allegations is a large deal. O’Reilly has been the most influential voice on cable News for years, and it took sizeable pressure from advertisers to subsequently get Fox to element approaches with their big name.new aids vaccine

In an internal memo explaining the selection to fireplace O’Reilly, Fox News’s proprietors said their “consistent dedication to fostering work surroundings constructed on the values of trust and respect.”

The hassle is: O’Reilly’s replacements aren’t a great deal of a development. Fox’s new primetime lineup is stacked with network personalities with their very own histories of harassing girls, consisting of visitors and even co-hosts. And it’s now not simply primetime –

On-air harassment has been a habitual detail in Fox Information’s programming for years, specifically on indicates like Fox & Friends.

That on-air harassment reflects a deeper trouble at Fox News. Any Instances investigation observed a tradition of harassment at Fox, with multiple girls reporting inappropriate behavior from their supervisors. Ultimate July, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes resigned after widespread allegations of sexual harassment. But Ailes’s replacements have issues in their personal. Co-president Jack Abernethy has been accused of retaliating against an employee while she rejected his advances, at the same time as co-president Bill Shine is mentioned to have performed a significant position in helping cowl up sexual harassment allegations at Fox.new york NY

O’Reilly’s firing is stated to be indicative of a broader exchange at the network, and Fox has reportedly ordered its personnel to attend hour-lengthy sensitivity training periods. But given the brand new lineup of personalities who have their very own styles of mistreating ladies on-air, the community isn’t showing signs and symptoms of an overhaul simply but.

Summer Fuel Prices: The Latest News

What to expect this summer – will fuel costs go up?

Spring is nearly right here, but everybody is awaiting what is going to occur this summer season in phrases of gas prices. Projections from specialists abound on What to expect in relation to vehicle fuel expenses, with tons of the effect depending on the course of the brand new Trump management as it relates to marketplace dynamics. here is an outlook from Alan Levine and Brian Milne on crude, gasoline, diesel (heating oil), propane and natural gasoline as said by gasoline Marketer News (FMN).new car deals

Gas

That is one area in which there may be plenty of supply yet weak call for. At the second one highest on the document, there is already an excessive amount of gasoline flooding the marketplace. In truth, retail fees are better by using 50 cents now than the same time final yr. The summer time has to inject a piece of a boost into the economic system, as employment is on the rise with more process profits happening.

Additionally, way to the Corporate Common gasoline economic system (CAFE) requirements, mileage improvements are maintaining excessive demand at bay. In Mexico, fuel exports are on the rise, as their demand grows due to a more potent economy. gas charges are anticipated to stay strong into the summer time, while an increase is in all likelihood to arise. Common rate of $2.39/gal in 2017 is predicted.

Propane

Propane needs to lead exports, as it’s a totally robust product in the intervening time. In case you’re going to buy propane, now is the time to take into account. Its price is trying to be 10 to twelve cents cheaper in three hundred and sixty-five days, as it emerges as an opportunity gas in industries like road production and landscape work.

Crude

At among $50 and $55 consistent with the barrel in the meanwhile, crude is experiencing a plentiful supply not handiest inside the U.S. but in the course of the world too. Many factors may also stabilize crude costs in the coming months, in particular, OPEC’s recent manufacturing cuts which can be currently propping fees up.

Also on the upward push are claims of excessive tiers of compliance through remote places manufacturers, in particular from Saudi Arabia, which says they might be open to deeper cuts in manufacturing if dishonest will increase another time. As an apart, a shale oil generation is an effective form of gasoline 12 months over 12 months, however, it is nonetheless greater luxurious than conventional oil.

Special Survival Problem To Consider – Gangs

Gangs are prepared agencies which might be well armed and perilous now. They’ll best turn out to be greater risky and aggressive in a catastrophe state of affairs. They will no question use their force and numbers to overwhelm unarmed and unprepared citizens. Even nicely armed residents will have extreme problems whilst faced with the aid of those corporations. critical weaponry and methods these gangs might be important to defeat or power them away.Glenn Frey health problems

The uninformed hundreds don’t realize how regular gangs are and the way close they live. Even cities with a quite small population have some level of gang pastime. The usage of cutting-edge verbal exchange generation even these small metropolis gangs are well linked like a massive spider web.

Do not underestimate the strength and attain of gangs.

How to plan for Gangs

The best that would be hoped for is that a nicely defended and nicely prepared individual will position enough fear into those organizations that they pass someplace else searching out simpler goals. However, they may go back in the event that they experience that their numbers and firepower are superior or if the hazard is well worth the praise of taking what you have.

What’s going to make this hazard even worse is the fact that police will depart their posts to move home and take care of their own households. This came about in New Orleans inside 2 weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit. Without ordinary police patrols, gangs will take complete gain of the WROL state of affairs.

There may be no negotiations with these organizations. They will see this try as a sign of weak spot and take the entirety you have, which includes your existence. handiest via a show of pressure will gang display you recognize. They apprehend worry. fear for his or her personal life is all the respect.

The plan here is to arm yourself if you want to live. This might be going to be your handiest hazard. Going unarmed is simplest inviting troubles. For lots, this is not what you want to pay attention. However, the statistics of the scenario demand a sturdy show of force.

That is a Maximum dangerous state of affairs

Maybe you have got a higher idea but I simplest see a violent cease to this hassle. I see gangs getting into a community or community looking to dominate with worry and taking whatever they need. I only see violence because the means to prevent this from going on.

Do you lay low? Do you camouflage your house? This is, do you are making your home appear like it has already been robbed so the gangs bypass you with the aid of?

Do you shoot first? That could be a decision that I am hoping I never must make.

What are your mind and how do you intend to handle gangs in a WROL state of affairs?

Jerry D. Wilson has an entire life of desert and outdoors enjoy to drag from to offer the quality recommendation for emergency preparedness.

Mr. Wilson has created a blog and Facebook page to assist educate anyone on emergency preparedness and catastrophe making plans. Topics which includes home meals storage, food-in-a-jar, water storage and monetary making plans to call some.

Setting Goals – Bigger IS Better

Goal putting is one of the keys to getting on your extra self and residing satisfying lifestyles. Lifestyles full of motive. The important thing to setting your dreams, your very last motive in lifestyles and what you want to achieve is to move Huge!

Dream as huge as you probably can. Set the bar as high as you watched you may go – then double it!

I have absolutely no question that there can be people accessible – professionals even, who will tell you no longer to dream unachievable desires.

Who’s to mention what is unachievable? Set your own goals and make them big!

The chance that I see from setting an Intention that isn’t always Big is that the effort that gets expended is synonymous with the Purpose.

If it takes the little effort to reap then the Aim is little! The hassle is, those smaller desires are the ones in which we discover ourselves losing motivation and missing dedication. Make your dreams and goals genuinely mind-boggling massive. Trust you may gain them, plan out the route after which dive in head-first.

1. go for the most important Carrot

Alrighty then, permit’s get to the nitty-gritty. Dream big. Larger Nevertheless. The bigger the Aim, the greater realistically plausible it turns into. Make your very last Aim worth of your time and effort. Something that receives you fired up and equipped to tackle the sector.how to get bigger

2. Get in contact with your purpose.

Whilst your desires are aligned with your desires and they may be primarily based on your motive and which means for residing, then your motivation is going thru the roof.

Find ways to reinforce yourself in an effective manner Whilst accomplishing your goals. Once more, do not reward yourself-small. huge dreams, big desires, massive attempt, big praise.

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