I've lately seen folks on here say they've felt guilty for getting books (mine and other authors) from the library, or people insinuating some authors might be against libraries. This is nonsense, and here's a thread on how using your local library supports authors.

It's easy to see why people would think, at first glance, that getting books from the library is depriving a writer of their dues. It's free, after all! You're not paying anything, so how would the author be getting paid anything for your reading? This is a misconception.

While it IS true that, in the US, authors are not directly paid each time someone checks out a book, they DO benefit, in multiple concrete ways.

The first, and most direct, being that libraries and library systems BUY the books for their collection. If a book looks to be popular, they buy in bulk! If a book *becomes* popular (i.e. lots of people checking it out), they will continue to buy more copies of that book.

If the library subscribes to a curation service (like the Junior Library Guild), a book is bought for a library system in large quantities before the book is even released. This is a big deal, especially for new and unknown authors (it's why we get excited when we're JLG picks)

This is a thread I have been wanting to write, but it needed to come from a place of logic and truth and not just words. It is yet another one of my Christianity threads. However, this one will really focus on politicians that use Christianity to attain power.

We have politicians who in one tweet say very divisive words like “radical left” and their next tweet is a Bible quote, think Rubio. I have explained in the past that many Americans call themselves Christians based upon the fact that that they are white and American only. “I am

an American and a proud Christian.” This is Christian nationalism. They don’t actually follow Jesus or what he represents. It’s the same as someone who is born in Iraq, they are Muslim based upon it being the predominant religion of the country. There are those that practice

their religion and others that do not.
But what I want to highlight is the evil that comes from those who only use a religion for power. And it really highlights two things.
1. Evil using religion
2. The literal meaning of the Bible.
Now theologians and Biblical scholars

state that the Bible isn’t literal. It’s what they study. But we have evangelicals who say that it is a literal word of God. But there are issues here. They don’t take the whole Bible literal, they choose parts to take literally. But here’s the issue. If these people say we must

TIGER INSIDE FIX with VISU

ㅤ
ㅤ
( @/arcturusjae )

ㅤ"Don't~tie me, tie me up, tie me, tie me up!"

Part Jaewon berakhir saat kelima member mengangkat kedua tangan mereka serempak seperti dalam keadaan terikat, sebelum Yoonwoo mengambil alih dan mulai membawakan

ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ"Hwesaek jeonggeul dan hanaye Rule,"

Suara lembut sang adam mulai mengalun, seraya dirinya berjalan ke tengah-tengah formasi sambil menurunkan tangannya perlahan dari posisi awal. Yoonwoo berdiri tegap selagi pundak dibuang ke belakang,

ㅤ
ㅤ
satu tangannya yang bebas diarahkan ke depan sebelum melangkah ke sisi kiri formasi sesuai ketukan lagu.

ㅤ"...Geugeon nal deo jageukhaesseul ppun,
Dallyeodeureo geochilge, Let's growl~"

Yoonwoo menggesturkan tangannya ke arah

ㅤ
ㅤ
seperti tengah menyihir seseorang, sebelum ia membungkukkan badannya sedikit ke depan, lalu menghempaskan kedua tangannya ke atas sebelum ia mengakhiri part awalnya kali ini.

ㅤ"So bring it on, bring it on, bring it

Star Trek S1E02 "Who Mourns for Adonais?" #TOS #StarTrek https://t.co/LIkzMGcPIi has interesting features 1) sexism tempered by female crew members' competence, (2) advancement of Ancient Aliens theory & 3) use of Pre-Modern anti-Muslim slur 4) appearance of Walter Koenig: Chekov

For the 1st time, Michelle Nichols as Uhura performs a technical task. In previous episodes, she basically was a receptionist or a switchboard operator.

After Scotty the Chief Engineer oogles Leslie Parrish as Lt. Carolyn Palamas on the bridge, Capt Kirk basically states that women won't go far in Star Fleet because they end their careers for marriage. She's part of the landing party where she & Kirk exchange these lines:

Apollo changes her miniskirt uniform into an alluring evening gown and does her hairdo quite elegantly. The camera gives viewers multiple shots of her the remainder of the episode.

Despite her being tempted by the life Apollo offers her, she does her duty as a Star Fleet Officer and spurns him, thus draining him of his power so that the Enterprise's crew and the landing party could free themselves.

10 Most Impactful Books Of My Life

1. Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It by @kamalravikant

Kamal is honest, open, and authentic. But what I love most about this book is that it actually works.

2. Conscious Living by @GayHendricks

My life changed dramatically from August 2019 to August 2020. This book helps explain why: I started to follow the principles in this book without even realizing it.

3. A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose by @EckhartTolle

Recommended to me by an Uber driver in October 2019. Couldn’t put it down. The first “spiritual” book that clicked for me.

4. Resilience by @EricGreitens

Incredible writing, timeless lessons, historical examples. I can’t remember the last time I annotated this much in a book. Wisdom from so many different sources. Highly, highly recommended.

Steps on how to order a book via

https://t.co/M6J2AdfTO5 website

@NuriaStore
#NuriaStore #books #read #ShopAtNuriaBookStore

Thread

1/

1/ Who were the earliest women converts to Islam and what was their experience of conversion?

In our new sourcebook, Sean Anthony (@shahanSean) and Keren Abbou Hershkovitz profile several women who were alive at the Prophet's time #ConversionToIslam

https://t.co/00XpFCjXtP

2/ In the first entry, @shahanSean translates and comments on the conversion of the Prophet's first wife Khadīja as portrayed in one of the earliest and most famous biographies, the Kitāb al-Maghāzī of Ibn Isḥāq (d. 767)

3/ According to tradition, Khadīja was a widow and wealthy merchant of Mecca, who married Muḥammad after initially hiring him as her agent. She was reportedly the first person to believe in his prophethood, underlining the centrality of women in the Prophet's life

4/ Ibn Isḥāq tells us that when Muḥammad first received the revelation from Gabriel, he came to Khadīja frightened and confused. She reassured him, "God would never allow anything but good to befall you, for I know you are a man who only speaks the truth...

5/ "Rejoice and remain steadfast! By Him whose hand Khadīja's soul resides, I hope that you will be the prophet of his people (umma)!"

Khadīja then consulted with her cousin Waraqa, a Christian, who verified that Muḥammad's experience was true.

Let me say a few word’s about the Trueman article.

It presents itself as dealing with Critical Race Theology (CRT) but it really is trying to deal with evangelicals and race. Which is a need, but the way the article is structured it is not helpful, it misconstrues CRT and misunderstands the present call to address the race issue.

Trueman asserts “the issue of race has played Banquo’s ghost...an unsettling, unwelcome, somewhat passive guest.” If Trueman truly sees race as the unwanted “guest” at our evangelical feast, why not address the topic of race rather than jumping on the bandwagon to attack CRT?

Does he think that CRT is the issue causing the race problem? Is he really turning a deaf ear to the Black Christian Community who have said all along this is not about CRT? But he must think that CRT is the problem. Yet he shows a misconstrued version of this academic discipline

Even before addressing CRT, he misrepresents the power of CRT with the dramatic statement, it “has become the shibboleth: Are you for it? Or are you against it?” This is a misinterpreting of the issue. Those on the side of racial justice are not seeking to make CRT a shibboleth.

An Open Letter To: .@KirkCameron

Yesterday, I sat in the parking lot of the James Cancer Center in Columbus, OH and was reduced to an inferno of rage and sadness. I screamed in my car and scared a passerby. I cried, but tried not to so when my husband got back in my eyes were only mildly red.

You see, he had to go into his first post-op colon cancer visit to his liver doctor without me. You read that right, liver doctor. His cancer had traveled to his liver. I like to say "traveled" instead of the common "spread". It makes it sound less threatening to me.

His amazing team used robotics on the 10th to remove three liver tumors. Then they took out the tumor in his colon that was the size of your fist and had closed off the colon. There they removed 24 lymph nodes and yesterday, on the phone with my husband while he sat in a doctor's

office without me in physical form with only my voice through the phone, he heard that 2 of those lymph nodes also had cancer. He heard how he needs to start chemo as soon as possible (mind you it's Christmas, so yay! what a present). And through all of this in "normal times",

The SBC is headed for an unnecessary "civil war", all in the name of a pseudo-conservative resurgence. In the meantime, baptisms are down. For those outside or inside the SBC who are not aware of the Conservative resurgence please read this book (https://t.co/fTcR6dJuzj)

1/

The Conservative resurgence sought to purge the SBC of legit liberalism (but still had blindspots w/ sins of its leaders). The book (in post 1) explains how the "SBC" works, & the process of leadership position appointments produce transformation inside the convention.

2/

Inside the SBC Seminaries were Professors who denied the Inspiration and Inerrancy of Scripture, the literal resurrection of Jesus, and all other essentials of the Christian faith. Liberals were in key leadership positions and the Conservative resurgence took them head on.

3/

Today, there’s an expressed fear the SBC is once again under attack by Liberals, Communists, Marxists, et al. In order for a war to be justified there must be an enemy, thus the identified enemy of the SBC is none other than Critical Race Theory (CRT).

4/

In a time of war, two existing enemies who, put their differences on hold, in order to form an alliance to defeat a common enemy is called “Co-Belligerence”. An easy example of this is the USA & USSR, putting aside beef, to form an alliance & defeat Nazi Germany in WWII.

5/

My new book, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, addresses a problem that few Europeans are willing to discuss: the undermining of women’s rights in multiple countries in the wake of mass migration.

In recent years, Europe has experienced a large influx of migrants. Approximately 3 million have arrived illegally since 2009, the majority of whom have applied for asylum. Two-thirds of the newcomers were male. Eighty percent of asylum applicants are under the age of 35.

The increase in numbers of young men, mostly from Muslim-majority countries, has brought to the surface a problem: their regressive attitudes to women. At their worst, these attitudes have caused a spike in sexual violence and harassment.

The arrival of a vaccine means that Europe will eventually return to normal. Unfortunately, for many women across Europe, normal means fending off sexual harassment and assault which has significantly increased in recent years.

Even COVID lockdowns have not managed to put an end to these assaults. In May 2020, a 48-year-old Naples woman was raped while waiting for a bus. With the city in lockdown and few people about, a Senegalese man allegedly sexually abused her for 45 minutes.

This is a song called Alice’s Protocol. But Alice’s Protocol isn’t the name of the protocol: that’s just the name of the song. That’s why I called the song Alice’s Protocol.

1/

You can send anything at all
With Alice’s Protocol.
You can send anything at all
With Alice’s Protocol.
Send your files from A to B
Just don’t forget your private key
You can send anything at all
With Alice’s Protocol.

2/

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, two years ago at Thanksgiving, when my friend Alice wanted to send a file to her husband Bob.

3/

But Bob has a no-good scheming friend called Eve. Let me tell you about his friend Eve. She’s a no-good scheming friend of his, and she likes to listen through walls and under windows and around doors.

4/

So my friend Alice (you remember Alice?), she didn’t want no listening through walls and under windows and around doors, so she decided to encrypt her message with Alice’s Protocol.

5/

#taekookau

“Get off me.”

Jungkook groans in annoyance as he pushes the angel away, his rough skin accidentally scraping the latter.

“Chill— fuck you cut me.”

The angel growls through gritted teeth, eyebrows furrowed, eyes burning with rage.

“You’re the one who attacked me first.”

The demon dusts the ash off his tight suit, the fabric having turned gray and a tad bit looser— they used to hug his muscles more tightly, tracing every line.

“I fell, you don’t need to be so aggressive.”

Taehyung scowls at him again, this time taking a step closer to threaten him further.

“I don’t give a fuck, don’t fall on me.”

The demon remains arrogant and displeased with the collusion; the accident having occurred due to an experiment gone wrong.

His witch best friend created an explosion that blasted him to the other side of the city— Jungkook’s stupid side.

“You’re such a moron.”

The angel scoffs as he touches the bruise, hissing when the pad of his fingers meet his red flesh.

“I’m the moron? You’re the one who decided to fall from the sky—why didn’t you use your wings?”

Jungkook looks genuinely annoyed, he always carries hate for Taehyung, but today is rather worse.

“It was an accident, okay? I’m sorry, damn, chill.”

I’ve enjoyed reading @AlexJLanglands The Ancient Ways of Wessex & learned how #chalkstream #winterbournes & #springs have influenced our culture & cultural heritage - #Ridgeway paths that are now #NationalTrails

Perhaps old news to many, but new to me so here’s a short thread…

Our #ridgeway paths are a bundle of numerous routes which I always assumed followed the high ground for strategic purposes & avoiding the muddy clay vales. Timperley & Brill (1965) described our #ridgeways as literally high ways, although they could have called them “dry ways”.

Langlands (2019. p14) explains that #ridgeways or watershed-ways were used out of necessity to avoid #winterbourne streams, springs and wetlands lower down the escarpments & that in summer when the #winterbournes were dry travellers could use routes along the lower slopes....

Quoting Grundy (1918. p70-72; downloadable on Google), Langland calls these lower routes #summerways and suggests there are summerways parallel to nearly all of the great #ridgeways - twin summerways and ridgeways

Looking at the Downs near Whitehorse Hill, the B4507 road follows the escarpment at a relatively steady height just above the spring line - almost a dot-to-dot line linking spring heads and their #winterbournes - could that be the old #summerway I wonder?

I just read a somewhat clueless post from one of those "moderate" Right Wing Instagram handles. You know, the sort that has a Sanskrit word in the name and is run by middle-class techie. After a significant amount of groaning, I decided to write this response about their...

...seeming worshipful attitude about capitalism. First - no, Capitalism isn't always evil. Many smaller businessmen are capitalists and do contribute to the nation by creating jobs. Having said that, the issue many people have with big capitalists is actually about power. When...

...a corporation grows too big and has stakes in every imaginable sector, it becomes a threat not only to those Communists you hate, but also to capitalists - small businesses and budding entrepreneurs (such as yourself perhaps). When people raise suspicions about the intent...

...of a big corporate, they aren't being unreasonable. They are pointing at a sword hanging above all our heads. And your saying "that sword is for all of our benefit" isn't an argument that can be taken seriously. It's childish and facile logic from someone who has been...

...conditioned from early on to see his corporate masters as benefactors and to think that the greatest compliment anyone can pay him is that he is "employable". Capitalism, at the end of the day, is about the pursuit of profit. And that's fine. But when things gets to a stage...

28 Recommended Books That Will Improve Your Writing And Freelance Business Right Now:

📖 On Writing by Stephen King

Stephen King’s classic will appeal even to those who avoid King’s renowned horror-packed tales. In this book, King discusses how he came to be the writer we know today.

📖 The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Annie writes about how hard it is to write and how sometimes it is necessary to destroy paragraphs, phrases and words to re-form them as something even better.

📖 Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer by Bruce Holland Rogers

Word Work is packed with practical advice for overcoming procrastination, finding happiness in writing and even conquering writer’s block. It also covers how to handle rejection and success.

📖 Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Bird by Bird is an essential part of any writer’s toolbox. In this work, Lamott shares herself and her craft with readers, including anecdotes that tie the pieces together into all-around great writing.

To celebrate Dave Grohl's birthday, here's a thread of some of our favourite moments featuring the nicest fella in rock...
[📸: PA]

1. When he read the news on our Breakfast Show... ICONIC!

2. When he surprised his fans by busking on the street 😲

3. When he perfectly summed up the beauty of live music 💜

4. When he sang with Elmo and Big Bird on Sesame