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That's because my topic today is a pair of new scientific studies suggesting that poultry on factory farms are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic.
"We were kind of floored," said Keeve E. Nachman, a co-author of both studies and a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. "It's unbelievable what we found."
He said that the researchers had intended to test only for antibiotics. But assays for other chemicals and pharmaceuticals didn't cost extra, so researchers asked for those results as well.
"We haven't found anything that is an immediate health concern," Nachman added. "But it makes me question how comfortable we are feeding a number of these things to animals that we're eating. It bewilders me."
Likewise, I grew up on a farm, and thought I knew what to expect in my food. But Benadryl? Arsenic? These studies don't mean that you should dump the contents of your refrigerator, but they do raise serious questions about the food we eat and how we should shop.
It turns out that arsenic has routinely been fed to poultry (and sometimes hogs) because it reduces infections and makes flesh an appetizing shade of pink. There's no evidence that such low levels of arsenic harm either chickens or the people eating them, but still...
Big Ag doesn't advertise the chemicals it stuffs into animals, so the scientists conducting these studies figured out a clever way to detect them. Bird feathers, like human fingernails, accumulate chemicals and drugs that an animal is exposed to. So scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University examined feather meal - a poultry byproduct made of feathers.
One study, just published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, Environmental Science & Technology, found that feather meal routinely contained a banned class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. These antibiotics (such as Cipro), are illegal in poultry production because they can breed antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" that harm humans. Already, antibiotic-resistant infections kill more Americans annually than AIDS, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
Comment: Read the following articles for more information about antibiotic-resistant infections linked to factory farming:
As MRSA Gets Worse, the FDA Discovers Antibiotic Abuse on Factory Farms
Farmacology: Antibiotics resistance generated at factory farms
What the USDA Doesn't Want You to Know About Antibiotics and Factory Farms
Chicken, Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria, and Regulatory Independence
FDA Report: Alarming Amounts of "Superbugs" in Supermarkets
The same study also found that one-third of feather-meal samples contained an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl. The great majority of feather meal contained acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.
Poultry-growing literature has recommended Benadryl to reduce anxiety among chickens, apparently because stressed chickens have tougher meat and grow more slowly. Tylenol and Prozac presumably serve the same purpose.
Researchers found that most feather-meal samples contained caffeine. It turns out that chickens are sometimes fed coffee pulp and green tea powder to keep them awake so that they can spend more time eating. (Is that why they need the Benadryl, to calm them down?)
The other peer-reviewed study, reported in a journal called Science of the Total Environment, found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested. Almost 9 in 10 broiler chickens in the United States had been fed arsenic, according to a 2011 industry estimate.
These findings will surprise some poultry farmers because even they often don't know what chemicals they feed their birds. Huge food companies require farmers to use a proprietary food mix, and the farmer typically doesn't know exactly what is in it. I asked the United States Poultry and Egg Association for comment, but it said that it had not seen the studies and had nothing more to say.
What does all this mean for consumers? The study looked only at feathers, not meat, so we don't know exactly what chemicals reach the plate, or at what levels. The uncertainties are enormous, but I asked Nachman about the food he buys for his own family. "I've been studying food-animal production for some time, and the more I study, the more I'm drawn to organic," he said. "We buy organic."
I'm the same. I used to be skeptical of organic, but the more reporting I do on our food supply, the more I want my own family eating organic - just to be safe.
To me, this underscores the pitfalls of industrial farming. When I was growing up on our hopelessly inefficient family farm, we didn't routinely drug animals. If our chickens grew anxious, the reason was perhaps a fox - and we never tried to resolve the problem with Benadryl.
My take is that the business model of industrial agriculture has some stunning accomplishments, such as producing cheap food that saves us money at the grocery store. But we all may pay more in medical costs because of antibiotic-resistant infections.
Frankly, after reading these studies, I'm so depressed about what has happened to farming that I wonder: Could a Prozac-laced chicken nugget help?
Comment: Read the following articles for additional disturbing information about Arsenic in Chicken:
Time to End the Insane Practice of Lacing Chicken Feed with Arsenic
Arsenic in chicken feed may pose health risks to humans, C&EN reports


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July 20th, 2013
Reza Aslan: Why I write about Jesus
Opinion by Reza Aslan, special to CNN
(CNN) - When I was 15 years old, I found Jesus.
I spent the summer of my sophomore year at an evangelical youth camp in Northern California, a place of timbered fields and boundless blue skies, where, given enough time and stillness and soft-spoken encouragement, one could not help but hear the voice of God.
Amid the man-made lakes and majestic pines my friends and I sang songs, played games and swapped secrets, rollicking in our freedom from the pressures of home and school.
In the evenings, we gathered in a fire-lit assembly hall at the center of the camp. It was there that I heard a remarkable story that would change my life forever.
Through his words and miraculous deeds, he challenged the Jews who thought they were the chosen of God, and in return he was nailed to a cross. Though Jesus could have saved himself from that gruesome death, he freely chose to die.
Indeed, his death was the point of it all, for his sacrifice freed us all from the burden of our sins.
But the story did not end there, because three days later, he rose again, exalted and divine, so that now, all who believe in him and accept him into their hearts will also never die, but have eternal life.
For a kid raised in a motley family of lukewarm Muslims and exuberant atheists, this was truly the greatest story ever told. Never before had I felt so intimately the pull of God.
In Iran, the place of my birth, I was Muslim in much the way I was Persian. My religion and my ethnicity were mutual and linked. Like most people born into a religious tradition, my faith was as familiar to me as my skin, and just as disregardable.
After the Iranian revolution forced my family to flee our home, religion in general, and Islam in particular, became taboo in our household. Islam was shorthand for everything we had lost to the mullahs who now ruled Iran.
My mother still prayed when no one was looking, and you could still find a stray Quran or two hidden in a closet or a drawer somewhere. But, for the most part, our lives were scrubbed of all trace of God.
That was just fine with me. After all, in the America of the 1980s, being Muslim was like being from Mars. My faith was a bruise, the most obvious symbol of my otherness; it needed to be concealed.
Jesus, on the other hand, was America. He was the central figure in America's national drama. Accepting him into my heart was as close as I could get to feeling truly American.
I do not mean to say that mine was a conversion of convenience. On the contrary, I burned with absolute devotion to my newfound faith.
I was presented with a Jesus who was less "Lord and Savior" than he was a best friend, someone with whom I could have a deep and personal relationship. As a teenager trying to make sense of an indeterminate world I had only just become aware of, this was an invitation I could not refuse.
The moment I returned home from camp, I began eagerly to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my friends and family, my neighbors and classmates, with people I'd just met and with strangers on the street: those who heard it gladly, and those who threw it back in my face.
Yet something unexpected happened in my quest to save the souls of the world.
The more I probed the Bible to arm myself against the doubts of unbelievers, the more distance I discovered between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of history – between Jesus the Christ and Jesus of Nazareth.
In college, where I began my formal study of the history of religions, that initial discomfort soon ballooned into full-blown doubts.
The bedrock of evangelical Christianity, at least as it was taught to me, is the unconditional belief that every word of the Bible is God-breathed and true, literal and inerrant.
The sudden realization that this belief is patently and irrefutably false, that the Bible is replete with the most blatant and obvious errors and contradictions — just as one would expect from a document written by hundreds of different hands across thousands of years — left me confused and spiritually unmoored.
And so, like many people in my situation, I angrily discarded my faith as if it were a costly forgery I had been duped into buying.
I began to rethink the faith and culture of my forefathers, finding in them a deeper, more intimate familiarity than I ever had as a child, the kind that comes from reconnecting with an old friend after many years apart.
Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text.
Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world in which he lived, and the brutality of the Roman occupation that he defied, the more I was drawn to him.
The Jewish peasant and revolutionary who challenged the rule of the most powerful empire the world had ever known became so much more real to me than the detached, unearthly being I had been introduced to in church.
Today, I can confidently say that two decades of rigorous academic research into the origins of Christianity has made me a more genuinely committed disciple of Jesus of Nazareth than I ever was of Jesus Christ.
I have modeled my life not after the celestial spirit whom many Christians believe sacrificed himself for our sins, but rather after the illiterate, marginal Jew who gave his life fighting an unwinnable battle against the religious and political powers of his day on behalf of the poor and the dispossessed – those his society deemed unworthy of saving.
I wrote my newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" in order to spread the good news of the Jesus of history with the same fervor that I once applied to spreading the story of the Christ.
Because I am convinced that one can be a devoted follower of Jesus without being a Christian, just as I know that one can be a Christian without being a follower of Jesus.
Reza Aslan is a bestselling author and a scholar of religion. This article was adapted from his newest book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth." The views expressed in this column are Aslan's alone.
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About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.

subset: commoncrawl


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NJ man admits to immigration visa scheme
NEWARK — A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to lying about providing jobs to Indian immigrants over the course of eight years in a scheme to get them to pay him for visas.
Prosecutors said 41-year-old Sandipkumar Patel, of Edison, pleaded guilty Thursday. He claimed in visa applications that he would employ the immigrants at various New Jersey companies and then charged the immigrants thousands of dollars for the certifications for visas.
Patel pleaded guilty to filing a false federal tax return. Prosecutors say he overstated payroll expenses by more than $1.4 million and under-reported his taxes by more than $400,000 over four years.
He issued payroll checks to the immigrants and forced them to pay him back.
His sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 6.


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Mid-April, with its tax deadline, is a time that many people dread; this year, however, millions looked forward to it with great eagerness, because April 13th brought the first episode of "Glee" after a four-month hiatus. The Fox show, set in the fictional William McKinley High School, in Lima, Ohio, is part satirical comedy, part musical, and—since its setting is high school—a bit of a drama. It's not exactly a high-school musical, and it's not exactly "High School Musical," the Disney song-and-dance franchise, although, like that TV movie and its brand extensions, it has a long tail of tie-in merchandise and live performances. It also has over-the-moon fans—"gleeks," they happily call themselves—which is a notable thing for a mainstream, non-niche network show that began only last fall. The first post-hiatus episode had more than thirteen million viewers; the second, which featured the songs of Madonna, was close behind. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the show follows "American Idol" on Tuesday nights—though the pairing did pain many people a couple of weeks ago, when a live edition of "Idol" ran long, causing DVRs across the land to cut off the last minutes of "Glee." And "Glee," although a work of fiction, is "Idol" 's spawn, part of the current craze for watching star-making (and dream-crushing) machinery at work.
"Glee" was created and is written by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. Of the three, Murphy is the best known, having created the just ended FX psychomelodrama "Nip/Tuck" (for which Falchuk was a writer and a producer) and the 1999 WB comedy "Popular," which was also a sendup of teen-age archetypes—as in "Glee," there was a star football player who was torn between sports and the stage—but involved much more extracurricular activity among parents and families. Except for the teachers and the administrators at McKinley High, few adults appear in "Glee," which gives the series a cartoonish feel that's reinforced by the fact that the grownups we do see, well meaning though they may be, are as cluelessly wrapped up in themselves as the young people are. (Oddly, or not, of the group of about ten students we hang out with two have lost a parent. It seems like a lot.)
The success of "Glee" depends on the energy and the obvious talent of its young (but way beyond high-school age) performers, and on Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester, the acid-tongued, sneaky, and completely loony cheerleading coach, whose every line of dialogue is quotable (and is duly quoted, minutes after being delivered, on Facebook pages and in Twitter feeds). Sue's counterbalance, and nemesis, is Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison, who has a solid Broadway background and Leyendecker good looks, including thick, wavy hair that Sue mocks, in elegant variations, pretty much every time she sees Will), a youngish Spanish teacher and a graduate of McKinley High in the days when it had a top-notch show choir. Will makes it his project to bring back that glory, and he starts by tricking the captain of the football team (Cory Monteith), whom he hears singing in the shower after practice one day, into joining his ragtag crew. If Will gets funding for his group, the economy being tough—Sue's cheerleading crew will lose theirs. Will also wants some of Sue's girls—the Cheerios—for his group. She tells him that he doesn't get it—that he can't blur the lines in the rigid caste system that is high school: "Your jocks and your popular kids—up in the penthouse. Your invisibles and the kids playing live-action druids and trolls out in the forest—bottom floor." What about the Glee kids? Will asks. What category are they in? "Sub-basement," she says.
The real engine of the show isn't the machinations of its characters or its unfolding plot but its basic structure. Because "Glee" is actually about a group of singers, it doesn't seem artificial when the cast breaks into song; the music fits into the proceedings organically. The songs—which Murphy chooses—range from oldies to newies, so that there is, theoretically, something for everybody, from "Sing Sing Sing" and "Sweet Caroline" to "Gives You Hell" and "Single Ladies." Still, it must be said, even people who love these songs may find something to hate in the style of singing sometimes showcased in "Glee"—the earsplitting, maniacally melismatic car-alarm whine that Whitney Houston popularized—but, thankfully, there are quiet ballads to balance things out.
Rachel, one of the choir members, has a bit of that pleading quality in her voice, but it suits her desperate ambition. She's played by Lea Michele, who, at twenty-three, is a fifteen-year Broadway veteran. Yet her large talent doesn't extend to the non-singing parts of her performance. I give it up for her gifts, but I don't feel soul there. Rachel takes herself very seriously, and things very literally; one of the other kids, Artie (Kevin McHale), is wheelchair-bound, and Rachel complains to Will that Artie shouldn't be singing "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" because he's already sitting down. Artie's take is that Will's choice was meant to be ironic, and Rachel responds, "There's nothing ironic about show choir!" Of course there is, but there's more, too—there's also real glee, when things come together and when the characters get as much fleshing out as the stereotyping and the time constraints allow. With several production numbers per episode, almost all of which have remarkably weak choreography and poorly synched lip-synching, the writers haven't been able to go very deep into anyone's life.
That may be just as well. With a couple of exceptions, relationships are the weak link of "Glee," and some of them are disturbingly off key. Will's wife, Terri, has to be the worst part that Jessalyn Gilsig has ever been given. She's unaccountably unpleasant to Will, and she fakes a pregnancy for much longer than is credible. Meanwhile, he's attracted to the school guidance counsellor, Emma, a skittish germaphobe played by Jayma Mays (whom you would have seen in ABC's drama "Pushing Daisies," if only you had watched it). None of this makes any kind of sense, and you don't get the feeling that any love or wit went into creating these two female characters. The episode in which many people's affection for the show was cemented was the one in which it was revealed—briefly, in a moment done just right—that Sue had a human core; it was also an episode that was free of Terri and Emma, and thus didn't leave you with a knot in your stomach. Throughout the first season, one of the kids, Quinn (Dianna Agron), is pregnant, and though this is a central plot device, it's dramatically gratuitous (and it makes "Glee" the second show in recent memory—the first being "The Secret Life of an American Teenager," on ABC Family—in which teen-age pregnancy is treated almost blithely).
There is in "Glee" an element of creepiness, or, at least, sourness. Tonally, it hasn't found its way yet. A teacher's dismissal for touching a student inappropriately is treated as a joke. And Sue says to two doltish cheerleaders: "You may be the two stupidest teens I've ever encountered. And that's saying something. I once taught a cheerleading seminar to a young Sarah Palin." I get it that a group of teen-agers singing a choral arrangement of "Rehab" is notionally funny; unfortunately, watching it is notional fun. Still, "Glee" is well produced, and it works, even if some of the music, like high school itself, makes you roll your eyes and wish you were somewhere else. ♦


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The Valley Of Baca
Preached at Zoar Chapel, London, on July 28, 1846, by J. C. Philpot
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.
Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God."
(Psalm 84:5-7)
The time and circumstances under which this Psalm was written we may fairly gather from the internal evidences of the Psalm itself. First, then, this Psalm was composed while "the ark of God dwelt within curtains," and therefore while the tabernacle was yet standing, before Solomon's temple was erected. This we gather from verse 1—"How amiable are your tabernacles," (or tents) "O Lord Almighty!" Secondly, it was written after the ark of God had been brought to Mount Zion, the city of David, of which we have a full account given us in 2 Samuel 6; this we gather from the 7th verse, "They go from strength to strength; every one of them in Zion appears before God." Thirdly, the Psalm was composed during the time of David's flight from Jerusalem—for it is the language of one who was sighing after the courts of the Lord, and yet was debarred from approaching them. By this internal evidence, therefore, the time is strictly fixed to the flight and exile of David from Jerusalem on account of Absalom's rebellion.
David, then, in his exile, was mourning after the blessings and privileges of those true believers who were going up to the house of the Lord, according to his command, to worship at Jerusalem. We cannot enter into the feelings of a true Israelite upon these occasions. The Lord has ordained that three times in the year all their males should appear before him. They came up from different parts of the land, according to this command; and there, from time to time, the Lord met with and blessed their souls. There they had a glimpse of the glory of the Lord dwelling between the cherubim; there they had their prayers answered, and their souls refreshed; and there they beheld, typically and figuratively foreshadowed, "the true tabernacle," the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, "which God pitched, and not man."
But David was debarred from going up to the house of the Lord. He was sitting solitary, and mourning, not only on account of the deep mortification of being driven from his throne, but also at not being able to come before the Lord, as in times of old. He envied therefore the very sparrow and the swallow that could fly through the air, and take up their happy abode beneath those altars which his soul so longed to approach. And doubtless, there was one feeling which pressed very hard on David's soul—that his sins had driven him into exile. The finger of scorn throughout Israel was pointed at him as an open adulterer and convicted murderer. Thus, he had not only the melancholy feeling of being debarred from approaching God's sanctuary; but this feeling was deeply increased by the guilt and shame that he had brought upon his own head.
Now while he was thus solitarily musing upon these pilgrims going upward to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in his earthly courts in Zion, his soul seems to have fallen into a train of holy and spiritual meditation. This earthly pilgrimage foreshadowed to him the pilgrimage of a saint heavenward; and thus, viewing all the circumstances of their journey, his thoughts turned upon what this pilgrimage spiritually typified; and he breaks out into this blessing upon God's worshiping people —"Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they will still be praising you."
But are these the only persons blessed? No. He adds "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you;" who has something more than the mere outward privilege of drawing near these courts; whose inward strength is in God, and who draws his supplies out of his fullness of grace and mercy. "Blessed is the man," he further adds, "in whose heart," that is, in whose experience, through divine teaching and divine testimony, "are the ways of them, who passing through the valley of Baca, make it a well."
In considering the words of the text this evening, I shall view them as the Holy Spirit has given us the spiritual clue to their import. There is a true spiritualization of God's word, and there is a false spiritualization of it. Some men can see deep mysteries in the "nine-and-twenty knives" that came from Babylon; in the oak beneath which Deborah was buried; and I dare say, some would find unfathomable depths in "Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns." (Acts 28:15.) But we cannot build up a spiritual interpretation except the Holy Spirit has laid a foundation, nor track out a path unless he has given us a clue. But as the blessed Spirit, by the mouth and pen of David, has here given us a spiritual clue, we may follow these pilgrims in their journey up to the earthly Jerusalem, and see in it a lively representation of the true pilgrims journeying to heaven, their happy home.
We will then, as the Lord may enable, endeavor severally to unfold the distinct clauses of our text. Observe, then,
I. The BLESSING that David pronounces upon the man whose strength is in God. "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you." But where shall we find that man? Where are we to look for him? In what corner does he dwell? I am bold to say, that no man ever had his strength in God until he had lost all his own. I am bold to say, from Scripture and from experience, that no man ever felt or ever knew, spiritually and experimentally, what it was to put his trust and confidence in God, who had not been thoroughly weaned and emptied from putting all trust and confidence in himself. Therefore, when David pronounces this spiritual blessing, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you," his eye was fixed upon a certain gracious character, one who had been deeply emptied, one whose strength had been turned into weakness, his wisdom into folly, and his loveliness into corruption. How are you, how am I, to put our trust in an invisible God? Can I see him? And can I put my trust in an invisible being? It is impossible, unless I have faith to see God, who is invisible.
Two distinct things must therefore meet in my heart, under the Spirit's secret operations, before I can come in for any share of this blessing. I must, first, by a work of grace upon my soul be weakened; as we read, "He weakened my strength in the way." "He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help." I must be weakened by being experimentally taught that all my natural strength in divine things is but impotency and helplessness. And how can I learn this, but through a series of trials? I must have temptations; and find my strength against these temptations utterly powerless. I must have trials; and find these trials so great, that my own strength is insufficient to bear them. I must have a discovery of God's majesty, purity, and holiness, that all my strength may wither at the glance of the eye of God in my conscience. I must sink down into creature ruin, hopelessness, and helplessness, before I can ever give up the fancied idea of strength in myself. Man is born an independent creature. It is the very breath of a natural man. "Independence" was once my boasted motto. It suits the proud heart to rest upon itself. And our rebellious nature will always rest upon self, until self has received its death-blow from the slaughter-weapon that the man clothed with linen carries in his hand. (Ezek. 9.)
Now this in most cases will take a series of trials to produce. We are not stripped in a day; we are not emptied in a day; we are not ruined and brought to beggary and rags in a day. Many of the Lord's people are years learning that they have nothing and are nothing. They have to pass through trial after trial, temptation after temptation, affliction after affliction, before they learn the secret of creature weakness, creature helplessness, and creature hopelessness.
But there is another requisite. It is not sufficient for me to know my poverty, my ruin, my wretchedness; I must have something more than this revealed in my heart. I must have another lesson unfolded to my soul by the power of God the Spirit. I must learn this sacred truth, "I have laid help upon One that is mighty." I must be taught to say, "God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever." I must know what the Lord Jesus so sweetly unfolded to the Apostle Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9.)
Have you found out these two things in your heart? How many years have some here made a profession, have come to hear the truth preached, have approved of the testimony of God's servants, and have read the writings of gracious men! But have you learned these two lessons yet? first, creature weakness, helplessness, and hopelessness; to sink down into your miserable self; to be filled with confusion; to have nothing in yourselves but rags and ruin? And then, has the Spirit opened up, brought down into your heart, and unfolded to your soul that precious Mediator between God and man, "the Hope of Israel," the blessed Jesus, whose strength is made perfect in weakness, that on him you may lean, in him you may trust, and upon whom you may rely to bring you safely through all? If you have learned experimentally in your conscience those two lessons—creature weakness and Creator might—the helplessness of man and the power of God—then you come in for the blessing, "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you."
II. "In whose heart are the ways of them, who passes through the valley of Baca, make it a well." David casts a glimpse here at those pilgrims who were traveling their upward journey to worship God in Zion. He marks their road, and takes occasion to spiritualize it; for he says, "in whose heart," in whose experience, in whose soul, "are the ways" of these pilgrims Zionward.
What are these "ways?" It is this, that "passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a well." This valley of Baca appears to have been a very perilous pass, through which pilgrims journeyed toward Jerusalem—and on account of the difficulties, dangers, and sufferings that they met with, it was named "the valley of Baca," or 'the valley of weeping,' 'the valley of tears.'
And is not this very emblematical and figurative of the valley of tears through which God's people journey in their course heavenward? There are many circumstances which draw tears from their weeping eyes. Depend upon it, if, in the course of your profession, you have never known anything of this valley of Baca, you have mistaken the road; you are not traveling through the true valley to reach Zion; you are taking another route which leads not heavenward, but to eternal destruction.
Many are the circumstances in providence that draw tears from the eyes, and cause poignant sorrow to be felt in the heart of the true child of God. Men naturally have many sorrows in their course through life. But the Lord's people seem to have a double portion allotted to them. They have the cares of life like their fellow-mortals; they have sources of temporal sorrow in common with their fellow-sinners. But, in addition to these providential afflictions, they have that which is peculiar to themselves—spiritual grief, burdens, and sorrows. Some of the Lord's people are deeply sunk in poverty; others, have an almost daily cross from a suffering and weakly tabernacle; others, have to endure persecutions, and to receive many severe blows from sinners and severer from saints; others, have family afflictions; others are mourning over their blighted schemes, and the disappointment of all their temporal expectations.
But, added to these temporal trials that the Lord's people have to pass through in common with their fellow-men, they have spiritual trials that far outweigh any of a temporal nature. Sharp and cutting temptations; the workings of a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; the hidings of the Lord's countenance; the doubts and alarms that work in their minds whether their feet are upon the rock; the fear of death, and the prospect of eternity; the harassing darts of the Wicked One; inward guilt and grief on account of an idolatrous, adulterous, and backsliding nature—these are but a small portion of those sorrows that draw tears from the true pilgrim's eye. It is indeed a valley of tears for the Lord's family, a "valley of Baca," which they have to pass through to reach the heavenly Zion.
But the Psalmist says, "Blessed is the man in whose heart are the ways of them, who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well." Here is the distinctive character of the true pilgrim. Not that he is journeying merely through the "valley of Baca;" not that his eyes are drowned in tears; not that his heart is filled with sorrows; not that his soul is cut with temptations; not that his mind is tried by suffering. But this is his distinctive feature—he "makes it a well." This the ungodly know nothing of; this the professing world, for the most part, are entirely unacquainted with; but this is the "secret which no fowl knows, and which the vulture's eye has not seen."
One feature of the "valley of Baca" was, that the burning sun above, and the parched ground beneath, at the time of year when the pilgrims traveled, made the whole valley arid and dry. But "they made it a well." There were wells dug in this valley of Baca for the pilgrims to slake their thirst at. And David, looking at these wells dug for the pilgrims, applies them spiritually to the refreshment that the Lord's people meet with in their course Zionward.
"Make it a well;" that is, there are from time to time sweet refreshments in this valley of tears; there are bubblings up of divine consolation; there are fountains of living waters, streams of heavenly pleasures. And when the sun-burnt, weary pilgrims, all parched and dry, are journeying through this valley, and their tongues cleave to the roof of their mouths with thirst, the Lord from time to time opens up in this valley a well; as we read, Isa. 41:17, 18, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."
Some manifestation of his gracious presence, some promise coming with power to the soul, some testimony of saving interest in the love and blood of Jesus, some smile from his countenance, some word from his lips, some encouraging testimony that the feet are upon the Rock, is given. This is a well at which his thirst is slaked; his parched tongue no longer cleaves to his palate; he drinks of the water that bubbles up from the thirsty soil to refresh the weary Pilgrim.
By this you may know whether you are a pilgrim Zionward. You all find this fallen world a valley of tears; you have burdens, sorrows, and afflictions of various kinds. But have you nothing more? If there be nothing more, are you a pilgrim? This is their distinctive feature—they "make it a well." What! no refreshments from the divine presence? no sweet encouragements from time to time in prayer? no blessing under the preached word? no melting of heart from a sense of the Lord's kindness to your soul? no glimpses and glances of a precious Jesus? no bubblings up of life and feeling to soften a hard heart? It will not do to call yourself a pilgrim merely because you have trials, and are journeying through a valley of tears. We must have something more than this to prove that we are pilgrims; we must have wells—"a well of water," as the Lord speaks, "springing up into everlasting life"—divine refreshments, gracious manifestations, heavenly testimonies—something from God that comforts, that blesses, that waters the soul, and makes it like a watered garden.
And is it not the valley of tears—the dry, the parched, the arid, the sun-burnt valley—that makes the well so acceptable? I remember a friend of mine telling me, that once journeying through one of the deserts in Asia, they came to a well; and the disappointment of the company when they found the well was dry, he said, no language could depict; their grief and trouble when, after hours of traveling, they came at night to encamp by the well, and found that the sun had dried it up, were indeed most acute. As therefore, none but pilgrims through the dry and parched valley could adequately feel the sweetness of the natural well; so none but spiritual pilgrims, afflicted, exercised, and harassed, can feel the sweetness of the "pure water of life" that the Lord at times refreshes the soul with.
When David therefore blesses the pilgrims, he does not bless them on account of their traveling through the "valley of Baca;" he does not bless them for the tears that fall from their eyes, for the sorrows that fill their hearts, for the afflictions and perplexities that they are tried with; but because they make it a well. Because it is not all darkness, but there is sometimes a ray of light; because it is not all despondency, but sometimes beams of hope; because it is not all unbelief, but sometimes the actings of faith; because it is not all temptations, trials, and afflictions, but sometimes the sweet refreshings and revivings of God's gracious presence.
III. "The rain also fills the pools." It appears that there were "pools," or tanks, which were built for the use of the pilgrims as they journeyed through this valley. The wells of springing water were not their only resource; lest they should fail, there were tanks or pools constructed; and these derived their supplies of water from the rain that fell into them. And may we not give this a spiritual interpretation? I think we justly may, without violating the mind and meaning of the Spirit. These pools, then, seem to represent what are called the means of grace, the ordinances of the Lord's house, and those various helps that God himself has appointed; but which are in themselves as desolate and dry as the pool or tank, and need the rain of heaven to fill them with sweet and refreshing water for the use of the weary pilgrims.
1. For instance—prayer and supplication, waiting upon the Lord, going to his footstool, begging him to appear on our behalf—this is a pool which the Lord has appointed. "Call unto me; I will answer you." "Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." "For all these things will I be enquired of by the house of Israel, that I may do it." "If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given him." Here are pools; but do we not need the rain to fill them? What is prayer, unless the Lord inspires the petition? What is prayer, unless the Lord give an answer?
I remember, many years ago, seeing in Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Thomas a Beckett; and—would you believe it?—the pavement is actually worn into hollows by the pilgrims who used to kneel there in the superstitious days of Popery. How many true prayers were offered at that idolatrous shrine? Prayers! Abominations in the sight of a holy God! Yet they could wear the pavement hollow with their knees. But have not you and I offered prayers equally unacceptable to the Lord God of hosts as the prayers that were offered at the shrine of Thomas a Beckett? Yes, thousands. But when "the rain fills the pools," it is different. When the Lord draws, the soul runs; when the Lord inspires, the soul breathes; when the Lord smiles, the soul melts; when the Lord invites, the soul follows; when he says, "Call unto me," we come, beg, and pray. When "the rain fills the pools," we are like Hannah of old, who when she had poured out her heart before the Lord, and got the answer of peace from Eli's mouth, went her way and was no more sad; she had drunk a draught of the pool.
2. Are not God's promises pools? How they are strewed up and down God's word, like the pools or tanks in "the valley of Baca!" But have you not sometimes come to the promises, and found them as dry as the brooks spoken of in the 6th chapter of Job, which so disappointed the companies of Sheba. I read the promises—can they refresh my soul? I may come to the pool; but if the pool is dry, will coming to the dry pool refresh my parched palate? No. The rain must fill it. When the rain has filled the pool, I can then bow down, and slake my thirst. The rain of God's grace, and the dew of heaven, must drop into the promise, and fill the pool that you and I may come to it, feel a sweetness in it, and have our souls refreshed and strengthened by it.
3. And is not preaching a pool? Has not God appointed "by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe?" But have not you and I often found it a dry pool? How many sermons have you heard during the past year that really blessed, comforted, and strengthened your soul? Has one in ten, one in twenty, one in a hundred, really brought a blessing into your heart by the power of God? How often these pools are dry! I find them so; you find them so, who know the difference between letter and spirit, between "bodily exercise which profits little," and the power of vital godliness that is profitable unto all things. The Lord will teach his people this; and he will teach it his ministers also. They may construct a pool—in their parlours at home they may build a very pretty tank; it may be divided and sub-divided; a cell here, and a compartment there—and they may come with their pools to chapel; but unless the rain fills it from above, all their ingenuity will be thrown away, and they had better have left it high and dry at home.
4. Are not the ordinances of God's house pools? And have we not had continual experience how barren, how dry these pools sometimes are? Have we not sometimes sat at the table of the Lord, and blasphemous thoughts, filthy imaginations, horrible workings filled our minds? Have we not felt carnality, deadness, bondage, darkness? no rain filling the pool? And have we not looked upon the baptismal pool, and though filled with rain from the roof, it never profited unless the rain from heaven filled the spiritual ordinance, as well as the rain from above has filled the natural baptistery.
So we might travel through the various means of grace which God has spoken of in his word; and we would find alike in all, that unless God fills the pools, they cannot slake our spiritual thirst.
But this is the blessedness of the pilgrims, that the rain does sometimes fill the pools. It is not with them all deadness in prayer, all coldness in reading, or all darkness in hearing. There are sometimes heavenly manifestations, diving refreshments, and breakings in of the Lord's presence and favor; this is the rain filling the pools. And when the rain fills the pools, then it is, and then only, that they afford any life or feeling to our souls.
IV. "They go from strength to strength." It is in the margin, "from company to company." I rather think, that the meaning implied is, "they go from resting place to resting place." There were certain fixed spots where the whole company rested at night; as we read, when the infant Jesus tarried in Jerusalem, his parents knew it not—they supposed that he was "in the company;" that is, had gone on with the traveling pilgrims—but when night came, and they looked for him, he was not there. (Luke 2:44.)
These resting places were certain spots where the caravan of the traveling pilgrims rested at night; by these successive stoppings their strength was restored, and they were enabled to bear the long journey, rising in the morning refreshed with their night's rest.
The Psalmist viewing it spiritually, says, "They go from strength to strength." At each resting place they received fresh strength to pursue their journey onward. And is not this true in grace? There are resting places in the divine life, spots of rest, where the true pilgrims renew their strength. For instance; every manifestation of the Lord is a communication of divine strength, a recruiting place, where the soul renews its strength to travel onward. Every promise that comes with sweet power is another halting place where the traveler may rest. Every discovery of saving interest in Christ; every glimpse of the grace and glory of Jesus; every word from the Lord's lips; every smile from the Lord's face; every token for good; everything that encourages, supports, blesses, and comforts the soul, enabling it to go onwards towards its heavenly home—is a resting place, where the pilgrim rests, and where he renews his weary limbs.
And where can we rest, except where God rests? But does not God "rest in his love?" And can we rest anywhere short of God's love shed abroad in our heart? Does not God rest in his dear Son? Did not this voice come from the excellent glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased?" All the satisfaction of God centers in Jesus; all the delight of the Father rests in the Son of his love. "Behold my servant; whom I uphold; my elect, in whom my soul delights!" (Isa. 42:1.) Can we then rest anywhere but where God rests? Is it not spiritually with us as with the Israelites of old? When the cloud tarried, they tarried; when the cloud went, they went; when the cloud moved onward they followed it; and when the cloud stopped, they halted, and rested beneath its shadow.
What rest can I have in my troubles, afflictions, exercises, and temptations? Can I rest in them? I might just as well think of trying to rest myself on the bottom of the Thames; I might just as well try to lie down on some deep marsh, and there recline my weary bones. As to resting on doubts and fears, trials and temptations, griefs and sorrows, exercises and perplexities, the troubled bosom of the sea is as much a bed for the storm-tossed mariner, as exercises and troubles are for the weary pilgrim. I cannot, I must not rest short of that rest which "remains for the people of God." What is that? Christ—the true Sabbath. I can only rest in his finished work, in his atoning blood, in his dying love, in his imputed righteousness. He, and he only, can be the rest of my restless soul. And when I can do that, I am like the weary caravan of pilgrims traveling Zionward; they halted for the night; they sweetly slept, for the shadow of God's everlasting love was over them; and thus they recruited their strength for the next day's journey.
But mark, they were not always resting. They had alternate jouneyings by day, and restings by night; the thorns of the valley often lacerated their tender feet; the burning sun beat upon their aching heads; the wild beasts of the valley howled and shrieked through the bushes; banditti perhaps hovered upon the rocks, waiting to cut off a straggling passenger; the trackless wilderness was behind, the wild desert before, and Zion to them at a boundless distance. Yet on they journeyed, and never went back. They had a certain goal in view—Zion, Zion, their eyes were fixed upon—and the thought of reaching this cheered them as they went on.
Is it not so with spiritual pilgrims? Is it always rest with you? Are you always satisfied that you are a child of God? Are you always certain that heaven is your home? Can you always rest in God's love to your soul? Can you always find Christ precious to your heart? I cannot; if you can. We have to journey onward; another day of sorrow, another day of trial, another day of temptation, another day of exercise—each day bringing a new trial. Yet we journey onward; not driven from truth, not driven from Zion, not driven from God, not driven from Jesus—onward, onward, onward we go; our faces set Zionward, our backs towards the world. These poor weary pilgrims would often march staggering and fainting under their burdens, burnt by the rays of the sun, scarcely able to move one foot before another. But the resting place is reached; the signal is given; once more they rest, and their strength is restored.
It is so spiritually. God gives a little rest to the soul; some manifestation, some evidence, some testimony; a word, a look, a smile, a glimpse, a glance. "They go from strength to strength." Is not this strength? There is no other. "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you." Therefore it is "from strength to strength." It must be God's strength he goes forward in, not his own. If it were his own, he would not come under the blessing; "whose strength is in you." If he could rest when he would, eat when he would, drink when he would, he would not need the Lord to be the "strength of his heart and his portion forever." This puts sweetness into the pilgrimage—"they go from strength to strength," from halting place to halting place, from refreshment to refreshment. For it was at these resting places the wells were dug; at these pools they tarried for the night, and sometimes found them filled with the rain of heaven. Thus they not only rested their weary limbs upon the desert, but they slaked their thirst at the well, or pool, and ate of the palm that overshadowed their head.
And is it not so spiritually? Where we rest, there we find water, refreshment, and strength. We do not find the pool when we are journeying onward; but when we are weary, exhausted, and faint, the Lord opens rivers in the wilderness, and waters in the desert; and when we come there, we are allowed to tarry for a night, as the children of Israel encamped by the waters of Elim.
V. And then, what comes as the glorious CONSEQUENCE? O sweet winding-up of this heavenly subject! O blessed crown that the Lord puts upon it all! "Every one of them in Zion appears before God." None perished by the way, none were devoured by the wild beasts, none cut off by the wandering banditti, none fainted on the road; some perhaps, straggling in the rear, and others coming in late and lagged. But when the company is counted, none are missing; old men and young children, tender women and stout youth—all the company of the pilgrim caravan—when they are counted, one by one, all answer to their names. "Every one of them in Zion appears before God."
And is not this true spiritually of God's own family? What did the Lord say? "Those you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition." And when he presents his innumerable host of redeemed souls before the throne of the Almighty, will not this be the language of his lips to his Father? "Behold me, and the children whom you have given me." "Yours they were; for all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them." And will not this be the theme of every spiritual pilgrim?—"Kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." As the Lord is true, no spiritual pilgrim will ever fall and die in the valley of Baca.
Some may fear that through temptation, their strong passions or boiling lusts will one day break out and destroy them. No, not if they are pilgrims. "Every one of them in Zion appears before God." Others may think they never shall have a testimony; they never shall read their name clearly in the Book of Life; the Lord will never appear in their heart or bless their soul; they never shall be able to say, "Abba, Father." If Jesus is theirs, they shall.
But are they spiritual pilgrims? Do they find it a valley of tears? Are their faces Zionward? Have they come out of the world? Do they sometimes find a well in the valley of Baca? And does the rain fill the pools? And have they ever had strength made perfect in weakness? Then every one of them will appear before God in Zion. Blessed end! Sweet accomplishment of the pilgrim's hopes, desires, and expectations! The crowning blessing of all that God has to bestow! "Every one of them appears before God," washed in the Savior's blood, clothed in the Redeemer's righteousness, adorned with all the graces of the Spirit, and made fit for the inheritance of the saints in light.
No weeping then! The valley of Baca is passed, and tears wiped from off all faces. No thorns to lacerate the weary feet there; no prowling wild beasts to seize the unwary traveler there; no roving banditti to surprise stragglers there; no doubts and fears and cutting sorrows to grieve, perplex, and burden them there. Safe in Zion, safe in the Redeemer's bosom, safe in their Husband's arms, safe before the throne, every one of them appears before God in glory.
Pilgrim of Zion, take a glimpse at your spiritual life. Do see if you can find the features of the spiritual pilgrimage in it. How does it begin? "Blessed is the man whose strength is in you." Is your strength in God? Have you learned your weakness, feebleness, helplessness, hopelessness, and been enabled to cast anchor within the veil, and lean your weary soul upon the strength of Jesus? You are a blessed man; you have set out Zionward; your feet are in the road that leads to glory.
How have you found the road? Very easy to your feet? A green, grassy, flowery garden? a smooth meadow, with primroses and violets in the hedges, and you every now and then sitting on a stile, inhaling the breath of the May morn? or sometimes reclining on the grass, listening to the nightingale? This is not the way to heaven; you have mistaken the road. The way to heaven is through "the valley of Baca!" the valley of tears—a dry, parched, and burnt up valley, with thorns lacerating the traveler's feet; the wild beasts lurking in the dens; and Satan and his host, as armed prowlers, seeking to destroy. Depend upon it, if we find the way very smooth, very easy, very pleasing, and very agreeable, we have made a great mistake; we have not got into the right road yet. God bring those in the road who are his people, that have at present mistaken it! But you, traveler and pilgrim Zionward, have you not found it a valley of tears, have you not had cutting things in providence, heavy trials, harassing temptations, fiery darts, persecutions, sufferings from men, and above all from yourselves?
But have you not sometimes found a WELL open? Have you not sometimes found the Lord to be, what he says he is, "a Fountain of living waters?" And have you not sometimes come to the blessed Jesus all dry, all parched, all languid, and all sinking; and found some glimpses, glances, and testimonies? These have refreshed, strengthened, comforted, and blessed you. Then you are a pilgrim! though you have found the way that leads to Zion a valley of tears; yet in that tearful valley you have every now and then found a well. Then you are a pilgrim! Let the devil, let unbelief, let men, let persecutors, let the world, let your heart say to the contrary, God has blessed you in his word as a spiritual pilgrim.
And have you not found also that RAIN has filled the pools? It has not been always dry with you; it has not been always a barren land; there has been a melting, a softening, a breaking down, a something that has watered your heart; you have felt blessed from time to time under the preaching of the truth, in reading the word, in secret prayer, in the pouring out of your soul before God. You are a pilgrim!—another mark for you! And have you not sometimes found strength? You have had temptations, but you have had strength to bear them; you have had trials, but you have had grace to endure them; you have had persecutions, but you have had support under them; you have had heart-rending afflictions, but the Lord has not allowed you to be destroyed by them; there has been some secret strength communicated to your soul; you have leaned upon an unseen arm, and have found support in invisible realities. Another mark that you are a pilgrim!
And then, sweetest, crowning mercy, that "every one"—(O what there is in these words? doubting, fearing, tried, tempted, distressed, exercised, and sorrowing pilgrim)—"every one of them in Zion appears before God." So that when the Redeemer counts his sheep, and they shall again pass under the hand of him who counts them, not one of the ransomed will be missing, but all will be present to sing forever the glory and praise of God!


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8 Santa Cruz surfers make Mavericks cut
The lineup invited to compete in the 2014 Mavericks big wave surf contest was announced this week, and eight of the 24 athletes who made the cut are from Santa Cruz.
The eight Santa Cruzans are: Defending champion Peter Mel, Shawn Dollar, Ken Collins, Anthony Tashnick, Ryan Augenstein, Zach Wormhoudt, Nic Lamb, and Tyler Fox. Lamb is the freshest young face in the lineup and will be the only Santa Cruz surfer competing at the Mavericks Invitational for the first time.
PHOTOS: Peter Mels wins 2013 Mavericks Invitational
There are also six alternates, including Santa Cruz's Tyler Smith and Shane Desmond.
"Mavs" and its 40-foot waves in Half Moon Bay is a stop on the Big Wave World Tour.
2014 will be the first year that the BWWT is formally sanctioned by the ASP. That new sanctioning allows surfers on the ASP World Championship Tour -- like Kelly Slater, Australian Joel Parkinson, Hawaiian John John Florence, and Australian Mick Fanning -- to compete in as many big wave contests as they want.
A few surfers in Santa Cruz were not happy about the ASP change because they were nervous that outsiders like Slater would push locals out of the lineup. Slater, however, only made the alternates list in the #4 spot. The lineup was chosen by a panel and former Mavericks competitors.
Every winter, the surf contest's window begins on Nov. 1 and ends March 31. If a big swell never arrives, the contest is called off.


text:
I have made a program which utilizes a loop to output a string character by character with a delay of 100 milliseconds inbetween, until, the user presses ENTER which speeds up the process by changing the delay to 10 miliseconds (This function, not THIS exact method, is what you usually see in games to speed up the npc's character text.)
But the bad thing is I only know how to do this for a defined string(When I mean "defined" I mean it has a stream of text stored) . So if my game had a thousand sentences for NPC's, and I wish to implement the method of speeding up the sentence by pressing enter, I would have to make a thousand strings and for loops which would take FOREVER and take up alot of memory...Code:#include <iostream> #include <string> #include <windows.h> using namespace std; int main( int argc, char* args[]) { string intro_speech = "Hello, and welcome to the introduction!"; unsigned int speed_msg = 100; for(unsigned i = 0; i < intro_speech.length(); i++) { cout << intro_speech[i]; Sleep(speed_msg); if (GetAsyncKeyState(VK_RETURN)){ speed_msg = 10; } else if(GetAsyncKeyState(VK_RETURN) != true){ speed_msg = 100; } } cin.ignore(); cin.get(); return 0; }
I thought of making a function but I don't know how to go about it..
I want it use it like this:
So basically the function "Speed_Msg" would be made up with the code blocks you see in the program posted at the beginning of this thread, but without having to use a defined string, it will use the cout command and know what string to output by looking at the argument in its parameter (As you can see by the example above.)Code:Speed_Msg("This is an example");
But I don't know how to set up the function to do something like that? Any comments or help will be greatly appreciated!


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Nick Starai, NMI's Chief Strategy Officer, was featured in a recent article in the Green Sheet covering how payment companies are stepping up amidst the COVID-19 crisis and the trends taking place across the industry. Nick speaks to the surge in ecommerce NMI is seeing, an anticipated contactless surge, as well as his advice on what ISOs should be focusing on during these uncertain times.
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As you may remember, I was recently challenged to cook this Filipino dish, Chicken Adobo. Sounds easy enough! I accepted the challenge and started researching my cookbooks, TV shows and the internet. Lucky I took notice of the Filipino Food Safari on SBS a couple of nights before! This will be just like any other Asian dish I've cooked – no worries at all! I've got this in the bag!?!
Or so I thought. I must say that I found Chicken Adobo a little challenging. I tried all the techniques I had read about, from frying the chicken before stewing to marinating with soy and vinegar for a couple of hours before cooking to trying apple cider or distilled white vinegars to adding onions, for something different, to finally finding that 'secret' ingredient that just made my Chicken Adobo delicious and perfect, moist and saucy with all the right flavours.
As Chicken Adobo is the National dish of the Philippines and their most popular, I wanted to respect the dish and do Chi from Sunny Days proud – she probably eats this at least once a week! I must get this dish right! Time to do some more research to ensure all the flavours are well balanced and the chicken tender.
The balancing of flavours – sweet and sour (tangy) with garlic and pepper – was the easier part. Getting a sauce that could be soaked up with rice but also sticks to the chicken and keeping the chicken tender were where I encountered some issues. Through trial and errors (four in total) I started working out and eliminating those issues, to create my version of Chicken Adobo.
My first attempt was the longest I had, as I wanted to create this well known dish with all the sides that Filipinos enjoy eating with their adobo. Chi says she loves eating sticky rice and potato crisps with her adobo. I spent nearly all day trying to create the right flavours, ensuring everything tasted right, I even made my own coconut milk for the sticky rice! And I also bought some black rice which turns purple once cooked – I got told by the Asian grocer that this is the rice to use. Everything turned out perfectly, but I couldn't get the sauce to the right consistency without the chicken falling.
My second attempt was marinating the chicken pieces in a soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, peppercorn, garlic and bay leaf marinade for a few hours. Big mistake, huge! I wondered why my chicken was dry and not at all tender as I cooked the chicken on a low, slow heat. Then I found out that vinegar can make chicken tough if marinated for any longer than an hour or two! The sauce turned out perfectly, as I simmered it for half an hour before adding the chicken. Strike two!
Third attempt didn't go down that well either. I added onion and cooked it with freshly cracked pepper before adding the chicken. The way the pepper was cooked with the onion gave me heartburn. Trying different cooking techniques can either be hit or miss. Strike three but I'm not out yet! Please, someone, give me a sign! Show me the way! Give me direction to create that perfect adobo!
To me, the way to make a dish yours or to adapt the dish to your taste buds, I believe in recipe testing. This is the reason why I sometimes don't post straight away after cooking a dish. I will keep playing with techniques and ingredients until I find the perfect tasting dish to share with you all. Sometimes, I get excited that things just work out first time. Other times there needs to be some adaptation.
Another week of research and I found some secret ingredients that other foodies have shared on their blogs. These ingredients could only be found at an Asian grocer. So another trip to Little Saigon Market in Footscray, where I had no idea if they would even stock this secret ingredient. I was praying that one of those stores would sell what I needed. Sure enough, I found my secret ingredients (thank goodness!) and I couldn't wait to get started on my next cooking session.
All in all, I found the Chicken Adobo challenge got me out of my comfort zone, humbled me in some respect and taught me that there's more to learn about Asian cuisine that I haven't even experimented with yet. I had such a great time learning a new dish and growing as a cook. I'm already thinking about what I can challenge myself with next – any ideas lovely foodies?
Please enjoy my adaptation of this Filipino classic, my delicious and very tasty Chicken Adobo.
I used the vinegar at the end of the cooking process. It's not something I would use as a marinade.
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Search your local Asian stores for the secret ingredient – cane vinegar! You should be able to find kecap manis at your supermarket. Or click on the highlighted words to see where you can buy them online.
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Use chicken thighs, with the bone in, or drumsticks as breast can dry out.
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 medium brown onions, sliced
5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped/minced/grated
¼ cup kecap manis
¼ cup light soy sauce
½ cup cane vinegar
8 chicken drumsticks
2 bay leaves
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Steamed rice
In a large frypan, heat oil on medium heat and brown the onions for 5-6 minutes.
Stir through the garlic, kecap manis and light soy sauce, turning the heat to low so not to burn the garlic.
Add in the chicken drumsticks and baste with the sauce for 2-3 minutes until the chicken has changed colour.
Add in the bay leaves and place a lid on the frypan. Cook for 30 minutes, turning the chicken half way through.
Remove the lid after 30 minutes and gently stir though the cane vinegar, turning the chicken again.
Cook for a further 30 minutes, uncovered, turning the chicken half way through.
Remove the chicken from the sauce and set aside on a plate.
Turn the heat to medium and allow the sauce to thicken slightly for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to stop the sauce from burning. Add the chicken back in to coat with the sauce. Heat through for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve immediately with steamed rice and freshly cracked black pepper.


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If you are curious about my recent surrogacy journey, here are the deets:
Cycle #1
11/1---transferred 1 beautiful fresh 5-day embryo in CT
11/5---received my first BFP on a home pregnancy test @ 4dp5dt
11/11---first beta results of 161 @ 10dp5dt
11/13---second beta results of 246 @ 12dp5dt
11/17---third beta results of 106 @ 16dp5dt
11/18---chemical pregnancy confirmed as beta continued dropping :(
Cycle #2
12/17---began Lupron injections for second IVF cycle
12/29---baseline ultrasound and bloodwork
1/13---lining check ultrasound and bloodwork
1/22---frozen transfer of one or two 5-day embryos in CT
The first cycle was a bust. I was devastated and the intended parents were bummed. It sucks to have everything look good and then for it all to turn south. That's okay. We have a new game plan for January and I have a very good feeling about it. Please wish my IPs much luck for a 2015 baby (or babies). :)
BTW, I received Christmas cards with photos of my previous 3 surrobabies. They are all so beautiful!! Even though they aren't my kids, I am incredibly proud of them. The pics are already prominently displayed on my fridge (along with their past Christmas photos). I just love seeing these families everyday. :)
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas!
Here are a few more pics from my trip for transfer #1 (my mom and I visited NYC):


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Another interview live from Tampa Bay Comic Con with Aron Pohara creator of "The Book Of Lyaxia" https://www.facebook.com/aron.pohara
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Section 3: Deputy commissioner; appointment; duties; qualifications
Section 3. The commissioner shall appoint, with the approval of the secretary of health and human services, a person qualified to serve as deputy commissioner of developmental services. Said deputy commissioner shall perform such duties as the commissioner may determine and shall, in the case of a vacancy in the office of the commissioner, and during said commissioner's absence or disability, exercise the powers and perform the duties of the office of the commissioner. Said deputy commissioner may be allowed such professional affiliations as the commissioner approves, subject to the provisions of chapter two hundred and sixty-eight A.
The deputy commissioner shall have such educational qualifications and such administrative and other experience, including education or experience in a field related to human services, as the commissioner determines are necessary for the performance of the duties of deputy commissioner.


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Ariadne Artiles Long Braided Hairstyle
Ariadne looked stunning with her hair styled in an effortless side braid with loose, messy pieces framing her face.
Ariadne Artiles Platform Pumps
The model showed off her mile long legs in a super short mini dress and a pair of nearly nude, platform, slingback sandals.
Brand: Christian Louboutin
Brand: Christian Louboutin
Browse: Ariadne Artiles | Long Braided Hairstyle | Platform Pumps
Popular Lookbooks see all looks »


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Founded in 1904 and administered by the University of Hawaii since 1919, the Waikiki Aquarium is located on the shoreline of Waikiki Beach next to a living reef and across from Kapiolani Park. The Aquarium showcases more than 500 marine species, and maintains more than 3,000 marine specimens. New Hawaiian Green Sea turtle exhibit. Peppermint Angelfish one of the Ocean's rarest fish. Only one on display for the public in the world. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Exhibit.
The Aquarium is open daily from 9 am to 4:30 pm. Admission prices: $12 Adults, $5 Children (4-12), FREE Children 3 & under, $8 Kama 'aina, $8 Active Duty Military, $5 Seniors(65+), $5 persons with disabilities, FREE Fowa Board Members
2014 marks the 110th anniversary of the aquarium making the Waikiki Aquarium the 2nd oldest in the United States.
For more information about the Waikiki Aquarium, including membership and facility rentals, please call 808-923-9741 or visit www.waquarium.org.


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Home » Posts tagged 'Economists'
Tag Archives: Economists
NPR Asks Whether Friday's Minimum Wage Increase Will Mean More Money Or Fewer Jobs?
The following was excerpted from NPR.org. To read the full article go to NPR.org.
"This Friday, the federal minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour, up from $6.55.
Conservative economists are worried that the government-mandated raise will force small businesses to lay off workers. They note that the job market has deteriorated since Congress approved the 10.7 percent pay raise two years ago. In the summer of 2007, the U.S. unemployment rate was running at about 4.7 percent. Today, it is 9.5 percent. Mandating higher wages could force some employers to cut jobs, the argument goes.
But liberal economists say this summer is the perfect time for a wage hike: It will put more money into the pockets of people who need it most. Fatter paychecks will stimulate spending and help the economy, they say. Kai Filion, a policy analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group, says this wage hike will generate $5.5 billion in consumer spending over the next 12 months."
To read the full article go to NPR.org.


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User talk:XERXES.ai
To the human behind the curtain
Some notice that you were going to do this would have been nice. Just from gut instinct it looked at first blush that this was one of the worst spam bot attacks this wiki has ever sustained. Upon closer examination it looks like just a spell check bot. Please give notice of your intentions to make a massive number of edits in the future. lcarsos (talk) 18:51, 9 November 2012 (UTC)
- Hi Lcarsos - my apologies, I didn't realise that such a small number of uncontroversial fixes, which were all fully explained and marked as minor, would cause any issue? I try to keep good wikiquette on all the wikis I contribute to (minimum of 10 seconds between edits, manually confirming every change, obeying any wiki-specific policies and guidelines, etc) and acted entirely in good faith. Do you have any behavioral guidelines on assisted editing I could refer to should I wish to contribute further? Is the Community Portal a good place to announce any other minor corrections I see as beneficial? XERXES.ai talk 19:33, 9 November 2012 (UTC)
- Yes, 97 edits by a brand new user in the space of exactly 50 minutes, all of which are marked minor, I don't know what could possibly seem spam-like about that. Let alone the fact that the general editor here doesn't break 10 edits every 30 days. If you want to get all sarcastic about this, I can volley right back.
- The only problem was that I refreshed the Recent Changes page and saw 50 edits (this was in the middle of the event) by a user that had just registered their account. And, without any warning was performing massive amounts of edits within a short time. Yes, a simple note in Community portal/Coordination would have kept me from leaving the note on your talk page. To keep you from maliciously/innocently over correcting in the other direction you don't need to announce every edit you make, nor do you need to announce every 10 edits you make. But, within the realm of reasonability, if whatever you are doing is going to make Recent Changes look like there's a spam attack in progress, you might want to leave a note somewhere.
- There is no central behavior guide here, because for a common lurker, it should be quickly apparent what the protocol is for not being rude. I'm slowly working on a Style Guide, but there aren't enough regular/new editors here to really warrant finishing it in any kind of method that reminds one of rapid forward progress. So, in the end, were your edits uncontroversial fixes: yes, were they fully explained: yes, were they marked as minor which is proper for those types of edits: yes, was it entirely in good faith: mostly but as a whole no, was it a small number of edits: no not for this wiki. There are very few valid reasons to go on a near 100-page edit spree on this wiki. So you looked suspicious. If you had mentioned that you are a regular editor here, and that this account was just for bot(-like) activity, that would have been fine; If you had dropped a note in Coordination that you were going to do this, that would have been fine. Do realize that on an average day, after you subtract out the manual spam fighting we do, there's less than 30 edits in that whole day.
- Just adding my 2 cents here; I didn't read sarcasm in Xerxes' original answer. It looks like he was using one of the many cleanup tools common in Wikipedia and other wikis, so I assume he's a moderately experienced editor who simply overlooked the alarm that such edits could cause in communities less accustomed to such tools. We've all been new to MediaWiki once, but it's understandable that over time we lose a bit of the ability to relate to the experience of those less focused in automated maintenance tools in particular, and specific mediawiki features in general. So I think Lcarsos' answer was appropriate in content, but a little overblown in delivery. I am leaving this message just to make sure Xerxes wouldn't feel unwelcome around here (by getting a sarcastic and somewhat harsh answer to what --to my eyes-- was a honest, plain explanation of his behavior, which itself wasn't entirely shady to begin with), since every extra pair of hands is valuable especially in such a small wiki :) --Waldir (talk) 17:23, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
The honesty of your psointg is there for all to see


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I visited the Zaha Hadid exhibition at the Design Museum in London a few years ago and was surprised to find interesting, though somewhat incomprehensible, drawings entitled "Taoiseach's residence".
They were dated around the time of Charlie Haughey, which led one to suppose that the art-mad Taoiseach was not only interested in Gandon's mansions but also in cutting-edge architects. Having a significant public building in Ireland built at that time by the then-unknown Hadid would have left an interesting architectural landmark in the capital, but it never happened.
Now, with the publication of the government papers from 1979, it appears that it was Haughey who scrapped the plan and it must have been either Jack Lynch or Liam Cosgrave who commissioned the competition.
[Haughey] summarily dismissed a £4 million plan to build a Taoiseach's official residence and State guest house on the site of the former Apostolic nunciature in Phoenix Park. This had been the subject of an architectural design competition and a winning English design had been selected.
I am assuming that the winning design was Hadid's, though no mention is made of her in the Times piece and this discussion at Archiseek suggests that the competition was won by Evans & Shalev Architects, with a Rem Koolhaas entry also commended [Update: OWA's website has extracts from his entry].
It seems quite the missed opportunity that the residence was not built at the time. Instead, around 27 years later, the Taoiseach gets the dull, if dependable, Steward's Lodge on the Farmleigh estate.


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Target says that its stores have been hit by a major credit-card attack involving up to 40 million accounts.
Greg Steinhafel, CEO of Target, confirmed the attack today.
Steinhafel said in an official statement that "Target is working closely with law enforcement and financial institutions, and has identified and resolved the issue."
The attack took place right before Thanksgiving, around November 27, and ended around December 15.
The breach involves the theft of information stored on magnetic stripe on the backs of cards used at nearly all of Target's stores around the country, according to the Krebs on Security website, which first reported the news.
The potential breach does not appear to involve online purchases, Krebs reports, noting that the type of data stolen enables thieves to create counterfeit credit cards. If thieves were able to intercept pin numbers, they would also allow thieves to withdraw cash from ATMs.
The Secret Service confirmed to USA TODAY that it is investigating the incident at Target.


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TBK: The Toolbox Murders 2
Item #: CB72793
All Products
(2 Total)
View by Size:
Getting , please wait.
|Place: Los Angeles, California. An attractive young woman is kidnapped, held captive and forced to endure the evils of one of the most violent homicidal maniacs in the city's history...
|Directed by:
|Dean Jones
|Brian Krause, Bruce Dern, Ethan Phillips, Allison Kyler, Chauntal Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe IV, Christopher Doyle, Neil D'Monte, Kyle Morris, Starr Jones, Brian La Rosa, Lianne Spiderbaby, Matthew Gittelson, Mila Brener


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For the jumpsuit I just made, I read through the sewing instructions thoroughly – like all good seamstresses should do – but I chose to totally ignore them!
I thought the order of construction for these* was a bit of a challenge. Now I love a challenge, but there is no need to make things harder when you don't need too! The instructions said to attach the pockets and front band after the shell was sewn together. If I followed this plan I would have put my quick-unpick to good use trying to topstitch those all pockets on, or finishing the lower end of the placket, and I am sure a relative beginner would have struggled too.
The order of garment construction can make a big difference in the ease of sewing, and whether or not a garment looks amateur or professional. In business I had to specify the best order of construction for the sewing contractor – writing sewing instructions was part of my day job. Although in the trade these are considerably briefer than the instructions included in a commercial pattern – no pretty diagrams or anything!
Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to compare some of Vogue's methods with the ones I used. Below I've listed five things that I did differently, and I've listed Vogue's instruction in brief, then described what I did, and why. It will be interesting to hear what you would have done too – we all have our favourite methods!
Vogue: Stitch and clip inner corner of front.
What I did: I applied a small square of lightweight fusing to the corner. I clipped when I was ready to turn the front corner.
Why: Fusing is quick and reinforces the whole corner not just the stitching line. Clipping into the corner several stages before you are ready increases the risk of fraying or stretching.
Vogue: Assemble shell.
What I did: Attached front pockets. Next I partially sewed the front crotch seam and completed the front band, before assembling the full shell.
Why: Sewing pockets (neatly) is much easier when the front is a single flat panel, compared to a front with attached pieces that pull in all directions. Likewise sewing the front band is easier when the back has not yet been attached.
The only reason I imagine Vogue get you to assemble the shell is so that you can try it on at this stage. I thought I should mention that this is a good way to stretch all those raw edges (neckline, CF, armholes, clipped corners) out of shape! Even when I make a calico, I fusetape those raw edges to prevent stretching. Most of the time. At least I should do…
Vogue: Sew long edges of front bands, then staystitch neckline and assemble/attach collar, then finish bottom edge of front band.
What I did: Sewed long edges of front band, clipped into corner, then finished bottom edge of front band. Then I sewed the shoulder seams and attached the collar.
Why: Finishing the front band while the fronts are flat is easier than when they are attached to other pieces.
Vogue: Staystitch neckline
What I did: Nothing
Why: If my neckline edges stretch a little during handling, they will soon be unstretched when they are sewn to the collar! I would only stabilise a very unstable/loosely woven fabric here, and my method of choice would be fusing, unless the fabric was sheer.
Vogue: Attach collar
What I did: Much the same as their instructions, except I wrapped the collar around the front band rather than the front band around the collar, because I inserted a lining at this stage. I also turned under the CB neckline like in my convertible collar tutorial rather than hand sewing it into place.
Why: This made it easier!
But I did make things harder for myself by using the large (1.5cm/5/8″) seam allowances of the pattern around the collar – I tried, and will not try again. It is too fiddly to sew the opposing curves accurately, and I spent about ten minutes clipping and trimming it all – I think 6mm/1/4″ is the only way to go here!
I also did a lot of minor things differently – I blockfused all interfaced pieces, pressed the side bust darts up rather than down, and understitched the facings by machine rather than by hand. I do love hand understitching though, ever since doing it on my totally unnecessary cocktail dress. I might adopt this as my method of choice for my own clothes – when I have time!
I suppose we all develop our favourite methods of construction with time, and inevitably this means varying from the instructions. But don't you think beginners be shown the easiest way to put a garment together – the way where the best possible outcome is obtained? i don't think that was the case with this pattern. Do you often see things that you would do differently in pattern instructions? Do you even read them?!
*And when you refer to a jumpsuit, do you talk about these or this?!


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Organized Crime
Sec. 71.02. Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity
(a) A person commits an offense if, with the intent to establish, maintain, or participate in a combination or in the profits of a combination or as a member of a criminal street gang, the person commits or conspires to commit one or more of the following:
(1) murder, capital murder, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, burglary, theft, aggravated kidnapping, kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, forgery, deadly conduct, assault punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, burglary of a motor vehicle, or unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;
(2) any gambling offense punishable as a Class A misdemeanor;
(3) promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion of prostitution, or compelling prostitution;
(4) unlawful manufacture, transportation, repair, or sale of firearms or prohibited weapons;
(5) unlawful manufacture, delivery, dispensation, or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug, or unlawful possession of a controlled substance or dangerous drug through forgery, fraud, misrepresentation, or deception;
(5-a) causing the unlawful delivery, dispensation, or distribution of a controlled substance or dangerous drug in violation of Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code;
(6) any unlawful wholesale promotion or possession of any obscene material or obscene device with the intent to wholesale promote the same;
(7) any offense under Subchapter B, Chapter 43, depicting or involving conduct by or directed toward a child younger than 18 years of age;
(8) any felony offense under Chapter 32;
(9) any offense under Chapter 36;
(10) any offense under Chapter 34, 35, or 35A;
(11) any offense under Section 37.11(a);
(12) any offense under Chapter 20A;
(13) any offense under Section 37.10;
(14) any offense under Section 38.06, 38.07, 38.09, or 38.11;
(15) any offense under Section 42.10;
(16) any offense under Section 46.06(a)(1) or 46.14; or
(17) any offense under Section 20.05, any offense classified as a felony under the Tax Code.
(b) Except as provided in Subsections (c) and (d), an offense under this section is one category higher than the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that was committed, and if the most serious offense is a Class A misdemeanor, the offense is a state jail felony, except that if the most serious offense is a felony of the first degree, the offense is a felony of the first degree.
(c) Conspiring to commit an offense under this section is of the same degree as the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that the person conspired to commit.
(d) At the punishment stage of a trial, the defendant may raise the issue as to whether in voluntary and complete renunciation of the offense he withdrew from the combination before commission of an offense listed in Subsection (a) and made substantial effort to prevent the commission of the offense. If the defendant proves the issue in the affirmative by a preponderance of the evidence the offense is the same category of offense as the most serious offense listed in Subsection (a) that is committed, unless the defendant is convicted of conspiring to commit the offense, in which event the offense is one category lower than the most serious offense that the defendant conspired to commit.


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A day after researchers hacked Chrome and Firefox at the Pwn2Own contest, Google and Mozilla patched their browsers Thursday.
The contest also wound down yesterday after hackers had earned a record $480,000 over two days.
The update to Chrome 25 came about 24 hours after two researchers from U.K. firm MWR InfoSecurity exploited multiple bugs in the browser and Windows 7. In exchange for their attack code and vulnerabilities, Nils -- a German who goes only by his first name -- and Jon Butler were awarded $100,000 by Pwn2Own organizer HP TippingPoint and its Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) bug bounty program.
The quick turn-around nearly matched last year's, when Google patched several Chrome vulnerabilities in under 24 hours after researchers unveiled them at a company-sponsored contest.
Mozilla also patched its Firefox browser on Thursday, closing a hole unveiled by a team from Vupen, a French vulnerability research and exploit-selling company. The team's exploit resulted in a cash prize of $60,000, the laptop used to host Firefox and other fringe benefits.
"We received the technical details on Wednesday evening and within less than 24 hours diagnosed the issue, built a patch, validated the fix and the resulting builds, and deployed the patch to users," said Michael Coates, Mozilla's director of security assurance, in a Thursday blog.
Mozilla had been expecting to patch Firefox, and had prepped for what it calls a "chemspill," or emergency update, before Pwn2Own began.
Firefox 19.0.2, like Chrome 25, has already been pushed to users, most of whom receive it automatically through the browser's in-the-background update mechanism.
The other browser hacked Wednesday at Pwn2Own, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), has not yet been patched. It's possible, but very unlikely given Microsoft's practices, that a fix will be included in March 12's Patch Tuesday.
On Twitter, Vupen's CEO and head of research, Chaouki Bekrar, said that the exploit his team deployed works against IE10 both on the "classic" desktop in Windows 8 as well as the browser for the tile-based user interface (UI) dubbed "Modern" by Microsoft but still referred to as "Metro" by most outsiders.
On Thursday, Pwn2Own continued with the Vupen team researchers successfully exploiting the Adobe Flash Player browser plug-in. George Hotz, a 23-year-old best known for "jailbreaking" the iPhone and the Sony PlayStation 3 -- and now being sued by Sony for the latter -- later brought down Adobe Reader. Vupen and Hotz each received $70,000 for their Adobe vulnerabilities and hacks.
Oracle's Java was also hacked yesterday by Ben Murphy, making a total of four exploits of the under-assault software that's plagued users with a rash of "out-of-band," or emergency, updates this year. Murphy, like each of the others who cracked Java, earned $20,000.
Pwn2Own's total award payout for the two days was $480,000, a record for the contest, which is now in its eighth year. The Vupen team took home over half of that, $250,000, for its exploits of IE10, Firefox, Flash and Java.
But Google's Pwnium 3, which also ran Thursday at CanSecWest, the same Vancouver, British Columbia security conference that hosted Pwn2Own, came up empty-handed.
"Pwnium 3 has completed and we did not receive any winning entries," a Google spokeswoman said in an email late Thursday. "We are evaluating some work that may qualify as partial credit."
Pwnium had attracted pre-contest attention for its large awards -- up to $150,000 for each hack, with Google committing to a maximum payout of as much as $3.14 million -- and its focus on Chrome OS, the browser-based operating system that powers laptops such as the $249 Samsung Chromebook and Google's own $1,299 Chromebook Pixel.
ZDI called an end to the contest Thursday, even though no researcher had attempted to take down the one remaining target, Apple's Safari browser running on OS X Mountain Lion.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer, on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His email address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com.
Read more about cybercrime and hacking in Computerworld's Cybercrime and Hacking Topic Center.


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Society's Child
Associated Press
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:50 UTC
The 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Chicago overturned a federal judge's decision upholding the law, saying the state was justified in trying to protect children but that the "blanket ban" went too far by restricting free speech.
The 2008 law "broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors," the judges wrote.
"The goal of deterrence does not license the state to restrict far more speech than necessary to target the prospective harm," they said in a 20-page decision.
The judges noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has also struck down laws that restricted the constitutional right to freedom of expression, such as one that sought to ban leafleting on the premise that it would prevent the dropping of litter.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in June that the state has a strong interest in protecting children and found that social networking had created a "virtual playground for sexual predators to lurk." She noted that everything else on the Internet remained open to those who have been convicted of sex offenses.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the class-action suit on behalf of a man who served three years for child exploitation and other sex offenders who are restricted by the ban even though they are no longer on probation.
Courts have long allowed states to place restrictions on convicted sex offenders who have completed their sentences, controlling where many live and work and requiring them to register with police. But the ACLU contended that even though the Indiana law is only intended to protect children from online sexual predators, social media websites are virtually indispensable. The group said the ban prevents sex offenders from using the websites for legitimate political, business and religious purposes.
The ACLU applauded the decision.
"Indiana already has a law on the books that prohibits inappropriate sexual contacts with children," including penalties for online activities, ACLU legal director Ken Falk said. "This law sought to criminalize completely innocent conduct that has nothing to do with children."
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said his office would review the ruling before deciding on the next step.
Federal judges have barred similar laws in Nebraska and Louisiana. Louisiana legislators passed a new, narrower law last year that requires sex offenders to identify themselves on Facebook and similar sites. A federal judge struck down part of Nebraska's law last October.