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London, Rome, Paris Top TripAdvisor's Most-Reviewed Cities List

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The litany of year-end travel-related lists continues. Today, it's TripAdvisor, which unveiled its most reviewed cities. Leading the way: London, Rome and Paris, according to the Telegraph. The top U.S city was New York, which ranked fourth overall -- a stunning blow for American exceptionalism.

Continue reading London, Rome, Paris Top TripAdvisor's Most-Reviewed Cities List

London, Rome, Paris Top TripAdvisor's Most-Reviewed Cities List originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 17 Dec 2013 14:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double vision




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Galvis planning to be Blue Jays' regular SS

Freddy Galvis conceded things might eventually change, but the veteran infielder is under the impression that he will be the Blue Jays' everyday shortstop at the start of the season.




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Behavioral and Neural Mechanisms of Face-Specific Attention during Goal-Directed Visual Search

Goal-directed visual attention is a fundamental cognitive process that enables animals to selectively focus on specific regions of the visual field while filtering out irrelevant information. However, given the domain specificity of social behaviors, it remains unclear whether attention to faces versus nonfaces recruits different neurocognitive processes. In this study, we simultaneously recorded activity from temporal and frontal nodes of the attention network while macaques performed a goal-directed visual search task. V4 and inferotemporal (IT) visual category-selective units, selected during cue presentation, discriminated fixations on targets and distractors during the search but were differentially engaged by face and house targets. V4 and IT category-selective units also encoded fixation transitions and search dynamics. Compared with distractors, fixations on targets reduced spike–LFP coherence within the temporal cortex. Importantly, target-induced desynchronization between the temporal and prefrontal cortices was only evident for face targets, suggesting that attention to faces differentially engaged the prefrontal cortex. We further revealed bidirectional theta influence between the temporal and prefrontal cortices using Granger causality, which was again disproportionate for faces. Finally, we showed that the search became more efficient with increasing target-induced desynchronization. Together, our results suggest domain specificity for attending to faces and an intricate interplay between visual attention and social processing neural networks.




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Without a vision people perish

Participants of a poverty simulation activity hosted by AIDSLink International discover that it’s very different to minister to the poor than to be the poor.




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Fresh vision in an old city

When Rev Graham Clay, Pastor of Stratford-Upon-Avon Baptist Church, decided to have an OM ministry team work with his church, he didn’t hesitate to take action.




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UK children visit the Wild West

The Kid's 'n' Things team visited two churches to run five-day long holiday clubs, with the theme of “Lionheart and the Great Wild West Adventure”.




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OM founder visits Romania

OM founder George Verwer speaks at the Romanian Brethren Assembly about living a pure life and standing against the issue of abortion.




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Transform outreach casts vision for trafficking ministry

Participating in a Transform outreach to trafficked women gave OMer Erika Tello the vision of founding the OM Italy anti-trafficking ministry.




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Visit to mosque improves mutual perceptions

A group from the Sharing Lives Course visits a mosque in Lausanne, Switzerland, and learns that greater awareness can lead to greater sensitivity.




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An OM retreat renews vision

Lawrence and Susan Tong encourage the OM Switzerland team during their annual retreat.




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Shared vision, reaching others

Barranquilla, Colombia :: Mission organisations come together on board Logos Hope to inspire Latinos to serve God around the world.





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Israel visits Paris amid tight security for Nations League soccer clash


"I’m more concerned about France’s attack on the pitch than anything that might happen off it" Ben Shimon said, regarding possible threats to the upcoming game.




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New recordings of Yitzhak Rabin on Arab-Israeli peace talks, role of reservists


Yitzhak Rabin spoke of the importance of manpower and mobilizing reservists following the Yom Kippur War, echoing modern sentiments.




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Grossi visits Iran, only after Trump's election in first visit since new Iranian president


Grossi highlighted that the Islamic Republic continues to increase its 20% and 60% enriched uranium stock as well as the number of cascades it has for enriching uranium in violation of the 2015 deal.




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Singapore-Tamil rapper Yung Raja on why he loves visiting India, and his single ‘Podu Mike’

Dialects, aspirations, collaborations and sounds of his motherland are keeping Singaporean-Tamil rapper Yung Raja going this year




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Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges

NEW DELHI — A toxic haze enveloped India's national capital on the morning of Nov 13 as temperatures dropped and pollution surged, reducing visibility in some parts and prompting a warning from airport authorities that flights may be affected. Delhi overtook Pakistan's Lahore as the world's most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir's live rankings, with an air quality index (AQI) score of more than 1,000, considered "hazardous", but India's pollution authority said the AQI was around 350. Officials were not immediately available to explain the variation. Vehicles drive on a highway on a polluted smoggy morning in New Delhi, India, Nov 7, 2024. PHOTO: Reuters file The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the pollution had reduced visibility to 100 metres in some places by around 8am local time.





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Immigrant Activist to Biden: Close Deportation Cases Now to Take a Weapon Away from Trump

Arizona voters on Election Day approved a sweeping ballot measure that would allow state and local law enforcement to arrest immigrants suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside of ports of entry, while empowering state judges to order deportations. Proposition 314, which creates a series of state crimes targeting immigrants, is modeled after a similar measure in Texas known as S.B. 4 that is currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Only certain portions of Prop 314 are scheduled to go into effect later this month, while the most harmful parts won’t be enforced until the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Texas law. The measure has drawn comparisons to Arizona’s controversial S.B. 1070, a 2010 law that also gave local police authority to arrest immigrants suspected of being undocumented, though large parts of it were later struck down by the Supreme Court. For more, we speak with Tucson-based activist Alejandra Pablos, who was targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for her activism and has been facing deportation proceedings for years. “People who are speaking out are the first to feel the chills,” Pablos says of Trump’s looming anti-immigrant crackdown. She urges the Biden administration to do what it can to mitigate the harm, including by closing deportation cases against people like her.




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Vivad se viswas scheme 2024

Whether assessee is eligible for 50% for dispute tax where his file is in appeal and similar issue was settled in favour of other assessee by the Karnataka High Court case




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Transforming Dharavi: How The Fadnavis-Shinde Government Is Rebuilding Mumbai’s Heart

There was a time when the name Dharavi would paint a concerning picture. Today there is hope, there are aspirations. Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) is poised to be one of the most transformative urban renewal projects in India. It promises to




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Governor visits Sarasvati Mahal Library




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Indian IT firms key beneficiaries of H-1B visa sponsorship, data shows

In the current fiscal so far, 9,265 Amazon employees have availed of the H-1B visa facility, followed by Infosys (8,140 employees), Cognizant (6,321), Google (5,364) and TCS (5,274)




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Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges

Delhi overtook Pakistan's Lahore as the world's most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir's live rankings, with an air quality index (AQI) score of more than 1,000, considered "hazardous", but India's pollution authority said the AQI was around 350




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DPR ready for Visakha metro, works to commence after Centre’s nod: AP Minister Narayana




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Google’s AI-powered ‘Learn About’ feature fuses educational facts with visuals

Google’s new AI-powered ‘Learn About’ experiment will adapt to users’ interests and learning goals, per the company, but it is not yet publicly available in India




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BJP counters Uddhav with Fadnavis' video

The Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday posted a video on X showing checking of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' bags, and said merely holding the Constitution for 'show' is not enough and one must also follow the constitutional system.




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The Life of William Tyndale - "Oh Lord, open the King of England's eyes" - translated Erasmus' Enchiridion militis christiani (Handbook of the Christian Soldier, 1503) - Tyndale announced to a visiting clergyman that he meant to transla

William Tyndale was born about 1494 in Gloucestershire. He took his B.A. at Oxford in 1512 and his M.A. in 1515. He also apparently spent time in Cambridge. He was for some time tutor to a Gloucestershire family. He disturbed the local divines by routing them at the dinner table with chapter and verse of scripture, and by translating Erasmus' Enchiridion militis christiani (Handbook of the Christian Soldier, 1503). He was accused of heresy, but nothing was ever proved. John Foxe reports in his Acts and Monuments (1563) that one day at dinner, Tyndale announced to a visiting clergyman that he meant to translate the Bible so that ploughboys should be more educated than the clergyman himself. -- He travelled to London to ask the Bishop, Cuthbert Tunstall, for support in his work. Tunstall rebuffed him. At this time, king Henry VIII was still the defender of the Catholic faith. Realising he could not translate the Bible in England, Tyndale accepted the help of a London merchant and went to Germany in 1524. He never returned to England, but lived a hand-to-mouth existence, dodging the Roman Catholic authorities. In 1525, he and his secretary moved to Cologne, Germany and began printing the New Testament. But Tyndale was betrayed, and fled up the Rhine to Worms. Here he started printing again, and the first complete printed New Testament in English appeared in February 1526. Copies began to arrive in England about a month later. In October, Tunstall had all the copies he could trace gathered and burned at St Paul's Cross in London. Still they circulated. Tunstall arranged to buy them before they left the continent, so that they could be burned in bulk. Tyndale used the money this brought him for further translation and revision. At the same time, he wrote polemical treatises and expositions of the Bible. He began the Old Testament, apparently in Antwerp: Foxe tells how, sailing to Hamburg to print Deuteronomy, he was shipwrecked and lost everything, 'both money, his copies, and time', and started all over again, completing the Pentateuch between Easter and December. Back in Antwerp, Tyndale printed it in early January, 1530. Copies were in England by the summer. Revisions and shorter translations followed. -- Tyndale's writings were popular in England. Henry VIII, fearing Tyndale's influence, sent an ambassador to persuade him to return to England. In a secret, nighttime meeting outside Antwerp city walls, Tyndale agreed that he would return to England, if the king would print an English Bible. By the time Henry published his Great Bible, Tyndale was already dead. In 1535, the fanatical Englishman Henry Phillips betrayed him to the Antwerp authorities and had him kidnapped. He was imprisoned at Vilvoorde, near Brussels, for sixteen months. A letter from him, in Latin, has survived, asking for a lamp, a blanket, and Hebrew texts, grammar and dictionary, so that he could study. Even Thomas Cromwell, the most powerful man next to King Henry VIII, moved to get him released: but Phillips in Belgium, acting for the papal authorities, blocked all the moves. -- On the morning of 6 October 1536, now in the hands of the secular forces, he was taken to the place of execution, tied to the stake, strangled and burned. His last words reportedly were: "Oh Lord, open the King of England's eyes."



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 3. 1522 A.D. to 1880 A.D. - Indigenous Bible translations and Church Doctrines era - The Reformation

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John Calvin (1509 - 1564 A.D.) -- In 1536 the first edition of "Institutes of the Christian Religion" was published in Basle - It was revised on a number of occasions and the final edition was published in 1559 A.D. - This book was a clear expla

Calvinism was based around the absolute power and supremacy of God. The world was created so that Mankind might get to know Him. Calvin believed that Man was sinful and could only approach God through faith in Christ - not through Mass and pilgrimages. Calvin believed that the New Testament and baptism and the Eucharist had been created to provide Man with continual divine guidance when seeking faith. In Calvin's view, Man, who is corrupt, is confronted by the omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent (present everywhere) God who before the world began predestined some for eternal salvation (the Elect) while the others would suffer everlasting damnation (the Reprobates). The chosen few were saved by the operation of divine grace which cannot be challenged and cannot be earned by Man's merits. You might have lead what you might have considered a perfectly good life that was true to God but if you were a reprobate you remained one because for all your qualities you were inherently corrupt and God would know this even if you did not. However, a reprobate by behaving decently could achieve an inner conviction of salvation. An Elect could never fall from grace. However, God remained the judge and lawgiver of men. Predestination remained a vital belief in Calvinism.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman Empire - Christian and Rosicrucian Kabbalah [esoteric (hidden) teachings - the real NWO - New Age bible] - The origional Jewish [Witchcraft - King Solomon] Kabbalah --> Christian myst

Lull based his Art on the importance which Christian, Moslem [Islam], and Jew each attached to the Divine Names or Attributes, or, as he called them, Dignities. Lull mentioned nine Dignities (or Dignitaries): Bonitas (Goodness), Magnitudo (Greatness), Eternitas (Eternity), Potestas (Power), Sapientia (Wisdom), Voluntas (Will), Virtus (Virtue), Veritas (Truth), and Gloria (Glory). These are shown in the follwing diagram. ... In addition we also find the incorporation of the four elements [earth, water, air and fire] and the qualities, the seven planets and twelves [astrological] signs, medicine, alchemy, geometry, a letter notation, and so on. There is an elaborate system of correspondences, in that the nine Dignitaries have their correspondences in the celestial sphere, the human level, and the animal, plant, and material creation. In all this we see the influence, not only of Kabbalah, but also of Aristotlean categories, Augustinian Platonism (nearly all the Lullian Dignities can be found listed as Augustine's Divine Attributes), and the celestial hierarchies of angels of the Christian Neoplatonist Dionysius. [Frances A. Yates, The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age, pp.9-12]. -- Renaissance Kabbalah: Renaissance Christian Kabbalah was derived from a number of sources. Firstly, the christological speculations of a number of Jewish converts from the late 13th to the late fifteenth centuries. Secondly, the philosophical Christian and Renaissance speculation concerning the Kabbalah that developed around the Platonic Acadamy founded by the Medici family in Florence. Pico della Mirandola The Florentines, headed by the renowned Renaissance hermeticist Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) believed they had discovered in Kabbalah a lost divine revelation that could give the key to understanding both the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, and the Orphics, and the inner secrets of Catholic Christianity. Pico himself had a considerable amount of Kabbalistic literature translated into Latin by the scholarly convert Samuel ben Nissim Abulfaraj. Among the 900 theses Pico presented for public debate in Rome was the claim that "no science can better convince us of the divinity of Jesus Christ than magic and the Kabbalah", and he believed he could prove the dogmas of the Trinity and the Incarnation through Kabbalistic axioms. All this caused a sensation in the intellectual Christian world, and the writings of Pico and his follower Johannes Reuchlin (1455-1522) led on the one hand to great interest in the doctrine of Divine Names and in practical (magical) Kabbalah (culminating in Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim's De Occult Philosophia (1531) and on the other to further attempts at a synthesis between Kabbalah and Christian theology. [Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah, pp.197-8] -- Rosicrucian Kabbalah: By the late 16th century Christian Kabbalah began to be permeated with alchemical symbolism; a trend that continued through the 17th and 18th century. Well known representatives are the Rosucrucian philosopher and alchemist Robert Fludd (1574-1637) and the alchemist Thomas Vaughan (1622-1666) among others. One of the works of Fludd presents an interpretation of the Sefirotic Tree which he illustrates as a Palm (left), whose ten spreading branches raying forth from the lowest world suggest that man on earth is a microcosm or reflection of the macrocosm or universe. In the second half of the 18th century this alchemical kabbalah was combined with Freemasonic numerology and occultism, from which was ultimately to develop the extraordinary occult/magickal revival of the late 19th century known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn illustration (left) from World Trees by Hazel Minot Kircher's Tree from Oedipus Aegyptiacus published in 1652 by Athanasius Kircher, a Jesuit priest and hermetic philosopher -- Occult Kabbalah: By the 19th century the occultists of the French magician revival, such as Eliphas Levi (Alphonse Louis Constant; 1810-1875) and Papus (Gerard Encausse; 1868-1916) had lost all understanding of the original Jewish meaning of Kabbalah, and brought in various extraneous elements such as Tarot. Levi was an influential figure both on the Theosophy of Blavatsky and even more so the Golden Dawn Order of Mathers and Westcott, with it's unique Kabbalistic (or Qabalistic, to use the prefered spelling) formulation of Sefirot and paths, through which Kabbalah established itself in the contemporary Western Occult Tradition.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman Empire - 'Occult' power: the politics of witchcraft and superstition in Renaissance Florence - In Florence, how did one family--the Medici--secure their power after over a centur

Lawrence's interpretation, however narrow and flawed, does highlight an indisputable element of Grazzini's tale of Dr. Manente: its cruelty and "monstrosity," traits that, I will argue, provide insight into the social structures of the mid-sixteenth century, particularly those that rely upon coersion and force. In Florence, how did one family--the Medici--secure their power after over a century of struggle, and how did they come to construct a myth of their own legitimacy? ... It is important to remember that, from 1494--when the friar himself gained widespread support and offered a major threat to the rule of the Medici family--until long after his execution in 1498, Savonarola bequeathed a powerful religious and political vision that was not dependent on his leadership for survival--a fact that fascinated the political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli. Savonarola's followers--called the Piagnoni first by their enemies and later, proudly, by themselves--remained politically active after his execution, through the Republic that lasted until 1513, when the first Medici pope, Leo X, used the considerable influence of this position to help his family and their allies to return to Florence, and again after the sack of Rome in 1527, which occurred during the pontificate of another Medici, Clement VII. The Piagnoni continued to be active even after the Medici, first Alessandro and then Cosimo I, openly turned Florence onto the path of absolutism [unlimited, centralized authority and absolute sovereignty] by accepting the [nobility] title of Duke. ... Lorenzo's manipulation of the Church comes into play in the next phase of the beffa. ... At this point, Grazzini emphasizes not only that many friars and priests were ignorant, but, more importantly, that the kind of people Lorenzo elevated to positions of power in the Florentine church hierarchy were either superstitious [occult] or corrupt, criticisms that Savonarola also often made of the Medici.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman Empire - The Medici Family [generally considered the most Occult family of Medieval Europe] - Other Prominent Medici were *Pope Leo X (1475-1521); Pope Clement VII (1478-1534); Catherine

Medici, an Italian family of merchants and bankers who ruled the republic of Florence through economic power and personal influence. By their patronage of the arts they made Florence the center of the Italian Renaissance. The Medici were created dukes of Florence by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1531, and grand dukes of Tuscany by Emperor Maximilian II in 1575. The last Medici grand duke was deposed by the Austrians in 1737. Important members of the Medici family included the following. Giovanni De' Medici: (1360-1429) established the family fortune and made himself ruler of Florence's merchant oligarchy. Cosimo De' Medici: (1389-1464), his son, used his banking business to gain political power and led Florence in a long period of prosperity and artistic achievement. Lorenzo the Magnificent: (1449-1492), grandson of Cosimo, gained fame as a statesman and patron of arts and letters. He was recognized as a poet himself and was largely responsible for the Tuscan dialect becoming the national speech of Italy. Cosimo (I) the Great: (1519-1574) succeeded to the dukedom in 1537 and ruled as a despot. He restored the duchy of Tuscany by conquering the other republics that had been part of it.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman Empire - The [two] Medici Popes - Pope Leo X [1513 - 1521] known for being the Pope that challenged Martin Luther's [1517 A.D.] 95 Theses -- Pope Clement VII [1523 - 1534] (Medici co

Pope Leo X - Giovanni de'Medici, 1475 - 1513 - 1521: Giovanni de'Medici, second son of Lorenzo and younger brother of the fatuous Piero, became the first of the Medici Popes (Leo X - Leone Decimo) at the age of 38 on 11 March 1513. Prior to this his life had been a complete roller coaster. Brought up in Medici luxury alongside Michelangelo (who was included in the Medici household by Lorenzo), older brother Piero and cousin Giulio (who was adopted by Lorenzo after his father (who was Lorenzo's brother) was killed in the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1478), he had access to the incomes of several wealthy monasteries, including Badia a Passignano, and was made a Cardinal at the age of 13. All this came to an abrupt end in 1494 when, in the wake of Lorenzo's death, the incompetent surrender of his brother Piero the Fatuous to the French, and the ensuing Savanorola stirred turbulence, he had to sneak out of Florence dressed as a Franciscan Friar, and then live in hiding with his cousin for the next decade, latterly being protected by the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian (who ironically was to be a major cause of the collapse of the Bruges branch of the Medici Bank) and then by the dreadful Cesare Borgia and his father Pope Alessandro VI (1431 - 1492 - 1503 (72)) in Rome. ... Pope Clement VII Giulio de'Medici, 1478 - 1523 - 1534 (56) Illegitimate son of Lorenzo's (Pazzi murdered) brother Giuliano, adopted son of Lorenzo, and companion in exile to Lorenzo's son Giovanni (Leo X), who was three years his senior, Giulio de'Medici became Pope Clement VII (Clemente Settimo). He was good looking, intellectually sophisticated, a talented musician and a political disaster. In reality he also faced the legacy of the corrupt practices of his cousin Leo X, and the impossible task of operating in the emergent nation state Europe dominated by Charles V, Francis I, and Henry VIII (whom he excommunicated), and threatened by Suleiman the Magnificent, plus Martin Luther dealing the protestants into the game as well - see Insight Page. He lost England, and was humiliated by having to flee in disguise from Rome when it was barbarically sacked by Charles V's rabble army after Clement mistakenly got too close to flashy Francis I of France.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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The Revised Roman Empire - Saint Helena - the mother of Emperor Constantine I - She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross, with which she is invariably represented in Christian iconography - Constantine appointed his mother H

Family life: The bishop and historian Eusebius of Caesarea states that she was about 80 [years old] on her return from Palestine (Israel). Since that journey has been dated to 326-28, Helena was probably born in 248 or 250. Little is known of her early life. Fourth-century sources, following Eutropius' "Breviarium," record that she came from a low background. Saint Ambrose was the first to call her a stabularia, a term translated as "stable-maid" or "inn-keeper". He makes this fact a virtue, calling Helena a bona stabularia, a "good stable-maid". Other sources, especially those written after Constantine's proclamation as emperor, gloss over or ignore her background. ... Relic discoveries: Constantine appointed his mother Helen as Augusta Imperatrix, and gave her unlimited access to the imperial treasury in order to locate the relics of Judeo-Christian tradition. In 326-28 Helena undertook a trip to the Holy Places in Palestine. According to Eusebius of Caesarea she was responsible for the construction or beautification of two churches, the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, and the Church on the Mount of Olives, sites of Christ's birth and ascension. Local founding legend attributes to Helena's orders the construction of a church in Egypt to identify the Burning Bush of Sinai. The chapel at St. Catherine's Monastery--often referred to as the Chapel of Saint Helen-is dated to the year AD 330. -- Jerusalem was still rebuilding from the destruction of Emperor Hadrian, who had built a temple dedicated, according to conflicting accounts, to Venus or Jupiter over the site of Jesus's tomb near Calvary and renamed the city Aelia Capitolina. According to tradition, Helena ordered the temple torn down and, according to the legend that arose at the end of the fourth century, in Ambrose, On the Death of Theodosius (died 395) and at length in Rufinus' chapters appended to his translation into Latin of Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, which does not mention the event, chose a site to begin excavating, which led to the recovery of three different crosses. Then, Rufinus relates, refusing to be swayed by anything but solid proof, the empress (perhaps through Bishop Macarius of Jerusalem) had a woman who was already at the point of death brought from Jerusalem. When the woman touched the first and second crosses, her condition did not change, but when she touched the third and final cross she suddenly recovered, and Helena declared the cross with which the woman had been touched to be the True Cross. On the site of discovery, Constantine ordered built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well as those on other sites detected by Helena. -- She also found the nails of the crucifixion. To use their miraculous power to aid her son, Helena allegedly had one placed in Constantine's helmet, and another in the bridle of his horse. Helena left Jerusalem and the eastern provinces in 327 to return to Rome, bringing with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics, which were then stored in her palace's private chapel, where they can be still seen today. Her palace was later converted into the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. This has been maintained by Cistercian monks in the monastery which has been attached to the church for centuries. Tradition says that the site of the Vatican Gardens was spread with earth brought from Golgotha by Helena to symbolically unite the blood of Christ with that shed by thousands of early Christians, who died in the persecutions of Nero. -- According to one tradition, Helena acquired the Holy Tunic on her trip to Jerusalem and sent it to Trier. Several of Saint Helena's treasures are now in Cyprus, where she spent some time. Some of them are a part of Jesus Christ's tunic, pieces of the holy cross and the world's only pieces of the rope to which Jesus was tied with on the Cross. The latter has been held at the Stavrovouni Monastery, which was also founded by Saint Helena.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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Wikipedia: Constantine the Great - Roman Emperor from 306 A.D. to 337 A.D. - The foremost general of his time, Constantine defeated the emperors Maxentius and Licinius during civil wars - He also fought successfully against the Franks, Alamanni, Visigoths

Religious policy: Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor; his reign was certainly a turning point for the Church. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians should be allowed to follow the faith of their choosing. This removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property. The edict protected from religious persecution not only Christians but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever deity they chose. A similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy; Galerius' edict granted Christians the right to practice their religion but did not restore any property to them. The Edict of Milan included several clauses which stated that all confiscated churches would be returned as well as other provisions for previously persecuted Christians. ... Constantine did not patronize Christianity alone, however. After gaining victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312), a triumphal arch-the Arch of Constantine-was built (315) to celebrate it; the arch is decorated with images of Victoria and sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, and Hercules, but contains no Christian symbolism. In 321, Constantine instructed that Christians and non-Christians should be united in observing the venerable day of the sun, referencing the esoteric eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped introduce, and his coinage still carried the symbols of the sun cult until 324. Even after the pagan gods had disappeared from the coinage, Christian symbols appeared only as Constantine's personal attributes: the chi rho between his hands or on his labarum, but never on the coin itself. Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, which became the seat of Byzantine Christianity for a millennium, he did so wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem. -- The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the emperor as having some influence within the religious discussions going on within the Catholic Church of that time, e.g., the dispute over Arianism. Constantine himself disliked the risks to societal stability that religious disputes and controversies brought with them, preferring where possible to establish an orthodoxy. The emperor saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshiped in his empire, and that what proper worship consisted would be determined by the Church. In 316, Constantine acted as a judge in a North African dispute concerning the validity of Donatism. After deciding against the Donatists, Constantine led an army of Christians against the Donatist Christians. More significantly, in 325 he summoned the Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical Council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). Nicaea was dealt mostly with Arianism. Constantine also enforced the prohibition of the First Council of Nicaea against celebrating the Lord's Supper on the day before the Jewish Passover (14th of Nisan) (see Quartodecimanism and Easter controversy). Constantine made new laws regarding the Jews. They were forbidden to own Christian slaves or to circumcise their slaves.



  • Christian Church History Study
  • 2. 313 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - Revised Rome and the Holy Roman Empire

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The Apostles' Creed - Sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol" - It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visi

While the individual statements of belief that are included in the Apostles' Creed - even those not found in the Old Roman Symbol - are found in various writings by Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, Marcellus, Rufinus, **Ambrose (about 337 A.D. - 397 A.D.), Augustine, Nicetus, and Eusebius Gallus, the earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus ("Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books") of St. Priminius (Migne, Patrologia Latina 89, 1029 ff.), written between 710 A.D. and 714 A.D. This longer Creed seems to have arisen in what is now France and Spain. Charlemagne imposed it throughout his dominions, and it was finally accepted in Rome, where the Old Roman Creed or similar formulas had survived for centuries. -- {Note: The Christian Church historically has sought in large to be directed by the Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles of the New Testament - The Apostles' Creed is a classic and still currently relevant example of how true to form the Doctrines of the Church have remained in being faithful to the "common salvation" (Jude 1:3) as it was initially delivered to the Christian Church.}




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(F4F) Fighting for the Faith: About Any Word From God - Sermon Review "Vision 20/20" by Bob Guiglione of Calvary Chapel of Delaware County

Sermon Review "Vision 20/20" by Bob Guiglione of Calvary Chapel of Delaware County.




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No Vista 4 Intel (HAR!)





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Mark Cox Joins Fischer Identity Team as Associate Vice President of Identity and Access Management Strategic Advisory Services

Mark Cox Joins Fischer Identity Team as Associate Vice President of Identity and Access Management Strategic Advisory Services.




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Visit Japan Today on Your Budget Using the Affordable Flash Deal!

Pacific Holidays Inc. has recently announced their latest Flash Deal, which can help anyone take their dream Japan vacation.




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The 1968 Travis Pike's Tea Party "If I Didn't Love You Girl" single reissued, news from Otherworld Cottage and Harvey Kubernik

Otherworld Cottage Industries owner Travis Edward Pike, and music and pop culture author Harvey Kubernik are kranking out the latest news as fast as tomorrow's headlines.




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Michelle L. Ross Earns the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation

Asset Management Group, Inc. of Stamford, CT., is pleased to announce that the College of Financial Planning has granted Michelle L. Ross the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation.




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Jennifer Brucato Earns the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation

Stamford, CT - Asset Management Group, Inc. is proud to announce that Jennifer Brucato has been awarded the Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®) Designation by the College of Financial Planning. This prestigious designation recognizes Jennifer's commitment to providing comprehensive and expert financial advice to high-net-worth clients.




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A Visionary Lighthouse: Kuwait's Expo 2025 Osaka Pavilion Presents Country's Past, Present and Future

The architecture and exhibition of the Kuwait Pavilion at the upcoming World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan were unveiled to the public today at a ceremony in Tokyo, Japan. Attended by distinguished guests from politics, business, media and society, the State of Kuwait and the partner companies involved in the project provided an in-depth view of the ambitious undertaking.




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Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes's houses 'broken into' a day apart

The homes of Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were both broken into last month, according to police and media reports.




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Computer Vision in Healthcare Industry Worth $11.5 billion by 2029, with a CAGR of 24.0%

(EMAILWIRE.COM, October 23, 2024 ) The global Computer Vision in Healthcare market growth forecasted to transform from USD 3.9 billion in 2024 to USD 11.5 billion by 2029, driven by a CAGR of 24.0%. Market growth is propelled by the regulatory initiatives and incentives promote the adoption of computer...




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22. provisional secession

Simplyukgadgets All About New Gadgets, GizmosAnd Well, Boys Toys. Bearing in mind that the majority of the Institute's members arepractitioners and not on ...




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Using Visual Media Effectively

Interesting visuals can make a huge impact on your website and online marketing efforts, whether they be photos, videos or other forms of media. Social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and even Meerkat have made these visual forms of media even more prominent.

Members of our small business community have some tips for using each of these visual platforms and for including visual elements on business websites. Read on for the full list of tips in this week’s Small Business Trends community roundup.

complete article




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Googles new Small Business Advisors program aims to help SMBs grow

Google has beta-launched a program for small businesses (SMBs) to help them become better marketers on Google. Called Small Business Advisors (SBA), the program offers 50-minute individualized consulting sessions on a range of products from Google My Business to Ads and Analytics to YouTube.

No enterprises or agencies. Google told me in an email that the program is is open to small businesses in the United States with an active Google account.  Large businesses, marketing and SEO agencies are not eligible to participate. The cost is $39.99 per session. There’s no fee through the end of 2020.

Small business does not appear to be defined, so theoretically companies with up to 100 employees or even 499 employees (the U.S. Small Business Administration definition). As a practical matter, the program will likely be utilized by very small businesses with relatively few employees. Suspended accounts are not eligible to book an appointment and must get reinstated before gaining access to the program.