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Valley Voice: Coachella Valley neighbors, forget the world’s woes. We have our own to fix – The Desert Sun

Posted: September 21, 2019 at 1:51 pm


Samm Coombs, Special to The Desert Sun Published 11:55 a.m. PT Sept. 20, 2019

Forget the world's problems, as the Coachella Valley has plenty of its own concerns to confront, writes Samm Coombs.(Photo: Illustration by Al Franco/The Desert Sun)

Lets for the moment forget about Californias problems, Americas problems and world problems.The Coachella Valley has enough of its own to keep us busy.

Heres a sampler of issues we face:

Our air quality:Seems the air that we breathe is among the worstin the U.S. One cause is fixable, the other is built-in to our geographyi.e., Los Angeles spews pollutants into our valley through the funnel provided by the San Gorgonio Pass. Prevailing winds add to our problem kicking up dust daily. A century of agricultural pesticides now being exposed by the dying Salton Sea already exacerbate the problem and promise to make it worse unless various governmental bodies bite the bullet to do something monumental, such as refill the sea with Gulf of California water.Dont hold your breath. (Actually, youll soon need to hold your breath to survive!) Every resident in the valley should raise a stink (pun intended) with county, state and federal authorities pointing out a multi-billion dollar fix today is infinitely cheaper than exponential economic losses as this crisis spirals.

Palm Springs future: The citys raison detreis (or was) its village-like atmosphere, a quality that's fast disappearing. Whatever quality you might assign to the current building boom, charming it is not! Theres no going back. What we have now is a commonplace urban environment in an uncommon setting. Sad.

Homelessness: This is a multi-faceted problem i.e., mental health, addiction, economic, etc. so there can be no sweeping cure-all. Current help seems to addresssymptoms more than causes. The good news: Sacramento has stepped up to the plate (in lieu of the county!) and provided $10 million in one-time homelessness funding to Palm Springs. We can thank Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley, for this largesse that will pay for much needed shelter and services.

CV Link: Two missing links make the original intent unattainable, thank you, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, for your not in my backyard attitude.

Police shootings: What with 11 police shootings in the valley by early August,one might see our constabulary as a bit trigger happy.While that might be unfair, the fact remains that Riverside County has among the highest per capita rates of police shootings in all of California. Some fatal shootings were no doubt justified, as when a suspect has a gun in hand. Others seem to be over-reactions i.e., were officers truly at immediate risk when a man with a kitchen knife is 15 feet from an officer took one step forward?There needs be more training to assure any shooting is the only recourse available. The recently enacted California Act to Save Lives is a giant stop in the right direction.

Residential vacation rentals: This is a city-by-city matter.I am not qualified to say how many is too many, although it would seem that point will soon be reached if it hasnt been already in Palm Springs.I believe neighbors should be the priority of residential neighborhoods, not short-term visitors.

Earthquake preparedness:The so-called big one is long overdue.As our valley sits astride the San Andreas Fault, we are apt to be the epicenter. With all exits inaccessible, survival depends on individual preparedness.Are you ready? Next week may be too late.

Samm Coombs(Photo: Courtesy)

Samm Coombs of Palm Desert is a retired adman, publisher and author. Email him at scoombs@dc.rr.com.

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Valley Voice: Coachella Valley neighbors, forget the world's woes. We have our own to fix - The Desert Sun

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:51 pm

Posted in Mental Attitude

Rei Germar on being herself and what she loves – Dinna Chan Vasquez – Business Mirror

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Rei Germar is one of those pretty, thin, young and rich girls we see a lot on Instagram. But we sat down with the 23-year-old, who has over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and over 700,000 on Instagram, and came out with a different impression.

As Rei tells it, she created a YouTubechannel because she likes talking to people about her day.

Im very passionate about sharing thingswhen I come home from school, Im so excited to tell my mom how my day went.Ive been watching YouTube since I was in high school and I loved IshaBorromeo, Kris Lumagui and Anna Cano. I thought I could have my own channel andshare with people my love for shopping, my love for makeup and, eventually,lifestyle and travel.

Reis journey from aspirant to YouTubesuperstar hasnt been difficult, she acknowledges. This gratefulness is onething I noticed about this girl. Im so used to seeing jaded 20-year-olds thatit is refreshing to see someone talk about what she does with passion.

I was actually overwhelmed that I alreadyhadif my memory serves me right100,000 followers after a year. I didntexpect it.

She sees YouTube as a platform for her toshare things about herself and inspire people. Of course, with the fame camethe haters and bashers. Once again, Reis attitude about this impressed me.

I realized that no matter what you do, theywill have something to say about you.At first I would reply, but Idont anymore. I realized that as long as I dont step on other people, walana, dedma na [I dont mind it]. Mental health is veryimportant. I dont think I could keep on doing this if I wasnt in the rightmindset. I need to protect my mental health.

Rei doesnt mind attacks on her physicalappearance, or on her being privileged (example: All you do is shop). Whatshe objects to is when people assume things about her and put words into hermouth. One of the things Rei loves about being a content creator and onlinepersonality is being able to connect with people.

Its being actually able to inspire people.In the beginning, messages like You inspire me didnt really affect me. Itwas when I started knowing their stories and getting messages that they wantedto give up but watching my videos made them feel like they could go on. Thiswas what made me realize that I had a purpose. Thats when I started beingvocal about my advocacies. I want them to fall in love with themselves. I knowthat it is not easy but I am hoping that in my own way, I can help.

We talked to Rei during a shoot for Pandoraslatest campaign, for which she is one of the muses. There is a pink wallemblazoned with the question What Do You Love?

The centerpiece of the campaign is thePandora O pendant, which takes on charms just like the bracelet did, but can beworn in a variety of different ways. Pandora is banking on muses like Rei tointroduce the brand to new kinds of customers.

Rei wears her O pendant with three charmsthat include a leaf, which to her represents a family tree.

Im very close to my family. When I am withthem, I try not to be on social media because theyre really not into it, saidRei, who is the third of four siblings.

The other muses of the campaign are Bettina Jose, Janina Manipol, Christiana Collings, Kaila Estrada, Jess Connelly, Valerie Chua, DJ Kat, Issa Pressman, Janeena Chan, Aryanna Epperson and Gabs Gibbs.

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Rei Germar on being herself and what she loves - Dinna Chan Vasquez - Business Mirror

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:51 pm

Posted in Mental Attitude

The One Where Jennifer Aniston’s ‘Rachel’ Haircut on Friends Became a Phenomenon – Mental Floss

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At Lutz Elementary School in Fremont, Ohio, principal William Krumnow took to the public address system to deliver an important message. It was April 1990, late in the school year, but Krumnows announcement couldnt wait. Over the intercom, he declared there would be a ban on T-shirts featuring Bart Simpson, the rebellious breakout star of The Simpsons.

Specifically, Krumnow was concerned with a shirt that featured Bart aiming a slingshot with the word underachiever emblazoned in quotes above him. And proud of it, man! Bart said. This, Krumnow felt, was an unnecessary bit of subversion in a place of learning.

"To be proud of being an incompetent is a contraction of what we stand for," Krumnow told Deseret News in May of that year. "We strive for excellence and to instill good values in kids the show teaches the wrong things to students."

Krumnow was not alone. School district administrators in Florida, California, Michigan, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. were cracking down on the surge in Bart shirts, fearing his status as a miscreant would be the wrong kind of role model for kids to emulate.

The apparel ban was a result of the success of The Simpsons, which had premiered months earlier on December 17, 1989 and featured a dysfunctional nuclear family consisting of Homer and Marge Simpson and their children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. It was an immediate hit for the fledging Fox network and led to a number of merchandising deals.

While the entire cast of the show was marketable, it was 10-year-old Bart who became the licensing phenomenon. An estimated 15 million Bart shirts were sold in 1990 alone, and there was no mystery as to why the character appealed to kids: He loved skateboarding. He hated school. He was a mirror image of millions of students across America. But unlike many of those students, Bart refused to censor himself, wielding a sharp tongue to match his spiky hair.

Eat my shorts, read one of the shirts. Im Bart Simpson, who the hell are you? asked another.

While some of the shirts, which were priced from $11 to $14, werent as inflammatoryBart urging Dont have a cow, man was the top-sellerthe more incendiary designs were what upset school officials. The language was inconsistent with what school districts considered to be appropriate attire, and several dug deep to justify prohibiting students from wearing them. They cited concerns that other students might find the words objectionable or offensive and believed Bart's rogue attitude was incompatible with a respectful environment.

At Memorial Junior High School in Lansing, Michigan, principal James Shrader got on the intercom to inform students the shirts would not be allowed. At Burnham Elementary in Burnham, Illinois, district superintendentor, as Ralph Wiggum might say, district Super NintendoAl Vega was pleased no students had even attempted to wear the shirts.

Hopefully its because parents feel the same way I do, Vega said. Why would parents allow kids to wear those to school? I, as a parent, am not going to let my kid wear that to school.

Not all parents were on board with the ban. Orange, California's Jeannette Manning told People she was considering buying a shirt for her son on principle. Another mother, Maira Romero, couldn't understand why her 11-year-old son Alex was being reprimanded for wearing the shirt. "Id much rather have him wearing a Bart Simpson [shirt] than one of those rock and roll T-shirts with the skull and crossbones on it, Romero said.

Child development experts werent so sure, either. Some pointed out that when something is labeled off-limits, it becomes more attractive to teens who are prone to rebellion. Ignoring it and dismissing it as a fad was a better option, some said. At Wells High School in Chicago, principal David Peterson dismissed the idea the shirts had any kind of negative influence.

Its like a kid saying, I hate school, he said. Am I going to suspend him for that? I dont think so.

Students caught wearing the Bart shirts faced a variety of repercussions. At Brookwood Junior High in Glenwood, Illinois, teachers ordered students wearing the shirts to call their parents and have them bring a change of clothing. Other schools forced kids to turn the shirts inside-out. Some had teachers cover the offending words with tape. The controversy grew so widespread that by the summer of 1990, retail chain JCPenney decided to take the underachiever shirts off shelves in kids sizes. What some had dubbed the Bartlash had reached new heights.

Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, thought the shirt prohibition was silly. I have no comment, he said when asked about the backlash. My folks taught me to respect elementary school principals, even the ones who have nothing better to do than tell kids what to wear. But Groening couldnt resist pointing out that the word underachiever appeared on the shirt in quotes, indicating that it was his (fictional) school officials who had given him that label. Bart was simply playing the hand he had been dealt.

He didnt call himself an underachiever, Groening said. He does not aspire to be an underachiever. If youll recall, this last season, Bart did save France. (In The Crepes of Wrath, which aired in April 1990, Bart is sent to France as a foreign exchange student and exposes his two winemaking hosts who spike their product with antifreeze. He learns French in the process.)

While The Simpsons has gone on to broadcast another 30 seasons of television (and counting), observers who considered the shirts to be fads were correct. The furor quickly died down and kids found new iconography to wear. By June 1991, Simpsons shirts had been discarded in exchange for the cast of Foxs other hit series, the sketch comedy In Living Color. (Homey the Clown was a bestseller.)

Today, you can find vintage Bart shirts on eBay or online clothing shops like The Captain's Vintage, which offers a classic Bart "Who the hell are you?" shirt in white for $89.99.

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The One Where Jennifer Aniston's 'Rachel' Haircut on Friends Became a Phenomenon - Mental Floss

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:51 pm

Posted in Mental Attitude

Everyday Mystics – The Good Men Project

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I was a college freshman when Herbert Benson published Relaxation Response, a mass-market book that swept across the country, initiating millions to the basic principles of transcendental meditation. A lonely, stressed-out young man, 2000 miles away from home, I took refuge in the space that Bensons book opened up in me. I would go deep within for an hour every day, sometimes two, to escape from the challenges of a high-stakes, high-pressure academic life.

After college I desperately wanted to complete my escape from reality and live in a newly established ashram in Pune, India, led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later Osho), whose spiritual teachings and open attitudes to human sexuality spoke to my heart. Bhagwan was all the rage in the seventies, no doubt in part for his willingness to go toe-to-toe with religious and political authorities. He spoke to the rebellious young man in me. As it turned out later, his organization became a cult. Im grateful that I dodged that bullet.

The desire to be on a path of purpose and meaning continued to burn deep inside me, however. As I continued my meditation practice, strange disassociations occurred. I heard voices, whispers of the universe. I watched the world from an elevated place. I flew in my dreams. I thought I was losing my mind.

I prayed for these experiences to stop, but they did not. Instead, they intensified. Finally, no longer able to function like a normal person in the real world, I asked for forgiveness for not being able to take the next step into whatever awakening was occurring.

I became an advertising exec in New York, then eventually a husband and father, and confined the deepening of my spiritual practice to the Episcopal traditions that I had known since childhood.

Thirty years later, because I would not go to India, India came to me in a series of bizarre events. First, I got my fat, toxic, road-warrior ass into yoga and other forms of exercise. Down twenty, I got naked, resumed my meditation practice, and really opened up. It was then that the universe really got to work.

To help me on my journey, a series of spiritual advisors showed up. A pre-cognitive psychotherapist, who used to train TM trainers in Switzerland. A demanding, but loving female guide (who is also a world-class tri-athlete). A former Ogilvy exec expert in the research on the mind-body-heart connection. An inter-spiritual mystic traveling the world, and close friend of Ram Dass, dropped into my life. A beloved Episcopal monk welcomed me into silence and solitude. WTF?

The pinnacle of the succession of these spiritual peaks occurred in the Carmel Highlands where I found myself on retreat with an Indian mystic from Arunachala who had relocated to the US and was convening a group of gurus and some laypeople. I felt like Forrest Gump in the presence of the fifteen others. At his feet, the infinite blank flat screen of the eternal present opened up and forever changed my life, blowing apart my mind, body, and soul. After the smoke cleared, it became apparent that a cycle of great duration had been completed.

Having wandered through a great many spiritual practices over the decades, heres what I learned that might be useful.

There is a Great Awakening going on now in our country. People of all ages are throwing themselves into a smorgasbord of spiritual disciplines, creating an exotic, intoxicating fusion of practice in search of meaning. An inter-spiritual approach is fine, but its hard to execute, and in my opinion, it must be grounded in a single practice that requires a serious ongoing commitment, at least in the beginning, with an advisor or a community to help guide you.

Otherwise, I can tell you that you will wake up someday to discover that you have spent an enormous amount of time engaged in spiritual self-deception, blissing out. It feels good, but there is no real connection or union with the divine.

Secondly, I personally believe that the world needs us to engage not retreat from it, and thats what this Great Awakening is all about. While regular detachment from the world by going on retreat is essential in order to maintain a space where consciousness can unfold, the world needs us to remain present and engaged in it, using our hearts, minds, and bodies to lift up others.

Third, the real challenge begins when you come back from a retreat. Opening a space for daily renewal and spiritual growth is a tall order in our busy, distracted, over-committed lives. I believe that it is especially problematic for men. We are not hard-wired to remain open so that Spirit can descend and take root. We are much better at taking action, making shit happen. In addition, millennia of traditions regarding what it means to be a spiritual male are no longer serving us well. They need to be reimagined, incorporating the sacred feminine.

However, heres the opportunity that is being offered to us as men. When we finally get naked, surrender, become vulnerable, opening up an interior space where the universe comes shining through, we come fully into our gifts. Our lives begin to have meaning.

We become brave, strong, bold, and creative in ways that we would have never imagined. We finally reveal who we truly are, and engage with the world to the great benefit of others.

In short, we become Everyday Mystics, the embodiment of the sacred feminine and divine masculine, at one with the universe and those around us.

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:49 pm

London Fashion Week: Sparkles and spiritualism were high on the agenda at Ashish – Fashion from Xpos – Virgin Media Television -…

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15th Sep 19 | Beauty

Prudence Wade reviews the sequin-obsessed designer Ashish Guptas spring/summer 2020 collection.

Ashish catwalk shows tend to be one of the biggest parties of London Fashion Week, full of disco vibes and lots of sparkles.

Sequins, clashing patterns and bright colours still made up much of creative director Ashish Guptas latest show, but it definitely felt more subdued than previous seasons.

Gone were the tongue-in-cheek slogan clothes from previous collections, replaced with a more reflective collection quite literally, as many of the outfits were covered in tiny circular mirrors.

It seems the designer showcased something of a spiritual awakening, too.

According to singer Ella Eyres Instagram Stories, model Neelam Gill walked the runway holding a branch of palo santo aloft a type of wood popularly used in South America for ceremonial purposes, as its believed to have healing properties.

Gill was fitted out in a long, almost religious-looking robe but as this is still Ashish were talking about, it was fuchsia and covered in sparkles.

The show notes also featured a quote attributed to the controversial Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh saying: A little foolishness, enough to enjoy life, and a little wisdom to avoid errors, that will do. You might recognise the Indian spiritual leader, otherwise known as Osho, from Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country.

The show held in the art deco Seymour Hall in London also saw a mini concert of musicians playing soft wind chimes, bells and conch shells.

The clothes themselves had a Sixties flower power vibe, with some models wearing actual flowers in their hair. But dont think this is a hippy collection theres always an edge with Ashish, and the beauty look by Isamaya Ffrench involved eyes heavily ringed with kohl. Hair by Sam McKnight opted for messy braids and the occasional pop of colour.

Billy Porter, Ella Eyre and Paloma Faith all appeared on the front row. Pose actor Porter is always one to watch on the red carpet he most famously wore a Christian Siriano tuxedo gown to this years Oscars so hopefully well see him in one of Ashishs latest designs soon.

It feels like something of a new era for Gupta; more pared back and contemplative. Luckily, the colourful, sparkly essence of the brand remains, but it certainly feels like Ashish is delving further into the spiritual than the meme-able than ever before.

Press Association 2019

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:49 pm

The Best True Crime Shows And Movies To Watch If You Loved Hulu’s ‘The Act’ – Pulse Ghana

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When They See Us Nominated for 16 Emmys, Ava DuVernay's four-part Netflix series When They See Us follows the injustices surrounding the Central Park Five , a group of five teenagers who were wrongly accusedand convictedof raping a woman in New York's Central Park. The story is one of the most notable in recent U.S. history, making the show an instant must-watch. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Sharp Objects HBO's Sharp Objects is one wild ride. Based on the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name, the TV series is more similar to Gypsy Rose's story than you might think at first glance. A mom who just wants to take care of her children ends up making them sick in the process. But, don't worry, that's not a spoilerthere's an even bigger twist that you won't see coming. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube ONE Media@Youtube

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Unbelievable Just like The Act was based in part on a BuzzFeed News article , the new Netflix series Unbelievable is based on a ProPublica and Marshall Project investigation . Booksmart actress Kaitlyn Dever plays Marie Adler , who reported being raped to the police but, when authorities didn't believe her, retracted the claim. Two detectives played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever help uncover what actually happened in the true-crime drama. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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The Staircase Family drama always makes for good TV, and this real-life story is just that. Staircase, another Netflix series, follows the charges against Michael Peterson, who was convicted and imprisoned for the death of his wife, Kathleen. It was believed she was pushed down the stairs in their home, but his children say he would never do that. Filmed over the course of 18 years, the true-crime documentary makes for one gripping and timeless story. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Mindhunter Mindhunter became an instant true-crime TV obsession when season onebased on a true-crime book of the same namedebuted way back in 2017. Now that its second season just dropped, fans can watch as Holden Ford and Bill Tenchcharacters both based on real FBI agents get under the skin and into the minds of the country's most notorious serial killers (which, yes, really did happen). Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Series Trailer MP@Youtube

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The Keepers The people closest to a murdered Sister Cathy lead the hunt to uncover more about the 50-year-old homicide case in The Keepers. The Netflix series throws viewers right into the middle of their search for answers. The only problem? The show's only seven episodes long, making for a one-day binge. (At least you've got a ton of other options as soon as you're done...) Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Abducted In Plain Sight Netflix documentary Abducted In Plain Sight has about just as many twists and turns as The Act. Similar to the way Dee Dee misled Gypsy about her health, there's a level of brainwashing in this true story that is both insane and infuriating. You won't believe what goes down until you watch it for yourself. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Abducted In Plain Sight - Trailer@Youtube

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Making A Murderer If you've always wanted to get in the minds of killers (and have already binged all of Mindhunter), then Making A Murderer was pretty much made for you. The 2015 series captivated Netflix subscribers worldwide, telling Steven Avery's story in two enthralling seasons. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Paradise Lost Trilogy Just like Gypsy's trial, this one consumed headlines in 1993. The three-part HBO documentary follows the trials of the West Memphis Three: teenage boys who were charged with killing and mutilating the bodies of three young boys in a Satanic ritual. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills - Trailer@Youtube

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The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst Art often imitates life (case in point: The Act, duh!), but sometimes, life imitates art after it's already imitated life. Confused? Don't be. Here's the sitch: In 2010, director Andrew Jarecki made the crime drama film All Good Things, based on the true story of Robert Durst, who is accused of killing three people but has yet to be convicted of any charges. While doing research for All Good Things, Jarecki was able to get so close with Durst that he later directed a six-part docuseries for HBO, featuring an unprecedented interview with Durst himself. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube HBO UK@Youtube

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Lorena Lorena Bobbitt flooded the news circuit in 1993 when she cut off her abusive husband's penis while he was asleep. What came after was a slew of jokes at her expense by the male-dominated media. Now, the Amazon Prime four-part docuseries, produced by Jordan Peele, allows Lorena to share her side of what happened and how the coverage impacted her life. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Amazon Prime Video@Youtube

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The Case Against Adnan Syed You've probably heard of a little true-crime podcast called Serial that pretty much kickstarted a whole slew of podcasts delving into cold cases. Five years after season one of Serial ended, HBO made a documentary catching up with Adnan's case, including new interviews with both those who believe him and those who don't. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube HBO@Youtube

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I Am The Night Patty Jenkins and Chris Pine team up for this Black Dahliainspired TNT drama. The show follows a teenager and a journalist who get wrapped up in the infamous murder of Elizabeth Short (posthumously known as the "Black Dahlia") in the 1960s. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube TNT@Youtube

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Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes Shortly before the Zac Efronled Ted Bundy biopic, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, director Joe Berlinger released The Ted Bundy Tapes. Through old recordings and new interviews, the four-episode docuseries let's the notorious serial killer and those closest to the infamous case speak for themselves. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Evil Genius: The True Story Of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist This 2018 Netflix docuseries tells the true story of Brian Wells' murder, a headline-making incident in 2003 that's also known as the "collar bomb" or "pizza bomber" case. Just like The Act, Evil Genius takes a high-profile case and puts it into a well-crafted series exploring who, if anyone, was the "evil genius" behind such a high-profile crime. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Amanda Knox Amanda Knox's story is kooky with a capital K. After implicating herself in the murder of her study-abroad roommate, Italian courts found her guilty, even though the nature of the interrogation was shadyto say the least. Then, in 2015, she was not only exonerated, but became a journalist and best-selling author. The Netflix documentary tells her full story. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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The Confession Tapes Speaking of unjust interrogations, Netflix series The Confession Tapes highlights the cases in which psychological interrogations were used against suspects to make up for a lack of evidence. It's often the most intense part of the investigation, and this docuseries proves that it can be the most unfair part, too. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Downeu@Youtube

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The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story Ryan Murphy's hit anthology TV series started by exploring the infamous trial of football player O.J. Simpson, charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in 1994. From the acting to the direction, the show won multiple Emmys. (Fingers crossed The Act can do the same.) Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Dagbladet@Youtube

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Wild Wild Country Cult stories are seriously intriguing, which is why they usually get a lot of media attention. But the cult led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh that built a "utopian city" in the Oregon desert was largely forgotten in the grand scheme of American historyuntil 2018. That's when the Netflix docuseries, Wild Wild Country, premiered, diving deep into the conflict between the cult and Oregonians that eventually resulted in the first bioterror attack in the United States and a massive case of illegal wiretapping. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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Captive There are few documentaries that let the victims tell their story, because it's often too painful for them to relive one of the most terrifying moments of their life. In Captive's eight episodes, however, the docuseries goes deep into multiple kidnapping cases and reconstructs some of the most complex, high-stakes hostage negotiations in history. Watch Now See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube See the original post on Youtube Netflix@Youtube

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The Best True Crime Shows And Movies To Watch If You Loved Hulu's 'The Act' - Pulse Ghana

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:49 pm

The New Naturalists – Bay Nature

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Last December I ascended Pedro Point in Pacifica with Catherine Chang, mostly looking for mushrooms. We hadnt had much rain so didnt expect full-on mycological glory, but Chang was consoled by the prospect of lichens. Stopping short on the trail, she declared, Festuca californica, right in front of us! I looked around for some seemingly invisible circus. Her attention was trained on a plume of delicate blue-gray leaves I would have tromped right past. To the initiated, the sight of a native grass like this growing among exotics is cause for celebration. It doesnt have much competition here, she noted, brandishing her smartphone and taking its picture. Soon we stopped to examine a dead branch crowded with a tangle of delicate light green, dark green, and oxblood websa color bomb of multiple textures. Together they create a landscape, noted Chang. Now, who ever thought about lichens that way?

A few hours with Chang and her keen attention and deep knowledge kicked my sense of this familiar landscape into 3-D. My eyes were bugging out. I was humbled by the complexity I so frequently and easily overlook. And yet its only in her spare time that Changa landscape architect by dayhas accumulated so much insight into the natural world. She is an amateur, fulfilling that words Latin root: amare, to love. In this she exemplifies what might be called a revival in the age-old practice of the naturalist.

Homo sapiens have been entranced with observing and documenting nature since we became a species, but the term naturalist generally refers to the 19th-century heyday of amateur discovery. During that time, in America and Europe, tens of thousands of botany enthusiasts, birdlovers, and butterfly hunters joined societies and clubs dedicated to their subjects. The outdoors was a place of adventure and community for these people. But as the 20th century progressed, academic science along with state and federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service increasingly claimed provenance over the natural world and dictated professional protocols for how to understand it. Naturalists and the types of knowledge they pursued vastly declined.

Today, however, we are seeing a resurgence in the observational practice of the naturalist. Not just in the Bay Area, but all over the globe, people like Chang are reconnecting with nature for personal reasons and to help augment what we know about the myriad denizens of the planet. Todays nature nut is likely to be at least partly driven by an awareness that was just dawning in the 19th century and is reaching something of a desperate pitch right now. Earlier this year an unprecedented scientific consensus was published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent intergovernmental body. The report called out natures dangerous decline and warned that species extinction rates are acceleratingcurrently, up to one million species are threatened with extinction.

As the natural world is in many ways unraveling, part of the trouble is our lack of connection with and appreciation for how it works. Luckily, we have plenty of eyes and new tools for taking a fresh and productive accounting of nature. This past April, for example, thousands of people representing 159 cities and every continent but Antarctica, documented their local biodiversity during the City Nature Challenge 2019. Together more than 35,000 participants made more than 963,000 observations of species in nature, using technology to augment the age-old quest to see whats out there.

Contemporary naturalists have much in common with their historical predecessors, but there are epochal differences in their aims and approaches. The 19th-century naturalist was contributing to a heady expansion in the store of Western European knowledge. Todays naturalist is still focused on revelation: of an approximate 10 to 12 million species on earth, only 1.2 million have been named by science. But yesterdays naturalists had their eyes trained on what they thought was a fixed universe and were motivated by a wish to better understand God through His works. Todays naturalists may find transcendence in nature but understand this within a context of accelerated change. As ecosystems are highly impacted by the engines of global development, naturalists today are frequently seeking to help create a better understanding of whats at stakenot so much investigating how God put this world together, but how human activities are taking it apart. Todays naturalists are aided and abetted by smartphone technology and training programs like UC California Naturalist Program. In the Bay Area we are particularly blessed with opportunities to learn more and do more for nature. Bioblitzesin which people make nature observations in a particular area for a set time periodhave become a favored outreach tool at local parks and preserves. Institutions like the California Academy of Sciences offer regular monitoring projects and invite participation. Myriad volunteer opportunities include seasonal bird and butterfly counting expeditions near home.

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The Judeo-Christian tradition is often decried as creating a fatal delusion for humankind, ranking us far above the lowly beasts of the earth, and yet the first European forays into understanding nature were religion-inspired. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Christian monks trying to parse what exactly happened to the biblical Garden of Eden sent expeditions to far-flung places to bring back pieces they thought must have been scattered after the Fall. These were organized by relationship in plant beds, dirt-based analogues to todays digital databases. Faith and facts were deeply entwined in a system of reference resembling the model of an encyclopedia. In the 1700s, Carl Linnaeus established the binomial system of naming still used today to sort out relationships among species, establishing an eventual platform for studying evolution. As the Age of Exploration, when Europeans began traveling the globe in search of trade routes and wealth, expanded the worlds horizons, Linnaeuss spreadsheet became critical for grappling with an avalanche of discoveries and helped to make sense of them.

By the 1800s, industrialization had provided at least some people with the novelty of free time, and tens of thousands of amateur naturalists charged forth into nature. A growing number of middle- and upper-class ladies and gentlemen traipsed with enthusiasm and nets into meadows and fens, husbanding their quarry in the curiosity cabinets that were common in Victorian homes. The distinction between amateur and professional was blurry in those days, even as new institutions like the California Academy of Sciences were being established to better codify and understand life on earth. The Academy was founded in 1853 by a group of men, many of whom had medical degrees but were not biological scientists. The business of creating a collection of specimens proceeded in a hodgepodge way. At an early meeting, Dr. Albert Kellogg furnished a living owl, caught near Point Jackson on San Francisco Bay; at the next meeting it was reported that the owl was lost. The general public contributed specimens as well. In 1854 a Mr. W. J. Steene presented a curious specimen of cabbage. At the same time, it was widely recognized that although much of the new world had been traversed by Europeans, the unique topography, flora, and fauna of California were revealing a new set of wonders to add to the store of general knowledge. The towering figures in botany at the time, including John Torrey, Asa Gray, and eventually Willis Jepson, maintained vast networks of laypeople with whom they regularly exchanged information and physical materials. The comprehensive surveys they produced would not have been possible without the contributions of an army of naturalists who took an equal interest in what the botanists were doing.

Many 19th-century nature-seekers wanted to improve their souls by investigating Gods revelation in plants and animals. Going out and collecting, for many, was an act of piety and self-improvement. Ironically, the work of perhaps the ur-naturalist of all times, Charles Darwin, dealt a crippling blow to the project of the amateur with the publication of his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. Demonstrating that, in fact, life forms dont issue from a spiritual ideal but from generations of reproduction and gradual change, Darwin excused God from fieldwork.

The rise of professional science coincides with the percolation of Darwinian ideas through study of the natural world. To prove evolutionary mechanisms, scientists turned increasingly to experiments and away from field observation. They also sought to purge science of inherited belief and excluded stories like Genesis from consideration. By the beginning of the 20th century, academic science was consolidating its authority and separation from other kinds of institutions, particularly the church. Now competing for status and pay, professional scientists laid claim to special knowledge. Despite the fact that hobbyist birders, for example, began avidly cataloguing observations that currently fuel databases like eBird, the tradition of the amateur naturalist mostly faded from view. That is changing today.

Last December I sojourned with Constance Taylor and Ken-ichi Ueda up South Park Drive in Tilden Regional Park. The regional park district prohibits cars on this stretch of road from November to March to protect the seasonal migration of the six-inch California newt, which lumbers along on rubbery appendages, headed to breed in Wildcat Creek, and would otherwise itself be smushed under rubber. We moved slowly, as if we were newts ourselves, leaf by leaf, transfixed by mushrooms, lichen, hawks, and songbirds in the winter landscape. Ueda and Taylor frequently recorded their observations in notebooks and on smartphones.

Ueda is one of the creators of the web-based platform iNaturalist, which he co-directs at the California Academy of Sciences with Academy scientist Scott Loarie. Users upload photographic and/or audio observations of nature to the platform; these are then vetted by other users for identification and eventually uploaded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, a clearinghouse of digital natural history observations in use by scientists and natural resource managers all over the world. iNaturalist joins platforms like eBird that are essentially taking Linnaeuss format digital. iNaturalist hangs its observations on the tree of life first organized by Linneaus, Loarie explains. Were using the taxonomy he provided, building on a structure thats already there. The scientific use of our data is in the areas of biogeography and conservation. With it people can ask the fundamental questions of natural history: what do species look like, and how are they changing?

Another distinguishing feature of the 21st-century naturalist is a willingness, even an eagerness, to explore nature in less than pristine settings. Damon Tighe works on behalf of the mostly Oakland-focused California Center for Natural History, which Taylor co-founded. Once part of the team that sequenced the first whole genome of a single cell, he now, in his day job, helps educate teachers about tools they can use with students to take DNA samplings, for example, in the field. Tighe exemplifies a maker spirit in some of todays naturalists, who not only observe nature with pencil, paper, binoculars, and smartphones, but experiment with building their own tools of perception. With CCNH he has made a series of pop-up aquariums at Lake Merritt (you read that correctly), showcasing to passersby the variety and strangeness of many things just below the surface.

I spent an afternoon walking around Lake Merritt with Tighe, who commented that it really should be a national heritage site, because in 1870 the tidal lagoon was designated the first wildlife refuge in the United States. Today, Lake Merritt is refuge for human life as well, with homeless encampments tucked into the built structures around it. Tighe called Lake Merritt an Anthropocene environment because the lake is full of introduced species, brought in by the ballast of ships from all over the world. A lot of the native species are gone and the invasives have stabilized, he says. At the organism level it reflects the human community around itpeople from all over the worldin a working, social environment.

Taylor, Tighe, and Ueda may seem light-years away from Philip Henry Gosse, who in his 1853 bestseller A Naturalists Rambles on the Devonshire Coast mused that the sea anemone evidenced Gods love, since the exquisite tints with which they are adorned are the pencillings of his almighty Hand. Yes, O Lord! Gosse motivated thousands to look into the tidepools not only to ogle Gods artistry, but to refine their own souls to better earn His grace. A quest for self-improvement and transcendence is perhaps not as evident in todays naturalists, who typically arent looking for God, per se. But they are keenly interested in understanding an infinitely complex system that is threatened and vulnerableand in finding solace and deep self-development by engaging directly with nature.

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The New Naturalists - Bay Nature

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:47 pm

Intellectuals And The Path to Rome: A book review – Evangelical Focus

Posted: at 1:47 pm


Mind, Heart, & Soul: Intellectuals and the Path to Rome by R.J. Snell and Robert P. George is a collection of sixteen stories of individuals who have converted to Roman Catholicism.

The interviews are conducted by intellectuals who are Roman Catholic converts, and as the title of the book suggests, each convert interviewed is a public intellectual and notable expert and/or leader in his or her field of study. Each interview recorded in this book provides insight into the converts religious backgrounds, personal experiences that led to conversion, the intellectual hurdles or obstacles faced in the journey towards embracing the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, life after conversion and post-conversion struggles, and suggestions of resources for other intellectuals who might be considering the next step on their own path towards Rome.

There is no doubt that the individuals selected to provide a testimony in this book are to be considered brilliant minds, members of the elite intellectual class within Western culture. Each chapter begins with a biography of both the interviewer and interviewee. Immediately the reader is met with impressive resumes of the people offering their personal stories of conversion to Roman Catholicism. These are the conversion stories of leading theologians, a former megachurch pastor, philosophers, ethicists, a novelist and syndicated journalists for major news outlets, political analysts and theorists, historians, legal scholars, constitutional lawyers and policy creators, and even an accomplished astronomer. The majority hold post-graduate level degrees from the most prestigious universities in the West, such as Harvard, Oxford, Princeton and Cambridge where many serve as faculty members and leaders of various university programs. They are no doubt scholars of the highest caliber and undoubtedly influential intellectuals who have demonstrated a commitment to life-long learning and engaging culture in the public square.

Mind, Heart and Soul is an apologetic work. The testimonies within this book demonstrate that faith is not an enemy of reason, intellectual fervor or a threat to scientific innovation, but they do so, for the most part, without diving deeply into the details of the theological, philosophical and intellectual arguments these converts wrestled with. Regardless, these stories demonstrate that faith involves the rational mind in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding.[1]What is also evident in every testimony is that these intellectuals were not left alone in their quests for spiritual truth, but were aided through the contributions of those who had come before them. The works of other intellectual Catholics served as powerful resources in capturing these converts minds, hearts and souls for the Roman Catholic faith.

Intellectuals mentioned within these testimonies have successfully convinced countless others to embrace the Roman Catholic worldview. For example, the work of John Henry Newman (1801-1890), the once Anglican priest who became a Roman Catholic priest and who will soon be canonized as a saint in the RCC, is mentioned time and time again in these conversion stories as one of the major influencers on decisions to cross the Tiber.[2]

Other intellectual influencers mentioned throughout these conversion stories include the theological and philosophical works of Joseph Ratzinger and Peter Kreeft, the literary works of Flannery OConnor and Oxford inklings such as G.K. Chesterton, Tolkien, and while not a Roman Catholic, C.S. Lewis. A reading of the Church Fathers and the intellectual tradition of Thomas Aquinas played a significant role in convincing many of the converts that the Roman Catholic Church is correct in claiming to be the one true, historic and Apostolic Church.

The richness and influence of the Roman Catholic intellectual world is undeniable in these stories, thus providing a useful list of resources for those on similar journeys. But it was not only the brilliant minds throughout history that are seen to have influenced conversions. There is also the influence of community and a sense of belonging. Many of these testimonies describe a positive experience within a community of like-minded, intellectual Roman Catholics who lived a lively faith, or participation as students in Roman Catholic university clubs. But perhaps the most attractive sense of community came from belonging to a church that claims a doctrinal unity visible under the authority of the Pope, the head of a single, historic, and seemingly unified church.

The religious backgrounds vary among the converts. The majority of the testimonies come from individuals whose religious background was a form of nominal Protestantism. Of particular interest are the testimonies given by those who either grew up in a family with an evangelical religious background, or whose initial experience in the Christian faith took place within an evangelical context. Therefore, this book serves as a useful read for evangelical leaders, scholars, and pastors in seeking to understand common themes or potential weak points that might help to understand what influenced an evangelical intellectual to cross the Tiber and embrace the Roman Catholic Church.

EXAMPLES OF EVANGELICAL CONVERSIONS TO ROME

Ulf Ekman[3]

Former evangelical Megachurch pastor, Ulf Ekman, helpfully summarizes his attraction to Rome using four words: historicity, apostolic continuity, authority, and sacramentality. Ekman admits that in his camp there was a general lack of knowledge regarding church history and at times even an open scorn for the long history of the church (50). Ecclesiology was defined, not through a noted historical connection to a global and universal church sharing a common confession of faith, but through isolated independent congregational churches that held a pragmatic look at the present and a futuristic eschatology (Ibid).

As Ekman studied church history, he discovered a church with a much higher ecclesiology claiming apostolic continuity and unity under the Petrine authority of the pope. In the midst of liberal protestant developments, Ekman was attracted to a historical tradition of Rome that held an unwavering commitment to her traditional dogmas. He began to realize that his Protestant prejudices towards Rome stemmed from a lack of knowledge regarding the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and he ultimately rejected the Reformation doctrines stating that,

I used to believe the four sola tenets of the Reformationmore or less out of Protestant habit or tradition. Step-by-step I started to see how the Protestant mindset has an overriding attitude of either-or while the Catholic mindset, as well as the Hebrew, is more of both-and (56).

Yet of the aspects of Rome that attracted Ekman the most, it was the sacramental element of the Catholic Church that began to draw him into the Tiber.

Matthew Schmitz[4]

Matthew Schmitz grew up as an evangelical, believing that Catholics were probably not Christians and that the Church of Romes teaching was at odds with Christianity. As a child he participated in the Gothard Seminar, a program designed by evangelical Bill Gothard in which biblical morality is taught and encouraged. What Schmitz encountered was a very legalistic form of American Christianity that did not seem to demonstrate grace.

By the age of seventeen, Schmitz had rebelled against this legalistic program but not against the evangelical faith. While on a summer work assignment in Washington, DC, he began attending Capitol Hill Baptist Church. The pastor, Mark Dever, introduced Schmitz to Calvinism by gifting him a book written by J.I. Packer. Soon the young Matthew considered himself among the young, restless and Reformed, although he confesses never making it past page 70 of Calvins Institutes. Regardless, this newfound identity led Schmitz to begin reading anything that would be considered both solidly Christian and undeniably great (122). He began reading both post-Reformation authors as well as some older Catholic things, such as Augustines Confessions.

Augustines allegorical interpretation of Scripture was very appealing to Schmitz, helping him to overcome one of his biggest intellectual problems regarding the Christian faith, evolutionary theory. The literal interpretation of Scripture Schmitz had been taught did not allow for evolution, unlike the allegorical reading of Scripture used by Augustine. He began to embrace a Roman Catholic hermeneutical approach to Scripture. Schmitz was,

...ceasing to be a Protestant, at least to be a pure kind of Protestant. I was becoming a more complicated kind of Protestant, or a more Catholic kind of Christian. I was looking for ways of reading Scripture, which, though I wouldnt have put it this way at the time, were more traditional and ecclesial (122).

Then while studying at Princeton, Schmitz was faced with the emergence of the gay rights movement. In seeking to defend a traditional Christian understanding of sexuality, he read Roman Catholic Elizabeth Anscombes essay titled, Contraception and Chastity. What Schmitz discovered was a powerful defense for the Christian worldview on sexuality within the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This surprised Schmitz because he had always considered the Church of Rome as having erred in so many things. The discovery of a certain truth within Catholicism led him to begin looking more seriously at the Roman Catholic faith. Schmitz states that eventually his reason was well disposed towards the Roman Catholic Church and he ultimately became Catholic, just by beginning to view things in the way Catholics viewed them. All I had to do was relinquish my opposition (126).

Joshua Charles[5]

Charles crossing of the Tiber began with his doubting the doctrine of sola scriptura, which he ultimately rejecting it 2015. While studying Scripture, Charles came to view the recorded words of the living authorities captured in Scripture as problematic for the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. He reasoned that the words of God spoken by men in the Bible (e.g. Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, Paul), words that were later written down as Scripture, had to have been authoritative when spoken and therefore indicated a living authority outside of the Scriptures. Charles then found himself trying to identify which living authority should be trusted, and therefore which biblical canon was correct. Was it the Protestant canon, or the Roman Catholic canon? He asked himself,

Who do I trust to get that canon correct? Who is the divinely ordained authority by which we may be certain that we have the correct canon? Myself? Scholars at universities? The Jesus Seminar? I concluded that my appeal must be to nothing more and nothing less than the authority we see exhibited throughout the Scripture, but particularly in Acts 15, and that is the Living, Authoritative Church that began at Pentecost (102).

It was at this point that Charles set out on a quest to read the Church Fathers. In doing so, he was absolutely slapped across the face by church fathers such as Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus of Lyons. According to Charles, these early leaders of the faith seemed to have a more Roman Catholic understanding of theology and practice than did the evangelical tradition in which he grew upan American Evangelical/Protestant Christianity he claims seemed to be in chaos (102).

Upon reading the Church Fathers, Charles claims to have discovered strictly Roman Catholic teachings such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Eucharist as sacrifice, the authority of the bishops, and apostolic succession (104). Charles even states that in reading the Church Fathers, there was an absence of any distinctively Protestant doctrines among their writings, and the presence of a great deal of distinctively Catholic Doctrines (106).[6]

Charles claimed to have found continuity. Namely, that while Roman Catholic doctrine has developed and been refined over time, it is fundamentally still the same, something that Charles states cannot be the said for the thousands of Protestant denominations (111). And yet, while he had recognized various problems within the Protestant tradition, Charles had never previously considered Catholicism because he never properly understood it. He states,

In short, what I thought I knew about Catholicism just wasnt true. I realized that the Catholic intellectual tradition is extremely powerful, and I studied what the Church actually said about herself and her own dogmas rather than seeing them through an oftentimes erroneous and misunderstanding Protestant lens (117).[7]

Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP and Douglas M. Beaumont[8]

In his first years of college, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP began to explore metaphysical frameworks offered by different religious traditions. While reading Flannery OConnors Letters to A, White encountered the name of Karl Barth. He then went to the library, located and read Barths Introduction to Evangelical Theology in one sitting. On that day White claims to have received the gift of faith and was soon after baptized as a Protestant, even though he had not yet determined to which church he would belong.[9] Realizing that there were many expressions of Christianity, White set out on a journey to understand his new faith by studying its history.

White enrolled in a Church History course at his university and begin reading the writings of Origen and Augustine. He then read Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger, whose emphasizing the combination of philosophy and theology was very appealing to White. He began reading more modern Roman Catholic theologians such as Balthasar, Rahner, de Lubac and John Paul II, in whose writings he found a deep continuity with the Church Fathers. Then during his senior of college, White read John Henry Newman, came to view the Roman Catholic Church as the historic faith and converted to Roman Catholicism.

White began pursuing his MPhil in patristic theology at Oxford where he discovered Aquinas and was trained in Aristotelian and Thomistic thought. White describes Aquinas as a deeply grounded philosophical realist, a deeply grounded theological realist, and a mystic; its a very powerful combination (70). For White, Aquinas offered a unified system for understanding all of reality within the context of the Roman Catholic Church. According to White,

St. Thomass philosophy of nature, metaphysics, understanding of the human person, epistemology, logic, and ethics make sense even independently of divine revelation while being deeply compatible with it. He also articulates an understanding of revelation which assimilates his realistic philosophical approach to the world (71).

In other words, for Fr. White, Aquinas' philosophical and theological framework offers a unified system for understanding all of reality and that can be fully experienced within the sacramental economy of the Roman Catholic Church. A complete package rooted in an ancient intellectual tradition is very attractive to intellectuals on a quest for spiritual truth.[10]

This was especially true for Douglas M. Beaumont. Beaumont did not grow up in a religious environment, and although he had attended vacation Bible schools as child, it was not until college that he began his faith life (233). He admits to having strong sentiments against the Roman Catholic Church prior to his conversion, but without truly understanding it. The more he began to study Catholicism though, the more he began to view shared foundations with Protestantism that had really only diverged in application.[11] While studying apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary, Beaumont was introduced to the writings of Thomas Aquinas through Professor Geisler, who often assigned the reading of Aquinas to his students. Aquinas natural theology was influential in professor Norman Geislers classical approach to apologetics. Beaumont immediately came to appreciate Aquinas philosophical, careful and systemic thinking.

Beaumont continued to study Church History as part of his role as research assistant to Norman Geisler, who at the time was working on his Systematic Theology series. Beaumont was tasked with finding quotes from Church Fathers that would support Geislers beliefs, but he found it very difficult to identify continuity with the early Church Fathers when it came to an Evangelical ecclesiology and eschatology. The longer Beaumont studied Church History, the more he began to agree with John Newman, that to be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant. Ultimately, Beaumont embraced the long intellectual tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, her claim to apostolic unity and continuity with the ancient Church, and a sacramental system structured around a Thomistic intellectual tradition and metaphysical understanding of nature and grace.[12]Dozens of other seminarians from Southern Evangelical Seminary have since followed in his footsteps.

COMMON THEMES AND WEAK POINTS NOTED IN EVANGELICAL CONVERSIONS TO ROME

Each of these converts above was attracted to one or more of the four words mentioned by Ulf Ekman: the historicity, apostolic continuity, authority, and sacramentality of the Roman Catholic Church. There is only one word missing that must be noted, intellectuality. The previous conversion stories are not isolated. Many other examples can be found elsewhere, e.g. Beaumonts book, Evangelical Exodus: Evangelical Seminarians and Their Paths to Rome. A very helpful analysis on evangelical conversions to Rome has also been provided by Kenneth J. Stewart in his book, In Search of Ancient Roots: The Christian Past and the Evangelical Identity Crisis.[13]

What repeating themes do these evangelical conversion stories reveal that should be noted by evangelical pastors, leaders and scholars? This section does not attempt to provide an in-depth theological analysis of the arguments given by evangelical converts for their crossing of the Tiber. For an excellent psychological, theological, and sociological analysis on what has beenlabeled, "Convertitis", check out the new series by the Davenant Institute titled, "Why Protestants Convert". What weare addressing below are common themes and weak-points identified in testimonies of those who have had a case of convertitis. Our desire is to continue a conversation as to why Roman Catholicism becomes so attractive to some evangelicals and what can we do about it.

1. Weak ecclesiology with no or little historical formation or depth

Every single testimony seems to indicate a weak ecclesiological background. Converts describe evangelicalism in terms of isolated evangelical church expressions with no connection to a historic and global Christian faith. There was no mention of intentional discipleship and theological formation taking place within the context of the local church. In these testimonies, a study of Church history usually took place independently or through Evangelical Bible Schools and Seminaries. In Beaumonts case, his seminary did not even offer a Church history course for graduate level students, not even as an elective! How is this possible? Our own research has found that many seminaries lack courses on Roman Catholicism. The result is a generation of evangelical leaders who, like majority of the converts in this book, did not really understand Roman Catholicism.

What needs to be done in our institutions to help raise awareness of church history and the evangelical connection to the historic Christian faith? More importantly though, what needs to be done in our churches? Helping evangelicals to grasp and identify with a historic and biblical faith should not be left to Bible schools and seminaries alone. Perhaps there could be a regular recitation during times of worship that include not only Scripture but historic creeds and confessions stretching from the Apostles Creed, to the reformed confessions such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Confession of Faith, etc., to even more modern global evangelical confessions such as those created by the Lausanne Movement.

2. Superficial and individualist expressions of faith

We cannot ignore the American consumeristic and individualistic cultural influence on those who attend our churches or seminaries. Unfortunately, this cultural influence can also be seen within many Evangelical church models today. Many churches have been designed to deliver an experience, having created attractional means in which the attendee can experience their faith, be entertained and consume religious content without being a contributing member or participating in the life of the church. This allows for the development of a shallow, individualistic and consumeristic expression of faith.

When one becomes aware of the superficiality of the experiential expression of faith found in many evangelical churches, a Christianity that provides a way to have an experiential faith through a mystical sacramental system rooted in an ancient, historic and global tradition that claims to be united becomes very appealing. Additionally, when one sees an apparent lack of unity resulting from isolated inwardly focused congregations, the global, ancient and seemingly unified nature of Rome becomes very attractive.

3. A Gospel-less Evangelical/Protestant church experience

Looking back to the testimony of Matthew Schmitz, it appears that his experience within a very legalistic (fundamental) evangelical context played a factor in his journey towards Rome. Others experienced a liberal form of Protestantism which also indicates a lack of the biblical Gospel.

Those growing up in a more legalistic context, like Matthew Schmitz, seem to be attracted to the Church of Romes commitment to its historic doctrines maintained under the authority of the Pope and the teachings of the Magisterium. This was in contrast to an apparent Protestant pick-and-choose or have it your way menu of churches. These converts found solace in a unified, non-democratic and traditional dogmatic system defined by the Church.

Something that is important to note in these conversion stories is that while there was much positivity regarding the unity of the Roman Catholic Church contrasted to a divided Protestantism and Evangelicalism, there was very little discussion about the divergent theological expressions within Roman Catholicism, both historically and currently at odds with one another. Some of the conservative converts who were put off by the liberalization of many Protestant denominations, often leading to splits and the creation of new denominations, seemed to lack any previous conversion knowledge of the various movements within Roman Catholicism that are at odds with one another. This is also true for the more progressive-leaning converts. For example, in chapter 6, Kirsten Powers openly shared about her post-conversion crisis of faith when she discovered a conservative/progressive divide within Catholicism that is marked with infighting (94-95).

4. Attraction to Roman Catholic intellectual tradition and a lack of biblical discernment when reading the Church Fathers, Church History, and Catholic intellectual giants

There is always a need to recognize our presuppositions on the quest for truth. For evangelicals who hold to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, we understand that the Bible is the starting point through which truth claims are to be examined. This equally applies when reading, or leading others through a reading of the Church Fathers, Thomas Aquinas, John Henry Newman, Chesterton, etc. It is not sufficient to take a merely philosophical approach or a realist approach, evangelicals must take a biblical approach. When it comes to reading these ancient intellectual giants and Church Fathers, is there is a need for greater evangelical scholarly assessment of church history carried out with a greater discernment and theological alertness?

What scholarly work is still left for evangelicals to do in order to address this weak point? What scholarly and literary works have already been done using a heightened theological alertness based on the authority of Scripture to evaluate the writings of the Church Fathers, Church councils and growingly popular intellectual traditions? Has there truly been enough work to study, recognize and indicate where our earliest brothers deviate from Scripture? This kind of work always carries the risk of being labeled historical revisionists, but evangelical scholars must be willing to take that risk and boldly identify where Church Fathers influenced a decision, made a decision or wrote a statement that set a trajectory towards what would ultimately result in unbiblical theology and practice.

Another question we must ask is: How does the local church address this weak point? In Schmitz testimony, it is not even clear whether or not he returned from his Summer stent in Washington DC to a local church that could have or would have helped him practice discernment. Was he left to himself as he began reading Augustine and embracing a Roman Catholic hermeneutical approach to Scripture? There is no mention of anyone helping him in this process.

5. Atomistic or no understanding of Roman Catholicism

Every evangelical testimony in this book claimed to have known very little about Roman Catholicism prior to their conversions. There were at times atomistic approaches to understanding Catholicism, only seeing Romes teachings as isolated doctrines having minor or isolated disagreements with Protestantism. However, there seemed to be a complete lack of understanding Roman Catholicism as a complete theological system prior to conversion. It is only after crossing the Tiber that some of the intellectuals recognized the systemic nature of Catholicism, and by then they had already rejected the Reformation doctrines that would undermine such a system.

It would be interesting to conduct a poll to see how many of our Evangelical Bible schools, seminaries, and missionary training centers actually offer courses on understanding Roman Catholicism as a theological system, and if any of them do, if they would be required courses in the training of evangelical scholars, leaders, and pastors. I am afraid we already know how the results would look.

What is evident through a reading of these testimonies is that there is much work to be done. It can be unsettling for evangelicals when considering that this book is one among many. However, the crossing of the Tiber is not only unidirectional. We at the Reformanda Initiative have been encouraged time and time again by stories of Roman Catholics who convert to the evangelical/biblical faith of salvation by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in the work of Jesus Christ alone. Most recently, we were encouraged by the testimony of Onsi A. Kamel, Catholicism Made Me Protestant, recently published byFirst Things. Read it and be encouraged.

Our prayer is that God may provide the resources and people who would dedicate their lives to humbly work together in identifying, uniting, equipping, and resourcing evangelical leaders to understand Roman Catholic theology and practice, to educate the evangelical church, and to communicate the biblical Gospel of salvation over and against attractive yet deviating narratives. Will you pray with us?

Clay Kannard is an evangelical pastor in Rome, and communications director of the Reformanda Initiative.

Bibliography

George, Robert P., and R. J. Snell. Mind, Heart and Soul: Intellectuals and the Path to Rome. TAN Books, 2018.

NOTES

[1] Kristen Powers, states in chapter six that, One of my struggles with Christianity was that I thought it was anti-intellectual...I really thought all intellectuals were skeptics too, 89.

[2] Newmans Apologia Pro Vita Sua and The Grammar of Ascent are mentioned throughout this book as one of the most influential works that helped converts overcome intellectual challenges towards the Christian faith, and to embrace the Roman Catholic Church as the one true church.

[3] Ulf Ekman was born in Sweden where he was ordained as a Lutheran minister. In 1983 Ekman founded the charismatic evangelical church, Word of Life, which eventually grew into a Megachurch having an expansive outreach and global influence. In his thirty-plus years of ministry, Ekman founded several Bible schools and a seminary, organized and led conferences around the world, and authored over 40 books that have been translated into over thirty languages. Ekman valued the evangelical emphasis on reading and teaching the Bible, having a personal relationship with Jesus and the charismatic experience of faith.

[4] Matthew Schmitz is a senior editor of First Things and has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Spectator and more. He holds an AB in English from Princeton.

[5] Joshua Charles is a historian, writer, and speaker. He holds an MA in government and a law degree. As a writer, he has written many articles for publications such as Fox News, The Federalist, and the Jerusalem Post and has authored and co-authored bestselling books on Americas Founders, Israel and the Bible. His testimony provides very little insight into the specifics of his previous religious experience, other than it was within a non-denominational Protestant Christian upbringing.

[6] Then on page 108, Charles gives an example, stating that every single Church Father believed in baptismal regeneration.

[7] As Evangelicals, even the works of the earliest Church Fathers must be read in light of Gods Word as our ultimate authoritySola Scriptura. In Charles case, he had already denied the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.

[8] Fr. Thomas Joseph White is the director of the Thomistic Institute at the Angelicum in Rome, professor of theology and a convert himself. Douglas M. Beaumont holds a Ph.D. in theology from North-West University and an MA in apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary. At Sothern Evangelical Seminary Beaumont served as assistant to President Norman Geisler and taught Bible and religion for many years. He is also the author of several books, including Evangelical Exodus: Evangelical Seminarians and Their Paths to Rome.

[9] More details are needed, but how is one baptized by a church without yet having decided to what church one would belong to? What was the understanding of baptism by the church who administered this ordinance? Was there any evaluation of Whites claim of faith or any attempt to catechize him?

[10] It is important to note that while Fr. White would present a Thomistic understanding of the Roman Catholic faith, as a comprehensive theological system where everything is interconnected, most of the converts never had this understanding of Roman Catholicism prior to conversion. Rather, Roman Catholicism was approached or thought of through the typical atomistic approache.g. doctrine by doctrine. For more on this read Dr. Leonardo De Chiricos dissertation, Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Vatican II and Gregg Allisons book, Roman Catholic Theology & Practice: An Evangelical Assessment.

[11] Beaumont provides examples stating, immoral popes were no more of a problem than was St. Peter. The evil of Israel no more made it cease to be the people of God than evils committed by those in the Church made it cease to be the Church. These discoveries made me realize that often it was my inconsistent application of shared principles that made Catholicism seem as far off as I had been led to believe it was. (226). Beaumont states that during his time at SES, Church History was not even taught for any of their graduate-level degrees, even as an elective (227).

[12] Beaumont understands very well the difference between Evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism, from the systemic nature of Catholicism to recognizing that while we often use the same words (e.g. evangelize, works, grace), we have completely different understandings of them. See his concluding remarks on page 237.

[13] See chapter fifteen of his Stewarts book, titled Why Are Younger Evangelicals Turning to Catholicism and Orthodoxy?, specifically the section titled Reasons Behind the Drift.

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Intellectuals And The Path to Rome: A book review - Evangelical Focus

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:47 pm

Could Apple Arcade Be the Best Gaming Subscription Service Yet? – Goomba Stomp

Posted: at 1:47 pm


Borderlands 3 is one of the most bizarre gaming experiences of this generation, a highly-anticipated, long-awaited sequel clearly feeling the pressure of living in its predecessors enormous shadow. Both beholden to its past and searching for its future, Borderlands 3 is a strange amalgamation of abundantly familiar elements and a few new ideas, most of which never truly find harmony with each other during the games lengthy campaign.

In its attempts to look forward and backward at the same time, Borderlands 3 ends up feeling like a series of half-measures, a collection of systems and story beats that, in the few moments theyre able to take evolutionary steps for the franchise, feel like theres still room for the now decade-old series to grow. Unfortunately, across the 50+ hours Ive spent traversing, shooting, and constantly marking items for junk in my inventory, Borderlands 3 hasnt offered those moments nearly enough, too often falling victim to its old habits, using its legacy as a crutch, rather than a device to propel the franchise into its (admittedly uncertain) future.

It doesnt help Borderlands 3 front loads some of its worst writing; the opening act of the game is gratingly awful, hammering away at the same few punchlines for its characters as players embark on the series of fetch quests that comprise the games opening hours. Beginning some unidentified amount of time after Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3 opens on a war-ravaged Pandora enraptured by its inhabitants latest obsession: the Calypso Twins, who have seemingly galvanized the majority of the Crimson Raiders in their quest to well, well talk more about the Calypso Twins, and their role in the story, a bit later.

Early on, Borderlands 3 is desperately trying to prove to the audience it is still the same ol Borderlands, interrupting its genitalia references to break the fourth wall and acknowledges that yes, were once again beginning with a series of annoyingly spread-out fetch quests to introduce characters and establish tone. But the delivery of the games typical blend of meta humor and pop culture references feels stale on arrival; the lengthy fetch quests just feel like simplistic mission design, and big dick energy jokes just dont hit like they used to in 2019.

(Theres also an entire plot line built around Ice-T as a sentient teddy bear, who calls his in-game wife a bitch constantly, in between dick jokes. Its as terrible as it sounds.)

Borderlands 3 quickly establishes these abundantly familiar rhythms and then, surprisingly, doesnt do much to expand upon them through the rest of the games main campaign. Though Gearbox has called this title the big one in the past, it doesnt feel like a major step forward in any sense of the word and at worst, Borderlands 3 occasionally feels like a regression of what it does best, a slow burn of slight disappointments which add up to a confounding experience.

Theres also Borderlands absolute dismissal of Twitch culture; as the introductory chapters of the game catch players up on the Calypso Twins sudden accrual of power, Borderlands 3 has a strangely old man yells at cloud feeling to it (to myself borrow an overused meme for a moment), an odd feeling for a game that prides itself on its own (debatable) edginess and camp.

The Calypso Twins are built around the stereotypical cult of personality associated with the biggest streamers of the world and boy, does Borderlands 3 not spare an ounce of vitriol for the admittedly complicated, often disturbingly regressive world of streamer culture (though they do have a weapon that is a direct Dr. Disrespect reference, and also feature some of the most elaborate Twitch integrations of any modern game). But Borderlands 3 admonishes creator and follower alike with an empty dismissal of the influencer in a rather bleak application of its signature nihilism, it buries any kind of interesting exploration of the Twins- as either characters or societal critique under a thick layer of cynicism.

It never really even contemplates their place as unifers in a galaxy full of corporations addicted to war profits, under a thin, cynical veneer of disregard for their place in any culture, Pandorian or human its critique of streamer culture ultimately just feels empty. At times, it even feels hypocritical; unsurprisingly, Borderlands 3s consistently been one of the most-watched games on Twitch since before its public release last week (plus again; there are multiple streamer-related references sprinkled through the game). Its contradictory at best and when considering how thin the public personas of Troy and Tyreen are actually defined outside of shitty streamer people and their shitty followers, it just feels weird.

Like the story, the shooting and looting of the game is immediately familiar, though it is a much more welcoming feeling: the single biggest improvement to Borderlands 3 is the shooting, which feels tighter and heavier than it has the previous three entries in the series. If theres a truly transcendent evolution of the games formula, its found here: the shooting is simply magnificent from the word go, especially with the new traversal elements of mantling and power sliding, movement options that do wonders to bring life to the games many, many, many, many engagements with massive groups of enemies, hidden baddies, and massive (-ly lengthy, though mostly well-varied) boss encounters.

The class selection is also fantastic; theres a distinct rejection of Borderlands 2s semi-linear class system, with each of the games four characters featuring multiple unique skill trees players can utilize to create an impressive diversity of builds with. There are hints of old characters in Fl4K, Zane, Amara, and Moze, but those elements are welcomely remixed and expanded upon, in creative ways I just wish the rest of Borderlands 3 would take a hint from; Ive never had so much fun switching between characters in a previous game, experimenting with the intersections of their diverse ability sets, and seeing how the games Legendary and Anointed equipment rarities can further those builds is easily the most satisfying part of the game (though admittedly, all four classes take until about level 30 before they truly unlock their mechanical potential).

It is worth noting the games technical performance is as inconsistent as its narrative; for a game thats been in development for so long, Borderlands 3 feels particularly unpolished for a finished product hell, between writing and editing this review, I lost a collection of 50 legendary items out of my storage bank because of a widespread bug, kind of an unforgivable mistake for an entire game built around loot hunting.

Outside of the major performance issues widely-reported since the games release including the virtually unplayable Resolution mode on Playstation 4 Pro Borderlands 3 is ripe with the glitches of the past: broken mission objectives, inconsistent AI companion pathing and, as an added bonus, the expected bevy of Unreal Engine quirks (like falling through the map multiple times). Though it seems like a small complaint, waiting 5-7 seconds for your in-game menu to load in every few minutes in a 2019 video game quickly becomes frustrating, one of many examples of Borderlands 3s many rough edges.

(Playing as Moze in multiplayer was a particular low light: from the gravitational physics of my character completely breaking, to glitches that rendered my player utterly unmovable, Borderlands 3s co-op modes are frustratingly janky, to the point split-screen co-op is almost unplayable in its current state.)

But the most frustrating part of Borderlands 3 is (outside of the character classes, of course) how risk-averse the entire affair is; in terms of mechanics and systems, it is mostly an integration of Borderlands 2 and the new elements of The Pre-Sequel, with a couple of light improvements around the edges. For example, there are now gear scores attached to every item a player picks up; theres still no way to effectively manage an inventory, or even a consistency to how the scores are formulated, but hey, at least theres kind of a way to compare gear (which one will do constantly, since inventory management is a still a hot mess).

For every tiny improvement, theres a concession attached to it; a great example is the games map and mission tracking systems. While the map now shows the topography of each area, a useless mini-map and a thoroughly aggravating menu UI make juggling multiple missions an absolute chore (even though one can switch missions on the fly with a touch of the button, theres no way to see multiple objectives on the map, or even switch between them while in the map menu).

This persists across the entire Borderlands 3 experience: and as the tale of the Calypso Twins and the Great Vault lurches through its interminably lengthy second and third acts, it begins to wear on the experience. For better or worse, Borderlands 3 further entrenches itself in the habits and rhythms of Borderlands 2 which, after seven years, begins to feel stale in areas, frustratingly reluctant to change, or even reflect on its well-established sensibilities (or on itself; there are literal jokes made about CEO Randy Pitchfords many controversies, which are uncomfortable at best). And while the game certainly demonstrates the effectiveness of carefully refining its (rightfully celebrated) mechanics, its absolute reluctance to take creative risks begs the question of why it took so long to bring this game together (or, at the very least, begs the question of whether Gearbox really wanted to do a Borderlands 3 at all, and only green lit the project after the overwhelming failure of Battleborn).

As the game moves through its middle chapters, it just feels lacking in a way Borderlands 2 never did, even with its predecessors own inconsistent humor and pacing. Though ostensibly a journey spread across the galaxy, featuring a massive cast of familiar and new characters, so much of Borderlands 3 feels small and isolated. Every area of the game is broken up into tiny segments, covering small areas of these seemingly massive planets an experience itself constantly broken up by lengthy loading screens and regular back tracking, which doesnt exactly vibe with the games epic, world-hopping scope.

The absence of the player-characters in the central narrative is another head-scratching omission; despite the inclusion of unique dialogue for every character throughout the game, the four main personalities of Borderlands 3 feel underdeveloped a problem that persists considering how little theyre seen during the most important moments of the game. Theyre explicitly excluded from so many of the games cinematic moments, they almost feel absent from the games actual story (despite the inclusion of unique dialogue for every character throughout the game, an experiment that pays off to mixed results).

I think about the ending of Borderlands 2, and how much potential it held for the future of the series: the promise of exploring entire planets with friends, finding Vaults and hidden pop culture references was almost breath-taking in its ambition. With its series of linearly-designed, stunted zones and limited planet selection at launch, Borderlands 3 never really harnesses the long-gestating potential for growth; and as the story begins building towards its climactic moments, it only further highlights the creative dissonance that plagues so many aspects of the game.

The clearest distillation of Borderlands 3s identity crisis is found in the games story, which struggles to justify itself as something more than just another Borderlands game. It is torn between its desires to attempt something new (at least, at times), and the emotional attachment it knows the audience has with the characters, rhythms, and memorable moments from the first three games of the series. It leads to a story that often follows a template: travel to new area, meet familiar old character for a mission, fight through a series of gently-guiding corridors while constantly staring at the map, rinse, and repeat for thirty-five hours.

Save for the occasional interlude and amusing side story though that often finds itself stuck in its own loop, with a collection of ancillary characters who either wants to remind you how funny poop is, or how much people in this world enjoy murder and death to the point its cynical nihilism is no longer humorous, and eventually becomes exhausting.

Sure, there are a couple new characters introduced, but theyre left to the fringes of the main narrative, which is, for all intents and purposes, a retread of Borderlands 2s major beats. Yes, it occasionally attempts to subvert expectations, but mostly by presenting a mirrored version of the series previous events where Borderlands 2 was about an evil father manipulating their disgruntled child and the Vault Hunters, Borderlands 3 is basically about mad children manipulating their father and the Vault Hunters but it is satisfied to simply just be that story, and not much more (and at times, even becomes wholly illogical remember The Watcher and their foreboding warnings? Neither does Borderlands 3, apparently).

There is one particularly strong section of story, however, and it comes in an unexpected place: after serving the role of enigmatic mission giver (and named member of the Borderlands 2s lamest DLC), Sir Hammerlocks arc in the middle section of Borderlands 3, while disappointingly divorced from the central events of the game, is emotionally propulsive in ways none of the other story is, a moment where Borderlands 3s themes find their voice for a too-brief amount of time.

Part love story, and part exploration of the intersections of family and legacy, Borderlands 3s tale of Hammerlock and the Jakobs family is so satisfying,the one time Borderlands 3 stops screaming at the player in its desperation to be funny or surprising. For a few hours,the overwhelming nihilism of Borderlands eternally cynical world view melts away, and the series truly offers something akin to hope and possibility in its world. It represents the beautiful essence of Borderlands expansive set of characters, companies, and legacies, and is the rare moment where Borderlands 3 finds harmonic brilliance between its shooting, looting, joking, and genuine attempts at emotional beats.

But like most of the other familiar faces in Borderlands 3, Hammerlocks story is contained to his few chapters on his home planet; for a game that ultimately turns on a story of family and shared purpose, theres so much of Borderlands 3 that just feels like it is missing the mark, or ignoring it altogether. Outside of Lilith and Claptrap (and for a brief time before her quickly-forgotten disposal, Maya) none of the games previously playable characters factor into the narrative in any way hell, most of them, like Axton, Gaige, Salvatore and Krieg, dont appear or are barely mentioned at all, which kind of takes away from the games attempts to be an all-encompassing adventure through the history (and theoretical future) of its surrogate family of bandits, adventurers, scientists, and adventure seekers.

Instead, theres a lot of focus put on a handful of underwhelming new characters (including Ava, the games single biggest missed opportunity relegated to Whiny Teen tropes), only occasionally interjecting those sequences with familiar faces: multiple major characters of the series have precisely one mission dedicated to them through the story, which again feels like Borderlands 3 lacking confidence in its own identity, unable to commit to forging new paths, and instead peppering serotonin-laced doses of nostalgia across the story as a half-measure to cover up that Borderlands 3 really has nothing new to say about its world, its people, or the story its been telling now for a decade.

Borderlands 3 is perfectly content to just be more Borderlands, with all the expected thrills and frustrations one would expect from that philosophy. That doesnt make it an abject failure, of course: its still a game Im going to play for hundreds of hours with my friends, thanks to the sheer diversity of gun play and character builds (it is a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time, after all) but theres a distinct feeling Borderlands 3 couldve been so much more than well, just more of the same Borderlands. Seven years after its last mainline entry (and five after its forgettable, under cooked pre-sequel), just being Borderlands one more time makes it feel like a series stuck in the past, retreating to safe waters by simply remixing the old game with a strangely newfound (and ultimately, superficial) hatred of streamer culture layered on top to feel relevant in 2019.

That allegiance to the past ultimately comes at a cost; it makes the few moments Borderlands 3 tries to evolve stand out in stark contrast to the rest of the game, complete 180s in emotional tenor that are never met by equal risks taken in gameplay design, or the construction of the main narrative. When the dick jokes and meme references subside, there is an emotionally satisfying core deep inside Borderlands 3, one that highlights the spaces in between the games consistently enjoyable shooting and looting gameplay loop (theres a particular photo I discovered in the games later moments that literally brought me to tears, a quietly poignant and beautiful moment this game desperately needs more of).

But that version of Borderlands 3 only comes out in fits and starts, often hindered by the series allegiance to its old identity, one that time, and most of the gaming industry, has passed by (at least, during the main story; Ill be back next week with thoughts on the post-credits/endgame experience). There is a great version of Borderlands 3 somewhere, a more driven action-RPG with a tighter campaign experience, a more ambitious, fully-formed story, and a true expansion of its celebrated mechanics to marry to the games wonderfully diverse class set and enhanced movement options. Its just not this inflated, safe iteration of the series, one that drowns its few iterative innovations in a sea of repetitive familiarity.

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Could Apple Arcade Be the Best Gaming Subscription Service Yet? - Goomba Stomp

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September 21st, 2019 at 1:47 pm

How Molly Huddle Fuels Her Marathon Training – Runner’s World

Posted: September 20, 2019 at 11:47 am


Food holds places in our lives beyond just fuel and is on our minds in so many different contexts. With all the nutrition news, facts, myths, fears, aversions, allergies and unique needs out there, it can feel like somewhat of a mine field to navigate as an endurance athlete. I mean, are starches even good or bad for us? Theyre like the Walter White of the nutrition world! Complex indeed, those carbohydrates.

Im not a nutritionist, and most of you arent professional runners, but I can share my thoughts on the strategies Ive used to stay relatively healthy through years of hard miles and what Ive learned so far about marathon nutrition.

My general nutrition strategy for the last decade has been specific to my lifestyle as a professional runner. I focus on targeting food that fuels distance running rather than eliminate food groups or label anything as off limits.

At the top of my priority list, I need a lot of red blood cells (cue iron and B vitamins), glycogen replenished (lets go, carbohydrates), muscle repair (care of amino acids and protein), a good immune system (good work, vitamins), solid bones (thanks to minerals), and to maintain hormonal health (well done, good fats and enough calories). I try to hit these targets every day and work around that framework as far as squeezing in extra things for enjoyment, convenience, catering to any food sensitivities, and general health.

Some great resources for runners of all ages and abilities that Ive been using lately are Elise Kopeckys and Shalane Flanagans series of cookbooks as well as Roar, a book by exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist Stacy Sims, with Selene Yeager, that addresses female athletes unique nutritional needs.

These have been helpful to me because the cookbooks provide creative, enjoyable, and nourishing meal suggestions catered toward endurance athletes, and Roar helps me understand when and how to focus on one aspect of nutrition over another in order to maximize recovery and performance while inhabiting an ever-changing body.

I have some scientific and nutritionist-backed information at my fingertips, thanks to my relationship with Gatorade Endurance. I met with the lab team of scientists and nutritionists to dial in my training and race-day fueling for three of the four marathons Ive run, and I regularly search the GSSI database when I have specific questions. Here is what Ive taken away about nutrition during my marathon build-ups. (Ill devote a separate article to race-day fueling later.)

In the lab, I did a day of treadmill testing while they measured my fuel consumption and sweat rate at a given temperature range, which was really interesting and helpful. I know this isnt something available to everyone, but I noticed my results did fall into the range of what is suggested for the average person, which is about 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour when at marathon race pace. The sweat test showed moderate fluid and sodium loss, which recommended a certain rate of fluid and electrolyte replacement to prevent losing more than 2 percent of your bodyweight in sweat, after which performance will decline.

Roar actually recommends a more dilute race-day carbohydrate solution of 7-9.4 grams of carb/8 oz, which is roughly half of the amount I take in training and racing. If taken every 5K as per my fluid stops, I take about 20-32 grams of carbs per hour. In training, I take about 20 grams of fuel every half hour or so on long runs that are longer than two hours to keep from getting too depleted. On tempo runs, I take that amount every 5K, or about 17 minutes, to get used to taking in fuel while moving fast.

I also got a few helpful tips from dietitian and lead R&D scientist Lisa Heaton at Gatorade Endurance, who viewed a three-day segment of my diet and saw that, despite my efforts, I still needed to take in more carbohydrates, liquid, and calories per day. This was especially true when I had added not only the extra volume of training but was doing so at altitude for half of the buildup.

To address the hydration/carbohydrate shortage in one nutrient packed go, I added a fruit smoothie per day, or switched some of my water to juice. I also tried to add an extra serving of potatoes or rice to my lunch and was happy to have an excuse for maintaining my doughnut a week habit. These were simple tips, but over the months they keep me just above the line of fluid and carb depletion, whereas before I was unaware of being just shy of enough and feeling less consistently good on runs.

Another thing I rely possibly too much on in a marathon buildup is coffee. The caffeine by way of a cup of coffee or double espresso has always been a welcomed boost of energy to my longer morning run, but has now also appeared before my evening run amidst the fog of tiredness that happens in the middle of the marathon buildups.

I like to have about one cup of coffee an hour before any run or workout. If I wait much longer than two hours after the coffee to work out I risk feeling a slight caffeine crash that can make me feel sluggish at the start of the run. If I drink too much more than a cup I feel dehydrated and jittery. (Thats meindividual reactions to caffeine are unique.)

The 4 p.m. coffee is usually a guilty trade-off where the desperation for immediate energy wins over that nights sleep quality. Like the Seinfeld joke says, that 4 p.m. coffee is morning guys problem. Sometimes Ill add an espresso shot to my post-workout recovery snack as well, because I looked for an excuse to drink more coffee, and this paper said it helps you restock your glycogen faster.

One side effect of marathon nutrition I did notice is that the sugar that is welcomed by your hungry muscles on long runs and after workouts isnt so much loved by your teeth, so brush them after every workout where you take on drinks gels or chews!

[Build your personalized and adaptive training plan for FREE with Runcoach.]

In marathon training, I notice a benefit from being more aware of the timing of my meals.

I always knew this to be true, but thought it only applied to hard workout days. However, with marathon mileage, sometimes a regular run day has you on your feet for 90 or more minutes. I felt I would gradually sink into a hole of depletion if I didnt make an effort to refuel within 30 minutes of quite a few of my regular runs.

When I refuel within 30 minutes of workout or a longer recovery run, I feel consistently better in my next few runs. The benchmarks to aim for are 3:1 carb-to-protein ratio or about 20 grams of protein total (depending on your size and workout type).

As an aging athlete (Im 35), Im trying to be more mindful about maintaining muscle. One strategy is to have some of your daily protein intake at bedtime, as a lot of muscle repair happens as you sleep. Another night time snack Ive been trying that addresses aging bodies and recovery is tart cherry Jello. The collagen in gelatin is supposed to be good for maintaining tendon health and elasticity, and tart cherry juice has good antioxidant-based recovery properties, as well as natural melatonin to aid sleep. Its also helpful as a source of vitamin C, which is suggested to pair with the collagen to aid its synthesis in your body. Another helpful trick is to mix collagen into your orange juice in the morning, as its also recommended to take it an hour before exercise.

Another adjustment I had to make was to get more creative with my carbohydrate sources and more strategic with the kinds of protein I chose in the marathon buildup.

I love bread, but I felt like I got into a wheat rut with my daily diet. Variety is important in getting a more comprehensive nutritional milieu, so I forced myself to branch out to new carbohydrate sources.

This sounds obvious, but it took some planning to actually stick to the idea. When Im tired and hungry, its common for me to just grab anything or have Doordash carry a pizza to my couch. I still do that sometimes, but I also try to make a large batch of rice, quinoa, potatoes, fruit salad, teff pancakes, etc. so that the ideal option is there when I need it.

After considering that not all protein is the same and that some amino acids are more important in muscle building than others, Im currently working on targeting those certain amino acids in my post-workout recovery snack. Some essential (not made by your body) amino acids like leucine are harder to find enough of than others in whole foods. Whey protein was recommended in Roar as a really efficient source of this muscle-building block, especially to older athletes. If you dont have any allergies to it, finding a brand you like could help your body repair and maintain those running muscles you worked so hard to build. Its also noted that animal-derived sources are the most complete sources of protein.

The scientific nature of marathon nutrition can be as dry and bland as a mouthful of rice cakes, but that doesnt mean there isnt room for enjoying a meal mainly to please your taste buds. Like I said, its more about setting a general pattern of nutrition in place so you dont inadvertently fall below what you need while taking on so many miles.

Watch: Saucony unveils another Dunkin' collaboration.

That doesnt mean you need to be constantly strict or rigid with meals throughout the multi-month buildup. After the race, burgers and beers may be a part of the celebration as cheers to the awesome way your body can convert food into actual, amazing feats. But you dont need to wait until youve run a marathon to earn thatyou can do it because your family is in town, youre on vacation, or just because its Wednesday. Theres definitely room for your preferred fun food items in moderation while chasing down a marathon-sized race goal.

Whether youre trying to max out over 26.2 or get to the finish line at a more leisurely pace, the unique distance of the marathon commands attention to specific fueling strategies. To train enough to make it through the race, you are likely putting more specific nutritional demands on your body than you have before, all while living a life outside of running. Fueling for the marathon is something that just takes a little planning and practice, so when you get to race day, like your PR or proud finish, you can execute it automatically through the emotions and fatigue of the event without any (metaphorical at least) hiccups.

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How Molly Huddle Fuels Her Marathon Training - Runner's World

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September 20th, 2019 at 11:47 am

Posted in Nutrition


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