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Tag Archives: Feral Beast
November 3, 2014 by Moreland
The Animal I Have Become
*Note: I wrote this blog in October but couldn't post it because of Horrorfest III. I am aware that things have changed on Supernatural, but I wanted to leave it the exact same way I wrote it.*
I thought this would be a great opening to a great song:
Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
This song is amazing. It has these chords that constantly run through your mind. The music is almost like a pulse and so hypnotic. It bugs me that I can't explain better how much I love this song. I just LOVE IT!
This song was created by the extremely handsome Adam Gontier.
He's so attractive that I can't help flashing his picture every time I talk about his talents. Anyways he wrote the song while he was in rehab for his addiction to OxyContin (a pain medication). He wrote it as he felt that he was losing himself during the addiction. He stated that "he had become abusive and angry and had no idea who he was anymore."
It was super popular when it came out, being number one for over 7 weeks. Some of you might recall from an earlier post that my ex-boyfriend had lent this CD to me. Well I knew of Three Days Grace long before that because of this song and Pain; the two most popular of the album.
The music video is also amazing. He has this crazy, wild, black beast that he is trying to fight and overcome. It's crazy!!! And it reminds us:
And that "Wild Thing" isn't always good.
I can't escape this hell
So many times i've tried
But i'm still caged inside
Somebody get me through this nightmare
I can't control myself
So what if you can see the darkest side of me?
No one will ever change this animal I have become
Help me believe it's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this animal
(This animal, this animal)
I can't escape myself
(I can't escape myself)
So many times i've lied
(So many times i've lied)
But there's still rage inside
Somebody help me tame this animal I have become
Somebody help me through this nightmare
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
(This animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal, this animal)
(This animal I have become)
And now with Dean having become a Demon (sad I know) on Supernatural, the song makes me think of him.
For more on Three Days Grace, go to Gone Forever
For more on Supernatural, go to Monster Movie
For more on my favorite songs, go to All I Know About Trilogies is That in the Third One, All Bets are Off
For more on Dean Winchester, go to I'm Batman!
Posted in Musical Stylings of Me, Supernatural
Tagged abusive, Adam Gontier, Addicted, Addiction, Amazing, Angry, Animal I Have Become, Attractive, Beast, Boyfriend Michael, Caged, Caged Animal, Chords, Dean Winchester, Don't Know Who I Am, Escape, Ex-Boyfriend, Feral Beast, Hell, Horrorfest III, Hypnotic, Jensen Ackles, Losing Himself, Music, Music Video, Nightmare, October, One-X, OxyContin, Pain, Pain Medication, Pulse, Rehab, Song, Supernatural, Three Days Grace, Tries to Escape, Wild Thing
October 1, 2014 by Moreland
Even a Man Pure of Heart: The Wolf Man (1941)
"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."
This is such an amazing film as the story is excellent, the acting superb (Lon Chaney Jr. + Claude Rains). It is also a member of Universal's Classic Monster Movie Collection, its buddies being The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc. And this post means that I have finally, finally finished the list I set out to complete two years ago.
But what really makes this a spectacular film is that many of the modern myths of werewolves were originated in this film: such as a person becoming a werewolf through a bite; the only way to kill a werewolf is with a silver bullet; and changing into one during a full moon. These are all original concepts created by writer Curt Siodmak. Isn't that amazing! Like The Mummy and The Creature from the Black Lagoon this film isn't based on a book or any specific resource, which allowed the writers a lot of leeway in their work and creations.
So this isn't the first werewolf film, as that was The Werewolf of London, which actually did rather poorly in theaters. This was the second werewolf horror film to be made and become the most famous. All the later depictions such as: The Howling, An American Werewolf in London, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Van Helsing, The Wolfman (2010), etc.; looked to it in creating their stories.
So the film was originally written for Boris Karloff, but he turned it down. And although I love that man [read my The Mummy (1932), Frankenstein, or The Bride of Frankenstein post] I can't imagine this film being as amazing with him as the title role. Lon Chaney Jr. was just superb. Lon Chaney Jr, was the son of the famous Lon Chaney (who I talk about in my Phantom of the Opera post) and interestingly the set that was used to film this movie was the same used for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) which starred Lon Chaney Jr.'s father, Lon Chaney.
Unlike other films, The Wolf Man is the only Universal monster to be played by the same actor in all his 1940s film appearances; Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).
Now I love this movie and story but it is soooo sad as well. Here is a wonderful man pure of heart, who has the unfortunate luck of being bitten by a werewolf and can't do anything to stop it. Unlike modern movies where the person can control it, change at will, etc; in the original when the man transformed into a wolf he literally transformed into becoming a beast and losing all his humanistic thought, reasoning, etc.
So the film starts out with Lon Chaney Jr. as Lawrence Talbot returning home.
Look at this sweetheart
His older brother has died, and as he is the second son he will now inherit everything–money, title, family home, etc. More importantly, after the realization that his brother is no longer, Lawrence AKA Larry, is eager to rebuild his relationship with his father. They had previously parted on not the best terms (he wanted to be an engineer his father wanted him to be something else. He decided to run away to California, against his father's wishes).
Larry reacquaints himself with the village, taking a deep interest in a particular shopkeeper, Gwen Conliffe, who is unfortunately engaged. However, she is equally interested and as Larry buys a silver-wolf handled cane the two make a date to meet up later that night and visit the gypsies that are camping nearby.
That night Larry meets up with Gwen and her friend Jenny. The three make off to the gypsies passing some wolfsbane along the way. Both girls repeat the old gypsy folklore about wolfsbane:
"Even a man who is pure in heart
and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms
and the autumn moon is bright"
Now what is really interesting about this old piece of folklore is that it isn't that old. This quote has been thought to be an Eastern European folk saying, but Siodmak admits that he was the one who made it up. Even though that might be true, it went down in film history becoming a part of almost every future Werewolf film and recited in every future Universal film appearance of the Wolf Man. [It is quoted by Van Helsing, but one of the lines was changed to "The moon is shining bright" instead of "The autumn moon is bright"]
Meanwhile, in the gypsy camp one of them has a terrible secret. Bela, played by Bela Lugosi, is actually a werewolf and hiding it from everyone.
When the group gets to the gypsy camp and have their fortunes read, Bela sees the pentagram on Jenny's hand and knows that she's next for death.
Ahhh!
Bela runs off and the trio start walking home. Soon Jenny is attacked by a wolf and Larry tries to save her. He wrestles with the wolf and kills it by braining it with his cane. (It being silver can kill it) Unfortunately, he couldn't save Jenny and during the battle, he ended up getting bit…
Making him the next werewolf.
The next day the constable comes to visit, causing Larry to second guess himself as they found a dead Bela instead of a wolf!
They found Bela beat in the head, and Larry's silver cane matches perfectly as the weapon.
Col. Paul Montford, chief constable: [showing Larry's stick to him] Is this your walking stick?
Larry Talbot: Why, yes. That's the stick I killed the wolf with.
[Sir John Talbot and Col. Montford look at Larry with great concern]
Sir John Talbot: Larry, Bela the gypsy was killed last night. Your walking stick was found next to the body.
Larry Talbot: You mean, Bela the fortune teller? But… I only saw a wolf.
Larry is completely confused as he knows that it was a wolf. And how does that explain the murder of Jenny? Which was done by a wolf? The constable tells him he is still investigating as he really doesn't want to arrest the Lord's son, especially since there are so many questions. He ultimately deems the incident an accident.
Larry on the other hand is extremely puzzled. Could he have killed Bela? But he saw a wolf he was bit by one. Except the mark can not be found!
Larry needs answers and decides he will go see the Gypsy woman and not only apologize for her son's death but ask her what is going on! Gwen and her fiancé Frank go with him.
The gypsy woman, Maleva, reveals that he did kill a wolf–a werewolf. Her son Bela was a werewolf and the only thing that could kill him was silver, silver like the silver on his cane.
Maleva: You killed the wolf.
Larry Talbot: Well, there's no crime in that is there?
Maleva: The wolf was Bela.
Larry Talbot: You think I don't know the difference between a wolf and a man?
Maleva: Bela turned into a wolf and you killed him. A werewolf can only be killed by a silver bullet, or a silver knife…[looks down at Larry's walking stick]…or a stick with a silver handle.
Larry Talbot: You're insane! I tell you, I killed a wolf! A PLAIN, ORDINARY WOLF!!!
Maleva: Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives becomes a werewolf himself.
Larry Talbot: Ah, don't hand me that. You're just wasting your time.
Maleva: The wolf bit you, didn't he?
Larry Talbot: Yeah. Yeah he did!
Maleva: [Larry shows Maleva his chest wound concealed under his shirt] Go now – and heaven help you!"
Larry of course doesn't believe her and leaves. That night he transforms into the WEREWOLF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now the transformation was laborious. The makeup took six hours and was the design by Jack Pierce for Henry Hull in Werewolf of London. Hull had rejected it as he didn't like how long the process would be to apply it. Chaney Jr. claimed he had to sit motionless for hours as the scenes were shot frame by frame. Pierce used grease paint, a rubber snout, wigs, and glued layers of yak hair to Chaney Jr.'s face. Larry's dissolve transformation on screen only took seconds, while in actuality it took almost ten hours as they had to keep reapplying layers for the changing fur.
That night the Wolf Man attacks a grave-digger, Richardson.
The constable and the Doctor finds his ravaged body and wolf tracks.
Meanwhile, Larry finds himself in bed with wolf tracks all around and has finally decided that the gypsy women must be telling him the truth. He talks to his father who just thinks that he is in shock and doesn't take any of the "werewolf nonsense" seriously. He even calls the doctor who deems it just a mild form of hysteria.
The Constable and doctor prepare the woods to catch the wolf so that it doesn't kill another person. The nigh as Larry as the Wolf Man steps in one of the traps and gets caught. Luckily the Gypsy woman frees him, as she had felt sorry for his predicament.
Larry transforms back into a human and asks the Gypsy woman and for help. She gives him a charm that will protect him from turning into a werewolf and warns him not to give the charm to ANYONE ELSE AS IT WON'T WORK FOR ANYONE ELSE!
He then runs off to see Gwen to tell her that he is leaving. He knows he has killed the others and doesn't want to hurt anyone else.
"Larry Talbot: You wouldn't wanna run away with a murderer wouldja?
Gwen Conliffe: Oh Larry, you're not. You know you're not.
Larry Talbot: I killed Bela. I killed Richardson. If I stay here any longer, you can't tell who'll be next."
Gwen tries to get him to take her with him as she loves him, but Larry sees the mark of the pentagram on her hand and tells her he can't. Instead he gives her the charm. YES THE CHARM THAT IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HIM! Really Larry? REALLY??????!!!!!!
YOU ARE MAKING THE SAME FREAKIN' MISTAKE THAT EVERY OTHER MONSTER FILM HERO DOES!
DID YOU NOT HEAR THE WOMAN EARLIER? SHE SAID IT WILL WORK ONLY FOR YOU! ONLY FOR YOU!! ONLY YOU!!! YOU KEEP IT! What's the point of going to a gypsy for help if you ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN????!!!!!!! I mean this is such a classic mistake made by these men in these horror films. In Dracula, he gives the girl the cross charm that is supposed to protect only him, and then gets knocked out and is unable to keep her from being kidnapped. In The Mummy, he gives the girl the charm that is only supposed to protect him, and it doesn't work for her. Instead Imohtep knocks him out and takes the girl anyway. MORAL OF THESE STORIES, KEEP THE DANG CHARM!!! DON'T GIVE IT AWAY!!! Alright! So if any of you are given a protective charm you freakin' keep it!!! YOU HEAR ME????!!!!
And now that I got that little rant out of my system, let's get back to the story.
So Larry goes to see his father and asks him to lock him up; tie him up in a chair, lock the door, etc and to go far, far, away as he doesn't want him to be hurt. He also gives his father his silver cane as he knows that it will protect him.
Now this is why I hate modern interpretations of werewolves, except for The Wolfman (2010), as they never capture this aspect of the story. Here is a good man who has become evil, but he doesn't want to be evil. It wasn't like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in which Dr. Jekyll made a choice, or even The Phantom of the Opera where he suffered such horrible things and had a complete snap and broke down. This was a good man who wanted to fix bad things in his life but the timing was off and he too is caught up in the evil. Modern interpretations also never cover the heartbreaking scene as this with his dad. He knows he can't control the evil and the last thing he does is try to protect the ones he loves, first Gwen and then his father. The most emotional is the scene with his father, as here is a man he has been fighting with, had a horrible relationship, but you see in this moment how much love he has for his father. He gives him the cane as he wants his father to be safe, no matter what. And you see how much his father loves him by taking the cane, even though he thinks Larry is delusional.
Gwen is worried about Larry and goes looking for him, running into the woods even though the Gypsy warns her not to. I mean seriously, why don't we listen to the Gypsies? They are gypsies, they know stuff.
So Gwen runs out and into Larry, who has escaped from his room. But instead of the sweet, adorable, loving Larry we are confronted by the horrible beast.
But before the werewolf can do anything, Sir John comes and hits him with the cane, killing him.
The constable and doctor presume that Larry was killed trying to save Gwen, but Sir John knows the truth and now is left alone and has to bury his other son.
"Maleva: The way you walked was thorny though no fault of your own, but as the rain enters the soil, the river enters the sea, so tears run to a predestined end. Now you will have peace for eternity."
Yep. I have to say that this is one of my all-time favorite horror films. Although it makes me want to cry every time.
So that was our kick-off piece. Stay tuned for many more wonderful pieces to come!
For more on The Wolf Man (1941), go to Pink Elephants
For more on werewolves, go to A Halloween Hello from the Austen Men
For more monster movies, go to They're Coming to Get You Barbara
For more on Claude Rains, go to Universal's Classic Monster Movies
For more on Bela Lugosi, go to I Bid You Welcome
For more films that spanned countless sequels and remakes, go to Everyones Entitled to One Good Scare
Posted in Horrorfest III
Tagged Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), Act of Love, Adorable, An American Werewolf in London, Animal Tracks, Autumn Moon, Bad Luck, Be Human, Beast, Beat, Beat Down, Beaten, Bed, Bela, Bela Lugosi, Bite, Bitten by a Werewolf, Blunder, Breaking My Heart, Bride of Frankenstein, Brother, Bury Son, California, Camping, Can't Control, Cane, Catch a Wolf, Chair, Change at Will, Charm, Classic Horror Film, Claude Rains, Clubbed, Colonel Paul Montford, Common Sense, Constable, Crime, Cross, Curt Siodmak, Date, Dead Body, Dead Brother, Delusional, Disease, Dissolve, Dr. Jekyll, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Eastern Europe, Eastern European, Engaged, Engineer, Escaped, Estranged, Estranged Family Member, Eternity, Evil, Family Home, Far Far Away, Father and Son, Feral Beast, Film History, Five Pointed Star, Folklore, Fortune, Fortune Told, Frame by Frame, Frank, Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), Full Moon, Fur, George Waggner, Good Man, Grave, Gravedigger, Grease Paint, Gwen Conliffe, Gypsies, Gypsy Woman, Heart-Wrenching, Heartbreaking, Heaven, Henry Hull, Horrifying, House of Dracula (1945), House of Frankenstein (1944), Human, Hunt, Hunter, Hunting, Hunting Monster, Hysteria, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Imohtep, In Control, Influential to Later Film, Inherit, Inherit Everything, Jack Pierce, Jenny, Kidnap, Kidnapped, Kill, Kill the Monster, Killed, Knife, Knocked Out, Larry Talbot, Lawrence Talbot, Leave Her, Legend, Legends, Lock Door, Lon Chaney, Lon Chaney is amazing!, Lon Chaney Jr., Lord, Lord's Son, Love, Loves, Loving. Horrible, Lycanthropy, Make Up, Maleva, Man, Manhunt, Mental Breakdown, Mind, Mistake, mistakes, Mistreated, Money, Monster, Monster Film Hero, Monster Movie, Monsters, Moon, Moon-Filled, Moonlight, Moral of the Story, Morals, Mr. Grave Digger, Murder, Murdered, Murderer, Myths, Older Brother, Padme, Palm Reading, Parted on Bad Terms, Peace, Pentagram, Phantom of the Opera, Pray, Prayer, Prayers, Praying, Protective Charms, Pure-Hearted, Quote, Rant, Rebuild a Relationship, Richardson, rubber, Rubber Snout, Run, Run Away, Second Guess, Second Son, Set, Shopkeeper, Silver, Silver Bullet, Sir John Talbot, Snapped, Son, Spanned Remakes, Spanned Sequels, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Supernatural, Sweet, Talbot Castle, Talbot Family, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Feels, The Howling, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), The Mummy (1932), The Phantom, The Phantom of the Opera, The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Princess Bride, The Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man, The Wolf Man (1941), The Wolfman (2010), Tie Up, Title, Tom Hanks, Transformation, Transformed, Transforms During the Full Moon, Transforms into a Werewolf, Truth, Universal Film, Universal Monster Movies, Universal Studios, Universal's Classic Monster Movie Collection, Van Helsing, Village, Vizzini, Walking Stick, Went Against Father's Wishes, Werewolf, Werewolf Bite, Werewolfism, Wig, Wigs, Wolf, Wolfman, Wolfsbane, Woods, Wound, Wrestle, Yak Hair, Yaks
June 6, 2014 by Moreland
The World's Greatest Criminal Mind
Day 6) Your Favorite Disney Villain
My absolute favorite Disney villain is:
Ratigan
The Great Mouse Detective is an animated parody of Sherlock Holmes and has mice instead of people. Instead of Sherlock Holmes, we have Basil (nod to Basil Rathbone who played Sherlock Holmes in the movies) of 221 1/2 Baker Street with his helper Dawson instead of Watson. Basil plays a violin, is a scientist, etc.
His arch-nemesis instead of being Professor Moriority is Ratigan. He is super creepy and pretty awesome for a villain. First of all, he is played by Vincent Price, one of the best horror actors/villains of all time! I love that man.
In fact Vincent Price, said that doing Ratigan was his favorite role because he had two songs written for him. Both of which are AMAZING! The first song is The World's Greatest Criminal Mind and Goodbye So Soon. They both show his strength, cunning, sadistic side, etc. My favorite song has to be The World's Greatest Criminal Mind.
Now when I say he's sadistic, he is one crazy dude. He doesn't like being referrred to as a rat, he wants to be a mouse, and if anyone fails to call him that he sics his killer cat Felicia on them.
While he is an elegant criminal, beneath that cool and charming exterior is fearal beast.
Uber creepy right?
But he's just one of those criminals that you love to hate and while hate, can help but sort of admire his style.
For more on Sherlock Holmes, go to A Hunky Helping of Manwich
For more on Disney, go to The Cat's Meow
For more on Vincent Price, go to the 25 Films of Christmas
For more films based on books, go to A Hidden Wonder
For more of my favorite songs, go to Out for Summer
For more on Horror films, go to I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me
Posted in 30 Day Challenge, Disney, Musical Stylings of Me
Tagged Arch-Nemesis, Basil, Basil of Baker Street, Basil Rathbone, Creepy, Cunning, Dawson, Disney Animated Film, Disney Villain, Disney Villain Song, Feral Beast, Film based on a book, Goodbye So Soon, Horror, Horror Film, Killer Cat, Mice, Mouse, Professor Moriarty, Rat, Ratigan, Sadist, scientist, Sherlock Holmes, Strength, Supervillian, The Great Mouse Detective, The Wold's Greatest Criminal Mind, Vincent Price, Violin, Watson


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Clifton Emahiser's Watchman's Teaching Ministries
2001 WTLs 33 to 44
Watchman's Teaching Letter #33 January 2001
2001 Watchman's Teaching Letters
WTL33.mp3
This is my thirty-third monthly teaching letter and continues my third year of publication. In the last couple of lessons, I have been trying to reconcile Biblical and Egyptian history. If you don't have those last two lessons, you may want to get them to prepare a foundation for the present lesson. In lesson 31, we learned what Egyptian history definitely is not. It was established with substantial archaeological evidence that Israel's stay in Egypt surely happened during the 18th Dynasty, or New Kingdom. It was proposed that Moses was named after a line of pharaohs, namely the pharaohs whose names ended with "mosis." In lesson 32, we were able to place the contemporary time periods of Joseph, Moses and the Exodus with 18th Dynasty Egyptian history.
WALKING STEP BY STEP THROUGH ISRAEL'S SOJOURN IN EGYPT
FROM JOSEPH UNTIL JOSHUA
Beginning with this lesson, we are going to take a walk with Israel through Egyptian history, starting with Joseph and continuing through time up until and including the time of Joshua. To start with, this will require the proper placing of Joseph into this historical narrative. Almost every book reference tries to place Joseph during the Hyksos period claiming that Joseph and the Hyksos would have had much in common. It is probably true that Joseph, when he was sold by his brothers and taken to Egypt, did go there during the Hyksos era. If Joseph had been sold to the Hyksos, and his family had later come to Egypt being placed in the Delta area, when Pharaoh Amosis finally drove the Hyksos out of the Delta area, he would, in the process, have driven the Israelites out with them. If Joseph would have been a vizier to a Hyksos pharaoh, he would have been considered an enemy to Pharaoh Amosis. That scenario doesn't fit the picture of this time-period very well. It is more likely that Joseph was taken by his captors to Amosis' area at Thebes and sold there. Werner Keller's The Bible As History, pages 88-90, implies that Joseph was sold to the Hyksos as follows:
"The Biblical story of Joseph and the sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt belong to this period of turbulent conditions on the Nile under the rule of the foreign Hyksos. It is therefore not surprising that no contemporary Egyptian information has come down to us. Nevertheless, there is indirect proof of the authenticity of the Joseph story ... We know too that the Hyksos rulers were the first to use a ceremonial chariot on public occasions in Egypt. Before their day this had not been the practice on the Nile. The ceremonial chariot harnessed to thoroughbred horses was in those days the Rolls-Royce of the governors. The first chariot belonged to the ruler, the 'second chariot' was occupied by his chief minister."
You have to understand that, while the Hyksos ruled the Delta area, and southern Egypt was subservient to them, Amosis at Thebes was a pharaoh there. In other words, there were two pharaohs ruling Egypt at the same time. And just because the Hyksos brought the chariot to the Delta area is no sign that the Egyptians at Thebes didn't adopt and copy the idea of the chariot for themselves very quickly. To understand more about the Hyksos, I will quote from a Reader's Digest book extra, Great People of the Bible, pages 30-31. While the article is informative, it also tries to place Joseph with the Hyksos:
"The idea that Joseph, a Hebrew slave, could have become the Pharaoh's highest official, is not as fanciful as it might sound. About the time of his arrival, between 1720 and 1700 B.C., Egypt was invaded by a Syro-Canaanite alliance called the 'Hyksos' by the Egyptians. These invaders established their own line of Pharaohs and ruled the country for about 150 years. Hated foreigners themselves, it is likely that the Hyksos might trust someone like Joseph sooner than they would a native Egyptian, and the account of Joseph's rise to power has an undeniably authentic flavor. Another part of the narrative, in which the Pharaoh acquired most of the country's land during a famine, would be easy to understand if Egypt had been under the Hyksos."
Of course, this last sentence is referring to Joseph imposing a 20% income tax on some of the land owners. It is my view that Joseph placed the 20% income tax on the Hyksos as a requirement to get food during the famine. The main point I wanted to bring with this quotation is the fact that the Hyksos were a "Syro-Canaanite alliance."
SCRIPTURE ATTESTS JOSEPH NOT SOLD TO THE HYKSOS
The setting of this can be seen when Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food. At this time, his brothers didn't recognize him as their brother, but as an Egyptian. While the brothers were in Egypt, they were invited to dine at a banquet with Joseph. The seating arrangement was quite unusual for the meal. In order to see the situation clearly, I am going to take the obligation of rendering this passage in a manner to make it understandable, as in most translations it's not quite clear. The passage under consideration is Genesis 43:32:
"They served Joseph by himself, and his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians attending the banquet ate by themselves, for the Egyptians would not eat bread with the Hebrews, for it was an abomination to the Egyptians."
If you are wondering why the Egyptians refused to eat with the Hebrews, it was because they considered anyone who herded animals as abhorrent. As the Hyksos were also animal herders, they wouldn't have taken this attitude. It was the Egyptians at Thebes and on toward the south of Egypt during this time-period that considered it repugnant to associate with animal herders. I believe this verse of Scripture is evidence that Joseph wasn't sold as a slave to the Hyksos, but rather to Amosis' realm around Thebes.
Later when Joseph brought his father and brothers to dwell in Egypt, Joseph advised his brothers that the Egyptians considered shepherds to be an abomination, saying (Genesis 46:33-34):
"33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? 34 That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians."
This brings up another question: Where in Egypt was the "land of Goshen"? If the Hyksos were controlling the entire Delta area at that time-period, the pharaoh at Thebes would have no authority to grant the Hebrews any land in that region, for it was out of his jurisdiction. Is it possible the so-called "land of Goshen" was somewhere else in the land of Egypt other than the Delta area? It will be necessary, therefore, to do some research in order to investigate this question. There are two different Goshens mentioned in the Bible, one in Palestine and the other in Egypt. Indeed, there is a lot of speculation where Goshen might have been in Egypt, but not a lot of proof. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology indicates that in the late Hyksos period the Theban princes sent their cattle to pasture in the Hyksos-controlled Delta [Found in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, volume 2, page 779.]. Likely, Joseph and his family were given the so-called "land of Goshen" area before the end of the "late Hyksos period."
ISRAELITES GIVEN BEST LAND IN EGYPT
Genesis 47:6 and 11 tell us that the Israelites were to be given the very best land in Egypt. Let's read these two verses:
"6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell ... 11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land ..."
By this time, the pharaoh was aware that Joseph's prediction of a seven-year famine was a valid prophecy. No doubt, this is what motivated him to be so generous with Joseph and his family. If the pharaoh gave Jacob and his sons the very best land in Egypt, it may have been in the Faiyûm area. For information on this particular area in Egypt, I will quote from Werner Keller's The Bible As History, page 90:
"Joseph was thirty years of age when he 'went out over all the land of Egypt.' (Gen. 41:45) The Bible says no more about this, but there is a spot by the Nile which still bears his name. The town of Medinet-el-Faiyûm, lying eighty miles south of Cairo in the middle of the fertile Faiyûm, was extolled as the 'Venice of Egypt.' In the lush gardens of this huge flourishing oasis grew oranges, mandarins, peaches, olives, pomegranates, and grapes. Faiyûm owed these delicious fruits to the artificial canal, over 200 miles long, which conveyed the water of the Nile and turned this district, which would otherwise have been desert, into a paradise. The ancient waterway is not only to this day called 'Bahr Yusuf' — 'Joseph's Canal' — by the fellahin, but is known by this name throughout Egypt. People say that it was the Joseph of the Bible, Pharaoh's 'Grand Vizier.' as Arab legends would describe him, who planned it."
TWO FAMOUS 7 YEAR FAMINES IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY
The famine during the time of Joseph was not the only seven year famine in Egyptian history. For information concerning the previous famine, I will quote from two sources referring to it. First, I will quote from The Bible And Archaeology by J. A. Thompson, page 46:
"We have a great deal of information about the famines of Egypt. Years of drought and bad harvests are well attested in Pharaoh's domain. There is even evidence of a seven-year famine. The famous King Zoser (about 2700 B.C.) once sent a message to the governor of one region down the Nile. Here are his words:
"I am very concerned about the people in the palace. My heart is heavy over the calamitous failure of the Nile floods for the past seven years. There is little fruit; vegetables are in short supply; there is a shortage of food generally."
The second quote concerning this seven-year famine is from The Bible As History by Werner Keller, page 91:
"In very early times, for example, at the beginning of the third millennium, there is said to have been a seven-year famine according to a rock inscription of the Ptolemies. King Zoser sent the following message to the governor of the great cataracts of the Nile at Elephantine: 'I am very much concerned about the people in the palace. My heart is heavy over the calamitous failure of the Nile floods for the past seven years. There is little fruit; vegetables are in short supply; there is a shortage of food generally. Everybody robs his neighbor ... Children weep, young folk droop. The aged are depressed, they have no power in their legs, they sit on the ground. The court is at its wit's end. The storehouses have been opened, but everything that was in them has been consumed'."
As you can plainly see, this former famine is very much different from the one Joseph was associated with. Whereas with the famine of Joseph's time the Egyptians had plenty to eat, in the famine during the time of Zoser, the people suffered terribly from hunger. Also, there was no previous warning before the Zoser famine indicating that it was coming so they could have seven years to prepare for it as in the case of Joseph. In fact, Egypt, during the famine of Joseph, had more than enough food for itself and was supplying the countries around her. This situation probably strengthened Egypt's monetary and political position tremendously. F. David Fry, Jr. in his Hebrew Sages of Ancient Egypt (A Revised Discipline In Antiquity), in trying to shave a thousand years off of Egyptian history by refuting that Joseph's famine could have happened during the 18th Dynasty, alludes to an earlier famine in Egypt. As matter of fact, he refers to Zoser's famine on page 34 of this same book and highly suggests that it was actuality the famine of Zoser. But, as you can see, from the forgone evidence presented, Zoser's seven-year famine doesn't fit the conditions during Joseph's time. I will now quote what F. David Fry, Jr., has to say on page 34 of his book:
"Then, another famine took place early in Dynasty 3, while Zoser reigned as king. It is recorded on what archaeologists call the 'Famine Stela.' A stela (or stele) is an upright stone or pillar engraved with an inscription or design, and usually used as a monument or grave marker. The Famine Stela seems to confirm the biblical report of a seven year famine which occurred at the beginning of Joseph's service to Pharaoh [I don't think so]:
"The name Zoser does not occur on any monument before the Twelfth Dynasty. On his contemporary monuments he is called Iry-Khet-Neter ... Zoser's name was closely associated with the region South of Aswan known in Greek times as the Dodekaschoinos. The names of Zoser and his architect, Imhotep, are recorded on the well known 'Famine Stela' of the Ptolemaic period, more than 2700 years after Zoser's death. The stela is carved on a rock on the Island of Sehel, South of Aswan. According to the inscription, there was a great famine during the reign of Zoser because for seven years the Nile had failed to rise. When Zoser asked Imhotep for advice, he replied that to stop the famine it was necessary to gain the favor of the god Khnum, the god of the First Cataract, the birth place of the Nile. It was only Khnum who could fill the granaries of Egypt. [Ahmed Fakhry, The Pyramids, P. 23]
"Scholars understand this Famine Stela was written hundreds of years after the fact, its story corrupted by religion; nonetheless, they deem its basic details as valid and true ...
"Can the seven year famine of King Zoser and his prime minister, Imhotep, possibly be the same as the seven year famine of the Genesis story? ... Chances are extremely remote there existed more than one seven year famine, especially since the Nile River is so regular ..."
Some of what F. David Fry, Jr., is saying here is true, but with the evidence we have considered in the past two lessons, Zoser's famine cannot be the same famine as Joseph's. With the Jericho archaeological finds and the shipwreck evidence, the time-period for Joseph, Moses and the Exodus must be contemporary with the 18th Egyptian Dynasty. I simply cannot over-stress how important this archaeological evidence is. Joshua had placed a curse on Jericho that no one was ever to occupy Jericho after the Israelites destroyed it. Therefore, there would only be archaeological evidence found at Jericho up until Joshua's time, nothing after. So, the finding of scarabs of Queen Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III, and Amenhotep III of the 18th Egyptian Dynasty, it highly suggests that these pharaohs were just previous to Joshua. In other words, if the Exodus took place in the 6th Dynasty, as Fry implies, they would not have found scarabs of these particular pharaohs at Jericho. The article in the National Geographic magazine of December 1987 entitled the "Oldest Known Shipwreck Reveals Splendors Of The Bronze Age" disclosed evidence serving as a double witness to corroborate the archaeological finds at Jericho. If I did not make all this clear in lesson #31, I hope it is crystal clear with this writing!
We really need to take a look at the curse which Joshua put on Jericho. It is found in Joshua 6:26 and reads:
"And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before Yahweh that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it."
I found an outstanding comment on this verse in the Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary On The Whole Bible, page 172:
"THE REBUILDER OF JERICHO CURSED. Joshua adjured them at that time — i.e., imposed upon his countrymen a solemn oath, binding on themselves as well as their posterity, that they would never rebuild that city. Its destruction was designed by God (Yahweh) to be a permanent memorial of His abhorrence of idolatry and its attendant vices. Cursed be the man ... that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho — i.e., makes the daring attempt to build. he shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it — shall become childless — the first beginning being marked by the death of his oldest son, and his only surviving child dying at the time of its completion. This curse was accomplished 550 years after its denunciation (See on 1 Kings 16:34.)"
There is no doubt that Jericho was an idolatrous city, if you consider 12 acres a city. A fort might possibly be a better representation of it. An even better description might be a staging area for making attacks on other places. Actually, archaeologists found that Jericho was used as a place to store food and war implements. No doubt, the Hyksos probably used Jericho as a staging area for its attacks on Egypt. By the Israelites destroying Jericho, they cut off the possibility of some foreign power using it as a jumping off place to attack them. It appears that the destruction of Jericho was a very critical move on Israel's part to stave off attacks on them in their future. The main thing we should be interested in, for this lesson, is the fact that scarabs were found at Jericho, of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, showing its (18th Dynasty's) dated existence was before the time of Joshua. The archaeological finds at Jericho set a very definite timeline for Israel being in Egypt.
FOOD COLLECTION TO BE USED FOR LEAN YEARS
Howard Rand in his book Primo-genesis, page 116 says: "He (Joseph) also urged him (pharaoh) to appoint officers over the land who would take up the fifth part of the produce of the land in the seven years of plenty." (This is not the same as in Genesis 47:24 where Joseph imposes a 20% income tax.) If we do a little calculation, we can soon see that a 1/5th collection of the produce for the seven years of plenty would not be enough to hold Egypt over the seven years of lean, let alone feeding all the other nations around her. A collection of 1/5th would not even be enough to hold Egypt over in the lean years for a year and a half. What I am wondering at this point is: Did Joseph have enough time to build a 200 mile long canal to control the waters in the Faiyûm area and put it into production before the seven years of plenty? It's the one area in Egypt that could have accounted for the tremendous yields recorded in the Bible during those years. The only thing which could account for ample production during the years of plenty would be: if the crops were almost twice the normal yield, or an increase of land was put into production. The only way a 1/5th produce collection would fit in this story is if there was a government project to increase land use. In which case 100% of this produce would have been put into storage. Faiyûm anyone?
LET'S GO A STEP FURTHER
There is another consideration we should take into account concerning the story of Joseph as it is recorded in the Bible. Sometimes little details are hidden just under the surface until we take the time to really analyze them. Joseph's marriage to Asenath is one of these hidden cases. Let's read the account in Genesis 41:45:
"And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt."
Did you notice what we just read about the pharaoh giving Joseph his wife? There is only one way that he would have had the authority to do such a thing. That is if the pharaoh was of the House of Shem himself. At that time period, evidently the pharaohs were Shemites. Obviously, the lower class of the Egyptians were not though, only the ruling class. If this is true, it puts our story in an entirely different light! Also, if this is true, we can be sure Joseph wasn't sold by the Ishmaelites to the Hyksos, but to Amosis' area at Thebes. Also, if this is true, it brings up a whole host of questions! Not only that, but it will clear up a lot of unusual situations.
LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT JOSEPH'S
20% INCOME TAX AND LAND CONFISCATION
Under Shemitic-Hebrew Law, it is not permitted to charge usury, income tax or to confiscate one's brother's land. But to non-Shemitic-Hebrew peoples, it is permitted. I cannot go into the details of this in this short lesson, but only observe it from Joseph's perspective. If all this is correct, Joseph had every right to take the Egyptian's land and money from them and give it to the Shemitic pharaoh. Also, it explains why the priesthood, being Shemitic, was not taxed. Maybe by this time the priesthood was not all it should have been, but if they were racial brothers, it would exclude them from the tax and land confiscation. As you can start to see, this Joseph story is beginning to make a lot more sense. This should also make us aware why it was such a disaster when the pharaohs started to take the Hurrians and Hittites as wives in the 18th and 19th Dynasties. It will also explain why a racial war developed between the Shemitic pure line pharaohs and the pharaohs mixed with Hurrian blood. As a result of the seven years of famine, Egypt was brought totally under Shemite control. Being under Shemitic control, the Israelites would naturally be exempt from any income tax. All this would change when non-Shemitic pharaohs later came to power.
It would appear, with the marriage of Joseph to Asenath, there was a close family relationship between Joseph and the pharaoh. Howard B. Rand in his book Primo-genesis, page 117 seems to agree with this when he says:
"The priestly caste to which Joseph's father-in-law, the Priest of On, belonged was undoubtedly of the line of Shem. Apparently Shem's descendants were established in the office of the priesthood in Egypt at the time of the building of the Great Pyramid. Thus, the purity of the racial stock of the appointed seed was preserved in the birth of these boys to Joseph and Asenath."
If what Rand is saying concerning the House of Shem going back to the building of the Great Pyramid is correct, it can't be referring to the Hyksos, for their rule in the Delta area lasted only just a little over a hundred years.
While Dr. William J. Hale in his book Chemivision believes the Hyksos were the people Joseph was associated with, nevertheless, he has some interesting remarks on pages 15 & 16 as follows:
"Joseph found favor in the sight of the Royal House of the Eighteenth Dynasty and was soon appointed as administrator in charge of granaries. To Joseph to wife was given Asenath, — daughter of Potipherah, priest of On ... In the course of a rising surge of Egyptians from the upper (southern) Nile it was not long before the Hyksos were totally expelled from Egypt, possibly around 1583 B.C."
MORE EVIDENCE JOSEPH COULDN'T HAVE CHARGED
HIS KIN A 20% INCOME TAX
For verification on this, I will quote from Adam's Tree by Della Stanley, page 44:
"... He (Joseph) returned and took Simeon and had him bound before their eyes. Then he commanded their sacks to be filled with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack. And he sent them on their way home. Joseph knew the purpose for his being in Egypt, and he could not take money from his brothers. There could be no price paid in money for the salvation of his family. Also he wanted these brothers to learn a lesson that they would never forget.
"On the road home, the sons of Jacob stopped to rest and to eat, and one found his money in his sack. When they arrived home, the others found their money restored also, and they were sorely disturbed. They told their father all that had happened; that Simeon was forced to stay in Egypt as security and that the ruler demanded they return with Benjamin, else they would never see Simeon again."
TWO GROUPS IDENTIFIED AS "SHEPHERD KINGS"
In an article published by Destiny magazine, October 1962, entitled "Enoch's Mission and Shem's Responsibility" (pages 201-204 in the 1962 yearbook), Howard B. Rand quotes Manetho as saying that the "Hyksos" were "shepherd kings." Yet, at the same time, his article places the "shepherd kings" with Pharaoh Cheops of the 4th Dynasty several hundreds of years before. I am quite surprised that Rand didn't recognize this discrepancy before he wrote the article. As the Hyksos were only in Egypt for a little over a hundred years in the reigns of Kamose at the end of the 17th Dynasty and Amosis at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty, there is no way the Hyksos could be the same people as the "shepherd kings" at the time of Cheops. Outside of this disparity, the rest of the article is outstanding in bringing many interesting facts into perspective from which I will now quote excerpts:
"During the construction of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, the records indicate that the Egyptian government was in opposition to the idolatrous worship that had been established in the land. Cheops, the Pharaoh ruling at that time, was accused by the idolatrous worshippers of being very arrogant toward the gods, having shut up their temples and having compelled the priests to labor.
"The Shepherd Kings. Historical fragments set forth the fact that at this time there was a notable stranger in Egypt who remained at the site of the Great Pyramid. The priests whom Herodotus the historian consulted regarding the earlier history of Egypt described this stranger as a shepherd to whom, rather than to Cheops, the Egyptians attributed the building of the Great Pyramid.
"Cheops apparently furnished the site, the workmen and the materials. The record refers to this stranger as a keeper of sheep and he is called 'Philition' or 'Philitis' ...
"When the people of Israel left Egypt and were moving through the wilderness, in order to bolster their morale, they were told of a much earlier people who, in like manner, had been led out of Egypt. They were called Caphtorims who came out of Caphtor, to whom Moses referred in Deuteronomy 2:23. [See also Genesis 10:14]
"This place called Caphtor was the very region in Egypt where today the Great Pyramid stands. The Lord, through the Prophet Amos, refers to the people as Philistines whom He brought up from Caphtor (Amos 9:7). Therefore, we learn from the historian Herodotus (confirmed in the Scripture) of Philistines [Caphtorims] once living in the neighborhood of the Great Pyramid, who were the object of Divine favor and who were led out of Egypt before the Israelites left the land.
"These were not the Philistines of the time of the judges and David, but a much earlier people who feared and reverenced the true God ... Coming to Palestine from the Nile Delta, they were known in Egypt as 'The Shepherd Kings.'
"... after the Deluge, Shem became the first of the shepherd kings who reigned in Egypt. He was held in highest honor by the people in that land for having delivered them from the Cushite yoke ... Thus, when the idolatrous priests were again in the ascendancy, everything possible was done to blacken Shem's memory.
"The Reforms of Shem. During the reign of the Shepherd King Set, or Shem, and his immediate successors, the complete overthrow of the Egyptian gods occurred; their temples were demolished and idolatry in any form was forbidden throughout the land ... This was mainly the work of Shem, the Shepherd King was also Priest of the Most High God, in his conflict with the gross idolatry of Egypt. The heathen temples were literally smashed to pieces ...
"Manetho says that the shepherds were finally prevailed upon to leave Egypt, which they did without molestation, and went to Judea where they built the city of Jerusalem. Josephus, the Jewish (Judean) historian, calls these shepherds 'our ancestors', which is definitely the case if Shem was the first and most powerful Shepherd King of Egypt ..."
I doubt very much whether the Hyksos were ever really called "shepherd kings", and I plan to go further in detail in future lessons. It appears in the Hyksos we have some shepherd kings who were not shepherd kings, and in the Caphtorims some Philistines who were not Philistines. We can now see the important fact that the pharaoh related to Asenath was a Shemite. Understanding this is to understand the Bible. We will be researching deeper into Egyptian and Biblical history in the next few lessons as we continue. While there are many enlightening things written by Howard B. Rand, in future lessons, I will be scrutinizing some of his premises.
‹ 2001 Watchman's Teaching Letters up Watchman's Teaching Letter #34 February 2001 ›
Watchman's Teaching Letters
2017 WTL's 225 to Present
WTL #225 January 2017
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2016 WTL's 213 to 224
WTL #221 September 2016
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2014 WTLs 189 to 200
2006 WTLs 93 to 104
WTL #93 January 2006
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1999 WTLs 9 to 20
WTL #9 January 1999
1998 WTLs 1 to 8
WTL #1 May 1998
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WTL #8 December 1998
Reissue of a Special Watchman's Supplement Letter from 1998
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Clifton and his bride Trillis
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"Adam" in the Hebrew in Genesis
A Brief History of the Edomite-Satanic-Devil, Herod the Great!
A Jewish Time-Line: Exodus from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Americas, (North, South & Central)
A King James Version Bible With A Good Center Reference Teaches And Proves Two Seedline
A Letter I had written to Eli James, Dan Johns and Dick Ford in June of 2003
A Study on the Word Chay, #2416
A Truth Hidden For 2,700 Years
Adam Clarke's 6-Volume Commentary Declares: "Devil" & "Ape" Have The Same Name
Adam's Commission, #1
All Kinds of Flesh Not the Same, 1 Corinthians 15:39 - Part 1
All The Kindreds Of The Earth Be Blessed? (Part One)
All The Kindreds Of The Earth Be Blessed? (Part Two)
An Outline History Of The Seventy Weeks Nation By The Rev. Alban Heath
Analytical Review of Philip Jones' The Negro, Serpent, Beast and Devil, #1
Arabs, Friend or Foe?
Be Kind to Your Kind
Benjamin Franklin's Stance on Race in 1751
Biblical Canaanites, Who Are They?
Biblical Racial Law & The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
Billy Graham Claimed Christ was Swarthy rather than Ruddy!
Born Under Contract
Both Jews & Arabs are Serpent Seed, #1
British Christians in Rome Before Paul Ever Arrived
Context on the Hebrew Term "ADM", Without the "ETH" or Article at Genesis 1:26
Contrary To Genesis 4:1, Adam Was Definitely Not Cain's Father!
Controversy Over the 6th & 8th Day Creation Theory
Covenant Theology vs. Replacement Theology
Critical Review of E. Raymond Capt's "Israel Judah and Jew", Part 1
Critical Review of Peters' Dragonslayer Newsletter Vol. 3, 2009
Critical Review of "Scientists Create ½ Pig - ½ Human Embryo", #1
Dan Gayman's Position on Genesis Chapters 1 & 2
Judaism in Action
About Judaism in Action
Chapter 1 (p. 4 to 60)
Chapter 2 (p. 61 to 74)
Chapter 3 (p. 75 to 119)
Editor's Appendix to the First Three Chapters
Chapter 4 (p. 123 to 212)
Bertrand Comparet Papers
Bertrand Comparet's 14-Part series of Sermons on the Revelation
The "Your Heritage" Sermons
About the Prison Ministry
Jeffrey Crosby's Open Letter
The Forseti Papers
Ethics Crisis In Prison Management
The Cult Of Victimhood
The War Against Whites: The Hidden Agenda Behind Cultural Diversity
Understanding Religious White Nationalism
Russia No. 1 Report
The Mein Kampf Project at Christogenea.org has recently published a full text version of the Russia No. 1 Report along with a reproduction in PDF. Here Clifton has created a condensed two-column version of the text to that report, in a format that will print on half the pages. This version is easier to read, better to print, and also corrects some of the typographical errors found in the original.
All content copyright Clifton Emahiser unless otherwise noted. This site is a project of Christogenea.org

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Hello, @ASTRAEA. We're reviewing all the feedback and suggestions on various games, including Spider Solitaire. In doing so, we're evaluating which new game graphics need improvement and exploring options to do so with our games vendor. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to the Games forum.
I have adopted Spider Solitaire to replace Deja vu. First of all, it is so light...bluish letters on white with a white streak across the cards...I am likely to go blind from playing it. Second of all, I DON'T WANT A TIME LIMIT. I have been a member since 1985. This is the only thing I use on the AARP site. Can we get a version of Spider with no time limit? Can the people who created it make it visible?
I just sent an email to customer service - I didn't see this message stream.
Ok, so AARP took away the games I loved. No explanation of why, just that there would be new similar and/or better games. Guess again. The number of games are more limited, not as challenging, variations on a theme, and most frustrating of all, some that might actually interest me only come up with a black screen even when 100% loaded. I use Apple Mac 10.12.6 and Chrome. Never had this problem with the old games. Any idea why AARP took them away? Any idea how to make the new games work? You would think after weeks of telling us to switch to the new games, they might make sure it is possible to use them.
Samething has happened to me on my samsung nook. But I have no problem with those games on my kindle. Why is that, because I bought that nook in April of this year. It's not an old model. I haven't tried it on my computer yet.
The new version of solitaire spider will not load on imac with os x el capitan version 10.11.6. I just get a blank screen.
Mahjongg Dimensions, Dark Dimensions, Ancient Alchemy, and Toy Chest do not work on my computer (iMac 10.14.1 Mojave). After hitting the "Play now" button, i get a blank screen. I had played those games during the transition, but not none of them operate.
Once you're set up, look at the lower right of the pane, and you'll see a "More" link. If you click on that, you can change the look of the cards, sounds, and other settings, to get what you want. I just played out my first game, after fiddling around with the card style & other settings. I just wish the cards were a little more compressed horizontally, so it's easier to see all the columns.
@sonobaby, you might want to mention that to @chj; he's the one who thinks they're great, and wants me to start reading up on other browsers, to make my computer work better for AARP's games!
I've tried the new games and the are terrible. I want to know how people are getting such high scores in pyramid solitaire. I played it for an hour and could get anywhere near those scores, maybe because they don't use an entire deck. The games may be easier for the website, but I'm going to have to go elsewhere to play games. These games just aren't doing it for me.


The historic Claremont Resort has long been a Bay Area beacon of glamour, its picturesque white turrets peaking out from its perch in the Oakland Hills. The resort's elegant restaurant, Meritage, opened in 2009, the latest in a long line of Claremont culinary legends.
Like its predecessors, Meritage feels like a sumptuous treat, from its breathtaking panoramic views of the Bay to its decadent menu (think seasonal, contemporary California takes on old-fashioned fine dining staples). hallmarks of the "vintage modern" decor include rich Mahogany, cool marble, original arches, and over-sized chairs.
And this we love: The wine-driven menu is divided into a white wine page and a red wine page, with a focus on California wines and chef-suggested entrees to pair with them (from $14 to $32). For those on a budget, nibble on treats from the bar menu or settle into a cushy club chair with a signature organic cocktail.
Take BART to the Rockridge station. Take Bus 49 to Claremont and Ashby and walk to Tunnel Road.


text:
Here's What We Know About the Antibody Drug Trump Credits for His Speedy Recovery
Source: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
First of all, President Trump single-handedly cut through the media narrative that COVID-19 is the worst disease of all time, especially for older people. The president bounced back from the Wuhan flu in a matter of days. Not saying that such a recovery is typical for elderly individuals who we know are at a higher risk of developing severe illness. For example, there is no telling if Biden could survive the disease.
We do know, however, that President Trump has developed some immunity to it, and that's all the more reason to elect Trump in November and put the virus on the first flight back to Wuhan.
During the course of his treatment, President Trump was given an experimental antibody-drug made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals that he credits for his speedy recovery. Here's what we know about it.
(Via CNBC)
REGN-COV2 is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies and was "designed specifically to block infectivity" of the virus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes Covid-19.
Trump was given an 8 gram dose of the antibody cocktail early in the course of his Covid-19 infection, despite it not being authorized by the FDA.
Regeneron said preclinical studies have shown that REGN-COV2 reduced the amount of virus and associated damage in the lungs of non-human primates. The company has recently partnered with Roche to increase the global supply of REGN-COV2, if approved.
The company requested emergency use authorization for the drug from the FDA earlier this week.
While talking to Rush Limbaugh on Friday, the president attributed his quick recovery to receiving the drug.
"I feel better now than I did two weeks ago, it's crazy," Trump said. "I recovered immediately and I might not have recovered at all from COVID."
Trump went on to say that his administration is already looking into the process of getting the drug approved and distributed for use against the coronavirus.
Maybe it was providence that president Trump had a brief bout with the 'rona, and maybe Trump's experience with the drug will help bring an effective treatment to Americans and the world.


Swirl Quail Yellow by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics. Yellow tone on tone swirly print. Dramatic yellow and gold swirl print. Excellent for any Christmas projects, beautiful ground for applique. Great for girls dresses, skirts, quilt backing, crafts, attire, fabric bags, home decor, quilts, applique and patchwork.


Dongdaemun, Myeong-dong, Cheonggyecheon stream, and Namsan, etc.
or doing business by public transportation.
traditional and modern beauty of Seoul.
conference, fair, 1st birthday party, engagement, etc.
and the bus #6015 from Incheon Airport stops right in front of the hotel.
Also, 4 subway lines located near the hotel allows you to enjoy the business and tour more easily at the attractions of Seoul.
The first priority of the Hotel Kukdo is guests' satisfaction and the best quality in service. Along with this value, the hotel provides modern and chic guest rooms and comfortable facilities as a space to relax. We will keep doing our best for excellent service from the beginning to the end of your trip.


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London's Best New Restaurant Openings – July 2016
By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, TLE_Food With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here's our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month. Bao – Fitzrovia One of last year's hottest new openings, Soho's Bao still demands queues around the block during peak lunch and dinner hours. Having began life […]
Photo: Carol Sachs
By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, TLE_Food
With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here's our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month.
Bao – Fitzrovia
One of last year's hottest new openings, Soho's Bao still demands queues around the block during peak lunch and dinner hours. Having began life as a still ridiculously popular street food stall in East London's Netil Street Market, Bao arrived in Soho last summer with a tiny 32-cover permanent space, offering a menu of Taiwanese street food that's become unsurprisingly popular. Taking over a site on Windmill Street, like the Lexington Street restaurant the new space will be tiny, and will also enforce a no reservations policy, thus meaning that an orderly queue along Tottenham Court Road has probably already began to form. As for the menu, signature bao bun highlights from the Soho restaurant will be on offer, including the classic with braised pork and powdered peanuts, fried chicken, lamb, and confit pork, with the addition of some new buns and a selection of new dishes. From the new dishes, guests can expect the likes of crispy birds' feet with hot sauce, beef cheek and tendon sausage, crab with rice broth, and more.
Bao Fitzrovia is set to open in July and can be found at 31 Windmill Street, London, W1T 2JN.
Berber & Q Shawarma Bar – Exmouth Market
Fresh from the success of Berber & Q Grill House in Haggerston, founders Josh Katz and Mattia Bianchi are set to open their second restaurant this month – Berber & Q Shawarma Bar – in Exmouth Market. Set to specialise in shawarma (a way of spit roasting meat, with Levantine origins), the team's food offering is set to be a far-cry from the doner kebab, which manages to give shawarma a bad name, all too often. Instead, there will be a focus on high quality produce, with lamb shawarma leading the brand new menu alongside Middle Eastern-style rotisserie chicken. Each of these will be available accompanied by mejaderah (a Middle Eastern rice and lentils dish), while homage to Berber & Q's famous cauliflower shawarma will also be available, served with golden sultanas, rose and pine nuts. For dessert, on the other hand, guests can expect the likes of ice cream pita sandwiches with tahini soft-serve and caramelised banana.
Berber & Q Shawarma Bar is set to open in July and can be found at 46 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QE
Calcutta Street – Fitzrovia
Set up as a celebration of her city, and of memories growing up in a household obsessed with food – Bengali chef Shrimoyee Chakraborty will open her first permanent site this month, following a string of successful pop-ups. Massively inspired by Bengali home dining, the Fitzrovia space will offer diners the chance to visit the ground-floor 'no reservations' space, which focuses on smaller tables and casual gatherings around the kitchen island bar, or within the unique downstairs dining room, which is available for both bookings and walk-ins. Downstairs, each evening at either 7pm or 9:30pm, up to 20 diners can be accommodated and seated around two communal tables to eat, drink, socialise, and indulge in a menu of shared dishes, with endless breads, rice, chutneys and pickles. As for the food on offer at Calcutta Street, the menu revolves around the chef's family dishes that have been passed down through the generations, which are made here with focus on seasonal British produce. From the a la carte menu, expect the likes of Doi Phuchka (crispy semolina balls with potato, black chick peas, tamarind and yogurt filling) and a Malai curry of jumbo prawns cooked in coconut and mustard sauce. A Kolkatan favourite – Pithe (pancakes made with rice flour and a coconut and jiggery filling) will be the main draw, in regards to dessert.
Calcutta Street is set to open in July and can be found at 29 Tottenham Street, London, W1T 1RU.
Chuck Burger – Spitalfields
Set in a renovated East End café, Chuck Burger – from the team behind HotBox – is set to open in Spitalfields this month. Having served their signature burgers and wings at Street Feast's Hawker House since last October, operating from a Chevy Step Van, Chuck Burger's first permanent site will offer several favourites from the original menu, as well as some new exclusive dishes, inspired by founder Basit Nasim's travels across America. Alongside the classic cheeseburger and bacon cheeseburger, the signature spicy Devil Burger will be available – featuring a ground 28-day aged chuck steak patty, topped with charred jalapeños, American cheese, grilled red onions, sriracha mayo, and topped with a green jalapeño sauce. Elsewhere, a new 'Hot-Ox' burger will be available, comprising an aged chuck beef patty topped with slow cooked spicy oxtail chilli, American cheese, onions, pickles and chipotle mayo, as well as the Seoul Burger, with crispy buttermilk fried chicken, Korean hot sauce and kimchi slaw. These new burgers, amongst others, will also be accompanied by Chuck Burger's renowned buffalo wings, having come second place in last year's London Wing Fest.
Chuck Burger is set to open on 5th July and can be found at 4 Commercial Street, London, E1 7PT.
Flora Indica – Kensington
Inspired by the thousands of plants discovered, labelled and studied in nurseries throughout Britain and India, Flora Indica is set to open this month. Launching as an all-day British-Indian bar and dining venue, set to feature a host of creative British and Indian flavour combinations throughout their dishes and cocktails. As a result, the menu will feature the likes of 63-degree duck egg with smoked mayo, crisp nest and kaljoni seeds, as well as smoked venison, burnt onion salt, fennel, beetroot textures and masala spiced potato. Beetroot doughnuts will be on hand for dessert, while the drinks offering will be spearheaded by a collection of botanical cocktails, with a strong focus on gin. What's more, a dedicated Punch & Gin bar will be on hand, as well as a vast offering of single malt whiskies and craft beer.
Flora Indica is set to open on 15th July and can be found at 242 Old Brompton Road, London, SW5 0DE.
MeatUp – Wandsworth
Just in time for summer, MeatUp is set to launch in Wandsworth Town, this month. Attempting to recreate back garden parties, albeit indoors and on a bigger scale, MeatUP's menu is unsurprisingly barbecue driven. Set up as an all-day restaurant and late night bar, the menu will feature a range of barbecue favourites made with British ingredients and meat sourced from a some of the best Butchers in the country. Diners can expect the likes of charred chicken, grilled pig cheeks, barbecue ribs rubbed with signature MeatUp spices, and homemade sausages. Elsewhere, a number of fish and seafood dishes such as crayfish mac 'n' cheese will be on offer, as well as potted crab, while the bar area is set to serve a range of summer-inspired cocktails, as well as boasting one of the city's biggest Prosecco lists.
MeatUp is set to open in July and can be found at 350 Old York Road, London, SW18 1SS.
Rök – Islington
Literally meaning 'smoke' in Swedish, Rök is set to open a second smokehouse restaurant this month, taking over a Grade II listed building on Islington's Upper Street. Following the success of their first space in Shoreditch, having opened last year, the new restaurant's menu will follow a similar guise with a focus on simple Nordic-influenced dishes. Launching with a seasonal summer menu, the 60-seat space will also serve some favourites from the original restaurant. New dishes include the likes of mackerel with pickled onions and flamed crispbread, local-grown Guinea fowl with semi-cured pork belly and butter poached wild vegetables, and dark chocolate mousse with espresso sorbet and malted crumb. Elsewhere, returning favourites include the likes of scallop with nduja and seaweed, and duck with lingonberry bacon jam.
Rök Islington is set to open on 8th July and can be found at 149 Upper Street, London, N1 1RA.
Texas Joe's Slow Smoked Meats – Bermondsey
Inspired by the back-road barbecue spaces that have defined Texan barbecue, Texas Joe's Slow Smoked Meats is set to open on Monday, just in time for American Independence Day. Unlike many American restaurants in the UK, however, Texas Joe's is consciously striving to avoid the clichés that have traditionally defined many other venues. Instead, a huge focus on Texan food, particularly barbecue, will be on offer, with cuts of traditionally Texan meats (including mutton) that will be smoked slowly over English oak in a custom 500-pound capacity rotisserie. On the menu, signature dishes are set to include USDA beef brisket, beef prime rib and pork shoulder, as well as mutton shoulder and ribs, all of which will be served with house-made pickles and bread. What's more, a separate honky-tonk bar complete with a jukebox and plenty of whisky and tequila will also be operating from the Bermondsey site.
Texas Joe's Slow Smoked Meats is set to open on 4th July and can be found at 8-9 Snowsfields, London, SE1 3SU.
Tags: LondonNew Openings


Throughout my Christian journey, I've struggled with a lot of different sins. A few of them I seem to never completely defeat, and so I must return to the battlefield over and over again. Lust, selfishness, pride, laziness and a fear of failure periodically conspire to set back my spiritual growth – or at the very least – retard it. When I first truly began pursuing a spiritual life, I thought lust was my greatest sin. Of course, no sin is a minor thing, and lust certainly is no small force. It is dangerous and intrusive. But as dangerous and intrusive as it is, it isn't as problematic (for me) as a fear of failure. Sins like lust, selfishness, pride and laziness dampened my relationship with God and made it harder for me to talk with him, but fear of failure kept me from actually fulfilling Godly goals and spiritual duties. The other sins slowed me down, but fear of failure kept me from properly leading in every area in which God had graced me with leadership responsibilities. It blunted my talents, killed my enthusiasm, kept me from trying, stunted by growth, and made me ineffective. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Fear of failure always denied me the first step. If it was my duty to lead my family, or my coworkers, or my friends in a particular direction, I would sometimes cower at taking the initiative. What if I fail? I will look like a fool. I will be mocked, and so will my family, my coworkers, my friends, and maybe even God! I had failed enough in life (or so I thought) that I knew firsthand the pain and the risk.
And that is the problem with the sin of a fear of failure: it is ultimately just like all other sins of fear. It is a sin because it is born from a lack of faith. Faith and fear exist in an inverse relationship. The greater faith one has, the less fear one has. The greater fear one has, the less faith one has.
This is precisely why it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). Faith produces behavioral results. If you don't have faith, you won't do those hard things God sometimes asks. A lack of faith is always accompanied by a proportional abundance of fear.
The truth is that a Christian cannot fail in anything he or she tries (Romans 8:28-29). The only failure is not to take Godly initiative. Even if the intended goal is not reached, a Christian has learned, become more resilient, and his or her character has improved. For the Christian intent on following Jesus, failure simply isn't an option (Romans 8:31-39).


"Frontier House: Reality Television and the Historical Experience," Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies (Spring 2007): 35-42.
With Fred Volk, Adam Stiska, "Assessing Online Lesson Plans," Academic Exchange Quarterly (Winter 2004: 8:4): 44-48.
"(Re)enacting Governmentality: Historical Reality Television and the Neoliberal Citizen" (panel chair and participant), Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual meeting, Boston, MA, March, 2012.
"Reimagining Revolution: The People's Bicentennial Commission, the Tea Party Movement, and Uses of American History" (panel organizer and participant), American Studies Association annual meeting, Baltimore, MD, October, 2011.
"Subjecting Audience: Affective Technology and History Museum Exhibition," Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual meeting, New Orleans, LA, March, 2011.
"Popular History in the Me Generation: Historical Practices in the 1970s," (panel organizer and participant) American Studies Association annual meeting, San Antonio, TX, November, 2010.
Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual meeting, Los Angeles, CA, March, 2010.
"1970s Television and Nostalgic Culture" 1st Cité des Télécoms Summer School on "The History of the Electronic Image: A Long Term Perspective", week-long seminar, Lannion, France, September, 2009.
"Lighting Up at the Dawn of Modernity" presentation of film and discussion, "Digital Stories: Multimedia Narratives, Cultural Resources, and Humanities Knowledge," Spring Forum on Technology and the Humanities, Georgetown University and Visible Knowledge Project Conference, Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, Georgetown University, September, 2005.
"Using Multiple Research Methods," New Research for New Media conference: Innovative Research Methodologies Symposium, University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, September 2004.
Respondent, "Arts Encompassing Borderlands," History Graduate Student Association Interdisciplinary Conference, Brown University, April, 2011.
"Logics of Preservation and Reenactment: Historicity in the 1970s," Fellows' Seminar, Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University, December, 2010.
"Using VFNow in the Classroom," Summer Institute for Teaching and Technology, Brown University, June, 2010.
"Integrating Video into the Teaching and Learning Process," Panelist, Faculty Roundtable, Brown University, Providence, RI, December, 2008.
Languages: Fluent in Polish, Proficient in French and Latin.


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PROFI Dynamic marble runs
Training models
Simulating
TiP buckets
Kindergarten boxes
Fan Club Day
Information and login
3D Kugelbahn
Automatische Bewaesserungsanlage
Orgelspielroboter
By Fans for Fans
fischertechnik Education Concept
further training of teachers
Raspberry PI-F5
Industry 4.0 / IoT
Sorting suggestions
Parts summary
Proposal and ideas
3D Printer FAQs
Training models FAQs
Sustainability combines aspects such as environmental protection, technology and innovation as well as economic success and social responsibility. At fischertechnik, we see all of this as one of our learning processes for living, working and managing in harmony with nature.
Member of the Fair Toys Organisation
As a member of the Fair Toy Organisation (FTO), fischertechnik is committed to improving ecological and social standards in the production of toys.
Our company is based in the northern Black Forest and is still one of the few in the industry that produces in Germany. We invest in the quality of our products and in high-quality accompanying materials. The construction blocks have been combinable with each other since their market launch in 1965 and are praised by fans for their particularly high stability. Even metre-high structures hold with the famous fischertechnik building blocks. The sustainability aspect is also particularly high with the fischerTiP creative material launched on the market in 1998: the colourful fischerTiPs are made of potato starch and food colouring and are therefore completely safe to use. The corresponding tools for conjuring up great figures and models from the TiPs - moistened with water - are made of resource-saving bioplastic.
Third sustainability seal for fischertechnik
fischertechnik has now once again received an award from Focus Money for its sustainable commitment. The toy manufacturer still produces its construction kits in Germany. The building blocks have been compatible with each other since their market launch in 1965. This year, fischertechnik launched a construction kit with bio-based building blocks in sustainable packaging.
The extent to which companies assume social, ecological and economic responsibility is closely monitored by the public. Focus Money shows just how closely every year. In cooperation with ServiceValue and Deutschland Test, the financial magazine conducted a representative survey among the German population of 1,530 providers from 113 industries and product categories. The key question: Which company is committed to sustainability? There was a clear result among toy manufacturers. Most of the consumers surveyed said that fischertechnik was behaving in an exemplary manner. As a result, the company came out on top in its sector and was honored by Focus Money with the "Sustainable Commitment: No. 1" award. This is the third time that the toy manufacturer from the northern Black Forest has been at the top of the Focus Money ranking.
"The award confirms our high standards for the value of our construction kits," says fischertechnik Managing Director Wilhelm Schoch. The company is one of only a few in the industry that continues to produce in Germany and invests in the quality of its products and in high-quality accompanying materials. The construction blocks have been combinable with each other since their market launch in 1965 and are praised by fans for their particularly high stability. Even meter-high structures hold with the famous fischertechnik building blocks. This year, the toy manufacturer launched a construction set containing building blocks made of bio-based plastic.
To expert advice
To FAQ
To supplier side
That's fischerTiP
fischer group of companies


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10 Player Additions That Hurt An NBA Franchise (And 10 That Saved It)
by Steve Hanley
Basketball is certainly a team sport but it also allows individual players to shine plenty with many possessing enough talent to be solely responsible for the success of a franchise. We have seen it happen plenty of times over the years with lottery teams turning into contenders overnight - thanks to the addition of one player. While having a solid coach and all-around roster is crucial for every team, it all comes down to the elite talent as they usually step up in the postseason to leave their mark.
But as we all know, nearly every NBA trade or signing is a gamble given how unpredictable the league is. There is no guarantee that any player will live up to his contract as they tend to receive massive paychecks for their services. Some of whom end up holding back the franchise for a number of years. There are have also been a number of players who may have had great showings elsewhere in the past, but failed to replicate such performances on their new team, turning into an awful all-around situation for all sides involved.
Throughout history, there have been many All-Stars who may have put up impressive stats during the season, although they failed to pick up victories for the team. On the other hand, some were good enough to transform the culture of the team within a short period of time - establishing the franchise as a contender in their respective conference. Here are 10 player additions that hurt an NBA franchise and 10 that saved it:
20 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Allen Iverson (Detroit Pistons)
via nbachicago.com
After having failed to advance past the Eastern Conference Finals three times in a row, the Detroit Pistons made a move for Allen Iverson by trading away Chauncey Billups. With hopes that Iverson's scoring would be enough to get Pistons back into contention, they were clearly thinking short-term as he had been declining for a number of years. Iverson looked like a shell of himself while playing for the Pistons, and complained as soon as his role was diminished on the roster. The trade cost them the leader of the team and made the franchise into a losing one as it was the beginning of a string of bad moves.
19 Saved It: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets)
via denverite.com
While Detroit Pistons were sorely missing the services of Chauncey Billups following the trade for Allen Iverson, the Denver Nuggets were reaping all the benefits. He was able to instantly fit with the team and appeared to be the missing piece as he got the best out of all his teammates, including Carmelo Anthony, who had previously failed to make it past the first round. The Nuggets made it to the Western Conference Finals that year, falling in six games to the eventual champions in the Lakers. Billups managed to turn the team into a legitimate contender for three years before the core was split up.
18 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Chandler Parsons (Memphis Grizzlies)
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
The Memphis Grizzlies had a solid run in the early 2010s with a core of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley that led to plenty of surprises. Their best achievement was making it to the Western Conference Finals, and while they always appeared to be close to taking the next major step - the Grizzlies always fell short of their target. That's what led to the Chandler Parsons deal, which was a costly one, to say the least, as the franchise hoped that he would add a consistent three-point shot and some solid defense to the mix. However, he has been warming up the bench since then and stinking it on the court when healthy.
17 Saved It: Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers)
When the Oklahoma City Thunder landed Paul George in a surprising deal, most fans were ready to immediately declare them as the clear winner of the trade-off. But they hadn't foreseen Victor Oladipo stepping up his game to the next level to become one of the most dominant shooting guards in the game. Early predictions had the Pacers in the lottery but they ended up taking the eventual finalist Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the first round. Oladipo has kept the Pacers as a Playoff contender, and the future is now looking brighter than ever for them thanks to the trade.
16 Hurt An NBA Franchise: DeMarcus Cousins (New Orleans Pelicans)
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The duo of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins was among the most dominant ever on paper. Some fans were ready to immediately list the New Orleans Pelicans as a contender, and while they did go on to have some impressive games together, it never materialized beyond that. Cousins left via free agency in the 2018 offseason after rejecting a Pelicans offer that he deemed unworthy of his talent. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they had lost out on a brilliant prospect in Buddy Hield in the trade, along with Tyreke Evans and three first-round picks - a trade that has come to backfire on the team.
15 Saved It: Kyle Lowry (Toronto Raptors)
The Toronto Raptors had been coasting through the regular season with no hope in sight since 2007 to become a treadmill team. The arrival of Kyle Lowry in 2012 generated some excitement, although it would take him a season and a half to really flourish with the team. And once Rudy Gay was traded away from the team, it allowed Lowry to lead the team which suddenly generated plenty of wins. To this day, Lowry is still leading the way for the Raptors despite the loss of DeMar DeRozan and is arguably playing the best ball of his career, even when Kawhi Leonard sits out.
14 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Dwayne Wade (Chicago Bulls)
via sbnation.com
Dwyane Wade's move to the Chicago Bulls was surprising in many ways, as most had expected him to remain with the Miami Heat for his entire career. After failing to reach an agreement with the franchise, Wade accepted a generous offer from the Chicago Bulls that was worth two years for $47 million. It would turn out to be his worst year since arriving into the NBA, and there were even bigger problems off the court as he clashed with a number of young players on the roster. Wade's presence to led to plenty of problems behind the scenes and his play was certainly not good enough to justify the signing.
13 Saved It: LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs)
Kawhi Leonard was declared as the early savior for the San Antonio Spurs, but in a tough Western Conference, the team was always going to need more than one option. As Tim Duncan approached retirement, they acquired LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, and while he struggled to fit in with the team in his first season, he has returned to form since then. With Leonard's absence last year, Aldridge managed to keep the Spurs a relevant franchise as he led them to the Playoffs. He is having another great year and will likely be enough to keep them in Playoff contention for the time being.
12 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Rajon Rondo (Dallas Mavericks)
via mavsmoneyball.com
Since their 2011 Championship victory, the Dallas Mavericks have disappointed in every season showing. In 2014, it became evident that the Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo were heading for a divorce, hence why the Mavs made a move to acquire him. The team was expected to challenge in the Western Conference Finals, but the addition of Rondo proved to be a negative one as soon as he hit the court. And it didn't take too long for him to have issues with head coach Rick Carlisle, leading to his exile from the team during the Playoffs after some underwhelming performances.
11 Saved It: LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers)
LeBron James has saved the Cleveland Cavaliers twice, the first being in 2003 when he was drafted by the team as he turned them into a contender until his departure in 2010. But he was truly the savior in 2014 when he returned to the team, leading them to a championship in 2016. The Cavaliers had been a lottery team since his exit four years earlier, struggling to compete in the Eastern Conference. And while he recently left the team again to join the Los Angeles Lakers, the team did get a lot out of his second stint - four Finals appearance and a championship at last for the fans of Cleveland, who hadn't had a major sports title since 1964.
10 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Deron Williams (Brooklyn Nets)
via slamonline.com
The Brooklyn Nets had a string of bad moves that could make this list, and they happened around the same time as management was desperate to contend. There is a case to be made for the Gerald Wallace trade in which they gave up a first-round pick that turned out to be Damian Lillard. And of course, you have the infamous trade involving Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but it was the Deron Williams trade that started it all. Not only did it hurt the franchise at the time, but it also damaged their long-term future as the Nets continue struggling to get back on their feet.
9 Saved It: Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers)
In the 2007-08 season, the Los Angeles Lakers were coming off two first round exists as rumors increased regarding a potential move away for Kobe Bryant. The Lakers had been attempting to acquire a second All-Star to convince him of sticking around, and they succeeded in doing when they acquired Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies. The trade proved to be moment changing for the franchise as they went on to win two championships while making three Finals. Gasol had a major impact on both ends and was among the best bigs in the league throughout his stint with the Lakers.
8 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Andrew Bynum (Philadelphia Sixers)
via sixersdish.com
In 2012, a major blockbuster deal went down in the NBA sending Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers while Andrew Bynum joined the Philadelphia Sixers. The latter would never dress up for the team as a result of an injury before he eventually exited from the Sixers. To make things worse, the Sixers had to give up Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, and a first-round pick to acquire Bynum - all of these assets which were gone to waste. Given the chance to go back in time, there is no doubt that the Sixers would retract this trade in a moment.
7 Saved It: Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns)
In 2004, the Phoenix Suns appeared to be going nowhere despite having a talented young core. They were coming off a poor season, and the addition of Steve Nash in the offseason didn't exactly change the media's opinion regarding the team. But they went on to prove all doubters wrong with an incredible record of 62-20 to finish the season, as well as an appearance in the Western Conference Finals. Nash would earn two MVP awards during his stint with the Suns while turning them from a lottery team into a contender, making him one of the best additions in NBA history.
6 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Luol Deng (Los Angeles Lakers)
Luol Deng's deal with the Los Angeles Lakers was deemed as a strange one from the very beginning, given that the team was projected to be headed towards the lottery. But management had a different point of view than most and believed that the new additions to the team would combine well with the younger players to make a Playoff push. That proved to be far from the worst as the Lakers fell way short of expectations with Deng having the worst season of his entire NBA career - while being on a costly four year, $72 million contract with the team.
5 Saved It: Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers)
via nba.com
The Los Angeles Clippers hadn't been able to compete for a Playoff spot for a number of years, but the trade for Chris Paul turned the team into a contender. And while they never reached their full ceiling as a team, the Clippers did have some great regular seasons as well as memorable Playoffs showings against the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. Paul made them a relevant franchise for the first time in a long period as they appeared to be going nowhere prior to his acquisition. He ended up assisting Blake Griffin in becoming a star as well.
4 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks)
To his credit, Carmelo Anthony did have some good early years with the New York Knicks. But considering the massive contract that he earned from the team, and how his last few seasons ended, it's safe to say that he did more damage than good for the franchise. Not to mention that he was persistent in joining the Knicks mid-season, forcing them to give up plenty of assets to acquire him when they could have reached a deal in the offseason. The Melo deal was a costly mistake by the Knicks that didn't bring any success beyond a second round appearance.
3 Saved It: Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics)
via celticsblog.com
When the Boston Celtics finished the 2006-07 season with a record of 24-58, there were talks about the franchise firing head coach Doc Rivers and trading their star player, Paul Pierce. But the offseason proved to be a fruitful one as they acquired Ray Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics and Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves to form the Big 3 era. Garnett was the Celtics' best player during their run despite not picking up the 2008 Finals MVP award. His impact was massive on both ends as he led the Celtics to become one of the better defensive sides.
2 Hurt An NBA Franchise: Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards)
Gilbert Arenas' first chapter with the Washington Wizards had some bright moments, including three All-Star appearances, but it soon turned into a poor fit as he became the worst contract in the league, thanks to an extension of $111 million for six years. It was a disaster waiting to happen since Arenas had injury problems and yet the Wizards still handed him an extension. The next season, he would only appear in two games while playing a combined of 53 games for the next two years. That's not to mention the locker room incident which set back the Wizards even further.
1 Saved It: Jason Kidd (Brooklyn Nets)
via netsdaily.com
Known now as the Brooklyn Nets, Jason Kidd was acquired by New Jersey in 2001 in hopes of turning the franchise into a Playoff team. The move certainly paid off as Kidd led the Nets to a Finals appearance that very same year while finishing second in the MVP race. The team was coming off three losing seasons in a row, so it was a major turnaround that happened quickly thanks to Kidd's massive contributions on both ends. The team continued making the Playoffs and making noise in the Eastern Conference until his exit from the team, and while they fell short of winning a championship, the Nets did achieve success.