Bible club lessons suggestions

Hey all!
I put on an annual golf outing for my late father. I am searching for opinions on what type of items I could put in the outing. We have some items, but I want to add more. Clubs? Wedges? Spa baskets?
What would YOU like to see?
I appreciate the suggestions! Thank you.
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR ITEMS - Only Suggestions

Yesterday for the first time in a long while a girl took lots of interest in making conversation with me at the gym. (We recognized each other from a Bible camp we went too one time. Both of us aren’t religious though.) We were both in the Jacuzzi, when I entered I sat in my lil spot I usually sit in, we start making conversation and suddenly she decides to move right next to me and our conversation got even more enthusiastic. When I would get up to take a break from the heat, she did as well. When I sat back in, she did as well. When I left to end the session at the gym and take a shower, she followed, and we both got ready to leave in our separate locker rooms. When I was in the shower I thought “Huh. She seemed real interested in me, it’d be funny if she was actually waiting outside for me.” LOW AND BEHOLD, almost as soon as I got out I was surprised with a “you’re slow.” I thought her jab was pretty funny and I took a shot back and we just went back and forth for a bit. Then she suggests walking me out, we talked outside for a bit. We realized we live REAL close to each other and within walking distance of the gym so I suggested walking with her back home, but her parents had driven her there and they were with her so it was a no go. I didn’t get her phone number because she’s 17 and I’m 19, but more importantly (IMO) we are going through completely different stages of life so I didn’t want to get involved. It honestly felt great and boosted my confidence real nicely for the rest of the day. That’s it. Thanks for listening to my Ted talk!
P.S. I’m really not that great looking. Fully bald (alopecia Totalis), acne, skinny fat, mouth breather side profile. Though, I do have decent conversational skills, and I try to stay excited while being genuinely interested in them.

Throwaway account, and thank god my husband hates reddit. This is hard to admit, but I've become a serial cheater and I don't know what to do. I care for my husband, but perhaps more like a best friend. We haven't had sex in a few years and prior to that it was already very sparse. I want to get everything off my chest. And I already know I am terrible, so save me the insults and judgement.
I met my husband when I was in my early 20s, he being slightly older. He was my first real relationship, but not my first sexual partner. There was a year or two that I was promiscuous and having fun. I was verse, then. When I met my husband it was deep love almost immediately. He was a total bottom and it was hot. I've been a bit self conscious about my penis size since a teen, though I am probably average to just slightly below. Never had any complaints, just the opposite. Interestingly, my husband is quite large but never topped before knowing me.
A few years into the relationship I convinced him to top. It was a challenge for both of us (him psychologically, me physically) but it went ok. What I didn't expect was a total shift in his identity. Rather quickly, he decided he was a total top. It was like the rules of the game changed. I was never fully comfortable with this.
I am a survivor of child sex abuse and rape. I have PTSD (diagnosed) and consent is very important to me. Somewhere along the line, consent started to blur. My husband, knowing about my history, mentally intimidated me to bottom even when I didn't want to. Guilt-trips, nagging, and silent treatments were the typical tools. After a while, I started to feel abused and depressed. Sex with him caused me pain and soreness that clearly stroked his ego. He loved talking about his endowment. After my total mental breakdown that truly opened his eyes, he stopped and tried to respect boundaries. But the damage was done. Our sex life has been non existent, much to his frustration. And much of the time we lead very separate lives and are both consumed by work.
Fast forward a few years. It's not as if I am asexual. Being "open" is off the table for him, though. At some point my depression and self-hatred took a huge dive. I felt suicidal. I didn't imagine myself making it another year.
And so over the course of months, I started cheating. I secretly got on PreP, and started going to male strip clubs. Then devolved into meeting guys, discreetly, through apps when I traveled. It's become a situation of such risk that I have regular fuck buddies in my town. The sex I have is always me topping, and it has been a crazy boost to my confidence as these guys (some in their 20s and way more attractive than me) are insatiable bottoms who are always asking for more and make me feel like a God. The way they moan and compliment my skills is a drug. Most of them are married too, often to women, and I've somehow figured out how to make them cum hands free, just from bottoming. I forgot how good that felt, and being in control is my preference. It also is making me feel younger and hotter. It's no doubt the workings of a midlife crisis.
I started seeing a therapist finally for all my trauma. He knows all about the infidelity. He is suggesting I must end the marriage and live my life as I want. Try to be happy, again. The problem is I have built a life with this man and everything we have is co-owned. We have well over a million in assets and property. And I hate that I must hurt him. For all his faults he has also been supportive and loving most of the time.
I'm scared to be honest. Cut it off? What if I stop this, fall back in love, and no one needs to know? Can't we just move on? I don't know what to do. Part of me wishes to meet someone else, who happens to be very well off, and I can just abandon it all and let him keep everything as a consolation.
I don't expect advice or sympathy. Just needed to write this....

The gospels depict Jesus resurrecting from his tomb in bodily form and appearing to his disciples on Earth. However, my understanding is that many scholars see these stories as potentially later legendary developments.
Paul gives us the only first-hand account of a resurrection appearance, and says he encountered Jesus in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12). My understanding is that ancient Jews didn't think of heaven as some alternate dimension as we tend to today, but saw it as literally the sky. Robyn Walsh suggests that Paul believed Jesus resided somewhere between the moon and the Earth. In addition, Paul says that at Jesus's return believers will meet him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4.16–17), which is possibly something he meant literally (I'm told Joel Baden and Candida Moss make that argument in this this article, though I don't have access to it).
Immediately after the famous creed mentioning those who saw Jesus after the resurrection, Paul goes on to describe how the resurrection body is a heavenly body (1 Corinthians 15). He gives three examples of other heavenly bodies—the sun, the moon, and the stars. It was a common view in the ancient world that the celestial objects were divine beings. The Bible occasionally associates stars with angels (Revelation 1:20, 12:4).
Given all this, is it plausible that (some of) the disciples didn't encounter Jesus on Earth as described in the gospels nor were taken up to heaven like Paul, but saw him by looking up to the sky? Perhaps they prayed, looked up, saw a shooting star and concluded that was Jesus appearing to them? Have any scholars discussed this possibility?

Thanks to everyone who came! We had some great discussions and talked about Borges's classic short story The Garden of Forking Paths. A few items on the agenda:

1. A new book / story to read. I'm personally open to anything (even drama, poetry, literary nonfiction). We threw out some ideas of doing Nabokov and another Borges. Preferably something short to keep people interested and engaged.
2. A new home for the book club. Zoom caps our time at 40 minutes. Maybe Skype?

Leave some suggestions down below, and if anyone new is interested in joining just ask and we'll put you in the groupchat. Thanks!

I am thinking of getting continental purecontacts which should i use?? Any suggestions
Any discounts or services that sams club provides

I tried searching, but it seems like my question is a little more specific than what I'm finding.
I'm looking to go snorkeling solo somewhere in Cozumel next week. I don't mind going from a club, but I'd rather not pay for the day to be at the club to do so. I won't be able to spend more than two hours max doing it... So somewhere close to punta langosta would be preferred. No problem taking a taxi.
Suggestions where I can just go, rent some gear, be one with the water for an hour, and head back to the port?

Anyone have any good suggestions on affordable shirts or tank tops for the summer? I found myself really overheated my last lesson and I want to be able to stay cool and focused when I’m riding. Even pant suggestions would be great too. Thanks so much!

First Previous Wiki
Admiral Tenrah returned to the battle map, looking at all the various icons and routes to and from star systems. So far, the Sennes Armada was keeping its pace mostly on track. The delay due to the diplomats from the Misan Li Heptarchies no longer would matter.
King Siran had pulled back from the battlefront against the High Federation in an attempt to pivot to the Hive Union. He had won the battle, but the stragglers included the remaining leadership of the High Federation anyway, so they could continue to remain somewhat organized. The massive civil war would soon spill into a more international affair, due to the King's rhetoric. But that was entirely his fault when he so strongly advocated for the deaths of Cawlarians who had lived on planets for generations that he happened to desire.
And he would not let his name be stained with even the suggestion of a loss. The Battle Planner and Fleet Commander Annabelle Weber were also now on their way to the front, and the diplomats from the Heptarchies were tagging along. Phoebe was in discussions with them now, and supposedly there'd been a few breakthroughs on that front. Whatever she'd promised them or get them to agree to, the fleet buildup along the Hive Union's border with the Heptarchies was slowing.
The Interstellar Gathering seemed to have realized no amount of bluffing would get the High King out of war. Even if he was a proxy force aligned with them, King Siran was not valuable enough for them to risk a wider war. It was just as Tenrah had expected and had told Eyahtni, Kawtyahtnakal, and the Patriarchs when he'd met with them several days ago. Just as a young hatchling couldn't be allowed to stray too far from the nest, there was simply no sense for the Heptarchies to risk economic ruin.
Orith and those who ruled over him would shift their tone while pretending it was a natural decision, not one they'd been forced to make to align with reality.
"I must commend your tactics in the latest training exercise," Tenrah said, ruffling his feathers slightly before respectfully nodding to Annabelle.
"I am pleased to hear such high praise from you, Admiral," the woman said. She was fully dressed in her regulation spacesuit, meaning most of her face was obscured. But Tenrah wouldn't complain since it was more than prudent to be ready for anything. The next unknown ships might not be friendly.
He had also looked into the parties responsible for the lack of communication or warning of the Misan's arrival. As it turned out, general incompetence was to blame. A receiver hadn't been properly calibrated, so the transmission signal had just been noise. He'd given the officer in charge of that an earful before eventually letting up and telling him to do better. A personal visit with the Admiral was one thing. But a second personal visit was quite another.
Tenrah drew a vector toward some of the outer systems controlled by the High King. A few garrison forces were there, but they would be swept away almost instantly. What most concerned him was the shipyards in the region that received most of their metals from a select group of planets in those systems. They were rich in the metals required to forge the alloys needed in the High King's fleet.
The High Federation had been something of a dumping ground for either overthrown species or other alien species that had been deported from their homeworlds before the war broke out. This was reflected in the number of species inhabiting the worlds, each with unique names, traits, and temperaments.
"We plan on taking this path, and then splitting to conquer these systems and disable their metal exporting abilities," he explained. "Then we will move to this system."
He zoomed in more and drew a new vector from where the previous one ended. "We have intelligence that they have at least four planet crackers there. Brey will send FTL suppression satellites through portals on the outer edges, with her portals boosted by our psychic amplifier fields. we will be able to take over the system quickly, and begin the process of either disabling the planet crackers or moving them back to our territory."
"We will need to know the angles the superweapons are at before committing to the battle," Annabelle said. "Otherwise, judging by the trajectory cone you have, we can bypass them entirely and reach Siran within two weeks."
"And that is an interesting proposal. Can you lay out your plan, in that case?"
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Annabelle did so. She and Tenrah discussed the strategy's risks, and they eventually decided that such a tactic, while bold, wouldn't do what they set out to do: ensure the safety of the Cawlarians near the border. They were already trying to evacuate from the coming war front, but cities and planets were large things that took a lot of time to completely empty.
And more garrison forces, whether they were androids from Phoebe or specialized and highly trained defenders from the Union, were still moving in as the civilians evacuated. Kawtyahtnakal had established a fund for them, but many people were too stubborn to leave. Despite the looming threat of war and possible massacre, they still refused to board the passenger ships. Annabelle could respect their tenacity and courage, though she personally believed it was counterproductive.
A few encroaching splinters of Siran's fleet had already struck the evacuation forces. He'd sent around 2% of his ships away to harass all the border systems within reach in an attempt to get the Armada bogged down in defense. But with such small forces and the Union on such high alert, all of the important stations with weak shields were well within the protective layers of planetary shields in the area.
Larger garrisons than necessary were still required, of course, but Tenrah had managed to navigate the desperate concerns of the Feathers and those like them in charge of governing their planets with his natural political skill. He didn't need to ask them for favors because, as an Admiral, he alone held power over how his portion of the fleet would respond. Annabelle had witnessed that loyalty and control well within the organization of his fleet. Even at his advanced age, she continued to be impressed with his adaptability and skill at monitoring three-dimensional battle planes and fields.
She pointed to the cone of possible directions Siran was expected to take. They were generally adjacent to the border, though they would head around the left side of the territory he claimed from the Union. If he reached it, millions of lives would be lost every day. Once he broke the shields entirely, the planets would be utterly glassed down to their mantles.
She'd read up on his methods and had seen videos of them in action. Despite all her training, it still was haunting. The hivemind helped to soothe her when the unpleasant parts of command sizzled up to meet her in the middle of the night.
But they would not impede her on the field of battle. When she went to war, the hivemind suppressed all that wasn't necessary for the mission. It was their agreement, one which she'd asked of it. And being a node of the network meant that her stability was paramount, even more so than her title as Fleet Commander. For if she fell, others could take her place. Protocols ensured and demanded that.
But her place in the hivemind was what allowed it to have any strength this far out. It could form avatars and help with long-range communications, though the main mind back on Earth and Luna obviously remained disconnected from this distance.
"I would normally agree with you, Fleet Commander, but I am reminded of your tactic to use decoy hard light holograms."
"They will suspect that any ships heading right for the barrels, or close enough, are either not valued enough or are the decoys."
"Then all you have to do is make them impossible to ignore," Tenrah said. "I can lend you bombs capable of remaining armed and capable of being triggered inside of hard light holograms, even with jamming involved. Then, they will be unable to ignore them, and the explosions generated would destroy the shields in place around the planet crackers. If they fire the weapons, then the residual magnetic interference will allow us to destroy them, since the shields will be far weakened."
Annabelle could see the potential brilliance of the strategy. But it was just that- potential. In space, there were no obstacles. Without stealth fields, there was no hiding. And with hard light holograms, stealth was obviously off-limits.
They would be left approaching from angles that they would be unable to adapt to. She had her VI plot several routes but was unsatisfied, so she had Edu'frec link into the network to do it. Phoebe had been replaced after contacting a Sprilnav network to ensure she could scrub any programs that may have gotten through to her without distraction.
It would be a terrible thing for a Sprilnav AI to make it to her dreadnaught, for sure.
"We will likely need a threefold diversion at least," Annabelle said. "Maybe fourfold, if we can spare the forces, and brave any minefields that may exist."
"Well," Tenrah began. He pulled up a few schematics of the weapons her dreadnaught carried. "I believe you can solve the minefield issue from a distance, even with the lightspeed limit. After all, they can't move easily. As for the actual attack? I suggest a sixfold flower formation, with a twisting wings accent."
"You will have to show me a diagram of that," Annabelle said, grasping uselessly at the unfamiliar words. Before their integration had begun, there had been a limit to how much doctrine she could memorize.
Tenrah pulled up an image of an alien flower blooming with six petals. And then the image faded, overloading with a stylized ribbon of red shapes. The ribbons spun on their sides every thirty seconds, like corkscrews that were flatter.
"And in this case, the ribbons represent the drone formations. I can send a few carriers into the battle with fighter escorts, though we will need to keep them spread out to avoid any direct lines of sight from the planet crackers."
"I heavily doubt they will waste such shots on carriers," Annabelle said. "And if you commit more, you will overwhelm their defenses. I believe your drones are highly reflective, so only missiles and bullets can deal sufficient damage at the involved speeds and numbers we are working with here."
She tapped the diagram, shifting it by about 45 degrees.
"I believe I can fit a stealth force here, which will engage the back defenses of the planet crackers once they focus their shields frontward. I can likely get a full battlecruiser group in, and if you can press in as a wedge around 10 million kilometers above me from where I come in, and around 30 million kilometers below," Penny paused to draw the vectors with her hands, "Then it will aid in my ability to subdue them. It would likely shorten the battle time from a week down to four days."
"Assuming their detection satellites are not capable of seeing it."
"And we will target those too. I believe the first strike can fall on those, since the planet crackers will interfere with their ability to scan behind themselves, and such large power signatures can be noted."
"There is one more problem," Tenrah said. "We are generally working on the assumption of trying to capture these ships, yes?"
"Yes," Annabelle said.
"Then will we board them?"
"Yes, but no. Edu'frec and Phoebe's commando androids will open up the beach heads on the physical surfaces of the planet crackers, while our specialized mental warfare agents will take the fight to them in the mindscape. I assume you have your own plans in that regard?"
"It depends on how we will split the planet crackers. There are 12 in the system. Half and half?"
"That seems prudent," Annabelle replied. She selected the ones that would be most advantageous for her various gambits and strategies to work. They were closer together, which meant more capacity for coordination, mutual aid, and shielding. But it also meant a larger target, one which she could hit from many vectors without worrying about each enemy ship having a wide field of view. Some battlecruisers and cruiser groups were scattered around, but they were not enough to resist the Armada. And once Siran was robbed of a quick way to end the war, the Union would hold the upper hand, capable of committing devastating power to a fleet that remained in a system for a long time.
Yet the same was true for the Union and the Alliance. If the battle took too long, or their command positions were located, then the terrible might of the planet cracker beams would be turned upon them instead. Annabelle's dreadnaught was powerful. More so than all the ones before it. But that didn't mean she wanted to test her shields against alien planet crackers.
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Penny was talking to a group of freed slaves on Justicar. These were recent ones who still held quite a bit of trauma. They'd taken to calling her 'Liberator' despite her never identifying herself as such. It was oddly endearing and did make her feel quite a bit better. It was good to just be able to go out and help people.
She felt some perturbations in the mindscape but ignored them. Right now, she needed to ensure that the gangs couldn't continue their horrific industry. She'd taken out most of their heavy equipment and was now waiting for the Guides to finish searching.
Sirens and alarms echoed in the distance. Penny sent psychic energy into her eyes, but she was too far underground to see anything without using the energy itself instead of light to see. Justicar's mind seemed busy, so she couldn't connect with him. As time went on, Penny felt that something was wrong. It was a gut feeling that she couldn't place. But because of that, she was on edge. She made a large shield of psychic energy above them.
She held it for several minutes. Nothing happened, but Penny wouldn't let it down that quickly. Justicar still didn't respond. Her communicator rang. Kashaunta was calling.
"What's going on?" Penny asked.
"The Grand Fleet is-"
Light and heat smashed into her, easily breaking through her shields. She briefly saw tens of thousands of Sprilnav burning before the light overwhelmed her eyes. Her communicator was destroyed. The onslaught was accompanied by a monstrous level of sound. Shockwaves drilled Penny into the melting and fracturing ground, forcing her lower and lower into expanding pools of magma and liquid metal.
The city's upper layers fell upon her, crashing with great and terrible force. But Penny was now fully reinforced with psychic and conceptual energy. She erupted furiously from the rubble. The air around her burned with heat as she continued to accelerate. The armor plates now surrounding her glowed cherry red, but they were white by the time she'd reached space.
She reached the first planetary shield.
"Displace," Penny growled. She forced reality to move as she willed and to place herself where she saw fit. The Grand Fleets were high above, firing upon a small group of ships that had detached from Azeri's fleet. They seemed to be directly attacking the broken-off contingent and not Justicar itself.
So Penny increased her eyesight and analyzed the battle in both real space and the mindscape. Nilnacrawla helped her identify Justicar's targets. The massive Elder was angrier than she'd ever seen him, and his size, which was even larger than Tetelali, made that incarnation of him appear more like a god of wrath. She saw him brutally tear through groups of minds desperately running to avoid him.
She could faintly see spheres of psychic and conceptual energy area denial fields. From this distance, the flagships' strength was truly impressive. Both of them were at least ten times as powerful as Azeri's had been during their battle. It was clear both Kashaunta and Valisada had ordered upgrades.
Then, her attention came to the dreadnaught, which seemed to be at the head of the attack. Penny explored the ship with her psychic power, pushing aside all resistance. Several lasers struck her, but she ignored them, denying their impact in reality against her own.
It glowed with the fury of weapons firing. Missiles and fighters flowed out of its bays. Bullets, nukes, and lasers streamed from red-hot gun barrels. A nuke hit her but didn't explode. She ripped it apart, using the materials to add energy to her reserves.
Justicar continued to go in inside the mindscape. He tore at them like a shark at a school of minnows in a coral reef. His ravenous anger and hatred were frightening, but Penny rapidly got used to it. Calling up her own memories of the innocent people who'd been killed for no reason, Penny wrapped herself in energy and began to erase her signature from the area.
Fighters flew past her, no longer hitting her psychic shields with bullets. Lasers stopped firing at her since she'd moved from her last position, and there was no longer anything for them to track. Penny floated in the stars, with bright blooms of white fusion explosions blossoming around her. And so she moved forward. She reached a cruiser. She reached forward, teleporting past its shields, and shut down the ship's reactor by teleporting all of its fuel into the void.
Soon, a missile from Kashaunta's Grand Fleet found the vessel, and it vanished in another sphere of heat and light. Of course, it was all silent in space. Penny could only hear her heart beating and occasional warnings from Exile or Nilnacrawla at incoming attacks. Exile occupied the area in her ears, which felt weird, but it allowed him to speak without showing himself in the mindscape. Given his nature and the fact that the Grand Fleets likely had detections for speeding space entities, it would be a terrible idea for him to appear there. Nilnacrawla continued to help Penny with the mental aspects of the battle.
He processed the energy input and output that Penny was giving off in the hopes of keeping her off the sensors of the dreadnaught battlegroup. She didn't want to attract the full focus of one of those massive guns. The explosions on Justicar would have been capable of cracking apart a mountain range if not for the extensive dampening Justicar's shields had done. And she'd withstood them only because she could shunt off most of their impact into reality, leaning into her conceptual nature and the nature of Cardinality to escape certain death.
Even with her power, as high as it had ever been, the blow she was taking were the most powerful physical impacts she'd ever endured.
She also suspected Yasihaut's work in this, though she had nothing to prove. She also had to remain vigilant about the Judgment. She couldn't take overly hostile actions, so she didn't just teleport the Sprilnav in the area out of their ships. She tried it on a smaller scale, and a weak pressure from the dreadnaught made her power fail to affect them.
But those Sprilnav were still doomed to die by their commander. But Penny didn't wish to doom the Alliance and herself by taking their deaths into her own hands. And she was stained with enough blood, metaphorical and literal. The ashes of the people she'd freed had fallen away with her ascent into the atmosphere, but the gritty memory and feel of them never would.
Once again, she'd been powerless to save those who'd needed her. And if she'd had that power, what could she have really done? Would she have been forced to stand there and take it? Or could she have really fought back in a way that wouldn't be turned against her in the Judgment? And was she wrong for considering all of that during such a horrendous time, when she'd literally seen thousands of people turned to slag and ash before her very eyes just ten minutes ago?
Penny burned with shame and grief. She hated this. She hated that things always turned to this. Why couldn't the galaxy just leave people alone? Why did there have to be so much suffering? Her anger threatened to overwhelm her, but with a herculean effort from her, Nilnacrawla, and Cardi, it was beaten back.
Penny felt Justicar getting close to breaking through the shield. She sent a small jolt of power to its underside. A thick bolt of psychic lightning infused with rage leaped from her arms, shattering the shield completely and taking roughly half her power. In the dreadnaught, the antimatter reactor she could sense radiating its energy suddenly lost all coolant access.
She pushed her psychic energy into herself and her conceptual energy into words that she harmonized into existence with the force and might of her will.
"Cardinality: One to zero. Reversal."
A heap of her energy left her instantly, stopping a budding explosion from ripping the dreadnaught apart. Justicar absolutely ravaged whoever was inside that ship, including what appeared to be a leader figure in the mindscape. Penny watched Justicar smash the Elder's corpse in his jaws and tear his soul from his body before shredding it violently with a contraption that looked straight out of a horror movie.
She let the explosion go, and so it went. The dreadnaught cracked in half. The Grand Fleets, which had never stopped firing, finally broke through the shields as the circuits failed to supply them with power. Hundreds of thousands of lives winked out instantly, torn to subatomic particles by beams coming from two different flagships. Penny went straight to Kashaunta, appearing on the ship's bridge still in stealth. To their credit, her guards noticed immediately and bared their weapons at her.
The guns that were powerful enough to blast holes in skyscrapers and sturdy enough to withstand a fall from orbit with hardly a scratch unloaded their payloads into her. Penny opened her mouth, and strings of psychic energy writhed outward, wrapping themselves around the guns and wrenching them out of the claws of Kashaunta's guards while the impacts' explosions were contained by thick shields.
Kashaunta herself had already drawn her sword but hadn't moved an inch.
"Penny," she said dryly. "Welcome to my ship. I apologize for your reception."
A new shield came down on both of them, preventing their words from reaching the ears of Kashaunta's subordinates.
"Think nothing of it, Elder Kashaunta. What punishments will be given to the Grand Fleet Commander?"
"Well, technically I am not the Grand Fleet Commander of this fleet," she said. "So that is not really something I can enforce. However, the Grand Fleet Commander of the 85th Grand Fleet does wish to talk with you, Justicar, and myself about what just occurred."
"And you believe him?" she exclaimed.
"He sent transcripts of the message he sent to one Elder Solei, asking him to cease his actions before it was too late."
"Even the Alliance can make deepfakes," Penny said.
"And do you think I would be ignorant of such things, child?" Kashaunta asked. "We have ways around those. That is why we still have a society after billions of years of time to screw it all up. Deepfakes are a problem of less advanced species and cultures, not those with the tools to handle them."
"Which are AIs, which you also ban throughout the galaxy."
"Yes."
"Isn't that hypocritical?"
"Yes, it is," Kashaunta said. "You can go and complain to the Judges who decided that if you wish, though asking them to think of the children instead of preserving the power of the entire Sprilnav species will get you laughed at by a billion mouths."
Penny felt something in her mind take offense to Kashaunta's wording. It didn't feel like it was part of her, but it also did. The shock of all the lives lost hit her again, making her scowl.
"So there will be nothing done?" Penny growled.
"No. Prepare for a neutral and level-headed discussion. If you wish to have any seat at a table such as this, you will conduct yourself with decorum. You will not accuse Elder Valisada of being responsible for whichever fool did this, and you most certainly will not baselessly claim that Yasihaut is at fault for this, even if it is likely that she or her backers are. It is time you learn the lesson that all Elders have: there are always more Sprilnav. Recognize that this was a strike against you without casting aside all of your goodwill among those that matter."
"Those that matter," Penny mused. "Sometimes I forget what you are."
Kashaunta stepped forward, eyes narrowing. She let out a hiss.
"You saw a few thousand people die, and now you're back to the racism again? Grow up. People die all the time in this galaxy. You complain about the status quo. I would respect that, if you could stomach what is required to change it. Death will continue to run rampant, and you will be the reason more die no matter what you do. 760 sextillion Sprilnav, Penny. And you cry over ten thousand?
During the Source war, we sent two years olds to war. You don't get to slide back into comfortable dumb hatred of our species because of a few stupid people. Rest assured, if you ever get this Alliance-based order, you or your successors will become tyrants. There will be a human who has the power and will to start wars, and enact genocides, for functionally no reason. Need I remind you of World War Two, and World War Three? If you multiply the population of Humanity by a trillion, that means you'll get a trillion Pol Pots, or Hitlers, or Genghis Khans.
And a hell of a lot more dumb idiots in power, which ascribes most of the history of nearly every species in the galaxy. Notice how Valisada and I both fired on Solei once he decided to be an adult daycare nominee? Notice how Valisada has not fired at us, or Justicar, and is trying his best to start a constructive dialogue? People die in war, Penny. This is reality. And you cast your disdain onto me, the only Sprilnav keeping you alive in this place, because I happened to be born an Elder. But no. I'm still some alien, right? Just another dirty animal for you to kill when the Judgment ends."
Kashaunta's fury caught Penny off-guard. The Elder truly meant her words. Penny had deeply offended her, cracking open the facade she usually maintained. The smug feeling at having made Kashaunta go on such a tirade faded when she considered the circumstances. Maybe she had acted like a child. But she hadn't said anything truly deserving of such a furious tirade, had she?
Not unless her proclamation that she remembered 'what Kashaunta was' had an implication that she didn't understand. Kashaunta was a mass murderer, one who was more than willing to justify it when necessary. And she downplayed the fact that this attack was on Penny herself and on thousands of innocents on a Sprilnav planet where she was meant to be safe. This wasn't a pair of assassins in the night, slipping poison into water or dropping snakes into a bed. This was a much more insidious and terrifying evil. Penny had been powerless to stop it.
Penny knew she was right, but Kashaunta did not. Could she truly weigh her scant decades against Kashaunta's billions of years of age? Perhaps. Age was not wisdom, though it certainly could be experience. Kashaunta turned around and started to walk away. Sadly, Penny still needed her.
"I'm sorry, Kashaunta. I am... incredibly charged. I am very pissed right now. I am not apologizing for how I feel about this attack. I have every right to be upset, and I will remain so. I will not be bullied or cowed into submission, even by a thousand more tirades. There comes a point where something must be done. But if you are upset over what I said, then I would at least like an honest clarification why."
"Because you had showed me you could think like a person should. That you didn't see people's species anymore. That you were becoming less racist. And yet, when you are cut raw, you still see me as a Sprilnav Elder alone, and therefore complicit in this massacre I literally did everything I could to do stop before it worsened. You said you knew 'what I am' as if you'd forgotten that. And it is clear that you meant that you'd forgotten your belief that I am some dirty criminal Sprilnav, who deserves to be slaughtered in the dark for the crime of being born in her species.
You care more for the ash on Justicar than you do for what I have given you. Your simplistic view of reality would mean that if you could push a button to kill us Elders, you'd do it, robbing countless families of their loved ones, because you now remember 'what we are,' and are again regressing away from your previous growth."
"I am one person, Kashaunta. I don't understand why you care this much about me. But I can recognize that the message you received is one of terrible bigotry. I am suffering, every day, every week, that I remain in this god-forsaken place. It hurts for you to dismiss the people I care about, even for a moment, dying just because there are many of them. But that does not excuse what I said to you despite the death toll you carry on your own head. It was a half-truth."
Kashaunta laughed. "Do you know why I care so much about what you think, Penny? It is because you are the other aliens. All at once. The Alliance is the face of all things 'alien' in many places. Remember what conceptual energy is? Lecalicus told you, I believe. You represent more than just your own views. And if you're able to forgive a speeding space entity, but not me, then it shows that we will never have peace. That no matter what, this cycle of hatred will continue, and I will need to either build a new galaxy with aliens that don't hate us for our ancient crimes, or just figure out another way. You are the face of the rest of the galaxy, Penny. And you have just told me that you still hate me for being an Elder. After I thought you had changed."
"And you believe you are undeserving of such hatred?"
"Penny," Kashaunta said. "The Alliance didn't exist when many of these events happened. Some of your grievances are older than the mountains on Earth. You say you hate us for genocides that happened so long ago that they no longer hold any meaning. There is no compensation we can give to dead species on dead worlds. What you want is an alien species to hate and blame for all the universe's problems. Because it is easier to hate us than to confront reality. And we are the ones you have been told to hate."
"They were not small things. It was the deaths of trillions of people, Kashaunta."
"Yes. And it was wrong. I can understand that. But what do you think will happen when your Alliance, filled with people who hate us, takes over? You will see humans bombing Sprilnav schools, and the hivemind will do nothing, for it will share that hate. Acuarfar will abduct and torture us. Knowers will devour our children. And in the face of that? You would turn a blind eye, because it is too hard to solve with a simple fix. You will only propagate generational hatred, just as all the Alliances and Galactic Republics and Peace Unions did before you.
Because underneath your message of equality for all species is oppression and genocide for us, the villains in your little story. That is what happens in reality, once the benevolent dictators die. And you, who have lived with us, eaten with us, and talked with us, will sit upon your golden throne, and when I am brought before you, naked, bleeding, and in need of support, you will throw me away, because all I am to you is an Elder. That mindset is exactly what stands in the way of peace. It is why I stopped giving you aliens chances for so long. And having to argue this with you at all makes me think you may no longer be worth my effort."
More manipulation. Penny was ready to shout at her, but Nilnacrawla pulled her thoughts away from blind anger. And it did feel unnatural for her. Alien.
"This is not peace," Penny said. "This is war. And we are circumstantial allies. I will not become what you claim."
"I have sown the seeds of a thousand despots," Kashaunta said. "I recognize them when I see them because I have reaped the heads of a million more."
Penny sighed. She wanted to resist and continue arguing, but it wouldn't get her anywhere. Now that she had thought about it, she was unlikely to overturn a viewpoint set in a billion years of experiences. Perhaps Penny could explore this later, when she had time to properly process it all.
"Very well. I will go to this meeting of yours, and I will conduct myself with decorum. However, while I refuse to belittle or forget thousands of deaths, I am sorry that you feel this way."
"But you are not sorry about making me feel so."
"No," Penny replied. She suppressed her emotions more, taking the time to carefully consider her words. Kashaunta was wrong and oddly sensitive right now. Saying the wrong thing could damage far more than their mutual feelings. As much as she wanted to win this argument, Kashaunta was who she was. She was the alien dictator keeping the Alliance alive.
"We are both right in some ways, and perhaps we might be both wrong, too. This only shows how tough the road will be. We at least are consciously trying to come to an understanding. But for the billions of Alliance citizens, quintillions of aliens, and sextillions of Sprilnav? It is a gargantuan task. And... right now, I don't think it is possible."
"It isn't," Kashaunta said. "And it won't be for thousands of years. But we don't get some neat little time skip to wait and solve all of our problems for us. Change will start only when we make it."
Kashaunta was throwing her a bone, then. They both knew the argument couldn't continue right now.
"So we have an understanding, then," Penny said. "Hatred will remain, but it must be minimised. That way, cultural and social pressure will eventually stamp it out, and we may have peace."
"No. We will have a truce, which will only become peace with much more work. The Alliance is a nation that is 24 years old. Only a single generation has grown up within it. Negotiations will be hard with so many who remember the hatred. But Valisada is not like other Sprilnav. He will seek to bring a hybrid war to you and the Alliance, unless you can convince him that you truly mean to bridge the divide. You are clearly misguided, but have a genuinely good heart. That will make life hard for you. Your words today would have spelled the death of you and the Alliance, had I not established this shield around us to hide them. Out of the spirit of our friendship, I will not request a favor in return for this boon."
"Thank you, Kashaunta. Though I'm not sure I can consider you a friend."
"The fact that you bothered to listen to my side of things, in this limited aspect, despite the hurt you must feel right now, proves otherwise. I am well aware of my past crimes, Penny. I know that my emotions today were a weakness I should have been able to seal, and that you will still see me for who I was, and not who I am. I know how it sounds for me, a killer and a ruler, to be upset at being confronted. But that is how I am. I still have my pride as an Elder, and there is only so far it can be pushed. Who I was certainly would qualify as beyond evil. But to remain at the top, there are limits to how far you can swing into benevolence.
I cannot atone. Do not try to make me repay debts that you don't own. If you are ever to have more Elders on your side, whether Progenitors or otherwise, you will need to learn to deal with this. There will be people with death tolls higher than the population of the Alliance, who were once the heart of evil and are now at least acceptable. The first step will be recognizing that, yes, we are in fact friends, despite my history. Because only from friendship and understanding can hope come."
"I will think about this more. My feelings about this, and about you, have not yet solidified."
"I was wrong for what I said to you, Penny. We are both on edge, and said things that we didn't properly express. We should get our heads in order before re-entering this argument with logic instead of emotions."
"I agree. I will go and see who I can save. And I will think more about this. I freed people from slavery, and watched them die today. Respectfully, I must spend some time away from you for now."
Penny left the ship. In something near her subconscious, anger remained. When she landed in the rubble once again, she missed a small but steady stream of conceptual energy wafting into her from below.

So I've been really working on my grip/swing the last 1-2 seasons. Read the Ben Hogan 5 lessons book. Watched many videos.
The right thumb grip being straight down vs. over the club has me questioning the grip.
If I bring my right thumb OVER the club and dont put pressure on the grip (straight down), I lose clubface control and a ton of my shots are hooks/draws because the clubface is turning over too much at impact.
Yesterday I went to play 9 holes in the rain at 1pm to figure it out. On my drivewoods/hybrids, I was absolutely flushing the ball with the right thumb straight down with a little pressure on the grip that keeps the clubface from rolling over JUST enough at impact that it kept hitting dead square.
Do you guys have any sort of rhyme or reason as to why I should do one way or the other? Today I am going to test it out on wedges and low irons.
TLDR: Right thumb straight down on grip allows me more club control at impact vs. thumb is too loose and clubface rolling over causing hooks

Looking to move into a city with some friends that has mc clubs in it. Looking for suggestions

Hello everyone. I had an amazing experience this weekend. I went to Emerge in San Diego, put on by AWAKEN church. I’m actually in the RCIA process to become a confirmed Catholic and went out here to join my brother and his family. Their church is more believing in speaking in tongues, blessings, spiritual healings, and other gifts from the lord. I’m going through a lot of turmoil in my life and I encourage anyone interested to reach out for the full story I’ll be happy to share, especially because it so strongly resonates with this event.
Anyway when I got there my brothers mother in law believes in “Bible flips” and the ability of them to give you direction and basically answer any question on your heart through the word of God.
Where I’m at I was ready to try anything and let her do this and did my best to believe. The flip said in summary: I need direction and I’m confused, I need to lean on my family and friends, and to set myself free from a mental prison I’ll need to trust Jesus more. I was in fact confused and definitely leaning on my family for support in this time.
Fast forward to the event, there’s gonna be 9 pastors. All with whatever message they want to bring. The first message I kid you not was “ fix your broken compass” “lean on your brothers(friends and family)” “trust Jesus” “ love your wife”-> to be set free from containment.
The first pastors message fired on all cylinders out the gate directly at the flip. I was still skeptical, but it energized me to dive deeper into trusting whatever would happen this week. I watched another pastor heal a man’s hearing to take out and throw away his hearing aids, another man walk after knee surgery without his cane, and wake a 12yo boy from a coma. I’ve seen these things before and just said luck but this time was a bit more confident it was real, and started to believe. As my mind raced and every pastors message fired at the struggles I’m currently in I started to develop a plan for what I wanted to do next, my direction if you will. However I was nervous that these might be my choices and not Gods path for me.
I leaned in further through the 3 day event, I even laid hands on a man who was using a back brace and muscle relaxers to keep walking and prayed and pleaded for healing… next day he was running around no brace or pills even though he had worn it/taken them all week.
I prayed over men and meditated on images, to which each man had a different image in my head associated with a color.
When I returned I went straight to his mother in law and said we need another flip, I need clarity that God is giving me this direction. She said it would just be the same and I didn’t need it. I said no you don’t understand I think I’ve found direction and I’m ready to confirm clarity, she lit up so fast and ran for the Bible. Removed any notes or cards, flipped it spun it and did everything to mix up the blank covered book so I couldn’t tell front from back….
I OPENED TO THE THIRD VERSE I FLIPPED ORIGINALLY, telling me to trust the Lord to free myself from this prison. She laughed and said FLIPPED IT AGAIN! I proceeded two more times flipping to verses about trust. Now she has an interpretation Bible and it has more pages and suggestions in it as you go, the third one gave me a literal chart of ways to worship and trust God more. I immediately got up and took the steps I was working through all week.
Then one of the men mentioned the colors I saw at service and she jumped again, pulled out a dream/vision interpretation book. Started asking me about each person in the room. EVERY COLOR INTERPRETATION MATCHED THEIR STRUGGLE IN LIFE AND THE JOURNEY THEY WERE ON. A woman I just met 2 minutes before that stood up and said I need prayer from you, before she spoke they asked if I saw a color and I said yellow and described it. Turns out the interpretation for what I described was an illness or infection. I asked what she needed prayer for…. INFECTION IN HER LEG, showed me the photo. Then before I left a man I just met and said no more than 10 words to all week, I went up to and told him what I prayed over him the night before while he stood around the fire. I saw a certain set of butterfly wings and he demanded we find the exact one. I showed him a photo, turns out the species I saw is only native to Brazil…. He laughed and said his family immigrated from BRAZIL!!
I have every confidence, especially after this experience that God will deliver me from these troubled times if I walk in his words and follow every pull I get to do a move. If anyone has a question or wants to know more please ask!
The reason I came here was because I have a pull to share my testimony and see if any Christian’s want to donate to my cause. If you want the cause and story message me. This post is just for my testimony.
God bless you all!!!!

It is summertime and that means for me manga season! But I have read EVERYTHING I own 😭. So please suggest some good shojo manage. I have read….
Sailor Moon Fruits Basket A Sign of Affection Ouran High School Host Club The Apothecary Diaries Angel Sanctuary Monthly Girls Nozaki Kun Snow White With Red Hair (This is just Shojo manga I have many more series).
I also love cat mangas, and I am interesting in LGBTQ+ stories.
I just ask if you recommend me a manga it not be super graphic with sex (a little is fine but a lot is a pass).
Thank you all so much for anything you guys have recommend.

My son recently moved up to 10u. He expressed interest in pitching this season, and started off as the most consistent pitcher and seemed kind of a natural (neither my husband nor I ever played baseball/softball).
Lately, he’s hit a bit of a slump; his pitching coach’s feedback today was that his shoulders were opening too early (before his front foot was planted).
Does anyone have suggestions for drills that might help fix this problem? He was really looking forward to this lesson after a disappointing game on the mound last weekend, and the lesson helped him specify what to work on. Still, he left feeling bummed because he didn’t throw the higher percentage of strikes like he used to. My husband is deployed right now, so it’ll be just me trying to finish out baseball season with him this year. Thank you so much!

Any suggestions as to where to go for adult swimming lessons?

My girl and I are spending next weekend in the LA area and want to go dancing after seeing Chris Rock at the Palladium. Any suggestions for a nearby club or concert venue?

Life has a funny way of surprising you. I, 31M, found myself, somewhat unexpectedly, as the OM in a relationship with a MW, 43F, whose life was far from simple. We met at a conference, where a chance conversation over coffee revealed her struggles at home. She was stuck in an abusive marriage with no affection, and our initial chat turned into something deeper.
We started meeting up for small adventures that felt like breaths of fresh air. Skydiving one weekend, exploring art galleries the next, and winding down in cozy jazz clubs. These weren’t just outings; they were little escapes for her, brief moments where she could forget the heavier parts of her life.
Our bond grew quickly, fueled by shared experiences and long, deep conversations. Despite the fun and connection, we were always aware of the reality hovering in the background. Her marriage was a complicated web she couldn’t yet escape, and our relationship existed in this tucked-away corner of her world.
We kept things respectful and mindful of her situation, but every laugh and shared secret brought us closer. It was thrilling and genuine—something neither of us planned but both cherished deeply.
This connection, born in unexpected circumstances, became a sanctuary for her and a profound lesson for me: the most significant relationships sometimes come from the most surprising places.

We need some extra help brainstorming! The head elder of our church officiated our wedding for free. We’ve been attending this church for about a year and a half, and are getting to know him and his wife pretty well, or at least as well as you can get to know old people from church. We want to do something to thank him. There’s no way he’d accept money. They even gave us a cash wedding gift. We’ve been brainstorming for over a month, and still have no great ideas what to give him. At his age, he doesn’t appear to have many giftable hobbies - just spending time with his family, leading Bible studies, playing acoustic guitar, taking care of his health, and generally being a typical old Texas man. Of course there’s always the restaurant gift card route, but we’d rather not do that. My husband suggested a gift card package for an overnight in a small tourist town nearby, but I think in order to do that right we’d have to pay for hotel and several meals, which could cost upwards of $400, and be too much. We considered souvenirs from the honeymoon, but that seemed to be more about us than them so we didn’t bring anything back. What else would you suggest?