The best Fortune 100 companies see innovation as an ongoing capability, not a one time event. These companies work hard to build muscle around this capability so they can deploy it when they need it, where they need it, tackling their hardest problems. Companies do this to keep up with the ever changing landscape both inside and outside the firm.
What does it mean to build innovation muscle? I think of it as the number of people trained, the frequency of using an innovation method, and the percentage of internal departments that have an innovation capability. Call it an Innovation Muscle Index: N (number of trained employees) x F (number of formal ideation events per year using a method) x P (percent of company departments with at least one employee trained in an effective innovation method). IMI = N x F x P .
Building innovation muscle is not much different than building body muscle. Let's turn to an authority, http://www.muscleprogram.com/, and see how to build body muscle. Here is an exact quote taken from that website. Then I have overlaid my interpretation of it from an innovation point-of-view in parenthesis and in bold font.
"You need to decide what kind of (innovation) muscle form you're looking to achieve. Drawing on examples nearly everyone is familiar with, you need to decide if you want to look like Arnold (GE) Schwarzenegger (bigger bulk) or Bruce (Apple) Lee (lean and toned). This decision will help you determine which kinds of exercises you do and how you do them.
Now, with all of that out of the way, let's look at some things you can do to build your (innovation) muscles!
If you don't already, start getting your body (company) used to working out. Start running (innovating) every day, not jogging (brainstorming) or walking (copying others), to help get your blood (growth) moving and your (innovation) muscles primed for building. You're not running a race so you don't need to be a speed demon. Instead, maintain a comfortable and steady pace, taking long and powerful strides (initiatives).
If you want to have the lean, Bruce (Apple) Lee appearance, you need to work with lighter weights and have a higher number of repetitions (innovation workshops) in each set. By doing this, you are toning and shaping your (innovation) muscles into longer and thinner forms. If you want the Arnold (GE) look, you need to work heavier weights (more departments using innovation) and do fewer repetitions. By doing this, you are toning and shaping your (innovation) muscles into short and thicker forms.
Ensure that you have a regular plan, focusing on specific (innovation) muscle groups, and stick to it. Don't try to work every (innovation) muscle in your body every day of the week. At best, this will lead to burnout (budget crunch) and at worst it will lead to injury (downsizing). Your (innovation) muscles will be getting worked hard, so they need to have time to recuperate.
However, you should rotate your plan every month. For example, let's say that you are working on your chest, shoulders and biceps (new products) on Monday; your abdomen, forearms and upper back (new services) on Wednesday; and your lower back and legs (new strategies) on Friday. Every four weeks, rotate one day so that you'll be working on your lower back and legs on Monday; your chest, shoulders and biceps on Wednesday; and your abdomen, forearms and upper back on Friday. The following month, rotate one more day.
This will allow each of your (innovation) muscle groups to take advantage of the fact that you probably workout differently on each of those days. If you simply stick with the exact same schedule forever, then you'll find yourself quickly running into what are known as "plateaus," where you just can't seem to build that (innovation) muscle group past a certain point. With a rotation schedule, you will avoid this problem by giving each (innovation) muscle group the benefit of your natural changing body (company) rhythm.
If you keep these general guidelines in mind and consistently work at your plan with passion and intensity, your body (company) will be more toned (competitive) and shaped (growing) than you ever imagined it could be. While it won't happen overnight, it probably won't take as long as you're afraid it will."
Professor Keith Sawyer makes a useful connection between innovation and learning when he writes, "What both innovation and learning have in common is adaptability and improvisationality." He connects this idea with authors Joaquín Alegre and Ricardo Chiva from the Sloan Management Review. They identified five core features of high organizational learning capability (OLC) companies: experimentation, risk taking, interaction with the external environment, dialogue, and participative decision making. Keith has found that these five characteristics also hold true of organizations that use the power of collaboration to generate innovation. He believes that organizations high in learning ability are more likely to be innovative organizations.
I am inclined to agree. The reality though for many organizations is that they may be missing one or more of these characteristics. Yet they still must innovate to grow. What would be truly useful is a rigorous innovation diagnostic based on these five characteristics. This diagnostic could help a company identify where it is weak and where it needs to focus attention and resources. Here is how it might work.
Experimentation: The authors define this as the degree to which new ideas and suggestions are dealt with sympathetically by the organization. Measure this in several ways: the budget dollars spent on designing and running experiements, the amount of new ideas generated, and the percentage of those ideas that challenge the established order as described by Alegre and Chiva. My observation is that organizations see the value of experimenting more during the hard times than the good times. Therefore, measuring this characteristic over time would be most useful.
Risk Taking: Measure employees in terms of their tolerance for ambiguity using established testing methods. Measure organizational risk-taking in terms of the internal rate of return of projects initiated and rejected. My observation is that organizations take too little risk not because they cannot bear it from a portfolio point-of-view, but rather from an individual career risk point-of-view. People, not organizations, are afraid to fail. They play "not to lose."
Interaction with the External Environment: The authors define this as the scope of relationships with factors that are beyond the direct control or influence of the organization and include competitors, the economic system, the social system, the monetary system and the political/legal system. Measure this by the amount of money spent on direct contact with these entities. Also measure the resources spent to collect information about them. What is the net aggregage spend on issues external to the firm? My observation is that firms tend to be very good at observing and monitoring the external world, but few are excellent at interacting with it. That is the key to leveraging it for innovation.
Dialogue: Dialogue is a way of spreading information and skills throughout an organization, and it helps create multiple viewpoints. Measure both the speed, volume, and fidelity of information as it spreads through the firm. Do this by taking a new issue as it emerges and systematically studying its diffusion. Identify the information pathways, both formal and informal. My observation is that firms are improving here. They see the value in teaching employees how to 1. establish their internal network, then 2. use systematic persuasion principles to influence and change the firm.
Participative Decision Making: This refers to the level of influence employees have in the decision- making process. Measure employee satisfaction, motivation, and degree to which they feel involved and engaged. The Q12 Assessment might be an effective measurement tool in this area. My observation is that firms have gotten pretty good at this because it correlates to other success factors, not just innovation.
Alegre and Chiva note that these five characteristics combine to create an excellent snapshot of an organization's OLC. They suggest that an organization can use surveys and other internal metrics as a way of measuring its ability to learn and innovate. If an organization measures an improvement in its learning capability, it will very likely see a concurrent increase in innovation.


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Bernard Anderson
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Bernard Anderson is a Professor for Management in the University of Pennsylvania with two videos in the C-SPAN Video Library; the first appearance was a 2002 Forum. The year with the highest average number of views per program was 2017 with an average of 1,744 views per program.
Appearances by Title:c. July 29, 2002 - Present Professor, Management, University of Pennsylvania Videos: 2
Robert Woodson and Bernard Anderson on Race Relations
Robert Woodson and Bernard Anderson talked about their views on race relations in the U.S. The two men, who describe…
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Feel You Cannot Create Articles? Believe Again!
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Personally I would have wanted to see what the ramshackle version of Cafe Gruesome would look like.
My immediate concern is why is there a large rectangular artifact on the table that looks suspiciously like an image editing mask that wasn't properly removed?
Do you mean the old table?
Is that what it was? I thought he was creating new ones out of thin air, since he's a demon it wouldn't matter to him either way.


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Photo: New York Botanical Garden
New York Botanical Garden Is Getting an 'Alice in Wonderland' Style Makeover This Year
Art + Architecture Museums News
Fans of Yayoi Kusama's bright, surreal style need to mark their calendars for April 10, 2021. The famous contemporary artist will be taking over the New York Botanical Garden for an exhibition that explores her fascination with nature. The event will feature a wide range of her works both new and familiar — and yes, there will be pumpkins and polka dots.
Kusama: Cosmic Nature will be a huge, multisensory exhibit taking over the New York Botanical Garden from April 10 to October 31, 2021.
The 250-acre outdoor space, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building, and the Ross Gallery will be filled with her signature installations, sculptures mirrored spaces, as well as paintings and works on paper.
Photo: New York Botanical Garden/Facebook
Visitors will be able to view Alice in Wonderland-esque artworks like the 10-foot by 20-foot floral sculptures of Hymn of Life: Tulips; the 1,400 plastic silver and reflective globes of Narcissus Garden; and a trippy Infinity Mirrored Room. There's also the Dancing Pumpkin, a 16-foot tall gourd in a lush landscape of ferns, birches, and flowering plants. Perhaps more exciting for fans of Kusama is the Flower Obsession obliteration greenhouse. The greenhouse mirrors the artist's other "obliteration rooms," which replicate the physical experience of being surrounded by hallucinatory dots.
Due to the pandemic, only a limited number of guests will be allowed to visit the exhibition at once. Timed tickets are already available online, at $35 for adults and $15 for children between the ages of two and 12. Discounts are applied for New York residents.
A version of this article was previously published on July 22, 2019, and was updated on March 25, 2021, with more information.
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DE, VT and many other states along the east coast. Other schools that had already opened for the school year were also delayed and/or closed.
Plan for a weather emergency by first discussing options with your employer. If you're able to telecommute during weather emergencies, then bring work home whenever there's a potentially threatening forecast.
If you are able to telecommute, make sure you have time-consuming activities that your kids can do independently, such as watching a movie, or a simple art project.
If a close relative lives nearby and is able to watch your children occasionally, it's ideal, but if weather is terrible, transportation can be a problem.
Get a group of neighbors together who have children within your child's age range and create a "kid swap" group. Whenever school is cancelled, take turns hosting the children, that way, each parent will only have to take off work on occasion, rather than each time.
While some employers would not take kindly to this option, most will be understanding of your situation. Enjoy a day off with your children… after all, shouldn't family come first?
How have you dealt with last-minute school cancellations in the past? Let us know by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.


The Halstead Heritage Museum is located to the rear of The Queen's Hall, Chipping Hill, Halstead. It is manned on Wednesdays and Sundays from February to November each year between 1.30 and 4.00pm.
In addition to a variety of local history related displays and artefacts we have an extensive collection of photographs of the area, some dating back to the 1800s. We also sell a selection of local History related books (you can also see these in the publications page of this website).
Due to the size of the Museum we can only exhibit a small number of the many thousands of artefacts that we have amassed over the years. We try to update our exhibits as often as we can, and hold occasional exhibitions focusing on specific subject areas.
Adapted from a speech originally given by the Society's Patron, Adrian Corder-Birch, at the opening of the Halstead Heritage Museum on 26th April 2009 and updated in January 2018.
The Halstead Heritage Museum, located at the Queens Hall, Chipping Hill, Halstead is the latest, but not the first location occupied by Halstead and District Local History Society for a museum, since its formation in 1976.
The history starts in 1980 when through the generosity of Evans Electroselenium Limited (EEL) the Society was given the use of 23 Parsonage Street. This was previously an empty cottage near the entrance to the former Evans car park. It consisted of two floors with a large ground floor room, set up as a museum, but it was never called a museum and was always known as the Headquarters. The opening ceremony took place in September 1980 attended by Arthur and Phyllis Evans, who travelled from their home in the Channel Islands, Ted Hall, also a Director of EEL and a Vice President of the History Society and our first President, Sir Ronald Long, who later became our first Patron. A few years later new management at EEL, by then called Corning Medical, asked the History Society to vacate its Headquarters because they wanted to convert it back to a dwelling for an employee.
The Society then occupied part of the first floor of the former Kings Head Public House in Colchester Road for storage and some committee meetings' were held there. The occupation of this second building was only temporary until the Society moved into the Brewery Chapel, Adams Court, off Trinity Street in 1985.
The Chapel was the first real museum and was known as the 'Brewery Chapel Museum'. This was conveniently situated near to the workshops of Halstead Retirement Industries who carried out much useful work in the museum including the construction of shelving and a new wooden floor. The occupation of the Chapel was made possible through the generosity of Halstead Town Council following lengthy negotiations between Adrian Corder-Birch and two successive Mayors namely Tony DeFrates and Michael Gage. The Town Council owned the freehold and allowed the History Society to occupy it at a peppercorn rent namely five pence a year. A grand opening took place in 1985 performed by Victor Gray, then County Archivist for Essex. The Brewery Chapel Museum flourished for many years with numerous different exhibitions relating to the history of Halstead and District. The Society was required to vacate the Chapel when the lease expired in 2006.
The collection was then placed in storage at the former Town Council Offices at the Mill House in The Causeway, where there was significant storage space in the attics. By 2008 the Town Council allowed the use of a room on the ground floor for a Museum and in April 2009, Halstead Heritage Museum opened and this location very proved successful. Unfortunately in 2016 Halstead Town Council were given notice to vacate the Mill House by early 2018, which included the museum.
Following careful consideration the Town Council decided to convert part of the Queens Hall into council offices, a museum and storage area. The work was completed by late November and the museum collection was moved during December 2017. The museum was officially opened by Shirley Diver (Mayor of Halstead) on Saturday 3rd February 2018.
During the last forty years many members of Halstead and District Local History Society have been active in looking after its collections, including both archives and artefacts and also arranging exhibitions. These members have included Albert Cross, Alan Woodfield, Graham Slimming, Anne Stockill, Brian Turner, Penny Hill and Jim Davis. They have been supported with much practical hard work by staunch dedicated members such as Mary Downey, Doreen Potts, Doreen Middleton, Geoffrey Copsey, Percy Bamberger, Adrian Corder-Birch, David Baylis, Dave Osborne, John Miners, Andy Harris, Malcolm Root, David Tarbun, Jane Winch, Elizabeth Fall and John Walmsley. The Museum has also benefited from curatorial advice from Jean Grice and Robert Rose of Braintree District Museum. It is through the hard work, long and loyal service of these and other members that the collections of the Halstead and District Local History Society have grown and been preserved during the last forty years for the benefit of Halstead and District.
The new Halstead Heritage Museum will continue in the tradition set during the last forty years. Under the guidance and encouragement of Jim Davis and other volunteers, the considerable value of this important resource will undoubtedly continue to grow and prosper.


TORONTO – September 26, 2017 – Blueprint, a leading provider of business-IT alignment solutions, today announced that it has joined the Scaled Agile Partner Network.
Members of the Scaled Agile Partner Network are recognized as being able to help facilitate and accelerate business results using the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®), the world's leading framework for enterprise agility. SAFe has proven to help businesses address the significant challenges of developing and delivering high-quality software and systems in the shortest sustainable lead time.
Storyteller, Blueprint's Agile planning platform, designed for large scale, enterprise Agile adoption, is the only solution that bridges the gap of aligning business stakeholders throughout the Scaled Agile IT delivery process. Storyteller uniquely supports SAFe Value Streams by ensuring that business objectives are accurately defined, tracked, and delivered as they flow through Agile Release Trains. Storyteller enables the decomposition of these objectives into features, from value streams down through program increments and iterations.
Supporting digital transformation at an enterprise scale requires a synergy of process, people, and technology. As it stands, SAFe addresses processes in the form of its exceptional enterprise agility framework – and people, through their ecosystem of services partners. The addition of Blueprint to this ecosystem now addresses technology needs via best-of-breed enterprise Agile products like Storyteller.
Blueprint will be demoing Storyteller at the 2017 SAFe Summit in San Antonio in October. Visit Blueprint at booth 11 to see the potential of this new partnership in shaping enterprise transformation.
Download a free trial of Storyteller today to realize the value Storyteller can bring to your SAFe implementation.
Scaled Agile, Inc. helps enterprises build better systems, increase employee engagement, and improve business outcomes through adoption of Lean-Agile principles and practices based on the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe). The Boulder-based organization supports over 130,000 practitioners of the Framework through training, certification, services, and a global partner network that reaches over 35 countries. For more information on Scaled Agile and SAFe, visit scaledagile.com.


Jackson entered the Hall at a Barclays Center ceremony Friday night with Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks -- who became the first woman inducted into the Hall twice. Also inducted were The Cure, Def Leppard, The Zombies, Radiohead, and Roxy Music.
"Never in a million years" did Jackson expect to make it to the Hall of Fame -- and she added that watching her brothers, the Jackson Five, be inducted in 1997 was one of her proudest moments.
Jackson was inducted by fellow singer-actress Janelle Monáe.
Jackson also had a special message for her fans.
"You've been with me every step of the way, through all my ups, all my downs. I have never, I never have and I never will take you for granted," she said. "I love you with all my heart."
The new class of inductees shares space in Hall of Fame with the likes of Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Etta James, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Simon & Garfunkel.
For The Zombies, induction into the hall was a long time coming. Rod Argent, the group's lead singer, gave a clue to how long the band has been around "Elvis actually had our records on his jukebox," he said.
The band was first proposed for the Hall about 30 years ago. They were passed over again in 2017 and 2018.
"To have finally passed the winning post this time -- fantastic," Argent said.
The full ceremony airs on HBO on April 27.


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News / National / 4 out of 5 Pinoys say their quality of life worsened in past year — SWS
4 out of 5 Pinoys say their quality of life worsened in past year — SWS
Published November 5, 2020, 1:37 PM
by DHEL NAZARIO and ARGYLL B. GEDUCOS
Four out of five adult Filipinos said their quality of life worsened in the past year, thus making it one of the worst trends in survey history according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The survey, conducted from September 17 to 20 found that 82 percent of adult Filipinos said their quality-of-life got worse (Losers), versus 11 percent that said it was the same (Unchanged), and six percent who said it got better (Gainers), compared to a year ago.
SWS said that the resulting Net Gainers score (percentage of Gainers minus percentage of Losers) of -76 for September 2020 is "catastrophic" (-50 and below).
It added that this score joins SWS's worst trends in survey history, having recorded -78 in May and -72 in July during the COVID-19 crisis. The only other time the score reached catastrophic level was in June 2008 at -50, during rice and oil price hikes.
Malacañang is attributing the reported worsening quality of life of Filipinos to the COVID-19 pandemic that caused months of lockdown and unemployment.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after 82 percent of Filipino adults said their quality of life got worse in the past year, based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
In his Thursday presser, Roque said that that Palace is saddened by the outcome of the survey. However, he said that the rise of so-called "losers" was due to the current global health crisis.
"Siyempre po nalulungkot tayo diyan pero 'yan naman po ay dahil sa pandemya (Of course we are saddened about that but that is due to the COVID-19 pandemic)," he said.
Roque, however, said that the Philippines will soon be able to get back on its feet, especially with the hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine.
SWS pointed out that the "catastrophic" characterization applies to all areas of the country. It is -80 in the Visayas, -76 in Metro Manila, -75 in Balance Luzon, and -74 in Mindanao.
Compared to July 2020 figures, all areas experienced a worsening in their Net Gainers scores: Mindanao experienced the biggest drop of 9 points; the Visayas, five points; Metro Manila with four points; and Balance Luzon with one point.
The score hardly differs between those with a job and the jobless.
Net Gainers is significantly worse among those who did not graduate from college.
Among college graduates, the score is -64. Meanwhile, among those with less education, the score ranges from -72 to -83. The score is worst among those who only finished up to some junior high school education
It is -73 among those with a job, -77 among those who never had a job, and -79 among those who do not have a job at present but used to have one.
Hunger is significantly greater among Losers than the Gainers and the Unchanged.
Among Losers, 34 percent experienced involuntary hunger (24 percent moderate, 10 percent severe). Meanwhile, 23 percent of Gainers and 17 percent of the Unchanged went hungry.
Meanwhile, adults from families that were involuntarily hungry in the last three months had a higher Losers score than those that were not. As a result, the Net Gainers score was -84 among the hungry, compared to only -72 among the non-hungry.
Further, the score does not vary by the degree of hunger experienced; those who experienced severe ("often" and "always") and moderate ("only once" and "a few times") hunger both tallied a score of -84.
SWS shared that the survey question on quality-of-life trends in the past 12 months has been fielded 137 times since April 1983.
Data were gathered through mobile phone interviews of adult Filipinos (18 years old and above), randomly drawn from a database of mobile phone numbers compiled from SWS national and subnational representative face-to-face surveys since 2017.
SWS noted a sampling error margin of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±6% for the Visayas, and ±6% for Mindanao.
["national","news","news"]
COVID-flu joint booster jab possible late 2023: Moderna


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Q: Switching between views not working for iPhone 5.1 (XCode 4.3.2) I'm trying to develop an iPhone app that uses 4 views(View-based app), and I want to navigate from one view to the other. It would be ideal if for example the Submit ID button automatically sent a message to UIViewController to switch to View 2, and selecting a cell in View 2 would load View 3.
See a screenshot of the Storyboard here.
I'm not sure how to do that, so I've tried using a separate button to switch between views, but that isn't working either and I can't figure out why.
You can have a look at the source code which I've uploaded to Dropbox.

A: First, I would suggest posting your code in your question. As appreciative as I'm sure other people are that you provided a dropbox link to the code, most people presumably have little interest in downloading the file to their computer, unzipping, and launching the project (me being one of them).
That being said, let's make sure you're clear on Storyboards and the general view controller hierarchy principles. You have, in your storyboard, four UIViewControllers dragged out into your workspace. So, you're not switching the views of a single UIViewController, telling it to switch from View1 to View2 to View3 and so on. You need to be telling the view controller hierarchy (which, in your case, probably needs to be managed by a UINavigationController), to push and/or pop view controller on and off its stack. It appears that you have some segues set up between your view controllers. Are you calling performSegueWithIdentifier:sender: in your code? Alternatively, you could hook up the Submit ID button to perform a push segue to View Controller 2 in much the same manner.
Once you have that working, you can override prepareForSegue:sender: to send information from ViewController1 to ViewController2 and so on.

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BasicQ Inc. has joined the online shopping business with a little different approach. Instead of just offering the new or replacement, BasicQ has every item available from two of the largest vendors in the industry, Kirsch and Graber. From arch to curtain rods, to corner curtain rods, a nice selection is available at affordable prices. Extension brackets, extra slides, curtain rod splice hardware and valance or cornice board brackets are just a few examples of the items available. A fuul catalog of the Kirsch line is available in pdf format to help you in your search for that illusive item to finish the job. When you think curtain rods, think Basicq, this is the only term you need to enter in your search engine to find a world of items for your window.


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The Interview: Health Service Executive CIO Richard Corbridge (video)
Richard Corbridge, CIO of the HSE and CEO of eHealth Ireland
The man tasked with healing Ireland's broken healthcare system from a digital perspective is Richard Corbridge, an accomplished innovator who has streamlined systems at the NHS and who was ranked among the top 100 CIOs in the UK. As CIO of the Health Service Executive (HSE), can he transform healthcare in Ireland for the better?
If you don't have to experience the anguish of suffering chronic delays and inefficiencies in the Irish healthcare system as a patient or relative of a sick person, there is also the anguish from a taxpayer's perspective of the gigantic money pit it has become, swallowing up to €15bn a year without any sign of improvement.
The heart of the problem isn't just capacity and availability of beds, doctors or nurses, it is organisation and the bloated paper-based bureaucracy that Ireland's network of hospitals and clinics has become through under-investment in IT.
All that may be about to change if a young and industrious new CIO called Richard Corbridge has his way in terms of initiatives like creating a new Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) for every citizen of Ireland, the introduction of electronic referrals by GPs directly to hospitals and pioneering new IT initiatives to map genome sequencing that could save the lives of up to 100 Irish-born children every year.
'This isn't a technology project. One of my biggest lessons learned from working anywhere in health technology is that if you turn it into a technology project it will not succeed. This is about clinical engagement and patient-leading projects'
– RICHARD CORBRIDGE, HSE
Corbridge is seen as a rising star on the CIO landscape and is leading the digital transformation of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Ireland's equivalent to the UK's NHS. He is also the CEO of eHealth Ireland, a vehicle established to accelerate innovation created in the process of transforming the HSE.
Prior to joining the HSE in December 2014, he was CIO of the NHS's National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network where he garnered a reputation for implementing bold new strategies that yielded sterling results.
Last week, Corbridge announced a public consultation to get the public's feedback on the EHR, especially from a data privacy perspective. This is significant because other countries trying to introduce similar systems didn't engage with the public.
In the latest budget for the HSE, out today (16 December), it is estimated that €720m of next year's funding will be needed to maintain existing services, while there is a provision of €100m for the development of new services.
Ireland could catch up with the NHS by 2020
Corbridge explained that the Individual Health Identifier (IHI)– a unique number assigned to individuals using health and social care services in Ireland – is the first step on a journey to making information flow much easier across all the services.
"The IHI went live as a proof-of-concept in the second week of September. All that means is we have tested the fact that we can uniquely identify every person in Ireland and we can share that into systems as they come online."
In the first quarter of 2016, Corbridge said that the plan is to build this into an industrial-scale system that can work with different platforms. The trial will involve 35 GPs and the LauraLynn Children's Hospice in Dublin.
"That means those systems can start to share information about patients and uniquely identify those patients.
"The IHI is a building block to identify who you are and where you live, the next stage is the Electronic Health Record itself and in December we went live with the public consultation to ask people how they would like to see an electronic record handled, how they would like to see consent handled, what are the privacy issues and how do they want their health information to be looked after."
Corbridge said that as CEO of eHealth Ireland the idea is to take innovations created during the transformation of the health system and turn them into technology-enabled solutions.
"EHealth Ireland is a new function and it is not clear what we are going to make yet. That gives us a brilliant opportunity as clinicians, as patients and as technologists to come together and work out what a digital fabric for health delivery in Ireland looks like."
He said the plan is to create an ecosystem that will encourage start-ups, for example, to connect with the health system to trial products and gain insights.
One of the earliest innovations to emerge from eHealth Ireland is HealthLink, which enables GPs to do electronic referrals directly to hospitals while the patient is in the doctor's surgery.
"We envisage this will be a solution that connects every GP to every hospital in Ireland. By Christmas, 50pc of hospitals in Ireland will be able to accept electronic referrals," claimed Corbridge. "The next time you are at your GP as a patient, ask for your referral to be done electronically and you will find that before you leave the GP's practice your referral will have landed in the hospital.
"The confidence this brings you as a patient, hopefully, is huge, because you know your appointment is being looked after by the hospital and is no longer sitting in the post box in an envelope. It is in the hospital for people to deal with."
'Ireland could skip two of those cycles because it can learn from the lessons and mistakes of the UK and other countries and get to the point that by 2020 we have caught up with what the NHS delivers'
If Corbridge has his way, the digital transformation of the HSE will bring Ireland's healthcare infrastructure up to par with that of the UK's NHS by 2020.
He said that often the time difference between technology and innovation in healthcare is 15 years. "If you break that into three five-year cycles, Ireland could skip two of those cycles because it can learn from the lessons and mistakes of the UK and other countries and get to the point that by 2020 we have caught up with what the NHS delivers.
"That will be a phenomenal place for the healthcare system to be in: where we can talk about real information digitally available to clinicians and to patients."
Having been aware of IT projects in the past that have been costly failures, not only because of the technology but often because of executives in the HSE's unwillingness to change or have their personal fiefdoms disrupted, I ask Corbridge a pointed question: What is harder to change, people or processes?
"This isn't a technology project," he said. "One of my biggest lessons learned from working anywhere in health technology is that if you turn it into a technology project it will not succeed. This is about clinical engagement and patient-leading projects.
"I am the CIO of the HSE and yet I stand up and say I don't want to have IT projects.
"Projects should be clinically led. We have just finished the clinical evaluation of the maternity and newborn system, which goes live in the first three hospitals next year. This was clinically-led and the result was that trainee nurses in Cork stopped me in the hospital and said they can't wait for the system. It does what the clinician needs it to do to support their work.
"It is not like IT has just unwrapped a box and left it on a desk. It is the clinicians themselves who have made it look and feel like the clinical journey."
In this time of Apple Watches featuring medical applications, not to mention the Google-backed 23andMe biotech company focused on genomics, I ask Corbridge how innovation aimed at unblocking bureaucratic bottlenecks will keep pace with the breakneck speed of medical development.
"It is huge. Technology has moved so far so quickly. Personalised healthcare is a huge topic and how do we actually make sure that the clinical journey is centred around you, the patient, through the information and the systems that are there.
"The internet of things could deliver so much more into the patient's home, keeping patients out of hospital and allowing us to look in and see what's happening."
One of three LightHouse innovation projects for 2016 is the creation of the epilepsy EHR, which will allow patients to update their record straight from their smartphone.
"For a healthcare system that hasn't really done technology, imagine an epilepsy patient being able to write to their clinician from their mobile phone and add to their record whatever happened that day.
"Perhaps the most exciting piece that we are planning to look at next year is the genomic sequencing of a thousand under-fives to understand the type of epilepsy they have.
"The only way to treat epilepsy of an under-five is to just keep trying the different treatments until you land on the right one.
"But if you sequence the genome and spot the deformed gene you can actually then target the right treatment straight away."
Not only could this save €5m per year on drugs, but it could save the lives of children.
"It will save 90 lives every year and that for me is hugely exciting, being able to take that piece of technology – not just IT but technology generally – and apply it to a real healthcare system in Ireland and make a difference in one year."
If Corbridge is right and his vision of catching the HSE up with its UK counterpart NHS by 2020 in technology terms comes to fruition, then we will all be the better for it.
In-Depth: Five-Minute CIO
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text:
KidZania teachers' night attracts 300 teachers
KidZania London stayed open late on Wednesday night so teachers could take a look around the attraction and see what it offers in terms of school trips.
More than 300 teachers checked in through the educational attraction's airport arrivals hall in order to look around the 75,000 foot replica city.
Many brought their own children with them, so they could see first-hand the ways in which young people engaged with the activities.
Every teacher took home a copy of School Travel Organiser magazine.
Learning at KidZania
KidZania has been designed to allow children to take the lead on their own learning.
The best way to approach a visit is to allow pupils their freedom to explore and make their own decisions about which of the 60 activities they want to try.
School visits are suitable for pupils aged four to 14 and learning opportunities are cross curricular.
Pupils can learn about money and savings through the use of their very own KidZania 'debit card', learn art in the animation studio, music in the Music Academy, science in the Forensic lab, and learn about food and cooking with brands like Cadbury and Innocent.
A typical school visit to KidZania lasts roughly four hours and packed lunches can be organised if necessary.
From June pupils will also be able to access KidZania Online, which will feature resources to help them prepare for a visit.
Sir William Atkinson, former head teacher at Phoenix High School in Hammersmith and Fulham said:
"KidZania has the potential to significantly challenge, extend and enhance young learners' ability to chart their own learning through a range of exciting and innovative pathways."
TFL School Party Travel Scheme
Schools within the Greater London area can register for free travel to KidZania through Transport for London.
Application forms can be completed online.
To find out more about school visits to KidZania visit london.kidzania.com/en-uk.
KS1 (Ages 5-7)
KS2 (Ages 7-11)
KS3 (Ages 11-14)
KidZania London to hold Careers Festival for Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils
KidZania London is inviting children to a Careers Festival to coincide with National Careers Week to help inspire the next generation of workers.
PGL launches 'Pioneers' programme for primary school pupils
School activity and adventure provider PGL has unveiled its Pioneers programme for Years 3 and 4 pupils which has been specially created with younger children in mind to develop independence and build confidence.
New exhibition highlights the life and times of Anne Boleyn for pupils at Hever Castle
The first of a series of exhibitions detailing the life and times of Anne Boleyn will launch at Hever Castle in the spring, 500 years to the day she made her debut at court in 1522.
More News & Ideas
New Learning Outside the Classroom Yearbook will be the 'go-to guide' for teachers
A brand new, annual guide from the team at School Travel Organiser, the Learning Outside the Classroom Yearbook will be an essential reference full of great ideas and advice for teachers to plan and deliver successful school trips and residentials.
Funding boost to help West Midlands schools learn more about nature
Two charities have been awarded a grant of £1.7 million from the Government's Green Recovery Challenge Fund to create more wildlife habitats in the West Midlands and engage more children in the region with nature.
Schools invited to experience Tower of London's 'Superbloom' display
A 'vibrant sea of flowers' will take over the Tower of London's moat in 2022 to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen.


text:
May 6, 2017 by Jeff Davis
Charles Spurgeon's Ministry and Role in the "Down Grade" Controversy
Throughout the history of the church, God has called and equipped individuals to stand opposed to apostasy and indifference, which attempts to cause moral and doctrinal decay. During the late nineteenth century, such an occasion arose as many so-called English Baptist pastors became so infatuated with worldly pursuits that many churches stopped engaging in prayer meetings and some even went as far as hosting dramas in the house of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was the man God called and equipped to shine the light of truth on the moral and doctrinal decay of the nineteenth century, which sought not only to "downgrade" the Baptist denomination, but also the life-saving gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Spurgeon was a man of humble beginnings, but someone who the Lord used greatly to preserve and spread the Word of God. This paradigm is seen throughout Scripture, which always leads one to the conclusion that it could only have been God working through the individual to accomplish what had been done. By looking back to Spurgeon's upbringing, influences, and calling to ministry, the aim of this paper will detail how Spurgeon developed his faith, which led to his strong convictions and captivating preaching style. In addition to the many contributions Spurgeon made to Baptists, this paper will also look at the climate of Darwinism and Liberalism and how these theories and philosophies impacted the church. Lastly, this paper will highlight the long-lasting impacts of the "Down Grade" controversy and the legacy Spurgeon has left behind. The commitment, exhibited by Spurgeon, to moral and doctrinal purity is just as relevant to the church today as it was during the nineteenth century. Just as there was a multiplicity of factors attempting to oppose or water down the message of the gospel, the climate of the present-day church is much the same, if not worse. It will take men and women with the zeal and commitment of Spurgeon to combat these forces, in an effort, to transform the world, instead of being conformed by it. There are some hills worth dying on and for Spurgeon this was evident in everything he practiced, preached, and his resolve in the "Down Grade" controversy.
HIS CALLING
Born into an Anglican household in Kelvedon, Essex, in 1834, Spurgeon would experience a life-changing conversion at a young age. God would use general revelation, in the form of a snowstorm to force Spurgeon to take shelter in Newtown, Colchester and it would be in a Methodist chapel that God illuminated the special revelation of His word, thus opening Spurgeon's heart to the life-saving message of salvation. John Pitt further enlightens how, "Spurgeon's conversion was as dramatic as any found in the history of Christian centuries and was entirely true to the evangelical tradition. Although only sixteen when the great transaction took place, young Spurgeon was under very deep conviction of sin – much like John Bunyan's conversion experience, it was an emotional crisis of the most severe kind."[1] Spurgeon believed salvation required a radical change and, "This change is a thorough and sweeping one, and operates upon the heart, and life of the convert… [And] the Bible is meant for mankind, and our text refers to any man, of any country, and any age."[2] An early Scripture which captivated Spurgeon was Isaiah 45:22: "Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Spurgeon and John Oswalt reveal how this passage illustrates, "There is a call to experience the same salvation that the Israelites have experienced. To be sure, that experience is predicated on a turning around and looking to the Lord in trust."[3] As a show of trust in God's plan, Spurgeon moved to Cambridge, England where he engaged in teaching Sunday school. Not knowing what the future held for Spurgeon, his first sermon actually occurred by filling in for a friend and it was given in a small cottage in Teversham. Shortly after, Spurgeon would become the pastor of a small Baptist church in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, which is where his first published gospel tract was produced in 1853. Early in his ministry, his preaching style and ability stood him apart from his contemporaries and by the age of nineteen, Spurgeon would become the pastor of London's largest Baptist congregation, the New Park Street Chapel. Over the course of his life, it is estimated Spurgeon preached close to four thousand sermons and has close to fifty published works ranging from commentaries to sermons and devotionals. Spurgeon's style of preaching attracted crowds of up to ten thousand people at the young age of twenty-two. Each week, he would write out his sermons and at the pulpit he would simply use an outline of the message, while stenographers transcribed the sermon, which would later be sold for a penny. To this day, these publications remain one of the most widely circulated and best selling publications.
CONTRIBUTION TO BAPTISTS
Spurgeon practiced what he preached and he taught believers how to find instruction everywhere and even how to gather lessons from unpleasant circumstances. Spurgeon illustrates, "Many are stung by nettles, but few are taught by them. Some men are hurt by briers, but Solomon was improved by them, so do not begin stinging yourself with nettles, grip them firmly, and then use them for your soul's health. Trials and troubles, worries and turmoils, little frets and little disappointments, may all help you if you will look upon them and receive instruction."[4] During his ministry, Spurgeon came under fire when he challenged the Church of England on the matter of baptismal regeneration, but due to his resolve, he never backed down. Craig Skinner reveals, "Theologically, Spurgeon's greatest facility was his ability to declare the paradox of God's will working in conjunction with man's… reaching into heights and depths of argument and illustration well beyond many of his contemporaries."[5] He had an overly compassionate heart and believed firmly in the missional responsibility of the local church and Spurgeon was very good friends with James Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. He was also very active in opposing slavery, which was a major issue facing America, which ultimately caused him to lose the support of the Southern Baptist Convention. Spurgeon believed:
Not so very long ago our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philanthropists endeavored to destroy slavery; bat when was it utterly abolished? It was when Wilberforce roused the church of God, and when the church of God addressed herself to the conflict, then she tore the evil thing to pieces. I have been amused with what Wilberforce said the day after they passed the Act of Emancipation. He merrily said to a friend when it was all done, 'Is there not something else we can abolish?' That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the church of God. She lives in conflict and victory; her mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land.[6]
Just because something was popular or just because the majority was of the opinion the action was justified did not mean it was so in God's eye and the debate over slavery was such an instance. Gregory Wills illuminates how Spurgeon's ecclesiology rested squarely on the experience of regeneration. Wills explains, "[Spurgeon's] commitment to the centrality of regeneration (new birth) shaped his ecclesiology from local polity to evangelical union. [Additionally,] Spurgeon's church polity included three commitments: regenerate church membership, believer's baptism, and congregational church polity."[7] These three pillars of the church were fundamental in Spurgeon's organizational methods and he believed each of these was revealed in Scripture. Regeneration was where Spurgeon's Baptist identity grew out from, but because of his stand for orthodoxy, he would eventually withdraw from the Baptist Union in 1887. This was in part due to the Baptist Union allowing modernist ministers in its membership, which Spurgeon believed weakened regeneration. Wills further demonstrates, "As modernism grew more popular, American Baptists based their ecclesiology increasingly on evangelical essentials, [so] when Spurgeon withdrew, the hailed him as a great Baptist Champion."[8]
Spurgeon believed Christ established the church according to a pattern, which made the polity of the church a matter of revelation and not one of expediency. This led to a Tabernacle process, which examined the life, character, and testimony of applicants before membership was granted. Spurgeon also held to the notion that Christ required congregational church government or independency. This would allow a certain level of autonomy, thus allowing churches the capability of exercising all the functions of a church of Christ. Spurgeon also believed each church should be able to appoint a minister instead of the common ordination process. He also believed in the distinction between elders and deacons of the church. Elders, he believed, should counsel others and help those searching for the way to salvation and also care for the sick and needy. Deacons, then, should be responsible for the finances, logistics of the service, and the maintaining of church discipline. Pitts adds, "Spurgeon's ministry was Christo-centric, [because] for him, every road led to Christ. However he dealt with a text – and he was a master of the art of homiletics – it was always full of the gospel; and no sermon ended without bringing the hearers face-to-face with the claims and challenge of the Lord of all Good Life."[9] Interestingly, Spurgeon would not offer a traditional altar call at the conclusion of his services; instead, he would invite them to come back on Monday to visit him in his office. However, he would invite those down who had already made a commitment to following and serving the Lord.
DOWN GRADE CONTROVERSY
William Estep illuminates how, "Spurgeon lived in an age conditioned by an intellectual and a religious climate quite different from our own."[10] With his tremendous fame and the high-demand for his sermons, he encountered some harsh criticism, especially in the climate and landscape of Darwinism and Liberalism. Spurgeon saw through the facade and recognized how these theories and philosophies were attempting to weaken the Baptist faith. These were hills worth dying on and Spurgeon believed, "Assuredly the New Theology can do no good towards God or man; it, has no adaption for it. If it were preached for a thousand years by all the most earnest men of the school, it would never renew a soul, nor overcome pride in a single human heart."[11] Leon McBeth cites the "Down Grade" as being the most serious controversy faced by the English Baptists in the late nineteenth century. McBeth then reveals how, "The controversy broke out in London and swirled around two outstanding Baptist leaders, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and John Clifford. Historians reckon that the controversy ended with the death of Spurgeon in 1892, but its consequences have still continued."[12] The controversy led to a split from the Union, resulting in Spurgeon's church being the largest self-standing church. Against this backdrop, Dennis Swanson explains, "At the height of the Down-Grade Controversy Spurgeon and others created and signed a statement of faith stating the doctrines that distinguished them from those in the Baptist Union who were on the "down grade." In 1891, The Sword and Trowel published the statement, which dealt with the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures."[13] Swanson then expounds how the "Down Grade" Controversy might have begun with the publication of two articles in Spurgeon's widely distributed monthly journal, The Sword and Trowel, but were actually the product of Spurgeon's close friend Robert Shindler. It was in this publication that Spurgeon, "Inserted a footnote on the first page of each of the "Down Grade" articles where he called for 'earnest attention' on the part of the readers, with the urgent warning that 'we are going down hill at break-neck speed.'"[14] The first article addressed the issue of nonconformist churches falling prey to theological error and despite the churches being established as Calvinistic in faith, rarely would any last past two to three generations. Swanson then shows how, "The second article continued the discussion of theological "Down Grade" concentrating on the Baptist churches [pointing out] earlier church leaders, although themselves sound in doctrine, had not been sufficiently bold to confront error."[15] Spurgeon and Shindler believed, "The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the authority of God's Word, he will not entertain any sentiment contrary to its teaching."[16] On the last point of a departure from Calvinistic doctrine, Shindler and Spurgeon seem more concerned about adhering to core evangelical truths and biblical inspiration than adhering to Calvinism. It also seems clear that Spurgeon had no aim in reopening old wounds over the Calvinist-Arminian debates. In fact, Spurgeon actually wrote, "The present struggle is not a debate upon the question of Calvinism or Arminianism, but of the truth of God versus the inventions of men. All who believe the gospel should unite against that 'modern thought' which is its deadly enemy."[17] During the entire controversy, Spurgeon is consistently seen striving for unity, but not at the expense of compromising the gospel message or core doctrinal beliefs. Even when he withdrew from the Union, it was done in an endeavor to maintain unity. The Union did not feel the same and issued a vote of censure against Spurgeon as a final blow in the controversy, leading many to revere him as a martyr to the faith.
Throughout the Down Grade controversy, Swanson explains how the charge was made that "Spurgeon was motivated by his desire to force conformity within the Union to his Calvinistic theology."[18] At this point in the controversy, Spurgeon was surprised by the reaction his articles had received and in many ways by the lack of any reaction. Spurgeon grieved, "A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese."[19] However, Spurgeon steadfastly refuted this charge, declaring: "Certain antagonists have tried to represent the 'Down-Grade' controversy as a revival of the old feud between Calvinists and Arminians. It is nothing of the kind. Many evangelical Arminians are as earnestly on our side as men can be."[20] Even when other Separatist Baptists tried to convince him to start a new denomination, he declined saying, "There are denominations enough. A new denomination would not be any safer than the old – heretics could enter a new one as well as an old."[21] Battling the moral and doctrinal decay within the denomination took a toll on Spurgeon, as Estep further explains how, "The Down Grade Controversy took a greater toll on Spurgeon's life and ministry than any other similar experience, [yet] when the Baptist leaders asked for documentation [proving Spurgeon's claims,] he promised to protect the anonymity of his informer, Samuel Harris Booth, Secretary of the Union."[22] Sworn to confidentiality, Spurgeon was a man of his word and never named names. McBeth believes, "Spurgeon's refusal to name those who had embraced heresy may have grown out of Spurgeon's belief if he named them, it would have introduced personalities into the discussion. Further, he pointed out that the Baptist Union had no doctrinal standard except a belief in immersion. [Ultimately,] Spurgeon wanted the Union to adopt a doctrinal statement." This would have ended the controversy, united the Union, and quite possible extended the life of Spurgeon who died in 1892 at the age of fifty-seven.
In the second article, Spurgeon gave specific examples of how tolerance had led to disaster, writing that the, "Tadpole of Darwinism was hatched in a pew of the old chapel in High Street, Shrewsbury, where Charles Darwin had received his religious training and was first introduced to skepticism by a pastor who was enthralled with Socinianism."[23] Shindler and Spurgeon attributed the common denominator for those caught up in the "Down Grade" being:
The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the authority of God's Word, he will not entertain any sentiment contrary to its teaching. 'To the law and to the testimony,' is his appeal concerning every doctrine. He esteems that holy Book, concerning all things, to be right, and therefore he hates every false way. But let a man question, or entertain low views of the inspiration and authority of the Bible, and he is without chart to guide him, and without anchor to hold him.[24]
Swanson explains, "During the years of the Down Grade Controversy, Spurgeon repeatedly warned of six areas of "down grade" in evangelical doctrine:
(1) The denial of the verbal inspiration (that is, the inerrancy) of Scripture. (2) The denial of eternal punishment and the affirmation of universalism. (3) The denial of the Trinity, mainly in terms of the rejection of the personality of the Holy Spirit. (4) The movement toward Socinianism or the denial of the deity of Christ and original sin. (5) The denial of the creation account in Genesis in favor of evolution. (6) The unhealthy influence of higher criticism on biblical scholarship, particularly as it relates to the Old Testament.[25]
Spurgeon then summarized his position on the theological trends of his day, stating:
Look at the church of the present day; the advanced school, I mean. In its midst we see preachers who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They talk of the Lord Jesus, but deny his Godhead, which is His power; they speak of the Holy Spirit, but deny His personality, wherein lies His very existence. They take away the substance and power from all the doctrines of revelation, though they pretend still to believe them. They talk of redemption, but they deny substitution, which is the essence of it; they extol the Scriptures, but deny their infallibility, wherein lies its value; they use the phrases of orthodoxy, and believe nothing in common with the orthodox.[26]
In the third article, the tone took on a sense of urgency, as Shindler continued firing volleys against those engaged in apostasy and Spurgeon warned how this new religion had turned the church into a playhouse, as many were being used for dramas and entertainment purposes. There was plenty of blame to go around; however, Spurgeon placed it firmly on the preachers and modernists, who he believed were destroying the church. MacArthur explains how the focus of the controversy changes because now Spurgeon was suggesting that true believers might have reason to sever ties with those who were propagating the new theology. "In [Spurgeon's] estimation, the truth of the Word had been so seriously compromised that true Christians needed to consider the command of 2 Corinthians 6:17: 'Come out of their midst and be separate; and do not touch what is unclean.'"[27] After this, Spurgeon had become utterly obsessed and consumed by the controversy, leading to a decline in his physical health, which the Union used to attack Spurgeon, claiming his rants were that of a desperate and sick man. These personal attacks only fueled Spurgeon's tenacity, especially considering, an answer or response to the allegations had still not been given by the Union. Spurgeon, a master of illustrations equated what was going on to, "The house is being robbed, its very walls are being dug down, but the good people who are in bed are too fond of the warmth, and too much afraid of getting broken heads, to go downstairs and meet the burglars; they are even half vexed that a certain noisy fellow will spring his rattle, or cry, 'Thieves!'"[28] The final compromise would revolve around the Union Council adopting a creed. The once popular "no creed but Christ" was no longer enough because as Spurgeon highlighted, "The objection to a creed is a very pleasant way of concealing objection to discipline, and a desire for latitudinarianism. What is wished for is a Union which will, like Noah's Ark, afford shelter both for the clean and for the unclean, for creeping things and winged fowls."[29] However, even when a doctrinal statement was adopted, it was vague and bland, due to last minute modifications. MacArthur further demonstrates how, "Just as Spurgeon had warned all along, nothing was to be gained by compromising with the enemies of the gospel. The Baptist Union's decline was, if anything, accelerated and those who embraced the 'New Theology' were emboldened after the Union Assembly, as they now held the reins of the Union."[30] The ripple effects of this controversy have lasting impacts to this day.
HIS LEGACY
The prince of preachers has left a rich legacy behind. Spurgeon never sugarcoated any message and he always spoke to the heart of the matter. He wanted his listeners to understand, "There is a disease upon you which has already brought you down to spiritual death, and will bring you down to hell. The most moral of you, the most amiable of you, unless Jesus shall look upon you in love, is carrying about within himself a plague of the heart which will be your eternal ruin; Jesus must save you, or you are lost. Man's only home is to come from Him."[31] In many of his sermons, illustrations were used to allow light to shine upon the biblical truth being conveyed. Spurgeon said, "There exists no reason why the preaching of gospel should be a miserable task either to the speaker or the hearer. Pleasantly profitable let all our sermons be. A house must not have thick walls without openings, neither must a discourse be all made up of solid slabs of doctrine without a window of comparison or lattice of poetry."[32] Out of Spurgeon's immense devotion to God arose a charitable heart towards social concerns. Rooted in this construct, David Duke demonstrates, "The three pillars of Spurgeon's social concern rest upon: his call for absolute devotion to God in Christ; his concern for the salvation of individual souls; and his emphasis on Christian character which develops from the new nature found in Christ."[33] Duke reveals how Spurgeon's life was lived so deeply in Scripture that, "He could not escape the powerful calls for justice and peace, [and] while his primary concern was for individual souls, his compassion for all souls in every dimension of their lives compelled him to speak fervently for radical changes in the attitudes of his society and Union."[34] Spurgeon always sought the moral high ground in this fight against modernism, but the Baptist Union would never be the same. Spurgeon's cost in this fight was great, as his friends turned against him, his health declined, and the church he loved was corrupted. While some questioned Spurgeon's departure from the Union, MacArthur equates Spurgeon staying in the Union to Abraham staying in Ur, in the hope of converting the entire household out of which he was called. Following Spurgeon's passing, Shindler brilliantly encapsulates the heart and desire of Spurgeon when he wrote, "May the Lord graciously purge His Church of all false doctrine, all false teachers, and all who are traitors in the camp of Israel! And may the Spirit from on high be poured out upon all flesh, that all the ends of the earth may see, and own, and rejoice in, the salvation of our God!"[35]
During the late nineteenth century, as many so-called English Baptist pastors became so infatuated with worldly pursuits that many churches stopped engaging in prayer meetings and some even went as far as hosting dramas in the house of God, Charles Haddon Spurgeon arose as the man of God who was called and equipped to shine the light of truth on the moral and doctrinal decay. The "downgrade" of the Baptist denomination, was a hard fought war, one in which ultimately took years off the life of the protagonist. Spurgeon himself warned everyone, "There is truth and there is error and these are opposite the one to the other. Do not indulge yourselves in the folly with which so many are duped-that truth may be error, and error may be truth, that black is white, and white is black, and that there is a whitey-brown that goes in between, which is, perhaps, the best of the whole lot."[36] Following Spurgeon's passing, Estep illuminates how "Thomas Spurgeon was reported to have remarked to a Baptist leader that the Union had killed his father, whereupon, the leader replied, 'and your father almost killed the Union.'"[37] This controversy serves as a stark reminder that if one fails to stand for doctrinal purity, he or she will fall for anything. In today's climate, tolerance and compromise have become the weapons being used to downgrade the moral and doctrinal purity of the gospel message.
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Duke, David Nelson. "Charles Haddon Spurgeon: social concern exceeding an individualistic, self-help ideology." Baptist History And Heritage 22, no. 4 (October 1987): 47-56. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 5, 2017).
Estep, William Roscoe. "The making of a prophet: an introduction to Charles Haddon Spurgeon." Baptist History And Heritage 19, no. 4 (October 1984): 3-15. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
Hixson, Elijah. "NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL CRITICISM IN THE MINISTRY OF CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 57, no. 3 (09, 2014): 555-70, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1565535207?accountid=12085. (accessed May 4, 2017).
MacArthur Jr., John F. "Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy," The Spurgeon Archive Website, http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/downgrd.htm#16 (accessed May 5, 2017).
May, Lynn E. "The impact of one life: Charles Haddon Spurgeon." Baptist History and Heritage 19 no. 4(1984): 2.
McBeth, H. Leon. The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic Publishing, 1987.
Oswalt, John N. Oswalt. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament – The Book of Isaiah Chapters 40-66. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976.
Pitts, John. "Genius of Charles Haddon Spurgeon." Theology Today 6, no. 4 (January 1950): 524-530. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
Shindler, Robert. From the Usher's Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit: The Life and Labors of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. New York, NY: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1892.
Skinner, Craig. "The preaching of Charles Haddon Spurgeon." Baptist History And Heritage 19, no. 4 (October 1984): 16-26. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. "A powerful reason for coming to Christ." Bibliotheca Sacra 99, no. 393 (January 1942): 68-86. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
________. Art of Illustration. Auckland, NZ: The Floating Press, 2013. ProQuest ebrary. (accessed May 4,, 2017).
________. Is Conversion Necessary? Pensacola, FL: Generic NL Freebook Publisher, n.d., 1874 eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), (accessed May 4, 2017).
________. Talks To Farmers. Auckland, NZ: The Floating Press, 2013. ProQuest ebrary. (accessed May 4, 2017).
________. The Best War Cry. March 4, 1883. (accessed May 5, 2017).
________. The "Down Grade" Controversy. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 2009.
________. The "Down Grade" Controversy: Collected Materials Which Reveal the Viewpoint of the Late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
________. The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon: Selected Books, Sermons, and Other Writings, Edited by Daniel Partner. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2009.
________. "The Form of Godliness without the Power," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: Sermons Preached and Revised by C. H. Spurgeon in the Year 1889, repr. ed. Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1975.
________. "A Fragment on the "Down Grade" Controversy." The Sword and Trowel 23 (1887): 560-565.
________. "Notes," The Sword and Trowel (April 1887): 190-196
Swanson, Dennis. "The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries: Some Lessons from Spurgeon's Battle for Evangelical Orthodoxy." Faith and Mission 20, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 20-33.
_________. "The Millennial Position of Spurgeon." Master's Seminary Journal 07, no. 2 (Fall, 1996): 200-211.
Wills, Gregory A. "The ecclesiology of Charles H. Spurgeon: unity, orthodoxy, and denominational identity." Baptist History and Heritage 34, no. 3 (1999): 67-79. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA94161024&sid=summon&asid=f18c26f68eff860fdfd2b2c98d45a42e (accessed May 5, 2017).
[1] John Pitts, "Genius of Charles Haddon Spurgeon," Theology Today 6, no. 4 (January 1950): 524. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
[2] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Is Conversion Necessary? (Pensacola, FL: Generic NL Freebook Publisher, n.d. eBook Collection, 1874), 4. EBSCOhost, (accessed May 4, 2017).
[3] John N. Oswalt, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament – The Book of Isaiah Chapters 40-66 (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), 223.
[4] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Talks To Farmers (Auckland, NZ: The Floating Press, 2013), 5. ProQuest ebrary. (accessed May 4, 2017).
[5] Craig Skinner, "The preaching of Charles Haddon Spurgeon." Baptist History And Heritage 19, no. 4 (October 1984): 22. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
[6] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Best War Cry, March 4, 1883. (accessed May 5, 2017).
[7] Gregory A Wills, "The ecclesiology of Charles H. Spurgeon: unity, orthodoxy, and denominational identity," Baptist History and Heritage 34, no. 3 (1999): 67. http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA94161024&sid=summon&asid=f18c26f68eff860fdfd2b2c98d45a42e (accessed May 5, 2017).
[8] Wills, "The ecclesiology of Charles H. Spurgeon," 68-69.
[9] Pitts, "Genius of Charles Haddon Spurgeon," 529.
[10] William Roscoe Estep, "The making of a prophet: an introduction to Charles Haddon Spurgeon," Baptist History And Heritage 19, no. 4 (October 1984): 3. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
[11] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The "Down Grade" Controversy (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 2009), 2.
[12] H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic Publishing, 1987), 302.
[13] Dennis Swanson, "The Millennial Position of Spurgeon," Master's Seminary Journal 07, no. 2 (Fall 1996): 200.
[14] Dennis Swanson, "The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries: Some Lessons from Spurgeon's Battle for Evangelical Orthodoxy," Faith and Mission 20, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 20.
[15] Swanson, "The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries," 22.
[16] Robert Shindler, 'The Down Grade," The Sword and Trowel (March 1887): 122.
[17] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Notes," The Sword and Trowel (April 1887): 196.
[19] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The "Down Grade" Controversy: Collected Materials, Which Reveal the Viewpoint of the Late Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 513-514.
[21] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "A Fragment on the "Down Grade" Controversy," The Sword and Trowel 23 (1887): 560.
[22] Estep, "The making of a prophet: an introduction to Charles Haddon Spurgeon," 13.
[23] Christian George, The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon Volume I: His Earliest Outlines and Sermons Between 1851 and 1854 (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2017), 332.
[24] John F. MacArthur Jr., "Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy," The Spurgeon Archive Website, http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/downgrd.htm#16 (accessed May 5, 2017).
[26] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "The Form of Godliness without the Power," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit: Sermons Preached and Revised by C. H. Spurgeon in the Year 1889, repr. ed. (Pasadena, TX: Pilgrim Publications, 1975), 308.
[27] MacArthur Jr., "Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy, the final compromise."
[28] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Our Reply to Sundry Critics and Enquirers," The Sword and the Trowel (September 1887), 461.
[29] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "The Baptist Union Censure," The Sword and the Trowel (Feb. 1888), 83.
[30] MacArthur Jr., "Spurgeon and the Down Grade Controversy, the aftermath."
[31] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "A powerful reason for coming to Christ," Bibliotheca Sacra 99, no. 393 (January 1942): 73. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 4, 2017).
[32] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Art of Illustration (Auckland, NZ: The Floating Press, 2013), 7. ProQuest ebrary. (accessed May 4,, 2017).
[33] David Nelson Duke, "Charles Haddon Spurgeon: social concern exceeding an individualistic, self-help ideology." Baptist History And Heritage 22, no. 4 (October 1987): 47. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed May 5, 2017).
[34] Duke, "Charles Haddon Spurgeon," 55.
[35] Robert Shindler, From the Usher's Desk to the Tabernacle Pulpit: The Life and Labors of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (New York, NY: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1892), 274.
[36] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Three Sights Worth Seeing," in the MTP 1887, 476.
This entry was posted in Blog, Liberty M.Div. Papers, Papers and tagged Charles Darwin, Charles Spurgeon, Christianity, Facebook: jd4noles, History of Baptists, Jeff Davis, Liberalism, Liberty University, modernism, moral values, religion, spirituality, Twitter @Jeffdavis777, www.jeffdavis.blog.


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Architect Sam Olbekson and NACDI's Andy Hestness in the new AMR Gallery. Photo by Sheila Regan.
All My Relations Arts (AMR) opens the doors of its new gallery space on January 21 after a fast-paced 11 months of the American Indian community pulling together to make it happen. The opening exhibition, called Frank Big Bear Paintings: From the Rez to the Hood to the Lake, marks the start for AMR after it left Ancient Traders Gallery (run by Great Neighborhoods) in 2009.
The new gallery, which will feature contemporary fine art by American Indian artists, is located at the former Open Arms space at 1414 Franklin Avene East in Minneapolis. The one story brick building will house the gallery as well as a coffee shop owned by Robert Rice (White Earth Ojibwe) who also co-owns the 42nd Street Station in North Minneapolis. The coffee shop will contain a community wall, for youth and community art projects, as well as an electronic flat screen monitor, which will provide an interactive catalogue of information about Dakota Lands facilitated by the Indian Land Tenure Foundation.
In addition, the building will house the offices of the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) and the offices of the American Indian Community Development Corporation (AICDC) (who jointly own the building). The building will also have a community meeting space.
Last February, AMR became an official initiative of NACDI, an organization focused on community development as part of NACDI's goal to develop the American Indian Cultural Corridor, which runs along Franklin Avenue between Cedar and 11th Avenue, building alliances among American Indian businesses and organizations to improve the economic and cultural vitality of neighborhood.
According to Heid Erdrich, there has been incredible support from the arts community and the American Indian community to make the gallery happen. Last spring, volunteers gave their time to make phone calls raising money for the Friend Raiser for the Arts, which raised $8,600 in about a month from 70 individual donors. In addition, The McKnight Foundation donated $75,000 toward securing the space plus an additional $150,000 toward building out office space for NACDI, as well as the gallery. The Minneapolis Foundation contributed another $10,000 toward the project.
The architect for the project is Sam Olbekson (White Earth Ojibwe) who grew up in the Phillips and Powderhorn neighborhoods. He is a graduate of Cornell University, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture, and Harvard University, where he received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design. Olbekson offered his design services on a pro bono basis in order to contribute personally to the revitalization of the neighborhood and to "help give the project an additional layer of Native authorship," said Olbekson.
The building's interior has been completely redesigned, and the exterior improvements include a new main entry area and canopy painted with the colors of AMR's logo created by Buffalo Nickel Creative, a Native design group.
Outside of the gallery sits a sculpture by artist Gordon Van Wert (Red Lake Ojibwe) that was installed in October 2010. Eventually there will be seating areas and gathering spaces outside, according to Olbekson. NACDI has also recently been awarded a $10,000 grant from The Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC) for signage for the building.
Construction of the new space included work by MAG Mechanical, a Native owned business, and Migizi Electric which has an all-Native crew. Painting was done by a Native American Division of Superpainters, who painted the exterior of the building and the interior ceiling. In addition, volunteers from PCL Construction crews donated their time for the project, according to NACDI's Community Development Specialist Andrew Hestness.
Following the Frank Big Bear show, Erdrich said the gallery plans on having a new exhibit each season, eventually hosting ten shows a year.
Frank Big Bear Paintings: From the Rez to the Hood to the Lake runs from January 21 to February 28 at All My Relations Gallery at 1414 East Franklin Avenue. Hours are Tuesday- Friday 11-6 p.m. and Weekends 11-3 p.m. The opening reception takes place on January 21 from 5-9 p.m.


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text:
Electrical Engineer Convicted of Conspiring to Illegally Export to China Semiconductor Chips with Missile Guidance Applications
An electrical engineer has been found guilty of multiple federal criminal charges, including engaging in a scheme to illegally obtain integrated circuits with military applications that later were exported to China without the required export license. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna for the Central District of California and Assistant Director in Charge Paul Delacourt of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement.
After a six-week trial, Yi-Chi Shih, 64, a part-time Los Angeles resident, was found guilty on June 26 of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a federal law that makes illegal, among other things, certain unauthorized exports. The jury also found Shih guilty of mail fraud, wire fraud, subscribing to a false tax return, making false statements to a government agency and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. Shih was convicted of all 18 counts in a federal grand jury indictment.
United States District Judge Kronstadt, who presided over a trial that spanned seven weeks in Los Angeles, California, decided on Monday that he will later consider the forfeiture allegations in the indictment, where the government is seeking that Shih should forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars. Judge Kronstadt discharged the jury that previously had been scheduled today to consider forfeiture allegations against Shih.
United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt will also schedule a sentencing hearing, where Shih faces a statutory maximum sentence of 219 years in federal prison.
"The Department's China Initiative is focused on preventing and prosecuting thefts of American technology and intellectual property for the benefit of China," said Assistant Attorney General Demers. "The defendant has been found guilty of conspiring to export sensitive semiconductor chips with military applications to China. I would like to thank the prosecutors and agents, including those from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for theirs efforts in this successful investigation and prosecution."
"This defendant schemed to export to China semiconductors with military and civilian uses, then he lied about it to federal authorities and failed to report income generated by the scheme on his tax returns," said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. "My office will enforce laws that protect our nation's intellectual property from being used to benefit foreign adversaries who may compromise our national security."
"The FBI is committed to protecting institutions from adversaries who seek to steal sensitive American technology under the guise of research," said Assistant Director in Charge Delacourt. "We will continue to work collaboratively with our federal partners to identify and hold accountable individuals who plunder our research or intellectual property at the expense of the American people and our national security."
According to the evidence presented at trial, Shih and co-defendant Kiet Ahn Mai, 65, of Pasadena, California, conspired to illegally provide Shih with unauthorized access to a protected computer of a United States company that manufactured wide-band, high-power semiconductor chips known as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs).
Shih defrauded the U.S. company out of its proprietary, export-controlled items, including its design services for MMICs, according to trial evidence. As part of the scheme, Shih accessed the victim company's computer systems via its web portal after Mai obtained that access by posing as a domestic customer seeking to obtain custom-designed MMICs that would be used solely in the United States. Shih and Mai concealed Shih's true intent to transfer the U.S. company's products to the People's Republic of China. The MMICs that Shih sent to China required a license from the Commerce Department before being exported to China, and a license was never sought or obtained for this export.
The victim company's semiconductor chips have a number of commercial and military applications, and its customers include the Air Force, Navy and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. MMICs are used in missiles, missile guidance systems, fighter jets, electronic warfare, electronic warfare countermeasures and radar applications.
The semiconductor chips at the heart of this case were shipped to Chengdu GaStone Technology Company (CGTC), a Chinese company that was building a MMIC manufacturing facility in Chengdu. Shih was the president of CGTC, which in 2014 was placed on the Commerce Department's Entity List, according to court documents, "due to its involvement in activities contrary to the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States – specifically, that it had been involved in the illicit procurement of commodities and items for unauthorized military end use in China."
Shih used a Hollywood Hills-based company he controlled – Pullman Lane Productions LLC – to funnel funds provided by Chinese entities to finance the manufacturing of MMICs by the victim company. Pullman Lane received financing from a Beijing-based company that was placed on the Entity List the same day as CGTC "on the basis of its involvement in activities contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States," according to court documents.
Shih and Mai were indicted in this case in January 2018. Mai pleaded guilty in December 2018 to one felony count of smuggling and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, at which time he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement; and IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Judith A. Heinz, Melanie Sartoris, Khaldoun Shobaki and William Rollins of the National Security Division, Assistant United States Attorney James C. Hughes of the Major Frauds Section, Assistant United States Attorney John J. Kucera of the Asset Forfeiture Section, and Trial Attorney Matthew Walczewski of the Department of Justice's National Security Division.
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text:
The Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia is a conservatory in Venice, Italy named after composer Benedetto Marcello and established in 1876.

History
The conservatory was established in 1876 as Liceo e Società Musicale Benedetto Marcello, became communal in 1895 under the name Liceo Civico Musicale "Benedetto Marcello", and attained conservatory status in 1915 as Liceo Civico Musicale Pareggiato Benedetto Marcello. In 1940, under the directorship of Gian Francesco Malipiero, it became Conservatorio di Stato "Benedetto Marcello". The conservatory is housed in Palazzo Pisani a Santo Stefano - built between 1614 and 1615 -, located facing Campo Santo Stefano in the sestiere of San Marco. The building is  owned by the municipality of Venice.

Courses
The conservatory offers courses in singing, solfège, music dictation, score reading, music composition, jazz music, electronic music, choral music, orchestration, and in playing guitar, harp, piano, violin, flute, lute, double bass, saxophone, trumpet, cello, percussion instruments, oboe, bassoon, clarinet and organ.

The conservatory accepts foreign students, provided that they pass an entry test and have sufficient knowledge of the Italian language.

Directors
 Marco Enrico Bossi
 Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
 Gian Francesco Malipiero
 Gabriele Bianchi

Faculty
 Gino Tagliapietra
 Francesco de Guarnieri
 Ettore Gracis
 Bruno Maderna
 Giuseppe Sinopoli

Notable alumni

Further reading

External links
 Official Web site

Notes

Venice
Education in Venice
1876 establishments in Italy
Educational institutions established in 1876

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Watching intensely, they followed the silhouette as it paced backwards and forwards, strutting upright and proud.
'What is it?' Sophie spoke in hushed tones.
Accepting their fate, they disappeared back under the sheets.
The children giggled, pretend play was so much fun. The chicken, carried on as usual.
I hope you enjoyed this piece.
I love the bait and switch at the end. Pretend play is fun. Love the chicken, too. Good job.
Oh to be a child again! Pretend is far more fun than reality.
Ha ha ha. Such a cute story.
Ha ha - yes I certainly did enjoy it! Lovely twist.
You conjured up the delight of make believe very nicely, Bettina. I loved the giggles!