Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the importance of developing resilience in our lives by discussing the concept of object permanence.

Dr. Albert Rossi encourages us to be aware of the ways in which our thoughts are directing the course of our lives, both towards evil and good, and calls us to embrace those thoughts which align our lives with the thoughts of Christ.

Dr. Albert Rossi shares a story about the power of resilience in some of the most challenging circumstances in life.

Fr. Lawrence Farley reflects on the twin bombings at yesterday's Boston Marathon in light of the promises of God.

In this week’s broadcast, Fr. Irenei examines a text by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, which prompts the Christian to ask the question, "Do I truly believe in Christ’s resurrection?" If so, how does this belief shape the actual decisions and determinations of our lives?

As the conflict between Russia and Georgia intensifies, IOCCis on the scene providing aid to the displaced and refugees. We interview Amal Morcos, Director of Communications at International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC).

John Maddex talks with Dean Triantafilou, CEO of the International Orthodox Christian Charities about their relief efforts in Haiti. Support the work of IOCC by going to their web site.

Bobby Maddex interviews Mark Ohanian, International Programs Coordinator for International Orthodox Christian Christies (IOCC), about IOCC's ongoing relief effort in Haiti.

Bobby Maddex interviews Mark Gruin, the Haiti Field Program Specialist at International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), about the ongoing needs of the Haitian people.

Bobby Maddex interviews Michelle Lemon, a Senior Program Officer at International Relief and Development (IRD). The Cultural Heritage program of IRD is currently working to restore a number of Serbian Orthodox Churches in Kosovo, and they need your assistance!

Bobby Maddex interviews Mark Ohanian, the Director of Programs at International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), about IOCC's relief efforts in the Philippines following Super Typhoon Haiyan. Click here to find out how you can help.

John Maddex interviews Fr. Evan Armatas about a great resource for families as they prepare for their journey through Great Lent. With the coupon code AFR2014, receive a 10% discount. Find out more HERE.

Mr. Samer Laham, Director of Ecumenical Relations for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in Damascus, Syria, joins us today to share a firsthand account of the dire situation inside his homeland. Learn how IOCC is working with the Patriarchate to bring relief.

World Congress Managing Director Larry Jacobs joins Fr. Josiah Trenham to talk about the coming World Congress of Families to be held in the Republic of Georgia and blessed/hosted by Patriarch Ilia II.

Bobby Maddex interviews Metropolitan Tikhon and Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak about His Beatitude's special appeal for donations from the individual parishioners of the Orthodox Church in America to provide relief for Ukrainian refugees. To donate, please visit oca.org/relief.

Fr. Pat reflects on three points related to the Prodigal Son.

How the Church moved from unbelief to belief is an immense mystery.

In this homily from Palm Sunday Fr. Pat asks what the Cross means for each believer—what it does mean and what it should mean.

In 2 Corinthians 1:23 Paul says, "He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God.” Father Patrick Henry Reardon provides three ways to describe this anointing.

How can we even begin to talk about belief in God? We need to start by making something clear: we're not talking about belief in something; we're talking about belief in someone. That changes the way we see the question. It means God isn't something we think about. It means He's someone we're invited to encounter.

Don't try this on with God: He doesn't like it. Mark 2:23 - 3:5

The Mercy Seat, which is Christ Jesus. Hebrews 9: 1 - 7, Matthew 8: 5 - 13

On this special episode of American Orthodox History, recorded at the first symposium on American Orthodox History at Princeton University, Matthew interviews Samuel Noble, a doctoral candidate at Yale University who has been translating from Arabic the homilies of St. Raphael Hawaweeny.

Great Britain's Dan Evans wins a "ridiculous" point after an extraordinary rally against Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Davis Cup in Manchester.

Watch as Rory McIlroy makes a birdie despite snapping his club head on an approach shot during his first round at the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Clann Eireann forward Jack Conlon says his side showed "character" to regroup from Newbridge's impressive third quarter as they edged a 0-14 to 0-12 win in their Ulster Club SFC quarter-final.

An old office block dubbed Belfast's 'ugliest building' is to be demolished.

The annual Salvation Army collection aims to help Manx families that are struggling financially.

Aberdeen student Hannah Chowdhry is calling for better support for families in a petition to Holyrood.

A year has passed since Fiona hit the headlines and was rescued, how is she finding her new life?

A Guernsey hotel manager says introducing a GST would mean higher prices for customers.

Dzhamilya Timaeva, 19, from Windsor, gained a place at an Islamic Sunday school, a court has heard.

The Labour MP for Hitchin, Alistair Strathern, reacts to the blaze in Wallace Way.

Residents say they are scared by wet weather after their homes flood multiple times.

Managers were "disbelieving" of concerns that nurse Lucy Letby could be harming babies, an inquiry hears.

Former PM Gordon Brown hopes the Tees Valley Multibank will help "put a smile on every child's face".

"Clang clang clang went the trolley..."

A number of people have asked if I would respond to the piece Julie Bindel wrote about The Sex Myth in the Grauniad. Clearly as she took the opportunity to let rip, so too must I?

Maybe, maybe not. Because the truth about Julie Bindel is that she is - shock, horror - actually decent company. You would totally have a drink with her as long as you stayed off the topics of sex work, trafficking, porn, trans issues, gay marriage and... well you get the idea. There are definitely people with whom my politics are more closely aligned whose company I have enjoyed a lot less.

But in the interest of "setting the record straight" (as if such a thing exists) here are my notes on the encounter:

- I approached Julie to ask if she wanted to interview me, in part because I figured she would write about the book anyway. Since I criticise her writing extensively in The Sex Myth it seemed fair to give her a face-to-face.

- She's prettier in person than in her photos. Not that that's relevant, or important, but she is.

- We met three times that week: once for lunch, once for the photos, and again on Sky news. The first words out of her mouth on the air at Sky were "As much as I hate to say this I agree with Brooke." I did a little mental air-punch at that one. (It was also approximately the first thing Claire Perry said when we were on the Today programme. File under: win.)

- The "offal", by the way, was calf's liver and very good it was too. Though I did wish I'd ordered the lamb sweetbreads special instead.

- The dessert was an Eccles cake with cheddar cheese ice cream. Hand on heart, I loved the ice cream. The Eccles cake was not nice. If you have occasion to go to The Gilbert Scott at St Pancras, ask them for a bowl of that ice cream.

- She thought my criticism of Swanee Hunt mentioning her father's political background a bit out of line. My reply to that is if Hunt's still trading on his name and his connections, then she has to expect that. Her extreme privilege (yes, even in supposedly classless America; yes, even when your work is deemed charitable) is a huge hurdle to overcome. Eye of the needle and all that jazz.

- Julie's a big fan of Viz, especially Eight Ace and Sid the Sexist. Who knew? Also she liked Fat Slags better when it was shorter whereas I prefer the longer ones.

- In principle we both agree that sex workers themselves should not be criminalised. After that our thoughts on sex work are mainly opposed. When I put it to her at lunch that the much-talked-about "Swedish model" and Icelandic approaches could never work in the UK, she agreed.

- Julie's piece was filed after we met for lunch on the 17th April, I believe before we had photos on the 20th. The final edits to the book were made on the 25th and approved on the 27th. First edition came off the presses May 1st. (Yes, we cut it fine.) This unfortunately means some of the things from her piece may not be the book.* I'm not sure if it is the writer's or the editor's responsibility to check reviews against the published copy, but someone should have done.

- We both think the Grauniad will cease to exist in printed form soon. Probably most people think that though, so no news there.

- She seemed concerned that I think feminists of her stripe/generation are against sex, and took pains to assure me plenty of sex was going down among the redfems in the 70s and 80s. I said "I bloody well hope so," because what would be the point of rejecting the model of virgin-to-wife-to-mother only to not get laid? However, in my experience, the lesbian-identified feminists when I was at uni in the very early 90s were not so free and easy with the sexual favours. Not that I'm bitter, mind. It wasn't a great place or time to be a woman who slept with both women and men.

- She think my husband looks like a model. As far as independent assessments of attractiveness go, that's about as airtight as they come.

- Her claim that I was 'roundly criticised' by Catherine Hakim for my educational background is a misrepresentation of Hakim's review; you can read it here. My education is in anthropology, maths, forensic science and epidemiology. I've also worked in chemoinformatics and child health research (mainly cancer). If anyone thinks that makes me unqualified to comment on academic research... with all due respect, check yo self.

- The last thing I said to her, when we were leaving Sky news: "Civilised is the new uncivilised."

So there it is. No particular desire or need to fetch a hatchet, because who benefits? (It might also help that I have professional experience of finding common ground with just about anyone for two hours as long as they're buying.) The Grauniad is a known quantity and the "pity" angle of her article frankly unbelievable... you don't bother tearing down someone if you feel actual pity for them. You might even wonder why I bothered. To which I say: lunch? On their dime? Admit it, you so would. And so I did.

It's a pity her piece was, in the end, so misleading. I was told it would be presented as a conversation; it's a rant. She accuses me of accusing her of taking money from the far right: evidence for this claim is undisputed, and considering the libel threats that Eaves For Women put on the book the day of its release,  thus delaying its actual release by weeks while lawyers hemmed and hawed, you would have thought she'd feel free to take it to court if I was actually wrong.

The nuisance suit was dropped very quickly, of course; its fantastical claims included that I had somehow "hacked" the Eaves mainframe... by reporting details of a paper they presented at an international conference, and posted online... well, I guess it got the job done, from their point of view. Ugly but effective.

Helen Lewis, as well, gave a very misleading review. She blasts me for praising a study from Keele University, missing the entire point of why it was praised: because even given the selective inclusion of only a certain kind of sex worker, the results are still positive - which sets it apart from other, negatively skewed, studies. Point well and truly missed. She seems like a smart girl, so I can only imagine she went in with a particular result in mind: namely, punishing me for not saying yes to an interview with her. Hey, I'd already booked Juile... one in-person assassination is enough for my well-being, thanks! Usually reviewers are expected to rise above such petty machinations. (That her review contained some exact wording found in the Eaves libel threat is, I am sure, a complete coincidence.)

But as I say, no hard feelings. They have a point of view that includes taking no prisoners. Apt, I suppose, for a style of feminism that considers the police to be adequate protectors of sex worker safety. Obviously it's a view I disagree with. I'm sure they're both perfectly lovely if you don't disagree with anything they say, ever. But the tenor of so-called debate in this country lately dictates that all differences must be fought to the last. A shame for fact finding, and missing the point of the book.
Right now you're probably thinking I should go to the cinema with Tanya Gold and discover maybe she's not as bad as all that? Hey now, let's not get crazy.

tl;dr - I was expecting a snarling nemesis, what I got was a lesbian Michael Winner... hugely offensive, yet surprisingly charming, bon viveur.

Believe it or not The Sex Myth is not only about columnists, or trafficking, or even feminism: those are only a small part. Most reviews have barely touched on any of the other chapters. It also discusses the medicalisation of female desire and the denial of women's appreciation for erotica, for example. It examines the criticisms of "sex addiction" as a disease. It champions under-reported sexualisation research that is more interested in representing real families than in reflecting a political agenda. It includes citations of all referenced material so you can read them and decide for yourself. My aim is not to force people and certainly not Julie Bindel to think the way I do: it's to open up the discussion in ways we simply are not doing around these topics. It's a call for less panic, not more.

Go get it. Read it. Make up your own mind.



* [Update:  Yes, I have checked this against the email record between me, my editor, and the Orion legal bods; and yes, I have run this blog past them and got the thumbs-up. Proceed to question it at your own risk.]

L'EDITO DE FOG. Trump, rempart contre l'ideologie des elites. En France, une partie de la classe politique, en pleine deconstruction, serait-elle en train de pratiquer l'<< ablation de la memoire >>, selon la formule de Philippe de Villiers ?

L'ecrivain d'origine syrienne a anime dans des colleges franciliens des ateliers organises pour lutter contre la radicalisation et promouvoir la laicite. Il temoigne.

Gaza : au moins trois morts après une frappe israélienne sur le camp de réfugiés de Nouseirat

1. Vendée Globe. Coup dur pour Clarisse Crémer : elle a perdu son grand gennaker  Voiles et Voiliers
2. Vendée Globe : «J’ai un peu honte», la tuile pour Clarisse Crémer qui perd sa voile principale dans l’océan  Le Figaro
3. Vendée Globe : Crémer a perdu sa grande voile  Toute l'actualité sportive sur Orange
4. VIDÉO. Vendée Globe : « Les gestes techniques de Clacla », Crémer se console après son avarie  Ouest-France
5. Vendée Globe 2024 : Clarisse Crémer perd sa plus grande voile au large du Portugal  Le Journal des Sables

1. "Israël is Forever" : "Le sionisme religieux le plus fanatique"… avant France-Israël, un gala organisé par des personnalités franco-israéliennes d’extrême droite fait polémique  L'Indépendant
2. Match France-Israël : Pourquoi le gala « Israël for ever » organisé ce soir à Paris fait polémique ?  20 Minutes
3. Qu’est-ce que le Betar, ce mouvement juif qui organise un rassemblement le 13 novembre à Paris ?  Sud Ouest
4. Qui est Bezalel Smotrich, le ministre d’extrême droite au cœur de la polémique du gala « Israël is forever » organisé à Paris  Le Parisien
5. "La justice a tranché": Bruno Retailleau confirme la tenue d'un gala pro-Israël à Paris  BFMTV

Alien-like signal from 2023 has been decoded. The next step is to figure out what it means  CNN

Overwhelmed families surrendering custody of their children to CAS  CTV News Northern Ontario

Screen-shooting will lead to information leakage. Anti-screen-shooting watermark, which can track the leaking sources and protect the copyrights of images, plays an important role in image information security. Due to the randomness of shooting distance and angle, more robust watermark algorithms are needed to resist the mixed attack generated by screen-shooting. A robust digital watermarking algorithm that is resistant to screen-shooting is proposed in this paper. We use improved Harris-Laplace algorithm to detect the image feature points and embed the watermark into the feature domain. In this paper, all test images are selected on the dataset USC-SIPI and six related common algorithms are used for performance comparison. The experimental results show that within a certain range of shooting distance and angle, this algorithm presented can not only extract the watermark effectively but also ensure the most basic invisibility of watermark. Therefore, the algorithm has good robustness for anti-screen-shooting.

The study investigated the influence of ebullient supervision on employee commitment in a Ghanaian public university through the mediating role of employee engagement. The simple random sampling technique was used to draw 302 administrative staff of the university to respond to the self-administered questionnaire on the constructs. Furthermore, the partial least square structural equation technique was deployed to test the research hypotheses in the study. The results showed that ebullient supervision had a significant positive relationship with employee commitment and employee engagement. The findings further revealed that employee engagement positively correlated with employee commitment. Finally, the study's findings established that employee engagement partially mediated the link between ebullient supervision and employee commitment. The study emphasised that various supervisors in a university's administration should create an environment that favours fun where subordinates can form ties with one another.