Celebrated jazz Hammond organist Vel Lewis is set to release his highly anticipated new single, "I Paid The Price," a soulful and introspective piece showcasing his signature mastery of jazz, soul, and blues. The single will be available on all major streaming platforms on November 15, 2024. Lewis, known for his unmistakable touch on the Hammond organ, has crafted "I Paid The Price" to reflect his deep connection to life’s lessons, love, and the resilience that comes from overcoming challenges...

Violence continues in Haiti, despite the appointment of a new prime minister. The international airport was shut down after shots were fired at a landing commercial flight.

Julian Barnes’ latest novel, Elizabeth Finch, asks the question, what if civilization took a wrong turn in the 4th Century, by choosing Christianity over Hellenistic and Roman paganism?

Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan says Canadians have to be open to more nuclear power generation if this country is to meet the carbon emissions reduction targets it agreed to five years ago in Paris.

Business Design. Een up-and-coming discipline. En dat is niet vreemd. De opkomst van Business Design kun je niet los zien van het huidige business klimaat. Technologische en sociale ontwikkelingen volgen elkaar in hoog tempo op. Er is simpelweg geen tijd meer om eindeloos te sleutelen aan producten en diensten voordat ze naar de markt gaan. […]

The new guidance comes after blood tests for 115 farmworkers in Michigan and Colorado showed that eight workers -- or 7% — had antibodies that indicated previous infection with the virus known as Type A H5N1 influenza.

Stroganoff is an old Russian stand-by usually made with beef or turkey. Here’s a modern version made with hamburger meat.

Taylour Paige and Logan Browning show us their moves.

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A pair of the sport's preeminent stars lived up to their billing on Saturday at the 20th rendition of the Pro Motocross Championship's Thunder Valley National.

National gourmet foods distributor Innovative Food Holdings has bought a Denver-area organic foods company with plans to expand its reach.

Carl Luis Zambrano-Bolivar, 26, and Jhonata Nahin Toro Gonzalez, 22, were arrested Sept. 26 by federal immigration officers.

CBZ Management's representatives have engaged in a public campaign to blame its problems at Aurora apartment complexes on recent gang activity. But reporting by The Denver Post reveal a more complicated collapse.

Kismet’s a thing -- especially in theater. The first immersive performance that local playwright Jeffrey Neuman ever attended was “Wild Party” in 2016. The slinky, fun retrofitting of the Broadway musical set in the Jazz Age was produced by the Denver Center’s Off-Center and was directed by Amanda Berg Wilson, the artistic director of Boulder’s inventive company, the Catamounts.

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Look at the flick of the wrist.

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Logan Watson-Brown and her University of Georgia Swimming and Diving teammates opened the 2024-25 season with a decisive sweep of North Carolina inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium. The eighth-ranked Georgia Women topped the No. 15 North Carolina , 175 – 120. During the women’s 200 yard medley relay, Watson-Brown swam the third leg for the Georgia […]

Logan Watson-Brown and her University of Georgia swimming and diving teammates commenced their two-day meet against NC State. At the conclusion of the first night of competition, NC State held the lead in both the men’s and women’s meets, with scores of 128-58 and 119-67, respectively. Watson-Brown competed in two events: the women’s 100 yard […]

Pastor Leroy Bean has released a book titled Gang Violence Is By Design: Exposing the Lie, which “presents a panoramic perspective and awareness that will help countries recognize and address the root cause that has been camouflaged within our society for centuries.” The book’s promo said, “There is a myriad of ideological beliefs and copious […]

Ocorian held a beach clean-up event in collaboration with Keep Bermuda Beautiful [KBB]. A spokesperson said, “Ocorian, a leading global provider of financial services, once again demonstrated its commitment to environmental stewardship by organizing a successful beach clean-up event in collaboration with the esteemed charity, Keep Bermuda Beautiful [KBB]. “The event saw a dedicated team […]

The Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] announced that Vegan Fest will take place on August 25th in Dockyard. A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Tourism Authority announced the second renewal of Vegan Fest set for August 25 in the Royal Naval Dockyard. The sustainably focused event, which debuted in Summer 2023, attracted over 3,600 attendees to the […]

[Updated] The Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] is hosting the second annual Vegan Fest today [August 25] at the Royal Naval Dockyard.  We will have additional information later on, and in the meantime the live video is below. Update | Video The 6-minute live video replay is below: Related Stories Vegan Fest In Dockyard Set For […]

Žije v něm podobný počet lidí jako v České republice, rozlohou je třikrát větší a kulturně mnohem rozmanitější. Michigan, stát nacházející se na severovýchodě USA, má možná to nejlepší za sebou, přesto patří k nejdůležitějším státům v zemi. Až do roku 2016 byl Michigan sice nejistým státem, ale zato jasně tíhnoucím k demokratům. Donald Trump ukázal, že to není pravda, a navýšil svůj náskok o 70 tisíc hlasů oproti volbám před osmi lety. Bývalému prezidentovi se povedlo voliče mobilizovat, Kamale Harris naopak demobilizovat. Pohoření demokratů v Michiganu ukazuje chyby, které je stály volitele napříč celou Amerikou.

Removed From Troubles (Not open for application): Pro-Choice Movement (Movements); Obama, Barack (People) Troubled Politics and Organisations (Not open for application) The following fanlistings are scheduled for removal on November 13, 2024. If your listing is listed below, please fix the problem/send in a finished form and reply to the troubles email. Pending Removal: Anti-Bullying […]

Date: October 9, 2024

This Doodle celebrates Uganda’s Independence Day! On this day in 1961, the Ugandan Constitutional Conference came to a close and marked the birth of the nation as a sovereign state.

The conference started in September and took place in London. After a month of negotiations between the budding Ugandan government and Great Britain, a formal transition of power was agreed upon and carried out on October 9th.

On Independence Day, many partake in celebrations across the country. The main event occurs in the capital city Kampala, where people attend observances like flag-raising ceremonies, lively rallies, traditional music concerts, and more. An annual grand parade is held at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, where the national anthem Oh Uganda, Land of Beauty is played for all to sing along. Ugandans enjoy delicacies like matoke (steamed and mashed green bananas), luwombo (slow-cooked meat with peanut sauce), chapati (egg omelet wrapped in chapati), and more. Meanwhile, the black, yellow, and red national flag waves high in the sky all day long — just like in today’s artwork.

Happy Independence Day, Uganda!

Location: Uganda

Tags:

The real threat is collusion. When journalists strike secret alliances with the very people they're supposed to be holding accountable, we are in deep trouble. Lies go unchallenged.  Democracy cannot function. And that's what we're watching right now. Continue reading →

Last weekend I had a lively discussion with a friend about Pagans she has met who don’t condone or accept the LGBT community, especially as it is intermingled with Paganism.  She has met some of this ilk (I have not) and described how they do not condone non-straight sexuality when it is expressed in Paganism, and how this type also has a limited view of what should be expressed as Paganism, and other expressions are wrong.

I gave her the impression I was surprised to hear this, but it was not surprise, but shock.  I knew intellectually that this type exists (since all types of everything exist,) but this was the first I had heard of actual encounters with such thinking.

We followers of Earth-based spirituality are persecuted and ridiculed enough with us doing it to ourselves.  Think of how Christine O’Donnell (who has no business holding public office, but that is another story) was openly ridiculed when an old clip of her surfaced where she stated she dabbled in witchcraft.  It tanked whatever chances she had in her Senatorial race, and was it because she was the wrong picture to put on the pagan community?  No, it was because any inference that one is a practicing pagan is social suicide in most parts of the United States.

We pagans need to be accepting of each other, and open to the great cosmos that is all of us.  There is no “right” or “wrong” way to be a pagan.

Those who think otherwise are suffering from cognitive dissonance.

Don't forget your Supplies!

In this post, I aim to explore why I think I am a Pagan.  This post will not define Paganism or Neo-Paganism more generally.  These terms are very broad, and it is beyond my ability to express what is or is not a Pagan or Neo-Pagan experience.

1.  I am Pagan because I believe that the natural world is ensouled.  I can't define the soul or its capacity or limitations, but I experience it all around me.

2.  I believe that the Abrahamic religions do not have a corner on truth and that their most valuable messages evolved from far more ancient insights which continue to be available to all human beings whose minds and hearts are open.

3.   I believe that all thea/ological discourse about the sacred is just folks talking about something they'll never understand.  I can tell you what I think God/ess is all day and night.  I can be as clever and convincing as hell, but it still doesn't amount to a hill of beans.  The Ineffable will be what it will be regardless of my cheek.  We aren't going to expand or limit Divinity whatever we say, think, or believe.  However, when we limit our conceptualization of the Sacred to that which most closely resembles the powerful, the conventional, and the abusive in our society, then we limit who we are and what we might become, and that's a shame.

4.  So-- I believe that we should be mindful and creative with our theo/alogical language and musings to encourage ourselves to grow toward our potential.  I believe that when we speak of "God/dess" we are reflecting our best hopes for ourselves into the Cosmos.  When we dream of divinity, we can either sanctify all the meanness and injustice humanity has already mastered or we can sing out our human potential for brilliance, warmth, diversity, and love.

5.  Language may only be a construct, but what a construct!  What we build with our language is our choice.  I am Pagan because I am playful with spiritual language.  We need to remember that God is not male.  Nor is God white or European or human for that matter.  God is not even "God".  That word too is merely a construct, a symbol, a signifier. Learning to imagine the Divine in many forms, genders, cultures, species, relationships, and concepts reminds me that the Sacred is not one objective thing or person but is manifest in all life and in all times.  It helps me remember that I can find divinity in unexpected people and unexpected places.  It helps me look for the Sacred everywhere and in everybody.

That's about it, I guess.  My Paganism doesn't define whether I believe in God or Goddess or a singular or plural deity.  It doesn't tell me how I should worship or with whom.  Paganism is not what I believe.  It is what I do.  It is a strategy and a discipline.  It is not an answer to my questions about life and death or the nature of the Divine.  It is a pattern of thought and intent that encourages me to continue asking unanswerable questions.  It encourages me to play and think and wonder and to try as hard as ever I can to understand not the Cosmic Mystery, but maybe just the little bit that resides in me and which is mine to share.

And don't just say "Because I'm not Christian".... I would like to see you fully explore how your beliefs fit with those typical of other Pagans. What is it about you and your life that made you associate with the label of "Pagan"?

I was raised Lutheran. I attended church every Sunday with my family. I also remember attending Sunday school and I even went through Confirmation. Through all this I never really felt the connection to the Christian faith. I have read the bible, not cover to cover but how many actually have? The whole doctrine seemed a bunch of bull, to me at least. Now that was many years ago; I don’t doubt that there is an undeniable energy in the Christian faith. I have experienced it first hand by sitting with my family again at the church I grew up with, but I still am not Christian. Oops, I said it didn’t I?

Why do I call myself Pagan? I have thought about this before but I have never written about it. I think that I was destined to follow this path. That would explain my aversion to Christianity. I always liked the thought of magick even before I knew what it was. I flirted with an eastern religion while I was in high school but never kept with it. I think because I didn’t completely understand it and no one was around to explain it. I know that if I had found the trail head of my current path back then I would have been traveling it a lot longer than I have been.

I didn’t think of myself as Pagan at first. When I started down my path a few years ago I was working with Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and his online school, The Grey School. I labeled myself as a wizard. I worked on my studies and surrounded myself with all the trappings of what I thought it meant to be a wizard. I didn’t realize that some of these items were also associated with being Pagan. I bought the candles, athame, chalice, and other stuff. A conversation with a person at a spiritual retreat had me questioning exactly what path I was on and what it meant to me. After that retreat and experiencing the rituals there and talking to other people I realized that the label I had chosen, wizard, was not correct and that Pagan was more appropriate.

I began to explore what it is to be Pagan. I related to many of the aspects. I believed in the existence in multiple gods. I believed that we are all connected to nature and that we should respect it and honor it. I believe in the power of the Moon on us and her aspects.

After my first retreat and the revelations that came from it, I returned to the retreat and became involved in guiding young men through the coming of age ritual offered. This allowed me to explore my beliefs even further and realize that while I enjoyed being solitary for a time I needed something more and sought out a local coven. While working with the people in the coven I found my patron deities. Lady Hecate made herself known to me and I continue to honor her. Lord Cernunnos/Herne has made himself known to me but I believe he has always been with me in some sense since I have always loved all out of doors activities. I also have an affinity for herbs and their uses. I have sewn two robes, one white and one black. I have acquired a couple staffs, one given me by the forest the other found me at a local flea market. I have setup my sacred space and consecrated it with ritual. I try to live my life as a Pagan. I even take the title of Witch now and practice the craft of the witch. I celebrate the Sabbats and the Esbats. I welcome the Faeries in to my house and leave them gifts.

I am Pagan, I am Witch, and I am happy.

Blessed Be!

Joey Logano sat down with FOX Sports to discuss the wild pace-car wreck, the playoff format and the feeling of winning the title at Phoenix.

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Getting organized is always one of the most popular New Years resolutions every year – not surprisingly. And you need. To. Do it. This year. Why? It’s not just because being organized for organization’s sake is a good thing (It’s not good or bad – it’s morally neutral). You NEED to stop procrastinating and finally […]

The post 8 Reasons You NEED to Get Organized This Year appeared first on Joyful Abode.

It turns out that there's a VERY fine line between Donald Trump and the Futurama character Zapp Brannigan. Memes with Zapp's image and Trumps tweets started circulating the internet and they caught the attention of Billy West, the voice actor who plays Zapp Brannigan on Futurama. The recordings he made are out of this world.

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The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.