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COVID, Vaccines, Orthodoxy and Discernment in an Age of Deception

Join Fr. Anthony next to his back porch in Hartwell, Georgia, as he talks with scientist, theologian, professor, Associate Dean, and evangelist, Gayle Woloschak, PhD, DMin (Northwestern University) about COVID, vaccines, and discernment. This is a recording of Fr. Anthony's livestream. Enjoy the show!




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Fr. Daniel Greeson on the Hard Work of Discernment

In this episode, Fr. Daniel shares wisdom from St. John Cassian, St. Moses the Black, and St. Anthony the Great on the problem of discernment and talks about why it is so important for us - and especially clergy - to take the problem seriously. Fr. Daniel Greeson is rector of St. Anne's Orthodox Church in Oakridge TN and the editor and a writer for the new Ancient Faith Ministry Blog "Every Thought Captive", where he is publishing a series on the challenge of discernment (among other topics). Enjoy the show!




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Pluralism, Polarization and Discernment; the Challenge and Promise of Diversity

One of the challenges of our present spiritual situation is that our society has settled for something less than truth. This affects the quality of our opinions, policies, and judgments and undermines our ability to live and spread the Gospel. An indicator of the seriousness of this is our growing inability to listen to, learn from, and love people who think differently than we do. In this presentation, I frame the situation as a problem of discernment, compare scientific and Orthodox methods of knowing, and describe how polarization keeps us from using either well. I conclude with a discussion of the critical role diversity plays in discerning truth, and how the Gospel can transform the (Babelic) divisions that deafen us to the truth into a (Pentecostal) harmony that proclaims and celebrates it. Emulating the academic forum the paper was written for (the 2020 Institute for Studies in Eastern Theology), Dn. Timothy Kelleher then offers his thoughts on the presentation and subject. Enjoy the show!




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Discernment in the Fog, in the Dark, and Without My Glasses

Fr. Michael shares about discernment. "We all have to begin where we are, with the limited ability and grace we have.... If we follow what we know, maybe God will reveal to us some of what we do not know."




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Advice Concerning Distracting Thoughts in Prayer

Fr. Michael shares an article by Abbess Victoria of St. Barbara's Monastery (Santa Paula, California) on ways to handle worries and distractions while praying.




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Joy and Fear Together: St. Isaac Helps Us Discern Our Trials

Continuing in homily 42, St. Isaac gives us another warning. When you find unchanging peace, that is, when everything is going smoothly for you most of the time, then “beware: you are very far from the divine paths trodden by the weary feet of the saints. For as long as you are journeying in the way to the city of the Kingdom and are drawing nigh to the city of God, this will be a sign for you: the strength of the temptations that you encounter. And the nearer you draw nigh and progress, the more temptations will multiply against you.”




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Concern Over God's Judgement: What Does It Look Like?

Concern over God’s judgement has nothing to do with striving to be better. Concern over God’s judgement is to continually strive to enter God’s rest, to humble ourselves and feel sadness over our wretchedness, and to offer that wretchedness to God as prayer. This is what concern for God’s judgement looks like according to St. Isaac the Syrian.




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On Discernment

Here’s the problem: We so often set ourselves up for failure by thinking our best must mean that we should do what someone else, probably a saint, is doing or has done. And so, without discernment, we force ourselves to complete a rigorous prayer rule or fasting discipline, or to sleep very little, or attend copious church services, or to volunteer at every opportunity—all without discernment, often motivated by a pride that thinks that all we have to do is force ourselves and we will attain the spiritual heights others seem to have attained.




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Concerning Charlottesville and Related Disasters

What does the Orthodox Church have to say about Charlottesville? In the vocabulary of the day, nothing. In the language of the redemption of mankind: the Good News of Redemption found alone in Jesus Christ, and a life committed to imitation of his Royal way. The greatest mistake any human person can make, in this situation or any other, is to think that human means and ways will solve the tragedies and disasters of the fallen world. The solution must come from outside us, above us. Salvation is not found in killing our neighbor or our enemy. Salvation is found is seeing the Lord Jesus Christ in neighbor and in blessing our enemy, both. So if you wish to be saved, and if you want to make “a positive change in the world,” look neither to the Left, nor to the Right. Look up to Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the World.




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Concerning the Deacon

Fr. Ted discusses what you will see in Divine Liturgy that includes an ordination.




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Concerning Burning




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Discerning the Will of God (Mk 10:32-45)

While discerning the will of God for us is an important aspect of our life, Fr Thomas reminds us that becoming a humble servant of all in every situation will ensure that we are always doing His will. (Fifth Sunday of Great Lent)




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Discerning the Creed Slowly

At the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, Fr. Emmanuel Kahn gives a reflection on what the Nicene Creed means in each of our lives.




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True Fasting and Discerning to Help




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Zeitgeist: Discerning the Signs of the Times

On this special episode of Ancient Faith Presents, Mr. John Tzavelas, a graduate of both the Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, speaks at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Winnipeg about the popular online film Zeitgeist and its claim that Christianity is a false religion.




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A Matter of Daily Concern

On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Fr. Pat reminds us that the Cross ought to be the lens through which we examine every question and regard every problem; it is what gives godly shape to the Christian life.




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Incinerator work to start despite permit concerns

The facility was given planning consent by West Berkshire Council in August 2022.




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An Aspect-Oriented Framework for Weaving Domain-Specific Concerns into Component-Based Systems

Software components are used in various application domains, and many component models and frameworks have been proposed to fulfill domain-specific requirements. The general trend followed by these approaches is to provide ad-hoc models and tools for capturing these requirements and for implementing their support within dedicated runtime platforms, limited to features of the targeted domain. The challenge is then to propose more flexible solutions, where components reuse is domain agnostic. In this article, we present a framework supporting compositional construction and development of applications that must meet various extra-functional/domain-specific requirements. The key points of our contribution are: i) We target development of component-oriented applications where extra-functional requirements are expressed as annotations on the units of composition in the application architecture. ii) These annotations are implemented as open and extensible component-based containers, achieving full separation of functional and extra-functional concerns. iii) Finally, the full machinery is implemented using the Aspect-Oriented Programming paradigm. We validate our approach with two case studies: the first is related to real-time and embedded applications, while the




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Exploring the Key Informational, Ethical and Legal Concerns to the Development of Population Genomic Databases for Pharmacogenomic Research




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Semantics, Ontologies and Information Systems in Education: Concerns and Proposals 




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Faculty Usage of Social Media and Mobile Devices: Analysis of Advantages and Concerns




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South Africa’s Quest for Smart Cities: Privacy Concerns of Digital Natives of Cape Town, South Africa

Contribution: This study contributes to scientific literature by detailing the impact of specific factors on the privacy concerns of citizens living in an African city Findings: The findings reveal that the more that impersonal data is collected by the Smart City of Cape Town, the lower the privacy concerns of the digital natives. The findings also show that the digital natives have higher privacy concerns when they express a strong need to be aware of the security measure put in place by the city. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners (i.e., policy makers) should ensure that it is a legal requirement to have security measures in place to protect the privacy of the citizens while collecting data within the smart city of Cape Town. These regulations should be made public to appease any apprehensions from its citizens towards smart city implementations. Less personal data should also be collected on the citizens. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should further investigate issues related to privacy concerns in the context of African developing countries. Such is the case since the population of these countries might have unique cultural and philosophical perspectives that might influence how they perceive privacy. Impact on Society: Cities are becoming “smarter” and in developing world context like Africa, privacy issues might not have as a strong influence as is the case in the developing world. Future Research: Further qualitative studies should be conducted to better understand issues related to perceived benefits, perceived control, awareness of how data is collected, and level of privacy concerns of digital natives in developing countries.




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Young Women’s Misinformation Concerning IT Careers: Exchanging One Negative Image for Another




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Informing Academia Through Understanding of the Technology Use, Information Gathering Behaviors, and Social Concerns of Gen Z

Aim/Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine Gen Z students located in a representative region of the United States when it comes to technology use, news and information gathering behaviors, civic engagement, and social concerns and whether differences exist based on institutional type. The purpose is to report this information so that academics can better understand the behaviors, priorities, and interests of current American students. Background: This paper investigates the mindset of Generation Z students living in the United States during a period of heightened civic unrest. Through the lens of the Theory of Generations, Uses and Gratifications Theory, and Intersectional Theory, this study aims to examine the Gen Z group and compare findings across populations. Methodology: An electronic survey was administered to students from 2019 through 2022. The survey included a combination of multiple responses, Likert scaled, dichotomous, open-ended, and ordinal questions. It was developed in the Survey Monkey system and reviewed by content and methodological experts to examine bias, vagueness, or potential semantic problems. The survey was pilot-tested in 2018 before implementation in order to explore the efficacy of the research methodology. It was then modified accordingly before widespread distribution to potential participants. The surveys were administered to students enrolled in classes taught by the authors, all of whom are educators. Participation was voluntary, optional, and anonymous. Contribution: This paper provides insight into the mindset of Generation Z students living in the United States, which is helpful to members of academia who should be informed about the current generation of students in higher education. Studying Generation Z helps us understand the future and can provide insight into the shifting needs and expectations of society. Findings: According to the findings, Gen Z are heavy users of digital technologies who use social media as their primary source for gathering news about current events as well as information for schoolwork. The majority of respondents considered themselves to be social activists. When institutional type was considered, there were notable differences with the students at the Historically Black College or University (HBCU), noting the greatest concern with a number of pressing issues, including racial justice/Black Lives Matter, women’s rights, gun violence, immigration reform, and human trafficking. Less significance across groups was found when LGBTQIA+ rights and climate change were considered. Recommendation for Researchers: As social media continues to proliferate in daily life and become a vital means of news and information gathering, additional studies such as the one presented here are needed. In other countries facing similarly turbulent times, measuring student interest, awareness, and engagement is highly informative. Future Research: Future research will explore the role that influencers have in opinion formation and the information-gathering habits of Gen Z.




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Vogue boss 'concerned' by return to skinny models

British Vogue's editor says skinny models are back "in", partly fuelled by weight loss drug Ozempic.




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Mental health issues a concern for Marcos

Mental health problems in the country are on the rise.




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Queen Camilla addresses health concerns after resuming Royal duties

Queen Camilla addresses health concerns after resuming Royal duties

Queen Camilla addressed her health concerns after returning to Royal duties following chest infection, due to which she took a brief break from work.

The Queen attended The Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House...




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American Jewish, Muslim voters take opposing directions amid Gaza War and domestic economic concerns

In a historic shake-up, both Muslim and Jewish voters introduced fresh dynamics to the 2024 presidential election. While Jewish Americans largely continued their Democratic support, a noticeable minority within select locales--such as zip codes in New York City -- shifted toward President-elect Donald Trump.




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'It's concerning': Penalties racking up quickly again for Maryland

Penalties have been a reoccurring problem for Maryland during the Mike Locksley era, and though the Terrapins tamped them down last season, they are racking up quick again in 2024.




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Former NBA player Kyle Singler spurs concern from basketball world with cryptic Instagram post

Former Duke star Kyle Singler's cryptic Instagram post saying he fears for his life has drawn an outpouring of concern and support from former teammates and others.




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Genuine Concern

I remember a few years back seeing a youtube video that people were sharing. It was a quick little video that people thought was adorable and funny. It kinda troubled me. The youtube clip was of a little child swiping through a magazine app on an iPad. As she swiped through more and more pages of the magazine app, they took the iPad away and replaced it with a real magazine. The child didn’t realize there was an actual, real life, magazine in front of her. Instead of turning the pages, she continued to try to swipe with no success. What struck me about that was how she had the real thing in front of her and didn’t realize it.

It got me thinking of how much this video relates to where things are in the real world. With social media, virtual and augmented reality, and every new tech that comes out everyday, people are losing sight of what’s supposed to be right in front of them. People have thousands of friends on Facebook, and they feel more alone than ever. There has been a breakdown of authentic relationships. We have had a breakdown even in church where we have people who are hurting and are in need and yet they are overlooked.

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. - James 1:27 New Living Translation (NLT)

I believe one of the main things Worship Pastors/Leaders are missing is having a genuine concern for the people. That’s not to say that they don’t care about people, but as a Worship Leader we need to be seeing where our congregation is and help to get everyone on the same page during a worship service. One of the best ways to know where people are at is to invest time into authentic relationships. When I first began leading worship, many, many, years ago, I was concerned about how I looked, how I sounded, and what people thought about what I was doing. Years would go by before I would meet a guy named Dustin Smith, who was my worship pastor while I was in KC. He taught me many things that developed my character and challenged me, but one of the most impactful things I learned from him was to have a concern for the people I was leading. That right there changed my approach to leading worship. It became so much more than about just singing songs, it was about leading people somewhere, together, lifting up the name of Jesus. Being able to look people in the eyes and know their stories and their families and as a community worship our God.

If we could start to do this I believe churches would grow in strength and in influence. Jesus said that the world would know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. Having a genuine concern for the people in your community is a continuing effort. It takes time and effort. It takes investing into people’s lives and getting to truly know them. People who know that you’re for them will follow where you lead them.





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Spray Foam Opportunities and Concerns

The industry and our customers regularly submit questions to the company. In order to address these inquiries, Simon Baker, president of Huntsman Building Solutions, wanted to answer as many of these most common questions.




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Labor union shares concerns about ‘outrageous’ West Virginia mining bill

Triangle, VA — United Mine Workers of America President Cecil E. Roberts recently called proposed legislation that would reduce the scope of mine safety inspections in West Virginia and amend the state’s underground ventilation laws “one of the most outrageous attempts to slash critical protections for miners’ safety and health on the job that I have ever seen.”




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Rollback of offshore drilling regulations prompts concerns about safety of workers, environment

Port Fourchon, LA — The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s rollback of certain provisions of a rule intended to prevent a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig disaster will maintain safety and environmental protections, the agency claims, as advocacy groups announce their intention to fight the move.




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FTC’s Nationwide Noncompete Ban Sparks Legal Challenge, Economic Concerns

The FTC's new rule has triggered a lawsuit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, raising concerns about legal costs and economic impact on businesses.




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Seattle Adopts Verified Alarm Response, Raising Alarm Industry & Public Safety Concerns

Seattle alarm companies were given just two weeks' notice that, starting October 1, the police department will no longer respond to unverified intrusion alarms.





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Glove seal concerns

I’m having a hard time getting a good seal between my chemical gloves and the sleeve of my suit. How can I make sure I’m protected?




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Government shutdown would be ‘very concerning,’ OSHA’s Doug Parker says

A government shutdown would limit OSHA inspections to “life and property,” and a new initiative on respirable crystalline silica wouldn’t “get off the ground,” agency administrator Doug Parker said Sept. 27.




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Mine safety has improved, but concerns remain, MSHA’s Main says

Baltimore – Chronic violators have declined and industry compliance has improved in the mining industry in the past five years, but a recent increase in fatalities at metal/non-metal mines is a concern, Mine Safety and Health Administration chief Joseph A. Main told audience members March 16 at the annual convention of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association.




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Survey finds driver shortage, HOS rules top list of trucking industry concerns; ATRI to create ELD data clearinghouse

Austin, TX — A perceived growing shortage of commercial motor vehicle drivers and potential changes to hours-of-service rules are the top issues affecting the trucking industry, according to an annual survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute.




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Survey finds driver shortage, HOS rules again top list of trucking industry concerns

San Diego — For the second straight year, a driver shortage and hours-of-service rules are the top two issues affecting the trucking industry, according to the results of an annual survey conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute.




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Safe parking and speed limiters are some of trucking industry’s top concerns, survey finds

San Diego — Several safety-related issues earned a spot on the American Transportation Research Institute’s recently released list of top trucking industry concerns.




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New survey asks: What are the trucking industry’s top concerns?

Arlington, VA — Wanted: input from trucking industry stakeholders on the most critical issues facing the industry.




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Sanitation worker safety still a concern for SWANA despite ‘small decline’ in deaths

Silver Spring, MD — At least 53 sanitation workers in the United States (44) and Canada (nine) died from on-the-job injuries in 2019 – a 10.2% decrease from 2018, according to a recent analysis from the Solid Waste Association of North America.




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Security Professionals’ Biggest Sources of Concern Related to Cyber Attacks

Most statistical data on phishing attacks point to employee/personnel education, said Daniel DeBlasio vice president of sales, BQT Solutions America Inc.




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Safety and health concerns high among Nebraska prison workers, survey shows

Lincoln, NE – Nebraska prison officials need to address inmate violence against employees – as well as the overall safety culture – in the state’s correctional facilities, according to the results of a survey of correctional workers released June 1 by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.




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On the Safe Side podcast Episode 19: One-person safety teams and post-pandemic ergonomic concerns

In Episode 19, the S+H editorial team discusses the benefits and challenges of being a one-person safety team. Also: Julia Abate, executive director of The Ergonomics Center at North Carolina State University, answers our questions about ergonomic concerns as more workers return to their physical work locations.




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Ready to wear: Wearable technology could boost workplace safety, but concerns remain

Wearable technology offers EHS pros another way to help employees stay safer and healthier. But with its potential comes concerns.




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Report documents safety concerns among New Mexico farm workers

Albuquerque, NM – Many farm laborers in New Mexico face unsafe working conditions, according to a recent report from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.




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Survey shows many remote workers concerned about their mental health

Hartford, CT — Thirty-three percent of people working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic are concerned about their mental health, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by health benefits provider Aetna International.