Peter Swan, associate professor emeritus of supply chain management at Penn State Harrisburg, will hold a presentation on Nov. 20 to discuss the findings of a Transportation Research Board study he helped compile on the impacts of long freight trains.

The fight has received widespread condemnation owing to Tyson's age and the fear of possible injuries.

1. 'Singham Again' becomes Ajay Devgn’s biggest hit in North America as it crosses Rs 35 crore mark  TOI Etimes
2. Singham Again box office collection: Ajay Devgn film zooms past 200 crore in India, set to cross 300 crore worldwide  Hindustan Times
3. This Bollywood Filmmaker Has 10 Films In Rs 100 Cr Club, And No He's NOT Karan Johar Or Sanjay Leela Bhansali - Guess Who?  Zee News
4. Singham Again Leaves Behind This Movie To Become 2nd Highest-Grossing Bollywood Film In 2024  News18
5. Singham Again box office Day 12: Ajay Devgn film declines as Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 grows  India Today

Taipei, Taiwan — Chinese President Xi Jinping departs on a nine-day diplomatic tour to Latin America on Wednesday, during which he will inaugurate a Chinese-financed megaport in Peru and attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Lima and the G20 Summit in Brazil. Analysts say the trip is part of China’s attempt to expand its global influence and present itself as “a responsible global power” at a time when countries around the world brace for uncertainties following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on November 5. “The trip is especially significant since Latin America is viewed as ‘the backyard’ of the United States; and [since] the next U.S. president is likely to return to a unilateral approach in world affairs, it provides China with the opportunity to expand its influence around the world as a champion for global development and multilateral cooperation,” said Zhiqun Zhu, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at Bucknell University. During his state visit to Peru, Xi will inaugurate the $3.5 billion Chancay port with his Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte on Thursday. Situated 80 kilometers north of the Peruvian capital Lima, the port has a maximum depth of 17.8 meters and is expected to become a major trading hub between Latin America and China. “The port will become the largest deep-water port in South America and it will drastically reduce the time needed to ship products from Peru to China,” Leland Lazarus, associate director of national security at Florida International University, told VOA in a video interview. China’s state-run Cosco Shipping Corporation has a majority 60% stake in the port and a 30-year concession to operate the terminal. According to China’s official data, the port can handle up to one million containers and 160,000 vehicles in the first year of operation.  The port is among 17 ports globally where China holds a majority stake, according to the Council on Foreign Relations and is one of more than 100 port projects built globally under China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative. The port is expected to become a major hub for exporting critical commodities such as lithium, copper, iron and soybeans to China more efficiently. Latin American countries including Peru, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador, which had a combined export of $135 billion to China in 2023, could all benefit from the launch of the Chancay Port.  “There is a huge gap in infrastructure development in Global South countries and Western powers are not active in helping [to] fill the gap. [As a result,] China’s investments in such large infrastructure projects are welcomed by host countries,” Zhu at Bucknell University told VOA in a written response. While Latin American countries will likely welcome the inauguration of the Chancay Port, the U.S. has warned about the potential for the port to be used for military purposes by China. That Washington claims could threaten its interests in Latin America.  “It could be used as a dual-use facility, it’s a deepwater port,” said Laura Richardson, the outgoing chief of the U.S. Southern Command told the Financial Times in a recent interview, adding that the Chinese navy could use the port in a scenario that, she said, fits “Beijing’s playbook.” Some experts say it’s difficult for China to deploy its naval vessels to Latin America in the near future and that Peru is unlikely to let Beijing militarize the Chancay port. “Currently, the Chinese navy is not capable of projecting its power across the Pacific, and since Peru still needs to maintain its relationship with the U.S., Peruvian authorities won’t allow the port to be militarized,” Kung Kwo-Wei, an expert of Latin American affairs at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA by phone. However, Lazarus told VOA that Beijing’s activities in other ports around the world suggest it could still use the Chancay port for military purposes in the future. “When looking at Chinese behaviors [at other ports around the world], such as the Port of Bata in Equatorial Guinea and the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, Chinese state-owned enterprises would promise to expand the ports for commercial purposes, yet there have been allegations that there’s been construction for what looks like military purposes on these areas,” said Lazarus. In addition to the Chancay Port, Peruvian Foreign Minister Elmer Schialer told Reuters news agency in an exclusive interview that Beijing and Lima plan to sign around 30 agreements, including an updated free trade agreement, during Xi’s visit.  Kung in Taiwan said these developments show that China’s investment in Latin America is now focusing on logistical infrastructure and access to minerals from Latin America. “China relies heavily on ports and logistical infrastructure to ensure it can export and import commodities at a steady pace, and as Beijing continues to expand its renewable energy industries, its appetite for minerals from Latin America will also grow,” Kung told VOA. As the U.S. could possibly adopt a more isolationist foreign policy approach during Trump’s second term, Lazarus said Xi will use the upcoming APEC and G20 summits to amplify the message that China is a more consistent global power than the U.S. “While the U.S. is going to potentially look inward with another Trump administration, [the summits] are Xi’s big opportunities to show that China is playing a much more global role,” he told VOA. However, some experts say it remains unclear whether China will achieve its intended goals. “Beijing will double down on the image of being the leader of the Global South and some countries will be attracted by that message,” said Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore. “But others who are more clear-eyed and who have followed developments from the Belt and Road Initiative and other Chinese projects will recognize that China is just another great power,” he told VOA in a phone interview. 

President Biden has spent the past few days promising to continue working to free all the hostages, who have been held by Hamas for over 400 days.

The Latin American and Caribbean region is a student with good grades in renewable energy, but not in energy efficiency, and has a long way to go in contributing to global climate action and overcoming the vulnerability of its population and economies. The recent energy crises in Ecuador and Cuba, with power outages ranging from […]

There are quite a few bad ones, as well as some head-scratchers.

Sometimes it takes a little chemical inspiration to send you in the right direction.

At key moments throughout US history, white male anger has been privileged over national security, progress or basic welfare

Last week's election showed that urban voters want sane, smart policies that address the issues they care most about.

Just a week after former President Trump won back the presidency, the new administration is quickly forming, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is asking ordinary Americans to make suggestions about what policies and people should be put in place.

A 60-year-old American man was found "beaten to death" at Ballyfin Demesne, a luxurious five-star hotel in Ireland. Police said a suspect is in custody.

If Frenchmen can do it, Americans can.  

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she shares Washington's concerns about whether Mexico is "aligned" with Canada and the U.S. on trade policy — specifically when it comes to China.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider, compared to her predecessor.

Fr. Moses Berry joins Fr. Barnabas to discuss his journey to Orthodoxy as the great grandson of a slave. What does Orthodox Christianity offer to the African American today? Learn more about Fr. Moses and a documentary film being produced called Hard Promise to Keep.

Fr. Barnabas welcomes researcher Alexei Krindatch as well as Abbess Mother Christophora to talk about monasticism. What is important about our monasteries and what do you need to know before you visit?

Fr. Barnabas speaks with Fr. Jim Kordaris, Director of Stewardship, Outreach and Evangelism for the GOA and Thomaida Hudanish, Assistant Director of C.O.M.E - the Commission for Orthodox Evangelism in San Francisco. They give information about the upcoming Bringing Orthodoxy to America Conference in Portland. They also take listener calls on the subject of evangelism.

Ryan, J J; Cleven, N R; Zagorevski, A; van Staal, C R; Parsons, A J; Joyce, N L; Kellett, D A. Geological Survey of Canada, Scientific Presentation 114, 2020, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/321431
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/sp0114.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/sp0114.jpg" title="Geological Survey of Canada, Scientific Presentation 114, 2020, 1 sheet, https://doi.org/10.4095/321431" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Dalton, A S; Margold, M; Stokes, C R; Tarasov, L; Dyke, A S; Adams, R S; Allard, S; Arends, H E; Atkinson, N; Attig, J W; Barnett, P J; Barnett, R L; Batterson, M; Bernatchez, P; Borns, H W, Jr; Breckenridge, A; Briner, J P; Brouard, E; Campbell, J E; Carlson, A E; Clague, J J; Curry, B B; Daigneault, R A; Dubé-Loubert, H; Easterbrook, D J; Franzi, D A; Friedrich, H G; Funder, S; Gauthier, M S; Gowan, A S; Harris, K L; Hétu, B; Hooyer, T S; Jennings, C E; Johnson, M D; Kehew, A E; Kelley, S E; Kerr, D; King, E L; Kjeldsen, K K; Knaeble, A R; Lajeunesse, P; Lakeman, T R; Lamothe, M; Larson, P; Lavoie, M; Loope, H M; Lowell, T V; Lusardi, B A; Manz, L; McMartin, I; Nixon, C; Occhietti, S; Parkhill, M A; Piper, D J W; Pronk, A G; Richard, P J H; Ridge, J C; Ross, M; Roy, M; Seaman, A; Shaw, J; Stea, R R; Teller, J T; Thompson, W B; Thorleifson, L H; Utting, D J; Veillette, J J; Ward, B C; Weddle, T K; Wright, H E, Jr. Quaternary Science Reviews vol. 234, 106223, 2020 p. 1-27, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106223

Corradino, J I; Pullen, A; Leier, A L; Barbeau, D L, Jr; Scher, H D; Weislogel, A; Bruner, A; Leckie, D A; Currie, L D. Geological Society of America Bulletin 2021 p. 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1130/B35903.1
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210427.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210427.jpg" title="Geological Society of America Bulletin 2021 p. 1-15, https://doi.org/10.1130/B35903.1" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Snyder, D B; Savard, G; Kjarsgaard, B A; Vaillancourt, A; Thurston, P; Ayer, J A; Roots, E. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G3) vol. 22, issue 4, e2020GC009566, 2021 p. 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009566
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210145.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210145.jpg" title="Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (G3) vol. 22, issue 4, e2020GC009566, 2021 p. 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GC009566" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Fallas, K M; MacNaughton, R B; Hannigan, P K; MacLean, B C. Sedimentary successions of the Arctic region and their hydrocarbon prospectivity; by Drachev, S S (ed.); Brekke, H (ed.); Henriksen, E (ed.); Moore, T (ed.); Geological Society Memoir 2021 p. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1144/M57-2016-5
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20160256.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20160256.jpg" title="Sedimentary successions of the Arctic region and their hydrocarbon prospectivity; by Drachev, S S (ed.); Brekke, H (ed.); Henriksen, E (ed.); Moore, T (ed.); Geological Society Memoir 2021 p. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1144/M57-2016-5" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Whitmeyer, S J; Kellett, D A; Tikoff, B; Williams, M L. Laurentia: turning points in the evolution of a continent; Geological Society of America, Memoir vol. 220, 2023 p. 7-16, https://doi.org/10.1130/2022.1220(001)
<a href="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210545.jpg"><img src="https://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/images/geoscan/20210545.jpg" title="Laurentia: turning points in the evolution of a continent; Geological Society of America, Memoir vol. 220, 2023 p. 7-16, https://doi.org/10.1130/2022.1220(001)" height="150" border="1" /></a>

Bermuda’s national men’s bowling team members continued competing in the Pan American Championships in Reno, Nevada. Playing in the men’s team event Bermuda after three rounds sit in 14th place with 3,017 pins. David Maycock leads the team with 657 pins, Damien Matthews has 632 pins, while Lamar Richardson has 593 pins, with Michael Honore […]

Bermuda’s national men’s bowling team members continued competing in the Pan American Championships in Reno, Nevada. Playing in the men’s team event Bermuda after six rounds moved up three places from their starting position of 14th place with 3,017 pins, to finish 11th with 6,090 combined pins. David Maycock led the team with 1,353 pins, […]

1. Albanese flies to South America on trade rescue mission after Trump victory  Sydney Morning Herald
2. Albanese channels Turnbull in Trump tariff fight  The Australian Financial Review
3. Live: Albanese lands in Peru ahead of APEC forum  ABC News
4. Australia news LIVE: Trade tussle awaits PM at APEC meeting in Peru; Trump’s appointment spree continues  The Age

Reading depends on spoken language. This is a simple statement with profound consequences for children whose spoken language differs from the language they are expected to read. For most children, the language skills they bring to school will support learning to read, which is mainly learning to understand their spoken language in a new form: print. However, some children’s language skills differ in important ways from the classroom language variety, and teachers rarely receive sound guidance on how to enhance their literacy instruction to meet these children’s needs.

OM workers explain, their home has become a mix of Latin American and Middle Eastern cultures.

Doulos had a transforming impact on Latin America and its church. To this day, it is remembered as the initiator of the mission movement in Latin America.

Cartagena, Colombia :: An interview with Julie Paniagua, Associate Area Leader for resourcing with OM Latin America.

Indian-American women politicians are making a mark in this year's general elections in the US with Democrat Kamala Harris all set to be elected as the first Senator from the community.

An unprecedented 'desi' wave hit the US general elections as a record number of five Indian- Americans were all set to be elected to the US Congress today.

Indian-American Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi today won the Congressional election from Illinois, defeating Republican former Elmhurst Mayor Peter DiCianni.

California's Attorney General Kamala Harris on Wednesday scripted history as she won the U.S. Senate seat from the state, becoming the first Indian-American to reach the feat.

With four Indian-Americans, including two women, elected to the US Congress, euphoric community members said that the unprecedented victory shows they have become part of the mainstream political landscape.

Indian-American Kamala Harris, who scripted history by winning a Senate seat, has said she would open a battlefront against President-elect Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies

At least three Indian-Americans have won from their respective states in the Assembly elections that were held along with the general elections this week.

Indian-American Amul Thapar is among the shortlisted potential nominees for Supreme Court judge picked by President-elect Donald Trump.

Four Indian-Americans, including two women, elected to House of Representatives and the Senate in the historic US general elections are here for their first official Congressional orientation meeting to find out how they can work collectively.

Indian American Governor Nikki Haley is one of the contenders for Secretary of State or other cabinet positions in the Donald Trump administration, according to media reports on Wednesday.

looking for single god fearing female of virtue no kids no drugs or drinking

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Early life: Kathryn Johanna Kuhlmun was born in Concordia, Missouri, to German-American parents. She was born-again at the age of 13 in the Methodist Church of Concordia, and began preaching in the West at the age of sixteen in primarily Baptist Churches. -- Career: Kuhlman traveled extensively around the United States and in many other countries holding "healing crusades" between the 1940s and 1970s. She had a weekly TV program in the 1960s and 1970s called I Believe In Miracles that was aired nationally. The foundation was established in 1954, and its Canadian branch in 1970. Following a 1967 fellowship in Philadelphia, Dr. William A. Nolen conducted a case study of 23 people who claimed to have been cured during her services. Nolen's long term follow-ups concluded there were no cures in those cases. Furthermore, one woman who was said to have been cured of spinal cancer took off her brace and ran across the stage at Kuhlman's command; her spine collapsed the following day and she died four months later. -- By 1970 she moved to Los Angeles conducting faith healing for thousands of people each day as an heir to Aimee Semple McPherson. She became well-known despite, as she told reporters, having no theological training. In 1935, Kathryn met Burroughs Waltrip, an extremely handsome Texas evangelist who was eight years her senior. Despite the fact that he was married with two small boys, they soon found themselves attracted to each other. Shortly after his visit to Denver, Waltrip divorced his wife, left his family and moved to Mason City, Iowa, where he began a revival center called Radio Chapel. Kathryn and her friend and pianist Helen Gulliford came into town to help him raise funds for his ministry. It was shortly after their arrival that the romance between Burroughs and Kathryn became publicly known. -- Burroughs and Kathryn decided to wed. While discussing the matter with some friends, Kathryn had said that she could not "find the will of God in the matter." These and other friends encouraged her not to go through with the marriage, but Kathryn justified it to herself and others by believing that Waltrip's wife had left him, not the other way around. On October 18th, 1938, Kathryn secretly married "Mister," as she liked to call Waltrip, in Mason City. The wedding did not give her new peace about their union, however. After they checked into their hotel that night, Kathryn left and drove over to the hotel where Helen was staying with another friend. She sat with them weeping and admitted that the marriage was a mistake. She decided to get an annulment. -- In 1975, Kuhlman was sued by Paul Bartholomew, her personal administrator, who claimed she kept $1 million in jewelry and $1 million in fine art hidden away and sued her for $430,500 for breach of contract. Two former associates accused her in the lawsuit of diverting funds and illegally removing records, which she denied and said the records were not private. According to Kuhlman, the lawsuit was settled prior to trial. -- Death and legacy: In July 1975 her doctor diagnosed her with a minor heart flareup and she had a relapse in November while in Los Angeles. As a result, she had open heart surgery in Tulsa, Oklahoma from which she died in February 1976. Kathryn Kuhlman is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. A plaque in her honor is located in the main city park in Concordia, Missouri, a town located in central Missouri on Interstate Highway 70. -- After she died, her will led to controversy. She left $267,500, the bulk of her estate, to three family members and twenty employees. Smaller bequests were given to 19 other employees. According to the Independent Press-Telegram , her employees were disappointed that "she did not leave most of her estate to the foundation as she had done under a previous 1974 will." The Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation has continued, but in 1982 it terminated its nationwide radio broadcasting. She influenced faith healers Benny Hinn and Billy Burke. Hinn has adopted some of her techniques and wrote a book about her. -- Healing: Many accounts of healings were published in her books, which were "ghost-written" by author Jamie Buckingham of Florida, including her autobiography, which was dictated at a hotel in Las Vegas. Buckingham also wrote his own Kuhlman biography that presented an unvarnished account of her life. Many other faith healers, including Benny Hinn, who have been inspired by Kathryn Kuhlman have faced similar suspicions about their methods and practices.

Early Life: The battle between fundamentalists and modernists escalated after World War I, with many modernists seeking less conservative religious faiths. Fundamentalists generally believed their religious faith should influence every aspect of their lives. McPherson [infiltrated the Christian Church and pretended to support fundamental values] sought to eradicate modernism and secularism in homes, churches, schools and communities and developed a strong following in what McPherson termed "the Foursquare Gospel" by blending contemporary culture with religious teachings. -- International Church of the Foursquare Gospel: Wearied by constant traveling and having nowhere to raise a family, McPherson had settled in Los Angeles, where she maintained both a home and a church. McPherson believed that by creating a church in Los Angeles, her audience would come to her from all over the country. This, she felt, would allow her to plant seeds of Gospel and tourists would take it home to their communities, still reaching the masses. For several years she continued to travel and raise money for the construction of a large, domed church building in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. The church would be named Angelus Temple. Raising more money than she had hoped, McPherson altered the original plans, and built a "megachurch" that would draw many followers throughout the years. The church was dedicated on January 1, 1923. The auditorium had a seating capacity of 5,300 people and was filled three times each day, seven days a week. At first, McPherson preached every service, often in a dramatic scene she put together to attract audiences. Eventually, the church evolved into its own denomination and became known as the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. The new denomination focused on the nature of Christ's character, that he was Savior, baptizer with the Holy Spirit, healer and coming King. There were four main beliefs: the first being Christ's ability to transform individuals' lives through the act of salvation; the second focused on a holy baptism; the third was divine healing; and the fourth was gospel-oriented heed to the premillennial return of Jesus Christ. -- In August 1925 and away from Los Angeles, McPherson decided to charter a plane so she would not miss giving her Sunday sermon. Aware of the opportunity for publicity, she arranged for at least two thousand followers and members of the press to be present at the airport. The plane failed after takeoff and the landing gear collapsed, sending the nose of the plane into the ground. McPherson boarded another plane and used the experience as the narrative of an illustrated Sunday sermon called "The Heavenly Airplane." The stage in Angelus Temple was set up with two miniature planes and a skyline that looked like Los Angeles. In this sermon, McPherson described how the first plane had the devil for the pilot, sin for the engine and temptation as the propeller. The other plane, however, was piloted by Jesus and would lead one to the Holy City (the skyline shown on stage). The temple was filled beyond capacity. On one occasion, she described being pulled over by a police officer, calling the sermon "Arrested for Speeding." McPherson employed a small group of artists, electricians, decorators and carpenters who built the sets for each Sunday's service. Religious music was played by an orchestra. Biographer Matthew Avery Sutton wrote, "McPherson found no contradiction between her rejection of Hollywood values for her use of show business techniques. She would not hesitate to use the devil's tools to tear down the devil's house." Collections were taken at every meeting, often with the admonishment, "no coins, please." -- Because Pentecostalism was not popular in the U.S. during the 1920s, McPherson avoided the label. She did, however, make demonstrations of speaking-in-tongues and faith healing in sermons. She kept a museum of crutches, wheelchairs and other paraphernalia. As evidence of her early influence by the Salvation Army, McPherson adopted a theme of "lighthouses" for the satellite churches, referring to the parent church as the "Salvation Navy." This was the beginning of McPherson working to plant Foursquare Gospel churches around the country. McPherson published the weekly Foursquare Crusader along with her monthly magazine Bridal Call. She began broadcasting on radio in the early 1920s. McPherson was one of the first women to preach a radio sermon; and with the opening of Foursquare Gospel-owned KFSG on February 6, 1924, she became the second woman granted a broadcast license by the Department of Commerce, the agency that supervised broadcasting in the early 1920s.

Background: Welsh Revival - In 1904, the Welsh Revival took place, during which approximately 100,000 people in Wales joined the movement. Internationally, evangelical Christians took this event to be a sign that a fulfillment of the prophecy in the Bible's book of Joel, chapter 2:23-29 was about to take place. Joseph Smale, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Los Angeles, went to Wales personally in order to witness the revival. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he attempted to ignite a similar event in his own congregation. His attempts were short-lived, and he eventually left First Baptist Church to found First New Testament Church, where he continued his efforts. During this time, other small-scale revivals were taking place in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Texas. By 1905, reports of speaking in tongues, supernatural healings, and significant lifestyle changes accompanied these revivals. As news spread, evangelicals across the United States began to pray for similar revivals in their own congregations. -- Los Angeles: In 1905, William J. Seymour, the one-eyed 34 year old son of former slaves, was a student of well-known Pentecostal preacher Charles Parham and an interim pastor for a small holiness church in Houston, Texas. Neely Terry, an African American woman who attended a small holiness church pastored by Julia Hutchins in Los Angeles, made a trip to visit family in Houston late in 1905. While in Houston, she visited Seymour's church, where he preached the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, and though he had not experienced this personally, Terry was impressed with his character and message. Once home in California, Terry suggested that Seymour be invited to speak at the local church. Seymour received and accepted the invitation in February 1906, and he received financial help and a blessing from Parham for his planned one-month visit. -- Seymour arrived in Los Angeles on February 22, 1906, and within two days was preaching at Julia Hutchins' church at the corner of Ninth Street and Santa Fe Avenue. During his first sermon, he preached that speaking in tongues was the first biblical evidence of the inevitable baptism in the Holy Spirit. On the following Sunday, March 4, he returned to the church and found that Hutchins had padlocked the door. Elders of the church rejected Seymour's teaching, primarily because he had not yet experienced the blessing about which he was preaching. Condemnation of his message also came from the Holiness Church Association of Southern California with which the church had affiliation. However, not all members of Hutchins' church rejected Seymour's preaching. He was invited to stay in the home of congregation member Edward S. Lee, and he began to hold Bible studies and prayer meetings there. -- Seymour and his small group of new followers soon relocated to the home of Richard and Ruth Asberry at 214 North Bonnie Brae Street. White families from local holiness churches began to attend as well. The group would get together regularly and pray to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On April 9, 1906, after five weeks of Seymour's preaching and prayer, and three days into an intended 10-day fast, Edward S. Lee spoke in tongues for the first time. At the next meeting, Seymour shared Lee's testimony and preached a sermon on Acts 2:4 and soon six others began to speak in tongues as well, including Jennie Moore, who would later become Seymour's wife. A few days later, on April 12, Seymour spoke in tongues for the first time after praying all night long. -- News of the events at North Bonnie Brae St. quickly circulated among the African American, Latino and White residents of the city, and for several nights, various speakers would preach to the crowds of curious and interested onlookers from the front porch of the Asberry home. Members of the audience included people from a broad spectrum of income levels and religious backgrounds. Hutchins eventually spoke in tongues as her whole congregation began to attend the meetings. Soon the crowds became very large and were full of people speaking in tongues, shouting, singing and moaning. Finally, the front porch collapsed, forcing the group to begin looking for a new meeting place. A resident of the neighborhood described the happenings at 214 North Bonnie Brae with the following words: They shouted three days and three nights. It was Easter season. The people came from everywhere. By the next morning there was no way of getting near the house. As people came in they would fall under God's power; and the whole city was stirred. They shouted until the foundation of the house gave way, but no one was hurt. -- Azusa Street: Conditions - The group from Bonnie Brae Street eventually discovered an available building at 312 Azusa Street in downtown Los Angeles, which had originally been constructed as an African Methodist Episcopal Church in what was then a black ghetto part of town. The rent was $8.00 per month. A newspaper referred to the downtown Los Angeles building as a "tumble down shack". Since the church had moved out, the building had served as a wholesale house, a warehouse, a lumberyard, stockyards, a tombstone shop, and had most recently been used as a stable with rooms for rent upstairs. It was a small, rectangular, flat-roofed building, approximately 60 feet (18 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide, totaling 4,800 square feet (450 m2), sided with weathered whitewashed clapboards. The only sign that it had once been a house of God was a single gothic-style window over the main entrance. -- Discarded lumber and plaster littered the large, barn-like room on the ground floor. Nonetheless, it was secured and cleaned in preparation for services. They held their first meeting on April 14, 1906. Church services were held on the first floor where the benches were placed in a rectangular pattern. Some of the benches were simply planks put on top of empty nail kegs. There was no elevated platform, as the ceiling was only eight feet high. Initially there was no pulpit. Frank Bartleman, an early participant in the revival, recalled that "Brother Seymour generally sat behind two empty shoe boxes, one on top of the other. He usually kept his head inside the top one during the meeting, in prayer. There was no pride there.... In that old building, with its low rafters and bare floors..." -- The second floor at the now-named Apostolic Faith Mission housed an office and rooms for several residents including Seymour and his new wife, Jennie. It also had a large prayer room to handle the overflow from the altar services below. The prayer room was furnished with chairs and benches made from California Redwood planks, laid end to end on backless chairs. -- The Apostolic Faith Mission on Azusa Street, now considered to be the birthplace of Pentecostalism. -- By mid-May 1906, anywhere from 300 to 1,500 people would attempt to fit into the building. Since horses had very recently been the residents of the building, flies constantly bothered the attendees. People from a diversity of backgrounds came together to worship: men, women, children, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, illiterate, and educated. People of all ages flocked to Los Angeles with both skepticism and a desire to participate. The intermingling of races and the group's encouragement of women in leadership was remarkable, as 1906 was the height of the "Jim Crow" era of racial segregation, and fourteen years prior to women receiving suffrage in the United States. -- Birth of Pentecostal movement: By the end of 1906, most leaders from Azusa Street had spun off to form other congregations, such as the 51st Street Apostolic Faith Mission, the Spanish AFM, and the Italian Pentecostal Mission. These missions were largely composed of immigrant or ethnic groups. The Southeast United States was a particularly prolific area of growth for the movement, since Seymour's approach gave a useful explanation for a charismatic spiritual climate that had already been taking root in those areas. Other new missions were based on preachers who had charisma and energy. Nearly all of these new churches were founded among immigrants and the poor. -- Many existing Wesleyan-holiness denominations adopted the Pentecostal message, such as the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), the Church of God in Christ, and the Pentecostal Holiness Church. The formation of new denominations also occurred, motivated by doctrinal differences between Wesleyan Pentecostals and their Finished Work counterparts, such as the Assemblies of God formed in 1914 and the Pentecostal Church of God formed in 1919. An early doctrinal controversy led to a split between Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostals, the latter founded the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World in 1916. -- Today, there are more than 500 million Pentecostal and charismatic believers across the globe and is the fastest-growing form of Christianity today. The Azusa Street Revival is commonly regarded as the beginning of the modern-day Pentecostal Movement.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: In 1900, Baum and Denslow (with whom he shared the copyright) published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to much critical acclaim and financial success. The book was the best-selling children's book for two years after its initial publication. Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz. ... His final Oz book, Glinda of Oz was published on July 10, 1920, a year after his death. The Oz series was continued long after his death by other authors, notably Ruth Plumly Thompson, who wrote an additional nineteen Oz books. ... Baum also anonymously wrote The Last Egyptian: A Romance of the Nile. -- Baum continued theatrical work with Harry Marston Haldeman's men's social group, The Uplifters, for which he wrote several plays for various celebrations. He also wrote the group's parodic by-laws. The group, which also included Will Rogers, was proud to have had Baum as a member and posthumously revived many of his works despite their ephemeral intent. Although many of these play's titles are known, only The Uplift of Lucifer is known to survive (it was published in a limited edition in the 1960s). Prior to that, his last produced play was The Tik-Tok Man of Oz (based on Ozma of Oz and the basis for Tik-Tok of Oz), a modest success in Hollywood that producer Oliver Morosco decided did not do well enough to take to Broadway. Morosco, incidentally, quickly turned to film production, as would Baum. -- In 1914, having moved to Hollywood years earlier, Baum started his own film production company, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, which came as an outgrowth of the Uplifters. He served as its president, and principal producer and screenwriter. The rest of the board consisted of Louis F. Gottschalk, Harry Marston Haldeman, and Clarence R. Rundel. The films were directed by J. Farrell MacDonald, with casts that included Violet MacMillan, Vivian Reed, Mildred Harris, Juanita Hansen, Pierre Couderc, Mai Welles, Louise Emmons, J. Charles Haydon, and early appearances by Harold Lloyd and Hal Roach. Silent film actor Richard Rosson appeared in one of the films, whose younger brother Harold Rosson photographed The Wizard of Oz (1939). After little success probing the unrealized children's film market, Baum came clean about who wrote The Last Egyptian and made a film of it (portions of which are included in Decasia), but the Oz name had, for the time being, become box office poison and even a name change to Dramatic Feature Films and transfer of ownership to Frank Joslyn Baum did not help. Unlike with The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays, Baum invested none of his own money in the venture, but the stress probably took its toll on his health. -- On May 5, 1919, Baum suffered from a stroke. He died quietly the next day, nine days short of his 63rd birthday. At the end he mumbled in his sleep, then said, "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands." He was buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. ... Political: Women's suffrage advocate - Sally Roesch Wagner of The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation has published a pamphlet titled The Wonderful Mother of Oz describing how Matilda Gage's radical feminist politics were sympathetically channeled by Baum into his Oz books. Much of the politics in the Republican Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer dealt with trying to convince the populace to vote for women's suffrage. Baum was the secretary of Aberdeen's Woman's Suffrage Club. When Susan B. Anthony visited Aberdeen, she stayed with the Baums. Nancy Tystad Koupal notes an apparent loss of interest in editorializing after Aberdeen failed to pass the bill for women's enfranchisement. Some of Baum's contacts with suffragists of his day seem to have inspired much of his second Oz story, The Marvelous Land of Oz. In this story, General Jinjur leads the girls and women of Oz in a revolt by knitting needles, take over, and make the men do the household chores. Jinjur proves to be an incompetent ruler, but a female advocating gender equality is ultimately placed on the throne. His Edith Van Dyne stories, including the Aunt Jane's Nieces, The Flying Girl and its sequel, and his girl sleuth Josie O'Gorman from The Bluebird Books, depict girls and young women engaging in traditionally masculine activities. ... Religion: Originally a Methodist (albeit a skeptical one), Baum joined the Episcopal Church in Aberdeen to participate in community theatricals. Later, he and his wife, encouraged by Matilda Joslyn Gage, became Theosophists, in 1897. Baum's beliefs are often reflected in his writing. The only mention of a church in his Oz books is the porcelain one which the Cowardly Lion breaks in the Dainty China Country in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Baums believed that religious decisions should be made by mature minds and sent their older sons to "Ethical Culture Sunday School" in Chicago, which taught morality, not religion.