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Fanfic: Tron Invasion Chapter 13 (Part D- End chapter)
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Fanfic: Tron Invasion Chapter 13 (Part D- End chapter)
on Sunday, October, 06, 2013 4:23 PM
Jet and Morton ran across the deck, shooting down the rare Z-lot they encountered until they reached the engine deck, and that's when they heard it – sounds of screams and sounds of suffusion fire.
Then the Reco shuddered with a metallic groan and knocked them to the deck. They scrambled to their feet, said no more and started racing.
By the time they got there, Mercury had her back to the wall and rods out, the close-quarter melee weapons striking and shocking victims in a chain reaction. Morton's aim was precise enough to slice through necks and remove weapon arms, while Jet's suffusion shots went more for crowd control, aiming for center mass. The three of them quickly divided and destroyed the remaining attackers. Morton looked at the remains of his men with dismay. Jet, worried, checked Mercury for infection.
"Not this time. I'm okay," she assured him. "They sabotaged the engines. We're stalled. Get in there."
Jet blinked when he saw the damage. He coded these things, but never gave much thought to how the engines and machinery of something impossible to recreate with User-world physics would actually run. It looked vaguely like raygun-gothic met an 80's arcade, wheels, turbines, belts, neon ductwork, and there wasn't a surface that hadn't been battered, dented, or smashed.
Mercury came up from the maintenance hatch. "All clear below, but I can't tell one piece of equipment from another."
Morton ran to a sealed door at the back. "Survivors. Some of the engineers." He opened the door and five survivors – three male-designated, two female-designated, stumbled out.
"The ICPs..." said one of the female-designateds. "They got us through the door when the Z-lots breached the engine room. They fought, tried to lead the Z-lots away from the critical systems, but..."
Morton nodded sadly. "They served well."
The smallest of the men pointed to a console at Jet's left. "The power distributor, they've completely destroyed it. If we could get that back -"
Jet ran over to the control panel and started trying to repair it. Mercury stepped in to shield as much of the view as possible from the crewmen.
Mercury asked, "Morton, can you take the engineers and get their information on how to do an external shield reset? We'll work on the panel."
The engineers and Morton looked incredulous, but Jet told as much of the truth as he could get away with. "I...used to design Recognizers."
Morton looked at him strangely, but decided that it was going to have to wait. He waved, and a pair of the engineers came with him. Three more stayed behind. They made sure the door was closed behind them to keep out any straggling Z-lots.
"Thrusters," Jet asked. "They get the thrusters? We'll still need those to get out of here."
"We'll check." The other three went down the maintenance hatch.
Mercury walked up next to Jet. "You can fix this."
"I don't know," he admitted, fiddling with the broken controls, trying to put his hands on the shattered dials to recompile them, only half-succeeding. "Guns are easy to code. A physics engine isn't. And Recognizers aren't the eight-bit sprites my godfather was coding back in the eighties. Even when I did code these things, there weren't
lives at stake.
Mercury, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't know what I can or can't do here."
"You can do this," she said simply.
"Because I'm - "
"Because you can." She put her hand between his shoulder blades. "Go on. Touch it."
He did.
"Don't focus on anything else. Just the code and my voice."
Behind his eyelids, he could see the familiar lines of code and the broken strings needed to repair. No keyboard, no interface, no compiler. Just thought and will and reality shaped around it...And a wave of nausea and dizziness while his knees buckled underneath him. He barely managed to hold onto the console to keep himself from face-planting onto it. "I...I don't get it. I fixed the code, but there's nothing. No power..."
Mercury put her hand on his to stop him. "You're out of energy. Expending too much results in fatigue. Too much, too quickly, can send you into shock and kill you."
"So we die because I need a
?" He went back to working the panel, frantically running his fingers through his hair, increasingly nervous and upset. "There's got to be a way. I've got to..."
Mercury put her hand on his back. "Jet. Deep breath. Cool your processor. You can't save anyone if you panic."
He straightened, taking a deep breath as instructed. "We need a jump start. Are there any power sources – any kind of energy storage - on the ship? Otherwise, we're dead."
She didn't take her hand off his back, but the hopelessness of the situation was starting to hit her. "Not that I know of." Mercury shuddered, seeing one of the console readouts depicting the reformat wall inching closer. Damn it! It was going to end here of all places?
Jet's circuitry flickered, as he sighed, looking up from his fruitless efforts of jump-starting the Reco. "Mercury, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be...I don't know, better than this, maybe?"
Guilt and anger kicked in hard. "No, I'm supposed to be better than this," she said heavily. She stepped back, but forced herself not to look away in shame. "I thought you were an enemy. I went to you to question you, maybe kill you if I had to. Instead, I seduce you. And I should be escorting you to Ma3a, not dragging you into combat."
"For all you knew, I was an enemy. And things...just went too far. I can't hate you for that." He looked at the upper console with the reformat wall closing in. "Merc, I'm not really scared to die. Half the stunts I've pulled should have killed me anyway. The only regret...well, not being able to save these people, or Ma3a, and what's going to happen to my dad?"
The concept of
didn't translate well. The closest she understood it was "creator" or "progenitor." There were probably nuances to it that eluded her, but it hardly mattered now. It was also a bad idea to crack, even at the last nano, and close the space between them and take his hand, sending a comforting pulse of energy...
Her head snapped up. "That's it! We have over a thousand passengers. It's dangerous, but we have no other option."
"What the -?"
"Energy is our life force, our..." She shook her head. "I don't have the time to explain." Opening a communications line to broadcast to every deck, she sent out a ship-wide broadcast.
"This is Mercury Six point two one, Agent of Ma3a. As you know, the reformat is coming. This Recognizer's engine needs a jump. We need all of you to give what you can to get us started again. Open a panel, hold on to your neighbors..."
On the upper decks, passengers pried open the conduits grimly. Everyone had one eye cast to the red wall of death at their backs or the secure tunnel promising survival.
One of the surviving ICP units was first to touch the open, inert conduit. An elderly female-designated took his hand. A young male-designated put his hand on her shoulder and reached out for his neighbor.
Link by link, hand on hand the chains were formed, each giving of their own life to send into the ship on the direction of the voice from the communications system.
"Do this for each other, for your system, for your Users, for Ma3a, for yourselves."
Panels began to light, and some of the refugees flickered from the strain, but they kept praying, kept giving.
Jet said, fingers flying as he worked the controls.. "We're almost there. C'mon..." He looked up, and reached out."Mercury? Every little bit's gonna help."
She didn't take his hand. It was glitched, of course, thinking that just one more Program pushing the Reco would do any good.
Kisses were certainly not unknown to her people; but they were rare, almost sacred, things due to the legend behind how they came to be; a final gift before a User's sacrifice. They were for only the most deeply committed of bundled pairs, or situations where you feared you'd never see your loved one again. Mercury had never been one for the sacred, but if one has to make a last-ditch effort, one might as well go full out.
Instead, she raked one hand into his hair and kissed him like the world was about to end, which was likely to happen anyway. He twitched with shock at first, but quickly relaxed into it, kissing her back just as fiercely.
Shared energy flowed through them, and he took her hand, placing them on the console, channeling it through their body and shell and into the console which started to click.
On the bridge, Cally and Romie watched as the reformat wall inched closer to their inert craft.
"Been only a short time," Cally said. "But an honor all the same, Agent Romie."
Romie blinked. Agent? It almost didn't process until he remembered what Jet and Mercury had told him. Guess he really was an agent of Ma3a now. Wonder what Marco and Aida would make of that. Aida would have laughed herself silly. Marco would have asked if he could sign up, too.
He missed his counterparts. Until now, he figured he was ready to join them. With this backdoor conscription into Ma3a's private forces, Romie now felt like there was more he could do with his runtime, maybe saving these people so the deaths of his friends and loved ones wouldn't be for nothing.
He went back to the power routing console. "Cally, I'm getting a reading from the engine room. Looks like we've got some power. I don't believe this -" He looked at the other surviving crewman. "Give those guys a little boost with the power load balance. Let's hope the patch job flies as good as she looks.," he said, running over to the navigation station. "Engaging the thrusters!"
The Recognizer wobbled to the right, then to the left, jolted forward twice with shuddering halts, but on the third try, it hit the transit beam square on and began taking off like a shot, outpacing the approaching reformat and speeding down the beam.
"They did it!" Cally said. "We did it!"
Romie hit the radio. "Hit the panel as soon as everyone's through! We can vent the deck as soon as we
get confirmation."
Morton and the surviving engineers fought their way back to the engine room, cutting down the Z-lots they found. The engineers just needed to be motivated by anger, but regular tool use gave them a decent disc throw. When he got to the engine room, Jet and Mercury both looked a little dazed, circuitry dim as they held each other up for support, and the engineers were climbing up from the hatch. "We have the shield bits ready. Let's go!"
Fortunately, they encountered no further Z-lot trouble as they all ran up the ramp, and past the bulkhead. Morton and Mercury made sure everyone else had climbed the ramp before escaping themselves, sealing the hatch, and giving the signal.
The environment shields dropped. Z-lots and debris were swept off the ship and into the void as the Recognizer vanished into the secure tunnel, the entrance sealing behind them.
At full capacity, a Class Five Recognizer can carry 1800 passengers and 100 crew. 1235 refugee Programs, fifty crew, three surviving ICP units, and three agents of Ma3a speed off to a thin promise of safety.
Morton and his two surviving men headed back to the top deck of the Recognizer tug, planning on using the sensor blind spot so they could sneak back to the front lines when they reached the Citadel. Unfortunately, it meant an end to the truce, but it probably wouldn't be the last time their paths were going to cross. Fortunately, no other cases of infection were found among the passengers or crew, and Ma3a's secure tunnel meant the rest of the journey could pass in safety.
An impromptu party was still in full swing, simple electronic music played on hand-held keyboards and strange devices that didn't resemble instruments from the human world that nonetheless made sounds vaguely like string instruments. Others were on their feet, dancing as well as they could in the small spaces allowed. A small, girlish one giggled as she whirled around with a dark-complected woman with deep wrinkles in her face. Two young males seemed to be getting into an acrobatics contest, using bare poles and crates as props for enthusiastic moves straight out of an old Michael Jackson video.
Jet could barely stumble two feet without someone congratulating him, or thanking him, all with a gentle touch to his arm, shoulder, or back. From what he had seen so far, Programs had fewer reservations or taboos about touch than humans did. It was odd, but he hardly objected. Seeing no sign of Mercury, he climbed up to one of the maintenance catwalks, just content to watch the festivities below.
"Something told me you'd be up here," Mercury's voice. She slid in right next to him, handing him a flask of energy. She had procured her own and was drinking from it in generous gulps. "Cally was nice enough to tap the emergency rations. Says the crew's even agreed to let us use a stateroom to get some rest."
"I hope you thanked her. How's Romie?"
"Getting a briefing. I used my permission set to upgrade him. He's now officially deputized. It won't be the same as being able to carry out his core directive, but it's at least a reason to function."
"Is he all right with what we're asking?"
"He knows we have to rescue Ma3a and fight the virus. Someone has to look out for these refugees if we can get them to the open Internet. He's the script for the job."
"Yeah, he is," Jet said, taking a drink from the flask. "And I'm hoping Ma3a can send me back. My father's still in danger. I have to find him. I don't know how long it's been since I got here. Seems like forever."
"Tell me about it. From the time I saw you in the Kernel's tower to the time we board this Reco has been the longest hour of my runtime," Mercury said dryly.
Jet shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around that. It had only been an
since...? "Yeah, longest hour of my life, too."
"Drink energy and rest when you can. Keep your strength up. You're powerful, obviously, but not invulnerable. Not immortal, remember that. I don't want to lose you."
He put the flask aside and touched her shoulder. "Mercury, back there, in the engine room..."
She sighed and looked away. "You trust me...you're willing to de-rez for me, and you have no reason to."
"Mercury, I'd be....I'd be dead without you. Maybe worse. I was dropped into this world without warning, blundering my way from one disaster to the next with only my godfather's unreliable stories as a guide.
Of course
I trust you. Haven't we been through enough to prove that?"
She gripped the railing, looking at him out the corner of her eye. "I'm not used to depending on someone. Mercury series isn't designed for it."
"I'm version six point two one. Means five predecessors to live up to. All of them worked for the Math Assistant AIs, all of them worked alone. Thought I would be the same." She downed another gulp of energy. "Somewhere along the way, I've started to trust you, Jet. Not because I have to, but because I want to."
"And together, we've made it a lot further than either of us could have gone on our own." He looked down at the gathered crowd, celebrating their small victory, and put one arm around her shoulders. "Look at this ship, at everyone here. If we didn't all work together, none of us would be alive."
Mercury pulled in a little closer, enjoying the contact, putting her arm around his waist. "I'll admit. You're as good with finding allies as finding trouble."
They remained that way for several seconds, arms around each other, drinking their energy, enjoying the music, watching the dancing and celebrations of relief and gratitude from those glad to be alive who knew all too well that it was a temporary reprieve from the danger. The reformat was still in progress, the ICPs and Z-Lots would be waiting at Citadel. They'd lost almost everything already and their chances of continued survival were small, but they'd clawed out victory and life for a few more minutes and that was enough for now.
"There's something you told Romie back on the shuttle," Mercury said, breaking the silence. "I'd like clarification."
"Go ahead and ask."
"Is it really true Users - excuse me, humans - don't get directives or know what their functions are?"
He dropped his arms and stepped back, almost like he summoned a wall between them. "That's right. Our creator? Well, if he exists, he probably just booted up our universe in a basement somewhere and left it running. That's our big struggle, Merc, trying to find our destiny, where we fit into the big scheme of things. Some people figure it out early, some never do." Jet shrugged, as though trying to work out some tension between his shoulders. "My parents...the ones who made me, they're scientists. My mother deals in quantum physics. She's the one who made the first edition of the laser that got me here. My father?" Jet shook his head. "You guys would know him as Alan-1; pioneer of computer security and artificial intelligence. Then there's Sam- he's pretty much heir to the Encom throne if he ever decides to come out and take it -"
"What about you?"
"What about me? Best I can manage is to build games and try to stay out of their way." He sighed in frustration. "I know what my father wants, but I don't want his life; all that secrecy, all those projects he thinks I don't know about, putting up with all that garbage from the board while trying to keep the company from collapsing. I've seen what it's done to him. He made a lot of sacrifices for people who can't appreciate -" He stopped himself. "I guess I'm part of that."
She stared at him in shock. "You don't have a purpose? No reason to live?"
"Mercury, don't -"
She folded her arms and gave him a stare she likely used on errant malware., "Answer it, Jet. You act like you have a de-rez wish, and I need to know why."
"I've done a lot of dumb things," he admitted. "Learned to sneak, how to drive a cycle way too fast, learned how to get around places I'm not supposed to be. Learned things you're not supposed to do with computers and code and how to do them anyway. I've been arrested, landed in the hospital, tried cleaning up my act -"
"Sounds like everything in your runtime up until this point has been preparing you for the battles we're fighting right now, but it doesn't answer the question."
He finished off the flask of energy, the container dissolving after the last of its contents were drained. After that, he stared off into the distance. "I try not to think about that. I just try to...I don't know, get by. Live in the present, try not to think too much about the past or the future or about what I want."
"What do you want?"
the deadliest question in the known universe," he said acidly. "Merc, what I want..." His voice trailed off.
When was the last time someone asked him that? He honestly couldn't recall. So much of his life was focused on what he
want – getting dragged into his father's conspiracies, Sam's ineffective crusade, spending his whole life working like his mother, going crazy and abandoning everyone without a goodbye like his godfather. He scratched out a place with his work in the game department, building virtual worlds to escape into. He thought he was happy, but was that the truth?
"What do I want?" he asked himself.
The crowd was dancing below, and he could feel the music as much as hear it. Mercury was right by his side, and he could trust her without question. He wasn't dumb enough to think they were out of danger, or that the fight wasn't going to get a lot worse, but he was okay with it. There was this big, dangerous, fascinating world where those old stories didn't even scratch the surface. Could he really go back to the analog world and forget all this?
"In there is our future. In there is our destiny..."
His godfather's last speech to the Encom employees and shareholders, words Jet had said many times with contempt or bitter irony. Now, he was seeing it all in a new light. Maybe there was more truth to it than he dreamed.
"I have to rescue my father. But what I want? There's so much about this world that I want to know about, so much to
here." It clicked into place. "Show me this world, Mercury. Show me how to respect it, how to help."
"You already are. Ma3a made that call bringing you here." Mercury assessed him coolly. "You're careless, fighting entirely too much with your emotions, you admit yourself you don't know what you're doing. Her expression softened, her hand brushed his jaw, but her eyes were still ice and steel. "But Ma3a sees potential. You can make allies in unexpected places, have abilities no Program could hope to match. You are willing to fight and you're willing to learn, but I
go easy on you."
"You can't afford to," he said. "Ma3a needs us. Especially now."
She looked him right in the eye, her voice just this side of the threat. "I need you to promise, then. Promise me you will protect Ma3a with everything you have. Promise me you will live for her and the people of this system. Promise me that, and I promise that I will train you as an Agent, that we'll fight together. And I'll go to the Void itself to help you rescue Alan-1."
"I promise." He had never felt more at peace or more sure of anything than those two words.
"Good." Mercury smiled shakily. "Very good." She nodded to the crowd below. "First rule, then? Take your victories when you can."
"Asking me to dance, Merc?" He put his arm out for her to take. "Might step on your foot."
She couldn't help a laugh. "I'll take that risk, rookie."
Arm in arm, they walked down the ramp and into the teaming crowd and thrumming music.
The whole atmosphere was intoxicating; the layered beat of the music, the crowd of people, the laughter and the energy. It reminded Jet of the raves he attended in high school and college
(so many missed papers due to those nights)
. There was a smell in the air like dry ice instead of the tang of sweat and heady marijuana smoke. Instead of glowsticks and lighted jewelry, the Programs' circuitry lit the makeshift dance floor. Most of the circuitry was blue-silver like his and Mercury's. But there were some patches of emerald green (not the sickly green-yellow of infection), deep electric blue, a decorative flash of ruby red on an otherwise blue Program. Many of them smiled at him and Mercury as they joined the crowd.
The music, with its elaborate electronic beats flowed into him like energy, his feet following the beat as his eyes slipped shut. Jet breathed it all in, let himself forget this was not his world, that the analog world, the danger he faced ,and the trouble his father was in go far, far away. For now, they'd earned a little celebration. The change between songs was subtle, flowing from a high-energy, aggressive song to a second that was slower and more trance like.
He cracked open an eye to see Mercury still within arms' reach, looking just as lost in the music as he felt. Like her fighting, she was all precise movements, nothing wasted, exact matches of her body...shell...to the music. Her head was thrown back, a grin on her face as she danced, hips and shoulders swaying with the beat as the blue white of her circuitry dimmed and brightened in patches across her shell, showing off the curves of her rendered muscles. Jet had seen her in all kinds of ways in the last hour
(yeah, the time dilation thing? Definitely needed looking into)
; but blissfully happy was a genuine surprise.
She lowered her gaze to look directly at him, gaze turning sultry. "You act like you're enjoying the show."
"I am," he admitted. "The way you move, the light across your circuitry. Never seen anything like it."
She clasped her hand around his forearm , thumb brushing a fat, white line that ran from shoulder to his index finger, sending a soft brush of energy. "We could be de-rezzed in ten minutes. Don't just settle for
He shuddered and took a sharp breath, the line and its tributaries darkening to blue-violet. It was like the pins and needles feeling of sensation returning after sitting in one position too long, but without the sharp pain. It jolted all the way to his spine and down his back. "What? How are you able to do that?"
The look on Mercury's face darkened, but she thankfully didn't break contact. "Remember how we powered the Reco? Energy is a Program's life force. It runs through our shell, connects it to our spark. We burn it as we go, drink the liquid form to sustain us, but we can also share it, merge it with another's..." Her other hand came to rest on his identifier mark, the semi-triangle at mid-chest and another wave of slow pins and needles warmth began to burn into him. "Anything from a quick pulse to a full-blown meld."
"Those melds are...intimate, I take it?" His hand was on her waist now, palm covering a node. Experimentally, he concentrated on sending a soft, steady flow of energy through it.
Mercury's sharp intake of air and muffled gasp as an affirmative. "Back in the cycle barracks.
was a meld. And an amazing meld to boot." She grimaced. "I'm still sorry for taking advantage like that."
"Nothing to be sorry
, not anymore." His hand moved from her waist to her back, lightly brushing the cluster at the small of her back, still concentrating on sending a steady and controlled flow of energy. Her whole shell flashed purple. "And the circuitry?"
"Our identifier," she said. "You might notice after a while that faces can look similar, especially copies of a Program or Programs made by the same User. Everyone has a different pattern and layout to their circuits. The color usually gives away their system origin. Start noticing the patterns, the way they carry themselves. It'll tell you a lot about who you're dealing with."
"Not the whole truth, Merc," he teased, his hand moving up her spine, watching her circuitry flush from white to violet and back again.
"Cheeky glitch," she fired back, gritting her teeth. "I'm sure there are spots on
shell more sensitive than others. And I'd like to find them
." As if to drive home the point, she put her hand on a thick line crossing his right bicep, sending back the energy with a steep surge.
Oh...wow! It was like being touched everywhere at once, that first rush of sexual contact magnified by ten. How was he even standing? "Yeah, but not...Not like –"
Breathe, Jethro. You remember how to breathe, right?
"That. Not all over." Part to regain control and part out of curiosity, he murmured. "Wonder what would happen if..." He bent his head to nuzzle at the crook of her neck, nibbling at the fine patterns and was rewarded with a strangled cry.
The music had changed to something slower, more sensual, the Programs swaying to it, circuit patterns lighting up the room in ever-changing flickers of color and light. The heady smell of dry ice and ozone in the air hung in the air as every touch across her shell and circuitry sent the same sensation ghosting through his body. Nibbling his way up her neck and across her jawline, he savored every hitch of breath and suppressed gasp. Even closing his eyes to buffer the sensory overload barely helped; all it did was translate the sensations to colors and sparks dancing behind his eyelids.
"Stateroom," she gasped. "Cally gave me permissions to access a stateroom. First officer quarters. Was going to...suggest sleep mode in shifts..."
So many ideas ran through his mind, but he had to make sure this was not going to be a repeat of the cycle pit. "Mercury...if..." His hands felt like they were vibrating like the rest of his body slightly as he struggled to maintain some composure. "I don't want you to feel any guilt over this, because I won't."
"If you won't, I won't. Stateroom –
They half stumbled, half-pulled each other through the corridors, barely able to not distract each other further. After what seemed like hours (in Program time), they reached the stateroom. Mercury had to open it with her palm print and they gracelessly staggered into the room, the door sliding shut behind them.
Jet was momentarily taken aback; the room was complete empty, aside from a window. Outside the cabin, the warping starfield effect reminded him of old sci-fi shows or older screen savers. Not even the walls or floor gave off a glow. Before he could say anything, Mercury touched a panel, and the room began to shift. Wireframe layouts compiled first, then layers draped over them in dazzling colors. Blue, then red, then cool green, then back to white-gold. A bed was now in the center of the room. A desk and chair jutted out from the wall. Light came from the soft glow of the walls. He blinked twice to make sure he wasn't just seeing things, rapidly trying at the same time to figure out just how that worked.
"Nice trick."
"It's no five-rate from the green sector," Mercury said. "But it'll do." As if to cut off any more questions, she reached over and kissed him again.
It was like sucking on a battery, a sour-sharp taste that made everything tingle as she arched into him with a gasp. Pressed against her, circuit brushing circuit, an intoxicating buildup of heat and energy burned at every point of contact. She held on, arms wrapped around, one hand snaked into his hair, leg behind his ankle. The layers of cheerful, pulsing, bass-heavy music from the celebration below could be heard and felt through the floors and bulkhead, vibrating through his body, blurring hearing, touch, sight as their circuits flickered blue-silver-purple.
Oh so dizzy, too much, need more. It's never felt like this!
Ecstasy and LSD couldn't even try matching this kind of sensory-hacking high. Everything felt hot, cold, acid, sweet, pulsing with the bass beats of the music and his armor was too tight and...
"Merc...do these..." He could barely think long enough to piece together a sentence. "Do these things come off?"
It seemed to startle her out of the lust-induced haze. Did he cross some kind of Program-world taboo? "They do. What, exactly, do you have in mind?"
He knew he was blushing. "Um...I want you, Mercury. When humans...Users...do this, clothes usually come off. Unless...well, I have no idea if..."
"Oh, there is something called 'user-style' interfacing. It's not an unknown concept, it's just considered..." She smiled wickedly, and took his hand, guiding it to the switch that deactivated her suit and armor. "Deviant."
The way she phrased "deviant" implied something considered kinky instead of outright perverted. He breathed a sign of relief. "Oh."
Suits and armor retreated from their bodies in a matter of nanoseconds, and he shivered at the shock of air against his over-sensitized skin. A quick look down and he saw the he was mostly normal; sparse hair on his chest and arms, skin that was a little paler than his normal shade (his digitized form apparently didn't factor in LA summers), and most of his scars (the lightening bolt pattern under his right arm, the thin white one on his abdomen, the twisted maze on his left leg) were intact.
Mercury, on the other hand, was pure, surreal beauty. It started at her short platinum hair and icy blue eyes, face just a little too sharp and a little too smooth to be human, and under her suit was a maze of even more elaborate circuitry, playing over her arms, her breasts, her abdomen, down her legs, intricate lines of blue-white, some as thick as two fingers, some as thin as a fingernail. He was never going to look at body ink the same way after this. Strangely, she was completely hairless from the neck down, no nipples, no navel, some dulled lines on her arms and a dark spot under her right breast that could be her version of scars.
She crossed her arms, doubt clear in her face. "I'm not like a us...
female, am I?"
"And I'm not like a Program." He put one hand at the node on the small of her back. rubbing that sensitive spot gently, and the other hand stroking her hair, feeling the smooth, soft texture that was almost, but definitely not human, the strange empathic connection linking their energy and every touch.
"No circuits, no light," she murmured. "I want to touch everything at once."
He pulled her in for a kiss, slow and reassuring...
Sweet, sour, sharp, feel it with my whole body, taste the colors. Want so much, never ached like this.
The hand that had been on her back now guiding hers to his chest first, settling over his heart. She gasped, and her splayed hand sent a warm wave of pure joy through their link. Her hands explored mercilessly, lightly over his arms, feeling the hairs on his arms stand up on end, across his shoulders, fingertips finding all the little and large knots of tension from a lifetime's worth of hunching over a computer...
Building code.
Building worlds.
He kissed her harder, leaning into her touch, chasing that thought away. A
was the last thing he wanted to be, especially now. Hands traced skin and circuit, playing with taste, light, color, energy,
Later, he lay pressed against her side, idly playing with a circuit as her coloring returned to blue white.
"Well, that was...good," Mercury said. Truth was, she was still trying to come up with enough processing power to form a sentence. Guess there was something to the whole idea that interface was better when you had feelings for the other person.
"Just 'good?'" He was teasing, mostly. While outright lies weren't usually part of Program parameters, half-truths and evasions were standard procedure. Jet hid so little. There was this...hard-wired goodness to him, something incorruptible that was so different from everything she was used to dealing with; malware gangs, data pushers, the game pits where ruthlessness was a fact of function.
"There's not a string that covers it," she said, propping herself up on an elbow. "Could get used to this idea; apprentice, partner, lover."
"Me too." His finger stroked the edge of the thick circuit on her arm. "There's a lot I could get used to."
Jet stilled and looked her in the eyes. "Mercury, you asked me to make a promise earlier. Can I ask one of you?"
She scowled suspiciously. "Promises are tricky things. I'll hear you out, though."
"Promise that you'll never worship me. I...I know what my people are to yours, that in a lot of ways, I'm...different from you. But you've seen that we have limits, weaknesses. We're created, we function. We have friends we like, and jobs we don't necessarily like. And we die - eventually."
The request itself wasn't surprising coming from Jet, but there was something more to it. He went out of his way to play down what he was, what it meant here. Not shocking, since admitting what he was nearly got him killed. Yet, it was oddly comforting that Users did not operate from some grand design. It explained a lot, actually.
"Program lifespan is about two hundred fifty cycles, give or take. Security monitors like me or game bots tend to have shorter runtimes, but glorious while it lasts," she said. "How long does a human live?"
"Barring accident, illness, or just bad luck? About eighty years, give or take."
Mercury pulled back, a little unsettled. "
Seriously? That makes our runtime...well, in years, it's between five and six of them." She blinked in amazement. "You weren't bluffing the Kernel when you said your creation date was 1982, were you?"
"December twenty-first, 1982. The creation process probably is a lot different on my side of the monitor, though."
"I'm not sure I want to know." She smiled sadly. "It's going to be a lot to process, and I'm sure you haven't stopped surprising me, but you have yourself a deal. It would be hard to train you from my knees, anyway."
For the first time, his expression became unreadable, like he was retreating somewhere deep inside himself. "Mercury, thank you - for everything."
"There's still a battle ahead of us. Maybe a lot of them." She kissed him lightly. "Rest, Jet. I'll be here when you wake up this time."
His eyebrow raised. "Still no guilt right?"
He leaned in to whisper it in her ear. "None for me, either."
It wasn't long before he was in sleep mode.
It took Mercury longer to shut down, so much running through her processor. She had always believed Users to be distant and vaguely cruel, indifferent to Program suffering, uncaring of their joys. In that way, Thorne lived down to the idea – alien and destructive, powerful, but not even caring for his own minions. Jet was the other side of that disc, but he still posed more questions than answers, not intentionally, but just by being.
He stirred in his sleep and flung an arm around her. Mercury decided the questions and ramifications could wait. Jet made his promise, he fought for Ma3a and the people of the system. That was good enough for now.
A/N: Yes, there is an "uncensored" version over on FF.N, and later to be posted to AO3
It's an entire universe in there, one we created, but it's beyond us now. Really. It's outgrown us. You know, every time you shut off your computer...do you know what you're doing? Have you ever reformatted a hard drive? Deleted old software? Destroyed an entire universe?"
-- Jet Bradley,
Tron: Ghost in the Machine
on why being a User isn't necessarily a good thing.
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text:
Download the free app from the Apple app store. Open the app and load up your Facebook contacts.
Select which of your Facebook contacts that you would love 2 date and submit your selection to the 'Locker'. At this point, no one will know who you have selected.
If one of your Facebook contacts also selects you and puts you in the 'Locker', you will both simultaneously get a notification on your phone. Simple!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Dobies Growing Guides
Vegetable Garden Planner
Bright scarlet, distinctly tipped with white, crisp and sweet. A delicious globe-shaped variety. RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Maturing time approximately 5-8 weeks from sowing. This variety trialled, tested and recommended by the National Institute of Agricultural Botany.
Code: 438531
Code: 438525
Hardiness:0 degrees
Aftercare - Easy:True
Aftercare - Moderate:False
Aftercare - High:False
Edible Flower:False
RHS Award of Garden Merit:True
Vegetables recommended by the NIAB:True
Likes Acidic Soil:False
Beds & Borders:True
Greenhouse, Glass House or Home:True
Grows in Sun or Partial Shade:True
F1 Variety:False
Sow thinly, 1.25cm (½") deep in drills drawn 15cm (6") apart. Make first sowings in March, in a warm, sheltered position, followed by others at regular intervals, to ensure a constant supply of firm, mildly flavoured roots during spring and summer. Row 6m (20').
HEALTH BENEFITS - High in Potassium (Regulates heart rhythm, nerve impulses and muscle function) and vitamin C (Anti-ageing, wound healing, decreasing blood cholesterol and prevention of infections. Assists the body in absorbing iron) and contains sulphur compounds.
All Dobies products should reach you in perfect condition, just as they left us. If you are dissatisfied in any way with their condition on arrival, please let us know within 14 days. We are only liable for the cost of the goods as quoted on the website plus the cost of delivery if the goods are faulty.
Order online or call 0344 967 0303 For product or any other queries, please email Customer Services Customer Services call 0333 240 5933
Dobies, Long Road, Paignton, Devon TQ4 7SX


text:
The profile you requested is no longer available on www.loveawake.com
Please try to locate the page you were looking for by following one of the links at the top. You can also use Google or contact Customer Care.
Have no fear, help is near! There are many ways you can get back on track with Loveawake.com.
Use the search link at the top of the page to search for.
Follow these profiles to get you back on track!


text:
Wiley Rein's Brightbill discusses U.S.-Chinese solar dispute following anti-dumping move
As the U.S. Commerce Department moves forward with anti-subsidy and anti-dumping tariff proposals against Chinese solar imports, is there room for compromise between the two countries? During today's OnPoint, Timothy Brightbill, a partner at Wiley Rein and the lead trade lawyer on SolarWorld's case against Chinese manufacturers, discusses the impact of the proposed tariffs on U.S. manufacturers and installers. He also responds to the Solar Energy Industries Association's suggestion that the two governments should work together toward a solution to the trade dispute.


text:
Arenado takes his turn in Chatting Cage
Rookie discusses nickname, gets surprise question from high school coach
NEW YORK -- Nolan Arenado's work day began five hours before game time against the Mets on Tuesday. Arenado, Colorado's rookie third baseman, took time out of his busy schedule to stop by the MLB.com Chatting Cage, where he answered questions directly from fans about his season and his life.
Arenado, a former second-round Draft pick, has enjoyed mixed results in his rookie season, but he's having a great time learning on the job against the world's best players. The Major League reality has compared well to his expectations, and Arenado had fun interacting with the fans.
"It's a lot of fun. It's a blessing," Arenado said after his on-camera interview. "We're out here, and these fans are watching us and supporting us. The least we can do is give back and have a little conversation with them. It's pretty weird, and I'm not used to it. But I had fun and I enjoyed it."
Standing in front of the third-base dugout at Citi Field, Arenado first addressed the Internet's attempt to give him a nickname. The 22-year-old native of Newport Beach, Calif., said he's heard that people want his nickname to be Sharknado (after the made-for-TV movie), but he also said his teammates have already given him a nickname.
The Rockies, to a man, have dubbed the rookie "Mickey Mouse," he said. Arenado explained that he has Latino roots, but that he doesn't speak any Spanish, which led his teammates to their choice of nickname. They tease him about being a "fake Latino," he said, but it's all in fun.
Arenado was asked about his favorite player growing up, and he credited Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols for how they perform on the field and how they carry themselves off it. He also said teammates Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, among others, have been fantastic role models.
Arenado, a career .299 hitter in the Minors, was batting .364 for Triple-A Colorado Springs at the time of his promotion, and he's batting .252 with nine homers and 35 RBIs in his first 88 games in the Majors. The biggest surprise, he said, has been the consistency of the best players at this level.
"The intensity of this game. The intensity of the atmosphere," Arenado said of the Majors. "I expected that coming in, and I definitely expected it with this team because we expect to win. But definitely the intensity and the support have been pretty cool. It definitely gets pretty crazy."
Arenado gets to play next to Tulowitzki, a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award-winner, as he makes his transition to the Majors. So far, like many of his teammates, Arenado has hit better at Coors Field (.262/.303/.423) than on the road (.241/.277/.373).
Does he ever get exhausted by the constant grind? Arenado said the big leagues are all about winning, while the Minor Leagues left more room for individual development. But now that he's up here and playing in the Majors, he said he couldn't really ask for anything more from the experience.
"When you go through the Minor Leagues and you're on buses for 14 hours, I guess the plane rides and all that stuff isn't that bad," he said. "And the food, you take that all into consideration. It gets tough, but this is fun. We're playing a game that we love and we're trying to put on a good show."
Arenado enjoyed stopping by the Chatting Cage on Tuesday, but coincidentally, he also got to speak to someone he knows intimately. Mike Gonzales, Arenado's coach at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif., somehow worked his way into place to ask the young infielder a question.
And in his response, Arenado got to prove that he'll never forget where he came from.
"That was pretty funny that he got on," said Arenado, a 2009 graduate of El Toro. "He's my guy. I've known him for a long time, and I'm still very close to him. That was pretty cool."


text:
Go and get BLN for Samsung i9000 Eclair, Froyo or Gingerbread or any other kernel/rom with BacklightNotification support.
Or visit this page to view a list with supported phones by BLN.
What is the BLN mod?
The BLN mod turns the touchkey backlights into a notification led.
It enables the notification led api for any android application that supports notifications by led.
If you dont have the BLN mod installed, the app provides you instructions how to install the BLN mod.
What does this app?
This application gives you control over the BacklightNotification (bln) mod settings on your phone.
What features does the Free version have?
- enable/disable BacklightNotification function (without uninstalling bln)
- test BacklightNotification
- update notification (notifies you about new BLN app, liblights or kernel releases)
Additional features in the Pro version:
- widget
- scheduler (disable BLN at night, ...)
- locale plug-in(s) for: bln status, blinking, scheduler, static led, notification led
- adjustable timeout of static led notification
- blinking**:
- adjustable on/off led period
- adjustable overall blinking duration (5-60 minutes or unlimited)
- select led status after blinking ends(on/off)
- stop blinking if battery is below a selectable % level
- adds led notifications for:
- missed calls
** Please notice that blinking consumes more energy than static backlight!
Download the app from market:
Free | Pro
The price for the Pro version is 0.99€ (~ 1.99 US$).
The Pro version is available at the android market (creditcard) and at androidpit (paypal, clickandbuy).
If you find an issue, please report it here in the thread.
Which features will be added to future Pro versions?
- suggest me a feature
What permissions are used for which features?
- RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED: to activate BLN at boot and start the services
- INTERNET: for update notification (new BLN app, liblights or kernel releases - you can disable the notification in the update settings) and for the compatibility check (the app receive instructions for you, if the app detects that something is wrong with the BLN setup)
- READ_PHONE_STATE: to detect if an incoming call could become a missed call
- WAKE_LOCK: services & schedule (reactivating interrupted led notifications, froyo only)
Translations already done:
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Japanese
- Korean
- Russian
- Spanish
- Swedish
The initial translations into Dutch, French, Russian and Spanish have been realized at crowdin.net with the help of adequacy, andifds, elroy911, HERVEG, HTCDevil, Jaax, jbnitro, ravexx, Rebel2k and Shaymelmed. Thank you.
The translations into Japanese, Korean and Swedish have been realized at icanlocalize.com.
Translations pending:
- Chinese (Simplified) - suspended, no sufficient Chinese market service
- Chinese (Traditional) - see above
- Czech
- Italian
- Polish
Kernel-devs / rom cookers: Please do only integrate the FREE version of this app into your releases.


text:
Donatella Versace hosted the Versace Christmas party in Milan this weekend. She asked everyone she saw what political party they were affiliated with and whether they liked Hillary or Barack. ("I want Hillary!" she says.) George Michael and Mariah Carey recordings were the background music. She confessed she would like a dog, but that no one will get her one. [NY Times]
More from Jezebel


text:
hi i want to intergrate a barcode scanner into my project but when i read the barcode from a word
document the data is not enterder into the textfield. how do i read a barcode and display the data in a jtextfiel?
how do i get this data after reading the barcode? thanks


text:
Refinancing Options
Discover the Mortgage Rates From Jersey Mortgage Company
With interest rates so low, there's never been a better time to explore the advantages of mortgage refinancing. It allows you to lower your payments and interest costs, in addition to getting cash out or even paying off your mortgage quicker. Jersey Mortgage Company has helped thousands of families in NJ, NY, PA, FL and CT get the value out of their house in order to reach their personal financial goals.
Mortgage refinancing can open a world of possibilities. You could free up money to pay down high interest credit card debt, invest in other assets, or even pay for home improvements and college tuition. The possibilities for financial freedom are nothing if not intriguing.
Mortgage Refinancing Can Really Add Up
The equity you have in your home can act like a savings account that you can access through a cash-out refinance. A drop of just 1-2% could lower your monthly payment substantially, whether you choose a fixed or adjustable mortgage rate option.
There is no "one-size-fits-all" solution, but there are many reasons for mortgage refinancing, particularly if you have an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). The experts at Jersey Mortgage Company will help you decide whether it makes sense to refinance from an adjustable rate to a fixed rate mortgage; how to keep closing costs to a minimum (or non-existent); and when the optimal time to refinance may be.
We are an award-winning direct lender, which allows us to offer you more options and more competitive mortgage rates than other lenders. As part of the LendRIGHT lender excellence program and noted underwriter of loans, entire process is efficient and smooth. The mortgage refinancing specialists at our NJ, CT, and NYC mortgage company take pride in getting tough deals done and will work alongside you to create a customer refinancing package that suits your current and future needs.
Benefits of mortgage refinancing
- Decrease monthly home loan payments from a higher fixed rate to a lower fixed rate.
Example: If your rate is currently 5.75% and you refinance to a 4.75% rate, you will save 1% on the mortgage, less the costs of refinancing. On a $200,000 mortgage, your savings will be over $50,000 over 30 years by reducing the interest rate by just that one percentage point.
- Improve monthly cash flow with lower payments.
Cash flow may be tight after moving into a new home. Switching to an adjustable rate program where the rate is fixed for the next three to ten years could provide breathing room. Similarly, if you are in a 15 or 20 year term loan, switching to a 30 year term can also increase monthly cash flow.
- Switch to a fixed rate program to eliminate payment changes of adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs).
Homeowners with one year ARMs will see their payments rise as rates move up. By using programs that hold rates steady for three, five or seven years, you can refinance into a low fixed rate.
- Withdraw funds from the equity in a home.
If cash is needed for home improvements, college education or to consolidate debts, the borrower may be able to refinance 75% to 80% of the current value of the home if it has been owned for one year or more.
- Shorter loan terms
Often the best incentive to refinance is found by refinancing into a shorter term loan while keeping the loan payment stable. A borrower can save tens of thousands of dollars in interest by reducing the term of the loan.
For more information relating to mortgage refinancing, please see:
Call us to get started today.


text:
Rabbits are prone to skin infections that can be difficult to control. Their skin is very thin and prone to trauma. Rabbits harbor a bacteria called Pasteurella than can complicate any infection they pick up. This page shows the case of a rabbit named Roger that has a serious skin infection due to a maggot infestation. You won't have to look at any maggots, but you will see a serious skin infection in the pictures that follow-these pictures are not suitable for all age groups.
Maggots are the larvae of flies that hatch when flies lay eggs on an open wound. In the warmer climates, especially in the summer, we see this condition. It occurs when rabbits soil their fur, sometimes from diarrhea, and set up a moist environment that attracts flies.
A way to prevent diarrhea in rabbits is to feed minimal amounts of rabbit pellets. The majority of their diet should consist of timothy hay and timothy hay pellets.
The higher fiber content of these foods keeps their teeth worn down properly and aids in digestion, since they require a diet very high in fiber compared to other pets.
You can learn about the problems that rabbits get with an improper diet by following these two links-
These are the normal molars of a rabbit that has been on a good diet of mostly hay
This page contains very graphic photos of a severe skin infection.
This rabbit was referred to us from another veterinarian. They initially cleaned up the wound, put the rabbit on oral antibiotics, and put stainless steel staples in the skin to suture the open wound that was present. This is the way we typically handle most wounds.
Unfortunately, some rabbits don't respond to this suturing, especially if it is not done immediately. As a result the wound can fester under the sutures and become a serious infection.
Rabbit pus is tenacious and does not easily drain from the body like other mammals. As a result, it is difficult to work on these infections in the normal manner.
You can visualize the Y shaped staples that are holding the skin together at the top. They are not holding at the bottom. The white material at the bottom where the incision is open is the tenacious pus that rabbits get when there is an infection.
We attempted to keep the sutures in place and treat the open wound at the bottom. We thoroughly flushed the wound under the staples and trimmed the diseased tissue. After one week of this therapy the infection got worse so we had to remove all the staples and treat this infection as an open wound.
This is the wound immediately after we removed the staples and removed the dead tissue along with infection. It is impossible to remove all the infection that is present due to the tenacious nature of rabbit pus.
A special wound healing agent containing collagen was used to aid the healing process. It draws infection out of the contaminated area and sets up an environment for healthy tissue to start covering the opening.
The wound is thoroughly covered with this collagen and allowed to stay on for several days initially. It was changed several times over the several weeks of therapy that was used in this case.
It is bandaged to keep it in place and to protect the healing tissue
This rabbit healed fine, which is not always the case with such a serious wound. From the time he was brought in to us until this picture was taken was 5 weeks.
Here is Roger's read end on his last recheck. He feels a lot better now that his fanny is not so exposed.


text:
Singing songs about mania and disorientation across three decades, ex-Throwing Muse Kristin Hersh was being dubbed the 'crazy woman of rock' back when Alanis was still in kindergarten and Courtney in crappy Alex Cox movies. This, her fourth album on her lonesome, is pretty much business as usual: delicate acoustic guitar vies with awkward time changes and Kristin's odd non sequiturs - sort of, well, a cross between everything the Muses have ever done and the rest of her solo stuff. But there's not really anything quite as striking; nothing as gorgeously heartbreaking as 'Your Ghost' or 'Delicate Cutters', nothing as blockrockingly ace as 'Big Yellow Gun' or 'A Cleaner Light'.
Her childlike voice still chills and enthrals in equal measures, but the insistence on not following a linear melody line and all those clunky stop-starts, as in opener 'Your Dirty Answer', is infuriating. The spirit of a relationship in crisis haunts the songs, which is bad for Kristin but good for us; as it results in such cracking one-liners as 'I wanted you to sleep with her and hate yourself/Instead of me' (from 'Spain', which slowly builds to a genuinely thrilling crescendo), and 'We were a match made in purgatory' (best kiss-off line since 'You leave me dry', anyone?). Yet, the musical accompaniment is flat and derivative, 'Silica' even echoing 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' at one point (I mean, copying the Beatles?…._so_ 1990s, dahling….)
Strange then that the best track on 'Sunny Border Blue' is actually a cover version of 'Trouble' – no, not that one, stupid, but the old Cat Stevens song (ask your dad). Hersh manages to pour poignant yet spirited life into it; the way she tackles lines like 'Oh trouble set me free….I have seen your face and it's too much, too much for me' sounds very much like a woman fighting yet simultaneously at ease with her personal demons. So - it must be true what they say; the devil really does have all the best tunes….
6Amy Bell's Score


text: Park Mazda takes great pride in being your preferred Mazda dealer serving Edmonton & Sherwood Park for over 10yrs .Our experienced and friendly sales advisers can offer you the right advice on the full range of our exclusive selection of premium and pre-owned vehicles. We are here to ensure you make the right decision for your needs and your budget. Because we are the largest Mazda dealership in western Canada we can offer great financing options as low as 5.99% o.a.c and everyone can get approved. Contact us at today 1-888-464-XXXX or visit us at Parkmazda.ca to take advantage of our promotional offers.


text:
The precinct provides a "one stop shop" for waste receipt, processing and recycling by accommodating complementary resource recovery activities. This innovative centre recovers approximately 90% of the nearly one million tonnes of waste materials delivered to the precinct each year.
When the Wingfield dump closed on December 31, 2004, it was widely recognised as an Adelaide landmark. In its final year, it received more than one million tonnes of waste materials which were used in landfill.
However, the former Wingfield dump property has been reinvented as the Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre, an internationally recognised waste recovery and recycling facility that has harnessed commercial drivers to deliver significant environmental benefits. The 94-hectare precinct has four primary tenants - Orora, Adelaide Resource Recovery (ARR); Jeffries Group and Cleanaway (CWY) - which are each involved in providing state-of-the-art waste recovery and recycling services. Collectively, the site tenants provide a comprehensive waste management facility for:
While each business runs an individually successful commercial operation at the Wingfield Recycling Centre, they collectively make a creative, powerful and positive contribution towards achieving South Australia's environmental and recycling objectives. This website is designed to provide a simple overview of the commercial operations at the Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre and the individual businesses that make it a success.
Adelaides Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre is a world-leading initiative that is turning a mountain of rubbish into a sustainable recycling sector that delivers jobs, profits and environmental dividends.
Within four years of closing as a landfill operation, the 94-hectare Wingfield site has become a world-class recycling and resource recovery precinct, supporting an innovative cluster of recycling businesses.
With a collective 2008 turnover of nearly $40 million and employing more than 80 people, businesses at the Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre managed to recycle approximately 90% of the nearly one million tonnes of waste materials delivered to the precinct in 2007.
The Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre is a
world-class resource recovery and waste recycling operation that contains a collaborative cluster of commercial businesses on a common 94ha site.


text:
No, it will be decided by...look, just watch this until around 1:10, OK?
This is an actual commercial for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, due out in 2012 on, well, pretty much everything.
In case you can't tell by the tone, or beneath the helmets, or by the 1:10 mark, it's been put together by the Mega 64 crew.
You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.


text:
Show your finished cases here so that everyone can enjoy them.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
Item Information
Kit Includes
Suitable Cars:
Delivery Information
Designed to Enhance the Look of your Pride and Joy
Here at XXIITUNING, We Pride Ourselves on Providing Our Customers with Oem Quality Parts at the Best Price You Can Get.
All our Products Are Researched Extensively for you in the hopes of making your shopping experience as Joyful as possible.
We recommend professional installation of all products as some parts may require removal of bumpers for fitting to take place.
If you have any questions about any of our items, please we urge you to contact our team so we can help you find the correct part or inform you on more details about the part you are looking at
Please note: XXIITUNING do not accept any liability if damage is caused to your car by the installation of this product. Professional installation is recommended on all our products.
Mercedes Benz W205 C-Class Saloon C43/C63 Carbon Fibre Front and rear Trim Kit (2015 - 2018)
MERCEDES BENZ W117 C117 CLA-CLASS PRE-FACELIFT CLA45 AMG/AMG LINE Gloss Black GT Grille (2013-2015)
Mercedes Benz W177 A-Class Gloss Black Full Accent Kit (2018 - 2020)
замена решетки перед светом типа Мерседес - Мерседес W204 C C (2008 - 2014 годы)
Mercedes Benz W218 Facelift CLS-Class CLS63 AMG Спойлер из углеродного волокна с передними губами (2014 - 2018)


text:
Exercise May Guard Girls Against Dementia in Senior Years
But researchers stress it's not clear if activity directly lowers risk
WEDNESDAY, June 30, 2010 (HealthDay News) -- If you want to help your young daughter avoid dementia much later on in life, a new study suggests it might be a good idea to send her outside to play.
Canadian researchers believe they've found a link between exercise in adolescence and fewer cases of senility in a woman's senior years.
The study doesn't definitively prove that exercise lowers the risk of dementia. And the research is only based on the recollections of older women, some with signs of dementia, about their childhoods.
Still, the findings suggest that "early life physical activity is important to late-life health and in particular in preventing late-life cognitive impairment. The sooner you start being physically active, the better it is," said study author Laura E. Middleton, a researcher at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto.
Scientists have been trying to document a link between exercise and dementia in later life in the hopes of understanding how physical activity affects the brain. The new study was designed to examine how exercise in youth may affect women in their later years.
The researchers asked more than 9,300 women in the United States about their exercise habits before the age of 18, at 30, at 50 and in late life. All were over 65, and their average age was 72.
The findings appear in the June 30 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
About 15 percent to 30 percent of the women reported being inactive during each period of their lives. Exercise occurring before the age of 18 seemed to be most influential: Close to 17 percent of those who didn't report being active then had symptoms of dementia, while just 8.5 percent of the others did.
The researchers adjusted their statistics so they wouldn't be thrown off by factors such as weight and age. After they did that, those who thought they exercised as kids were still 30 percent less likely to show signs of dementia.
The researchers don't know if exercise in childhood directly leads to less dementia since other factors could be at play, such as diet. And exercising as kids -- playing outdoors, for example -- may set a pattern for physical activity later in life, Middleton said.
If there is a cause-and-effect link between early exercise and less mental decline, she said it may have something to do with the brain's ability to change and develop new circuitry. It's also possible that exercise leads to less clogging of blood vessels in the brain, she said.
It's not clear whether men might benefit in the same way. The study only looked at women, Middleton said, and previous research has suggested that women benefit more from exercise than men.
Greg Cole, a brain researcher who's familiar with the findings, said scientists are interested in the benefits of exercise when it comes to brain decline, but they're focusing on studying the elderly at risk instead of looking backward at childhood.
Cole said the study's reliance on the memory of the elderly "makes one wonder" about its reliability. But childhood habits could presumably lead to lifelong habits that might contribute to the benefits of adult exercise seen in other studies, said Cole, a professor of medicine and neurology at the University of California at Los Angeles.
More information
Kidshealth.org has details on children and exercise.


text:
In much the same way as Shehzad Tanweer apparently all but 'disintegrated' on the Aldgate train a similar story emerged in relation to Khan.
Apart from Danny Biddle, whose testimony we analysed here, none of the 23 passengers from carriage 2, that gave testimony or had statements read to the Inquests, mentioned seeing Khan. Despite many having been on the train for the five stops between King's Cross and Edgware Road, Khan wasn't seen. Nor was there any mention of an Asian man wearing a white baseball cap sitting in seat 28.
The Inquests were shown a diagram of the probable positions of passengers before the explosion which strangely has Khan sitting alone in a bank of four seats:
Whether passengers saw Khan or not, he was certainly not seen or mentioned after the explosion by any of the emergency services, paramedics or police, except by one PC Geoffrey Potter of the British Transport Police, who claims he was told that there were seven fatalities on his arrival at Edgware Road, at approx 09.45, before being sent down to the train by DI Dave Dickason of the BTP.
PC Potter claims not to remember who precisely gave him this information which is surprising as there had been no evidence of seven fatalities up to the point of his arrival:
Q. Did you receive any information, as you entered the station, as to whether or not there were fatalities on the train and, if so, how many?
A. Yes, sir, I was informed, and I can't recall who by now, but that there were at least seven dead.
By 09.50.40, so very shortly after his arrival, PC Potter felt confident enough of the information he had to call the Major Incident Control Centre as evidenced by this BTP call log:
Q. We can see from your plan that you've noted the presence of four people, 1, 2, 3 and 4 round the crater.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Inside the crater, you've marked on the plan number 6.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who was number 6?
A. Number 6 was what I took at the time to be the centre of the explosion, I took him to be the bomber.
Q. Obviously, and there's obviously no question about it, that's quite wrong, but that was what it appeared to be?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was he inside the hole or beneath the hole?
A. He was through the hole, yes, he was on the floor underneath the train.
Q. From where you could see, was the debris in the hole such that the bottom of the train had been blown down on to the tracks?
A. Yes.
Q. So it was all intermingled with the track itself?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you able to say anything about or to see anything of his age or the clothing that he was wearing?
A. I've said that he -- I guessed him to be about 5' 10" tall, but he didn't have a full body, I'm afraid, he had torso, head and basic limbs, but, again, his legs were severed around the knees.
Q. All right. He had severe injuries also to his hands?
A. Yes.
Q. Could we enlarge, please, the map? You've told us about 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you recollect where number 5 was or who number 5 was?
A. Yes, sir, that's the lady that I described as being the one at the front of the train that I'd seen initially on my arrival.
Q. If we look at the left-hand side of that page, you've attempted to draw there "location of two trains"?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do we see very faintly number 5 being a person lying on the track in front of that eastbound train?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So that is the person, as you've told us, you've described earlier. Once you'd made a note or asked the officer to write down everything that you'd called out, did you then leave the train?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you go Paddington way or back towards Edgware Road?
A. Back to Edgware Road.
Q. Had the train cleared by then?
A. By the time we did the notes, yes, sir.
Q. Do you recollect how much time passed while you were in the train?
A. I think it was about an hour, sir, an hour and a half.
Q. You've recorded in your statement how, at 10.55, you passed the information from the assessment to the chief inspector, Mr Dickason?
A. Yes, sir
PC Potter then effectively prevents a further examination of the carriage by a paramedic who had been tasked with checking 'life extinct' then, despite carrying out checks outside the carriage and on the tracks, does not conclude that there were any further fatalities :
Q. Were there some concerns about the state of the tunnel itself?
A. Yes, sir, I had a report that the tunnel walls, from a member of staff, had cracks in them, and that they were concerned about the strength of the tunnel.
Q. Did there come a time when a paramedic called Graham Card approached you and he explained that he had been asked to attend the scene to again check or verify --
A. Yes, sir.
Q. -- that life was extinct in relation to the persons who had died on the train?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did that then require you to go through the train again with him?
A. He was -- I gave him an account of what we'd done on the trains and he was satisfied that the inside of the trains had been checked, and we went all the way around the outside of the trains checking everywhere to make sure that we hadn't missed anybody.
Q. On that second occasion, did you stop to take any further details about the persons whom you had originally checked?
A. Yes, sir, I believe I did.
Q. Did you take further details of the debris and the state of play surrounding the train in the near vicinity of the crater?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was it apparent that there was a considerable quantity of human debris, parts of human bodies, near the bombsite outside the train?
A. Yes, sir, there was.
Q. Did you and Mr Card check carefully round that area to make sure there was nobody else there, firstly, alive --
A. Yes, sir.
Q. -- and, secondly, to see whether or not there were any other deceased passengers in that near vicinity?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. But there weren't?
A. No.
'Life extinct' pronounced on six persons by Dr Morgan Costello on behalf of the MPS was then carried out in the early hours of 8 July as previously detailed here
The debris on the tracks and the position of the blast
The debris on the tracks referred to by Hugo Keith 'existing under the blast site and mangled with the tracks' is also rather odd as the explosion on Circle Line train 216 was said to have occurred some two carriages further back towards Edgware Road. Presumably around the same area that both Danny Biddle and Jenny Nicholson along with the doors from this carriage were found, rather than under the final position that carriage two of this train came to a halt.
In which case it would be expected that if Khan had 'disappeared down the blast hole', his remains would be found further back along the track.
Pathology and identification
The process of both body removal and identification of the victims, issues which have caused the bereaved families deep distress, confusion and anger, have been deemed outside the scope of these proceedings. Hugo Keith again issued a warning to the families legal representatives before calling DC Wilson from the Anti-Terrorist branch of New Scotland Yard, the forensics scene examiner and exhibits officer who gave testimony to the Inquests on 24 November.
DC Wilson first describes the amount of trampling around the crime scene and the delays that occurred before any forensic investigation was carried out:
Q. Was concern expressed about the state of two iron beams that traversed the roof of the tunnel?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. What were you told?
A. I was told that from the position that they were, it was impossible for them to say 100 per cent, but they did have concerns, because of the age of the tunnel, and needed equipment to be brought to the scene so it could be erected so they could have a closer look at those beams.
Q. Was there some difficulty encountered in getting the necessary equipment to Edgware Road?
A. Yes, there was.
Q. Did it, in fact, take some hours to get it there?
A. Yes, it did, sir, some considerable hours.
Q. Did that delay the forensic examination of the scene in any way?
A. Yes, it did. It meant in general terms, other than the initial recovery we had to make, that no one could enter the tunnel during that period.
Q. Did you, amongst your first decisions, decide that, because of her location, the young lady Jennifer Nicholson should be formally identified and removed from where she lay at the front of the eastbound train?
A. Yes, I did, sir. I was aware other people would have to attend and obviously wanted to remove her from that environment to a location onto platform 4.
Q. Later on 7 July, indeed not until the early evening, did asbestos testers then arrive in order to monitor the tunnel to see whether or not there were levels of asbestos that made it dangerous for you and your officers to continue working?
A. That's correct, sir, yes.
Q. Did that, therefore, also contribute to a delay before the forensic examination could start?
A. There was a slight delay in that equipment arriving, being set up and us giving the all clear to commence work.
Q. Then to compound the situation, was the station then evacuated due to a possible gas leak that evening as well?
A. Yes it was, that is correct.
Q. Throughout the time that you were there, did you keep, and did you instruct your officers to keep, a record of every single significant find made in the tunnel?Although Hugo Keith fails to establish the date that the human remains identified as MW84 were found, it is established that the credit card, MW85 - obviously the next ID number in the sequence - was found after the removal of the bodies on 9 July.
A. Yes, that was kept by myself, sir, yes.
Q. Was one such find, what is known as exhibit MW84 -- and I don't refer to that exhibit in any way in a disrespectful way, but it was a technical exhibit given to human remains found on the westbound line of the track?
A. That's correct.
Q. Were those remains, MW84, the remains from which a muscle sample, RW58, was taken?
A. That's correct, sir, yes.
Q. Was that muscle sample then dispatched for DNA examination?
A. It was.
Q. Were those remains, MW84, also the remains that were examined by Dr Djurovic in her post-mortem on 10 July 2005?
A. Yes, they were.
Q. Were they subsequently identified as those of Mohammed Sidique Khan?
A. Yes, they were.
Q. The remainder of the victims of the bomb were themselves recovered in addition, of course, to Jennifer Nicholson whom we've already addressed. Were they recovered formally on Saturday, 9 July at the times at which you record in your statement?
A. That is correct, yes.
Q. Each was given, for the purposes of identification a number and the DVI team then pursued what they had to do in relation to identification?
A. That is correct, yes.
Q. Once the deceased had been formally removed from their locations, was a credit card found in the near vicinity of the underneath of the westbound train under the blast hole?
A. Yes, there was.
Q. Was that a visa card, MW85, in the name of Mr S Khan?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. The card was entangled with human debris near the location of the explosion?
A. That is correct.
Q. Was it immediately identified by you as being a significant find?
A. It was significant in so much as it was an ID of some description so, therefore, needed to be rung out to the investigation team.
Q. Did you contact the investigation team at Scotland Yard to pass on the fact that you had found that card?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Also, that there was more human debris found in the near vicinity of that card?
A. That is correct, yes.
Q. Each day and each night the scene was -- each night and each day that the scene was closed and then opened, and that process continued throughout the Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the following week?
A. That is correct.
Q. On the Wednesday, was a further exhibit found: namely, a Halifax debit card in the name of Khan, on the floor of the inside of the second carriage?
A. That is correct.
Q. On Thursday, 14 July, was the search of the track completed up to the point of the second carriage?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. At that point, therefore, were you able to arrange for some of the carriages of the westbound train to be removed from the scene?
A. The last four were winched back during the course of the night, yes, sir.
Q. To Edgware Road station?A. Yes, into the platform itself, yes.
Q. Did that then allow you to carry out further forensic searches of both the carriage itself and the underneath of the train?
A. That is correct.
Q. As a result of that, on Thursday, 14 July, did you find further exhibits relating to Sidique Khan: namely, a Leeds City Council permit and an insurance card?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Were they found inside the bombed carriage?
A. Yes, they were.
Q. The scene was closed on the Thursday night and open again on the Friday, and so the process continued through the Saturday, Sunday. I think on the Sunday night, London Underground, yourselves and the Metronet team worked through the night?
A. Yes, we did.
Q. Then, on the Sunday, was the second carriage wrapped in order to facilitate its removal from the scene?
A. That is correct.
Q. On Tuesday, 19 July -- so some ten or eleven days later -- did the point then arise at which it was possible to make arrangements for the lifting of the second carriage from the tracks?
A. That was correct, yes, sir.
Q. Was it then winched towards -- or taken away from the scene to a storage depot?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. You then handed over the scene formally to British Transport Police and the London Underground network on Wednesday, 20 July when your officers left the scene?
A. That is correct, sir, yes.
Q. The exhibits that you discovered in the course of your and your officers' examination of the scene were all sent to Scotland Yard for the purposes of the
A. They were probably sent to laboratories, the majority of them, direct from the scene under escort with another officer.
The remains identified as MW84 were examined by pathologists at the Resilience Mortuary set up in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company, as early as 11 am on 10 July. Hugo Keith read the following gruesome pathology report:
My Lady, I now turn to the report from a consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Djurovic, on the post-mortem examination of the remains identified as being those of Mohammed Sidique Khan.
My Lady, parts of the statement are extremely delicate in the way in which they refer to the remains and I therefore don't intend to read out the entirety of the statement, but to paraphrase where appropriate.
LADY JUSTICE HALLETT: Thank you.
MR KEITH: It reads:
Statement of DR VESNA DJUROVIC read
"Post-mortem examination."
The report is dated 4 June 2007 and it relates to human remains numbered 60021456.
My Lady, those are the human remains exhibited as MW84 taken from the westbound track by Mr Wilson:
"Date and time of examination: 10 July 2005, 11.25.
The remains were subsequently identified as Mohammed Khan.
"Place of examination: The London Resilience Mortuary.
"Pathologist: Dr Djurovic."
Then Dr Djurovic lists the persons present and states that the post-mortem was carried out under the authority of the then coroner Dr Paul Knapman.
"Fluoroscopy: fluoroscopy was undertaken at 11.05 on Monday, 10 July and showed the following:
"What appeared to be a circuit board close to the lumbar spine.
"Wire fragments at the level of the torso.
"A metal mesh, several studs and a curved fragment of wire near the top of the torso.
"Metal fragments near the top of the spine.
"Wire and metallic objects, including studs, screws and a bolt lower down at the level of the torso.
"Further metallic objects, including coins, wire and metal fragments at the top right section of the torso.
"Further fluoroscopy ..."
And I interpose simply to say examination to see whether or not there is the presence of metallic objects.
"... was undertaken on 15 July and found a small metallic fragment in the region of the left shoulder,a T-shaped metallic fragment below into the right of the previous item, glass fragments and further small metal debris.
"External examination:
"Inside the bag marked 60021456 was a further bag marked MW84 ..."
Which is the exhibit number given formally to the remains by Mr Wilson.
"... containing severely damaged and fragmented parts of what appeared to be the body of a young adult male appearing well built. These consisted of the following:
"Most of the scalp tissue ... but separated into two larger fragments. Attached to this part of the scalp tissue were several large fragments of broken vault of skull. The other part of the scalp originated from the back and right side of the head including the right parietal region."
My Lady, the upper right parietal region is the upper posterior part of the head:
"The lower edge showed marked blackening and superficial and deep vertical lacerations. There was parchmenting and blackening of the skin on both sides of the neck. The facial skeleton was absent. There were multiple fractures on the base of the skull. The upper segment of the spinal column was present."
She then lists the disruption to the top of the larynx and the bones in the trachea and the cartilage thereto:
"Attached were remains of strap muscles ..."
Those are the neck muscles:
"... the manubrium and upper part of the body of the sternum ..."
The manubrium is the upper part of the sternum bone.
"[Attached also were] carotid arteries ...
"The spine was separated at the level of the upper thoracic spine."
That's to say the upper back:
"Attached to the back of the neck was a large fragment of the skin of the back of the torso. There was a further large fragment of skin, probably part of the lower part of the back and the upper buttock. There was a separate large fragment of skin. There were several fragments of soil tissue ... there was a large section of spinal column with the sacrum [which is a bone at the bottom of the spine] consisting of the lumbar and most of the thoracic spine up to the fifth thoracic vertebra ...
"Removed from the body were fragments of newspaper, metal from the railway, pieces of cardboard, seat fragments, circuit board, pieces of wire, card, coins and white metal fragments and miscellaneous debris.
"A re-examination was carried out on 15 July when further fragments of wire, glass, plastic and fabric were removed from the body."
My Lady, on the next page, page 5, there is then a list of those fragments removed from the remains of Mr Khan, including on that page RW58, which is significant because that is the muscle sample examined by the previous witness Timothy Clayton. RW58, a piece of deep muscle for DNA examination from the spinal column:
"Clinicopathological correlation:
"The remains were those of a young adult male showing severe disruptive injury. Preserved were large fragments of the skin of the back of the head, neck and torso, parts of base and vault of skull, some neck structures, a large section of the spinal column with the sacrum and parts of the intestine. The nature and extent of damage is consistent with the deceased being in the immediate proximity of the explosive device. A more detailed interpretation of the mechanism of injury may be possible after further body parts are recovered."
Indeed, further examination was carried out, which will form part of the forensic evidence which my Lady has directed will be heard in February.
DNA, that magical laboratory feat, was carried out on a sample taken from the muscle sample RW58, as identified by DC Wilson and the pathology report. Timothy Clayton wrote the following forensics report which was read to the Inquests by Hugo Keith:
My Lady, the next statement is that of Timothy Clayton, a forensic scientist dated 20 July 2005.
Statement of MR TIMOTHY CLAYTON read
"I am a senior forensic scientist employed by the Home Office Forensic Science Service based at the Wetherby Laboratory. I am a registered forensic practitioner and have been a forensic scientist since 1990. I specialise in forensic biology. I have participated in the research, development and validation of DNA profiling techniques currently in use by the Forensic Science Service and have been involved in the implementation of these systems for use in forensic casework and the National DNA Crime Intelligence Database in England and Wales.
"I have conducted many examinations of the type detailed in this statement and have provided evidence for the Court of Appeal, Crown Courts, Magistrates' Courts, Coroners' Courts and courts outside the British jurisdiction. I am the co-author of several scientific publications on the subject of DNA profiling.
"From information received with this case, I understand that it is alleged that the unidentified muscle sample RW58 is from Mohammed Sidique Khan."
My Lady, muscle sample RW58, as we'll see in a moment from another statement, is a sample of muscle taken from an exhibit MW84. MW84 is an exhibit exhibited by Mr Wilson, from whom we'll hear in a moment, and it comprises human remains taken from the Edgware Road tunnel identified by the number 60021456.
"I understand that Tika Khan and Mamida Begum are the biological parents of Mohammed Sidique Khan and that all three are of Asian descent ...
"Purpose of examination:
"The above items have been analysed by DNA profiling to determine whether or not there is any scientific support for the assertion that the muscle sample RW58 is from a biological son of both Tika Khan and Mamida Begum.
"The DNA profiles of Tika Khan and Mamida Begum have been established under their respective reference samples under the instruction of my colleague Mr Chapman of the Forensic Science Laboratory, London. I have been supplied with copies of these profiles together with a profile obtained from the muscle sample.
"DNA profiling reveals bands, half of which a child inherits from its biological mother and half of which it inherits from its biological father. In this case, all of the bands present in the profile from the muscle sample RW58 are represented in the combined profiles of Tika Khan and Mamida Begum. This is what I would expect to find if the unidentified sample was from a biological son of theirs.
"In carrying out a statistical evaluation of these results, I have considered the following alternative propositions for the results obtained. Either the unidentified muscle sample RW58 originated from a biological son of Tika Khan and Mamida Begum or the unidentified muscle sample is from an unknown Asian man who is unrelated to them. Using data available for the Asian population in the United Kingdom, a figure has been calculated called a likelihood ratio. This is a numeric evaluation of the strength of the DNA evidence. In this case, the figure is 170 million. That is, the results showed that the DNA profile obtained from the muscle sample RW58 is approximately 170 million times more likely to have originated from a biological son of Tika Khan and Mamida Begum rather than an unknown Asian male unrelated to them.
"It should be stressed the above statistical evaluation does not take into account any possibility that the unidentified muscle sample originated from another close male relative of them.
"In my opinion, the results detailed above provide extremely strong support for the view that the unidentified muscle sample originated from a biological son of Tika Khan and Mamida Begum."
Lady, in accordance with the usual practice, he then lists the levels of certainty from limited support -- from no support to extremely strong support, so the conclusion that he reaches is the highest order of certainty in that list.
Why Khan had to be identified using Tika and Mamida's DNA is unclear and whether it is good practice to receive the information on the person being tested before the examination is carried out is also questionable. Shouldn't such tests be 'blind' samples to ensure that there is no ability to pre-judge or arrive at a pre-determined outcome?
One last vexing question: Was Mamida actually Khan's mother or was she his step-mother? Two journalists, Ian Herbert and Shiv Malik, have both written that Mamida was in fact Khan's step-mother. J7 are currently attempting to check this information so will update this when we have further evidence one way or another.
Then, in 2001, in a last desperate attempt to get his youngest son to obey his wishes, Tika Khan decided to move to Nottingham with Hanif, his daughter Nafiza and his second wife, also called Mamida Begum. (Tika's first wife, the mother to his four children, had died a few years before; it is not known how badly Sidique had been affected.)
Khan clearly became disenchanted with the modest form of Islam practised by his father, Tika Khan, and stepmother, Mamida Begum.


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Steven Furtick is apparently pastor of a really big church. He's also denigrating the word of God.
As Matthew Paul Turner noted in a recent post, Mr. Furtick's church has developed (with his approval) a disturbing Sunday School resource. A look at its pages shows they are extremely concerned with indoctrinating the children of their church into allegiance to Mr. Furtick.
Mr. Turner's post focused on the indoctrination in general, but there's one aspect of it that I think needs our attention. Mr. Furtick elevates something he calls his "vision" above Scripture.
Notice the size font used for the Scripture, how small it is in comparison to everything else on the page. The point of these pages is simple to see. It's right there on the bottom of that first page:
Elevation Church is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will protect our unity in supporting his vision.
Notice what's missing:
These coloring books do not teach children that the church is built on Jesus.
These coloring books do not teach children that the Bible is the source of sound doctrine and guidance for God's people.
These coloring books do not teach children that no person but Jesus should be seen as the source of God's revelation.
No, they are teaching that the Bible is secondary to Pastor Steven's "vision". They are teaching their children that Pastor Steven has a relationship with God no one else has and that anyone who does not support the "vision" he espouses is out of unity with the church.
What a horrible thing to teach children.
Jesus had strong words for people who did this to his little ones:
If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:6.)
Shame on Mr. Furtick and his leadership team.


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We've all heard the stories about kids today and their addiction to cellphones, and how it's not like it was when we were kids — as if something else is like it was. But cellphones and games come in for special abuse, and I have to admit, I have jumped on the "Woe is me, cellphones (or computer games or piercings or tattoos or whatever) will be the ruin of us all" bandwagon many, many times.
So I was impressed to hear from a friend about a young teenage girl who went to a party and decided that she was missing too much of her life by being on her cell all the time. So she turned off her phone, put it in her coat pocket and threw it on the bed with all the other coats.
She had a wonderful time, caught up with all her friends without ever once looking at her Facebook account, talked to everyone without using Twitter, and looked at her friends' faces in real life, not in selfies. She ate hors d'ouevres and even danced a little. Not once did she think that she was missing anything; she didn't have any fancy new psychological problems like "SIWS" (Sudden Internet Withdrawl Syndrome) or "IRP" (Instagram Regret Pattern).
She didn't feel like Snapchatting anyone; she liked hearing music without earbuds; she enjoyed talking to her friends without having to see them through a computer camera. She even enjoyed dressing up, something you don't really have to do when you're texting, because who's going to see you?
When it was time to leave, she grabbed her coat and drove home. She didn't even remember to fish her phone out of her pocket; she was just thinking of what a good time she'd had. It didn't occur to her that leaving her phone in her pocket might have been the reason she'd had so much fun, and maybe it wouldn't have made any difference, who knows? She simply felt warm and happy and at peace with the world. Until she walked in her front door.
"Where have you been?" her mother nearly screamed. She ran up to the girl and hugged her while tears ran down her face. "We've been calling you and calling you. We were just about to call the police and file a missing person's report! Your father and I have been worried sick. You haven't posted anything on Facebook in five hours! We thought you'd been kidnapped, or ran off with some pervert that you met online or something. Where were you? Are you OK? Do you want go to the hospital? Somebody boil some water. Where were you? Do you think you can find it again on a Google map? I swear we'll find the people who did this to you and bring them to justice."
"Mom! I told you I was going to a party at Kathy's house, don't you remember?"
"You told me? You mean you didn't email me? You didn't share it on your iCalandar with me? You told me? What does that mean, young lady? Am I supposed to remember everything people tell me? Is that the way we do things in this house now? We tell people? Maybe it was my fault, maybe I raised you wrong, maybe I just thought I was leading by example. Well, whatever it is, I can see it didn't take.
"I called your grandmother and your Uncle Art and Aunt Helen and they're all in an uproar. What will I text them now? What will I say to my Facebook friends when they get back from their search parties? That you turned off your phone? What kind of person does that? What were you thinking? What is wrong with you kids today?"
United Feature Syndicate


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