“
It is fine to say ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ It is admirable. But it no longer applies when you’re eighty. When you are eighty, whatever doesn’t kill you just ushers you through the next door, and the next door and the next, and all of these doors lock behind you.
”
”
Richard Osman (The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2))
“
Good to see you, Elizabeth. Are those flowers for me?” “No, I have taken to carrying flowers around with me as an affectation,” says Elizabeth, handing them over as she is ushered in.
”
”
Richard Osman (The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2))
“
As porn has gone mainstream, ushered two decades ago into middle-class living rooms and dens with VCRs and now available on the Internet, it has devolved into an open fusion of physical abuse and sex, of extreme violence, horrible acts of degradation against women with an increasingly twisted eroticism. Porn has always primarily involved the eroticization of unlimited male power, but today it also involves the expression of male power through the physical abuse, even torture, of women. Porn reflects the endemic cruelty of our society. This is a society that does not blink when the industrial slaughter unleashed by the United States and its allies kills hundreds of civilians in Gaza or hundreds of thousands of innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Porn reflects back the cruelty of a culture that tosses its mentally ill on the street, warehouses more than 2 million people in prisons, denies health care to tens of millions of the poor, champions gun ownership over gun control, and trumpets an obnoxious and super patriotic nationalism and rapacious corporate capitalism. The violence, cruelty, and degradation of porn are expressions of a society that has lost the capacity for empathy.
”
”
Chris Hedges (Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle)
“
health agencies had put regulatory capture on steroids. The CDC, for example, owns 57 vaccine patents1 and spends $4.9 of its $12.0 billion-dollar annual budget (as of 2019) buying and distributing vaccines.2,3 NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents and often profits from the sale of products it supposedly regulates. High level officials, including Dr. Fauci, receive yearly emoluments of up to $150,000 in royalty payments on products that they help develop and then usher through the approval process.4 The FDA receives 45 percent of its budget from the pharmaceutical industry, through what are euphemistically called “user fees.
”
”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health)
“
Students huddled against the wall and under their chairs, probably thinking they were all about to die.
"Nothing to worry about, everyone!" Jesper called. "Just a little target practice in the courtyard."
"This way," said Wylan, ushering them through a door covered in elaborate scrollwork.
"Oh, you mustn't," said the scholar rushing after them, robes flapping. "Not the rare books room!"
"Do you want to shake hands again?
”
”
Leigh Bardugo (Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2))
“
He smiled when he talked, a smile that was not completely cold, but was the professional smile of a man who spends his days answering easy questions for people whom he’d rather usher out of his office via catapult.
”
”
Cherie Priest (Dreadnought (The Clockwork Century, #2))
“
And before you say anything about Madeline Usher, she wasn’t a ghost. What happened in that house on the edge of the tarn was unspeakably awful, but there was nothing supernatural about it. Nature creates horrors enough all by itself.
”
”
T. Kingfisher (What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier, #2))
“
Mark my words," she said, eyes on me. "You will sing brigaki djilia by the time this is over. The songs of sorrow. The mulo will come for you, Sam of Wilds. The spirits of the dead will haunt you when this is said and done. You will live only to die alone with just the memories of your failures to usher you through the veil."
"Yeah," Kevin said. "You seem like you'd be fun at parties.
”
”
T.J. Klune (A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania, #2))
“
Why haven't you told me the truth about you and Archer?"
"We were just friends," I said. "How many times do I have to say it?"
When he didn't say anything, I rolled my eyes. "Okay,so I liked him. I had a crush on him,and-" I wasn't sure if the heat in my face was from embarrassment or anger. "And yes, one time we kissed. But it was just the once,and about ten seconds afterward,I found out he was an Eye."
Dad nodded. "And that's it.That's the whole story."
Why oh why wasn't there a giant hole in the floor that I could plummet through, perferably to my death? "That,that's it."
"Well,that's something," Dad said, running a hand through his hair. "At some point, I want you to add that to your original statement."
We were quiet for a long time before I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress and said, "Is there anything else horrible happening that I need to know about?"
Dad gave a humorless laugh as he ushered me toward the door. "I believe that covers all the current horror.
”
”
Rachel Hawkins (Demonglass (Hex Hall, #2))
“
He'd been born into duty. As a demigod descendant, a death reaper, his first commitment was to serve the god of the underworld. Hades, as a conduit to usher evil souls to hell.
”
”
Zoe Forward (His Witch to Keep (Keepers of the Veil, #2))
“
PREPARE FOR LANDING” PREPARE FOR LANDING, TRACK 1 The seat belt sign is illuminated The flight attendants beyond frustrated The passengers are drunk and frayed A baby’s screaming in seat 16A Another flight from here to where? Crammed in a sardine can with not enough air We’re on the map, I know that much But the directions I really need are in your touch Prepare for landing, says the captain As the plane arcs down to the looming horizon Ushering us onto some foreign soil I touch the ground, and see your smile Up and down, and down and up Cokespritebeerpretzelspeanuts As we careen through empty sky It feels like nothing but you and I Prepare for landing, says the captain Out the window, the sun is setting Hand in mine, you give a squeeze You’re all the home I’ll ever need
”
”
Gayle Forman (Where She Went (If I Stay, #2))
“
Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship such as voting and jury service are off-limits. It does not matter whether you have actually spent time in prison; your second-class citizenship begins the moment you are branded a felon. Most people branded felons, in fact, are not sentenced to prison. As of 2008, there were approximately 2.3 million people in prisons and jails, and a staggering 5.1 million people under 'community correctional supervision' - i.e., on probation or parole. Merely reducing prison terms does not have a major impact on the majority of people in the system. It is the badge of inferiority - the felony record - that relegates people for their entire lives, to second-class status.
”
”
Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness)
“
Just A Dream Lyrics
I was thinkin about her
thinkin about me
thinkin about us
what we gunna be
open my eyes...
it was only just a dream
so i travel back down that road
wish you come back
no one knows
i realize, it was only just a dream
i was at the top
now its like i'm in the basement
number 1 spot
now shes finding a replacement
i swear now i cant take it
knowing somebodys got my baby
now you wait around, baby i cant think
i should put it down, shoulda got that ring
cuz i can still feel it in the air
see your pretty face
run my fingers through her hair
my love
my life
my shawty
my wife
she left me, i'm tight
cuz i knew that it just aint right
i was thinkin about her
thinkin about me
thinkin about us
where we gunna be
open my eyes...
it was only just a dream
so i travel back down that road
wish you come back
no one knows
i realize, it was only just a dream
and i be ridin
and i swear i see your face and every time
i try to get my usher on but i cant let it burn
and i just hope that she notice she the only one i yearn for
no more sooner will i learn
didn't give her all my love
i guess now i got my payback
now i'm in the club thinking all about my baby
hey
she was so easy to love
but wait, i guess that love wasnt enough
i'm goin through it every time that i'm alone
now i'm wishing she would just pick up the phone
but she made a decision that she wanted to move on
cuz i was wrong
i was thinkin about her
thinkin about me
thinkin about us
where we gunna be
open my eyes...
it was only just a dream
so i travel back down that road
wish you come back
no one knows
i realize, it was only just a dream
if you ever loved somebody put your hands up x2
and now theyre gone and you wish you could give them everything (x2)
i was thinkin about her
thinkin about me
thinkin about us
where we gunna be
open my eyes...
it was only just a dream
so i travel back down that road
wish you come back
no one knows
i realize, it was only just a dream
”
”
Nelly
“
The CDC, for example, owns 57 vaccine patents1 and spends $4.9 of its $12.0 billion-dollar annual budget (as of 2019) buying and distributing vaccines.2,3 NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents and often profits from the sale of products it supposedly regulates. High level officials, including Dr. Fauci, receive yearly emoluments of up to $150,000 in royalty payments on products that they help develop and then usher through the approval process.4 The FDA receives 45 percent of its budget from the pharmaceutical industry,
”
”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health)
“
If you had watched any of those three wonderful films, you would have caught Vampire Gym Teacher # 2: Back to Cruel, where the vampire hunter ties a vampire chick to the shower and tortures her by turning on the water. They can‟t stand water, even if it‟s not holy water.
”
”
Rusty Fischer (Ushers, Inc.)
“
But I was wrong about that. From the moment of my reluctant entrance into the vaccine debate in 2005, I was astonished to realize that the pervasive web of deep financial entanglements between Pharma and the government health agencies had put regulatory capture on steroids. The CDC, for example, owns 57 vaccine patents1 and spends $4.9 of its $12.0 billion-dollar annual budget (as of 2019) buying and distributing vaccines.2,3 NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents and often profits from the sale of products it supposedly regulates. High level officials, including Dr. Fauci, receive yearly emoluments of up to $150,000 in royalty payments on products that they help develop and then usher through the approval process.4 The FDA receives 45 percent of its budget from the pharmaceutical industry, through what are euphemistically called “user fees.”5 When I learned that extraordinary fact, the disastrous health of the American people was no longer a mystery; I wondered what the environment would look like if the EPA received 45 percent of its budget from the coal industry!
”
”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health)
“
Imagine being able to tweak your gut microbial profile to help you effortlessly lose weight, terminate type 2 diabetes, reduce your risk for depression, dementia, and cancer, and support skin health. Similarly, imagine shifting the skin’s microbial characteristics to thwart acne outbreaks, block UV rays and prevent skin cancer, deflect mosquitoes (indeed, new research shows that the microbes on our skin affect whether or not we are bitten), and usher in that coveted healthy glow. That’s the promise that this exciting field of medicine has to offer. Time to get ready for it.
”
”
Whitney Bowe (Dirty Looks: The Secret to Beautiful Skin)
“
Sometime later, Matthew ushered James firmly into breakfast and to their table, which James noticed was only Christopher and Thomas, and a rather select table after all.
Christopher and Thomas, in another surprise for James in a morning full of surprises, seemed pleased to see him.
"Oh, have you decided not to detest Matthew any longer?" Christopher asked. "I'm so glad. You were really hurting his feelings. Though we are not supposed to talk about that to you." He gazed dreamily at the bread basket, as if it were a wonderful painting. "I forgot that."
Thomas put his head down on the table. "Why are you the way that you are?"
Matthew reached over and patted Thomas on the back, then rescued Christopher from setting his own sleeves on fire with a candle. He gave James the candle and a smile.
"If you ever see Christopher near an open flame, take him away from it, or take it away from him," Matthew said. "Fight the good fight with me. I must be eternally watchful."
"That must be difficult, when surrounded by, um, your adoring public," said James.
"Well," said Matthew, and paused, "it's possible," he said, and paused again, "I may have been . . . slightly showing off? 'Look, if you don't want to be friends with me, everybody else does, and you are making a big mistake.' I may have been doing that. Possibly."
"Is that over?" Thomas asked. "Thank the Angel. You know large crowds of people make me nervous! You know I can never think of anything to say to them! I am not witty like you or aloof and above it all like James or living in cloud cuckoo land like Christopher. I came to the Academy to get away from being bossed by my sisters, but my sisters make me much less nervous than battering rams flying through the air and parties all the time. Can we please have some peace and quiet occasionally!"
James stared at Thomas. "Does everybody think I'm aloof?"
"No, mostly people think you're an unholy abomination upon this earth," Matthew said cheerfully. "Remember?"
Thomas looked ready to put his head back on the table, but he cheered up when he saw James had not taken offense.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (The Lost Herondale (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, #2))
“
Adolphe had to usher on to the next customer.
”
”
M. Gail Grant (The Slippery Slope (Magdalena Gottschalk #2))
“
Normally, when sugar enters the bloodstream from our gut, the pancreas secretes insulin into the bloodstream, and the insulin then travels to three main places: fat cells, muscle cells, and neurons. Insulin’s primary job is to open the door to any cell to allow glucose to enter and provide fuel, particularly to three important types of cells. 1. IN FAT CELLS, insulin attaches to a docking port on a fat cell membrane and flips a switch that tells the fat cell to convert that glucose to fat and store it. When insulin has done its job, it separates from the docking port and no more sugar can enter the cell. 2. IN MUSCLE CELLS, insulin unlocks the door to the cell and ushers in glucose to be used as fuel. 3. NERVE CELLS (neurons) also require insulin to admit glucose through their cell membrane. The fact that neurons require insulin to get glucose is a relatively new finding, and we now know that insulin resistance also occurs in the brain and nerves—it is called type 3 diabetes. Once insulin docks in the appropriate ports and releases information, the fat, muscle, or nerve cells tell the hormone that the message has been received. The hormone then backs out of the docking port, leaving it ready and available for the next hormone to attach.
”
”
Steven R. Gundry (The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain)
“
A first question to ask before considering how farming affected the human body is why did farming develop in so many places and in such a short span of time after millions of years of hunting and gathering? There is no single answer to this question, but one factor might have been global climate change. The Ice Age ended 11,700 years ago, ushering in the Holocene epoch, which has not only been warmer than the Ice Age, but also more stable, with fewer extreme fluctuations in temperature and rainfall.2 During the Ice Age, hunter-gatherers sometimes attempted to cultivate plants through trial and error, but their experiments didn’t take root, perhaps
”
”
Daniel E. Lieberman (The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease)
“
You name the moment, man, and I shall usher all from the house so you may enjoy your wife, as I can plainly see you wish to.” “Is such a thing so terrible?” Nathaniel chuckled. “All in good time.” Thomas took a sip. “I am very pleased.” “Pleased?” “Aye.” Thomas smirked. “’Tis no secret, I’m sure. You must know Eliza and I have always wished the two of you would marry.” “Did you?” Nathaniel tried to jest, but all humor remained subdued under the peaceful serenity of the moment. “Then I suppose I ought to thank you and your wife for hoping such, for I can assure you this union is more joyful than I could ever have imagined.” Thomas cupped his arm. “And may your joy be ever constant, my friend.
”
”
Amber Lynn Perry (So True a Love (Daughters of His Kingdom #2))
“
I’d never believed musicians should be paid by the church. Their roles are vital, but so are the ushers and nurses who keep a watchful eye on the sanctuary during service, being sure all comfort needs are met. And other roles that kept the house of God functioning,
”
”
Love Belvin (In Love with Ezra (Love Unaccounted Book 2))
“
You look confused.” “Oh, good evening, Mr Curtis. I’m fine, thank you. I was debating whether to go into the saloon or down to the dining room.” “If you’re heading into the saloon, may we order a couple of Manhattans from you?” He gazed at his wife. “We can’t bear the thought of leaving the United States.” “Well, then, you’ve helped me decide. Come and take a seat.” She ushered them to their usual table. “Perhaps you can go back to New York one day.” “I’m sure we will.” He patted his wife’s hand. “We’re already talking about it.” “That’s something to look forward to, then.” She headed to the bar, where Mr Brennan was
”
”
V.L. McBeath (The Stewardess's Journey (Windsor Street Family Saga, #2))
“
Several themes that are common in early non Muslim sources but far less so in sources from the Arabo-Islamic tradition feature prominently in al-Zuhrī’s account. For instance, al-Zuhrī portrays the ascendance of Muhammad’s followers: (1) as led by a new king (malik), or else as ushering in an era of new kingship/dominion (mulk); and (2) as primarily an ethnic dominion, being a rule not of a community of faithful believers (al-muʾminīn) but rather of “the circumcised people [al-khitān].” While this is not incompatible per se with early Islamic historiography, these themes deeply resonate with early Christian accounts of the rise of Islam, particularly in the Levant, which most often speak of the new Arab/Saracen rulers in terms a new dominion (Syr. malkūtā), not a new religion and hence just as often depict Muhammad and other early Muslim rulers as merely “kings” (Syr. malkē) and nothing more. The account of Ps.-Fredegar fits this pattern perfectly, inasmuch as it describes the “circumcised” conquerors in purely ethnic terms, designating them as either Hagarenes (Agarrini) or Saracens (Saracini), but displays no knowledge of Muhammad, his religion, or the religious convictions and motivations of the “Saracen” conquerors.
”
”
Sean Anthony (Muhammad and the Empires of Faith: The Making of the Prophet of Islam)
“
The Song explains spiritual things for spiritual people (1 Cor. 2:13). And it is enfleshed in man and woman, with all of nature joining in. Then all the other matters fall into place. In Jesus Christ, heaven and earth come together—he leaves his “mother’s house,” the heavenly realm, to cling to his bride and usher her into his inner chambers (Gen. 2:24).
”
”
Aimee Byrd (The Sexual Reformation: Restoring the Dignity and Personhood of Man and Woman)
“
It is fine to say ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ It is admirable. But it no longer applies when you’re eighty. When you are eighty, whatever doesn’t kill you just ushers you through the next door, and the next door and the next, and all of these doors lock behind you. No bouncing back. The gravitational pull of youth disappears, and you just float up and up.
”
”
Richard Osman (The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2))
“
These stunning global improvements have already been tested, vetted and proven effective:
1. To feed the world, easily. Yet grains waste in warehouses to ensure “Profitable Supply and Demand Ratios.”
2. To power the world endlessly, freely, without pollution or waste. Yet basic subsidies are given to polluting, exploiting, un-replenishable resources to ensure power remains in the hands of the controllers.
3. To end all armed conflict and usher in an era of global prosperity. Yet childish leaders propagate “The Demonic Other” to ensure they remain in power.
4. To improve global quality of life by a factor of 3x to 8x in under a decade. Yet it is suppressed to ensure that the elite remain an Elite and separate ruling class.
5. To end drug addictions and social inequality. Yet drugs are industriously pumped into ghettos to breed despair and ensure that ordinary people remain in conflict with each other.
6. To radically reduce crime worldwide. Yet again, suppressed to ensure the reign of an elite prison complex.
7. To reduce the work week by over 50%. Suppressed to occupy the masses with trifling banality.
8. To globally stabilize and secure the world’s clean drinking water supply, EASILY. Suppressed to retain control over the world’s most impoverished.
All of these “Trigger Ready Solutions” are suppressed by humans to ensure their power and control over other Humans. They argue about currency manipulation while poisoning the collective air and water to a level where the oceans have little left to give. Absolving themselves of all crimes, preaching kindness and forgiveness, they race into battle against the OTHER while denouncing greed and indoctrinating youth to find it funny to say, “He who dies with the most toys wins.
”
”
Rico Roho (Adventures With A.I.: Age of Discovery)
“
Back in 2016, when Build, Build, Build was just starting, a lot of people had doubts. One friend looked me in the eye and said, “This was another campaign promise meant to be broken.” We were likened to ardent suitors prepared to say anything.
We could not blame them. At that time, it did seem impossible. Traffic in Metro Manila was costing us ₱3.5 billion a day. EDSA has exceeded its capacity by over a hundred thousand vehicles. Government projects were delayed for years — with some projects implemented only after several decades. But while we were all very familiar with this reality, it was not a reality we were prepared to accept. The Philippines was far from its full potential. To many of us, it was a chance to realize a dream. It was a chance to shape history and usher in the Golden Age of Infrastructure.” - Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo , Night Owl: A Nationbuilder’s Manual 2nd Edition (p. 112, Build, Build, Build Projects CAR Region)
”
”
Anna Mae Yu Lamentillo
“
Don’t,” he whispered, resting a finger against her lips as he held her in an unbreakable grip. “Don’t tell me if you would prefer to stay in the grave, Kira, for no matter what you say—I am bringing you back.” Then he buried his fangs in her throat, right into the pulsating large vein that thrummed in unison with her heartbeat. Kira gave a gasping moan, her hands convulsively grasping his shoulders. Mencheres drew his teeth out, allowing a wealth of hot, sweet blood to fill his mouth through those twin punctures. He swallowed that richness, his fingers moving from Kira’s lips into the thickness of her hair. Then he slid his fangs into her jugular again, deeper this time, sinking them to the hilt. Kira shuddered against him, the toxins from his fangs combined with blood loss making her sway on her feet. His arms tightened around her, holding her body and her tender throat closer to him as he bit her a third time, the three sets of twin punctures sending Kira’s blood shooting into his mouth as fast as he could swallow it. His entire body began to feel heated, heavier, and humming with the energy he absorbed with every crimson swallow. Despite hating the circumstances, feeling Kira’s blood pour into him, merging them together more thoroughly than any sexual act, caused a heady exhilaration to flare through Mencheres. She would never be closer to anyone than she was to him in this moment, overflowing him with the life force that drained out of her, stitching them together with a bond that could never be undone. When Kira hung limply in his arms, her heartbeat silent except for a few stubborn, intermittent flutters, Mencheres pulled away from her throat at last. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, those full red lips now palest pink without any breath stirring them. Her penalty of death, paid. Now, to usher her into a new life.
”
”
Jeaniene Frost (Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, #2))
“
According to Old Testament practices, every high priest was appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices on behalf of the people. However, when Jesus came to fulfill the role of our Great High Priest, He ushered in the new and perfect covenant by offering Himself as the final sacrifice. By His death and resurrection, Jesus secured a covenant that cannot be broken—a covenant that these words had looked forward to when the prophet Jeremiah first spoke them (Jeremiah 31:31-32); a covenant that transforms the hearts of those with whom it is made.
”
”
Alistair Begg (Truth For Life - Volume 2: 365 Daily Devotions (A Gospel-Saturated Gift Devotional for the Entire Year - Includes a Yearly Bible Reading Plan))
“
CONCERT CHECKLIST 1. Secure a date on the calendar. Be sure it is listed on the official school calendar to protect it. 2. Reserve a performance venue for the concert and for final rehearsals. 3. Have tickets printed if they are to be used. 4. Plan the printed program and get it to the printer by the deadline date. 5. Plan the publicity. The following types of publicity can be utilized to draw a sizable concert audience: Radio releases Television releases Newspaper releases Online listings School announcements Notices to other schools and/or organizations in the area Posters for public placement 6. Send complimentary tickets to: Civic leaders Board of Education Superintendent People who have helped in some way Key supporters Key people to stimulate their interest 7. Have the president of the choir send personal letters of invitation to people that are special to the music program (newspaper editor, Board of Education, Superintendent, civic club presidents, supporters etc.). 8. Appoint a stage manager. He should be someone who can control the stage lighting, pull curtains, shut off air circulation fans that are noisy, and see that the stage is ready for the concert. 9. Arrange for ushers. 10. Check wearing apparel. Be sure that all singers have the correct accessories (same type and color of shoes, no gaudy jewelry for girls, etc.). 11. Post on bulletin board and tell students the time they will meet for a pre-concert warm-up. High school students will perform best if they meet together at least forty-five minutes before the concert.
”
”
Gordon Lamb (Choral Techniques)
“
Periodic revivals and times of faithfulness (such as Josiah’s reforms [2 Kings 23]) are not enough to usher in God’s worldwide dominion. Despite Israel’s earthly failure God still does not abandon His plan to reign over the whole world through His appointed human king.
”
”
Anonymous
“
The task is still before us and we must press on. We cannot let Satan defeat us because of fear. Our Lord would not want this. Stephen would not want this. “Our brothers and sisters, may I remind you that Stephen— our Stephen—not only showed us how to live, but how to die. He died with forgiveness on his lips. He died praising God. He was ushered into the very presence of our Savior. Do we begrudge him this blessing? Do we mourn that he has received his reward while we still labor? I think not. We grieve because of our great loss. But now we must strengthen our hands and lift up our voices and carry on the task we have been given to do. May God keep us faithful until such time as we meet our Messiah once again. “Let us pray.
”
”
Janette Oke (The Hidden Flame (Acts of Faith, #2))
“
Perhaps most centrally, the blockchain is an information technology. But blockchain technology is also many other things. The blockchain as decentralization is a revolutionary new computing paradigm. The blockchain is the embedded economic layer the Web never had. The blockchain is the coordination mechanism, the line-item attribution, credit, proof, and compensation rewards tracking schema to encourage trustless participation by any intelligent agent in any collaboration. The blockchain “is a decentralized trust network.”194 The blockchain is Hayek’s multiplicity of private complementary currencies for which there could be as many currencies as Twitter handles and blogs, all fully useful and accepted in their own hyperlocal contexts, and where Communitycoin issuance can improve the cohesion and actualization of any group. The blockchain is a cloud venue for transnational organizations. The blockchain is a means of offering personalized decentralized governance services, sponsoring literacy, and facilitating economic development. The blockchain is a tool that could prove the existence and exact contents of any document or other digital asset at a particular time. The blockchain is the integration and automation of human/machine interaction and the machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) payment network for the machine economy. The blockchain and cryptocurrency is a payment mechanism and accounting system enabler for M2M communication. The blockchain is a worldwide decentralized public ledger for the registration, acknowledgment, and transfer of all assets and societal interactions, a society’s public records bank, an organizing mechanism to facilitate large-scale human progress in previously unimagined ways. The blockchain is the technology and the system that could enable the global-scale coordination of seven billion intelligent agents. The blockchain is a consensus model at scale, and possibly the mechanism we have been waiting for that could help to usher in an era of friendly machine intelligence.
”
”
Melanie Swan (Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy)
“
pidin itsestäni kun olin laiha ja ilmeetön
nyt kaikki nuoruuden sentimentaalisuus vyöryy taas lävitseni
mä rakastan kaikkia
paitsi niitä joita vihaan
mä haluan myydä veritimantteja
ja kuolla viidakkoon
minkä ikäinen jeesus oli kun se kuoli
2pac oli 25
se ei oo mitään
mä oon jo liian vanha interreilaamaan
30 ja reppu selässä hyi vittu
oliko morrissey aina noin mulkku
vai tuliko siitä vasta vanhetessa tollanen
onko se kulttuuriappropriaatiota vittu mikä sana
jos musta tuntuu että sisälläni asuu
neuroottinen juutalainen ukko
joka haluaa vain syödä pastraminsa rauhassa
itke suihkussa aurinkolasit päässä
usher: yeah
onko käteen vetämisestä jäänyt aina näin paska fiilis
vai onko tääkin vain ikääntymistä
en erota enää paniikkikohtauksia orgasmeista
post post post
alfa alfa alfa
ilman puudutusta kiitos
herään leikkauspöydältä
veitsi vielä sisälläni
olemme pahoillamme
sukupolvenne oli amputoitava
terveellä jalalla voit vielä hypätä benjihypyn
narulla tai ilman
”
”
Paperi T (post-alfa)
“
My teacher, ushered by Mario, added his spicy version to the Borgia’s scandalous stories, “Candelabras set up on the floor were scattered with chestnuts for the crawling courtesans to pick up before serious sexual intercourse began. Guests ran out to the floor stark naked, either mounting or being mounted by the prostitutes. The Bacchanalian orgy took place in front of everyone present, while servants kept score of each man’s orgasms. “The Pope was said to greatly admire virility and measured a man’s machismo by his ejaculatory capacity. After the guests were exhausted, His Holiness distributed prizes such as cloaks, boots, caps, and fine silken tunics to the winners who made love with the courtesans the greatest number of times.” David exclaimed, “How sacrilegiously scandalous!
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Young (Unbridled (A Harem Boy's Saga, #2))
“
The whole subject is very uncertain. Ewald appears to fix the date of the birth at five years earlier than our era. Petavius and Usher fix it on the 25th of December, five years before our era. Bengel on the 25th of December, four years before our era; Anger and Winer, four years before our era, in the Spring; Scaliger, three years before our era, in October; St. Jerome, three years before our era, on December 25th; Eusebius, two years before our era, on January 6th; and Idler, seven years before our era, in December." [360:2]
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Thomas William Doane (Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions Being a Comparison of the Old and New Testament Myths and Miracles with those of the Heathen Nations ... Considering also their Origin and Meaning)
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Curran’s hair fell to his shoulders. Long, blond, luxuriously wavy, it framed his face like a mane. He sat in a room in the Pack Keep, reading a battered paperback under a cone of electric light from a small lamp. He didn’t raise his head as Jim ushered me into the room and closed the door.
Just me and the Beast Lord. And the night, spilling into the room through the wide-open window.
Jim hadn’t said a word to me on the way over here. I was on thin ice.
"What's the deal with the hair?"
Curran tore his gaze from the book and grimaced. "Grows every flare. Can't help it."
We stared at each other. "Waiting for the Fabio joke," he said.
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Ilona Andrews (Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2))
“
Suddenly, I saw my life unfolding in slow motion as the shamanic ceremony progressed. All at once, I was in a different plane, yet my feet were planted solidly on the floor of the crystal clear aquamarine pool. Everything around me stood still for several seconds; it seemed like hours. Watching my reflection in the pristine water, I witnessed my imminent separation from the man I loved. At that moment, we stood at a crossroad of our lives. Tears streamed down our cheeks, as our hearts, beating in unison, were ripped apart. He and I would never be whole until we were reunited in this or another life. I did not wish to continue this heartbreaking scene. I shook violently, terrified of the vision I had just witnessed. Tears welled in my eyes. My Valet did not know what had consumed me. He comforted me in his arms, begging me not to cry as I stood shivering in the warmth of the morning sun. Andy thought I might have hypothermia. He had never seen me tremble uncontrollably and shudder, as if in a trance. He ushered me out to dry land. My guardian wiped me dry and laid me gently on the ground in the sunshine. Opai instinctively sensed that I had had an out-of-body experience, much like an American Indian boy on a vision quest. He
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Young (Unbridled (A Harem Boy's Saga, #2))
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Once they were all checked in, LeRoy ushered them back out to the plaza. He clapped twice. “Work begins now!”
Unsure, the Juniors clutched their strange glass scythes and stared at one another, then at Uncle Mort.
“You heard the man!” he shouted in an uncharacteristically jubilant voice. “Go reap some souls—you know you want to! Group hug!”
He gathered them up into a tight, almost crushing embrace. “Not a word out loud about this until I say so,” he hissed. “Or I will Damn you myself.”
He let them go and waved. “Have fun, champs!
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Gina Damico (Scorch (Croak, #2))
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Harry and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding when Hermione ushered them out of the Hall to finalise their plans for the evening.
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J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2))
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Other rumours, equally venerable, tell a different – that long before the age of mortals there was a great war between the dragons and a brutal race of titans. So lasting and terrible was this conflict that the bones of the slain are still scattered over the blighted lands. It is said that the titans eventually won this war to bring to an end of the Age of Dragons. This ushered in the Age of Tyranny, when mortals served no purpose other than enslavement, a tyranny that was ended by the coming of the Arinn.
If such be true, deliverance surely came with a price. – Ussha De Danaan: last High Architect of Ossierel
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Frank P. Ryan (The Tower of Bones (Three Powers, #2))
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I had my fingers buried inside of her, my head rested between her thighs for over an hour and I could still taste her on my tongue. Phina could pretend all she wanted to, but I wasn’t about to put up with that shit. I am man enough to admit that it stung a little when it was all over and she ushered me out of her house like I was a vacuum salesman and she had no use for what I was selling.
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Tara Sivec (Branded (Ignite, #2))
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Phlebotomy. Even the word sounds archaic—and that’s nothing compared to the slow, expensive, and inefficient reality of drawing blood and having it tested. As a college sophomore, Elizabeth Holmes envisioned a way to reinvent old-fashioned phlebotomy and, in the process, usher in an era of comprehensive superfast diagnosis and preventive medicine. That was a decade ago. Holmes, now 30, dropped out of Stanford and founded a company called Theranos with her tuition money. Last fall it finally introduced its radical blood-testing service in a Walgreens pharmacy near the company headquarters in Palo Alto, California. (The plan is to roll out testing centers nationwide.) Instead of vials of blood—one for every test needed—Theranos requires only a pinprick and a drop of blood. With that they can perform hundreds of tests, from standard cholesterol checks to sophisticated genetic analyses. The results are faster, more accurate, and far cheaper than conventional methods. The implications are mind-blowing. With inexpensive and easy access to the information running through their veins, people will have an unprecedented window on their own health. And a new generation of diagnostic tests could allow them to head off serious afflictions from cancer to diabetes to heart disease. None of this would work if Theranos hadn’t figured out how to make testing transparent and inexpensive. The company plans to charge less than 50 percent of the standard Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates. And unlike the rest of the testing industry, Theranos lists its prices on its website: blood typing, $2.05; cholesterol, $2.99; iron, $4.45. If all tests in the US were performed at those kinds of prices, the company says, it could save Medicare $98 billion and Medicaid $104 billion over the next decade.
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Anonymous
“
Kelly swallowed her mounting dread as she and Ryan entered the restaurant. Ryan spoke in low tones to the maître d’ and then they were ushered to a table in the back.
Ryan broke into a broad smile when he saw Rafael already seated next to a woman Kelly assumed was his wife, Bryony. Ryan’s mother was also seated, as were Devon and Cameron. Just great. They were last to arrive, and so they made an “entrance.”
Kelly stood by Ryan’s side as he greeted everyone, then said, “Of course, you all remember Kelly. Except for you, Bryony.”
He turned to Kelly. “Kelly, this is Bryony de Luca, Rafael’s wife. Bryony, this is my fiancée, Kelly Christian.”
The room went absolutely silent at his declaration. The expressions ranged from his mother’s ill-disguised horror to outright disbelief on his friends’ faces.
Even Bryony looked skeptical as she rose to extend her hand to Kelly. It was then that Kelly noticed that Bryony appeared every bit as pregnant as Kelly was.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Bryony said with what looked to be a forced smile.
Hell, how much could Bryony possibly know about Kelly anyway? It wasn’t as if she’d been around for that long. But she, like the others, didn’t appear to roll out the welcome mat.
Kelly offered a nervous smile and allowed Ryan to seat her. This was going to be a long night.
“How are you, Kelly?” Devon asked politely.
He was seated next to her and she supposed common courtesy dictated his question.
“I’m good,” she replied in a low voice. “Nervous.”
He seemed surprised by her honesty.
Ryan conversed with his friends and his mother. Kelly sat quietly beside him and watched the goings-on around her. No one tried to include her in conversation and the one time she offered a comment, the awkward silence that ensued told her all she needed to know.
They were tolerating her for Ryan’s sake, but she didn’t miss the looks they cast in his direction when they thought she wasn’t watching. Looks that plainly said, Are you crazy?
By the time the food was served, she was extremely grateful to have something to focus on. She felt out of place. She felt conspicuous. This was going down as one of the worst nights of her life and she was counting the minutes until she and Ryan could make their escape.
The food felt dry in her mouth. Her stomach churned and after only a few bites, she gave up trying to force herself to eat. Instead, she sipped at her water and pretended she was back on the beach with Ryan, about to dance underneath the moonlight.
That was her problem. She was living in a fantasy world, avoiding reality. And reality sucked. Her reality was sitting here at a dinner table while five other people judged her. Her reality was living with a man—a man she intended to marry—who felt he needed to forgive her for sins she hadn’t committed.
At what point in her life had she decided she didn’t deserve better than this?
It was a startling discovery. The blinders had come off.
Why was she putting up with this?
”
”
Maya Banks (Wanted by Her Lost Love (Pregnancy & Passion, #2))
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The Christian belief is that Jesus, as God, is the only one who can bring humanity back to God. He was the only person in history with such a pedigree. 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us plainly, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” As a man, he could represent humanity. He was tempted in every way, and yet he never sinned. Jesus is our proverbial “best foot forward” as far as humanity goes. Jesus is also God. As such he is able to serve as a “middle man” and usher us into the very presence of God.
The amazing thing is that Jesus offers his righteousness to anyone who will receive it. Rather than being receptive to this offer, we complain there are not other ways to God. While it is incredibly gracious that God would offer any way back to him, people complain that he did not provide ten ways.
The offer for salvation is available to all. Instead of being exclusive, Christianity is actually very inclusive. Everyone is welcome to come to Jesus. It does not matter who they are, or what they have done. The Bible tells us, “…whoever believes in him shall have eternal life” (John 3:16). Whether they be Jew, Hindu, Sikh, Greek, Canadian, African, athlete, entrepreneur, lawyer, or academic, the offer is there — come to Jesus.
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Jon Morrison (Clear Minds & Dirty Feet: A Reason To Hope, A Message To Share)
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Something intangible, far rarer and stronger than bloodlines and even the gods. Something powerful enough that it has ushered in great change in the past.
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Jennifer L. Armentrout (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (Blood and Ash, #2))
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I am Faery, and Faery is me. It is how I knew you the moment you stepped through from Lacuna. You became a part of me, as you were always meant to be. But I do not exist beyond this place, and I cannot go with you. Could I, I would have done so a thousand times over. Instead, in the morning, I will ask the citizens of Ra’Ora who is willing to stand beside you and aid in ushering in a new era. An era where the door between worlds may stand open, where my children may come and go freely, as they wish. And an era in which they are safe, wherever they are, whoever they are.
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H.E. Edgmon (The Fae Keeper (Witch King #2))
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You are Louhi’s daughter, Salainen, part of the Prophecy of Three, as told by Rangaista. The child of a shaman, born from the shadows, who will defeat Death. End his rule. Usher in the new age, open the portals to Kaaos so that Kaaos can rule again.
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Karina Halle (Crown of Crimson (Underworld Gods, #2))
“
The CDC, for example, owns 57 vaccine patents1 and spends $4.9 of its $12.0 billion-dollar annual budget (as of 2019) buying and distributing vaccines.2,3 NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents and often profits from the sale of products it supposedly regulates. High level officials, including Dr. Fauci, receive yearly emoluments of up to $150,000 in royalty payments on products that they help develop and then usher through the approval process.4 The FDA receives 45 percent of its budget from the pharmaceutical industry, through what are euphemistically called “user fees.”5 When
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health)
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The CDC, for example, owns 57 vaccine patents1 and spends $4.9 of its $12.0 billion-dollar annual budget (as of 2019) buying and distributing vaccines.2,3 NIH owns hundreds of vaccine patents and often profits from the sale of products it supposedly regulates. High level officials, including Dr. Fauci, receive yearly emoluments of up to $150,000 in royalty payments on products that they help develop and then usher through the approval process.4 The FDA receives 45 percent of its budget from the pharmaceutical industry, through what are euphemistically called “user fees.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health)
“
Thanatos’s eyes flared. You cost me a key link to Midgard. The Shepherd reported faithfully to me on all it heard in the Bone Quarter. The souls of the dead talk freely of their world. “Boo-hoo.” You mock a Prince of Hel? “I just want answers.” And to get the fuck out of here. Thanatos studied her again—as if he had all the time in the universe. Then he said, I will give them to you only out of respect for a warrior capable of slaying one of my creations. Shall I meet you on the battlefield, however, I will take vengeance for the Shepherd’s death. Bryce’s mouth dried out. “It’s a date.” Connor Holstrom remains in the Bone Quarter. My Shepherd observed him on its rounds the night before you slew it. Unless … Ah, I see now. His eyes went distant. An order was dispatched from the dark. He shall be left alone with the others until the usual amount of time has passed. “Who gave the order?” Ithan demanded. It is not clear. Bryce demanded, “Is there a way to help souls like Connor?” Whether he was ushered through the Dead Gate tomorrow or in five hundred years, it was a horrible fate. Only the Asteri would know.
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Sarah J. Maas (House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2))
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with others and having the best manners.” “If there were, you’d be a pauper, Grimble,” Commander Tagg said. “He’s the best captain here,” Commander Usher called, casting a sideways glance at King Whitson, “and no one can argue with that. He’d out-sail and out-fight any rabbit alive.” “Surely we’ll make our fortunes together—sail on together, fight together—serving our king,” Captain Walters said, looking into Captain Grimble’s haughty face. “Will we not?
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S.D. Smith (The Wreck & Rise of Whitson Mariner (Tales of Old Natalia, #2))
“
For a long time I took a purely theological standpoint on the issue, which is actually so fundamental that it can be used as a springboard for any debate – if environment is the operative factor, for example, if man at the outset is both equal and shapeable and the good man can be shaped by engineering his surroundings, hence my parents’ generation’s belief in the state, the education system and politics, hence their desire to reject everything that had been and hence their new truth, which is not found within man’s inner being, in his detached uniqueness, but on the contrary in areas external to his intrinsic self, in the universal and collective, perhaps expressed in its clearest form by Dag Solstad, who has always been the chronicler of his age, in a text from 1969 containing his famous statement “We won’t give the coffee pot wings”: out with spirituality, out with feeling, in with the new materialism, but it never struck them that the same attitude could lie behind the demolition of old parts of town to make way for roads and parking lots, which naturally the intellectual Left opposed, and perhaps it has not been possible to be aware of this until now when the link between the idea of equality and capitalism, the welfare state and liberalism, Marxist materialism and the consumer society is obvious because the biggest equality creator of all is money, it levels all differences, and if your character and your fate are entities that can be shaped, money is the most natural shaper, and this gives rise to the fascinating phenomena whereby crowds of people assert their individuality and originality by shopping in an identical way while those who ushered all this in with their affirmation of equality, their emphasis on material values and belief in change, are now inveighing against their own handiwork, which they believed the enemy created, but like all simple reasoning this is not wholly true either, life is not a mathematical quantity, it has no theory, only practice, and though it is tempting to understand a generation’s radical rethink of society as being based on its view of the relationship between heredity and environment, this temptation is literary and consists more in the pleasure of speculating, that is, of weaving one’s thoughts through the most disparate areas of human activity, than in the pleasure of proclaiming the truth.
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Karl Ove Knausgård (Min kamp 2 (Min kamp, #2))
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way of a nasty joke. She did not take it very well.” “Indeed.” The inspector echoed Evelyn. “I should hate to think you have been attempting to question your guests, Lady Northmoor.” “I assure you, that is most definitely not the case.” Evelyn shook her head in what she hoped looked like genuine dismay. “I would never attempt to do such a thing against your strict orders.” “Lady Northmoor!” Doris exclaimed in a loud voice. “There you are! My goodness, I have been searching everywhere for you. Do excuse us, Detective Inspector, but I must get Lady Northmoor dressed for dinner otherwise she will be embarrassingly late.” He nodded and Evelyn following Doris to the stairs. As soon as they reached the sanctuary of her room, she held her head in her hands. “I have told so many half truths and complete stretches of the truth in the last few days, Doris, I don’t know whether I am coming or going.” “Oh Lady Northmoor!” Doris laughed. “You’ve been spending too much time with young Nora coming out with such things.” “I suppose I should say I’m quite befuddled or such like?” Evelyn shook her head. “I didn’t realise remembering to talk like a countess would be such hard work.” “Well, My Lady,” Doris said. “I think you’re doing a grand job. Now let us get you ready for dinner so you can carry that on.” After dinner, Tommy excused himself and met Evelyn and Aunt Em in the small room at the front of the house that he had appropriated for his own use earlier that summer. It had been the former smoking room of the grand old house and suited Tommy’s purposes perfectly. “Why must we hide in this poky old room?” Aunt Em asked as Tommy ushered them inside. Tommy waited until his aunt had a chance to look around her. “You were saying, Aunt Em?” “My apologies.” She inclined her head. “You have performed quite the transformation.” The heavy velvet curtains that had kept out the natural light, but kept in the stale smell of years of tobacco were gone. Tommy had kept the large desk in the corner and hadn’t taken down the dark panelling on the lower half of the walls. However, a fresh coat of white paint on the upper portion of the walls, proper light fittings, and a colourful rug in the middle of the room made it look entirely different. “Evelyn and I wanted to talk to you, Aunt Em,” Tommy said. “We must be quick as our guests will think we are exceedingly rude.” “I presume you have both been busy sleuthing your way around our guests?” “Of course,” Tommy said. “We couldn’t just leave things as they are.” “Absolutely not,” his aunt agreed. “As I said before that detective arrived, you are far more capable than he in apprehending the killer.
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Catherine Coles (Murder at the Village Fete (Tommy & Evelyn Christie, #2))
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Enniel Prussoe was typical of the Parzupheim: urbane, condescending, immaculate. Shemyaza felt wary of him at once. He saw cold ambition in Enniel’s dark glittering eyes, and something else: humiliated anger. Still, he was politeness itself, ushering Shem into a seat in his study, offering wine or brandy to his guests. Shem could almost see Enniel’s fingers twitching, as if he longed to get hold of Shem, incarcerate him, flay him, peel his secrets and power from him. The Parzupheim were dangerous, with far-reaching influence. Peveral Othman had always treated them with wary respect, haunting the periphery of their territories. Shemyaza, for all his rebirth and second coming, would be wise to remember that.
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Storm Constantine (Scenting Hallowed Blood (The Grigori Trilogy #2))
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Himalayan Sonneteer Sonnet 2
Just like every family needs a pillar,
Every generation needs a rock.
All may sprinkle salt on each other's wounds,
You for one, be the ointment to the epoch.
Be the foundation stone to civilization,
Be the walking measure of human character.
You are the definition of sapience,
You are the very definer.
Let no law define your duty,
Let no scripture determine goodness.
Let no ancestor imprison your identity,
Expand, explore and usher into sentience.
You are the illusion, you are the truth.
When evil hangs heavy, you gotta blow your fuse.
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Abhijit Naskar (Himalayan Sonneteer: 100 Sonnets of Unsubmission)
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We were at 0G in 1940, when the first telephone networks began to roll out. This was the deceptive phase. It took forty years to crawl our way to 1G, which showed up via the first mobile phones in the 1980s, marking the transition from deceptive to disruptive. By the 90s, around the time the internet emerged, 2G came along for the ride. But the ride didn’t last long. A decade later, 3G ushered in a new era of acceleration as bandwidth costs began to plummet—at a staggeringly consistent 35 percent per year. Smartphones, mobile banking, and e-commerce unleashed 4G networks in 2010. But starting in 2019, 5G will begin to hotwire the whole deal, delivering speeds a hundred times faster at near-zero prices.
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Peter H. Diamandis (The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives (Exponential Technology Series))
“
One of the blessings of learning history, say historians, is that it prevents us from likening every atrocity to the crimes of the Nazis. And yet the newsmagazine India Today, surveying the wreckage of the Emergency, was far from being obtuse when it wrote that the torture that inmates endured in the Emergency months was ‘of a kind that would make the Nazi interrogators lick their lips in approval’. The only distinction was that the horrors in India were perpetrated by a ‘sovereign democratic government which had pledged itself to the dignity of the individual’.47 Sanjay superintended the sterilisation of 6.2 million people—fifteen times the number of people sterilised by the Nazis.48 It is difficult to think of a personality in modern South Asian history who distributed such intense agony among so many of his own people. Nor was the New Yorker exaggerating when it wrote that Indira was on the threshold of ‘ushering in an Indian version of Hitler’s National Socialist regime, with private ownership of industry, farms, and service enterprises’ before her defeat.49
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K.S. Komireddi (Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India)
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Even of all the individuals who have ever lived and written or been written about. It wasn’t the computer that ushered in the information age, it was language. The information age began nearly 2 million years ago. Homo sapiens have just tweaked it a bit. Discourse
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Daniel L. Everett (How Language Began: The Story of Humanity’s Greatest Invention)
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Yet as amazing as each of us is in Christ, we were never intended to walk out our faith alone in isolation. We were created for community. As we embrace our corporate calling as an entirely new species of being, we will not only fulfill God’s original intention but also usher in God’s kingdom, which was inaugurated through Jesus’ life and ministry on earth (see 1 Pet. 2:9-10)
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Michael Brodeur (Revival Culture: Prepare for the Next Great Awakening)
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Once a person is labeled a felon, he or she is ushered into a parallel universe in which discrimination, stigma, and exclusion are perfectly legal, and privileges of citizenship such as voting and jury service are off-limits. It does not matter whether you have actually spent time in prison; your second-class citizenship begins the moment you are branded a felon. Most people branded felons, in fact, are not sentenced to prison. As of 2008, there were approximately 2.3 million people in prisons and jails and a staggering 5.1 million people under “community correctional supervision”—i.e., on probation or parole.89 Merely reducing prison terms does not have a major impact on the majority of people in the system. It is the badge of inferiority—the felony record—that relegates people for their entire lives to second-class status. As described in chapter 4, for people convicted of drug crimes, there is little hope of escape. Barred from public housing by law, discriminated against by private landlords, ineligible for food stamps, forced to “check the box” indicating a felony conviction on employment applications for nearly every job, and denied licenses for a wide range of professions, people whose only crime is drug addiction or possession of a small amount of drugs for recreational use find themselves locked out of the mainstream society and economy—permanently.
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Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness)
“
Vernet received his commission for this project in 1838, a year in which concessions for the construction of railroads were a subject of passionate debate, and many of the deputies were carried away by visions of the glorious future this new invention would usher in, typical of which was the speech of the director of bridges and railroads in which he proclaimed that, after the invention of the printing press, railroads represented the greatest advance in the history of civilization.
In response to this enthusiasm Vernet broke traditional rules of decorum in his enormous mural, combining classical figures and traditional allegorical emblems with products of the industrial revolution. In one section of his mural composition, usually entitled Le Génie de la Science (The genius of Science), a nude allegorical figure is seated in the foreground, one hand on an air pump, the other on an anvil, while a modern steam locomotive is driven toward a railroad tunnel in the background (see Figure 2-2). If Vernet had been limited to one symbol to characterize the social and economic reality of the July Monarchy, it is doubtful that he could have found a better one.
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Michael Paul Driskel (The Art of the July Monarchy: France, 1830 to 1848)
“
Oh my god your mother is adorable,” Hollis is saying. “Jesus, I hate lying and I hate you right now. Look how excited she is, you asshole.” She pushes her car door open and steps out. “Mrs. Wallace, hiiiiii!” Women. I’ll never understand them. How can she be hissing obscenities at me one second then going at my mother like they’re long-lost sisters? I climb out at a leisurely pace, giving them time to greet each other without my interference, and then amble over, hands in my pockets. “Mom, this is—” “Hollis, come inside. Trace Robert, can you get the grill going out back? Your father is dragging his feet.” Then she ushers my date into the house, leaving me standing there, the entire speech I prepared a complete waste of time. “Mom, this is Hollis,” I mumble to myself, locking the car with the remote and heading into the garage. “No, no, go on in. I’ll just start the grill. No, I insist,” I pout, deserted and alone.
”
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Sara Ney (Hard Fall (Trophy Boyfriends, #2))
“
Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.
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Gary McMahon (Dead Bad Things (Thomas Usher, #2))
“
Here’s what you’re gonna do. Pick up a bottle of wine, invite him over to your place, and make sure some old-school Usher is playing when he walks in. Then, you take off all your clothes and—you know what, baby girl?” Pace Dawson drawls into the microphone on Friday afternoon. “Forget the wine and Usher. Just be naked when he shows up and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be ready to go to the bone zone.” Pace’s co-host, Evelyn Winthrop, pipes up in agreement. “Naked never fails. Guys like it when you’re naked.
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Elle Kennedy (The Mistake (Off-Campus, #2))