https://tribune.com.pk/story/2508719/shifting-climate-priorities After years of urgent calls for climate action, global leaders from key economies are now opting out of the United Nations COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan – a troubling signal for international climate efforts. The absence of the US in the summit starting today is particularly concerning. President Joe Biden will not attend, citing […]

USA's Bourne spin-off series Treadstone premieres tomorrow night. While I've been surprised by the paucity of advertising in the real world, the network has released many, many clips online over the past month--enough, seemingly, to create a fairly good assembly cut of the pilot episode! But they've saved the best for last. A clip with an extended fight scene and a chase across European rooftops shared today by the International Spy Museum really demonstrates that they appear to have captured the tone and feel of Doug Liman's 2002 movie The Bourne Identity. (The lead actor also seems to have been cast at least partly for bearing a slight resemblance to Matt Damon.) This has me very excited to sample the series tomorrow night! Watch the clip here.

Read my review of the novel that started it all, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, here.

Treadstone premieres on Tuesday, October 15, at 10/9c on USA.

LG is bending the rules of physics with its first-ever stretchable display that expands with impressive elasticity and micro-LEDs. The new display is capable of expanding up to 50%, the highest rate of elongation in the industry. Companies have been pushing the boundaries of what screens can do in the last few years. From Motorola’s concept

JSTR-OPTR - Optimizing bit rates and transmission resolution by considering display characteristics and available bandwidth

Framework for audio structuralizing based on deep neural networks

Optimizing terrestrial cable utilization across multiple countries to boost regional and international connectivity

Procedures for the end-to-end connection of analogue PSTN text telephones over an IP network utilizing text relay

Market Whales and Their Recent Bets on Micron Technology Options  Benzinga

How Embedding Technology is Revolutionizing AI and Contextual Advertising  TechCrunch

Youthful energy can sometimes run amok, but energy creates more energy. Stagnation creates more stagnation.

Daniel Drohan of Microsol Resources says Building Information Modeling, or BIM technology, is revolutionizing construction by improving design accuracy, streamlining roof maintenance, reducing costs by up to 52%, and driving industry-wide efficiency.

A quarter of the world's population uses voice search, and the numbers are only going to rise.

Improved accuracy, wider language choices, and real-time options are among the benefits.

What is the financial management strategy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security? How is DHS modernizing its financial management system? What’s next in its financial modernization journey? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Stacy Marcott, Acting Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The post Modernizing financial management in the DHS: A conversation with Stacy Marcott first appeared on Federal News Network.

By Greg Thomas, freelance writer.

When manufacturing, these unassuming substances play a crucial role in bringing products together. From the aerospace and automotive industries to electronics and construction, industrial adhesives provide a reliable bond that withstands immense pressure and holds everything in place.

By Heico Sandee, Founder and CEO of Smart Robotics.

Pick-and-place automation has become a cornerstone of modern warehouse operations, ensuring that tasks are executed with the utmost precision and consistency. As warehouses evolve to meet the demands of dynamic industries like e-commerce and pharmaceuticals, the role of these robotic systems becomes increasingly vital.

By Terri Knowles, freelance writer.

In the internet age, it’s sometimes easy to forget that customer service sometimes requires an old-school approach. Your clients have a problem, you make a work order, and your field team goes there to resolve it. While this process sounds simple, it could become a proper logistical nightmare, a nightmare that simple mobile apps could solve. With that in mind and without further ado, here’s how mobile apps can help revolutionize service management.

his week, organizations representing and supporting federal employees discuss how they have been active this month highlighting the work of public servants and advocating for policies that improve that work.

The post Celebrate & Advocate: Recognizing Public Servants in May first appeared on Federal News Network.

Thunderdome must clear an operational assessment and red team tests. DISA also faces the hurdles of scaling a new security tool and processes across enterprise DoD networks. We talk with DISA’s Drew Malloy about the challenges ahead.

The post Modernizing Cybersecurity at the Defense Department first appeared on Federal News Network.

Learn how initiatives in the Air Force, Defense Logistics Agency and Navy are reinventing warehouse operations so that DoD teams can gain end-to-end visibility across their inventories, facilities and even people. Download our exclusive ebook.

The post Strategic approaches to modernizing DoD warehouse operations first appeared on Federal News Network.

In CSC's recent insight paper, we address the trend that many business leaders today don't realize the extent to which their modern enterprise -- and its millions of digital assets -- rely on. It's a vast domain ecosystem that needs to be protected from online threats. Often, to better understand this need for domain security, we need to understand how critical and interconnected domains are within a business.

80 out of 120 workers trying to unionize reportedly quit due to RTO mandate.

Just like YouTube Shorts, a swipe down could soon play the next long-form video.

Bridgetown (Barbados) - Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic)

[Finish line of The Amazing Race 36, Episode 9, at the Anfiteatro La Puntilla in Puerto Plata, with the Taino Bay cruise port in the background. Screenshot from CBS television broadcast.]

It's a sign of the times that The Amazing Race made its first visit to the Dominican Republic this season. The DR has had the fastest-growing economy in the Caribbean or Central America for the last twenty years, and is now the region's largest economy. A substantial part of that economic growth, and a deliberate target of the government's efforts to attract investment, has been tourism.

Until a decade ago, more money came into the DR through remittances from Dominicans living and working abroad, mainly in the USA, than from any other source. Since then, boosted by government policies to promote tourism development, revenues from international tourism to the DR have doubled, passing remittances as the country's largest source of foreign exchange.

The DR is the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola; Haiti is the the western third of the island. If the DR doesn't get as much notice abroad, that's partly because it's a relatively stable, middle-income country, not notable for poverty, wealth, or war. "If it bleeds, it leads", and the DR hasn't had the crises that have brought so much attention (although little understanding or empathy) to its closest neighbor.

To put the situation in perspective, per capita income in the DR is half what it is in Barbados, the last previous destination visited by The Amazing Race 36, but five times that of Haiti. A major issue in the DR is immigration from Haiti and ongoing discrimination in the DR against a racially stigmatized underclass of Haitian immigrants and Dominicans of Haitian ancestry.

International tourism rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic much more quickly in the DR than in most other countries. There were more foreign visitors to the DR in 2022 than there had been in 2019, the last year before the pandemic. As they started travelling again after the worst of the pandemic, some visitors from the USA probably chose the DR as a destination closer and a shorter flight away than other places they might otherwise have gone.

Other visitors come to the DR -- especially to the area around Puerto Plata where this episode of The Amazing Race took place -- on a growing number of cruise ships. The main challenge for the racers took place at the Damajagua waterfalls, which are promoted primarily as a shore excursion for cruise ship passengers. I had hoped that the pandemic might kill off the cruise industry as we know it, or at least reduce demand for cruises enough that some cruise ships might be repurposed for transportation. I was wrong. Cruising is back with a vengeance.

Puerto Plata has only a tenth of the population of the country's capital city and main cargo port, Santo Domingo, but Puerto Plata is overwhelmingly and increasingly the dominant cruise ship port of call in the DR. There are two cruise ports in the Puerto Playa area, one purpose-built and operated exclusively for Carnival Cruise Lines at Amber Cove, and the Taino Bay Cruise Port in the center of the city that was visible in the background at the finish line of this episode of The Amazing Race 36.

Next week The Amazing Race 36 returns to the USA. For the season finale, two episodes have apparently been edited down to a total of an hour and a half of broadcast time to suit the demands of CBS television schedulers. Stay tuned!

Puerto Plata (Dominican Republic) - Philadelphia, PA (USA)

What you're not realizing is, if you want to go to another state, nobody's gonna' stop you. Like, you can get in the car, and you go!

[Juan, at the finish line of The Amazing Race 36 in Philadelphia, PA.]

En route to the finish line of The Amazing Race 36 in Philadelphia, Juan and his partner Shane mistakenly drove across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and back. Despite numerous historical allusions in this episode of the reality-TV travel show, the racers weren't supposed to reenact Washington's crossing of the Delaware: they were supposed to go to a famous Philly cheesesteak house. But they borrowed a bystander's phone and got directions to a similarly named Jersey pizza joint. Their third-place finish on the race was due not to getting lost, but to relying blindly on the first response to a Google search.

How is it, though, that it seems so natural to Juan, as perhaps to most of us, that we can cross state lines so easily, but it seems equally natural that we have to request and obtain permission (visas), show passports, and submit to inspection to cross international borders?

Should international travel everywhere be as easy as crossing between US states or between member states of the European Union?

Can we have borders without border controls, as these examples might suggest?

These are important questions for all travellers, but perhaps especially for those of us whose passports privilege us to cross many borders with only minor inconvenience and without having to worry too much, or too often, about whether or not the border guards or the authorities at the airport or seaport will permit us to enter, will detain us, or will turn us back.

Last week I attended a fascinating discussion on this subject with John Washington, a reporter for Arizona Luminaria and the author of The Case for Open Borders (Haymarket Books, 2024) at the wonderful Medicine for Nightmares bookstore in San Francisco, co-sponsored by the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

The conversation was even more thought-provoking than a mere summary of the book would suggest.

Washington's goal, as he describes it, is not so much to provide a comprehensive treatise on the rationale for open borders as to introduce and inject the idea -- today invoked most often as a bogey-man like "Communism" to be automatically dismissed -- into the realm of possibility and serious debate. Closed or controlled borders are not things that have always existed, that exist everywhere even today, or that should be taken for granted. The Case for Open Borders is only a starting point for the debate we need to have.

I was particular pleased that Washington mentioned, both in his book and in his presentation, several other books and authors that have influenced my thinking and that I think deserve more attention. So rather than restate Washington's argument (open borders would be good for almost everyone, and are a realistic possibility which can and should be adopted without delay), which you can read for yourself, let me highlight some key topics related to travel across borders, and some of these sources of additional insight.

In his talk, Washington acknowledged How Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas as a source of quantitative data about migration, even though de Haas criticizes some of the specific arguments Washington makes for open borders. You don't have to agree with all of de Haas's conclusions to value his marshalling of migration data and his interpretations of what it says about who crosses borders and why.

We think of borders as being between states (i.e. countries, not all of which are "nation states"). But that hasn't always been the case. Until recently, "states" were the exception, not the rule. Borders and walls -- the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall at the northern border of the Roman Empire, and so forth -- were what separated the territory of "civilized" states and peoples from the stateless territories inhabited by nomads, shifting agriculturists, hunter-gatherers, and other "barbarians". The Art of Not Being Governed, by the political theoretican and anthropologist James C. Scott, is a detailed historical case study of how the borders between states (mostly in the easily controlled flatlands) and stateless regions (mostly in the hills) have shaped the movements of people.

Why is the fundamental right of movement lagging, even backsliding, throughout the world? Why do states decry and prosecute impingements on the right to free speech, the free press, or the right to freedom from government oppression... and yet so enthusiastically impinge on the right to free movement? Is the right to free movement somehow different from the right to free speech, or the right to liberty? Why is the fundamental right to leave your country enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, but not the right to enter another country? In a world (almost) completely carved into nation states, the right to leave is only half a right without the right to enter.

[John Washington, The Case for Open Borders, p. 182.]

As Washington notes, international human rights law distinguished between right to leave any country and the right to enter "your own" country (but not to enter any other country). Who is allowed to cross which borders thus depends on which country or countries is/are defined to be "your own". Citizenship is typically defined by birth: where you were born ("jus soli", right of the soil) and/or who your parent were ("jus sanguinis", right of blood). But should we take either or both of these principles of citizenship for granted?

Jacqueline Stevens, in Reproducing the State, presents a feminist critique of the idea of "birthright" citizenship, especially as the basis for distinctions between who does, and who does not, have certain rights. If some people have more rights, especially rights of place, and some have fewer, depending on who their parents are or where they were born, doesn't that amount to -- as Stevens and Washington both name it -- apartheid?

Mahmood Mamdani, in Neither Settler nor Native, argues that the very idea of the "nation-state" defined by citizenship is a settler-colonial invention that reifies discriminatory distinctions. And in States Without Nations, Stevens envisions a world without birthright citizenship or citizenship-based border controls.

That's not the world we live in today, though. On the ways in which borders are becoming less and less open, Washington cites Todd Miller's Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World. For a global perspective on this issue, I would add David Scott FitzGerald's Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers -- and, of course, my own writing for the Identity Project.

Control of cross-border movement based on who we are depends on documents (passports) and/or biometric databases that identify who we are and link us with attributes that form the basis for deciding which borders we can and can't cross. Washington cites John Torpey's The Invention of the Passport as one version of the history of passports and travel documents. Another is provided by Mark B. Salter in Rights of Passage: The Passport in International Relations.

Finally, to Washington's moving stories about life and death in the USA-Mexico borderlands, I would add Sally Hayden's tour de force of witness from another border region, My Fourth Tine, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route. Trigger warning: This is both the easiest and, in other ways, the hardest of the books on this list. But it's also the one I most strongly recommend.

On another note, there was an unfortunate omission earlier in this episode of The Amazing Race 36. The racers were sent to the Arch Street Meeting House, but nothing was said to explain this building or its historical significance to viewers of The Amazing Race. I'll be generous to the TV producers and assume that this context was left on the cutting-floor when what had been planned and filmed as the final two hour-long episodes of The Amazing Race 36 were edited down to a single ninety-minutes episode to suit the CBS-TV broadcast schedule. It's too bad that TV viewers missed out on that lesson, though, because Quakers have had an influence -- not just in the founding of Pennsylvania, but in the structure of American society at large -- far out of proportion to their small numbers and extending far beyond the membership of the Religious Society of Friends, but often overlooked in history texts and classes.

Quakers have had key roles in every period of American history, especially in times of social struggle and social change: in the abolitionist movement of the 1860s, in the civil rights movement of the 1960s (Bayard Rustin, a queer African-American Quaker who had been imprisoned for resisting the draft during World War II, was a key tactical and strategic advisor to the Rev. M. L. King, Jr., and one of the main organizers of the 1963 March on Washington), and in the anti-nuclear movement of the 1980s and subsequent campaigns of nonviolent direct action that have used consensus-based structures of organizing derived from Quaker decision-making and articulated and taught by, among others, George Lakey.

You can't fully understand American history without some understanding of Quaker thought and action. If you go to Independence Hall to see the Liberty Bell, it's worth a small detour to check out the modest exhibits at the Arch Street Meeting House on the next block.

Location: Engineering Library- TK5105.887.L35 2016

The personal information of more than 200,000 people in Los Angeles County was potentially exposed after a hacker used a phishing email to steal login credentials.

Big Tech titans such as Elon Musk and Reid Hoffman are divided between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump but all too united in their selfish aims. We need a new model.

In this webinar, Alex Rimmer, Samuel East, and Catriona Jamieson will discuss how they developed low-cost, animal-free culture media for cellular agriculture.

I was excited to see Microsoft bring the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) back from the dead this past year: At Build 2024 back in May, it announced that it would continue investing in this 20-year-old technology, starting with support for Windows 11 theming that would arrive as part of .NET 9. In fact, I was so excited about this that I brought my .NETpad project back from the dead as well, and I spent much of the summer modernizing my Notepad clone with the new features. I wrote 24 articles documenting this work, but I was stymied by the half-assed nature of the improvements.

Microsoft released exactly one WPF update during the several months of .NET 9 development, and it never added any of the features I discovered were missing. And so as we headed into today's release of .NET 9, my excitement was somewhat diminished. My assumption was that we wouldn't see those missing features implemented until .NET 10, if ever.

Well, Microsoft just released .NET 9. As part of that release, it published updated documentation for WPF (and all the other .NET technologies). And to my surprise, there are some updates to WPF that address at least one of those missing features.

So let's take a look.

To add support for Windows 11 theming to a WPF project, you need to add a reference to the new Fluent theme resource dictionary in its App.xml file. It looks like so:

<Application.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
      <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/PresentationFramework.Fluent;component/Themes/Fluent.xaml" />
      </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Application.Resources>

But with the shipping version of .NET 9, there's a second, more elegant way to add Windows 11 theming support. Now, you can access a new Application.ThemeMode property of a new styling API to toggle the app's theme mode between Light, Dark, System, and None. And that's fantastic, because it addresses one of those missing features: To date, .NETpad has adapted itself to the system theme (Light or Dark), but there was no way to let the user pick a theme mode. (For example, if the system was set to Dark and the user wanted the app to use Light mode.) With this change, I can implement that feature.

Fortunately, .NETpad is ready for this change, too: If you followed along with my work this past summer, you may remember that I implemented the user interface for switching the app theme into its settings interface, but left the UI hidden because it didn't do anything. But I always felt that Microsoft would need to implement this features, so I left the code in there. Granted, I didn't think it would happen this quickly.

The shipping version of .NET 9 also adds explicit support for the Windows 11 accent color (as configured by the user in the Settings app in Personalization > Accent color). As it is, .NETpa...

The post Modernizing .NETpad: .NET 9 Arrives with a Few (More) Small Improvements for WPF (Premium) appeared first on Thurrott.com.

If you think you know the full story of how a soccer team became trapped in a Thai cave, a spectacle that drew the breathless attention of the world, you don't…

In 1914, English composer Gustav Holst began writing what would become The Planets, a seven-movement orchestral suite inspired by the seven planets in the solar system (minus Earth) and each planet's astrological character…

The Texas senator becomes the subject of mockery after commenting on the agency's ad by claiming that CIA agents have 'come a long way from' Matt Damon's fictional character.

The Texas senator becomes the subject of mockery after commenting on the agency's ad by claiming that CIA agents have 'come a long way from' Matt Damon's fictional character.

Helping with safer motoring.

Robomagic is seeking charismatic, amazing new acts (solo or groups) with infectious music people want to hear. Acts should have an eye toward working hard to make it in the music business and come to the table ready to get involved with experienced teams that know how to make it happen.

Acts can be based anywhere but relocation to London may be necessary, depending upon a range of variables and circumstances. But if you've got the goods, we'd got the team, the know-how, and the resources to help make it happen.

We look forward to hearing your best material.

- Rob Hallett - Founder / President - Robomagic

WATCH THE ARCHIVES HERE!

When COVID first shuttered churches in 2020, no one but God could have foreseen that it would lead to the largest-ever gathering at the Amazing Facts W.O.R.D. Center. Yet it did precisely that!

From June 12 to 15, 2024, a record number of youth attended Stand: Unshakeable Faith, the 2024 Amazing Facts Youth Conference—including setting a record one-day Sabbath gathering of 1,500 people, who gathered to hear Pastor Doug Batchelor, president of Amazing Facts International, present his message to young people, “Standing on the High Ground.” Watch archives of this and other 2024 AFY Conference presentations by visiting www.afyouth.com.

Many young people traveled long distances to participate in the conference, which was designed to help them develop a resilient faith in the face of secular culture and peer pressure. They were joined by thousands more online! We praise God that the Holy Spirit moved mightily, as hundreds of youth recommitted to living for Jesus in these last days of Earth’s history. 

Said Pastor Doug, “This youth conference gave me such joy and hope for the future of our church. It was absolutely thrilling to see so many young people come to hear the Word.”

Throughout the weekend, speakers explored what it means to stand firm for Jesus. Their messages focused on being filled with the Holy Spirit, watching and praying with Christ, being a part of the remnant, understanding God’s love story for us, and the role of trials in our growth. Along with Pastor Doug, speakers included Anil Kanda, Carlos Muñoz, Diamond Garcia, Anella Poljak, and Darcee Christensen.[PQ-HERE]

AFY: Humble Beginnings

Worried about the church losing youth to the isolation of COVID restrictions and social distancing, Tony Scarpino, a youth leader at the Granite Bay Hilltop Church, took their Sabbath School programs online. Those initial social media broadcasts became the seed of Amazing Facts Youth (AFY), a worldwide ministry that meets online twice weekly, prays earnestly for one another, and leads out in the conference. 

From those humble beginnings, God has worked mightily to grow and prosper the movement, including leading Amazing Facts to present an annual youth conference. “I am in awe of what God did at this year’s conference,” says Tony. “I saw families coming alive together. The little kids were vibrant, the youth were engaged, and the parents were involved. It was incredible!”

Attendees from as far away as Honduras and New York enjoyed the engaging presentations, united prayer, community outreach, and fellowship with like-minded individuals. Evening sessions, free meals served by the local church members, and an afternoon outing to an adventure park provided opportunities for fun and friendship. 

“This was a wonderful weekend for our family,” reflects Tamara from Dayton, Ohio. “As a mom, I’m always looking for ways to get my boys involved in things that will grow their faith.”

For the first time, this year’s conference included presentations designed for kids. Presented by Amazing Facts evangelist Daniel Hudgens, Amazing Adventures introduced younger children at the conference to the importance of the Bible, standing against sin, and walking with Jesus. The kids also enjoyed music and rousing Bible games.

A Place Where Youth Have a Voice

Over the past four years, Tony and others have helped mentor a team of dedicated youth who now run AFY’s weekly meetings. The youth team even chose the theme Stand: Unshakeable Faith for the 2024 conference and organized many aspects of the event. “The youth have a real voice here,” says Tony.

On the final night of this year’s conference, Pastor Anil Kanda urged the youth not to let the enthusiasm they experienced at the conference end with the event. He said, “God is going to need another generation to rise up and stand in the gap. I’m getting a lot of grey hairs, [and] Pastor Doug isn’t always going to be here. God is calling you to share His love with the world. He is not interested in how prepared you are. He is interested in how willing you are. He will open incredible doors if you are willing.”

His message hit especially hard for the youth, who are challenged by worldly entertainment and distractions unlike at any other time in history. Aleah, a teen from California, says, “The meetings explained exactly what I’ve gone through.”

Her friend Marissa was also blessed by the speakers’ messages, saying, “They have been really helpful to me. The speakers have shown me how necessary it is to spend time with God each day and how to make it a priority.” 

Sharing the gospel is an essential part of every AFY conference. On Friday afternoon, after specialized AFCOE training with Carlos Muñoz, AFCOE director, and other staff, over 200 energetic youth went into the community to give out biblical literature and pray with people. 

An hour later, they returned eager to share what God had done. “This was my first time going door-to-door,” said Shivani. “I was very nervous, but we gave out all our books and prayed for seven or eight people. I realized that a lot of people are hurting, so I’m thankful God gave me the courage to go out. It was a good experience.”

Welcome to the AFY Family

Edward, a psychology student, is a leader at AFY who has been an active member ever since the first Zoom meeting. Smiling brightly, he shares, “We’ve built relationships with each other and God here. I want people to know that regardless of who you are or what is going on in your life, you are welcome in the AFY family.”

Like many other members, Kyle wanted to follow God but had little practical experience. All that has changed through his participation in AFY. Today, he is strong in faith and active in ministry. He says, “Being a part of AFY has definitely changed me for the better. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it. The community, the fellowship, the likemindedness—these people are my family.” 

That’s precisely what the team at AFY has been striving for. “We’ve invested years into these kids,” Tony says. “To see them grow as individuals and leaders is wonderful. And now to see AFY expanding to reach so many more youth—God is doing something really exciting!”

Says Pastor Doug, “I believe in the message of Joel 2:28, which reveals that our sons and daughters will play a vital role in the gospel work in the last days. That’s why I’m so thrilled to see our team training up the youth, these young men and women who will be part of the generation to fulfill this amazing promise.”

Plans are now being made for the 2025 youth conference. Visit afyouth.com to keep up to date. But you don’t have to wait to get involved in AFY. Check out these weekly events:

• Hey, Let’s Pray: Mondays at 6:00 PM ET

• AFY Live: Fridays at 6:00 PM ET

Every five years, the Pathfinder Camporee draws church youth from around the world for an unforgettable time of worship, learning, prayer, and fellowship. This year was no different, with over 55,000 young people and sponsors attending the gathering, which was held in Gillette, Wyoming. 

And for the first time ever, Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug Batchelor, president, attended the weeklong event—which included hosting a booth and offering kids a chance to earn an exclusive honor badge.

Over the first few days, many young people crowded around the Amazing Facts booth and attended a special class called “Preach It!,” taught by Daniel Hudgens, evangelist and assistant director of AFCOE, who taught school-age kids how to share their faith. Says Daniel, “It was a delight to see so many young people realize that they preach a sermon every day by the life they live.” Those who attended received a free book and could get a Preach It! badge after returning home.

Amazing Facts also produced a commemorative puzzle that incorporated this year’s camporee theme, “Believe the Promise.” The colorful artwork consisted of events from the life of Moses and the Exodus.

Later in the week, a storm severe enough to produce a tornado warning doused the camp with rain and even blew down tents. No significant damage was done, but when the chance of more severe weather threatened to strike camp during the final Sabbath, Camporee leaders made the difficult decision to end a day early for everyone’s safety.

Since all official Camporee activities were canceled, most attendees began to pack up. Still, with nowhere else to go, many at camp decided to stay through to the end.

With no Sabbath programs scheduled, Pastor Doug asked Camporee leadership if Amazing Facts could use a tent and microphone to host a worship service for anyone who wanted to attend. He got approval on Sabbath at 8:00 AM! The Amazing Facts team jumped into action, driving through the campground with a megaphone to invite everyone to join in the impromptu Sabbath service.

Says Pastor Doug, “There were only three or four people in the tent when I walked in, but we got started anyway. Someone offered to lead out in a song service. Then, a Pathfinder group showed up and offered to do special music. By the time we finished, 500 people were in the tent worshiping Jesus! There was still time before lunch, so we opened it up for the kids to ask their questions about the Bible.”

[PQ-HERE]People then began asking if there would be a vespers service. “I honestly didn’t know if anyone would come to that since we’d already met in the morning,” Pastor Doug shares. “I guess my faith was small because a thousand people showed up that evening for a message, prayer, and singing.”

Pastor Doug reflects, “It started with an idea Friday night, and by Sabbath evening, a thousand people were worshiping together. The youth there were so hungry for spiritual connection. I believe God worked a little miracle to make it happen.”

By God’s grace, the severe weather never materialized. And for one Amazing Facts worker, the unexpected turn of events pointed to the promise found in Romans 8:28: “God took something the devil had meant for harm and turned it into something good. We serve an amazing God!”

In 1994, Doug Batchelor took the reins at Amazing Facts International—and for the past three decades, God has blessed his bold yet down-to-earth leadership and preaching. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the ministry has grown exponentially and tens of thousands have been baptized globally.

Says Pastor Doug, “Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen God expand this ministry’s kaleidoscope of outreach in such amazing ways. We do so many different things in ministry now—it boggles my mind! We’re training people to share the gospel, printing truth-filled literature, producing TV and radio broadcasts, and conducting public evangelism. We are trying to do everything we can to help as many people as possible meet Jesus before He comes back.”

From “No” to “Yes”

Pastor Doug had never planned to lead an international media ministry. In fact, in 1993, he and his wife Karen turned down the first invitation to join Amazing Facts.

Just a year before, he had become the pastor of a church in Sacramento. Right away, God opened the doors for media evangelism, and the church began broadcasting its services on several local television stations. Attendance soon doubled, and the Batchelors were certain they should not leave. 

However, they did agree to pray about the call to Amazing Facts. “We were so blessed and inspired by Pastor Crews,” Karen remembers. “We did not feel capable of following in his footsteps.”

Then, in 1994, everything changed. Pastor Joe Crews, whose vision and leadership had grown Amazing Facts from a fledgling radio program into a full-fledged media ministry, had a heart attack. “Get Doug!” he said.

When the Amazing Facts board reached out again, the Batchelors accepted. Not long after Pastor Doug joined Amazing Facts, the church next to Amazing Facts’ headquarters in Maryland burned down, and the ministry needed to move. After much prayer, leadership voted to move the ministry to California. 

Thirty Years of Growth

God has blessed in incredible ways since Pastor Doug joined Amazing Facts. The ministry has grown from broadcasting on just a few television stations to over 100 in the United States alone. Worldwide broadcast reach exceeds two billion. Radio programming now airs on well over 400 stations. AFCOE training centers spread God’s light in Oceania, Indonesia, the Philippines, Africa, and Europe. 

[PQ-HERE]Along with his many regular speaking engagements, Pastor Doug has preached at least one major evangelistic series every year. His easy-to-understand and engaging sermons reach people from all walks of life. Recorded and prepped for television, these series have brought the light of truth to tens of thousands of seekers. Prophecy Odyssey and the Net ’99 series, which was held 25 years ago at the same location in Manhattan, have been broadcast live around the world.

Additionally, the development of the W.O.R.D. Center (World, Outreach, Revival, and Discipleship), Amazing Facts’ headquarters and church building in Granite Bay, California, has been a great help to the ministry. Begun as a church plant in 2007, the facilities were completed debt-free in 2021. The active church, for which Pastor Doug serves as senior pastor, partners with Amazing Facts in local outreach and hosts regular summits on various biblical topics. These series, such as The Glory of the Cross, are filmed in the media-equipped church and broadcast globally.

Worldwide Impact

The Batchelors have traveled extensively to spread the gospel since joining Amazing Facts. “I’ve preached in at least 30 countries since I’ve been here,” says Pastor Doug. “It’s such a wonderful thing to see people’s lives changed through the gospel.”

Adds Karen, “We’ve been blessed to travel to so many places and meet so many wonderful people. Our trip to Papua New Guinea several years ago was especially memorable. About 80,000 people gathered for Doug’s preaching. It was amazing to see their hunger for truth. They stood in the rain for hours to listen to God’s Word.”

That spiritual hunger is increasingly mirrored in people all around the world. One of our viewers, Yasmin, says, “I love listening to Pastor Doug preach! I was rebaptized thanks to watching your programs. You inspire me with the work you do. Our Lord is coming soon, and we must tell the world!”

Pastor Doug and Karen feel deeply responsible for sharing the gospel in the roles God has entrusted them. “Amazing Facts strives to be genuinely true to the Bible,” Karen reflects. “That encourages us to be faithful as His witnesses. It has been a very humbling experience for us.”

Pastor Doug puts it simply. “God must have been desperate to choose me.” 

Thank you, Pastor Doug and Karen Batchelor, for 30 years of faithful service to Amazing Facts. Your dedication and service have touched countless souls for the kingdom!

The Bible says before the Lord comes again there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It won't be just the Spirit giving comfort and conviction but a baptism of the Spirit with signs and wonders and miracles.

There is power in words. Words can bring life, and words can bring death. God wants us to speak words of encouragement.

The Bible says before the Lord comes again there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It won't be just the Spirit giving comfort and conviction but a baptism of the Spirit with signs and wonders and miracles.

There is power in words. Words can bring life, and words can bring death. God wants us to speak words of encouragement.

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