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The Blue Origin New Shepherd flight, with an all-female crew, launched on April 14, 2025. From launch to return, conspiracies exploded all over the Internet with claims that the rocket was fake, the return capsule was fake, it was all staged, space isn't real, and so on. Author and model Emily Ratajkowski made it political, saying: "It just speaks to the fact that we are absolutely living in an oligarchy where there is a small group of people who are interested in going to space for the sake of getting a new lease on life while the rest of the population, most people on planet Earth, are worried about paying rent or having dinner for their kids.” And she is correct in a way, additionallu since Kalpana Chawla and Sally Ride seem to be ignored as pioneers of women in space. Rather than discussing such things, perhaps we should look at the significance of the names, dates, and symbols involved instead.Preparations for the flight were lengthy, but pre-flight would have begun on Palm Sunday, with the actual launch and return occurring on Holy Monday. As with the return of spring and resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, both relating to death, life, and rebirth, so too does the Blue Origin capsule and mission exemplify these characteristics - from the all female crew to the messages of unity and peace displayed from start to finish, and finally to the nature of the rocket itself, which resembles an erect penis with exaggerated head. This penis projectile penetrated the blue above with its white sperm-head load being returned to the ground below at the onset of spring. The capsule carrying the women was named New Shepherd, a moniker of Jesus Christ (“I am the good shepherd” - John 10:11) and various other deities such as Orpheus and Hermes-Mercury (guide of souls known as Good Shepherd), who held sacred The Path. These shepherds or civilizers included Quetzalcoatl, and Osiris, or the green god of Egypt. It was Osiris who presided over the Hall of Judgement in the underworld, a place where the deceased's heart was weighted against the feather (often blue) of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice. If the heart weighed more, being heavy with desire, it was consumed by the beast Ammit, but if the feather, or soul, weighed more, then it was set free with eternal life and granted passaged to the Field of Reeds. Although such Egyptian reeds to do not grow in Texas, similar plants and reeds do, which is a critical detail because this is where the spent white (sperm) capsule returned to earth. The logo of Blue Origin is also a blue feather, which shares something in common with the former Twitter-X logo and the alternative Blue Sky butterfly logo. One of the most famous people inside the capsule was Katy Perry, who had the nickname of “feather” since childhood, something not overlooked as she wore the blue feather on her suit during the mission. As seen in her Dark Horse video and in a 2019 social media post, Perry often references Egyptian mythology, and particularly that the heart should be lighter than a feather. Symbol dictionaries will tell us that a bird represents thought, imagination, synthesis, and sublimation. In Egypt, the bird was BA - the soul. A blue bird in particular is a representation of pure ideas. Blue butterflies represent transformation and new life, i.e., spring. In Greek mythology, the butterfly famously refers to the soul or mind, hence its name psyche.Perry is also on the New Shepherd video holding both a blue butterfly in one shot and a white daisy in another shot. These flowers represent much the same thing butterflies and birds symbolize, though they have a direct connection to the Norse goddess Freya, for whom Friday (Good Friday) is named. Furthermore, in Christian symbolism, a white daisy is the flower of the Virgin Mary, which historically has been a title and a surname of magdal-elder, meaning Watchtower of the Flock, the same flock the shepherd watches over. The Irish goddess Brigid (also Brighid) presided over the festival of Imbolc, an early spring holy day celebrating the end of winter. Known as the Exalted One, she was a goddess of healing, fertility, and birth. From The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, authors Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm confirm this: “Brigid, sometimes known as Brigit, was a goddess of healing and fertility who was believed to assist women in labour.” Spring is, of course, when the earth is reborn. Some have pointed out that the NS-31 logo can be inverted to show not a spaceship but a goat head, which is perhaps one of the most misunderstood symbols in the western world. The goat is Capricorn, Pan, Cernunnos, and various other characters with horns and features that remind many of the Devil, largely due to the usage of goats for the relieving of sin - scapegoats (Leviticus 16:8-10). It is from the goat horns that we get the term “horny,” yet another reference to sexuality and reproduction. It is therefore no surprise that Jack Parsons, the infamous rocket engineer, invoked the name of the Greek god Pan before most rocket tests. Pan is a fertility god, and his invocation provides fertility for the test, the sexual imagery of the rocket itself, and so on. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKYOUTUBEMAIN WEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.
In “X is for eXalted One” TJ is offered a job delivering news papers. But this is not just any newspaper, it's the Good News Paper! As he learns more, he discovers why the Bible calls Jesus the eXalted one and what it means to have a relationship with him.Follow along as TJ and Tory learn about the names of God in Scripture week after week with the ABCs of the Names of God! Season three and four follow this best-selling card set, and we just know your kids are going to love them. Shop all discipleship tools for kids ages 2 to 12 at tinytheologians.shop, and be sure to grab our free podcast listener's guide! Resources: The ABCs of the Names of God Card SetFollow Us:Instagram | Website | NewsletterOur Sister Shows:Knowing Faith | Confronting Christianity | Family Discipleship Podcast | Starting PlaceA podcast of Training the Church Editing and support by The Good Podcast Co.
Diplomatic Hell Hole.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels."Are we in the right place?" the stranger worried."I'm afraid so. Anais, you need to leave.""Not until you tell me what is going on here," she sizzled."She's not here to have sex, if that's what you worried about," I retorted. "Wait, are you here to have sex with me?""I barely know you.""That rarely stops me," I muttered."He's a master of bedroom antics," Pamela praised me. "He's pretty much at a loss at doing anything else.""Thanks Grandma," I griped."Your welcome, Grandson.""We, are here to meet someone," the stranger hedged."You came to the right place," Pamela preempted me. "He's definitely someone.""Fine, redo. I'm Cáel Nyilas," (deep breathe), "NOHIO, HCIESI-NDI, U HAUL, Magyarorszag es Erdely Hercege plus a bunch of other honorifics that have yet to be confirmed. I am single-handedly bringing back medievalism to the center of Europe and the Near East. The woman to my left is Pamela Pale, and she really is my bodyguard. The woman to my right is Sgt. Anais Saint-Amour, RCMP, my ex-lover and the person that needs to leave right now.""I'm not sure I should leave at this moment," Anais shifted possessively. I had to recall earlier this morning, the part where we'd broken up by mutual consent. Yep. That had really happened. I had thought I was whittling down my current list of paramours. Why do the Goddesses hate me so?"Told you, she can't give up that cock," Pamela whispered."As you can see, I have limited control of my life," I told the strange woman. "I know you are here to meet somebody who isn't me. Now you know who I am. Who are you and your companions?""I'm Ms. Quincy.""Sorry; I'm on a first name basis with everyone I meet," I interrupted."What's your rank, Honey?" Pamela added."What makes you think,?""She doesn't think. That's what makes her so dangerous." I explained."Hey now," Pamela faux-complained."Okay. She's a fledgling telepath, or medium," I shrugged."Captain, Zelda Quincy.""In case you are mesmerized by her tits," Pamela tapped me, "she's packing some serious hardware.""One of those personal defense gizmos?" I leaned Pamela's way."Close, but no cigar. She's my kind of girl, big 'bang-bang', back-up at the small of her back and knife in her boot.""What!" Zelda gulped."She's his knife-fighting instructor," Anais answered drolly."Are you Special Forces?" Zelda regarded my mentor."Nah, I got kicked out for a consistent failure to observe even the loosest Rules Of Engagement. I'm a free-spirit.""Oh, you're a sniper," Zelda nodded."I like this one," Pamela smiled."Ah, thank you." Then, over her shoulder, "I think we are in the right place." Zelda entered the room, followed by a Hispanic panther of a man (kind of like a tanned, slightly shorter Chaz without the cool accent) wearing a long coat, and a Subcontinent-cast woman who looked at everyone as if she expected us to sprout fangs, or start quoting the Koran any second now. She obviously was a brain seconded to this mission very much against her will.The fourth person had that cagey 'when my lips move, I'm lying' look while seemingly unhappy with her current assignment. The heavy implication was that the lady was a career diplomat. Considering our current company and who we were talking to, she was State Department. She was in her late 30's or early 40's and giving off the sensation she had devoted so much to her career that she was starting to wonder if that was all that life had to offer.The fifth member was a military man clearly uncomfortable about what he was doing here, thus not a spook. His off-the-rack suit wasn't terrible, so he expected to socialize somewhat while performing his duties. He also looked like a man who expected other people to speak half-truths and obfuscated lies as easily as they breathed. Numbers three, four and five were dressed for the weather and unarmed.All of this meant they were good at what they did, though they probably didn't know the particulars of what was expected of them. They had their marching orders. Those orders were about to be made irrelevant in the company they would be keeping. The latter weren't the 'doing it by rote' kind of people they would normally be dealing with."I bet you she's a doctor," I murmured to Pamela, "she's with State and he's some sort of Foreign Service type.""I bet the first guy is Air Force," she countered."Like one of those Para-rescue guys?""No. More like one of those Battlefield Air Operations guys, I'm guessing," she corrected me."That guy?" I nodded to the final guy. "Pentagon wonk?""More likely he's one of those embassy guys. I'm going to take an educated leap here, Office of Military Cooperation, Mongolia?""That is pretty clever of you. Kazakhstan. Major Justin Colbert.""I bet some people in the White House, Pentagon and Langley are disappointed with you right now," I reasoned. His jaw grew tight."Don't worry, Major," Pamela grinned. "We consider that a good thing. We don't like the people in charge and have a low opinion of their opinion on just about everything, including their habit of blaming the blameless for their government's fuck ups.""Who are these people?" the first man whispered to Quincy."She's a telepath." That was Zelda"She's a psychic-medium." That was Anais."She can see through time." That was me. "Nice to meet you. Who are you?""Chris Diaz. Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.""Dr. Saira Yamin," the second woman introduced herself. "Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. Are you the man from Johnston Island?""Why yes, yes I am," I beamed."The APCSS is in Waikiki, Hawaii," Pamela educated me. "Your arrival probably cost her some prime surfing time.""I was more interested in the fact that he survived a plane crash in a Category Four Cyclone," she admitted."Mother Nature hates me. No matter how hard I try, she refuses to kill me," I confessed. "My suffering is an endless source of amusement to that bitch.""That, that wasn't the helpful answer I was looking for," she stammered."So, Lt. Colonel Chris Diaz, you must be with JSOC, I have a deep and abiding respect for you guys. If you need something, just ask," I greeted him. "Captain Zelda, you are not with JSOC.""She's with the DCS ~ that is the Defense Clandestine Service," Pamela kept going. "Zelda, you love being in your uniform, you're proud, yet happy with the concept of dying in an unmarked grave for Constitution and Country. You are too old to have been in the first female class at Ranger School, so that means no 'in the field' JSOC for you. You've gotten around that stone wall by joining the US Defense Department's own little pack of killers.""Also, you felt it was necessary to bring a Benelli M4-11707. That's a close-in action shotgun, but a bit over-kill considering the paper-thin walls in this building. That tells me you are used to being in the kinds of places where such a tool is a necessity. Or in other words, since you think you are meeting a band of terrorists, you brought along your favorite toy.""Your personal weapon is a SIG Sauer P229R DAK in .357 which is a new weapon still under trial by the US Army and Air Force. Your boot dagger is ceramic so it will pass a cursory exam, or scan. You hate the idea of being trapped on a public aircraft weaponless. You have also given up killing power for a proper balance for throwing. I like a forward-thinking gal.""Air Force ~ you've recently come back from Asia, most likely Tibet. It shows in your breathing brought about by a close call with Altitude Sickness. The only reason for an Air Force guy to be here is because he's familiar with the Khanate military and you are not US Army, or Marine Corp Special Forces. I know the type.""You went with the MP5K in the standard 9mm, so you are more interested in sending bullets down range than looking into someone's face as you kill them. You may be a 'light' Colonel, which means you are almost somebody. What your higher-ups haven't appreciated is that our guests will respect you because they are like that ~ remembering past friends and comrades in arms. Of greater importance, you have Cáel's gratitude which will count for more than you currently believe."I pledged then and there to be as good as Pamela at determining that kind of stuff before I died. She had assured me it was as much a matter of psychology as eagle-eyed perception. People were often a type that gravitated to various forms of destruction, be they old school, or going for the latest gadget."I told you all that firepower was excessive," State softly chastised her associates (what they really were, not the underlings she saw them as)."So, you appeared to have forgotten to tell us your name," I regarded the State lass."Nisha Desai Biswal. I'm with the government.""Oh, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, I've examined your website," I told her. It clearly pissed her off somewhat that I so swiftly disregarded her crude attempt at subtle manipulation."Hey. I've got some real enemies at State, so it pays to know who might be the next suit trying to cock me over," I explained. I had to prioritize. It would take some serious effort to convince Zelda to have a MFF three-way straight out the gate and she was definitely the hotter number."Major, you came here unarmed," Pamela noted. "That won't do. They expect you to be armed because you are a warrior, damn it. Cáel get him one of your Glock 22's.""Gotcha," I nodded. I went to my room, tipped away the false back to my closet (that Havenstone had installed recently so Odette wouldn't accidently fire off one of my weapons) and retrieved one of my spare Glocks, but not the one with the laser sight. Such over-the-top fancy gear would be inappropriate. I only gave him one mag. If he couldn't get the job done with 15 rounds, he wouldn't have a chance to reload.Mind you, I took two in a twin-rig shoulder holster and four 22 round magazines, because I tend to shoot two-handed which doesn't exactly give you a bullseye every time. I returned to our crowded living room, handed the Major his weaponry, and then directed the US group to the far side of the room (towards Timothy's bedroom. Saira and Nisha took the couch.Because this tiny space wasn't crowded enough, there was a knock at the door. I checked. It was Juanita, oh yeah, my real bodyguard."Listen up everybody," I announced to the room. "This is my other bodyguard, my official one. Her names is Juanita Leya Antonio Garza, she's from the Dominican Republic via Buenos Aires and she is armed, so don't freak out." I opened the door."What is going on?" Juanita hissed."I'm having a private meeting with a few heavily armed friends. The other side to this party hasn't arrived yet. Why don't you come in?" She came in."Why didn't you warn me?" she whispered her complaint."Long night, worse wake-up, needed to do some soul-searching. Pamela was looking after me, then this came up and I forgot. I apologize," I lowered my head in shame. Juanita was only trying to do the job she'd been entrusted with and by not thinking of her, I was making that so much harder.I made the introductions, first names only."Juanita, Anais, Pamela; please slip into the kitchenette," I suggested.Anais "Why?"Juanita "Where are you going to be?"Pamela "Sure. I'm starving. I'm going to raid the fridge.""Anais, because I need my faction in one place. Juanita, I will be refereeing this meeting, so I will have to remain in the living room, roughly six feet from you." It was really a small apartment. "Pamela, if it is edible, it isn't mine and you'll have to replace it."Great Caesar's Ghost! No wonder Big Wigs had their personal assistants handle this pre-meeting crap. I was on my last two fucking nerves and one of those was already stressed and tender. And the real reason for being here hadn't even arrived yet."Why am I in your faction?" Anais mulled over threateningly."Because you haven't walked out that door. There are going to be three sides to this meeting, not three plus Anais. That is the way it is going to be. Now, are you going to behave, or are Juanita and Pamela going to toss you out?""You are threatening me!""Finally catching on to that, aren't you, Sweetie?" Pamela chimed in."I'm only staying because I believe you are in trouble," Anais grumped."Why is she (Anais) here?" Nisha inquired heatedly. "This is supposed to be a very, very private encounter.""I know Anais. I don't know you. I trust Anais with my well-being despite the fact she has numerous reasons to distrust me. She's staying because she is a straight arrow. That's good enough for me.""But is she going to keep her mouth shut about what happens here today?" Nisha pressed."Anais, this is a clandestine meeting that isn't going to be recorded by anybody so, barring a crime being committed, you can never discuss this with anyone who isn't already in the room. Agreed?"Pause."I agree," she nodded. I really was going to have to fuck her again. Not today. Well, maybe not today; I had to keep my options open. Her investigator mind was going into overdrive. Give it a week and she'd be knocking on my door late one night. Inquisitive, truth-hungry dames are like that, trust me. Then it would be 'bask in my genius' sex. It had been a while since I'd experienced that, with Lady Yum-Yum.There was another knock at the door. I checked before Juanita could do the checking for me, in case someone was going to shoot me through the door. Fuck it. I was going to talk to Timothy about moving. Him, me and Odette. I couldn't give those two up. It was Kazak bookends. I opened up and invited them in. It turned out they had names besides Bookends #1 and #2, Nuro and Roman.Nuro (I think) checked out the rooms while Roman (I was pretty sure) kept an eye on my guests. I made introductions, first names only and specifying who was with who. Technically, they could trust my side because I was the Great Khan's brother and thus my servants were his servants. Technically.Iskender came next followed by OT. A woman I didn't know (sadly, not OT's daughter) came in behind him while the other two quintuplets stayed in the hallway. Iskender and I hugged."Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," he smiled. That was 'Prince-something'. My Kazak was a bit rusty. He then whispered into my ear. "OT bows to you first. His title is Hongtaiji." What?"Ulı Khaan s yikti ağası," OT bowed."Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar," I bowed back. I remembered I had to rise first. It was an etiquette thing. In retrospect, Iskender had stretched the bounds of tradition by hugging me, his titular superior. "Welcome to my humble abode.""I thank you for your hospitality," he 'grinned'. His face wasn't made for that gesture so that faint gesture came across as rather unnatural.My mind finally finished translating what Iskender and OT had called me. It wasn't 'prince'. It was 'beloved brother of the Great Khan'. Mother fucker!"Wait," Justin, the military attach guy muttered, "we are here to meet this guy?" indicating me."What do you mean?" Saira questioned."The title Mr. Nyilas was identified with means 'beloved brother of the Great Khaan'," he explained. "The Kazakhs don't go tossing honorifics like that around. This guy," again pointing at me, "is a really important somebody.""Thanks for dropping this grenade in my lap, OT," I joked. "I'll get you for this, and your little yak too.""Odette is going to be so miffed that she missed this," Pamela chuckled."Mr. Nyilas," Zelda began."Please, call me Cáel. It is how I roll.""Cáel, can I ask you a stupid question?""Go right ahead," Pamela snorted. "Cáel does stupid real well. It is a critical part of his skill set. It makes him adorable instead of annoying. Trust me, you'll learn that soon enough."Too much 'trust me' was flying around in a room where nobody trusted anybody."Thanks for that encouragement, Teach," I grumbled. "Ask away, Captain Zelda.""Why are you playing this game with us?""I wasn't. Until thirty seconds ago I was sure I was here totally as a spectator," I gripped. "My buddy," the word dripped with sarcasm, "Temujin likes dumping these kinds of surprises on me.""Did you mean what Ms. Pale said about you feeling you owed me?" Chris asked."Absolutely.""We need help defusing this Thailand crisis before a shooting war begins.""What do you suggest?""We want the Khanate to back down," Chris stated firmly."I thought we had agreed that I would spearhead this delegation," Nisha reminded Chris."I think the situation had evolved and we need a different approach," Chris insisted."You should listen to the Lieutenant Colonel," I advised. "He knows a whole lot more about what is going on than you do.""Why don't you explain it to us?" she began her weevil-ling."You are engaging in linguistic niceties with men who have bled together, Ms. Biswal," I instructed. "Not that Chris and I have bled on the same battlefield, we have shed blood in the same cause; and that cause has been bringing our two nations, the Khanate and the US, together. The Khanate owes Chris for his efforts on our behalf and we pay our debts.""How so?" Nisha asked."National Security stuff," I evaded. "If you don't know, you shouldn't know and you probably don't want to know. Suffice it to say, the Khanate is willing to listen to Lt. Colonel Diaz's request as a friend.""But he doesn't speak for the United States Government," she corrected."Why not?" I riposted. "He's dealt with the Khanate longer than you have. He has a clue about the mindset of their rank and file.""But does he know their leadership?" she persisted."I don't know. Chris, do you think you have a handle on me?""Are you really capable of talking for the Khanate government?" Nisha preempted Chris. What she left unsaid was 'are you culpable in their atrocities?'"Let's find out," I then looked over my shoulder. "Hongtaiji Oyuun T m rbaatar, will my words and wishes reach my brother's ear?""That is why I am here," he replied."Don't you have the authority to speak for your leader?" she grilled OT. Nisha was relentless trying to stay in the limelight. "Aren't you a diplomat?""There is no need to insult the man," Pamela snidely commented."I am one of many voices that provide information to the Great Khan. I am not his brother. Cáel Nyilas is and has already proved his familial affection by proposing Operation Funhouse and brought whole nations as gifts," OT schooled her. "He is gifted with both tactical and strategic insight as well as sharing the Great Khan's love for his people and his hopes for their eventual freedom.""I didn't think you were a soldier," Zelda looked me over."Oh no," I wove off that insinuation. "I've never been a real soldier and am unworthy of that distinction. I know quite a few who have earned that title and they scare the crap out of me. I mean, they go looking for trouble. In my case, trouble comes looking for me. I'm damn lucky to still be alive and that's the damn truth.""Bullshit," Pamela coughed."What was that, Artemisia?" I winked at her."Bitch," she laughed "My men have become women, and my women men. At least you didn't call me Cassandra.""Well, she's Greek (a deadly insult to all Amazons), but you could be her Evil Twin because everyone believes whatever you say.""Can we get down to business?" Chris inquired."Damn," Pamela shook her head. "They haven't been paying attention.""What does that mean?" Zelda griped."Iskender, you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" I asked."Not a clue, Exalted One," he stood there like a stone statue. Note, the Khanate contingent really were standing there like the Altai Mountains, doing nothing. You had to carefully examine them to see that they did indeed breathe and blink."Use small words," Pamela advised."You really are a rude misanthrope," Anais told Pamela."Do you know what's going on?" Pamela volleyed."No.""Then sit back and watch how the madness works," she snickered. "It is all you, Cáel.""Okay. One; how did Artemisia escape the battle of Salamis?" I began. Nothing."Oh," Justin nodded. "She rammed an allied ship to make the pursuing Athenians think she was an ally. What does that have to do with our current predicament?""Achieve your ends by using violence as a distraction," I sighed. "The Khanate will invade Thailand in," I looked to OT, "tomorrow?" He nodded."How does that help us?" Nisha complained."Second example, Cassandra. She saw the truth through all illusions and falsehoods and no one believed her. Now, reverse that."Pause."We are waiting," Saira finally joined the conversation. I could hear those little microprocessors inside her noggin firing electrons at light speed."We fight a phony war. The Khanate and their buddies invade in a lightning campaign that appears to be successful. Shit like attacking the opposition where they ain't. Things that look epic on CNN where some retired colonel, no offense...""None taken," Chris responded."Where some colonel talks about seizing resources, severed supply lines and encirclement. We, the Khanate, bomb shit like bridges and supply dumps, things with no civilians to get killed. On the downside, to make this work the Khanate needs to put some level of force into Bangkok.""That will get civilians killed," Nisha reminded me, unnecessarily."Civilians are getting killed right now by their own government. This time they will get a chance to strike back," I stated firmly. "The Thai protestors aren't cowards. They are just grossly outgunned. We can change that.""How does that help the United States?" Nisha queried."The US gets to come in and save the day," I sighed. "The US can t get there until the day after, so you don't look bad about letting the first 24 hours of brutality happen.""Oh," Zelda blinked."The US gets to end the fighting that the Khanate has no desire to continue. The US brings peace, while whomever takes over owes the Khanate. Both sides look good. Both sides claim victory. The President gets a second Nobel Peace Prize (psychic, aren't I?). The US gathers some regional allies like Malaysia, the ROC and the Philippines along with our Marines to ensure free and fair elections. The Khanate isn't seen to be backing down against the Titan of Western Civilization. They are working with them to bring about a better world.""Win-win," Saira nodded in agreement."The Khanate is still an autocratic tyranny," Nisha commented."As opposed to the People's Republic's oligarchical tyranny?" Chris countered."Agreed," Saira said. "I now think we should work with the Khanate to bring stability to Central Asia which which was impossible while those member nations were being squeezed between Russia, Europe, China and India.""What are you a doctor of?" I asked."I specialize in 'failed states', among other things," Saira grinned."This could still turn into one bloody cluster-fuck," Zelda mused."My peopled don't have the resources to devastate Thailand," OT finally spoke. "If you, the US, agrees to intervene on our timetable, you will have our thanks, off the record, of course.""How do we know this isn't some ruse to allow the Khanate to overthrow Thailand's existing government?" Justin questioned."You have my word," I replied. No one said anything for several heartbeats."Really?" Nisha balked."Mr. Nyilas, Cáel, do you give me the Great Khan's word?" Chris studied me intently."Without reservation," I answered. "For what you have done for us and more, the Great Khan will honor this deal. We and the Thai's will do the bleeding. You will get your accolades. We avoid a pointless clashing of forces, which is why we are all here today.""I will give you my written recommendation in a few hours," Saira told Nisha.Chris stepped forward to shake my hand. He was an alpha-type alright. I gave as good as I got. His eyes bore into mine, looking for a faltering of will."What did you do in Romania?""I got a lot of good men killed.""Okay.""Okay?" Nisha squawked. "A handshake, a pat on the back and the deals done? Since when did our democratic republic do business this way? He admitted he got men killed in Romania. What is to say this won't be Romania writ large?""Ms. Biswal, he told the truth. He got good men killed and he isn't happy about it. I would be worried if he claimed one bit of glory from that episode. He didn't.""Nisha," I took a deep breathe, "When you unleash men with weapons, nothing is assured. Maybe the Thai government will see the hate coming their way and back down. Maybe the people will resist the intrusion. Maybe the Khanate's forces will get slaughtered at the starting line. It isn't like they have enough time to deploy enough forces to win a protracted war.""What happens if the Khanate decides it won't go?" she continued."Then they get destroyed on the ground in a war of attrition," Chris answered for me. "He's right. They can't bring enough in the time allotted to completely overwhelm the roughly 120,000 members of the Royal Thai Army that have remained loyal to the regime.""In three days they will be out of fuel, shells, rockets and bullets. It is logistics, Ms. Biswal," Zelda piled it on. "The Khanate war-fighting systems are not NATO compatible. That means they can't simply capture more material as they penetrate the frontiers. If they overstay their welcome, we can launch missile strikes against their fuel depots. The combat devolves back to World War I and that's a style of war they can't afford to fight.""What about stopping the Khanate from invading in the first place?" Nisha wouldn't give up."Had the US acknowledged the Khanate, none of this would have happened, Ms. Biswal," I became snappish. "Neither superpower talked to the other until other commitments had been made.""If you think you can come in and start dictating Khanate policy, you are dreadfully mistaken. The US doesn't have the power, or the resolve," I glared at her. "Don't try convincing the Khanate that isn't the case. We know better.""You don't know what the US is capable of," she snapped back."Abandoning Iraq with a fractured pseudo-democratic process? Abandoning Afghanistan without destroying the Taliban? The Syrian Civil War? The Donbass Crisis? The collapse of Libya? Boko Haram? Somalia? Yemen? Exactly how has the US's power and resolve solved any of those issues?" I countered."Ms. Biswal," OT spoke again. "We are willing to create a desert and call it 'Peace'. Our enemies know that. Your unwillingness to do so is neither a strength nor a weakness. It is a hallmark of your society in the same way that 'Total War' is a hallmark of ours. We are more than willing to leave you to manage the Peace. Let us manage the War against the forces opposed to civilized discourse.""As ugly and disagreeable as it is, we are willing to keep creating pyramids of skulls on every street corner until either they learn their lesson, or we kill them all. Let us do that and you will have your global stability and reap the economic benefits and accolades of Pax Americana. We are not your enemy. We are precisely the ally you need to keep the peace and we will do that, if you let us.""To allow barbarism is to become barbarians," Saira mused."That is complete fiction," I scoffed. "The United States didn't become communist because it allied with the Soviet Union in World War II. Truman didn't become Stalin. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is older than recorded history.""It is the Carrot and the Stick on a Global basis," Justin agreed. "Listen to the gentle words of the West, or you will end up feeling the wrath of the East.""As long as the Khanate accepts the limitations of is role," Saira added, "this might work. Please understand there will be factions in the Western Democracies who will not accept that status quo. It is not in the nature of our societies to stifle dissent.""Is it possible to get any political concessions from the Khanate's leadership?" Justin requested. "A pledge to hold some level of democratic elections? A Constitution with some strong provisions to protect individual rights and liberties would be nice.""Justin, in case your bosses missed it, the Khanate is still at a state of war with the PRC," I shook my head. "With their limited experience with democratic government throughout most of the Khanate's territories, that would be madness.""With limited concessions to the Imperial State, we have not interfered with the politics of Albania, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. We are never going to become a Western-style democracy. We have had limited rule by consensus long before White Men arrived in the Western Hemisphere," OT informed them."Discounting the Irish Monks, Vikings and Knights Templar," Pamela interjected."If you say so," OT gave a minuscule bow to Pamela. "Long before your nation was anything more than the scribbled history of a long-faded Greek city-state, we had meritocracies, oligarchies of senior statesmen & warriors, thinkers and religious leaders, and we had codified judicial moral equality into the political arena. We have a far superior record of religious and minority freedom, of genuine multi-culturalism plus a deeper understanding of the arts and crafts as a means of uniting disparate peoples. We find your claims of cultural superiority to be childish.""Oh, snap," I snickered. "You get'em, OT.""I bet the boys in Foggy Bottom felt that pimp-slap," Pamela agreed."I bet the bronzed skull of some Harvard dean just fell off its pedestal.""They are called 'busts'," Anais groaned. "With a name like that, how could you forget it?""So true," I concurred. "All this responsibility must have clouded my normally hedonistic vocabulary.""That doesn't change the fact that you have employed biological warfare and genocide in this current day and age," Justin pointed out."Tell that to our Native Americans," I snorted. "They are easy to find. They live in trailer parks in whatever blasted Hell Hole we stuck them in, or in their casinos where they are buying back their country, one rube at a time. Ask them if they've gotten over it.""We don't claim to be perfect," Justin insisted."No, we merely claim to have the only correct form of government, economic policy and schools of philosophical, political, scientific and educational thought," I pointed out."We definitely should revive ethical utilitarianism," Pamela slapped a fist into her palm. "Oh, and the guillotine. Work houses for orphans and grist mills for the disabled, and A Modest Proposal for those chronically unemployed and terminally homeless, yes, and,""Pamela, what is it with you today?" I snickered."It is nearly sunset,""Ah, and you haven't killed anyone yet.""You know how cranky I get when I don't get my daily dose of homicide.""Are you two done?" Anais frowned. She did that a lot around me."And you don't hand out Mini-Uzi's to your preschoolers," Pamela glowered. "What is wrong with you people?"Pause, waiting for that punch line that was never coming. See, it was more difficult to sense Pamela was an immediate threat to your health if you thought she was completely off her rocker."Hmm, well, on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we have a deal. Chris and Justin, I will leave you with my loyal Iskender to work out the gory details. Who wants to grab dinner?" I inquired."Are you serious?" Nashi gasped."Oh yeah. I had the Russian invasion of Manchuria figured out in this amount of time and Manchuria is way bigger than Thailand." Was it? I didn't know. Geography was not one of those subjects which gets you laid."What do you have in mind?" Zelda inquired."Whatever you want."{1 am, Sunday, August 31st ~ 8 Days to go}"How did I end up in bed with you?" Zelda sighed happily, her body splayed halfway over mine and her head resting on my chest, listening to my heartbeat."You aren't the first girl to ask me that question."On the other side, Anais moaned in her sleep. Yeah, she was over me. Abso-fucking-lutely. If you recall, she'd try anything once. I convinced her the military babes were totally different than that Goth chick we'd blown the mind of back in Montreal.Zelda was with me because I had caught her in a lie. She claimed to be a lesbian when I first hit on her. She was adamant. I destroyed her with incontrovertible evidence.A) She hadn't scoped out Anais when she came in. A glance didn't count and Anais oozed sexy when she was angry, which was most of the time.B) She hadn't scoped out Juanita's figure when said worthy went to the kitchenette. I look for such things and Juanita has thighs to die for.C) When I told her she had a wicked sense of humor, she blushed. Honestly, lesbians rarely care about strange men complimenting their personalities.D) Then I double-downed by asking her if she preferred a shower, or bath. She said shower (because that's the butch thing to say). When I asked her 'when was the last time she'd had a bubble bath', she blushed again. Lesbians don't like it when a man imagines them naked. Straight chicks, unless you are a creepy, stalker guy, like it when men fantasize about them swathed in bubbles, thus semi-clothed, thus not creepy.E) In a final and fatal act of evasion, she asked a grumpy Anais what she liked about me. Anais was blunt."He can fucking hammer you all night, sneak in a romantic quickie in the shower, cook you a delicious breakfast then give you another round of mind-numbing intercourse up against the wall before you have to go to work. And still find the time and energy to fuck your neighbor."Woot!"So, this happens to you often?" she mused, it was a trap. She really wanted to know if I was an egotistical scumbag who took advantage of every woman I came across. At the same time, she wanted to know if I considered her a 'whoe' ~ a woman who gives up the goodies for free."Do you mean 'am I taking advantage of you'?" I replied."That is not what I asked," she persisted. That meant 'yes'."Let me see," I laid back and looked up at the ceiling. "I have a fiancée, six women I am close enough to to spend quality time with, a fuck-buddy who is a sweet girl and trusts me too much and a passel of ex-girlfriends who have found my infidelity to be reprehensible.""Six women?" she frowned."Four co-workers (Rhada, Oneida, Yasmin and Buffy), the girlfriend of a co-worker who dumped her in a very public fashion (Brooke) and that woman's friend (Libra). She was the wing-chick who was stuck with me on a quadruple-date and was underwhelmed with me when we first met."I didn't count my 'hook-ups' and I wasn't sure how to qualify Nicole."Ex's?""'No' is not a word in common usage in my vocabulary. I've dated a best friend's girl, a mother, sister and aunt of the same girlfriend, basically, I'm either highly immoral, incredibly loose, or a letch.""Don't you take responsibility for any of those, relationships?""Hell yeah," I tilted her chin up so that we could make eye-contact. "I've never blamed a woman for taking out her frustrations on my flesh, ran away from a screaming fit (Big Lie!), or blamed them for any failing in our relationship. It is always my fault because I can't stay loyal.""That's depressing," Zelda moped."Don't get me wrong. I don't find fault in any of the women I have spent time with. That is my problem, I find women fascinating; never boring, or bland. Quite frankly, it is a gift that I don't regret having. I may be a fuck-up, but I'm a fuck-up who will give you the very best attention.""Full of yourself, much?" her attitude shifted. I had short-circuited her fears; I was a cheater, I confessed to it without shame because I was inexorably drawn to her beauty, personality and charm. With Anais around, I couldn't claim to be solely enchanted with Zelda, so I had to think quickly on my feet. After all, Zelda was energetic and had great stamina."I promised you pleasure," I countered. "Did I deliver?""Yes, you are full of yourself," she slapped my stomach. I wasn't full of myself. I was a confident sex machine."Thank you.""Huh?""Wonderful sex, taking a chance with me, agreeing to a three-way, being awake after," I looked at the bed-table clock, "six hours.""I run five miles a day," she bragged."I try to have ten hours of sex a day," I teased. Zelda slapped my stomach again. Anais stirred."Do any women like you, for any reason beyond your cock?""I'm considered loyal where sex is not concerned, reliable and brave," I offered."What happened in Romania?""Have you ever been in combat?""I've been in violent confrontations, but not a true firefight," she admitted."Hmm,""Is it something that you can't relate?" she asked."No. You are a soldier so you probably know more about combat than I do. It was, not chaotic at all. I never lost perspective of what was going on despite the bullets flying around. The Romanian Captain in charge knew his stuff, directed his company well and all I had to do was figure out where the terrorist leader was.""What happened?" she perked up."I am here talking with you and he's in a morgue in Bucharest.""Oh," She wanted more."I have to live with the knowledge that I set all of that in motion, Zelda. I convinced the Romanians that they had to confront that terror group before they moved on to their next target, me.""I knew they would come after me and my friends, no matter where we were. Which would have ended up as a blood bath in some urban center. So I felt compelled to strike first. Based on information I provided, the Romanian Army sent two battalions, the 22nd and 24th, of the 6th Mountain Troops Brigade into battle.""It was a massacre," I remembered sadly."But you won," she tried to comfort me."Of the four companies involved in the battle, the Romanians suffered nearly two hundred dead and wounded. I hardly consider it anything other than a massacre. Yes, we won. Only three of the terrorists escaped. Their leader died. I don't think I've ever felt so hollow in my life," I finished."Forty percent losses, that is horrific," she crawled on top of me."The kicker is the Romanians sent some men of the 24th to hunt me down when I was kidnapped. A squad was in the group that rescued me and my companion from Johnston Island. I thought they would never want to deal with me ever again.""Don't be so hard on yourself. If they thought well enough of you to send their men out to rescue you, then you must have done right by them.""Chaz said something like that too," I felt sheepish and sleepy."Chaz? Who is she?"Honest to God, one day I want to find a girl who thinks I'm talking about another girl and asks if we can have a three-way, instead of trying to compare herself to this unknown person. Wait... I already had someone like that. Her name was Odette."Chaz is Color Sergeant Charles 'Chaz' Tomorrow of Her Majesty's SSR," I corrected her assumption."SSR? Those are some tough people. How do you know him?""Black Bag directives from the National Security Council, sworn to secrecy upon penalty of death, pinky-promise kind of stuff," I grinned. Maybe I wasn't all that sleepy after all."You really are a Man of Mystery," Zelda purred. She had truly exceptional stamina. "Maybe I can convince you to talk.""Maybe I can find another use for my tongue," I countered and off we went. Somewhere along the process, Anais woke up and joined in.It wasn't all fun and games. Anais' parting words were "You are a pig," then she sauntered out of my room and out of my life. Had she remembered to take her Serge with her, I would have bought the act. As it was,"Is she always so volatile?" Zelda remarked."Volatile? That's not her being volatile. That's Anais being affectionate. Volatile usually is accompanied by thrown objects and bodily harm," I sighed happily. Meeting her one more time couldn't be all that bad, could it? Zelda looked hungry so I shoved that thought to the back of my mind and got to work.That was the highlight of my Sunday. Zelda had to fly back to Washington D.C. and I had to go to work with JIKIT. It seemed that the Khanate and the US military were heading for a showdown. I unloaded all my Saturday's activities to the team and we got to work, no recriminations. I was the Khan's spiritual brother and sometimes that meant I had to do him favors.I asked Addison when she thought he would return the favor. She laughed, then smiled and told me that wasn't how it worked. He was a world leader now and I was merely his kooky kinsman that he would keep throwing problems at until one day I broke. Then it would be some other poor saps turn.Then she told me she was kidding and clearly the Great Khan thought the world of me. I chose to believe the second lie because it made me feel better, and it was promising to be a long weekend/start of the week.Note: Geopolitical DevelopmentsWhat follows are snippets of the Battle for Thailand that takes place late in the night of September 1stand continued into the early morning of September 3rd. If this does not interest you, you can rejoin Cáel's exploits in four pages)On the eve of battle, the Royal Thai High Command had decided to strip all but one armored unit from the 2nd Army in order to give the First Army's offensive against the rebels more of a punch. It's decision to strip the tank battalions from both their infantry divisions as well as the armored and one of the two mechanized regiments would prove to be disastrous. It was as if the leadership of the Royal Thai military were idiots.The least economically valuable part of the country was the northeast which the 2nd Army warded. They had severely underestimated the airlift capacity of the Khanate as well as the willingness of Laos and Cambodia to both use their armed forces in an invasion as well as their willingness to let Vietnamese troops cross their countries.That thinking had led the Thai military to adopt a 'forward defense' strategy, the desire to fight the enemy at the borders, as opposed to having stronger formations deeper within the country. Considering the relative weakness of the Cambodian and Laotian militaries, that policy had made sense:- The baseline Laotian and Cambodian tank was the T-54/55, a 1950's Soviet relic. The normal anti-tank capabilities in all Thai infantry formations was more than equal to such a threat.-Neither country had an air force worth worrying about.In contrast, the Khanate's primary tanks, the T-90SM and T-95 were resistant to most of what the Thai Army could throw at them, at least from the front. The seven hundred combat aircraft the Khanate and the Vietnamese were able to field was an equal catastrophe for the Thais. It greatly compensated for the relative small numbers of invaders.Finally, there was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Alliance's goals were. Military logic dictated the destruction of Thailand's mobile force followed by the capture of Bangkok. As long as the Thai regime held the capital, it would remain the legitimate power in the country.Due to the altering political landscape, the Alliance's only option was to make the government 'look bad'. The loss of peripheral provinces, while of negligible immediate strategic value, looked great on the maps the world-wide media would be showing to their audiences. It would appear that the Thai army had failed to defend their country. That would (hopefully) make the Thai Third Army look like the legitimate authority in Thailand.That was the plan anyway, and you know what they say about battle plans and the enemy, right? H-hour was 4 am, September 1st.The commander of the Zuun stood up and waited to be recognized. The staff officer from the Yunnan Command pointed at him."Sir, why are we doing this? I am not afraid to fight for the Great Khan, but this action seems to be suicidal. We will be far behind enemy's lines while our offensive force will be grossly under-equipped.""You will have to rely on our ability to supply you by air.""We only have supplies for two days of operations. What happens then?""We rely on the Americans to come and save us," the senior officer responded bitterly."Allah save us from allies," the young commander muttered. What else could he do?He was part of the 2nd Mountain Sultan Mehmet Tumen which had just arrived in Yunnan to replace the exhausted 1st Mountain Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur Tumen. His men were from Turkey, inexperienced in combat and using new equipment they were not familiar with. They would be working with a unit he had never worked with before, the 1st Airmobile Tauekel Khan Tumen, Kazaks, who would be seizing the small airport his men needed to land in.From there, they were to 'run amok'. That was the technical term for racing south down a highway in Central Thailand, attacking the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Division, an armored unit. Once that was accomplished, they were to attack the local police precinct. Provided they were still alive after that, they were to return to the air strip to resupply then they were to 'spread chaos' until they were finally hunted down by the vastly larger Thai division his 100 men would be fighting.Of course, there was the plan for the rebel Royal Thai Third Army to force their way through the larger frontline forces of the loyalist Royal Thai First Army and come to his rescue. How would the Thai troops respond when ordered to fight their fellow Thais? No one was sure. If there was any hope in this mission, it was the knowledge that several other Zuuns had the exact same mission in other areas of Thailand. It was H-hour minus twenty-two.It was 11 o'clock in the evening when the general in charge of the Royal Thai 9th Infantry Division was woken up. The Marines were leaving. That was correct; the three Royal Thai regiments were heading west to Sattahip Naval Base, because they had been ordered to by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize why this was going on.Seven hours earlier, the Royal Thai Army had seized all the Air Force bases in the 1st and 2nd Army districts as well as ordering the 4th Army to do the same thing (The Royal Thai Air Force had been trying to remain neutral in the upcoming civil war).Undoubtedly the navy had decided to make their assets less 'hijack-able'. A few phone calls later confirmed that most of the Navy had set sail for parts unknown and the naval air units at Ban Sattahip Air Base (U-Tapao International Airport) had also departed either out to sea, or to ports and bases in the South.He made a personal appeal to the commander of Marine Forces to no avail. They wanted no part of the upcoming struggle and advised the general to do the same. The general had other problems. The Royal Thai Marines were the frontline forces facing the southern border with Cambodia. He quickly reorganized his regiments, sending them to take the old Marine strongpoints to await further orders. Stopping the Marines never entered his mind.That was a bloodletting he wanted no part of. The last thing he did was inform his superiors, thus avoiding any stupid orders to the contrary. Suddenly the nebulous movements along the Cambodian border developed a haunting significance. He wondered how much longer he had before something happened. It was H-hour minus five.At midnight a loyalist commander of a company of mechanized infantry in the 2nd Cavalry's 11th Battle Group (named after their axis of advance, Highway 11) decided to send a motorized section of his command forward to the advance position his battalion was to occupy come sunrise. Either later in the day, or tomorrow morning, the forces loyal to the regime would launch a coordinated assault against the rebels main supply center at Phitsanulok.He had a cot set up in his communications hut and had just nodded off when the radio squawked to life. His lieutenant in charge of the advance made a hurried report. They had encountered serious opposition in a confusing night action, then he went silent. The captain immediately swung into action. He put the rest of his men on alert, then contacted the neighboring Tank Battalion. He needed some armored support. He made a similar call to the attached artillery component.The Tank Battalions night officer quickly put a platoon of light tanks at his disposal. The artillery were ready for any fire mission he sent their way. Before the armor could arrive, the company commander found himself being called to the carpet by the Duty Officer at the 3rd Cavalry (two regiments of the 2nd Cav. had been attached to the 3rd's command) over his 'offensive' action and the relief mission was called off. What had happened to the patrol of 20 Royal Thai soldiers? He was ordered to wait until sunrise to find out.Little did anyone know, these were the first combat casualties of the upcoming rebel offensive. His patrol had stumbled across a battalion of mechanized troops arriving at their jump off point for the attack that was less than six hours from beginning. Neither the commander of the 11th Battle Group, the 3rd Cavalry Division, or First Army was informed that the enemy had already advanced twenty kilometers south of where they were supposed to be.
Updated For 2025! This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 12) covering the period of 3/19 thru 3/25. Running Time: 4 Hours 18 Minutes. This Week In Wrestling History hosted by Don Tony first aired in 2018 and spanned two seasons. After much demand, these retro episodes return REMASTERED and UPDATED FOR 2025. Wrestling history up to and including 2024 has been added! Hundreds of hours of original wrestling clips & stories. Enjoy this deep dive into pro wrestling's awesome history. RUNNING TIME: 4 Hours 18 MinutesHosted by Don Tony SYNOPSIS: S3 E12 (03/19 - 03/25) Historic match between AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel vs WWF Champion Bob Backlund. Kerry Von Erich makes MSG debut. Audio: Memorable 1981 Memphis No DQ Match between Jerry 'The King Lawler and Terry Funk. Bonus Audio: Awesome Terry Funk promos before and after No DQ match against Jerry Lawler. Looking back at WrestleMania VII (1991), WrestleMania X (1994), WrestleMania 13 (1997). Looking back at WCW / New Japan Supershow I (aka Starrcade 1991). Konnan loses a Mask vs Hair match against Perro Aguayo (1991). WWF creates Hall Of Fame announcing Andre The Giant as the first inductee. Looking back at WCW Uncensored (1995, 1996, 2000). The 'Ultimate Surprise' is revealed as The Renegade makes WCW debut. Audio: Steve Austin speaks on facing Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. Looking back at WWF Slammy Awards 1997. Big Show makes WWF in ring debut. Audio: Dr Death Steve Williams (w/ Jim Ross) battles Hardcore Holly at TKE Fraternity House (Albany, NY). Audio: Steve Austin gives Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and The Rock a Beer Bath. Audio: Memorable Bret Hart from WCW Nitro on Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, Ric Flair and 'The Pencil'. Kevin Nash shouts out Sable during episode of WCW Monday Nitro. Rey Mysterio Jr knocks Ric Flair into a pool. Looking back at ECW Living Dangerously PPV (1999). Stephanie McMahon slaps Linda McMahon on Smackdown. Sale of WCW between Turner and Fusient falls thru as WWF announces the purchase of World Championship Wrestling. Audio: Eric Bischoff announces last ever episode of Nitro on TNT Network. WWF holds first ever Raw / Smackdown Draft (Brand Extension). Audio: #1 Draft Pick The Rock's memorable 'A**hole' promo. Bill Goldberg signs with WWF (2003). Looking back at Ring Of Honor 'Night Of Champions' (2003). Samoa Joe begins 645 day reign as ROH Champion. Audio: John Cena interrupts Draft Lottery between Eric Bischoff and Paul Heyman. Audio: Paul Heyman 'quits' after being drafted to Raw. Audio: Kurt Angle replaces Paul Heyman as Smackdown GM. Audio: Booker T is not happy to be drafted to Smackdown. Bradshaw debuts 'JBL'. Audio: Kurt Angle with Sensational Sherri debut 'Sexy Kurt'. Audio: Mickie James 'kidnaps' Ashley Massaro, then kisses an unconscious Trish Stratus. Audio: Memorable 'Old Yeller' promo exchange between HBK and Ric Flair leading into WrestleMania. Randy Orton DDTs then kisses an unconscious Stephanie McMahon as a handcuffed Triple H is forced to watch. Mick Foley loses a TNA 'career' match and bloodies Bubba 'The Love' Sponge on the way out. GLAAD is not happy with John Cena and WWE for Bullying Hypermasculinity. Looking back at TNA Destination X PPV (2011). Audio: Closing moments of the clusterfu** ending to AJ Styles vs Abyss (Heavyweight Title Match from Destination X 2011). Kurt Angle arrested after being found drunk inside parked vehicle following TNA event. Sean Waltman hospitalized after tearing his bunghole following match against Jerry Lynn. Audio: Christian wrestles last match in WWE. Ex-girlfriend posts lude photo of Vader on Twitter Audio: Police Bodycam footage surfaces involving the arrest of Jimmy Uso Audio: Rusev (Miro) and Lana (CJ Perry) vs Mark Cuban Battle Rap from TNT 'Drop The Mic' Audio: New Day vs SWV Battle Rap from TNT 'Drop The Mic' Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins are officially an item Brooke Hogan topless photos leaked to The Fappening Audio: Joey Ryan vs Penelope Ford Intergender Match featuring a Charms Blow Pop The Bellas announce their retirement from WWE in ring competition and the launch of their Podcast Audio: Brodie Lee revealed as The Exalted One and Leader of The Dark Order Cody Rhodes publicly posts his Cell Phone number and invites wrestling fans to call and text him In a creative way dealing with the pandemic, Joey Janela vs Jimmy Lloyd battle in a Social Distancing Match WWE posts video of their first ever 'No-Makeup' Photo Shoot featuring Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Bianca Belair and others Hulk Hogan reaches a settlement in $110 Million lawsuit against Cox Radio Audio: AEW reveals the first trailer of the upcoming 'Rhodes To The Top' reality TV series starring Cody and Brandi Rhodes Looking back at WWE Fastlane 2021 Audio: Alexa Bliss vs Randy Orton Intergender Match and the return of The Fiend (from WWE Fastlane 2021) Audio: Triple H announces his retirement from In-Ring competition due to heart issues Audio: Thunder Rosa vs Britt Baker (c) Cage Match for AEW Women's Championship CM Punk posts controversial comments on social media about AEW, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho and Dave Meltzer. But then deletes the post due to 'violating AEW code of conduct' Bianca Belair reveals a psychological condition she has been battling for years Alexa Bliss revealed as a contestant on The Masked Singer AEW issues hundreds of takedown requests at fans posting footage of an awful women's match from AEW House Rules event Audio: Adam Copeland reflects on his TNT Championship victory over Christian Cage on AEW Dynamite LA Knight 'arrested' for attacking AJ Styles at his home Looking back at the 2024 Slammy Awards And so much more! RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE to download the AUDIO episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E12 (3/19 – 3/25) CLICK HERE to listen to COMMERCIAL FREE episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E12 (3/19 – 3/25) CLICK HERE to listen to THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E12 (3/19 – 3/25) online CLICK HERE to access previous episodes for all the shows === CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE WITH THE DTKC 20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHIRT! 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Updated For 2025! This Week In Wrestling History (Season 3 Week 10) covering the period of 3/5 thru 3/11. Running Time: 3 Hours 19 Minutes. This Week In Wrestling History hosted by Don Tony first aired in 2018 and spanned two seasons. After much demand, these retro episodes return REMASTERED and UPDATED FOR 2025. Wrestling history up to and including 2024 has been added! Hundreds of hours of original wrestling clips & stories. Enjoy this deep dive into pro wrestling's awesome history. RUNNING TIME: 4 Hours 22 MinutesHosted by Don Tony SYNOPSIS: S3 E10 (03/5 - 03/11) Audio: Ox Baker appears on The Price Is Right Pat Patterson takes Sgt Slaughter's Cobra Clutch Challenge and the memorable feud begins. ECW holds its first ever TV tapings (1993). Mick Foley has his ear torn off during a match against Big Van Vader at WCW event in Germany. Audio: Mick Foley, Vader, and 2 Cold Scorpio speak on the Ear incident. Audio: WWE has 'Chief' Jay Strongbow participate in Indian Tribe ceremony for Tatanka on Raw. Looking back at USWA Memphis Memories event (1994). Johnny B Badd wrestles last WCW match before signing with WWF. The Steiner Brothers make surprise return to WCW (1996). Mark Henry and Kurt Angle make their WWF TV debuts. Looking back at ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash (1996) Cactus Jack wrestles last ECW match before joining WWF. Audio: Memorable Raw promo between Roddy Piper and Goldust hyping their upcoming WrestleMania XII match. Raw Is War / The War Zone: WWF debuts new Set, Logo, and Theme for WWF Raw (1997). Audio: The Great Debate: Jerry Lawler (representing WWF) vs Paul E Dangerously (representing ECW). ECW invasion of WWF Monday Night Raw continues. Audio: Before Smackdown used it regularly, Marilyn Manson 'Beautiful People' was used for Raw. Looking back at the night WCW aired no matches during the first hour of Monday Nitro. Audio: Realty sets in that ECW is RIP as Living Dangerously 2001 PPV is canceled and Paul E Dangerously makes Raw Commentating debut. Audio: Vince McMahon makes Trish Stratus bark like a dog and strip down to her bra and panties. Audio: AJ Styles and Air Paris vs Kid Romeo and Elix Skipper on WCW Monday Nitro. Looking back at the short lived WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles. Audio: Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin battle in the ring for the first and only time ever in WWF. Audio: Raw before WrestleMania X8 and Y2J/Stephanie vs HHH feud is intensified by - having Lucy The Dog run over by a Limousine. Audio: Memorable promo between The Hurricane and The Rock. The Rock loses last ever Non-PPV match (against The Hurricane). Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar WMXIX match moved up to Smackdown. Audio: Highlight from This Is Your Life Mick Foley - Presented by The Rock. Audio: JBL blows up the John Cena US Spinner Title. WWE releases the entire Smackdown Juniors Division. Looking back at TNA Destination X PPV (2006, 2007, 2008). Audio: Edge's creative reason for not wrestling John Cena post MLK Day. Jeff Hardy suspended 60 Days by WWE for 2nd Wellness Violation. JBL Makes Grand Slam history. Ken Shamrock suspended and fined by CA SAC after testing positive for steroids. Entertainment Weekly story confirms TNA signing Jenna Morasca. TNA starts a working agreement with AAA. Monday Night Wars II begins: TNA Impact vs WWE Raw. TMZ story confirms Snooki competing at WrestleMania XXVII. Brian Kendrick appears and competes on The Price Is Right (2011). Jerry Lynn announces retirement date from in ring competition. Nightclub incident involving John Morrison and Melina. Audio: The Rock gives Boston fans 'History Lessons' on John Cena. Looking back at TNA Lockdown PPV (2013, 2014). Audio: Jeff Hardy occupies Raw. Bill Demott resigns as Head Trainer at WWE Performance Center. WWE attempts to Trademark the 'Too Sweet' symbol to block Bullet Club from using it. Y2AJ split as Chris Jericho turns on AJ Styles. Looking back at WWE Fastlane PPV (2017). Audio: Kevin Owens defends the Universal Title against Goldberg. Austin Aries makes his WWE 205 Live in ring debut. Kurt Angle announces his retirement match will take place at WrestleMania 35 Looking back at WWE Fastlane 2019 Audio: Ronda Rousey works herself into a shoot in a profanity filled tirade towards her WrestleMania opponent(s) and the WWE Universe Jim Ross exits WWE and is immediately offered a contract from All Elite Wrestling AEW attempts to swerve fans into thinking the Exalted One will be revealed as Matt Hardy Scott Steiner hospitalized in serious condition after collapsing at Impact Wrestling TV taping A Go Fund Me page is set up by fans to raise money for Cody Rhodes to have his American Nightmare Tattoo removed Brandi Rhodes goes and gets a neck tattoo of her own (no really) Audio: WWE releases their first PSA to fans dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic Looking back at AEW Revolution 2021 featuring the disastrous ending to the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match between Jon Moxley vs Kenny Omega Audio: Ethan Page' AEW Dynamite debut is ruined thanks to the NBA and AEW Production! AEW announces the first set of tapings for AEW Dark: Elevation Fan footage surfaces showing Shaq stretchered into an ambulance (following AEW tag team match) then immediately walking out! Looking back at NXT Roadblock 2022, 2023 Audio: Johnny Gargano' surprise NXT return as the opponent of Grayson Waller at Stand And Deliver Jeff Hardy makes his memorable AEW debut; making sure to dance before making the save of his brother from a beatdown Pete Dunne makes his SmackDown debut as 'Butch' Big E suffers career ending injury during tag team match on SmackDown Audio: Rhea Ripley reveals in an interview what female she would like to join the Judgement Day; an interesting choice WWE begins talks with several State Gambling Regulators about legalizing betting on WWE matches Liv Morgan goes viral for her hilarious actions while being shown on camera at a New York Knicks game Audio: MJF makes a memorable appearance on Impractical Jokers WWE signs a deal with Logan Paul to make PRIME Hydration an official sponsor at all WWE events AEW changes their Dynamite logo Sammy Guevara suspended by AEW for his actions during a match where Jeff Hardy was legit knocked out and injured Looking back at TNA Sacrifice 2024 Dominik Mysterio marries his long time girlfriend, Marie Juliette CJ Perry (Lana) and Miro (Rusev) announce their separation and imminent divorce Kevin Kelly is fired by AEW Audio: Did John Cena call his heel turn a year earlier? He certainly did RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE to download the AUDIO episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E10 (3/5 – 3/11) CLICK HERE to listen to COMMERCIAL FREE episode of THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E10 (3/5 – 3/11) CLICK HERE to listen to THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY S3 E10 (3/5 – 3/11) online CLICK HERE to access previous episodes for all the shows === CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE WITH THE DTKC 20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHIRT! CLICK HERE for DTKC Pro Wrestling Tees Store ==== Remember: DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE SHOW streams LIVE every MONDAY NIGHT at 10:45PM after WWE RAW at DTKCDiscord.com. ==== DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE *PATREON* AND *YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIPS: You can send additional support for Don Tony And Kevin Castle and help grow the brand, by becoming a member of DT/KC PATREON and/or YOUTUBE CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP FAMILY. Don Tony and Kevin Castle's PATREON has been around for over seven years! 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CLICK HERE for more details and to join The DT/KC YouTube Channel Member Family! ==== CHECK OUT DON TONY AND KEVIN SHOW CONTENT ACROSS THESE PLATFORMS: CLICK HERE FOR APPLE PODCASTS CLICK HERE FOR SPOTIFY CLICK HERE FOR ANDROID CLICK HERE FOR AMAZON MUSIC CLICK HERE FOR GOOGLE PODCASTS CLICK HERE FOR PANDORA CLICK HERE FOR PODBEAN CLICK HERE FOR IHEARTRADIO CLICK HERE FOR DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE SHOW MERCHANDISE! ==== DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE: WEEKLY SHOW SCHEDULE (UPDATED: NOVEMBER 2024): DON TONY AND KEVIN CASTLE SHOW: LIVE EVERY MONDAY NIGHT at 10:45PM ET after WWE RAW on DTKCDiscord.com DT VIPATREON: Patreon Exclusive Show hosted by Don Tony LIVE EVERY TUESDAY at 8:30PM on DTKC Patreon Channel (https://www.patreon.com/dontony) PRO WRESTLING NEWS UPDATES: Posted every WEDNESDAY morning at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms) THIS WEEK IN WRESTLING HISTORY: Posted every THURSDAY at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms) CASTLE/KNT CHRONICLES: Patreon Exclusive Show hosted by Kevin Castle and Trez LIVE EVERY THURSDAY 8:30PM on DTKC Patreon Channel (https://www.patreon.com/dontony) PRO WRESTLING NEWS UPDATES: Posted every FRIDAY morning at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms) PRO WRESTLING WEEKEND NEWS UPDATE: Posted every SATURDAY at DonTony.com (and across all audio platforms) THE SIT-DOWN w/DON TONY: VIDEO PODCAST hosted by Don Tony LIVE EVERY SUNDAY at 8PM on YouTube (www.YouTube.com/DonTony) WWE/AEW PPV RECAP/REVIEW: (Posted MONDAY NIGHT as part of Don Tony and Kevin Castle Show) ==== SOCIAL MEDIA / WEBSITE / CONTACT INFO: Twitter: https://twitter.com/dontonyd Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/dontony Facebook: https://facebook.com/DTKCShow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dontony Website: https://www.wrestling-news.com Email: dontony@dontony.com
The Hoes and Bitches Need A Champion.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. ‘Once you go Black, you don't go back; unless you are an Amerindian, Arabic, Asian, Black, Indian, Latina, or White girl, or guy who has tried Black, then found sexual fulfillment with a non-Black person and created a blissful relationship with them'Introduction:Right off the bat, be warned that I'm using the 'N' words, nigger, niggah, my niggah, plus homie, thug, coon, buck, spook, spade and whatever other crude racial slurs that come to mind. This story plays to both Black and White stereotypes.Lastly, this story is rather flippant with the entire concept of sexual assault. Those who have red my previous tales know this is not my attitude at all. For the sake of this genre I had to grapple with the concept of forcing a woman and 'making them love that cock'Prelude:My tale begins as the Winter Man Saga 1300 years ago, about the year 700 AD. One small clan of my Swedish ancestors lost a brutal feud with their neighbors. Their farms were burned, animals slaughtered and their women and children taken as slaves. Only three young brother-warriors survived, wounded but unconquered. The victors chased them high into the mountains when a terrible winter storm struck.The three brothers were trudging across a glacier between the mountain peaks in Whiteout conditions. The lead brother stepped into a crevasse and slid to the bottom of the glacier. Not giving up on their last kinsman, the other two slid down into the darkness after him. At the roots of that glacier they found an ice cavern formed by snow that fell 100,000 years ago.They melted the ice for water with their body heat and in doing so, unleashed a demoness (virus) that no man had ever known and survived. The three men grew very sick, but their fierce desire for vengeance kept them from succumbing. When they emerged from their icy tomb, they discovered that several of their pursuers had frozen to death in the blizzard and the rest had returned to their stolen homes and purloined lands, thinking the three brothers were dead.In the dark of the long northern night, they snuck upon the Great Hall of their enemies. When one of the brothers saw his 'former' wife doing a slave's work, he revealed himself to her. She rejoiced at the return of her love; physically, then brought the three table scraps to survive on. In the process, they learned that their sisters were also alive and the sexual playthings of their male nemeses.Due to the depth of winter, stealing back their womenfolk wasn't possible. They'd all freeze to death if they didn't starve first. To repay their enemy's wickedness, one of the brother's snapped and raped one of the chief's daughters. He was possessed with an unearthly desire and held her in a stable for hours. Only when he was utterly spent did he fall asleep.She ran to her father and returned with many warriors. So the first of the brothers was taken. He was tortured and abused. For three long nights he suffered at the hands of his captors yet refused to admit any of his other brothers were still alive. After that third night, the chief's daughter sneaked past the sleeping guards of the chained man, and raped him.For the next five nights, while her father, brothers and husband slept, she raped and raped and raped that brother. On the fifth night, a sister-in-law caught her at it. The daughter pled for the other to spare her; that the man's sexual prowess had ensnared her. She even challenged her kinswoman to sample the 'fruit' before turning her in. Five women later, the brother cracked and told the women how to find his brothers.The night after the Spring Equinox Celebrations, the women of their enemy rose up and slaughtered all their adult menfolk at the behest of the three brothers, on the conditions that their youngest sons be spared and that the men continue to share their favors with all the womenfolk (who were not their kin).The Sammi ClanThe isolated region of the land of the Swedes kept my ancestors out of contact with the wider world for some time. Many generations later, a son of that clan came to lead a band of (female) Finns. His Swedish name is forgotten. The Finns called him Sami (the Exalted One, no shit). He and this band took to fur trading along the Eastern tributaries of the Volga.In time, this group became identified with the Varangian. The Sons of Sami intermarried with the Slavs, becoming Slavicized and the Sons of Sami became Samsonovs. They followed the Rus expansion into the eastern tributaries of the Volga reaching Nizhny Novgorod in the 10th century.Then came the Mongol Conquest, the Tartar Yoke, Rus reunification and the Russian drive across Siberia. The Samsonovs remained tightly clannish and uncomfortable in urban settings. That wanderlust led them across the Bering Straits into Alaska where their genetic abnormality, the gift of that ancient demoness (virus), slumbered in isolation and monogamy.After a thousand years, the tales of mass orgies with strange women and protective female war bands faded into obscurity. Then my Mom, the brilliant, driven eccentric came along. Once she became enraptured with her own Samsonov lover, she had to know the secret of Samsonov men's sexual prowess.With her burning intellect and educational background, she eventually figured it out. She was also amoral enough to keep the knowledge to herself and vengeful enough to plan to use our curse as a weapon.My Living Family· Father, Nikolay 'Nik' Samsonov;· Mother, Gayle Fonteneau Samsonov;· The Triplets, Alexander 'Alex', Mikhail and Vladimir 'Vlad'; that's me.Sitting at the dinner table, I protested; ‘Mom, You actually expect me to believe my Father, Brothers and I have the genetic capability to addict every woman we have sex with to our schlongs? That's nuts!'Mom retorted; ‘As opposed to thinking the color, length and girth of a phallus makes any woman lose all sense of loyalty, morality and decorum so she can become a man's sex sleeve, whore, bitch, property? Yes, I do.'The lives of my family took an unexpected detour in the spring of this year. My great-aunt Matilda (Mattie) died and willed her estate to Mom. I had never met the woman while she was alive yet in death she would have a profound effect on all our lives. Mom's family was a mess; a crowded dingy with a madhouse of odd characters.Lionel was my eldest maternal uncle. He was a Big, Bulging Brain working as a Chief Technical Advisor for NASA; a solitary crusader for all Mankind. What was he a technical advisor for? If anything left terra firma for more than fifteen seconds, he knew every detail about it. That included volcanic eruptions too. When we were younger, he invited us to various volcanoes (both above and beneath the waves). Great guy.Cassius, my second uncle, was serving time in Indonesia for piracy. Mom said he was meaner than every saltwater crocodile that ever lived. The two times I'd met him, he'd been a lean, happy laconic kind of guy with a love for military history. Mom said he was a charismatic rebel who was possessed by an obsession to defy authority in all its forms.Dido was child number three; my Mom's older sister, married to an Evangelical Televangelist in Nebraska under an assumed name, Paula Richmond. She also had a MD in Psychiatry and a Master's in Public Communications (under her real name), which she kept secret from the fundamentalist congregation. The few times we met; she was the perfect mother. Secretly, we three sons wished she'd been our mother instead of our real mother. Mom said Aunt Dido was a master manipulator and wielded a cruel whip;Then there was Mom's twin, Uncle Theo, who never lived in one place, traveled all around the globe and had every law enforcement agency in the civilized world looking for him. We always receiving presents from him during all the normal holidays; like Michaelmas, Holy Week, the start of Lent, Martinmas (his favorite) and our birthdays; which arrived at random, unrelated times of the year and never from the same location.He was the only one we'd never met, but the one Mom loved the most. Dad suspected he was a narco-trafficker while Mom insisted he was too paranoid to be considered reliable for that line of work. Mom told us he'd spent his formative years killing people for Uncle Sam until one day he simply walked away from Fort Bragg and became an independent contractor.The Defense Department sent some fine, brave men from Joint Special Operation Command, to talk to Mom every few months. They made sure not to trip over the CIA and Homeland Security types who occasionally staked out our house. We boys guessed they came around every time Uncle Theo assassinated people. Mom taught us how to appreciate them in an elaborate ritual she called 'April Fool's, which became an 'any day of the year' activity.My Mom's father (I never met the guy) was a leader of a cult in Nevada. He went down, guns blazing during a DEA raid. Apparently his interests included both harems and marijuana production.Mom's mom? She left my Mother outside a dive bar in San Diego and was never seen again. She had doctorates in Biology and Physics as well as the reputation for being a certifiable Space Cadet. Mom insisted her mom hadn't abandoned her, she'd simply forgotten where she left her youngest daughter who was 15 at the time.After five days, Mom decided to join an Alternative Rock band instead of looking for the lady yet again. Seven years later, she was declared legally dead; though all her offspring believed she was still alive; somewhere; doing something.Then you had Dad's family. We had some characters on that side of the family, just not like Mom's. For starters, Samsonovs were bred for law enforcement. We'd been arresting bad guys since the 1500's. We'd been doing that in Alaska since the time of the tsars. When the Alaskan Territory was sold to the United States; well, my ancestors simply started writing their reports in English instead of Russian.Over the centuries, we had bagged serial killers, smugglers, poachers, drug dealers, domestic abusers and thieves. Mostly they arrested drunks and wackos. My Great Grandfather Petrov was a law enforcement legend in Alaska. Alone, he ran down a pack of murderous robbers in the dead of winter before they made it to 'safety' in the Yukon Territory.In the spring, they found them frozen solid, him leading five men, he recorded in his journal he'd killed the other three while apprehending the gang, back in chains. That pretty much defined the nature of my Father's family, no too many stellar geniuses, but always relentless past all norms of endurance and reason. The moment females were allowed in law enforcement, the womenfolk joined the profession.My Aunt Iliana was in the Coast Guard, that made her the 'Black sheep' in this clan. Taking the law out to the high seas was about as wild as Dad's family got. Dad was pretty much the standard issue for my kin. Big, Dad was 6' 5' and 290 lbs., and about as imaginative as a glacier. Why Mom married Dad had long been a mystery to his sons.Don't get me wrong. I loved my Dad, but the man used a grand total of twenty different sentences his entire life. The fewer words he had to speak, the happier he was. He was a nice guy, never drinking too much and I'd never seen him lose his temper. He smiled, was unerringly polite and had always been helpful and playful with us kids from our earliest memories.Grandpa, my great-aunts and -uncles, my aunts, uncles and cousins by blood were the exact same way. I mean that quite literally. We all pretty much looked alike as well. Those who married, married eccentrics. In our regular family get-togethers that translated over to the blood kin in one room saying and doing nothing (we were already cluing into some sort of primitive telepathy) and being very happy that way, while the married relations were in another room packing on the lunacy.There was no middle ground; you were either a silent, brooding peak in the Samsonov mountain range, or the aurora borealis. That left me and my brothers, we were triplets, in a precarious position. We looked like smaller versions of our Dad (we were still growing) yet were totally at the mercy of our Mother most of our young lives. Recall what I said about eccentrics and lunatic behavior. Mom was the Queen of the Asylum.Mom quickly fell in love with 'things' and she loved doing those things with family. Since Dad worked long hours, family meant my brothers and me. We could make passable pottery by age seven. Krav Maga? Screw this 'driving to some dojo in Anchorage' crap. Mom signed us up for a two week course in Israel and online lessons for a year. Archery, check. Rewiring our house and refitting all the plumbing, check.The three of us were SCA squires at age 12. Pleading to Dad was pointless. He'd smile, mess up our hair and remind us these excursions made our Mother happy aka he wasn't going to help us have normal lives. We had some ex-Green Beret guys teach us outdoor survival skills in Wyoming. We could pull wool, make thread and knit a set of pants and sweaters.I and my brothers had to memorize 1200 medically useful plants before we could get our Christmas presents when we were 14. We free-climbed mountains, ran 10Kms, kayaked, were proficient seamen on a sailing ship and learned how to navigate by the Sun, Moon and stars. Around the age of 15, we figured out that Mom had a ton of money squirreled away. There was no way Dad, with his civil servant's salary, could afford all this crazy shit.By the age of 18 we had such a crazy patchwork set of skills, we weren't sure what we would end up doing with our lives; though tracking down Uncle Theo and living a life on the run was looking more attractive every month. What we didn't have were great social lives. We all had girlfriends at one time, or another, but they never lasted.Right before any of us were about to get serious with any girl in high school, my Mom dragged us off; to things like a five day course on Renaissance artwork in Milan; that's Italy. We had to learn to speak Italian in three days, plus during the flight over. Mom made it easy for us. We could only speak Italian the entire time. Doing that at school was 'fun'. Dad? He smiled and said nothing for three days.Welcome to the Fonteneau House, Kingston, ArkansasAnyway, Mom's Great-aunt Mattie kicked the bucket and left her vast fortune in northwestern Arkansas to my Mom. The old bird hated the rest of the nutjobs in the clan, but adored my Mom (and Theo). Upon receiving the news, my brothers and I began thinking the same thing: banjo lessons, redneck stunts and girls in Daisy Dukes. By 'fortune' we were thinking a ramshackle Ozark shack sitting on a mountain top.Nope. Great-aunt Mattie was loaded. In fact, Mom's whole family had tons of money. They'd made a killing, quite literally, during the White expansion westward using various despicable means. They'd even been cursed by an entire Indian Tribe for bilking them off their land. Mom's family blamed that malediction for their bizarre behavior.That Arkansas home was actually the summer residence for the Fonteneau clan from a hundred years ago. Along with the palatial residence came thousands upon thousands of acres spread over a quarter of the state (and some land in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma too).Tara, or the Biltmore estate, it was not, but it certainly had pretensions. It was a wide and roomy, rambling Victorian structure. The house proper (there were two barns, a stable, storage sheds, two garages, one attached and the other stand-alone, semi-attached servant quarters and four outlying hunting lodges) abutted the Kingston town limits.The place was big enough to require Mom to employ six staff;Phineas Cobb the third, an angry, sullen old White guy and his carbon-copy son, Phineas IV, were our two Wardens. That meant they took care of the outlying property which included hunting down poachers, interlopers and moonshiners (the competition, no doubt) and seeing to the upkeep of the various lodges, roads, trails and bridges around the place. Phineas the third and Mom; well, he cried and hugged Mom when he saw her, so we didn't know what to think of him and his son.Bebe Marston worked the stables and the twelve horses therein. She was a college dropout, White and 21; a woman at one of life's crossroads. Great Aunt Mattie brought her on a few months before she passed on. Bebe was a bit shy and distant around the menfolk. Mom treated Bebe like her long lost daughter; they got along fine.Thomas Freeman was the groundskeeper. Thomas seemed nice enough, a polite and somewhat deferential older Black man. I liked him. Mom fired him the moment the lawyer finished reading Maggie's Will. She believed the man was a back-biter, liar and a thief.Kamika Perry was the cook. She was a largish, plump Black woman with a large family in town. She was a tyrant in the kitchen but friendly and out-going everywhere else. She knew Mom from before; before what, we didn't know. She was close to Mom's age and was the niece of the former cook. She and Mom were cordial yet a tad formal.Nefertiti Cooke was the upstairs maid. She was a whip-tin attractive Black woman in her late-20s and joined Thomas heading out the door. Mom discharged her due to Nefertiti's sour attitude and general unwillingness to adhere to a work schedule.Anita Turner was our downstairs maid and overall manager of the other servants. Like Kamika, she knew Mom from her previous stay at the house, though Anita was already part of the staff back then. They acted like old friends though they understood the mistress-servant dynamics of their relationship.Mom solved our labor shortage by bringing in Mexicans (Hondurans actually). The two families divided up the nine rooms in the detached servants' quarters with Bebe, since Anita and Kamika lived in town and the Cobb's had their own cottage somewhere on the property.Hector Martinez became our new groundskeeper. He had a wife, Maria. Mom enrolled her in some online college courses so she could get a teaching license. They were both pretty young.Consuela Castro was our new upstairs maid. She was a single mother with a son, Gustavo (10), and a daughter, Isabo (6); they went to the local elementary school in town. Both families were very nice to us and seemed happy with their current circumstance. Since this job was their first go at being domestic servants, Mom told us to be patient and respectful while they learned the ropes from Anita and Mr. Cobb (only Mom could call him Phineas without pissing him off).My brothers and I, our Father, the Martinez's and the Castro's couldn't have predicted the shit-storm Mom was creating between our house and the dominant Black populace of Kingston along the great racial divide. The Hondurans had spent half their lives learning to keep their heads low when faced with discrimination. We didn't, nor did we know that Mom was acting with deliberate malice of forethought at that time.To help appreciate our understanding of the situation, we triplets had known a grand total of four Black people well enough to call them by their Christian names our entire lives. One was a crazy, older guy who had been a sniper at some point in his military career. By crazy, I meant he'd go off on tangents in mid conversation, or just stopping entirely. We all liked the guy.He and Granddad Samsonov were real tight. They'd served together in Vietnam and we boys suspected something bad had happened to them both, something which scarred and bound them together closer than brothers. He and Alexander went hunting all the time back in Alaska. All I knew was Morris (Grandpa's comrade-in-arms) was treated like family.That meant if Morris got in trouble, fifteen to twenty Samsonov's would show up to bail him out. That's what family meant. The other two were a retired Air Force couple, Parker and Mariana Carrington plus their infant William, that had moved in next door (that's 40 yards away in Alaska) when I was fourteen. They were in their early thirties and wanted to start a family. The woman had been pregnant with her second child when we left.My Mom and another neighbor trundled her off to a clinic during her first birth. Dad had driven fifty miles in a blizzard to get her husband, so he could witness his firstborn come into the world. The man worked as a fishing boat mechanic and had gotten stuck at work when his wife went into early labor. It was the Alaskan way to look after one another.I never much thought about minorities. There were nearly as many Native Alaskans attending my schools as White folk. The Natives knew my family going back eight generations. I had a few cousins who were 'First Peoples'. Minority? Majority? We were Alaskans and that was that.Again, I didn't think much about there being a social and economic racial crevasse when I showed up in Kingston, Arkansas. I probably would have been totally blind-sided about it if Dad hadn't done his due diligence and went to the Kingston Police Station and Davis County Sheriff's Office to report his status as an Alaskan State Trooper and register his firearms.Since we didn't know what to look for, we missed the obvious signs of trouble. The Black police officer that Dad talked to was; impolite. He informed Dad there would be no 'courtesy' given despite Dad's professionalism, i.e. he wasn't permitted to carry any of his licensed firearms. The Sheriff's department was very different.We met the Sheriff and the man got Dad to be about as verbose as I'd ever seen him. The Sheriff verified Dad's story, gave him a 90 Day permit for his sidearm and told him to make no never mind over the Town cops' hostility. He certainly seemed pleased Dad had three big, strong, strapping boys and gave Dad an application to join his department.That night, Dad informed us all at the dining room table he was considering the Sheriff's job offer. Mom was secretly pleased (like her sister, she IS an evil mastermind and master manipulator). Anita, Bebe and Kamika were eating with us as well, Mom insisted all the help do so (the Hondurans weren't with us yet), and I detected a hint of worry in their posture. I would have thought 'us' staying in the house, thus their continued employment, would be seen as a good thing.Welcome To Kingston.That night, over some late night cocoa, Mom gave the family the regional 4-1-1. Kingston was 75% Black, 20% White and 5% other. The rest of Davis County was 95% White and 5% Black and other. In Kingston, the Blacks ruled the town. All elected officials and police officers were Black. The Sheriff's department had a few Black officers, but was mostly White.It would have been all White except a combined lawsuit by Southern Poverty Law Center and N Double A CP, forced the County to 'integrate'. I asked the logical question: why hadn't the town been forced to integrate too? Mom told me that wasn't how things worked in the Lower 48. Here, Blacks couldn't discriminate; they could only be discriminated against.The Federal government said so. I was sensing shades of Uncle Theo in Mom's blanket assessment of things. My brothers and I were wrong. Mom was right. We were entering White Man's Hell aka Big Black Cock Country. Of course, Mom wasn't sadistic, or masochistic. She had a tidbit of knowledge no one this side of British Columbia was aware of, a Secret Weapon.Dad applied for and got the job of Senior Deputy, which riled some of the other (read: Black) deputies, but Dad's extensive experience and easy-going manner eased his entry into the unit. Mom remained Mom, an unconventional, beautiful, free-spirited kook. She made no effort to make friends. I was the boldest of the triplets so I asked her why.‘Do you know how your Father's family would rather hack of a hand than go back on their word?' she gazed at me intently. I nodded. When she said 'Father' instead of 'Dad', this was our cue that this was a Major Life lesson we had best memorize. ‘These people aren't like that. They will take that which is not theirs, break trusts, sully families and lie to your face.'‘These women are all bold-faced whores, cock-hungry tramps and sluts who get abortions because they don't know what color the daddy is. The males are either the kind of men who would sleep with those kinds of women, or gutless wonders who won't fight for their rights as boyfriends, brothers, fathers, fiancés and spouses.'‘This is a colored thing, right?' I guessed. I wanted to be wrong.‘Got it in one,' Mom patted me on the shoulder. ‘Most White men in town are spineless wimps, Black men jump on whatever cunt they can crack open and women of either color put up with it, even beg for it. I know because I was once like them.'‘You and Dad?' I worried. Mom gave a deep, hearty laugh.‘That is not going to be a problem, I promise you. The only man for me is your Father,' she smiled. ‘I had plenty of lovers before your Dad. Since one month after I met him, I've never been with another man, or woman, or even wanted one.' More than I wanted to know, but good news none the less.While we were moving in the small amount of belongs that had followed us from Arkansas, two Kingston cops stopped by to see what we were doing. I had spent my entire life around law enforcement who knew about me and my clan. They were always friends and people we could trust. Kingston PD was a rude awakening we weren't in Alaska anymore.They were brusque and intimidating. Their real purpose was to remind my family the house was part of the town, even if the back acreage was not. Mom snorted at their pale deception. She asked to see their warrant. They asked if there was some reason they might need one. Mom politely asked them to leave as they were trespassing.They basked in their defiance. What could Mom really do? If she went all redneck and produced a gun, they'd lock her up, pointing weapons at law enforcement was stupid. Sadly for the cops, familiarity breeds understanding too. Mom gave us the April Fools' signal. Alexander, our oldest triplet, moved the cargo truck so it blocked the officers' view of their patrol car.While Mom looked peeved, feeding the Black cops sense of empowerment, my youngest triplet Mikhail and I (Vladimir) stripped their car of all easily removable parts; the dash-cam went first. They wanted to loiter around on our property? We let them behave stupidly. We dumped the parts and our work gloves in a packing box and carried it right past them.We walked straight out the back too. There was a burning barrel which we made prompt use of, for the oily gloves and box. We had spares. Mikhail tended the fire as I picked up a broken cinder block, a heavy-duty trash bag and walked a few hundred yards to the bog near the creek that ran through our property, county land. The bag and contents went into the bog.I used a branch to make sure it sunk deep before returning. Cleaning off my boots with the outdoor hose completed my destruction of evidence. Ten minutes later a member of the Arkansas Highway Patrol stopped by to see what the problem was. Mom had called them before the sabotage had even begun. She didn't know these two personally, but she knew from earlier visits to her aunt that these two were going to give us 'attitude'.Calling the Sheriff's Department would only cause a standoff where the police had the upper hand, the whole town jurisdiction thing. By the time the HP arrived, Alexander had left with the truck so when the Highway Patrolman began expressing concern for my Mom's civil rights, the two buck butt-bandits made to leave. That didn't work out well for them.First came the circus of the discovery they were missing key parts of their vehicle and the lack of an explanation of how that had happened. Mom wouldn't let the town cops search her place. She happily let the Highway Patrolman (who happened to be Black too) look around. We'd used the hose and the burning barrel because moving was nasty, sweaty work, especially in the Arkansas summer heat.The two policemen blamed us, the triplets. Mom asked them when, in the cops thirty minute trespass, had her 'little angels' stolen the parts, why we would do such a criminal thing, and if they knew where the parts might be. The Highway patrolman was kind of curious about the length of their stay as well.The cops lied, Mom went inside and brought back the camcorder that had taken in the entire event. They were caught in the lie and all they could claim was the cargo truck had been strategically placed to block a visual to their car; as we unloaded our truck. Mom even got the Highway Patrolman to co-sign her complaint to the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigations department.Mom knew this one wouldn't go anywhere. She had lived with cops long enough to know the value of building up a case file. Alexander was off returning the truck in another county, so he was safe. Mom called him and Dad so they could hook up before Alexander came home. She counted on the cops to be petty and they were.Alexander was on a motorcycle. When he got pulled, the city cops pulled in front of him. Dad stopped as well. Despite their continuing pressure to make Dad leave, they had no legal grounds to do so, he was Alexander's father, who would be responsible for Alex's ride if they took him into custody. Being an off-duty sheriff's deputy wasn't good enough, yet Dad's point was telling.Cops always pull up behind a suspect, not ahead of them unless they want to ignore the dash-cam evidence. Dad had pulled up in his Sheriff's vehicle behind Alexander and his dash-cam was recording everything. They let Alexander off with a Warning Ticket and departed giving father and son dirty looks. School was five days off. We checked out the property for two days. The third morning my brothers and I, on motorcycles, decided to explore Kingston.Having never before confronted such blatant racism, we weren't afraid, we were furious. We hadn't done anything to anybody. We were from Alaskan-Russian stock and had never owned a person ever, as far as we knew. We certainly weren't invested in this whole 'Black slavery, White guilt' issue. Those who gave us attitude about 'White privilege' didn't care for our counter, that saying all White people were alike was equally racist.As Mom had warned us, Black people couldn't be racist; just ask them. Mind you, many of the town's Black residents were friendly and helpful. They just weren't friendly enough to defend us from the 'haters'. At the end of the first day, Mikhail nearly got in a fight with five members of the Black post-high school crowd who were fucking with, and sitting on, our bikes.Where we came from, that was rude in the extreme. When he appeared to be alone, they were boisterous enough. When Alexander and I stepped out of the pool hall (we'd been made unwelcome there), they backed off from their threatening rhetoric. They still wouldn't leave, or get off our bikes. The three versus five odds didn't deter us.It was the lack of faith in the local justice system that encouraged Alexander and me to hold Mikhail back. We had an answer to their intransience, crowding. It takes a great deal of cool to have three guys, all over six feet tall and 220 lbs. lean in on you while you are sitting down. When the current bastard was dealt with, we moved to the next. Before the group could figure a way to thwart us, we had retrieved our bikes and were headed home.The next day, we took Mom's 2012 Shelby V8 Mustang out for a drive. We found the three spots in town the 'White folk' hung out in. We had the Country Western Redneck posse' section of town, pseudo-riche Southerner clique downtown region, and the movie theater (theoretically neutral turf). The saner White middle class had departed for safer pastures, they had established their own municipality a few miles outside of town).The rednecks welcomed our physicality. We were attempting to fit in until they began talking about all those damn 'niggahs'. Alexander broke down after a bit and asked what a 'niggah' was. It was a 'coon'. Since that was of no help, we asked what a 'coon' was.The regulars found our naiveté amusing. It took us three minutes of running a verbal obstacle course to piece together that 'niggahs' was their inbred pronunciation of 'niggers' (a term we knew from TV and movies) which was idiot slang for a Black person. We were 'crackahs', idiot slang for crackers aka White people. Hispanics were 'beeners'; yeah, right.We also learned that the favorite activities for teenage rednecks was knocking over mailboxes as they sped down the road, beating up White girls who sucked Black cock and beating up 'niggahs' who touched White girls. My analysis was that these yahoos were long on talk and short on action.I wasn't a fashion icon yet I could tell these boys could use a bath and some fresh clothes. The girls who hung around this crowd looked about as loyal as salmon during spawning season. At 18, we were hardly experienced, but we weren't desperate virgins either. Girls we had just been introduced to, flirting with us and suggesting later sexual rendezvouses were a definite turn-off because God knows who else they'd been doing it with.That led us to the riche clique. Among the guys; half were snobbish closet gays who weren't our thing. The other half were rich straight guys pretending to be rednecks. Rich White girls pretended to be friends with the rich Black girls. They were used to being pampered by their rich White boyfriends while eyeing every Black stud that crossed their path.Until they realized Samsonov = Fonteneau, they were snide. After that, they tried to convince us we were all (distantly) related. Bloodlines and riches were not the basis for what we called friends so we politely postponed any celebrations.The Cineplex was a hunting ground for all ages. White women I was pretty sure were married to someone else engaged in sexual liaisons with Blacks; be they teens, business types, or lay-abouts. We had no idea if these were random hook-ups, or affairs and we didn't really care.Having wasted nine hours of our lives we definitely wanted back, we ended up rendezvousing with Mom and Dad at his boss's, the Sheriff's, place. Whatever else he was, Robert ‘Big Bob' Carson wasn't an underpaid county employee. His home was nice, expansive, relatively new and sitting on four wonderful acres of land, half woodland/half professionally maintained lawn and gardens. He had an expansive deck with a built-in grill, hot tub and pool out back.My brothers and I had been under the impression this would be an office outing. It ended up being our two families; the five of us, Big Bob and his daughter, Brandy Crystal Carson. There was no Mamma Carson in sight and a lack of family pictures was noticed by us and our Mom. Dad and Bob (it was tough to call him Big Bob when Dad was bigger than he was) were deep in conversation at the outdoor grill when I arrived.‘Vlad, come out here,' my Dad called to me in his easy going manner.‘Brandy!' Bob shouted. I promptly showed up. Dad wasn't a passionate disciplinarian. I didn't hustle out of fear. I hurried out because I wanted my Dad to look good in front of the Sheriff. ‘Hello Vlad,' Big Bob greeted me. ‘You are a strapping lad, big like your Daddy.'That was a bit odd. I had only heard one person call my Father 'Daddy'. That was my Mom when she was feeling frisky. Mom walked around the house naked when the mood struck her (even when we had guests over) and had few compunctions about hopping into Dad's lap when she wanted attention. That was a common enough occurrence that 'us' boys had learned to sneak out of the room quietly before we were ten.Only in the last two years had we figured out part of Mom's bizarre sexual behavior was caused by Dad being utterly clueless where women were concerned. He could spot a shoplifter at a glance, or an expired car registration at fifty feet on a moonless night. I had seen a car saleswoman hit on Dad when he was getting his newest pick-up. She did everything but flash her tits and do a striptease; it all went right over Dad's head.‘Brandy! Get your ass down here!' Bob bellowed. She must have been most of the way to us because she materialized five seconds later.‘Yes Daddy,' Brandy sounded bored. I was too busy gawking to see Big Bob's reaction to his daughter's insolence.Brandy was beyond gorgeous (according to my personal standards). She had pale-blonde hair in a ponytail that clearly went past her shoulder blades. Her caramel skin was the beneficiary of countless sessions with a tanning booth. Her eyes were the darkest blue I'd ever seen. Breasts, Jesus, they were large and firm. I could tell that because she had on a pink crop-top and no bra. I could almost see the bottoms of each orb.Her stomach was muscled with a thin layer of fatty tissue to give her real womanly curves and she had curves to spare. Her waist was narrow and her hips were wide, complimenting her breast size. She had on super-short, cut-off, 'faded-almost-to-White' denim jeans that accentuated her dark skin. Her ass was to die for. A bit big but well-muscled, each a perfect hemisphere.Her thighs and calves were the product of consistent exercise. Hot, hot, hot. She had on white tennis socks (no shoes) that finished off her delectable image.‘Brandy, this is Vladimir, Senior Deputy Samsonov's son. He's going to be your boyfriend this year,' Bob announced. I had a feeling this wasn't open for debate, in his mind.‘What!' Brandy squawked.‘What?' I looked to my Dad.‘What the fuck?' Brandy turned and glared at me. I would have enjoyed her breasts bouncing more if I hadn't been eyeballing my patriarch.‘Dad?' I kept my voice calm. Brandy was fantastic looking, but I didn't want anyone dictating my social life, period. I was eighteen. Besides, Brandy was turning out to have a far less appealing personality, Pretty Princess syndrome.‘Brandy, Vladimir's a nice boy. His father is 'good people',' Bob laid out his case.How did he know I was a good boy? He was taking a lot on faith.‘I don't want to date this loser,' Brandy shouted. 'Loser'? She didn't knew me either.‘If you don't keep Vlad as your boyfriend, then no cheerleading and no dance team,' Bob glared at his daughter. This clash of wills made no sense to me.‘No way!' Brandy glanced back at her Dad, protested loudly and stomped her foot on the wooden deck.‘Well then, you need to be home at 3:20 pm every school day,' Bob threatened. ‘And I'll make sure to check up on you.' Before I could wonder about Big Bob's abuse of power, I noted the state of the art security system, cyber-nanny.Brandy turned on me in a furor. Her face was screwed up with anger, her fists were clenched and I was working double-time to not ogle the cleave she enhanced by leaning forward. Man, she hated me for reasons I couldn't fathom. I disgusted her which I didn't get either. Plenty of non-relative women had called me good-looking and handsome.I had a healthy, well-defined physique, nice thick, blonde hair and the common sense to keep my body and clothes clean and casual. My only downside I'd ever been told about was my size, I was tall for my age and 'cut'. Brandy was 5' 4'. I was 6' 2'. I had stormy grey eyes, light blonde hair the color of wheat and skin spared the ravages of acne.‘Brandy, I am as uncomfortable and surprised about this as you are,' I tried to placate her. ‘Do you want to talk about it?' She forced herself to appear calm.‘Fine Victor,' she grumbled. Worse than getting my name wrong was the look of viciousness that glimmered in her eyes. ‘We'll make Daddy happy and be a cookie-cutter couple.'‘Dad?' I tried to exit this fiasco with some decorum.‘You'll do fine son,' he responded. That wasn't helpful.‘I'll see you Monday morning, Victor,' Brandy snidely mocked me before leaving. I turned to follow her thunderous retreat.Running after her would have felt pathetic so my sedate pursuit meant she put some distance between us. She ran right into Mom, who grabbed her arm.‘I'm warning you right now,' Mom hissed. ‘Don't have sex with any of my sons.'‘That won't be a problem,' Brandy snorted. I was filth in her mind
Although human wisdom suggests that we ought to exalt ourselves and lift ourselves up to God, such attempts only leave us far from Him. Instead, those who recognize their humble estate and cry out to the LORD in their lowliness find that the Exalted One comes down to be near and help them. Psalm 138 helps us to give thanks to the LORD for preserving our lives in this way. Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at King of Glory Lutheran Church in Williamsburg, VA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 138. "Psalms of Thanksgiving” is a series on Sharper Iron that looks to several psalms to help us give thanks to God. The LORD gives blessings to His whole creation, even all evil people. As we pray the psalms, He teaches us to receive all His gifts with thanksgiving, knowing that He is good and His steadfast love endures forever. Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God's Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org
New King's first and second values are Jesus and Hospitality. Because Jesus is the highly exalted King, he naturally is first in all things, including everything we do at New King. In Colossians, Paul points us to the grandeur and glory of Jesus in both his person and in his work. He then exhorts us to live as God's chosen ones in the same way that Jesus lived as he came to rescue us.
The Hoes and Bitches Need A Champion.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.‘Once you go Black, you don’t go back; unless you are an Amerindian, Arabic, Asian, Black, Indian, Latina, or White girl, or guy who has tried Black, then found sexual fulfillment with a non-Black person and created a blissful relationship with them'Introduction:Right off the bat, be warned that I’m using the ‘N’ words, nigger, niggah, my niggah, plus homie, thug, coon, buck, spook, spade and whatever other crude racial slurs that come to mind. This story plays to both Black and White stereotypes.Lastly, this story is rather flippant with the entire concept of sexual assault. Those who have red my previous tales know this is not my attitude at all. For the sake of this genre I had to grapple with the concept of forcing a woman and 'making them love that cock’Prelude:My tale begins as the Winter Man Saga 1300 years ago, about the year 700 AD. One small clan of my Swedish ancestors lost a brutal feud with their neighbors. Their farms were burned, animals slaughtered and their women and children taken as slaves. Only three young brother-warriors survived, wounded but unconquered. The victors chased them high into the mountains when a terrible winter storm struck.The three brothers were trudging across a glacier between the mountain peaks in Whiteout conditions. The lead brother stepped into a crevasse and slid to the bottom of the glacier. Not giving up on their last kinsman, the other two slid down into the darkness after him. At the roots of that glacier they found an ice cavern formed by snow that fell 100,000 years ago.They melted the ice for water with their body heat and in doing so, unleashed a demoness (virus) that no man had ever known and survived. The three men grew very sick, but their fierce desire for vengeance kept them from succumbing. When they emerged from their icy tomb, they discovered that several of their pursuers had frozen to death in the blizzard and the rest had returned to their stolen homes and purloined lands, thinking the three brothers were dead.In the dark of the long northern night, they snuck upon the Great Hall of their enemies. When one of the brothers saw his 'former’ wife doing a slave’s work, he revealed himself to her. She rejoiced at the return of her love; physically, then brought the three table scraps to survive on. In the process, they learned that their sisters were also alive and the sexual playthings of their male nemeses.Due to the depth of winter, stealing back their womenfolk wasn’t possible. They’d all freeze to death if they didn’t starve first. To repay their enemy’s wickedness, one of the brother’s snapped and raped one of the chief’s daughters. He was possessed with an unearthly desire and held her in a stable for hours. Only when he was utterly spent did he fall asleep.She ran to her father and returned with many warriors. So the first of the brothers was taken. He was tortured and abused. For three long nights he suffered at the hands of his captors yet refused to admit any of his other brothers were still alive. After that third night, the chief’s daughter sneaked past the sleeping guards of the chained man, and raped him.For the next five nights, while her father, brothers and husband slept, she raped and raped and raped that brother. On the fifth night, a sister-in-law caught her at it. The daughter pled for the other to spare her; that the man’s sexual prowess had ensnared her. She even challenged her kinswoman to sample the 'fruit’ before turning her in. Five women later, the brother cracked and told the women how to find his brothers.The night after the Spring Equinox Celebrations, the women of their enemy rose up and slaughtered all their adult menfolk at the behest of the three brothers, on the conditions that their youngest sons be spared and that the men continue to share their favors with all the womenfolk (who were not their kin).The Sammi ClanThe isolated region of the land of the Swedes kept my ancestors out of contact with the wider world for some time. Many generations later, a son of that clan came to lead a band of (female) Finns. His Swedish name is forgotten. The Finns called him Sami (the Exalted One, no shit). He and this band took to fur trading along the Eastern tributaries of the Volga.In time, this group became identified with the Varangian. The Sons of Sami intermarried with the Slavs, becoming Slavicized and the Sons of Sami became Samsonovs. They followed the Rus expansion into the eastern tributaries of the Volga reaching Nizhny Novgorod in the 10th century.Then came the Mongol Conquest, the Tartar Yoke, Rus reunification and the Russian drive across Siberia. The Samsonovs remained tightly clannish and uncomfortable in urban settings. That wanderlust led them across the Bering Straits into Alaska where their genetic abnormality, the gift of that ancient demoness (virus), slumbered in isolation and monogamy.After a thousand years, the tales of mass orgies with strange women and protective female war bands faded into obscurity. Then my Mom, the brilliant, driven eccentric came along. Once she became enraptured with her own Samsonov lover, she had to know the secret of Samsonov men’s sexual prowess.With her burning intellect and educational background, she eventually figured it out. She was also amoral enough to keep the knowledge to herself and vengeful enough to plan to use our curse as a weapon.My Living Family· Father, Nikolay 'Nik’ Samsonov;· Mother, Gayle Fonteneau Samsonov;· The Triplets, Alexander 'Alex’, Mikhail and Vladimir 'Vlad’; that's me.Sitting at the dinner table, I protested; ‘Mom, You actually expect me to believe my Father, Brothers and I have the genetic capability to addict every woman we have sex with to our schlongs? That’s nuts!'Mom retorted; ‘As opposed to thinking the color, length and girth of a phallus makes any woman lose all sense of loyalty, morality and decorum so she can become a man’s sex sleeve, whore, bitch, property? Yes, I do.'The lives of my family took an unexpected detour in the spring of this year. My great-aunt Matilda (Mattie) died and willed her estate to Mom. I had never met the woman while she was alive yet in death she would have a profound effect on all our lives. Mom’s family was a mess; a crowded dingy with a madhouse of odd characters.Lionel was my eldest maternal uncle. He was a Big, Bulging Brain working as a Chief Technical Advisor for NASA; a solitary crusader for all Mankind. What was he a technical advisor for? If anything left terra firma for more than fifteen seconds, he knew every detail about it. That included volcanic eruptions too. When we were younger, he invited us to various volcanoes (both above and beneath the waves). Great guy.Cassius, my second uncle, was serving time in Indonesia for piracy. Mom said he was meaner than every saltwater crocodile that ever lived. The two times I’d met him, he’d been a lean, happy laconic kind of guy with a love for military history. Mom said he was a charismatic rebel who was possessed by an obsession to defy authority in all its forms.Dido was child number three; my Mom’s older sister, married to an Evangelical Televangelist in Nebraska under an assumed name, Paula Richmond. She also had a MD in Psychiatry and a Master’s in Public Communications (under her real name), which she kept secret from the fundamentalist congregation. The few times we met; she was the perfect mother. Secretly, we three sons wished she’d been our mother instead of our real mother. Mom said Aunt Dido was a master manipulator and wielded a cruel whip;Then there was Mom’s twin, Uncle Theo, who never lived in one place, traveled all around the globe and had every law enforcement agency in the civilized world looking for him. We always receiving presents from him during all the normal holidays; like Michaelmas, Holy Week, the start of Lent, Martinmas (his favorite) and our birthdays; which arrived at random, unrelated times of the year and never from the same location.He was the only one we’d never met, but the one Mom loved the most. Dad suspected he was a narco-trafficker while Mom insisted he was too paranoid to be considered reliable for that line of work. Mom told us he’d spent his formative years killing people for Uncle Sam until one day he simply walked away from Fort Bragg and became an independent contractor.The Defense Department sent some fine, brave men from Joint Special Operation Command, to talk to Mom every few months. They made sure not to trip over the CIA and Homeland Security types who occasionally staked out our house. We boys guessed they came around every time Uncle Theo assassinated people. Mom taught us how to appreciate them in an elaborate ritual she called 'April Fool’s, which became an 'any day of the year’ activity.My Mom’s father (I never met the guy) was a leader of a cult in Nevada. He went down, guns blazing during a DEA raid. Apparently his interests included both harems and marijuana production.Mom’s mom? She left my Mother outside a dive bar in San Diego and was never seen again. She had doctorates in Biology and Physics as well as the reputation for being a certifiable Space Cadet. Mom insisted her mom hadn’t abandoned her, she’d simply forgotten where she left her youngest daughter who was 15 at the time.After five days, Mom decided to join an Alternative Rock band instead of looking for the lady yet again. Seven years later, she was declared legally dead; though all her offspring believed she was still alive; somewhere; doing something.Then you had Dad’s family. We had some characters on that side of the family, just not like Mom’s. For starters, Samsonovs were bred for law enforcement. We’d been arresting bad guys since the 1500’s. We’d been doing that in Alaska since the time of the tsars. When the Alaskan Territory was sold to the United States; well, my ancestors simply started writing their reports in English instead of Russian.Over the centuries, we had bagged serial killers, smugglers, poachers, drug dealers, domestic abusers and thieves. Mostly they arrested drunks and wackos. My Great Grandfather Petrov was a law enforcement legend in Alaska. Alone, he ran down a pack of murderous robbers in the dead of winter before they made it to 'safety’ in the Yukon Territory.In the spring, they found them frozen solid, him leading five men, he recorded in his journal he’d killed the other three while apprehending the gang, back in chains. That pretty much defined the nature of my Father’s family, no too many stellar geniuses, but always relentless past all norms of endurance and reason. The moment females were allowed in law enforcement, the womenfolk joined the profession.My Aunt Iliana was in the Coast Guard, that made her the 'Black sheep’ in this clan. Taking the law out to the high seas was about as wild as Dad’s family got. Dad was pretty much the standard issue for my kin. Big, Dad was 6’ 5' and 290 lbs., and about as imaginative as a glacier. Why Mom married Dad had long been a mystery to his sons.Don’t get me wrong. I loved my Dad, but the man used a grand total of twenty different sentences his entire life. The fewer words he had to speak, the happier he was. He was a nice guy, never drinking too much and I’d never seen him lose his temper. He smiled, was unerringly polite and had always been helpful and playful with us kids from our earliest memories.Grandpa, my great-aunts and -uncles, my aunts, uncles and cousins by blood were the exact same way. I mean that quite literally. We all pretty much looked alike as well. Those who married, married eccentrics. In our regular family get-togethers that translated over to the blood kin in one room saying and doing nothing (we were already cluing into some sort of primitive telepathy) and being very happy that way, while the married relations were in another room packing on the lunacy.There was no middle ground; you were either a silent, brooding peak in the Samsonov mountain range, or the aurora borealis. That left me and my brothers, we were triplets, in a precarious position. We looked like smaller versions of our Dad (we were still growing) yet were totally at the mercy of our Mother most of our young lives. Recall what I said about eccentrics and lunatic behavior. Mom was the Queen of the Asylum.Mom quickly fell in love with ’things’ and she loved doing those things with family. Since Dad worked long hours, family meant my brothers and me. We could make passable pottery by age seven. Krav Maga? Screw this ’driving to some dojo in Anchorage’ crap. Mom signed us up for a two week course in Israel and online lessons for a year. Archery, check. Rewiring our house and refitting all the plumbing, check.The three of us were SCA squires at age 12. Pleading to Dad was pointless. He’d smile, mess up our hair and remind us these excursions made our Mother happy aka he wasn’t going to help us have normal lives. We had some ex-Green Beret guys teach us outdoor survival skills in Wyoming. We could pull wool, make thread and knit a set of pants and sweaters.I and my brothers had to memorize 1200 medically useful plants before we could get our Christmas presents when we were 14. We free-climbed mountains, ran 10Kms, kayaked, were proficient seamen on a sailing ship and learned how to navigate by the Sun, Moon and stars. Around the age of 15, we figured out that Mom had a ton of money squirreled away. There was no way Dad, with his civil servant’s salary, could afford all this crazy shit.By the age of 18 we had such a crazy patchwork set of skills, we weren’t sure what we would end up doing with our lives; though tracking down Uncle Theo and living a life on the run was looking more attractive every month. What we didn’t have were great social lives. We all had girlfriends at one time, or another, but they never lasted.Right before any of us were about to get serious with any girl in high school, my Mom dragged us off; to things like a five day course on Renaissance artwork in Milan; that’s Italy. We had to learn to speak Italian in three days, plus during the flight over. Mom made it easy for us. We could only speak Italian the entire time. Doing that at school was 'fun’. Dad? He smiled and said nothing for three days.Welcome to the Fonteneau House, Kingston, ArkansasAnyway, Mom’s Great-aunt Mattie kicked the bucket and left her vast fortune in northwestern Arkansas to my Mom. The old bird hated the rest of the nutjobs in the clan, but adored my Mom (and Theo). Upon receiving the news, my brothers and I began thinking the same thing: banjo lessons, redneck stunts and girls in Daisy Dukes. By 'fortune’ we were thinking a ramshackle Ozark shack sitting on a mountain top.Nope. Great-aunt Mattie was loaded. In fact, Mom’s whole family had tons of money. They’d made a killing, quite literally, during the White expansion westward using various despicable means. They’d even been cursed by an entire Indian Tribe for bilking them off their land. Mom’s family blamed that malediction for their bizarre behavior.That Arkansas home was actually the summer residence for the Fonteneau clan from a hundred years ago. Along with the palatial residence came thousands upon thousands of acres spread over a quarter of the state (and some land in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma too).Tara, or the Biltmore estate, it was not, but it certainly had pretensions. It was a wide and roomy, rambling Victorian structure. The house proper (there were two barns, a stable, storage sheds, two garages, one attached and the other stand-alone, semi-attached servant quarters and four outlying hunting lodges) abutted the Kingston town limits.The place was big enough to require Mom to employ six staff;Phineas Cobb the third, an angry, sullen old White guy and his carbon-copy son, Phineas IV, were our two Wardens. That meant they took care of the outlying property which included hunting down poachers, interlopers and moonshiners (the competition, no doubt) and seeing to the upkeep of the various lodges, roads, trails and bridges around the place. Phineas the third and Mom; well, he cried and hugged Mom when he saw her, so we didn’t know what to think of him and his son.Bebe Marston worked the stables and the twelve horses therein. She was a college dropout, White and 21; a woman at one of life’s crossroads. Great Aunt Mattie brought her on a few months before she passed on. Bebe was a bit shy and distant around the menfolk. Mom treated Bebe like her long lost daughter; they got along fine.Thomas Freeman was the groundskeeper. Thomas seemed nice enough, a polite and somewhat deferential older Black man. I liked him. Mom fired him the moment the lawyer finished reading Maggie’s Will. She believed the man was a back-biter, liar and a thief.Kamika Perry was the cook. She was a largish, plump Black woman with a large family in town. She was a tyrant in the kitchen but friendly and out-going everywhere else. She knew Mom from before; before what, we didn’t know. She was close to Mom’s age and was the niece of the former cook. She and Mom were cordial yet a tad formal.Nefertiti Cooke was the upstairs maid. She was a whip-tin attractive Black woman in her late-20s and joined Thomas heading out the door. Mom discharged her due to Nefertiti’s sour attitude and general unwillingness to adhere to a work schedule.Anita Turner was our downstairs maid and overall manager of the other servants. Like Kamika, she knew Mom from her previous stay at the house, though Anita was already part of the staff back then. They acted like old friends though they understood the mistress-servant dynamics of their relationship.Mom solved our labor shortage by bringing in Mexicans (Hondurans actually). The two families divided up the nine rooms in the detached servants’ quarters with Bebe, since Anita and Kamika lived in town and the Cobb’s had their own cottage somewhere on the property.Hector Martinez became our new groundskeeper. He had a wife, Maria. Mom enrolled her in some online college courses so she could get a teaching license. They were both pretty young.Consuela Castro was our new upstairs maid. She was a single mother with a son, Gustavo (10), and a daughter, Isabo (6); they went to the local elementary school in town. Both families were very nice to us and seemed happy with their current circumstance. Since this job was their first go at being domestic servants, Mom told us to be patient and respectful while they learned the ropes from Anita and Mr. Cobb (only Mom could call him Phineas without pissing him off).My brothers and I, our Father, the Martinez’s and the Castro’s couldn’t have predicted the shit-storm Mom was creating between our house and the dominant Black populace of Kingston along the great racial divide. The Hondurans had spent half their lives learning to keep their heads low when faced with discrimination. We didn’t, nor did we know that Mom was acting with deliberate malice of forethought at that time.To help appreciate our understanding of the situation, we triplets had known a grand total of four Black people well enough to call them by their Christian names our entire lives. On
You work hard to be a good Christian but have little to show for it, yet people who live the way they want seem to do fine. This can be frustrating. Psalm 92 encourages us to lift our eyes to the Exalted One - God Most High. It encourages us to worship Him with thanksgiving and praise. He will cut down the wicked and cause the righteous to flourish. Even so, it's fitting to exalt the Exalted One!
Passage: 14 He said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle from my people's way.” 15 For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed. 16 For I will not accuse you forever, and I will not always be angry; for then the spirit would grow weak before me, even the breath, which I have made. 17 Because of his sinful greed I was angry, so I struck him; I was angry and hid; but he went on turning back to the desires of his heart. 18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 19 creating words of praise.” The Lord says, “Peace, peace to the one who is far or near, and I will heal him. 20 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck. 21 There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God. -- Isaiah 57:14-21 (CSB) Song: Restore Us Again (https://open.spotify.com/track/6SFEaY91FtbOVEUYvkOUcc?si=925ad1b9acdc445b) by Paul Zach Lyrics: We longed for Egypt in the wilderness A kingdom made of dust Built an idol out of happiness A paradise of rust We lost all the meaning Drowned out the feeling Our hearts barely beating Restore us again God of our salvation Revive us again in Your unfailing love Restore us again God of our salvation Revive us again in Your unfailing love We have trusted in the meaningless And chased a life of ease Now we wander in the shadow lands Where comfort is our king Holy Spirit bring us life once again Holy Spirit lead our hearts back to You Holy Spirit bring us life once again Holy Spirit lead our hearts back to You Prayer: O Lord our God, whose compassion is the cause of our fearing and loving your name, mercifully pour your grace into our hearts, that we, casting away what displeases you, may be united to you with an honest will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -The Leonine Sacramentary
If you were to survey the average Christian and ask which area of their spiritual walk they would like to improve, prayer would be a pretty popular answer. In this program, Chip picks up in his series, Less is More: Decluttering Your Time with God. He will share his struggles with focusing during prayer and explain how getting an accurate view of God utterly changed his approach. Main PointsIsaiah 57:15 "For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'"Who you perceive God to be will be the most important thing about anything in your prayer life. - Luke 11Broadcast ResourceDownload Free MP3 Message Notes Additional Resource MentionsPrayer Journal About Chip IngramChip Ingram’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways.About Living on the EdgeLiving on the Edge exists to help Christians live like Christians. Established in 1995 as the radio ministry of pastor and author Chip Ingram, God has since grown it into a global discipleship ministry. Living on the Edge provides Biblical teaching and discipleship resources that challenge and equip spiritually hungry Christians all over the world to become mature disciples of Jesus.Connect 888-333-6003 Website Chip Ingram App Instagram Facebook Twitter Partner With Us Donate Online 888-333-6003
If you were to survey the average Christian and ask which area of their spiritual walk they would like to improve, prayer would be a pretty popular answer. In this program, Chip picks up in his series, Less is More: Decluttering Your Time with God. He will share his struggles with focusing during prayer and explain how getting an accurate view of God utterly changed his approach. Make a difference in the lives of believers and non-believers today. Right now, every dollar you donate between now and July 9 is doubled. Give Now. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/789/29
What does it really mean "to take refuge in Sangha"? What if a very senior monk disrobes, how can we protect our mind from losing faith in such situations? Ajahn Dhammasiha points out that our refuge in terms of Sangha is: "...Yadidaṃ cattāri purisayugani, aṭṭha purisapuggala - Esa Bhagavato Sāvakasangho... "...Namely the four pairs of persons, the eight kind of individuals - THESE are the Sangha of the Exalted One's disciples..." In the strict definition given by the Buddha himself, 'Sangha' as refuge is NOT the ordained sangha of monks and nuns, but it is only those who have realized one of the stages of awakening, whether lay or ordained. If we keep that in mind, and direct our faith not to just to individual monks or nuns, but to the community of those who have realized the Dhamma, our faith will not be shaken if an individual monk or nun disrobes or acts in uninspiring ways. Naturally, as we can't know who truly has realized stages of awakening, there is a tendency to regard the ordained sangha as a symbol for the community of awakened disciples, as we can actually recognize monks and nuns easily by their wearing robes, and our faith likes to have something visible and concrete to latch on. There is nothing wrong in that, especially as so many Arahants and noble disciples have been part of the ordained sangha. But even so, we should be mindful to direct our faith to the WHOLE sangha, the complete sangha of the four quarters and the three time periods, rather than only to individual monks or nuns who we feel personal affection for. Again, this will protect our faith from crumbling in case a monk or nun we like does not meet our expectations.
Ajahn Dhammasiha responds to a question how we can develop gratitude methodically. Being grateful (Kataññū Katavedī) has been praised by the Buddha as belonging entirely to the sphere of a truly good person. However, he also pointed out that it is a rather rare character trait. Gratitude may not always come naturally, so we have to make a deliberate effort to develop that character trait. For example, we can start doing Buddha Pujas with an emphasis on a feeling of gratitude to the Buddha for pointing out the way leading to the end of all suffering. Another good exercise is simply writing down a list of all the things we have received in our life from others that were beneficial and helpful to us. Of course, we could just as well keep a list of all bad things we had to endure. Both lists are 'objectively' valid. But how does it make us feel to dwell on them? How do we feel after thinking for an hour about anything bad anyone may have done to us? How do we feel after thinking for an hour about all the good we have received? Simply doing that much will show us how much more enjoyable, emotionally uplifting, and leading to a sense of contentment it is to dwell on the 'gratitude list', rather than the 'complaints' list
Repent and Believe in the Exalted One, Joshua Ritchie
Repent and Believe in the Exalted One, Joshua Ritchie
Repent and Believe in the Exalted One, Joshua Ritchie
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February 20, 2024 Daily Devotion: "He Is the Most Exalted One" Colossians 1:18 TPT He is the Head of his body, which is the church. And since he is the beginning and the firstborn heir in resurrection, he is the most exalted One, holding first place in everything. God is prominent and preeminent. He is majestic in His power, magnificent in His person, and marvelous in His purposes. How refreshing to step back into the shadows of our own insignificance and give full attention to the greatness of our God! It's all about Him! We take a major step toward maturity when we finally realize it's not about us and our significance. It is all about God's magnificence. His holiness. His greatness. His glory. God is transcendent. He is magnificent. He is mighty. He alone is awesome! He is all around us, above us, and within us. Without Him there is no righteousness. Without Him there is no holiness. Without Him there is no promise of forgiveness, no source of absolute truth, no reason to endure, no hope beyond the grave. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gerzon-etino/message
“Rejoice in the LORD…” Psalm 97:8-12 8 Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD. 9 For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods. 10 You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. The theme of Psalm 97 is the exaltation of Jehovah and His reign over all the earth! He is exalted on His throne, He is exalted over His enemies, He is exalted over idols and false gods, and He is exalted among His people! He is the Most High God! When we truly see Him as “the Exalted One”, we will experience “gladness in heart” and we will “rejoice in the LORD”! Today we are looking at verses 10-12, where we see what happens when “Jehovah is exalted among His saints.” God's people are those who love Him and do not turn to idols for help (Psalm 91:14). We know that an idol is nothing and can never protect or deliver us and is not worthy of our attention and worship (1 Cor. 8:1-3). In 1 John 4:19 we read, “We love Him because He first loved us.” When we experience God's love through Jesus Christ, we now have “the love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). Then, if we love Him who is holy, we will “hate evil” (v. 10), that which is unholy (Psalms 34:14; 36:4; 37:27; 119:104; Prov. 8:13; Rom. 12:9). Peter said it this way, “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." (1 Peter 15-16). In this closing paragraph, God's people are called "saints" or "godly ones," "the righteous," "the upright in heart,". All of these names speak of a life devoted to God. We should love Him, and if we love Him, we will obey Him ("hate evil"), we will “rejoice in Him”, and we will “give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name” for all His mercies. After all, He protects His people, delivers them, gives them light for their path, and puts gladness into their hearts. What more could we want? The image in verse 11 is that of the Sower sowing seed. The Lord plants light like seeds so that His people will not always walk in darkness, and what He plants will eventually bear fruit. "Sowing" is a frequent metaphor in Scripture for the deeds of both God and His people (Psalm 112:4; Prov. 11:18; Hos. 8:7; 10:12; James 3:18). When “we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Remember in verse 2, how we are told that “Clouds and darkness surround Him”? That is the condition and experience of the person without Jesus Christ. Solomon in Proverbs 4:19 puts it this way: “The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.” But for the “saint”, the born-again believer, “we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the marvelous kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). Psalm 97 begins with a universal revelation of God's glory (vv. 2-6), with dramatic flashes of lightning, but it ends with His light quietly shining on the paths of His people. Some see the image as that of the dawn, with the morning light diffused along the ground as though the Lord were planting it like seed. But God also sows joy with that light, for when we walk in the light, we also have joy in the Lord (Psalm 16:11; Isa. 60:1-5). God's people have their dark days when life is difficult, but there are always seeds of light and joy to accompany us along the way. Is it any wonder that Paul would write to the Philippians from a Roman prison cell and tell them, “Rejoice in the LORD always, and again I say rejoice”? (Philippians 4:4) God bless!
Brigid was a pre-Christian Irish goddess of fertility and life. As a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, she was the master of healing sharing similarities with the Catholic St. Brigid of Kildare. Originating from the word Briganti, meaning the Exalted One, the name Brigid has been anglicized from the old Irish Brig becoming the term for Bride. Brigid refers to the goddess' connection to sunlight and fire, but may also be related to dawn goddesses across the Indo-European world. Some mention Brigid as a triple goddess, but unlike most triple goddesses in Ireland, all of her aspects were named Brigid and had dominion over Smithcraft, healing and poetry. Brigid is associated with healing, fertility, motherhood, and inspired many writers and poets, Irish novelists credited Brigid as their inspiration. Her epithet, the Exalted One reflected her connection to crafting and wisdom. The Lebor Gabála Érenn established Brigid as the daughter of the Dagda, chief of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and her mother was the namesake mother-goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Jesus God in the flesh --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/john-veney0/support
Stablish Your Hearts - to set fast, turn resolutely in a certain direction. To set your hearts on the Lord for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Be #patient in the Lord just as your Lord is patient. Herein, we find James addressing the #rich, but advising the #believers in #ChristJesus that the #Lordscoming is approaching. We live as if the Lord is coming today, yet we #discern the #times and work to #setfast our #hope, #love, #obedience, and #devotion in and on the #LordJesusChrist. We are not to #squanderthetime, the hour, or our own lives spent for the Lord himself. Today it is easy to become distracted and painful to be caught unawares in those things of #God we should know about. #Stablishyourhearts
Stablish your Hearts brings us to part five of the High Exalted One. We are nearing the close of our study. Yet as we do, more than ever we must grasp the truth that in the midst of all the troubles and sorrows, God in on the throne. Also true is that Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and comes quickly. While the darkness and the devil work to deceive, we work to bring people into the Light of our God and Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ is coming for His people and we are them, the believers and followers of the Messiah, Lord, and King; Jesus, Yeshua, The Messiah. Go https://linktr.ee/warnradio more info. Stablish Your Hearts - to set fast, turn resolutely in a certain direction. To set your hearts on the Lord for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Be #patient in the Lord just as your Lord is patient. Herein, we find James warning the #rich, but advising the #believers in #ChristJesus that the #Lordscoming is approaching. We live as if the Lord is coming today, yet we #discern the #times and work to #setfast our #hope, #love, #obedience, and #devotion in and on the #LordJesusChrist. We are not to #squanderthetime, the hour, or our own lives spent for the Lord himself. Today it is easy to become distracted and painful to be caught unawares in those things of #God we should know about. #Stablishyourhearts To get the Books from the Watchman Dana G Smith go to his website http://www.DanaGlennSmith.com/shop
My Righteous Salvation is the subject here. #God is the #Lord of #Redeeming those who call upon Him. In these three verses from chapter 51 of #Isaiah we find: righteousness mentioned three times, salvation is found twice, heavens found twice. The "My Righteousness and my #Salvation are combined to bring to the people the #hope of #Godsredeeminggrace. While we find as well these verses are directly connected to the prophets addressing #Judahscaptives in #Babylon, it is connected as well to the #Messiah and the coming #redemption of #God for all people who come to him. #MyRighteousSalvation
My Righteous Salvation brings us to part four in our series The High Exalted One. The Everlasting One has the authority and power overall the heavens and earth. But the Ancient of Days here also has love for all His creation including man. The redemption of man along with the restoration of heaven and earth is a testament to the will of the Lord who wants to redeem his creation and to provide for them in a perfect place for all eternity along with a perfect body to inhabit. Sin will be gone, temptation erased, and Zion established for all. Go https://linktr.ee/warnradio more info. My Righteous Salvation is the subject here. #God is the #Lord of #Redeeming those who call upon Him. In these three verses from chapter 51 of #Isaiah we find: righteousness mentioned three times, salvation is found twice, heavens found twice. The "My Righteousness and my #Salvation are combined to bring to the people the #hope of #Godsredeeminggrace. While we find these verses as well are directly connected to the prophets addressing #Judahscaptives in #Babylon, it is here we find the #Messiah and the coming #redemption of #God for all people who come to him. #MyRighteousSalvation To get the Books from the Watchman Dana G Smith go to his website http://www.DanaGlennSmith.com/shop
Multitude of Sorceries High Exalted One part three brings us to the end of days, troubles, and judgment. The nations of men live independently of their gods many times. To these nations, their gods are true. However, the gods of the nations are idols and no comparison to Jehovah God. Today, these ends of days find Yeshua, Jesus Christ as the Almighty, mentioned in Revelation chapter one and not one person, one nation, or the depths of hell can fight against the Alpha and Omega the beginning and end. Even with a multitude of sorceries, it if fruitless to think of escaping judgment. Go https://linktr.ee/warnradio more info. Multitude of Sorceries finds that twice in the space of three sentences, Babylon has said "I am, and no one else beside me". This closely resembles #MysteryBabylon and her #judgment. But #Babylon has much more than #Sorceries. It has power, the might to rule over any nation, and the will to go to war. We look at #Babylon in our series this week as a starting point to the troublesome times found in the #endofdays we find in #Revelation. In this we find being given to #pleasures, have not been beaten in war, and she considers herself alone in the #might of #powers among the nations. However, her trouble is the #LordGod will bring her down. She has not a clue as to how quickly it will occur. #MultitudeofSorceries To get the Books from the Watchman Dana G Smith go to his website http://www.DanaGlennSmith.com/shop
Gods Righteous Judgment breaks ground in another year. It is where we find ourselves after all the celebrations and parties, the days pass on by and another comes. Still we must look at our lives and what we do. Self-examination can be difficult, but we must daily as Christians press forward. Nevertheless our battles are real and the enemies of Christ press on forward. Yet in all this we are more than conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ. But as Paul says in Romans chapter two verses ten and eleven "But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. KJV" Go https://linktr.ee/warnradio more info. Gods Righteous Judgment brings the nations of men face to face with the truth of all truths. That is, while man is allowed to live, breathe, and do as he pleases on earth, one day all god's creation will arrive at the judgment. Man will stand for his #righteousness or #unrighteousness with the #Almighty, see #Revelation chapter one and twenty-two for starters. Here we look at the #HighExaltedone and upon man. The #Lord provided for man's #redemption, which will allow men to escape the #judgment. Today amidst the ignorance, #rebellion, and #falseteaching; just to name a few many are stocking up wrath unto themselves for the #dayofwrath. #GodsRighteousJudgment To get the Books from the Watchman Dana G Smith go to his website http://www.DanaGlennSmith.com/shop
Isaiah 611 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,Because the Lord has anointed meTo bring good news to the cafflicted;He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to captivesAnd freedom to prisoners;2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LordAnd the day of vengeance of our God;To comfort all who mourn,3 To grant those who mourn in Zion,Giving them a garland instead of ashes,The oil of gladness instead of mourning,The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.So they will be called coaks of righteousness,The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.4 Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,They will raise up the former devastations;And they will repair the ruined cities,The desolations of many generations.5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.6 But you will be called the priests of the Lord;You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.You will eat the wealth of nations,And in their riches you will boast.7 Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,Everlasting joy will be theirs.8 For I, the Lord, love justice,I hate robbery in the burnt offering;And I will faithfully give them their recompenseAnd make an everlasting covenant with them.9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations,And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.All who see them will recognize themBecause they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,My soul will exult in my God;For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praiseTo spring up before all the nations.New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Is 61:1–11.
We Christians love to read, talk, and sing, about Jesus' birth, life, death, resurrection, and eventual return. But his ascension is often overlooked. This Sunday we'll focus on questions like: What happened when Jesus ascended? What does the ascension mean? What practical difference does make it in our lives?
Most of the 100 descriptive names of God in the Bible were ascribed Him by His people, and they describe an aspect of His character or are a reminder of one of His mighty deeds. This week I share some of those names that attest to God's greatness: the Exalted One, the Mighty God. He is also the God who sees and hears your cries. He is the Everlasting God who never grows weary, and He will give you strength in your time of need.
It's Tuesday, you know what that means. On this episode of Music of the Mat, Andrew is joined by pro wrestler Colin Delaney to discuss the themes, career, and life of the late great Jon Huber, a.k.a. Brodie Lee. Colin and Brodie were longtime friends going back to their days as young backyard wrestlers in Rochester, NY, lasting all the way up to Brodie's untimely and tragic passing at the age of 41 in December 2020. Andrew and Colin cover the major hits of Brodie's career, including the "Right Stuff" gimmick, his pivotal transformation into "The Big Rig," his days as Wyatt Family member Luke Harper in WWE, and of course his final role as "The Exalted One" Mr. Brodie Lee in AEW. Colin also shares some fun details about Brodie's taste in music and the McDonald's sandwich that inspired a tag team name. This is a heartfelt, must-listen episode about a wonderful man and the legacy that he left behind.This episode of Music of the Mat is sponsored by HelloFresh.Go to HelloFresh.com/vow16 and use the code vow16 to get up to 16 free meals and three free gifts.Follow Music of the Mat on Twitter: @MusicoftheMatFollow Andrew on Twitter: @AndrewTRichFollow Colin on Twitter: @ExtremelyCuteAll VOW podcasts, articles, previews, and reviews: VoicesofWrestling.comJoin the VOW Discord to discuss Music of the Mat and other shows/topics: https://discord.gg/SFRwWdJDonate to Music of the Mat and other VOW podcasts: VoicesofWrestling.com/DonateAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
It's Tuesday, you know what that means. On this episode of Music of the Mat, Andrew is joined by pro wrestler Colin Delaney to discuss the themes, career, and life of the late great Jon Huber, a.k.a. Brodie Lee. Colin and Brodie were longtime friends going back to their days as young backyard wrestlers in Rochester, NY, lasting all the way up to Brodie's untimely and tragic passing at the age of 41 in December 2020. Andrew and Colin cover the major hits of Brodie's career, including the "Right Stuff" gimmick, his pivotal transformation into "The Big Rig," his days as Wyatt Family member Luke Harper in WWE, and of course his final role as "The Exalted One" Mr. Brodie Lee in AEW. Colin also shares some fun details about Brodie's taste in music and the McDonald's sandwich that inspired a tag team name. This is a heartfelt, must-listen episode about a wonderful man and the legacy that he left behind.This episode of Music of the Mat is sponsored by HelloFresh.Go to HelloFresh.com/vow16 and use the code vow16 to get up to 16 free meals and three free gifts.Follow Music of the Mat on Twitter: @MusicoftheMatFollow Andrew on Twitter: @AndrewTRichFollow Colin on Twitter: @ExtremelyCuteAll VOW podcasts, articles, previews, and reviews: VoicesofWrestling.comJoin the VOW Discord to discuss Music of the Mat and other shows/topics: https://discord.gg/SFRwWdJDonate to Music of the Mat and other VOW podcasts: VoicesofWrestling.com/DonateSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/music-of-the-mat/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Thus Says the High and Exalted One, Isaiah 57:15
The study of 12 Virtues continues as Cindy Dunagan presents what God says about this most foundational quality that allows the High and Exalted One to dwell with us (Isaiah 57:15).
This week on the Noobs and Knockouts Podcast, Austin and David watch the best of Brodie Lee in the wake of his sudden passing. They tackle his time in WWE and AEW, from the Wyatt Family to the Bludgeon Brothers to being the Exalted One. One thing is for sure, his eyes told it all. Won't you join us?
Dave LaGreca, Bully Ray, Mark Henry, and Tommy Dreamer all gather to remember the late Jon Huber, known as Brodie Lee in AEW & the indies, and Luke Harper in WWE. They're also joined by WWE's Edge & Sheamus, and IMPACT Wrestling's Sami Callihan, to share stories and honor Huber's legacy as a wrestler, family man, & friend.
This week on A Novel Console, Chris and Karradyne finally announce the winners of the Patreon giveaway. They also talk about a mysterious listener, Karradyne's shelf project, and a Stressful Game Study. Then Karradyne explores the weird life of a bird boy in Goodnight Punpun. Afterwards, Chris helps the Exalted One save the world in Fire Emblem Awakening. They finish off the episode by having two mediocre "Mexican" meals.You can contact us at:anovelconsole@gmail.comFacebook.com/anovelconsoleTwitter.com/anovelconsoleInstagram: @anovelconsolePatreon.com/anovelconsoleOther Streaming Platforms:anovelconsole.carrd.coOur art was done by:Instagram: @metamorphikei
In this episode of the Brain Chunx podcast I go over; The AEW Revolution results! What in the world will Matt Hardy do? and That Randy and Beth Phoenix segment!
Who is the Exalted One? Who else could be signed to AEW after their big get in the form of Lance Archer? In a world of free agents and uncertain futures for many big talents it is an exciting time in professional wrestling! Speaking of exciting, Beyond Wrestling is to present their “Network Special” this […] The post Retro Superplex 148 – Josh appeared first on Nerdy Little Secret dot com.