The earliest epidemics date back to Neolithic times, and, in the millennia since, viral outbreaks have repeatedly shaped the course of human history, influencing behavior and creating and destroying cultural norms. In the weeks since COVID-19 became a worldwide emergency, people are showing resilience, humor, and creative ways of communicating as governments and businesses struggle to respond. Robin Wright joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss differing responses to infectious diseases across time and cultures, and the global political ramifications of COVID-19.

In northern Italy, doctors were forced to begin rationing ventilators and other equipment—a nightmare scenario that could become a reality for medical staff in the United States soon; New York has projected ventilator shortages in the thousands per week. David Remnick talks with Philip Rosoff, a professor of Medicine at Duke University and a scholar of bioethics who has studied rationing. Rosoff believes medical institutions must also consider the needs of those who can’t be saved, and suggests that hospitals should stock up on drugs to ease suffering at the end of life. Rosoff notes that the U.S. medical system puts an emphasis on “go for broke” care at all costs, and is poorly prepared for those kinds of decisions, which leave hospital workers with an acute sense of “moral distress.” “If we’re smart, we would have institutional guidelines and plans in place ahead of time,” Rosoff says. “The way not to make [a rationing decision] is to make it arbitrarily, capriciously, unilaterally, and at the bedside in the moment.”

Even as the scale of the coronavirus outbreak was becoming apparent, spring breakers flooded the beaches of Florida and New Yorkers continued to congregate in parks. Despite the warnings of politicians and health-care professionals, many people failed to treat the coronavirus pandemic as a serious threat. Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning expert on human behavior, told Maria Konnikova that the problem isn’t just that the threat posed by COVID-19 is hard to grasp, it’s that public officials haven’t done enough to explain the threat. “There should be clear guidelines and clear instructions. We all ought to know whether we should open our Amazon packages outside the door or bring them in,” Kahneman said. “It’s not a decision individuals should consider making on the basis of what they know, because they don’t know enough to make it.”

Reworking a cramped master bath for accessibility allows everyone room to move

Friday on Political Rewind , mayors from across the state discuss how they are handling the coronavirus pandemic. How are municipal leaders responding to Gov. Brian Kemp’s latest move and how do they think their constituency will respond?

Monday on Political Rewind , we discussed the upcoming 2020 elections, and how campaigns are handling the shelter-in-place conditions found across the state and the country. Nearly 830,000 people have applied for absentee ballots for the 2020 combined primary so far. That represents a huge increase in applications over 2016’s primary, and reflects efforts by officials and the public to avoid the spread of coronavirus from in-person voting.

Tuesday on Political Rewind , small businesses weather the storm during the coronavirus crisis. How are Georgia’s stores, bars, restaurants, cinemas and bookstores handling the current situation?

Thursday on Political Rewind , food banks are struggling to feed the hungry as the pandemic continues. As food networks are disrupted, farmers, grocers and food banks collaborate in an effort to improve access. We talk to some of the leading food banks in Georgia to see how they are meeting the crisis.

Wednesday on Political Rewind , the coronavirus pandemic is complicating an already arduous budget in Georgia. The continuing cost of the state response, in addition to a loss of revenue and economic activity, has led Gov. Brian Kemp to last week call for significant cuts to all state agencies.

My [six-year-old] kid wrote a song called, "I Wonder What's Inside your Butthole" Quite honestly, it slaps. Twitter | Threadreader (Be sure to check out the remixes)

"I was still shocked by how much had changed, and how quickly." After climbing out of the Grand Canyon, Kim Stanley Robinson reflects on how culture is and may be changing under the impact of COVID-19, from charismatic mega-ideas to societies within societies.

(Previously) (SLNewYorker)

Four functions of markets - "The period from 2008 until now has been a kind of undead neoliberal era. Post Great Financial Crisis, neoliberal ideas have been discredited among much of the public and are actively contested even within governing elites. But, absent consensus on some new set of social heuristics, not much has actually changed. Material interests in the continuity of institutions shaped by neoliberalism remain strong."[1]

Continuity now is broken. When this pandemic is "over" (whatever that means), the undead bones of neoliberal governance may well yet again gather themselves from the chaos and reconstitute the suave, smooth-talking vampire to whose predations we have grown unhappily accustomed.[2] But they may not. We may find ourselves in a period of social experimentation and change.[3] If so, as we diminish (not eliminate!) the role of markets, it is useful I think to understand the variety of functions that markets serve, so that framers of new institutions understand what will be excised, what may sometimes need to be replaced. So. Here are four functions of markets:

1. Markets serve as Hayekian information processors
2. Markets naturalize outcomes, defusing social conflict
3. Markets "flip the incentives" surrounding resource utilization
4. Markets launder history

Obviously, the list is not exhaustive.

• Singapore is a cautionary tale - "The lesson: you can't beat this virus without taking care of your most vulnerable workers."
• 7 things we must do before we open up - "We asked American experts if they thought we could do it. Their answer? None of you are close to being ready."[4]
• GOP conflation of the public interest with corporate/investor interests - "GOP demands to immunize businesses from liability for death and injury due to workplace infection amounts to a very frank acknowledgment that re-opening endangers the life and health of workers and risks broader spread of infection... which implies a view verging on sociopathic class warfare: fatal losses to workers and communities are tolerable but financial losses to the investor class is not."

• The U.S. Needs Way More Than a Bailout to Recover From Covid-19 - "Shore up the markets, sure, but don't stop there. It's time for Congress and the White House to do things that have been unthinkable since JFK's moonshot. It's time to go big."
• Plutocratic grift - "We'll need to reform our political economy of public private parasitism."
• Productive Public-Private Partnering In Times Of Public Crisis - "The American economy has always been 'mixed,' partnering public with private ownership and control. In times of crisis the public role both has to and always grows larger. Here's how to do it now."[5,6] (via)

• Satya Nadella: crisis requires co-ordinated digital response - "We need citizens and customers to demand partnership across sectors."
• See No Evil - "Software helps companies coordinate the supply chains that sustain global capitalism. How does the code work—and what does it conceal?" (via)
• Will the Coronavirus Create a More Progressive Society or a More Dystopian One? - "A progressive turn is certainly possible, but so is its antithesis: a further upsurge in right-wing populism, and the strengthening of antidemocratic forces." (via)

• The Class Politics of the Dollar System - "Managing an international public good." (via)
• Fixing the Bailout Scammers: The Ten Percent Solution - "No one in policy circles actually believes in the market... The people in power believe in using the government to give themselves as much money as possible. Usually they can do this through structuring the market so that money flows upward."[7] (via)
• Workers need financial security and bargaining power - "The fact that progressive policymakers don't automatically and intuitively appreciate the immense advantage of enhanced UI over a paycheck guarantee speaks volumes about their level of awareness of the real lives of low wage workers. These extra dollars will change lives... Left-leaning policymakers should fully leverage enhanced UI to extract maximum financial assistance and maximum bargaining power for lower wage workers as they confront a severe economic downturn, a predatory labor market and rampant disregard for worker health and safety... What workers need now is economic security, financial flexibility and institutional advantages that will allow them to drive a hard bargain."[8]

Terri Windling (03/2020), "Once upon a time in Paris...": "As the vogue for fairy stories evolved in the 1670s and '80s, Madame d'Aulnoy emerged as one of the most popular raconteurs in Paris ... she soon formed a glittering group around her of nonconformist women and men, as well as establishing a highly successful and profitable literary career ... So how, we might ask, did Perrault become known as the only French fairy tale author of note?" Elizabeth Winter (12/2016), "Feminist Fairies and Hidden Agendas": "the term contes de fées ... was coined by ... d'Aulnoy in 1697, when she published her first collection of tales." Volker Schröder (2018-2019): this collection "is often described as 'lost' or 'untraceable'" and its "sequel has become just as scarce"; but d'Aulnoy's tales are available online, and mixed reviews such as those of the Brothers Grimm may call to mind her childhood marginalia: "if you have my book and ... don't appreciate what's inside, I wish you ringworm, scabies ... and a broken neck."

A couple of articles that are free to read online break down specifics of d'Aulnoy's stories. In "A Transformed Woman," part of her occasional column On Fairy Tales at Tor.com, Mari Ness discusses Madame d'Aulnoy's "The White Cat," a story that has also been recommended previously on Metafilter. And in "Early Modern French Feminine Narratives: Subverting Gender Roles and Sexual Identity in Mme d'Aulnoy's Beauty or the Fortunate Knight (1698)," [PDF] Harold Neeman discusses the story also known as "Belle-Belle" (likewise recommended previously on Metafilter).

More general thematic analyses of work by d'Aulnoy and her peers include Bronwyn Reddan's "Scripting Love in Fairy Tales by Seventeenth-century French Women Writers" [PDF] and "Thinking Through Things: Magical Objects, Power, and Agency in French Fairy Tales" [PDF] (the latter available temporarily from Project MUSE) and also Meghan Kort's "Imagining Girlhood in Seventeenth-Century Female-Authored Fairytales."

Works by several other authors writing in French from the 17th C. to the 19th C. illuminate d'Aulnoy's connections and her legacy (often via the collection Four and Twenty Fairy Tales, which is also at Gutenberg):

• Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier (Wikipedia): "The Discreet Princess; or The Adventures of Finetta," as discussed in Mari Ness's "Enchantment and Distrust." L'Héritier has also been credited as the co-author of the queer and/or trans (avant la lettre) romantic fairy tale, "Histoire de la Marquise-Marquis de Banneville," along with Perrault and L'Abbé de Choisy ("Une Collaboration Inattendue au XVIIe Siècle").
• Catherine Bernard (Wikipedia): Inès de Cordüe, which contains the story "Riquet à la houppe," which would later be retold by Perrault in a version available in English.
• Henriette-Julie de Murat (Wikipedia): "Perfect Love"; "Anguillette"; "Young and Handsome"; "The Palace of Revenge"; "The Prince of Leaves"; and "The Fortunate Punishment." Notes. See also Mari Ness's "Imprisonment and the Fairy Tales of Henriette Julie de Murat."
• Catherine Durand (Wikipedia.fr): Les petits soupers de l'esté, ou avantures galantes, avec l'origine des fées, which may only be available in English from Black Coat Press--one of many translations there by science fiction author Brian Stableford.
• Charlotte-Rose de Caumont de La Force (Wikipedia): "Fairer Than a Fairy"; and "The Good Woman." Notes.
• Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve (Wikipedia): "The Story of Beauty and the Beast." Notes. But see also Andrea H. Everett's thesis, Villeneuve's "La belle et la bête" (1740): An Annotated Edition in English. Incidentally, both translations include the surprising second half of the story in which Beauty and the Beast turn out to be cousins.
• Marguerite de Lubert (Wikipedia): "The Princess Camion"; "Princess Lionette and Prince Coquerico." Notes.
• Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (Wikipedia): "The Prince Désir and the Princess Mignone"; "Prince Chéri"; "The Widow and Her Two Daughters"; "Prince Fatal and Prince Fortuné." Notes.
• Sophie Rostopchine, Countess of Ségur (Wikipedia): "Blondine, Bonne-Biche, and Beau-Minon"; "Good Little Henry"; "History of Princess Rosette"; "The Little Gray Mouse"; and "Ourson." See also Claire-Lise Malarte-Feldman's "La Comtesse de Ségur, a Witness of Her Time" [PDF] ("the adult reader today will find more than the dark sadomasochist that some critics have found"), available temporarily from Project MUSE.
• George Sand (Wikipedia): Légendes rustiques, available at Gutenberg in French, purports to tell local legends in a realist mode, but it also references fairies, ogres, and the fairy tale tradition in France. The version at Gallica features amazing illustrations by her son, e.g. "Les Demoiselles" or "Les Lavandières ou Laveuses de Nuit."

MeFite odinsdream recently came across some old abandoned police sketch software for Macintosh systems from the 1980s, then wrapped it up in a web-based emulator, and now you can play with it in your browser! Make your own face sketches. [via mefi projects]

What To Check Before Taking Your Machine To The Shop

"Firing whistleblowers isn't just a side-effect of macroeconomic forces, nor is it intrinsic to the function of free markets. It's evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison." Tim Bray, VP and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon, resigns.

He talks about (archive link in case his blog is down) the power dynamics that led to his resignation:

The victims weren't abstract entities but real people; here are some of their names: Courtney Bowden, Gerald Bryson, Maren Costa, Emily Cunningham, Bashir Mohammed, and Chris Smalls. I'm sure it's a coincidence that every one of them is a person of color, a woman, or both. Right?

...

Amazon is exceptionally well-managed and has demonstrated great skill at spotting opportunities and building repeatable processes for exploiting them. It has a corresponding lack of vision about the human costs of the relentless growth and accumulation of wealth and power. If we don't like certain things Amazon is doing, we need to put legal guardrails in place to stop those things. We don't need to invent anything new; a combination of antitrust and living-wage and worker-empowerment legislation, rigorously enforced, offers a clear path forward.

Don't say it can't be done, because France is doing it.

...

Amazon Web Services (the "Cloud Computing" arm of the company), where I worked, is a different story. It treats its workers humanely, strives for work/life balance, struggles to move the diversity needle (and mostly fails, but so does everyone else), and is by and large an ethical organization. I genuinely admire its leadership.

Of course, its workers have power. The average pay is very high, and anyone who's unhappy can walk across the street and get another job paying the same or better.

Spot a pattern? At the end of the day, it's all about power balances. The warehouse workers are weak and getting weaker, what with mass unemployment and (in the US) job-linked health insurance. So they're gonna get treated like crap, because capitalism. Any plausible solution has to start with increasing their collective strength.

Every week, for a quarter of a century now, WEMU's David Fair has delivered "Issues of the Environment," which has brought information involving our community's environmental health. He has welcomed numerous guests to discuss matters, such as managing food waste, monitoring climate change, and fighting hazardous chemicals like PFAS. This week, David welcomes Washtenaw County water resources commissioner Evan Pratt for a look back at 25 years of "Issues of the Environment."

Last year, the City of Ann Arbor declared a "climate emergency." Now, the city aims to be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Missy Stults, City of Ann Arbor's Sustainability and Innovations Manager, provides further details on the plan with WEMU's David Fair in this week's "Issues of the Environment."

The 1,4 dioxane plume emanating from the old Gelman Sciences facility on Wagner Road in Scio Township continues to expand through groundwater in the greater Ann Arbor area. At a recent public forum, the federal Environmental Protection Agency said it would take decades to get the contamination designated as a Superfund site and clean-up could take decades beyond that. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks to Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners chair Jason Morgan about what is happening now to better address the environmental threat.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently released the latest Michigan state budget, and it includes funding for a number of environmental programs. And, it builds on the initiatives launched in her first budget cycle as governor. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks over environmental priorities, progress, and challenges with State Senator Jeff Irwin.

Food production has been seriously disrupted to the coronavirus pandemic. It has forced producers, including dairy farmers, to dispose of more of their supplies, which has led to more food waste. Joe Diglio, president/CEO of the Michigan Milk Producers Association, has a conversation with WEMU's David Fair about how the problems are being addressed in this week's "Issues of the Environment."

My husband and I were given two N-95 masks by the wife of a (retired) doctor from church when C19 was barely making headlines. She said he had a couple of boxes from his practice. Is it legal for us to use them if we *must* go out? I am immunocompromised, if that makes any difference. My husband is not. I understand the moral argument for not using them. Is it worth taking just two to drop off at a medical office or hospital? We are in a mid-sized city in the southeast, not a big city like NYC.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Two organizations I belong to publish Google calendars of events. I would like to subscribe to these from my Macintosh and iPhone, so they appear on the calendars I look at every day. I don't want to change which calendar apps I use. How can I do this most easily? On the Macintosh I use Apple's calendar app. On the iPhone I use Fantastical (which is just accessing the same calendar data that Apple's iOS calendar uses).

The shared calendars I want to access have not been made available in ical format. Is there any way I can subscribe to them from my Mac and iPhone?

More details follow:

I also have a Google calendar which I do not use except when I am forced to by other aspects of the Google ecosystem (e.g. Google Meet invitations).

The shared Google calendars I want to see are not public. They relate to kid things so they can't be public. I've been invited to join these calendars. When I click the invitation link they get added to my Google calendar. So when I go to calendar.google.com I see my own Google calendar, and I also see that I am subscribed to these other calendars and I see their events in their own colors.

I have subscribed to my Google calendar from my Macintosh and my iPhone by adding my Google account to those devices. However, that only brings in the events from my own Google calendar. It doesn't transitively bring in the calendars that I'm subscribed to via my Google calendar. Is there a way I can make it do that?

I would rather not ask the calendar owners to make changes to their calendars, but I will if that's the only way to get these calendars onto my Mac and iPhone. If that's necessary, what should I tell them to do? I don't want to ask them for an iCal link, because then they would have to manually retrieve and send out that link to everyone wha wants it. Ideally they'd be adding iCal capability to the calendar so that anyone with access could subscribe to it that way.

So many people use Google calendars and so many people have iPhones and Macs, I'm really hoping this is possible.

As of Friday in Texas, you can go to a tanning salon. In Indiana, houses of worship are being allowed to open with no cap on attendance. Places like Pennsylvania are taking a more cautious approach, only starting to ease restrictions in some counties based on the number of COVID-19 cases. By Monday, at least 31 states will have partially reopened after seven weeks of restrictions. The moves come as President Trump pushes for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon. "The early lesson that was learned, really, we learned from the island of Hokkaido in Japan, where they did a really good job of controlling the initial phase of the outbreak," said Bob Bednarczyk, assistant professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. Because of that success, many of the restrictions on the island were lifted. But cases and deaths surged in a second wave of infections. Twenty-six days later

This is a short one, and a change of approach. It’s a test run, really. (Every entry is an experiment of some sort.) Samples extracted from three different loops of the first-generation Buddha Machine, which dates from 2005, were recorded on the Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O! and then run as a series of patterns, the […]

This variation on a loop from the first generation of the Buddha Machine was as much a test for the AV Squad as it was for the Music Department. I’m trying out a new camera, and the good news is the audio sounds good (as with yesterday’s, the audio was recorded straight to the camera, […]

One Buddha Machine, first generation, one loop. It’s split into three strands. One strand goes straight into the mixer. That’s channel one. One strand goes into the low-fidelity looper, which spits out little instant-recall snippets into the filter, which then sends three bands of audio spectrum to the mixer. Those bands are channels two, three, […]

The batteries were dying on one of the Buddha Machines, so I recharged them. But only a bit. Just enough to let them last for this recording. The green one on the left is the one giving out the dying-whale sounds, the dying Buddha. The blue one is fully charged. Both are sending loops of […]

The goal here was to push the Muxlicer by altering its clock as time passes. The clock is what sets the pace of the changes that you hear. The Muxlicer, from the manufacturer Befaco, is the module toward the upper right corner. It’s the one with all those red faders that go up and down. […]

A lot of these Buddha Machine Variations have been static/semi-generative things that just proceed under their own power. This is, I think, only the second where I intrude and do something to initiate changes. The source audio is a loop of a Philip Glass choral piece emanating from the edition of the Buddha Machine created […]

Dear friends of Amazing Facts International,

We are living in unprecedented times.

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically transformed how we live and do business; of course, we are all being urged to isolate ourselves to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The state of California, in which Amazing Facts operates, is also now in a virtual lock-down, enforcing “shelter-in-place,” and non-essential businesses are closing everywhere.

With this in mind, we wanted to update our friends on how Amazing Facts is responding to the crisis.

While we are adhering to local, state, and national recommendations and ordinances, we want you to know that we are still actively spreading the gospel … without spreading germs!

Of course, Amazing Facts has been asked to restrict our onsite operations, and we are complying. For the foreseeable future, most of our team will be safely working from home so that our mission can continue.

Fortunately, Amazing Facts is a media ministry that operates two TV networks, so we are exempt from many statewide restrictions that require complete closure. This means that we are still able to do our work with a minimized crew at our headquarters to continue basic operations—including shipping Bible studies and witnessing resources.

However, the office building is closed to the public for their safety. Please do not make plans to visit until the all-clear is given.

The good news is that Amazing Facts is still broadcasting present truth!

• Our YouTube sermons and websites have many thousands of visitors every day, searching for Bible answers in these extraordinary times.
• Amazing Facts TV (aftv.org) and our recorded programs on partner networks are still reaching millions around the globe
• Over 200 radio stations are broadcasting God’s truth across our nation.

That means that although many people are now home-bound, Amazing Facts is still reaching their hearts with truth-filled lessons, including through our online and mail-based Bible School programs.

And while Pastor Doug is not able to travel, he is still preaching around the world, presenting new messages each week that will continue to be broadcast online globally. We will still be broadcasting our Sabbath School Study Hour and worship services every Sabbath—with a slimmed-down crew, right from our new office worship room.[PQ-HERE] 

These trying times are loaded with gospel opportunity as people are looking for answers. This is a prime time for us to pray and move forward with the last-day work, proclaiming the hope of Jesus’ soon return.

Please pray for Amazing Facts and for God’s protective hand to be over our ongoing work of evangelism. And pray for our fellow citizens, especially those traumatized by this crisis.

His message is our mission!

This past weekend, more than 400,000 viewers tuned in to watch Pastor Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International and senior pastor of Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church, present several live programs, including Sabbath School and worship services, setting a stunning new record in total viewership.

Because the novel coronavirus is spread through human contact, governments have asked churches and other houses of worship to suspend in-person meetings for the time being. Thus, an uptick in online viewing was expected following the many “shelter-in-place” orders across the United States, Canada, and other countries.

This presented a unique opportunity for Amazing Facts and Granite Bay Church. A 2019 survey of pastors by LifeWay Research showed that only 22 percent livestreamed their services. While that number likely grew this past weekend, Granite Bay services have been broadcast via the Internet and Amazing Facts TV to viewers around the world long before the start of this pandemic. When restrictions on public meetings were put in place, the ministry was ready to respond—and the results were extraordinary!

Said Pastor Doug, “The massive viewership numbers for our Sabbath services are gratifying considering the circumstances. Much of our online viewership was also on Sunday morning, meaning we reached a Christian audience not fully aware of the three angels’ messages. We’re grateful for the visitors, and we thank God for this opportunity of sharing His message online.”

From March 27 to 29, three programs were broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, Amazing Facts TV (aftv.org), and other online venues. A small crew shot the programs from the W.O.R.D. Center campus, the new headquarters for Amazing Facts and the future site of the Granite Bay church.

[PQ-HERE]

On Friday night, Pastor Doug and Pastor Jëan Ross, vice president of evangelism at Amazing Facts, hosted a special program called Prophecy and the Pandemic: Is There a Connection?, which attracted 138,000 views. On Saturday morning, Sabbath School Study Hour saw 54,000 viewers, and the weekly Sabbath worship service 430,000. As each view could have also represented an entire household tuning in, the Word of God may have reached countless more!

This time of crisis is a vital time for spreading the gospel, and Amazing Facts International is dedicated to doing just that. Thank you for your support during this difficult but profound time for God’s work! Your continued support is much appreciated.

Prophecy and the Pandemic: Is There a Connection?

** Watch the archives here. **

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Pastor Doug Batchelor will present a 10-day revival and reformation series

• From Friday, April 10 to Saturday, April 18 | 7:00pm to 8:00pm PT

• Sabbath morning presentations (April 11 and 18) at 11:00am

• Sunday night (April 12) special Bible Answers Live program

• Text the word "revive2020" to 40544 for event notifications

• Watch on AFTV, Facebook, YouTube, Roku and more! (See story below for links.)

• Topics include prayer, Bible study, repentance, confession, consecration, fasting, and more

• Free resource offers throughout the series

Hello, friends!

If there was ever a time we needed deep heart-searching revival, it’s now! The worldwide pandemic reminds us that we are nearing the return of Christ. Let’s not put off the spiritual preparation we will all need as we face Earth's final events. 

We are reminded, “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should` be our first work.” That's why this Friday, April 10, at 7:00pm Pacific, I’ll be starting an online revival series that covers vital topics such as prayer, Bible study, confession, the Holy Spirit, self-denial, and more. You can find links to watch these programs below!

As thousands are sobered by these momentous times and search for spiritual answers, especially during this Easter and Passover season, let’s invite our friends and neighbors to join us in a time of forsaking sin and rededicating our lives to Christ.

Not only is our world at war with a deadly virus, but each of us has a personal battle against the forces of evil—we need to support one another to keep God's people spiritually strong and healthy! Here's how you can watch:

Livestream: 
https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AmazingFacts

YouTube: 

https://www.youtube.com/dougbatchelorpastor

Spanish:

https://www.facebook.com/amazingfactslatino/

Or view on AFTV on Roku or Satellite

Please invite your friends and neighbors to watch this special revival series. And pray for the health and safety of the millions impacted by the coronavirus pandemic—and that these difficult days will turn many hearts toward heaven.

Be sure to forward this webpage to all those the Holy Spirit prompts you to contact! And don't forget to text the word revive2020 to 40544 for event update notifications.

Praying for a revival of true godliness,

Pastor Doug

P.S. Can you help Amazing Facts present this series to searching hearts? If so, please donate here!

Schedule (Watch the archives here)

Friday, April 10, 2020 – The Thief on the Cross 

Saturday AM, April 11, 2020 – Real Repentance 

Saturday PM, April 11, 2020 – Sincere Confession

Sunday, April 12, 2020 – Receiving and Sharing Forgiveness

Monday, April 13, 2020 – They Found the Book

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 – Mountain Moving Faith

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 – Our Crucial Need for the Holy Spirit

Thursday, April 16, 2020 – The Priority of Prayer

Friday, April 17, 2020 – A Body of Believers

Saturday AM, April 18, 2020 – Walking with the Lord

** Free offers will be available throughout the program via text messaging. For those outside USA, or for those who are unable to text, the links to the daily offers will be posted daily on this news post. **

FREE OFFERS

Friday, April 10, 2020 – Kingdoms in Time

Friday, April 10, 2020 – Twelve Steps to Revival

Friday, April 10, 2020 – Three Steps to Heaven

Saturday, April 11, 2020 – Tips for Resisting Temptation

Saturday, April 11, 2020 – Is It Easier to Be Saved or Lost?

Sunday, April 12, 2020 – The High Cost of the Cross

Monday, April 13, 2020 – The Ultimate Resource

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 – Who Do You Think You Are?

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 – Holy Spirit: The Need

Thursday, April 16, 2020 – Teach Us To Pray

Friday, April 17, 2020 – The Search for the True Church

Saturday, April 18, 2020 – The Surrender of Self

With 1.4 billion people, making it one of the world’s most populous nations, India is hearing the full and everlasting gospel being faithfully proclaimed daily, thanks to the gifts of precious supporters like you, who make the work of Amazing Facts International possible.

Our frontline work in India is being conducted by a dedicated team whose members must remain anonymous to continue their work. India is a vast nation with a large population, making the opportunity to preach great, but religious prejudice against Christianity and open public evangelism requires special discretion, especially when reporting on the ministry’s day-to-day outreach efforts.

A careless step could create overwhelming disruptions for our workers at a crucial time, as it has done for other Christian ministries in the nation in recent years.

However, despite an outright ban on open evangelism in many parts of India, Amazing Facts television messages still air on seven Christian television channels across the nation—in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Plans are now underway to add a Bengali-language broadcast and to reach Muslim areas of India and neighboring Bangladesh. Also in the works is reaching those who speak Nepali. Moreover, our work in India will help us reach the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, whose language is Dzongkha.

There has been an encouraging response: 320 Bible Study Guides have been mailed out by our team, and the first lessons completed by seekers of Bible truth are now coming in. The 27 lessons in our Bible School course will also soon be converted into a digital format for use on mobile devices. At the same time, the Amazing Adventure Bible Guides, designed for children, have also been distributed with a positive reception.

Changing Lives

Most gratifying are the personal testimonies of those reached by the message. During the first three months of 2020, we received 252 requests for free literature. One man from Punjab expressed gratitude for the Christian resources he received, saying that since the deaths of his wife and their only son during the past two years, he was cut off from his relatives and contemplated suicide. But with the new hope he received from our broadcasts, he felt God still had a plan for his life. This man is now distributing Amazing Facts literature to his neighbors.

And a woman in her 70s is going to Christian pastors in her area and urging them to read Amazing Facts literature so that they, too, can understand and share the three angels’ messages with others. She considers this task her biggest goal in the remaining years of her life.

Thanks to the labor of a small, dedicated team of workers, Amazing Facts International is bringing the good news of Jesus and His soon return to many important centers in India and neighboring lands. But there is much more difficult work to be done. That’s why we are so grateful for your prayer support and gifts. Because of you, a co-laborer and part of our ministry family, we’re able to reach this crucial corner of the world!

Construction personnel of all types need to understand the role that civil construction drawings, or blueprints, play in the construction process. In this course, Jim Rogers explains why civil construction drawings matter and discusses how to use them on construction projects and job sites. Jim digs into the common features of civil construction drawings, going over standard details, project specifications, how to find the scale information of each drawing, and how to measure dimensions on construction drawings. He then shows how to decipher different types of civil construction drawings, including site and plot plans that describe how to locate structures on a property; grading and drainage plans that capture existing ground conditions and help determine the extent of the construction work to be completed; street improvement plans; and more.

One way to learn animation is an all-in-one course, the kind you can find here in our library. The other path is on-the-job training, and involves picking up tips and tricks as you work. This course will give you that "on the job" experience in weekly doses. Every Tuesday, author Dermot O' Connor reveals a tip or trick that animation professionals use to save time and create more compelling characters. Learn to use delays, overshoots, and leading gestures to create looser, more realistic movement; draw different mouth shapes for male and female characters; create different styles of walks such as staggers; and more.

Note: Because this is an ongoing series, viewers will not receive a certificate of completion.

Release tension and relieve muscle fatigue anytime during the workday using these self-massage and acupressure techniques from the instructors at Desk Yogi. When you need a break, these simple exercises allow you to relieve tension in your muscles and joints—all without leaving your office chair. Learn techniques for relieving soreness in your hands and wrists caused by using a computer all day. Get step-by-step instructions on how to find the right pressure points in your arms to give yourself a relaxing massage. Plus, discover how to relieve tension and headaches by giving yourself a gentle facial massage, soothe sore feet while seated at your desk, and use a tennis ball to enhance the effectiveness of your stretches.

Note: This course was created and produced by Desk Yogi.

3ds Max is a powerful, deep, and multifaceted program, so there's always more to learn. This weekly series aims to keep you on top of the latest tools and techniques, and introduces fresh perspectives on traditional methods for architectural and product visualization, animation, visual effects, games and virtual worlds, and motion graphics. Instructor Aaron F. Ross presents a new topic every week, spanning the full range of 3D graphics tasks, including modeling, rigging and animation, shading and lighting, camera operation, and rendering. He gives special attention to streamlining workflows, such as automation of time-consuming tasks, so your productions run more smoothly and efficiently. Come back every Wednesday for a new tutorial to expand your 3ds Max knowledge and skills.

Note: Because this is an ongoing series, viewers will not receive a certificate of completion.

Looking to add 3D to your professional skill set? In this weekly series, join EJ Hassenfratz as he shares tips, techniques, and strategies for boosting your 3D skills with Cinema 4D, the essential tool for motion graphics artists and designers. Learn how to enhance your designs—and streamline your overall workflow—with these helpful tactics. Tune in every Thursday for a new tip.

Note: Because this is an ongoing series, viewers will not receive a certificate of completion.

Implementing Cisco Enterprise Network Core Technologies v1.0 (ENCOR 350-401) is a 120-minute professional-level exam associated with the CCNP and CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure certifications. The exam tests a candidate's knowledge of implementing core enterprise network technologies. This course helps candidates to prepare for the last three domains of this exam—Network Management, Security, and Automation—as well as general exam preparation. Instructors Kevin Wallace and Charles Judd show how to configure connectivity, monitoring, messaging, and authentication tools such as SNMP, syslog, NetFlow, and more. They also show how to secure a network from internal, unauthorized access as well as external threats, and automate networking. The course includes study strategies and exam prep tips to ensure you're ready for the real test.

This course was created by Kevin Wallace Training. We are pleased to offer this training in our library.

If you thought the appearance of Ben would be the soapiest turn of this season, you were wrong.

And she wants to visit your island.

I'd like to use this thread to figure out if we should, can, or will play a game inside animal crossing. I've heard it's been done but I don't know any details. Would it be funny to play a version of d&d or a similar role playing game? I think maybe? Or keep it simple? Should we try it?

Sun April 19 at 8:00 PM,

People are getting out and biking more these days. Are you one of them, or do you want to be? I've been biking the streets of Portland for 7 years. I can look at Portland's bike maps with you and help you figure out the BEST route that will get you where you want to go.

time/date flexible

Mon May 11 at 8:00 PM,

God became a man to save humanity. There are some things we cannot understand, like the mystery of the incarnation, but here are some points we can learn about this marvelous subject.

Farid El Melali onanierte vor dem Fenster einer Nachbarin. Kurz zuvor hatte er seinen Vertrag beim französischen Erstligisten SCO Angers unterschrieben. Seine Entschuldigung ist wenig überzeugend. Es war nicht seine erste Tat.

While Kelly Lytle Hernández was growing up in San Diego near the U.S.-Mexico border in the late 1980s and early '90s, she watched as people from her community, friends and neighbors, disappeared: Black youths disappeared into the prison system; Mexican immigrants disappeared through deportations. These experiences affected her deeply. "It was growing up in that environment that forced me to want to understand what was happening to us and why it seemed legitimate," Lytle Hernández tells All Things Considered . "And I wanted to disrupt that legitimacy." For answers to those questions, Lytle Hernández turned to the past. A historian and expert on immigration, race and mass incarceration, she is now a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is one of this year's 26 MacArthur Fellows . "History is a narrative of the past. It is based upon the sources that we regard as relevant or that we can find," she says. And so her work includes tracking down records that reflect

A white police officer fired through the window of a black woman's home early Saturday and killed her after responding to a call that a neighbor placed about an open front door, authorities in Fort Worth, Texas, say. Around 2:25 a.m., officers responded to an "open structure call" made by a neighbor to the police department's nonemergency number. Inside the home, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, and her 8-year-old nephew were playing video games. Body camera footage released by the police shows the officer outside the home, looking into Jefferson's bedroom window and shouting, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" before firing a single bullet that killed Jefferson. Kyev Tatum, a pastor and community activist who was on the scene shortly after the shooting, told NPR that the neighbor who called the police was worried about the welfare of Jefferson. He said Jefferson may have had her front door open for a reason. "This was probably one of the first days that we had cool weather in Fort Worth.

Like a lot of young women her age, 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson had a date Friday night — but unlike many of her peers, Jefferson's date was with her 8-year-old nephew. They were enjoying a heated video game that went into the early hours of Saturday when police arrived at the house Jefferson shared with her mother. Officers were responding to a nonemergency call from James Smith, a neighbor who knew Jefferson's mother was not well. (Jefferson, a pre-med graduate of Xavier University, had moved home to care for her ailing parent, who was in the hospital recovering from unspecified injuries.) Smith was worried when he saw doors to the Jefferson home wide open late at night. Despite the nonemergency nature of the call, two police officers crept up to the house unannounced, their flashlights sweeping the yard. Then one spotted Jefferson peering out of a window. In body camera footage released by the Fort Worth Police Department, an officer can be heard shouting, " Put your hands up!