α και ω

Amethyst, beryl, candles and gold
These were the things that were found in the hold
Of the great ship that sailed on the wave
‘til that great day when it went to its grave

The fields adorned with lilies are fair
The hills crowned with fir provide a good lair
The kite and the eagle soar above
While the sheep in the valley speak of love

The shepherd watched o’er his flock at night
For the ghouls clothed in fur that give a fright
Ready with rod and staff in his hand
He watched and waited in that wearied land

Ships on the sea continued their trade
Men gave their houses another upgrade
The plans were laid in ink’s blue design
Yet none of them asked when they crossed the line

Amethyst, beryl, candles and gold
These are the things that the ground still does hold
But on it they build caring no more
For all the nations that had gone before

Alpha and beta come and they go
This is the way of it, all of us know
Will we be ready on the great day
Alpha and Omega returns to stay

Peppermint © Tahnee Denholm

This time of year

It cannot have escaped your attention that that ‘It is the most wonderful time of the year’ is a message that you will have heard many times in recent, and perhaps not so recent, days. If Coco have understood that message it involves families and more specifically the love that there is within families despite the hurt that we can and do inflict upon each other from time to time: as it is said – love bears all things.

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Lipedema

Sometimes it is hard to obtain a list of the things that can go wrong after or during surgery, though best practice dictates that patients should be provided with full information in order that they may give informed consent to the intervention – it occurs to Coco that perhaps the insurance standard of the utmost good faith should be applied to the contract – but at the ITALF 2024 conference held in the auditorium at the Atheneum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum in Rome we were presented with such a list,

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Luther’s wisdom

It was an interesting discussion about the place of Luther in European and in particular German history, and his continuing influence that prompted me to write, for whilst the conversation was informative, offering perhaps a different perspective than you would be given by an O-level syllabus, there appeared to be a contradiction in it. You may want to listen, or watch for yourself, to judge the matter more carefully

Martin Luther: The Man Who Changed The World from The Rest is History where Tom and Dominic (who?) talk about the man whom we cannot forget.

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Famine in Africa

Digging riverbeds to find water

The article posted by the BBC Digging riverbeds in Zimbabwe in desperate search for water reminds us of the dire famine in much of south central Africa. The Zimbabwe Partnership Trust has for several years supported communities in Zimbabwe including by financing the drilling of bore-holes to provide water for agricultural projects and schools in remote regions. ZPT is focussed this year very much on the relief of famine in those communities where it has been working through trusted local partners.

Turkeys for Christmas?

Whilst it is voting day in the UK, it is quite a different day in the former North American colonies. One of Coco’s friends pointed him to The False Prophet Rising: Part 2 – The Merging of Church and State https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BaoI5FPWO5o/hqdefault.jpg. It was not something that would normally grab his attention. Listening to the analysis of a Trump speech at the National Religious Broadcasters’ Convention – 2/22/24 reminded him very much of encouraging turkeys to vote for Christmas and not letting them know that they are on the menu. Having no influence as far as the choice of their new president is to be makes the detail of the various presentations in some ways superfluous which is a view contrary to that of the BBC (see US election 2024: Why the world is watching so closely https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/2048/cpsprodpb/CB97/production/_132291125_whitehouse_976getty.jpg.webp).

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Genus reassignment

Times were very hard. The countryside was being squeezed by the urban population, rows and rows of solar panels were being placed not only upon the most productive arable fields but now even upon the pastoral land where sheep may have safely grazed. The panels it was true provided much needed shade from the summer sum, but the diminution of the number of animals put pressure on the economy of the canine population, making life very difficult for the wolves who had families to feed.

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DNA

It is a wonder indeed. How complex is life! 160 billiard pairs in a single molecule. It is right that they wonder what the functions of all of its parts are. Having measured its length, the really hard work now comes when trying to identify the several different parts, and assessing their possible single or multiple functions. As they have said ‘[m]any plants have big genomes and scientists want to find out why’. One can but wish them success.

The BBC reported as much in their article World record broken for living thing with most DNA.

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James Webb – multiverse fake

It was a fake image that prompted the concern:

Chris Gale and Barnard Van Loggernberg had commented on the image. Barnard in sublime praise of the God who made all things, and Chris with a reference to the erroneous understanding promulgated by our contemporary propogandists of atheist thought that “A belief is based on what you have been told and what you personally hold as true. A belief doesn’t need to be supported with factual evidence in order for it to exist and be powerful. In short, beliefs are not facts.”

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