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Šipek (; ) is a small settlement on the right bank of the Lahinja River east of Dragatuš in the Municipality of Črnomelj in the White Carniola area of southeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region.

References

External links
Šipek on Geopedia

Populated places in the Municipality of Črnomelj

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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HomeshowAbout
About	(223)
Historical Archives of the PRC (6)
PRC Standards (216)
Major & Minor Confessions, Liturgical Forms
Other Online Literature
The general synod shall ordinarily meet annually. To this synod an equal number of elders and ministers out of every classis shall be delegated as determined by synod. If it becomes necessary in the opinion of at least two classes to call a special meeting of synod, the local church designated for this purpose shall determine time and place.
(Revision of Article 50: Synod of 2000, Art. 28, H.) (Cf. Rules for Synodical Procedure, p. 79.)
Each synod shall delegate some to execute everything ordained by synod, both as to what pertains to the government and to the respective classes resorting under it, and likewise to supervise together or in smaller number all examinations of future ministers. And, moreover, in all other eventual difficulties they shall extend help to the classes in order that proper unity, order, and soundness of doctrine may be maintained and established. Also they shall keep proper record of all their actions to report thereof to synod, and, if it be demanded, give reasons. They shall also not be discharged from their service before and until synod itself discharges them.
(Each synod shall be at liberty to solicit and hold correspondence with its neighboring synod or synods in such manner as they shall judge most conducive to general edification.)*
*Articles 47 and 48 are retained in the body of the Church Order because they belonged to the original Church Order of Dordrecht. They are, however, put in parentheses because the Protestant Reformed Churches do not have particular synods. (Synod of 2000, Art. 28, M.)
(Every year [or if need be oftener] four or five or more neighboring classes shall meet as a particular synod, to which each classis shall delegate two ministers and two elders. At the close of both the particular and the general synod, some church shall be empowered to determine, with advice of classis, the time and place of the next synod.)*
Instructions concerning matters to be considered in major assemblies shall not be written until the decisions of previous synods touching these matters have been read, in order that what was once decided be not again proposed, unless a revision be deemed necessary.
It shall be the duty of the classis and the general synod to furnish the following meeting with the minutes of the preceding.
(Revision of Article 45: Synod of 2000, Art. 31.)
The classis shall authorize at least two of her oldest, most experienced, and most competent ministers to visit all the churches once a year and to take heed whether the minister and the consistory faithfully perform the duties of their office, adhere to sound doctrine, observe in all things the adopted order, and properly promote as much as lies in them, through word and deed, the upbuilding of the congregation, in particular of the youth, to the end that they may in time fraternally admonish those who have in anything been negligent, and may by their advice and assistance help direct all things unto the peace, upbuilding, and greatest profit of the churches. And each classis may continue these visitors in service as long as it sees fit, except where the visitors themselves request to be released for reasons of which the classis shall judge.
Decisions pertaining to Article 44
Church visitation, which is required to be done in the congregations, requires for its efficient prosecution the following:
Each classis shall appoint from her midst at least two ministers and their alternates.
The visitors shall give the congregations at least eight days' notice of the day and hour of their proposed visit.
The consistory shall see to it that all the consistory members are present at the meeting which is appointed for church visitation. Any member failing to be present shall be required to give the meeting good reason for his absence. If one-half of the members are absent, the visitation cannot be carried out.
The consistory shall see to it that the record books are at hand for the inspection by the visitors.
Of the visitors, one shall function as chairman and the other as secretary. They shall record their findings and actions in a book which can be consulted at the next visitation, and which can be kept in the classical archives.
After completing the visitation of all the congregations, the visitors shall with requisite discretion compose a report of their activities to be delivered at the next following classis.
(Adopted by Classis of June 6, 7, 1934; Synod of 1944, Arts. 66, 67.) (Cf. Questions for Church Visitation, pp. 133-136.)
At the close of the classical and other major assemblies, censure shall be exercised over those who in the meeting have done something worthy of punishment, or who have scorned the admonition of the minor assemblies.
Where in a church there are more ministers than one, also those not delegated according to the foregoing article shall have the right to attend classis with advisory vote.
The classical meetings shall consist of neighboring churches that respectively delegate, with proper credentials, a minister and an elder to meet at such time and place as was determined by the previous classical meeting. Such meetings shall be held at least once in three months, unless great distances render this inadvisable. In these meetings the ministers shall preside in rotation, or one shall be chosen to preside; however, the same minister shall not be chosen twice in succession.
Furthermore, the president shall, among other things, put the following questions to the delegates of each church:
Are the consistory meetings held in your church?
Is church discipline exercised?
Are the poor and the Christian schools cared for?
Do you need the judgment and help of the classis for the proper government of your church?
And finally, at the second to the last meeting and, if necessary, at the last meeting before the synod, delegates shall be chosen to attend said synod.
(Revision of Article 41: Synod of 2002, Art. 28, F.)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Having a closer look at Emilia, she does have a little more interesting face than I realised. It more obvious on the side view.
There's definitely something going on with her mouth and chin that I hadn't noticed before. I think it's a little of something from Viv, but it's not really obvious.
I gave Emilia some new night clothes.
And also a new everyday outfit. I'm not sure whether her hips have got bigger since ageing up.
Viv mended the stereo and then because she was feeling playful, she jumped up and down on the mess.
Emilia and Chan went on a date. I sent them to Peachy Bean which is one of my really early community lot builds.
Is Emilia flirting with the cupcake, or Channing?!
You don't have to ask to go to the toilet Chan!
Now that she's an adult, Emilia had to get a job. She had wanted to be a chef before, but I've done that job before so I thought I'd try something new. So Emilia has joined the social media career. She got straight on writing some articles, and levelling up her writing skill.
Oop, looks like someone's pregnant 😀 At this point part of me is even wondering whether I should move Channing in. Once Emilia has the baby, there will be four members of the house, and I really don't like having to look after too many people. We'll see what happens.
I love how Viv looks in her nightwear. And look at Emilia's little pregnant belly!
Next Post Pt 7 – Heeeeeey, heeey Baby!
Wow! That lot is gorgeous! You built it yourself?


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Justin Bergh: The Future of The CrossFit Games (Podcast)
Written by David Tao
Last updated on April 16th, 2020
Justin Bergh is the General Manager of the CrossFit Games and has been a driving force behind the event for over a decade. Justin joins the podcast to talk about what the CrossFit Games will look like in future years. That includes how the event interacts with sponsors (and the types of brands they won't work with), the organization's on-again/off-again relationship with social media, an increasingly international athlete and fan base, and how the Games broadcast may continue to evolve over time.
In this episode of the BarBend Podcast, David Thomas Tao talks to Justin Bergh about:
Justin's evolving role with the CrossFit Games over the past decade (2:00)
Bringing experience from other sports to help the Games level up in his early years (4:30)
The biggest transition point in CrossFit Games history (6:05)
How long it takes to set up the CrossFit Games every year (9:31)
The number of people involved in putting on the physical Games each year (11:38)
Without Regionals, why there's now an increased emphasis on the Games and CrossFit Games planning (15:00)
Supporting independent and international qualifiers (17:20)
What the CrossFit Games spectator experience, especially on the broadcast, will look like moving forward (20:02)
The competition floor is still "sacred and holy" (23:15)
CrossFit's thoughts on viewership numbers/ratings (25:00)
The future of the CrossFit Games and sponsor relationships (27:43)
"We're not for everybody" when it comes to sponsors (31:00)
The CrossFit Games' relationship with social media platforms and getting back on Facebook/Instagram (33:50)
What excites — and worries — Justin about the future of the CrossFit Games (37:39)
Relevant links and further reading:
Follow Justin Bergh on Instagram and Twitter
Follow David Thomas Tao on Instagram and Twitter
Justin Bergh
That's the part that excites me the most. What will the sport look like in five years? Maybe Mat and Tia will continue to compete five years at the same level.
If history repeats itself, they will have a life span or a curve in their careers and there will be a new class of athletes in two, three, five, seven years.
David Tao
Welcome to the "BarBend Podcast," where we talk to the smartest athletes, coaches and minds from around the world of strength. I'm your host, David Thomas Tao and this podcast is presented by barbend.com.
Today I'm talking to Justin Bergh, General Manager of The CrossFit Games. For the better part of a decade, Justin has been a major driving force behind CrossFit's growth as a competitive sport. He's involved in almost every aspect of the Games, from organizing the physical events to athlete experience, media, streaming, and more.
Justin gives some rare insight into the inner workings of the Games, including the inside scoop on the massive shifts in qualification, and structure the event has undergone in recent years.
We also talk about the organization's work with media, and live streaming, along with what fans can expect from future iterations in years to come. Also, I want to take a second to say, we're incredibly thankful that you listened to this podcast. If you haven't already, be sure to leave a rating and review of the BarBend Podcast in your app of choice. Now let's get to it.
A very special guest today on the BarBend Podcast is Justin Bergh. Justin, it's difficult for me to sum up the number of responsibilities that you have with the CrossFit Games, but it's something that I think a lot of folks might not be familiar with, especially your work behind the scenes.
I'm going to start off by kicking it over to you, if that's OK, to give folks a little background on how you became involved with the CrossFit Games, and what your role has become over the past decade.
Sure. I'm fortunate, I've had a long history with the CrossFit Games. I was hired, the very first CrossFit Games I went to were in 2009 at the ranch in Aromas. I had just left a career working in sports technology, and I had an undergraduate degree in sport management.
Had been working in the sport industry, particularly with media broadcast for the last five years. I quit because I wanted to open a CrossFit gym, and have a bigger impact in the world. Very quickly realized that there was an opportunity to serve with my unique experience and education on the game side.
I was hired in 2010, and I was, at that point, the first employee that was dedicated only to working on the CrossFit Games. The other people, at that point, primarily, Dave Castro to Tony Budding and many others actually, were pitching in on a single event that took place once a year. It was becoming a lot of additional work.
That year 2010, there were 48 or so licensed events that took place all over the world. Trying to synchronize those to feed into a single event, they asked her that I came in. That was the very first year, including also an interesting first year when we moved from the ranch to Carson, California and had our first soiree into a traditional cable television.
That first year transitioning from the ranch, which really had the feel of many ways of a backyard brawl, into something that's under the lights. It's in a professional sports arena. What was that transition like?
Looking back at it, I know that you're someone who likes to look forward maybe more than look back, but what were some of the things that ultimately surprised your team regarding that transition?
The entire event was so different. The ranch was such a magical place, and it was a little incubation period where people were doing this from all over the world. They were showing up, that was unexpected in the first and second years.
Other people wanted to host events and call them CrossFit events, so we licensed all these Regionals and Sectional competitions. We, in 2010, had all of these events, and they were feeding into the CrossFit Games. It was wild because we really hadn't operated in a professional venue before.
The event was run well, and competition programming, and the athlete experience was all just nascent at that point. It was a step-up in a lot of categories. It was a step-up with the media, it was a step-up with our event planning. Fortunately, that was an area where I could apply myself and add unique value in the team.
I had been working then in a lot of professional touring sports, so golf and tennis was where I had spent a lot of my time in the preceding five years. The Tennis Center at StubHub, was one of the areas. It's like, "Hey, I know how these types of venues work."
That first year there was a lot of people coming, and contributing to the event from a lot of different CrossFit areas. We have people coming from Florida, from overseas, Texas, all over the place, to bring what they had. Some guys had event operations experience, some people were working concerts, some were CrossFitters.
Other people were first responders and they've worked with fire service. We started laying the foundation for the type of people that could respond well to producing this type of an event and it was all homegrown. It wasn't a bunch of industry people, or entertainment people, or media people, that came in, they were CrossFitters.
They came and we created a bespoke of that, that was really the first foundation that we built on for several years afterwards in Los Angeles.
That transition from 2009 to 2010, was obviously significant going from the ranch to the StubHub Center. Are there any other years that in your mind are marked as big transition points for the CrossFit Games from one season to the next, or one year to the next?
eah. I think everybody looks to last year as the biggest transition that we've made. As a company I think, from CrossFit's perspective, the biggest change that I saw was from 2010 until 2011. In 2010, we had all of these events.
I may have misspoke earlier. It was 2010, we had Regionals and Sectionals. The Sectionals worked for the broad-end of the funnel, from where they could sign up and participate. The best athletes from Sectionals went to Regionals, the best athletes Regionals were invited to the CrossFit Games.
At that point, CrossFit Games only operated one event. CrossFit, Inc., only owned and operated a single event, we licensed all these others. At that point, it was really challenging proposition. A lot of people around the world that were running these events were individual gym owners, and they were doing it almost out of a labor of love and a sense of duty.
People wanted to participate. They wanted to provide that opportunity. It was low stakes, and people were complaining about how much financial risks they had to take on because they didn't know if tickets were viable. There was no real sponsorship, at that time. There's a couple companies that we're dabbling-in, but there wasn't a significant revenue stream there.
There was no media revenue or income there. It was all really early. Greg made the decision that it was not a scalable thing to lean on affiliates to just out of their own pocket, produce these competitions and in 2011, decided to do two really big changes.
One was, launch an online, worldwide competition called the CrossFit Games Open, that would use…Affiliates all over the world could participate and anybody that had 20 bucks and an Internet connection, can submit their scores. It would cast the broadest net from a competition standpoint, far more broad than the Sectionals and Regionals model could have.
This was, "Oh and we will also do this," portion. "Oh, and we're going to own and operate 17 events around the world as Regionals CrossFit's [indecipherable 08:23] . It was wild and I remember working for the company, the Open was what got everybody's attention, it was the talking point, beforehand internally.
"Hey, we're going to produce our own 17 events." That's a lot, in Seoul, Korea and Buenos Aires or Bogota at the time, Cape Town, South Africa, Europe, all over the United States. That was a lot. It's a lot in one year where we went from one owned and operated to the following year, we did, I think, 19.
It was 17 Regionals plus the CrossFit Games. I think we had an exhibition that we produced as well. But that's a big, from 1 to 19 is an enormous increase in event logistics and planning responsibilities. That was a big one.
Speaking of event logistics, obviously the new home of the CrossFit Games, it's no longer in California. It's Madison, Wisconsin.
I remember it was quite the treat to follow the team along and try and predict. I know there's a lot of predictions online as to where the Games would ultimately end up when you were going through that selection process, finding a new home for the Games, and a new venue.
When it comes to actually getting set-up at the Games, it could be what it took at the StubHub Center, it could be what it takes in Madison these days, at the Alliant Energy Center. How long before the Games, do you have boots on the ground? What is your setup look like, personally, in the run-up to the Games?
Are you there a month ahead of time? Two months ahead of time? Are you going back and forth between HQ and Madison? What does that look like?
It really varies by year. We do have a remote management system, so we don't have a full-time office in Madison and very few professional events become full-time offices, especially if they tour around. We've got a team that will go in and usually about three or four weeks ahead of time.
One of the earliest groups that come in, is actually Rogue. They'll start delivering the tractor trailers, full of the equipment necessary for the Games. They are some of the first people to arrive on-site, just to park trucks and get their massive operation pre-installed there.
We'll have a team that goes into the site, three-and-a-half, four weeks early. They start building floors and building the bleachers and overseeing teams to do that. I personally, David and I usually come in, with at least 7 days to 10 days in advance of the advanced week.
We're usually coming in the weekend, or the Monday of advanced week, the week before the CrossFit Games. That's to oversee from my standpoint, making sure that we're building what we think we're building, be able to manage unique challenges we have at the event, whether that's predicted weather, or if there's complications that pop-up, whether there's was algae blooms, whether you need sweater.
In other years, it's getting on-site early because we want to test some unique workouts. You have unique apparatus that we build, that you can't test off-site. You have to build it there and test that thing on that floor with highly capable athletes.
We try to get in early enough that we can do all that advanced testing to make sure that it's the best possible athlete experience when the lights are on, and the clock's on.
Including Rogues' team, and including volunteers, judges, how many people will be involved, in a rough sense — I know you probably don't have exact numbers — will be involved in putting on the 2020 CrossFit Games in Madison, when it comes to people on the ground actually having some physical interaction with the venue and the event?
That's a great question. We start with the people that are the most unique and the highest contributors are Volunteer Corps. We'll use between 500 and 600 people on most given days.
We might have a staff of, and it varies by year, by competition format, and by number of days competition, but we can have between 500 and 800 people who are actively involved in producing the competition and the spectator environment.
On top of that you layer-in, there's a core of guys that we call Black Shirts, who are responsible for leading the other leaders. Those are the exemplary guys from all over the world with a bunch of different cultural backgrounds that are all CrossFitters and high-skilled leaders.
Then you have all of the support people. We have many different sponsors that come on-site to try to increase the event experience, to make it better and more unique, make it across the mega-Disneyland type of experience for people who were into the things that CrossFitters are into.
Those are the parts that are hard to track. You don't know how many people those guys bring to help make their unique little quarter of venue come to life.
You're in a very high number of [indecipherable 13:13] . 800 to 1,000 people are responsible for making the event special. It all starts from inside the competition floor and then it expands out in concentric bands. More people are involved, the proper you go.
We've obviously seen a lot of changes in Games qualification, and how athletes are reaching the CrossFit Games and qualifying over the last few years. The Open, being a more direct route for some athletes, Sanctionals competition being introduced. How has preparation for the Games changed as a result of the different qualification system that we're seeing now?
It's one of the unique aspects is that many more people are involved in the process. There's been an increased emphasis on The Open. I think that it was awesome. The Open is a direct qualifier for National Champions.
It has an increased legitimacy in countries where, if you're in Argentina, or Ecuador somewhere, anywhere, that is the qualifying test for your National Champions. There's any country races that sometimes get missed by people in North America, you go, "Hey, Mat Fraser is really good." The National Champion Race in the United States isn't the biggest thing going on.
For Latin America, Europe, other places in the world, those are highly contested races with a lot on the line. Validating those athletes and making sure that the competition standards are increasing for people at the top of the leaderboard. They're validating the performance well, so that they can have claim that they are the National Champion, stand behind that claim is important.
That's going to increase that emphasis. There's been a lot more emphasis, actually, on the Games. Without the typical schedule previously, when we owned and operated all of the Regionals, where we would focus on The Open.
As soon as The Open, it's time to ride into Regional advanced planning and because all of the Regionals were the same, it became, "Hey, here's the programming." Now how do you make that same cookie-cutter approach work for 17 events, or 8 events, or 9 events, depending on the year? Then once you were done with that, you advanced the programming for the Games.
Programming is Dave's unique area. He's the best in the world at it. He takes a lot of pride in it. He's very good at it. Dave is especially more focused a little earlier in the process in creating the test, being able to lay out the competition.
Last year was a little bit out of sync for everybody. It's a new framework. We have The Open occurring twice in the same calendar year to get on this new trajectory and the new go-forward calendar. Now this year, there's more time. We're using that time to our advantage to do things in sequence and do things a little earlier, where possible.
We've seen that with The Open and heavier emphasis on National Champions. Last year at the Games, with the Parade of Nations and CrossFit's always been an international sport, or at least it's been an international sport, since very early on in its evolution.
It seems there are multiple touch points throughout the year where the international nature of the sport is being more highlighted, and one could say celebrated, especially at the Games. Is that something that you all will continue to have an emphasis on?
Can we see what we expect to see more of an emphasis on those National Champions representation from different nations? If we are going to see more of an emphasis, how exactly might that manifest?
We're on the track that people can expect this beyond in the future. Like you mentioned, the Games has never not been international. We had international competitors in the early years, yet international champions, almost right off the bat.
You had James Fitzgerald, who won the very first CrossFit Games. You got Mikko Salo, Andy Poscotis and other kind of early winners. This is not a new thing that it was an international sport, that internationally inclusive aspect is to do it.
Guaranteeing spots to people from countries that, at the beginning may not be at the same standard as some of the top countries like the United States, Canada, Iceland, Australia, but creating opportunities for people in some of the smaller countries that are still developing and growing CrossFit.
Their athletes are building experience and stacking capacity. The consequence to that is really exciting. At the same time, having an inclusive event planned, where people can stand up individual competitions, they can co-license the name, CrossFit.
They can create their own direct qualifier from Europe, South Africa, other places around the world, that becomes really exciting as well. They have to be independent of us, but then having the opportunity to be part of the CrossFit plan, be part of the CrossFit Games, seasons, is a really interesting…
The consequence of that, of course the consequence of adding credibility and leader-boarding aggressively within those other countries, has a really explosive potential in the future, both for the business side and for the development of a whole new class of athletes for the next 5 to 10 years.
I want to talk a little bit about media coverage of the Games and accessibility to viewers who might not be there in person. I remember trying to watch the 2009 CrossFit Games. I was in college, and I remember trying to find coverage on the old CrossFit Games website, you could find bits and pieces.
Social media wasn't what it is today, so you weren't getting updates from Instagram, because "Hey, that didn't exist yet." The athletes weren't posting to their accounts with millions of followers. As the Games evolved and moved to Carson, you're starting to see a bit more mainstream coverage.
You're seeing broadcast on ESPN, you're seeing broadcast eventually on Facebook Live. There are these different phases of how you watch the CrossFit Games, and interact with that from afar. What do you think the future holds?
I will give context that last year was very interesting for me as someone who works in media. Barbend.com was one of a number of third party broadcasters for the CrossFit Games which was such an interesting and cool opportunity.
Frankly if I'm being honest, something I thought would never be in the cards for an independent outlet like ours. It was something that changed the game, or at least changed the experience last year. It wasn't without its snags.
What is the CrossFit Games spectator experience especially the digital experience, and broadcast experience going to look like moving forward?
It's going to take the foundation that we established in 2019, and it's going to layer on top of that. One of the important parts of our media strategy last year, was that it would be an inclusive and not exclusive media plan. What we ended doing previously was self-producing all of the content.
The effect of that was that many people who were outside, there were third parties like yourself and others, didn't have an opportunity to have the most select coverage.
Instead CrossFit was responsible for producing every highlight, producing every documentary, producing every behind the scenes interview, and self-funding all of those things as well. Also creating a pretty narrow perspective on the entire sport.
I think it was good, it was entertaining. Our fans really enjoyed that, and we did it for a while. It wasn't a mistake. It was something we did for a long period.
Now especially with more than half of the affiliates that do CrossFit being outside of the United States…for the first 11 years that I've worked here — 10 years that I've worked for CrossFit — we only transmitted CrossFit Games in one language — English.
In just one year by changing our focus from being English-only, everything in one place, and inviting other people to participate — not just other English commentary like yourself and others.
But through allowing and in fact encouraging and inviting others to come take CrossFit's World Feed — which we still produce in CrossFit funds — and then bringing the [indecipherable 21:32] out to others so that they can add their own French, Italian, German, Brazilian, Portuguese, Spanish commentary and be able to serve that content not just on our platforms but on your platforms.
So, you can have the CrossFit Games Official World Feed with graphics and scoring and timing on your page for your audience and serve it in a way that makes more sense. It's a really interesting — and I think something that we're very proud of — policy going forward.
The near-term correction is that you go, "Hey, it was nice when everything was in one place under one umbrella." What I think people miss was it was feel like if you want to watch in English, I challenge people to go back and watch the CrossFit Games coverage in 2018 digitally and watch the 2019 CrossFit Games coverage digitally.
If you go to Rogue Fitness — for benefit of Rogue and most — they did a terrific job. What they did is they added commentary to their CrossFit Games World Feed and they [indecipherable 22:32] . What you don't see behind that is what was happening in Brazil, what was happening in other places in the world with other languages.
To go from one language to a dozen languages in a year is a big improvement. I think that only continues to compound the effects of the national champions having direct qualification.
You're having instead of nine events like we ran in 2018, we're now having 28 events this year — many of those around the world — and restoring official CrossFit competition to regions of the world we had to retreat from.
It's a really positive a step. In all of these you can see it merges into the same philosophy which is creating opportunities for others to participate, CrossFit will do a core set of things. There's many other things that the community brings and other outlets bring to shape it, especially the media coverage.
The competition floor is going to be a sacred holding, we're going to do a great job that takes place on the competition floor and to lay claim to crown of the fittest man and fittest woman on Earth. The spectator experience will control a lot at our event and, many other people with their events around the world will create their own spectator experiences and they'll create their own programming.
Then, media outlets again will take that same thing and they'll cover the sport from different angles. What's neat with CrossFit pulling back from some of those things, other people have stepped into that vacuum, and they've presented multiple different offerings.
The near-term consequence of that is some confusion about where do I go to get my particular type of content? That will normalize over time, as different outlets choose what their angle will be and they try to do that well including in different languages and with different audiences.
It'll take some time to correct that, but we're already seeing there's not as big of a draw, as people were concerned with. Heber and Marston produced a documentary that's going to be really entertaining for people for this year. They're great storytellers and they've taken the 2018 season.
For people that were concerned that I'm not going to have that entertainment content, CrossFit will not produce it, but it will be available. Other people stepped into that vacuum — for their own benefit — and they've done a terrific job and they're good storytellers. A lot of people will be interested in that.
It's just creating more opportunities for other people to participate in this and that's going to ultimately give the whole thing more air to breathe and opportunity to succeed.
You might not have the stat off the top of your head, so not to put you too much on the spot. Did more people watch the CrossFit Games because of that in 2019 versus 2018 or did you sense an overall drop in viewership?
Here is the thing, CrossFit's never really cared about that, that much. We've always been digital-first and one of the unique things about digital is that when you keep everything underneath, in one particular silo, you can have high confidence in your viewership numbers. As soon as you get yourself into other platforms, and you have other partners, your confidence in the ratings and the viewership goes down.
People make claims about how many people they think are going to watch, like the FIFA World Cup is going to tell you the 3.5 billion people are going to watch the World Cup. Now, can they directly point to any other [indecipherable 25:42] ? Yeah, but we know…
…but that's a bold claim. That more than half the people on the face of the planet are going to watch the World Cup at some point. Usually, those claims are made for other purposes. It's not meant to be how healthy is the sport or anything like that, it's usually meant to sell advertising revenue.
That was never CrossFit's intent. We've had a digital-first approach, not because we were trying to monetize the digital to maximize that income. We took a digital-first approach because we wanted to serve our content freely to people around the world. Digital was the best tool to give it far and wide with as few barriers as possible.
We've always resisted putting things behind paywalls, that was one of the reasons we left ESPN. ESPN required us as part of our contract in the United States to window the digital content on watchESPN, which was the equivalent now, in more contemporary terms is ESPN plus.
We weren't OK with that. We were not OK with people saying "Hey if I'm inside the United States, I have to pay to go to some platform to watch the CrossFit Games." Because it was a digital-first free-for-all global perspective.
Now, it was the correction year when we had to get ourselves on the new track. What we're seeing is that we're going to be on platforms like we have been in the past, and we're no less attractive to broadcasters inside and outside the United States than we ever have been. It was a lot of things in a short period of time.
But I think the CrossFit rates really well and, it's because there's lots of CrossFitters, and they talk about it really well. We'll always be super strong in digital. Now, across The States, say, instead of CrossFit name reaping all the benefit, we're going to give that to others and let them be the distributors of that content far and wide.
If you want to sell advertising on your feed, go for it, have fun with it, but take it and improve it, fundamentally make it right for your audience. If you do that well then we'll be stoked to continue serving you that content.
What is the future of the CrossFit Games when it comes to working with sponsors? Because you talk about, not necessarily focusing on selling ads for the benefit of CrossFit HQ or for the benefit of CrossFit, Inc. That's not necessarily what your digital strategy is about, but we still have the sponsors.
I mean, we know the title sponsors, we know the partners, we still see advertisements for companies that work with CrossFit, and benefit CrossFit on a financial basis. What does the future hold when it comes to sponsors and brands working with CrossFit, at the CrossFit Games and being represented in that capacity?
First, we're grateful we got a stable and people who have been with us for a while, that are really…They're contributors to the sport. As we've shifted to having different inventory available, the focus is not on how do we extract the most money from our sponsors. We've created a ceiling and so our sponsors can't spend more than a certain amount of money with the CrossFit Games.
There's a certain ceiling in the check that you can write with us, and it's not variable by the platform. It's not if your CBD helping me. We think that's a highly, explosively growing area. We think it's worth three times more than the hand-grip category. The people that are there, they end up being CrossFit Game sponsor.
What we encourage them to do is, spend more money than they have with us in other areas. So that's sponsoring another Sanctionals, developing a relationship with multiple athletes that can be ambassadors, creating good products, you can sample and serve for free different people within the community.
Spend the remainder of your money, which is the bulk of the investment, investing in other areas. That's [indecipherable 29:24] athletes and, back into the community.
It's been a refreshing perspective. For us, it's a little easier to administer. Also it makes it easy where you go when you come on-site, everybody's got a flat rate, they ante up. Then we want to create opportunities for sponsors who want to give more away to occupy more space.
We've got a couple of things that are…we still got IRA paperwork but could be new and really cool opportunities for fans of the CrossFit Games to walk away with stuff that is really cool. If you get a big group of people who are claiming to come to the CrossFit Games, and they're relatively fit, and they know how to apply their force, they can be leaving with some really, really cool stuff.
The idea is to create a unique experience. Also to be generous, so we're in some regards, kind of stewarding money, not just in CrossFit. Its focus in this. Then everything else water falls back into the community back-to-back in your sanctuary-licensed events.
In top of all the other things that these guys have to pay money, all the other things that sponsors invest in. We're not increasing our share, we've actually decreased our share of the total income available.
What is the vetting process or is there a vetting process for potential sponsors? Big company X or small companies XYZ comes knocking at your door. "Hey, I want to sponsor the CrossFit Games." Is there a process to make sure they're a company that you want to expose to the CrossFit community and help give access to the CrossFit community?
[laughs] Yeah. Without getting into that too much detail, the first is that we're not for everybody. We're unapologetic about that. There's a lot of people that we talk to that call first CrossFit and say, "Hey, I want to sponsor the Games."
One of the first questions is they only want to sponsor us they don't want to be involved in anything else, they only want access to affiliates, we go," Hey, you're not right for us." We don't have that for sale. We don't sell email lists to all our affiliates. So you can direct mail these guys. We're not doing that.
We're not guaranteeing you any placement in our affiliated gyms. We have a set amount of inventory available but the association with the CrossFit Games where the community gathers is a big opportunity for them to serve. We look for people who are trying to contribute not just financially in one place.
I think if you look at our kind of contrary to the people who are in that sponsorship and partnership realm, you would see companies that are invested in the community and not just in the CrossFit Games. Their investment is water falling into many other things as well.
There are certain categories that we just don't entertain. Like you're not going to see a McDonald's reggae iterator, another outside training authority come in and just go," Hey, we heard that you've got some spotlight available for sale, can we buy it?"
No, we try to reserve that for people who were contributors within the community and they got a product or service that at least passes an overall inspection from us.
We're not validating the way every product that goes out there is right for every CrossFitter. CrossFit just make any endorsements, just order the Games.
We do try to make sure that if we're highlighting companies in the mind of CrossFit athletes and spectators at the Games, they're at least in line with our general philosophy. We say no to a lot of people, but people will be surprised how many nos we get. It said, say, "Hey, go somewhere else, invest differently, but we're not going to figure out that."
Let's talk a little bit, still on the media exposure and exposure relevant to potential brands and partners on that end. I want to talk a little bit about social media because, the on again off again, relationship between CrossFit and certain social media platforms in the CrossFit Games and certain social media platforms, has been something that we certainly written about at BarBend.
It's something that the greater community has paid attention to. They're off Facebook, they're off Instagram. Well, now they're kind of back on Facebook, they're back on Instagram.
We recently saw the CrossFit Games reactivate the official Facebook page, reactivate the official Instagram page. What kind of spurred that if anything in particular and, will we expect to see CrossFit stay active on the CrossFit Game specifically stay active on those platforms moving forward?
Yeah, first, we've been on social media, and we've been in a variety of different media platforms for as long as I've been involved. For a long time, we've kind of…the term we use was we're platform agnostic. I do think that during the last, couple years, '17, '18, leading into, a lot of the changes took place in 2019.
There was probably an overemphasis on counting things that didn't tell the whole picture. Producing content that had, more likes or longer average view duration. We were doing this, we were looking at how do we optimize studio content. How long does it show need to be so that you can get more people watching it the first time or get everybody watching through the end?
We're spending a lot of time and attention trying to do that well. What was interesting about leaving social media was, there's not a lot of outfits that would choose to step back from a platform. I actually give Greg and, I think CrossFit should deserve some, there's a positive aspect of this, which is going, "Hey, if there's too much, you need to be able to step backwards."
I think Greg was highly focused on making sure that the health message was centerpiece to his whole organizational media plan. That involves some corrections.
I don't think that it was, necessarily intended to be a forever thing. There's very few things that we do forever. CrossFit is a very responsive organization. We respond to what's going on and a lot of things don't change. Your philosophy on training and, squatting below parallel, our position on nutrition is actually remarkably consistent for long periods of time.
It's not like we were like, "Hey, we used to be high carbohydrate and now we're low carbohydrate." You're like, "Hey, there is a harmonizing principle behind this that is really, consistent." How we serve media and which platforms we choose to turn off or turn down over time, has been a secondary, at best, priority within the company.
I think we turned it off. Greg did that for the purposes that he stated and we brought him back on because it's one of a variety of different platforms that help us serve our purpose. That's to tell people what's going on but also, I think it was important not to…
When we were producing a ton of content, we had a large staff in place here at CrossFit, Inc. and within the CrossFit Games department, whose responsibility was producing lots of content because we were shouldering the load for everybody. Because we blocked, and we were exclusive to your outlet and other outlets, and others, we say, "Hey, we need to do this," but we were the only ones.
We need to serve all of this. We need to have all the staff in-house to do that, not unlike our event policies.
We ran every CrossFit competition for a span of years, from '17 and then eight, nine events. We had a staff appropriate to deliver on and operate best. As we licensed those events, as we included outside media, we're now more of a window. We can curate content that is unique perspectives, good perspectives, and also different languages and reflecting different cultures.
We're now onboard the portal or the window, we can share other people's information. Once we adjust to that track, going back on social media without being the primary producer, but instead being an amplifier of other people's content, made a lot more sense. Do I think it'll last forever? Who knows?
The reality is 10 years from now, who knows if we're going to be on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, or virtual implants and just connect our thoughts. I don't know. We'll be responsive to that, because we have real communities of people around the world. We have people doing this. We have athletes who are committed individuals, and we'll respond as appropriate.
What excites you most about the future of the CrossFit Games? The other side of that coin, as someone who is so heavily involved, and has been for so long, in the growth and operations of the CrossFit Games, what gives you a little bit of trepidation, or maybe occasionally keeps you up at night, in the back of your mind, when it comes to the future of the Games?
That's a great question. That is an excellent question. The thing that gives you the pit in your stomach is also, in my mind, the thing that excites me the most, which is CrossFit has assumed…We've made a lot of changes. We've planted a lot of seeds that are not planning to grow or bear fruit in a quarter or in a year.
Inviting country champions from all over the world to come to the CrossFit Games, some of them leave embarrassed or motivated, and then other people that didn't get to go to the Games saying, "Hey, I was fitter than that person, and I should have been there."
There's going to be a consequence to that, that's number one. Inviting other people to cover the sport from around the world in their language, and culturally appropriate for their audience is exciting, and risky because CrossFit declined money and we opened it up to other people.
Moving into a period where we're willing to partner with more people, say yes to more different sponsors that have global reach. There's a couple of things that if all of those things click, it creates a much larger opportunity for where we're going than what it was before.
It's hard to grow things that are owned and operated fast. If you were a franchise model, it grows at a certain rate. When you have a license model, you have other people that are sharing in the responsibility, and sharing in the opportunity. Greg has been remarkably generous, both as a patron for 13 years… [laughs] …but also allowing other people to participate in this.
That's exciting. What gives you trepidation as you go, you're also assuming a lot of risk. You're going, "Hey, it was nice the way it was," and it looked really good. I don't think anything was wrong with that.
But you take a step back and say, "Hey, what's really interesting is, if we really continue to plant seeds for the future and move in that direction." That's the part that excites me the most. What will the sport look like in five years? Maybe Mat and Tia are going to continue to compete five years not at the same level.
If history repeats itself, they will have a lifespan or a curve in their careers, and there'll be a new class of athletes in two, three, five, seven years. Where will those new athletes be coming from? I'm excited about what I see in France.
With their quality in competition, they have a lot of affiliates, they have a lot of participation in competition, and they're starting to produce top level athletes. Where will the other countries be? What will Brazil and Argentina do in rivalry against each other, or with large groups of affiliates in South America?
We're going to be the hidden countries like Iceland popup and don't have giant populations of people, but they do have highly dedicated, and a great culture to allow their individuals to be really, really competitive on a full landscape, and with more media around the world, people get captured on that content and then us able to window that…I think it's interesting. Those are the things that excite me. The scary part is to go, "Hey, this is different."
I get that it's different for everybody but the seeds that be then planted with patience…it's very believable for me to say, "Hey, if a couple of those things worked that would be really cool. And if many of those things hit, that would be really cool."
There's also a compounding effect where if multiple hit at the same time — work in succession — then it could be fun. But that comes with risk and if there's no risk, there's no real outside. CrossFit is driven, bold but taking some new risks.
Justin Bergh, thank you so much joining us today. I got a lot out of this conversation. I'm sure our listeners are going to enjoy it and I do really appreciate your time.
This seems almost like a bit of a moot point asking — given what we were talking about a few questions ago — but where is the best place for people to keep up to date with the work you're doing or maybe what goes on even behind the scenes of the CrossFit Games?
Games.crossfit.com. If you want to keep track for official scores and updates on where you're going, it's games.crossfit.com and @crossfitgames on Instagram and Facebook. Go to the website. Sounds like an old thing to say.
We'll always be there. [laughs]
It does sound a little weird to say. I normally ask that at the end of podcasts because it's an individual who has their Instagram account or something like that. If it's what we're talking about for half of the broadcast then it seems weird but hey, I have to ask it at the end.
All that aside, I really do appreciate you giving us your time and really looking forward to what's in store for the 2020 CrossFit Games.
Thanks for having me.


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Oh, to be a cat in a plastic container sailing around a bathtub
Photo: Jeremy Hogan (Getty Images)
Sometimes, you can relax by proxy if you're lucky enough to happen upon the right set of sounds or images. There are plenty of people who've figured out that ASMR videos of turtles eating food or a fake nurse whispering her way through a COVID exam do it for them, but some of us can only be calmed by more powerful stuff—stuff like a cat in a plastic container floating around a bathtub like a little sailor.
Ahsoka The Adventure Cat, like so many modern cats, has an Instagram account devoted entirely to pictures and videos of her just hanging out, being cute. Her social media presence is elevated, though, by the fact that she likes to climb into a plastic container and float around a bathtub in it. This has been thoroughly detailed in a Reddit thread by Ahsoka's owner, "aquickcupofcoffee," who posted that their cat begs to climb into the box and join her for baths.
After screenshots by @HooiWanV went viral on the sheer strength of them providing a description and image of Ahsoka enjoying what looks like the most relaxing sensation possible, the cat got her own Reddit in order to provide a steady stream of updates. Back on Instagram, though, we see evidence that Ahsoka's fascination with The Deep goes much further than just floating in containers. A born mariner, she's also been pictured on a raft, wearing a tiny cat-sized life jacket, while exploring one of our planet's larger, naturally-occurring bathtubs.
As adorable as this may be, nothing compares to the brain-soothing effects of the original video. Watching Ahsoka bob around, curled up against herself as she watches the bubbles float by, we feel a deep sense of peace unrivaled by any other videos of bizarre cat antics the internet's ever given us.
Send Great Job, Internet tips to gji@theonion.com


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Day TripsTransport
The Waterland area near Amsterdam comprises of historic fishing villages and picturesque open countryside built on polders.
It makes for a pleasant day trip from Amsterdam and the area can easily be visited using the EBS buses which depart from both Amsterdam Central and Amsterdam Noord stations.
We'll first review some of the Waterland destinations then further below we'll give more detailed information about getting around on the buses.
Volendam is an interesting place worthy of a visit, a traditional fishing village with working class roots. Although touristy, the heart of the action is in and around the harbour area with fine views looking out to the Ijsselmeer (formerly the Zuider Zee).
You will find bars and cafés, cheese shops, fish stalls selling herring and smoked eel, and the ubiquitous traditional costume shops where you can pay to dress up and take photos.
The Volendam Museum is located on Zeestraat 41, open daily 1000-1700 mid-March to mid-November.
It has an assorted collection of traditional dress, furniture and wooden interiors, art from 19th century artists who visited the area, fishing-themed displays plus large mosaics comprising of no less than 11 million cigar bands. Entry is €5 for adults or €3 for children 13-17. Free entry is available for children 0-12, Iamsterdam City Card holders and Museumkaart holders.
Views of the Markermeer lake from Volendam
Edam is a classy small town originating from the 12th century and not too far from Volendam. Settled on the Ye River, this town became prosperous through ship building and merchant trading.
Exploring its quiet back streets is certainly a marked contrast to the tourist hustle of Volendam. In the centre of town is the Damplein square with its 18th century baroque-style Town Hall.
Edam of course gives its name to the world renowned cheese – local farmers would come to the town's commercial cheese market to sell their produce.
Although the market was closed in 1922, you can see a re-enactment of the traditional cheese market during July and August on Wednesdays at the Jan van Nieuwenhuizen Square.
Marken is a historic small fishing village with charming green wooden houses built on stilts, many of which are listed buildings. Some of the older inhabitants still wear traditional dress.
Marken has a unique setting – originally an island in the Zuider Zee, it was only connected to the mainland by dyke in 1957. It is possible to rent bikes and cycle to the famous lighthouse (Het Paard van Marken, the Marken horse) about 2.5 km away.
The Marker Museum (Kerkbuurt 44-47, admission €3 for adults, €1.50 for children 0-12, free for Museumkaart holders) is open late-March to October and has paintings and local textiles on show.
The Volendam-Marken express boat (adults €8.75 one-way, €13.50 return; children 4-11 €4.38 one-way, €6.75 return) runs from the harbour and has been in operation since the 1930s.
Monnickendam is a quaint harbour village which was a wealthy trading port during the Golden age. Historic buildings include the Sint Nicolaaskerk (church) and de Waegh (weighing house, now a café).
The Museum De Speeltoren (Belfry Museum at Noordeinde 2, open Tue-Sun 1100-1700 Apr-Oct; Sat-Sun 1100-1700 Nov-Mar; €5 for adults, €3 for children 12-17, €2.50 for children 4-11) has one of the oldest carillons in Netherlands.
Monnickendam has a number of shops, cafés and restaurants and like Volendam, the smoked eel is a speciality.
Other stops in the Waterland area
Broek in Waterland is a charmingly small inland village located between Amsterdam and the fishing villages. Originally inhabited by prosperous merchants it has some beautiful old houses and a 14th century church.
Purmerend is a lively market town about 20km north of Amsterdam and a short bus ride from Edam. The main square (Koemarkt) houses the Purmerend museum. For a cool view head up the striking Melkwegbrug, an arch pedestrian bridge opened in 2012.
De Beemster is an area further north containing green polders, traditional farmhouses, windmills and the old defence line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam) made up of 42 forts. Both the Beemster polder and the defence line are UNESCO World Heritage listed.
Getting to Waterland from Amsterdam
You could consider doing a full-day guided small bus tour of Volendam, Edam and Zaanse Schans windmills
By public transport, the best way to get around the Waterland region is by bus. Local bus company EBS runs regular services throughout the area using red and grey R-NET branded buses. These modern buses have free WiFi and are wheelchair accessible. EBS covers all the main towns, villages and places of interest in Waterland.
Bus terminal at Amsterdam Central
EBS buses for Waterland depart from both Amsterdam Central and Amsterdam Noord stations. At Amsterdam Central the bus terminal is found at the IJ waterside upper level beyond train platforms 14/15. Bus departure times are clearly marked on screens.
Amsterdam Noord can be reached using the metro line 52.
Waterland day tickets cost €12.50 for adults and €1 for children aged 4-11 – these are valid on all EBS/R-NET services until 0100. Tickets can be bought at the public transport desk of the OV Servicewinkel shops or at the public transport ticket machines at Amsterdam Central.
They are also available from EBS bus drivers or thed Iamsterdam tourist information at the front side of Amsterdam central station.
Countryside views from EBS Waterland bus
BTM (Bus Tram Metro) tickets are valid for 90 minutes of travel and cost €6.50. A short ride within one of the 6 tariff borders (say Volendam to Edam) costs €2.70, with no stopovers allowed.
To validate a ticket you must check-in and check-out of your journey using the card readers on the bus. Note, Waterland tickets are not valid from Schiphol airport.
Alternatively you could also consider the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket which can also get you to other places of interest such as the Zaanse Schans windmills and Keukenhof flower garden.
This is a 1 day (€19.50), 2 day (€28) or 3 day (€36.50) ticket which is valid on all public transport in the greater Amsterdam region. This includes NS trains, regional buses (including Connexxion and EBS Waterland services) and all GVB Amsterdam buses, metro and trams.
You can buy the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket online here.
For more info see our Amsterdam public transport tickets guide
Here are some Waterland lines of interest run by EBS:
Route Line
Amsterdam Central – De Rijp
305 Purmerend
Amsterdam Central – Purmerend 306
Amsterdam Central – Hoorn 314 Broek in Waterland, Monnickendam, Edam
Amsterdam Central – Edam 316 Broek in Waterland, Monnickendam, Volendam
Amsterdam Noord – Edam 301 Purmerend
Amsterdam Noord – Edam 312 Broek in Waterland, Monnickendam, Volendam
Amsterdam Noord – Marken 315 Monnickendam
At Monnickendam, note that buses going onto Volendam, Edam and Hoorn stop on the main road. The Marken bus goes into Monnickendam and stops by the church.
This article was originally published in 2015 and has been regularly updated. Last update 1 January 2022.
Keukenhof Gardens – Spring Flower Park
Driving in Amsterdam and the Netherlands
OV Fiets – Dutch Bike Rental Scheme


There are an infinite number of reasons why we turn to well-dressed Brit Alexa Chung for style inspiration, but this lesson is definitely at the top of our list: It's never a fashion faux pas to recycle a statement wardrobe piece. Need proof? We recently spotted the trendsetter wearing her current favorite shoes on five separate occasions, but always in a refreshing and stylish way.
Which look would you wear? Do you have a pair of favorite shoes right now? Let us know in the comments below!


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TDV will be Directing TWO Music Videos in New York City for R&B/Funk Artist, John Gordon! JMU FAM!! (AUDIO) (PHOTOS)
I am excited to share that I will be directing and filming TWO music videos for John H Gordon aka "The Deacon of Funk"!!
John and I have been on this path together since 1990. We're not stopping now! In fact, we're gettin' to the good part!!
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 1993
Backstage "Rent" on Broadway with Taye Diggs, 1997
The first will be for the single, "All The Good Love". We will be filming that video the weekend of Saturday, March 1, 2014, in New York City!!!
Photo: John Gordon
I will also be directing and filming a music video for "UNTIL YOU" by John H Gordon aka "The Deacon of Funk", in April 2014, in New York City!!! I'm excited about the story for this particular video. Listen to this song and let your spirit fall in love!! John's voice is EVERYTHING!!
Photo: Verta Ayanna Photography
John Gordon for his fan page! You WANNA listen!!
ON iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/soul.funk.drunk.love./id356543795
ON Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-Funk-Drunk-Love-John-Gordon/dp/B0038VULI4
"All The Good Love"
Artist: John Gordon
Video Shoot: March 1, 2014
City: New York City
Director: TDV
Free EPK from ReverbNation.com
"Until You"
Video Shoot: April 2014
Free embed music player from ReverbNation.com


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Vatican Builds Biggest Middle East Church In Jordan
Complex erected at site where Jesus was baptized
By Young S. Lee ( [email protected] ) Jul 18, 2003 02:04 AM EDT Comment
The Vatican will build the biggest church of the Middle East in Jordan near the site where scholars believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, ANS reported.
Last week the first group of Vatican engineers arrived to inspect the location of the 5,000 square meters complex, which will be erected in a pyramid shape on the east bank of the Jordan River, says Baptism Site Commission Director Dia Al-Madani.
The church, which also includes a monastery and even an indoor lake for Baptism services, is to be constructed from old stones used in Biblical times and "can accommodate 30,000 pilgrims", explains Al-Madani in his dessert office.
Although the Vatican will fund the multi- million dollar building and a yet unknown number of priests and monks are expected to live there permanently, "believers from all denominations will be welcomed and can be baptized in the church," says Al-Madani.
"Construction of the church will begin this autumn and could be finished within three years," adds the director about what is arguable his biggest project since the Baptism Site was officially opened in 2001 as part of the world-wide Great Jubilee celebrations.
The Vatican plans were boosted by a July letter from the Patriarch of Jerusalem to the Baptism Site Commission recognizing the location near Jordan's long-lost settlement of Bethany as "the place where Jesus was baptized," he adds.
"I received the letter 10 days ago," Al-Madani says with a smile. Some Christian groups even asked one of his Muslim guides to help them explain the Bible versions related to the Baptism of Jesus.
Christians believe the historic event marked the beginning of God Son's three year ministry that was marked by His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, giving everlasting life to everyone who accept Jesus Christ as personal Saviour and Lord.
"I am a Muslim, but I am proud to work with Christians and at one of the most important sites of Christianity," says Al-Madani. "This site is very important for Jordan, it is the sunrise of faith."
Archaeologists have long believed the east bank of the Jordan river could reveal the Baptism Site and Bethany, the place where John the Baptist is said to have lived.
However Jordan's four decades of state of war with neighboring Israel changed the area into a front-line with landmines littering the landscape, making further investigations impossible.
After late King Hussein signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 accompanied by a process of demilitarization on the Jordan site of the Jordan river, archaeological excavations began in 1996 as part of the kingdom's plan to attract tourists to the Baptism Site.
But since the first foreigners arrived here two years ago, just tens of thousands of people visited the location, far below the annual 1,2 million dreamed up by the Baptism Site Commission.
Tour operators tell ANS that Jordan's tourism has been suffering because of ongoing suicide attacks in Israel and the war in Iraq. "We hope the new church will help to attract more people and that they will feel safe here to be baptized," says Al-Madani.
Yet security guards and watch towers at the Israeli site of the river are reminders of recent conflicts that have ravaged the Middle East.
A heavily armed Jordanian soldier watches as an Orthodox priest administers water from the Jordan River to a deaf and blind ten-year old boy. He apparently believes the water where Jesus was baptized, has healing power.


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Home/Music/The Killers – My Own Soul Warning Lyrics
The Killers – My Own Soul Warning Lyrics
The song "My Own Soul Warning" by The Killers was released on June 17. It is the third single from the band's upcoming album, Imploding the Mirage. The release of the album was originally planned for May 29, but the band has since postponed it. The group has not yet revealed the new release date. The lyrics to "My Own Soul Warning" are as follows:
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What is the Meaning in the Lyrics in Clint Eastwood Gorillaz?


The World of Arkonis Episode 18 – The Chase for Cassandra is on! | Roll High or Die!
The group is on the run, chasing after Cassandra to get that button back, after Akio screwed up and let split the secret of Ulfric to the Prince. What will they do as they try escape the guards and make their way to another land.
← Marvel's X-Universe 06 – The Villains are back!


We don't normally love the idea of Game of the Year editions, but Borderlands 2 truly deserves the title.
Borderlands 2 was already one of the biggest open-world games in history when it was released in the fall of 2012, so adding all the best DLC missions and new character classes was almost beside the point for people who'd delved into the first-person shooter for dozens of hours before that.
Still, it was still a welcome addition to this hilariously addictive loot-and-shoot game, where gorgeously-detailed, cell-shaded environments and characters met endlessly customizable (and often randomly generated) weaponry and skins. And while we don't normally praise the money-squeezing tactics of most Game of the Year editions, this one's a must-buy.
There have been a handful of worthy Game of the Year editions over the last few years, from the Uncharted series to The Walking Dead, Batman: Arkham City, Fallout 3 and Red Dead Redemption. If you haven't played the original, they're great values. But if a game sells even remotely well when it's first released, you can pretty much bet on a GOTY edition — which is frustrating to early adopters since it basically gives away all the great DLC that developers strung players along with in the early months.
But given Borderlands 2's massive size, and the lovingly crafted, funny, legitimately refreshing DLC on this endlessly playable game, this GOTY gets two thumbs up from this gamer.
Check out a promo video for the GOTY edition below.


I think that fit-showing jumps (FSJ) are one of the most useful competitive treatments out there. With many of my favorite partners, I play these jumps in almost all competitive situations.
The basic fit-showing jump is a fairly simple concept. When your partner bids a suit and your RHO takes an action, a new-suit jump by you shows invitational values, length and strength in the bid suit, and a fit for partner. For example, let's say I hold 742 A76 KQJ93 94. My partner opens 1H, and my RHO bids 1S. Most folks would just bid 2S, showing a limit raise or better in hearts. Playing FSJs, I leap to 3D to show this hand. Let's give partner two sample hands, and see what he would do on the two auctions.
Of course, with either hand, over 1H (1S) 2S (P), partner will take the same action (if it was me, it would be bidding game at IMPs and signing off at matchpoints, but wouldn't be sure if either was right), but over a descriptive call like 3D, partner can confidently bid game on (A) and confidently sign off with hand (B).
Of course, as with any convention, we need to ask ourselves "what are we giving up?" Here, to play FSJs, we're giving up strong or weak jump-shifts, whichever your partnership is currently using.
Over your partner's one of a suit opening and an overcall, you jump in hearts to show a powerhouse with long hearts.
Over your partner's one of a suit opening and an overcall, you jump in hearts to show an awful hand with long hearts.
Most tournament players long ago dropped the "standard" strong jump-shifts in competition in favor of the weak jump-shift. They noticed that the weak hands came up far more often than the strong ones, and, especially with the rise of Two Over One Game Forcing, the big hands had many other ways to show strength and get information out of partner.
So they moved to weak jump-shifts, in large part (in my opinion) because there weren't any other widely-publicized alternatives. I played them for a while, but noticed that even when the right hand for a weak jump-shift came up*, two or three of my long suit wasn't always the right contract. In fact, it'd often give the opponents the fielders' choice of doubling me or bidding to their best contract (remember, they've already shown values and shape on your right). So when someone explained FSJ to me, I was an overnight convert.
*Also, my partners would often not wait for the right hand to come up to make the weak jump-shift... giving the opponents even more of a fielders' choice.
Are FSJ are recommended in competitive situations only?
Without competition, what is preferred - FSJ or weak jump shift?


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SLPP can't win without SLFP; Gota takes responsibility of SLFPers
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa has assured Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(SLFP) organisers that he will take the responsibility of all SLFP members and ensure that they are not subjected to any unfair treatment by the SLPP or its loyalists.
Rajapaksa has given this assurance to the SLFP organizers who had attended the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between him and the SLFP held on Saturday (19).
He has said that he would ensure the SLFP would be granted its due respect in the SLPP campaign and afterwards.
He had further noted that he was a man of his word and that he would take the responsibility of all SLFP members supporting his campaign.
"I'm known as a man of my word and I give you the assurance that I will ensure the SLFP does not face any unfair treatment. I guarantee that," Rajapaksa has said.
The SLFP organizers has noted that although the SLPP has a vote base of five million, it could not win without the SLFP's 1.5 million vote base.
"Your five million can be larger in numbers than the SLFP's 1.5 million, but you cannot win without this 1.5 million. The SLPP needs to understand what's important," SLFP National Organizer, MP Duminda Dissanayake has said at the event.
Rajapaksa has admitted and said he could not win without the SLFP support.


It's your baby boy's First Christmas Home ornament, and it will be carefully chosen by you and personalized with care by our talented calligraphers. We have a great list of phrases for the adopted boy's welcome! Adopted with Love, First Christmas Home, Our Gift of Love from Up Above! Or feel free to compose your own special saying to make this ornament a one of a kind gift. Each year when it is time to decorate the tree your son will look in the ornament box for his very own First Christmas ornament. He's sure to want it to have the best place on the Christmas tree. He will love his ornament forever and know that he was truly "Born in Mommy's Heart"!


When it comes to productivity tools, next to your to-do list, your calendar is your best friend. You already use it to track meetings, appointments, and events with other people, but you should also organize and schedule your own work.
Ever wind up with a full day of meetings and barely a minute to breathe or get any actual work done in between? If your workdays are scheduled out with wall-to-wall commitments more often than you'd like, start making appointments with yourself first. I call this defensive scheduling–or time blocking, as discussed in an earlier episode. If you need an uninterrupted hour or two to focus on a single project, schedule that time as a meeting with yourself on the appropriate day and time, and honor the commitment the same way you'd honor a meeting with a coworker. Your time is YOUR time–and you can claim chunks of it using your calendar first.
Schedule a weekly, recurring block of time to regroup and review your projects and to-do lists and what you have accomplished that week and what you need to accomplish the next week. Productivity expert David Allen calls this the weekly review, and suggests you schedule it on Friday afternoon, after lunch, when the week is winding down but your coworkers are still around to help you tie up loose ends. If Friday doesn't work, try for Monday morning or even Sunday night.
Second, use your calendar as a time-based to-do list, to remind yourself of tasks that you must complete by a certain day. If you promised Fred you'd call him on Thursday, or you must have your invoice in by the 30th, add those tasks to your calendar on the right days so they'll appear on your agenda when you need to do them.
Along those lines, use your calendar as a tool to renegotiate and reassign personal deadlines. If an issue comes up that you're not ready to make a decision about right now, put a note on your calendar to revisit it in a week–then, forget about it. In essence you're giving yourself permission to procrastinate for a set amount of time. But when you put off tough decisions this way, it's actually quite productive. You're giving your subconscious mind time to work on the problem in the background, and make the right decision clearer to you.
Of course, the key to using your calendar to manage your time well is to always have it with you. Make sure you're either syncing your digital calendar to your phone or handheld, or that you carry your paper day planner wherever you go so you can refer to it each day.


MOST Australians will be more than compensated for the carbon tax as boosted family payments and income tax cuts are directed at more than 5.7 million households.
This is the pitch Julia Gillard will make today to voters disillusioned with the idea of a carbon tax, revealing that individuals and families earning up to $150,000 a year will get government assistance.
Ms Gillard will also use the launch to unveil sweeping reform of personal income tax, tripling the tax-free threshold to allow most Australians to keep at least the first $18,000 they earn each year.
The Sun-Herald can also reveal that fuel for heavy vehicles will not be subject to the carbon tax and Treasury modelling shows consumers will pay less than $1 more at the checkout for a typical $200 shopping trolley of goods. The same figures predict the average increase in spending on food for all households will be about 80¢ a week, including restaurant and takeaway food.
Everyday items such as Weet-Bix, tissues, bread and beer would be subject to a price rise of only 0.4 per cent. A kilogram of mince would cost 4¢ more.
Labor wants to reframe the debate on the carbon tax by entwining it with personal income tax reform based on key elements of the blueprint written by former the Treasury secretary Ken Henry.
The biggest tax cuts, of more than $500 a year, will go to individuals earning between $16,000 and $25,000 under today's final details of the compensation package. More than 5.7 million households - of 8.1 million nationwide - will get tax cuts and boosted family payments to equal the average cost-of-living rise. Most of them will be over-compensated by more than 20 per cent. In the case of a family of four on $85,000 with one full-time and one part-time earner, they will receive tax cuts and a boost to family payments worth about $380.
Almost seven in every 10 families will receive tax cuts and increased family payments. Nine in every 10 households will receive some combination of tax cuts and payments.
The Sun-Herald understands low-income families and pensioners will be about 20 per cent better off. Pensioners and some self-funded retirees will get extra payments upfront as well as a $210 ''bonus barrier''.
The $23-a-tonne carbon tax would start next July. Greens leader Bob Brown predicted that poor public polling would turn around in support of the carbon tax. He said that despite a recent Newspoll showing just 30 per cent of Australians support putting a price on carbon, their own survey of 1000 people showed 60 per cent were in favour of taxing the big polluters.
But the Nationals leader, Warren Truss, condemned the plan as ''an all-consuming black hole from which no Australian household will escape''.
The climate change sceptic Christopher Monckton told a Sydney rally yesterday that Australia would become a ''Third World banana monarchy'' if it went ahead with the carbon tax.


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SIAC Unveils Logo, Events for Centennial Celebration
ATLANTA— The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) officially unveiled its logo in commemoration of its upcoming one hundred year celebration. The conference was founded on December 30, 1913.
The official theme for the centennial celebration is "100 Years of Academic and Athletic Excellence." To that end, the conference will host marquee events in recognition of the history and tradition of the SIAC.
"When we consider the 100 year span of the SIAC, we need to be sure not to view it simply through the lens of SIAC and African-American history, but rather through the prism of Intercollegiate and American history," said SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore. "It is in this spirit that we will honor our past and recognize our future throughout the upcoming academic year in commemoration and recognition of the 100 Year History of the SIAC."
This year's list of events will be highlighted by the SIAC Football Legends Luncheon that will occur during the week of the 2013 Football Championship and the SIAC Hall of Fame Gala in February, which will mark the official return of the SIAC Hall of Fame. The conference will also celebrate its centennial through additional educational and community service related events that will occur during the 2014 SIAC Basketball Tournament.
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Pittsburg man robs, assaults woman in her home
A Pittsburg man was arrested over the weekend for allegedly breaking into woman's home and robbing her after striking her several times. more
New economic reports released
Both statewide and locally, unemployment saw a slight uptick towards the end of 2022, but other economic signs are looking a little more encouraging than they have in the past few months, according to new reports out this week. more
County explores new payroll system
For some time, the Crawford County commissioners have been looking for a better option to track and record employee working hours. One option they have considered is the system used by the sheriff's department. more
Sen. Moran hosts NSF director at Pitt State
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, along with Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland and Pittsburg State University President Dan Shipp, hosted National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan at the Tyler Research Center in Pittsburg on Friday. more
When Dexter and Jennifer Neisler saw the building next to them go up for sale on the corner of 10th and Broadway, the duo decided to create a space where the community could gather and call it The Corner Patio. more
Women of Distinction: Eva Sager
A native of Kingman, Kansas, Eva Sager came to Pittsburg in 2000 for the same reason many young people do — to attend Pittsburg State University — and she never really left. more
District 13 GOP to elect replacement for Sen. Hilderbrand
Following a fundraising dinner on Saturday hosted by the Crawford County Republican Party, on Sunday, Kansas Senate District 13 Republican precinct committee members will gather for a convention at the Columbus High School Auditorium to elect a senator to take over the seat Sen. Richard Hilderbrand is resigning from. more
Woman of Distinction: Jessica Jones
Working on what she wanted to do with her life, Jessica Jones attended Pittsburg State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. more
Officials warn of radon dangers
Gov. Laura Kelly this week proclaimed January as Radon Action Month in Kansas. Locally, too, health officials and others are sounding the alarm about the dangers of the colorless, odorless gas that is the second leading cause of lung cancer deaths in the U.S., second only to smoking. more
Mussel memory
PITTSBURG, Kan. — For its first meeting of 2023, the Sperry-Galligar Audubon Society will feature guest speaker Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Threatened and Endangered Species … more


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To develop Universal Serial Bus (USB) and PS/2 interface drivers for a mouse with custom control panel and utility.
USB is a new standard for connecting up to 127 devices through one USB port. It can be implemented USB Mouse Class for connecting mouse to PC through USB and PS/2 port. This entire solution will implement Device Driver for connecting mouse to PC through USB or PS/2 along with additional utilities. The USB Realization includes basic USB framework (USB Device Class) and USB Mouse realization (USB HID Class). Customized Mouse Control Panel is used to be implemented for extra button functionality.


Sarah Ewing is the Middle and High school art teacher at Towns County. She graduated from the University of North Georgia in 2017 with her degree in art education and a focus in ceramics. Sarah started the art program in the Middle and High school in 2017 and has been thrilled with the support and excitement from the school and community.
Alexia Chandler is from Habersham County. She received her undergraduate degree in Art/ Art Education from The University of Georgia. Alexia is currently working on her Master's degree in Art Education from Piedmont College. Being at Towns County has been a wonderful experience for her. She appreciates the support and feedback from everyone in the school and community.
Towns County Schools now offer art in the elementary, middle, and high school. The art program prides itself on creating a curriculum that keeps students engaged no matter their skill level or age by allowing them to experiment with all forms of art. In all of Towns County's art classrooms, students get to use paint, clay, printmaking, and papier-mache every year in order to produce well rounded artists.
Starting in the elementary school students take art once a week and are given a knowledge of artists and movements throughout history and create works based on the masters. The middle school program is offered as an elective, and students can choose to take it or not; students that choose to take art are able to do so from 6-8 grade. These classes build upon their knowledge of art history and begin making a personal connection to who they are as an artist. The high school art students have the ability to complete a pathway in art by taking three or more art classes. The program helps to prepare students that are planning on attending college for the arts by creating a portfolio with a range in media and a knowledge of art history.
The Towns County Art Program holds an annual art show in the elementary school gym in the month of April. The show displays work from students in the Elementary, Middle, and High school art classes. Come out and support the artists by purchasing some work and enjoying the gallery.