Best Books on Sales, Marketing, Behavioral Psychology, Copywriting, Storytelling, Branding and Positioning:

[I thought this will help interested Redditors and hence sharing here]

1. Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini [Related to Behavioral Pychology]
2. Pre-Suasion - The Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini [Behavioral Pychology]
3. Meet Your Happy Chemicals by Loretta Graziano Breuning [Behavioral Pychology]
4. Hooked by Nir Eyal [Behavioral Pychology]
5. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely [Behavioral Pychology]
6. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg [Behavioral Pychology]
7. Start With Why by Simon Sinek [Behavioral Pychology]
8. Ogilvy on Advertising - I hate rules [Copywriting]
9. Scientific Advertising by Claude C Hopkins [Copywriting]
10. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples [Copywriting]
11. The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman [Copywriting]
12. Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman [Copywriting]
13. No Body Wants To Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield [Storytelling]
14. Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller [Storytelling]
15. Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath [Storytelling]
16. The Anatomy of Story by John Truby [Storytelling]
17. Way Of The Wolf by Jordan Belfort [Sales]
18. Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross & Marylou Tyler [Sales]
19. From Impossible To Inevitable by Aaron Ross and Jason Lemkin [Sales]
20. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes [Sales]
21. The Sales Acceleration Formula by Mark Roberge [Sales]
22. What Great Brands Do by Denise Lee Yohn [Branding and Positioning]
23. Hello My Name is Awesone by Alexandra Watkins [Branding and Positioning]
24. Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout [Branding and Positioning]
25. Books by Russell Brunson [Marketing, Traffic and Lead Generation]
26. Books by Alex Hormozi [Marketing, Traffic and Lead Generation]

P.S: Books 1–24 were recommended by my mentor, Antony Chacko, while I was doing my short-term digital marketing course in October 2020.
Also, DM me if you need help (I can share 77 different free courses covering various aspects of digital marketing domain that the current industry or market needs)

Sorry for the long back story but it may give more light into the situation and why it’s caused me quite a lot of pain and anguish. I read through these posts for hours last night and I want to thank those of you who post, comment and respond. It made me feel less alone, and give me hope that perseverance may finally lead to some answers and some treatment.
From the age of 15 my periods have been extremely severe. The pain has always been agonising, my mum would find me on the landing on all fours trying to muffle my whimpers. The pain tends to be for most of the month, not just during the bleeding stage. I would faint, throw up and missed a lot of school, eventually loosing jobs also. It was also around this age my back pain started, I remember feeling it spreading from my lower back right up into my neck. At times this has left my bed bound but I did not make the connection, although now after years of tracking I can see it is often linked with period pains, times in my cycle.
The first doctor I saw at 15 told me all girls experienced cramps and some paracetamol would be fine. They also started me on the contraceptive pill - which did nothing to help the pain but completely messed with my emotions. I went back several times, and was always brushed off.
Finally at 19, feeling i could possibly advocate a bit more, I went back and demanded a scan after a particularly bad period of pain and other symptoms. I had the scan and although they said one ovary was immobile, I also had cysts on my ovaries so was diagnosed with PCOS.
In my follow up appointment I was given this diagnosis and told ‘you’re most likely infertile, so I would start considering alternatives’. I was devastated, I’ve always wanted to be a mother, and this senior authoritative figure bluntly (and also what an educated statement), felt had ripped this away from me. 2 weeks later I found out I was actually 10 weeks pregnant. How or why they missed this on the ultrasound is still an unknown to me. This is still a very painful time for me and I still feel I cannot talk about it. But to give some clarity, I do not have a child. This was quite traumatising so again, I left the situation alone and almost got used to dealing with the pain.
At 22, I had the coil inserted for contraception as I had come off the pill due to the way it affected my mental health. The insertion was agonising and lengthened because the first coil they inserted was too big. It did not stop my periods, or reduce. I think the previous combination gave me some medical anxiety.
Recently, I decided enough was enough and as a 24-year-old women, I felt this time I could properly advocate for myself. I saw a brilliant female doctor who listened to me and told me it was unacceptable to live like this and she would do everything she could to help me. She suspects endo, as I have for years. So immediately booked me a scan.
During my in-vaginal scan, the technician found that same ovary immobile and scar tissue, but no signs of pcos that she could clearly see.
I’m not entirely sure what this means, I’ve done some research but a lot of it is medical jargon. I would really appreciate anyone’s advice, explanation (to the extent of their knowledge and own experience) or guidance on what this might mean going forward. I’m waiting for my follow up appointment and it’s just causing my anxiety to be heightened. Thank you ❤️

“Golden rules” about buying cheap flights, like booking domestic flights 57 days before the departure date, are no longer valid, as there has been a huge shift in the travel industry in what days were thought the cheapest to booking flights. If a study has not been conducted recently, or only one year ago, do not put too much faith in it; there’s no reason to worry about booking a flight far in advance. The stellar tips below are current.

Check airlines which don’t appear on 3rd party websites

One of the major weaknesses of Internet search engines is that they frequently will not display the flights of all airlines such as Southwest, Frontier, and Allegiant. To solve this problem, use a free resource like Wikipedia to learn which of these airlines operates a certain airport. Visit Wikipedia, go to their airport page, and search for a section called “Airlines and destinations.” You are advised to locate a list of each airline that flies to that airport as well as all the nonstop destinations that airport operates. So, once you become aware of any carriers which did not show up in your first searches, you could now look for flights straight on the airlines’ sites.

Search one-way & round-trip flights

Once upon a time the majority of round-trip flights were cheaper than booking two one-way airfare flights. That’s no longer the situation today. For instance, Southwest and Jetblue set their prices for their flights on a one-way basis; and a round-trip flight is only the sum of the 2 one-way rates. So, you’ll want to check one-way flight rates to ensure you buy the best round-trip deal by pairing two one-way flight tickets, probably on two different carriers.

Look for one seat at a time

There exists a virtually unknown quirk in how carriers price seats which could result in greater prices if searching for many passengers as opposed to a single ticket. Airlines put their inventory in fare classes, or called buckets, which are not always obviously visible to customers. For instance, there may be just three seats left in a fare bucket for $300 each, and the next higher bucket may be $400 for each ticket. But, if you happen to look for four seats, each one would end up falling into the $400 fare bucket.

Search alternate airports

At times the cost of a certain flight is extremely high that it could be a good idea to use your second or even third choice of airports. For instance, you perhaps are aware of the New York area’s 3 biggest airports: New York-JFK, Newark (EWR), and New York-LaGuardia. But did you know that Stewart (SWF), Westchester (HPN), and Long Island McArthur (ISP) are also in the region? Several airlines permit you to look for all airports in a region by just specifying the destination as the city itself rather than a certain airport. The ITA Matrix tool is also a great way to look for close by if you do not know the area too well, and Google Flights offers a “Nearby airports” option to assist in this search, too.

Don’t always travel direct

Being flexible with your route you’ll be flying is another way to find a cheap flight. For instance, at times it’s cheaper to travel to London and use a budget airline to Amsterdam instead of flying directly to Amsterdam from the actual departure city.
To utilize this approach, learn how much it costs to fly directly to the target destination. Next, open Google Flights, type in the destination’s details like country name to see the rates to nearby airports. If the difference happens to exceed $150 dollars, find out how much it actually is to fly from the 2nd airport to the main destination.

Leverage elite status

Although having elite status will not allow you to book flights at a discount, you still could use it to save money another way. But with elite status with the majority of airlines let you to standby for earlier flights or perform same-day verified flight modifications. This can permit you to buy a discounted airline flight at an awful time, only to modify it to the flight you really want but at no extra charge. Even without elite status, the charge to standby or make a same-day verified flight modification might be less than the airfare difference between the flight you truly want and the lowest option that day.

Use the correct credit card

The right credit card may very well provide you major savings on flight tickets in a number of various ways. For instance, The Platinum Card from American Express now offers 5x points on all airline bookings made directly with the carrier or with Amex travel, worth 10 cents each dollar spent, based on TPG’s recent valuations. That card in addition offers the International Airfare Program, providing cardholders discounts for premium class flights on certain airlines.

Search for free hotels and stopover tours

Whenever an airline imposes a lengthy layover because of its very tight schedule, the airline will usually offer a free STPC, or stopover paid by carrier, which can include a free tour or hotel room as well.

Don’t mind the myths

The initial and main fact to know whenever locating a cheap flight is there exists no magic trick for achieving this objective. There are however a ton of myths floating online about certain ways to seek cheap flights. Without doubt, you must have run into a lot of them while searching for the best flight deals.
Airline companies use advanced technology like computers and pricing algorithms for determining flight prices and offer deals based on various factors like time of the year, weather, time of day, passenger demand, fuel prices, competitor prices, and others. These myths and similar ones will lead you astray.

Be flexible in respect to your travel times & dates

Airline flight rates vary a lot depending on upcoming holidays, day of the week, and time of the year. August is a major month for flying to Europe, and plenty of people are planning to travel somewhere hot during winter or fly while the kids are taking a break from school.
In summation, if you’re traveling when everyone is also flying, then logically your flight price will be higher.

Flexibility is everything for cheap plane tickets & cheap flight deals

The more flexible you are, you’ll get better cheap flight deals you can book. Here’s a new way of doing things: Instead of deciding where to go next, choosing dates, and then searching for the cheap plane tickets to certain destinations on those particular dates, consider first selecting your destination and dates based on the best going deals available. By exercising greater flexibility where you travel and the specific dates you fly, you will have a far better opportunity to find cheaper airfare.

Book first, think later for cheap flight finder cancellation

Take complete advantage of the free 24-hour cancellation window while purchasing flights. Because of the Department of Transportation’s strict regulations, any cheap flight booked to or from the United States could be canceled without worry of incurring a penalty, for 24 hours after the flight’s reservation; it must be booked no less than one week before the flight’s departure. Yes, it’s a very good idea to use a cheap flight finder these days. What this means is that if you buy a flight and the ticket price drops within 24 hour window, you could cancel the original flight and purchase the new, less expensive one.
Warning: the 24-hour rule can only work for flights directly bought with the airline or with booking engines such as Priceline.

Set a price alert for all cheap flight tickets

You can choose emails or push notices to your cell phone which will tell you exactly when the flight you are interested in has increased or decreased in price. This may be a great way for getting the best possible price on all cheap flight tickets in the near future. You can do this on the majority of search travel sites and OTAs. Why miss out on potential easy savings? You can then always locate flight tickets cheap when you need them.

Buy in foreign currency to get cheap flight ticket

Because regular fliers travel abroad now and then, you could switch the currency on the airline’s website to determine if the price would be listed in other monies.
You can save big this way. For example, if an airline increased the flight price in US dollars but not in Indian rupee, you could book flights at half the price! But this may require altering either the location or language on the airline’s website; or you may change to the home country’s URL, where ticket prices are generally cheapest by searching in its local currency. This is how you can in fact find cheap flight ticket to wherever you like to travel.

Sign up for an airline’s travel rewards credit card for cheap flight booking

One of the smartest ways to take full advantage from travel credit cards is to use the hefty sign-up bonuses. For example, if you sign up for a new travel card when the airline is offering unusually high quantity of bonus miles, you could score yourself literally thousands of dollars worth of reward points by just opening the card.
Although several of these travel cards could have higher annual fees, a big sign-up bonus may amount for months or even years worth of cheap flight booking for you and your whole family.

The cheapest day to book flights

Even though you might see great deals flashing on your computer screen for international airfare three to six months out, if you are flying during peak times, or perhaps your plans are not very flexible, it’s smart to begin searching sooner. The cheapest day to book flights actually evades many flyers.
This does not automatically mean you ought to purchase tickets when hitting the 6-month window; hold on till you book cheap flights online. And, just ignore the old advice that travel experts often repeat regarding booking the cheapest flights at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday; that used to be true but now airfare prices are updated often and great deals could pop up any given moment when least expected. So, now you can secure a flight cheap most of the time.

Utilize momondo to book cheap flight air tickets

Upon finding what you imagine to be the cheapest flight wherever, try searching on Momondo; it will search dozens of OTAs; bear in mind that it may not display the cheapest fares seen on large OTAs and Google Flights. But you got a greater chance to find cheap air tickets sooner this way. Otherwise, only one cheap air ticket may be attained, if tried another manner. Now you too can enjoy when you book cheap flight tickets when you need them.

Fly cheap during the low season

Have you ever scanned flight prices from the USA to Europe’s insanely popular cities in August? Surpassing quite easily $1000.00, they can frighten seasoned and expert travelers alike.
But are those the same ticket prices in February? So, fly cheap from major hubs in USA to Europe, you could often locate roundtrip flights throughout the winter months for less than $400 or even $300!

Fly basic economy for cheap air flights

A basic economy flight ticket could save you money, if you do not require checked luggage or advance seat selection. Pay only for what you need. In theory, you’ll achieve cheap air flights via this option.

Enroll in the airline’s loyalty program for cheap airfare

If you fly one particular airline often, join its loyalty program in order to earn points each time you go anywhere. Then, you can redeem such points for upgrades or cheap airfare in the future. If you accumulate enough miles and achieve a considerable status with the airline, you might receive free upgrades. Now, you can take fuller advantage of cheap air fare whenever you require it.

Skiplag to discover hidden-city cheap airfares & last minute flights

Hidden-city ticketing happens by booking a flight to a place beyond your final destination, and then end your flight on the layover city. This could help you in getting cheap airfares as well as best last minute flights to most destinations. Think about it: can you imagine a better, more creative way to book cheap air fares while searching the Internet?

Prolong your layovers for cheapest flight tickets

Sometimes only by extending a layover a few days in another city in-between, you can score cheapest flight tickets to your original destination. In conclusion, more often than not, you’ll usually find the cheapest flight ticket by following this method consistently. Why not? A lot of people are discovering that they are by accident getting the cheapest flight via the extended layovers.

Don’t overlook sales for cheapest flight booking

Airlines are frequently offering amazing deals which you may jump on fast enough and save yourself hundreds of dollars on your next flight. Sign up for your favorite airline’s newsletter to be on top of their latest flight deals. This is yet another way to know about the cheapest flight booking that becomes available whenever.

Focus on going across the ocean for cheap fly tickets

If you are thinking to visit a distant location, it could be less expensive to book one ticket to the main hub, and then a second ticket from there to your final destination. For example, if you wish to fly to Alhambra, Spain, it’s probably cheaper to book one roundtrip flight from your home to Madrid and a second roundtrip ticket from Madrid to Alhambra than it would be to buy a ticket to Alhambra on one itinerary. In essence, you’ll end up with cheap fly tickets by following the above example.

Don’t overlook destinations with low cost carriers to get cheapest flights

Carriers such as Frontier, AirTran, and Southwest all drive down airfares along their routes. So, it may be quite wise to travel a bit longer to a larger airport with low-cost carriers, because even major carriers flights will most likely be cheaper. Using this method regularly, you are more likely to find the cheapest flights to most if not all your destinations. Why not take advantage of low cost flights whenever possible?

Avoid Friday, Sunday flights, & traditional air travel days

This may mean going away before and returning later than usual, or even flying exactly on the holiday. Pelletier, the air travel specialist, says you can save up to 50% by simply flying Christmas Eve or Day. She said: “We saved $300 per ticket around Thanksgiving for our family of four by flying out the Saturday before Thanksgiving and coming back the Saturday after. Not everyone can swing that with their work schedules, so my advice is to leave Thanksgiving day and return on Saturday for cheaper fares.”

Begin with a reputable flight search engine to find cheapest international flights

While searching for a flight, the initial thing you will wish to do is determine which airlines run a certain route and get an estimated price on the biggest carriers. Opposed to individually visiting all of these airlines’ sites, begin by looking for a website which will provide results from many airlines and different combinations of carriers. You may end up with the cheapest international flights this way. So, you could start with Expedia or another such as Orbitz, Hotwire, Travelocity, and Cheap Tickets. Do not ignore Google Flights, which, though a very powerful search engine, know that it’s not a booking platform and can’t buy a flight ticket there. This is how you could find cheapest flights to many popular locations.

Be flexible where you go to book discount flights

If for some reason or another you cannot be flexible with the time factor of your flight, then try to be flexible with your destinations. It’s ideal to be both. However, you still can save a lot of money and book discount flights by being flexible with either factor.
You don’t have to conduct manual searches, going city by city and day by day. Websites such as Google Flights, Skyscanner, and Momondo provide explore tools and permit you to add your nearest airport and see a world map with all the possible flights on it. This helps you to quickly compare many destinations with no need to brainstorm each potential option.

Fly budget airlines/carriers

Many years ago, you were generally stuck flying with traditional costly airlines. That’s not true anymore. Budget airlines today service both short and medium-haul routes all over the world.
For example, AirAsia provides incredible cheap flight deals around Australia and Asia for less than $150 dollars! Indian and Middle Eastern air carriers sell cheap flight tickets throughout Africa and the subcontinent.

Book early: how to find the cheapest flights

You can discover how to find the cheapest flights by booking early. Although flight rates continue climbing the nearer you get to departure, there exists a great spot along the way when airline companies start to reduce or increase flight prices based on demand. Do not wait till the last moment but do not book too far in advance. The ideal time to buy your flight ticket is about 2 to 3 months prior to your departure, or even about 5 months prior if you’re flying there in their peak season.

Hey Everyone!
Let’s go….
Newly Covered Today:

1. Sorry, Dragon. A senator from the least populated state in the union just deeply wounded your entire agenda in one day. https://x.com/ArmySpies/status/1791572836076921128
2. Very interesting! Fallout from the Dragon's failure in the Senate vote? https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1792636523050906102
3. Wow! Is this shit actually happening? If it is, we have the Senate SAB 121 beatdown to thank for this HUGE shift in policy. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1792656860379844875
4. The anti-crypto betas might be trying to strike back with opposition to Fit 21. https://x.com/lex_node/status/1792677933557146103
5. Looks like the message is only "strong opposition" as opposed to "don't you dare vote for this crypto bullshit". https://x.com/Eleanor_Muellestatus/1792701481575170341
6. The US state government rush to crypto has begun. https://twitter.com/BTC_Archive/status/1790395762506977502
7. This is what we wanna see: states competing to host us. https://x.com/SenLummis/status/1791112039982653550
8. Don't know anything about the project, but this is a pretty decent sized raise. https://x.com/splashprotocol/status/1791862205215801800
9. A huge thank you is due to Lummis and Gillibrand for pushing so hard for crypto in the Senate. https://x.com/SenLummis/status/1791146216522240118
10. McHenry on pushing Fit21 crypto legislation forward. https://twitter.com/PatrickMcHenry/status/1789017167821778946
11. The DOJ is talking about "MEV" and "fraud" in this indictment. Shocked I tell you! Shocked! https://twitter.com/tier10k/status/1790777058810789900
12. Schumer knows they're at a pivotal moment vs. Warren and the White House. https://twitter.com/twobitidiot/status/1790736453669949646
13. Senate Dems are trying to find a fix for the White House being. Having to veto the will of your own party's senators wouldn't be a good look in an election year. https://twitter.com/taylorjbarstatus/1790724374405828664
14. Which one of you was this? https://x.com/ArmySpies/status/1791915321529671965
15. Why Cardano? Because: https://twitter.com/josephdelong/status/1790862858244206942
16. Ahhhh...as it should be. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1790857991488782351
17. The English translation of what's coming out of the Dutch Tornado Cash case is brutal. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1790438032098631990
18. Paul Ryan is talking about stablecoins as a solution to help treasury auctions? https://twitter.com/nic__cartestatus/1790540747466223921
19. Epic community note about TPS in blockchains. https://x.com/coingecko/status/1791406157468504289
20. Apparently, Cardano's biggest competitor is inflationary again. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/05/09/eth-reverts-to-inflationary-asset-following-fee-reducing-dencun-upgrade/
21. Mr. T pities the fools in banking who are gonna get wrecked by Commercial Real Estate. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1790832468767220113
22. Nothing to see here! https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1789402248293818573
23. It's easy to forget there are only a few "decentralized" blockchains bigger than Cardano. https://twitter.com/Av_Sebastian/status/1789016340755276228
24. Development on Kraken's SEC battle. https://twitter.com/msantoriESQ/status/1788944762608754731
25. Thank you non-octogenarian members of Congress. No surprise to see our crypto ally Torres in there. https://twitter.com/SamLyman33/status/1788612636428374183
26. White House threatens veto of House Bill repealing SAB121. https://twitter.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1788279283229904976
27. The White House is wild for doing this in an election year. https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1788281811086221646
28. Why is it happening? Because the White House economic staff is answering to the Dragon, not the guy who needs to win re-election as President. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/178827894030354890
29. McHenry on SAB121. https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409247
30. House bill to repeal SAB121 passes with the support of 21 Democrats even after the White House veto threat. This is huge. Now on to the Senate. https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1788328626250813657
31. Doom on Hydra! https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1788292907679514677
32. Dragon also taking heat on her reaction to the FDIC scandal. https://twitter.com/nic__cartestatus/1788284368009437571
33. People are still massively sleeping on typescript in the ecosystem, totally separate from the addition of regulatorily compliant privacy. https://twitter.com/MidnightNtwrk/status/1787784475499208773
34. Grewal getting spicy in his retort to Gensler double talk. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1787852258572661214
35. Lubin on the SEC crackdown and MetaMask Wells Notice. https://www.wired.com/story/ethereums-co-founder-says-sec-is-gaslighting-us-about-crypto/
36. Robinhood received a Wells Notice. They're definitely trying to cover all the big on-ramps. https://twitter.com/CoinDesk/status/1787468580902088795
37. Politico article on the SeC and crypto. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/05/gary-gensler-sec-crypto-00154769
38. Druckenmiller on how easy this could have been. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1787887702538420598
39. Fairly accurate. https://twitter.com/CryptoWendyO/status/1787847385328275514
40. Did someone say airdrop? Wait…what about the tokenomics? https://twitter.com/MladenLm/status/1787524932689174796
41. Why Haskell? Ask Anduril. https://twitter.com/TravisMWhitakestatus/1787516740961964338
42. The dirty little secret of Cardano’s main competitors? https://twitter.com/decryptmedia/status/1787513483606536560
43. The first treasury buy-back since 2002?!? So the treasuries are removed in exchange for more fiat being issued into the ecosystem. Definitely doesn’t sound like the start of things that look like QE under a new name. https://twitter.com/martypartymusic/status/1785681525746663925
44. Look at the difference 150 bps makes. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1786510472214462967
45. What Biden’s guy wishes he said (of course with the nuance that actual physical printing…not what we’re worried about here…is done by Bureau of Engraving & Printing of Treasury). https://twitter.com/theSamPadilla/status/1786439794605572245
46. Set “Apply Thresholding” to “None” to see the real numbers. https://groups.inf.ed.ac.uk/blockchainlab/edi-dashboard/
47. Not gonna lie. This is pretty fire from Sen. Lummis. https://twitter.com/SenLummis/status/1786055913922494838
48. Three different non-BTC crypto ETFs are now listed on Hong Kong. Progress! https://www.theblock.co/post/291599/hong-kong-officially-debuts-asias-first-spot-bitcoin-ether-etfs
49. Grayscale is basically the worst ex ever. Getting our stuff out of their place has been painful and seems to never end. https://dailyhodl.com/2024/04/30/crypto-markets-break-down-as-grayscale-sends-over-245000000-worth-of-bitcoin-to-coinbase/
50. Consensys has sued the SEC seeking clarity around Ethereum and securities laws. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1783561618741236177
51. Biden: Long-term capital gains to 44.6% + unrealized gains tax! Crypto: No thanks. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1783028521549299932
52. Damn…they want CZ to get three years! https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1783028521549299932
53. Pragma: a new Cardano members based organization! Initial focus to be on Aiken and Amaru (a second client for Cardano…which we need). https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1782828212273443063
54. I think we all knew this was coming at some point for Tron. https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-59
55. The SEC attorneys who were on Debt Box have exited the SEC. https://twitter.com/leomschwartz/status/1782470866766340300
56. Kennedy is talking about putting the US Government budget on the blockchain. Dude may be predicting the future. But, how far out is it? https://twitter.com/Holden_Culotta/status/1782240403879576041
57. We made it! Halving complete
58. Damn! Kennedy is embracing the ChazHosk endorsement! https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJstatus/1780726997020508562
59. So close, but yet so far! https://twitter.com/GaryGenslestatus/1780685461020663888
60. Once again, we are the best blockchain. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1780711598375809162
61. Hong Kong ETFs, you say?!? https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/04/15/shock-leak-reveals-china-could-be-about-to-blow-up-the-price-of-bitcoin-ethereum-and-xrp/
62. As predicted when the investigation was revealed and Uniswap Labs took synthetics off their front end, the SEC has dropped a Wells Notice on Uniswap. https://twitter.com/Uniswap/status/1778127813138071904
63. A full suit against Uniswap is only a matter of time given the current composition of the Gensler led Commission. https://twitter.com/BillHughesDC/status/1778146519125774761
64. The founder of Uniswap on their willingness to fight the upcoming battle with the SEC. https://twitter.com/haydenzadams/status/1778126466984575166
65. It's definitely a little crazy given the recent ruling on Coinbase Wallet not being a broker. But, this is the result of an agenda, not fair and impartial treatment. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1778149863072670169
66. Ouch! Hotter than expected CPI for April. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/10/economy/cpi-consumer-price-index-inflation-march/index.html
67. So-called "super core" inflation (no shelter, energy, or food costs) is even hotter. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/the-supercore-inflation-measure-shows-fed-may-have-a-real-problem-on-its-hands.html
68. Cardano's biggest competitor can't even decide what its issuance rate should be. https://unchainedcrypto.com/why-the-ethereum-community-is-up-in-arms-against-a-proposal-to-change-the-monetary-policy/
69. People are sleeping so hard on how much demographics are going to affect economies over the next few decades. Wild decisions will be made in attempts to remedy these problems. https://twitter.com/iamyesyouareno/status/1775535726383222928
70. Even Chairman Ryan sees the severity of the problem. https://twitter.com/SmokeAwayyy/status/1787925300757807226
71. This shows all the biggest depopulation trends. https://twitter.com/stats_feed/status/1786482160272118041
72. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 continues, apparently! https://twitter.com/CaitlinLong_/status/1775982855169995246
73. Weird that it hurts so little when you know they're on the descent. https://twitter.com/Grayscale/status/1775983039832904014
74. No private liability for secondary trading on exchanges. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1776292735063888374
75. No matter how much people will obsess over various wild-niche-bullshit things, the real story over this cycle will (as always) just be this: https://twitter.com/cardano_whale/status/1776229889743728657

Previously covered, but still interesting:

1. Not to worry: the on/off function of a large Cardano competitor is still functioning as usual. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1754828269180903727
2. Oh...so bitcoin mining is an emergency now....okay. Makes perfect sense. https://twitter.com/BitcoinPierre/status/1752842700548718644
3. ..and as expected, their reaction is censorship. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1764316770398289996
4. Pretty much what happened. https://twitter.com/AutismCapital/status/1762238298008006931
5. Watching Deaton challenge for the Dragon's seat is going to be some incredible fun. https://twitter.com/DeatonforSenate/status/1759935884978225340
6. Definitely no bias built into Big Tech AI! These MFers can't be trusted. https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1761800684272308302
7. This one could end up addressing some interesting questions around government intervention in...basically just computation. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1761112782253240810
8. 2020: "Binance is unstoppable." 2024: https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1761115366275596526
9. Very telling that it's just becoming clear to them that "crypto is here to stay". https://bitcoinist.com/sec-leader-resigns-stating-crypto-is-here-to-stay/
10. Maybe..crypto is just dreaming. But, it would send a shockwave through DC if Deaton won! https://twitter.com/Belisarius2020/status/1760499141296427405
11. Arthur Hayes with the unabashed Cardano hate. Why? Because it's valued??? https://twitter.com/CryptoHayes/status/1760055332364292219
12. Yep. The KYCing of self-custodied wallets is upon us. https://news.bitcoin.com/kraken-starts-requiring-info-on-self-custody-crypto-wallet-ownership-in-the-uk/
13. Still ranked crazy high in the brand intimacy rankings. https://twitter.com/CloverNodes/status/1769136178924769358
14. What do we have here? https://pool.pm/asset12ffdj8kk2w485sr7a5ekmjjdyecz8ps2cm5ze
15. We haven't seen this before. https://twitter.com/sachs_johnny/status/1768281470005588162
16. The crystal ball not looking good for an ETH ETF approval in May. https://twitter.com/jchervinsky/status/1767175990285857006
17. At least one candidate is with us. https://twitter.com/Holden_Culotta/status/1767344261081489793
18. The Dubai police are using the Cardano blockchain? https://twitter.com/ZombieLife2019/status/1766753115632480539
19. The truth will out...https://twitter.com/CCMOD_/status/1764379842911330776
20. Vechain is posting about Cardano and Charles. https://twitter.com/vechainofficial/status/1765014603220586706
21. We're still doing this CFTC vs. SEC thing? https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-designated-as-commodity-by-cftc/
22. Welcome to the show of magic, mystery, and sorcery where I, the GREAT VALDINO, will turn Ethereum into Cardano before your very eyes! https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1771180467745669407
23. And then the ETH Foundation warrant canary vanished. Interesting move in an election year. They really don't put any respeck on the name of our voting power. https://unchainedcrypto.com/sec-investigating-ethereum-foundation-regarding-proof-of-stake-transition-report/
24. Unsurprisingly, a16z seems to disagree with any assertion by the SEC that ETH (in it's new proof-of-stake form) is a security. https://bitcoinist.com/ethereum-not-security-sec-probe-a16z/
25. 2024 is not going well for SEC litigation. https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1769835308559032608
26. Oh okay...Japanese stagflation after 17 years of lowezero/negative interest rates. Yeah, sounds like everything's fine. https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/1769703427586605549

~Army of Spies

TLDR: My sister who I have supported ever since she came out as trans and before that as non-binary came to my house, with only two weeks to prepare for two extra people. She came to my house with her dog she barely controlled. Was inconsiderate of the small space of our house and made it impossible for movement without her dog attacking mine and my partners ankles. She left trash and dishes in the area she was taking up. And made rude comments about my insecurities to one of my partners behind my back.
For some backstory
I (30F) have always loved all of my siblings. I'm my Father's 4th child and my Mother's 2nd child. My Dad has three children from a previous marriage before my Mom. My Mother had a child when she was 17 and gave my older brother who I know nothing about, up for adoption. Also (important later) each pregnancy my Mother went through she had gained a lot of weight. She also gained a lot of weight while trying to be on birth control. Pregnancy, birth control and hormones did nothing for body images for the women of my Mom's side of the family.
When I was six and my Mom was pregnant with my youngest sister (23F) We will call her E. My Mom and Dad got a divorce. For the first few years E, myself and J (28 F trans sister.) were all on good terms. That is until one summer when my Dad was visiting us. E, J, and I were all swimming and having child play competitions. I won the swimming race followed closely by J. I turned around to see E floating as if lifeless. I recognized the danger and swam out to get her and get her out of the water. E was only 3 years old at the time. She has nearly drowned to death, but my quick actions and thinking saved her life. We immediately called My Mom to tell her what happened and she cut the visit with my Dad short to take E to the hospital to make sure there was no further damage. Since then. My Mom became really protective of E and instead of praising my efforts I'm saving my baby sister, she tore me down for not being more vigilant since my Dad was so irresponsible.
Now mind you my Dad was in the area where E was drowning but was further away than I was to react. And when he reached us he helped pull E out of the water. This is when my Mom started to start degrading our Dad to our faces. She spoke I'll of our Dad constantly and be J was once male and looked a lot like our Dad. J had once shared the name of our Dad letter by letter. our Mom would compare her to our Dad in the most nastiest of ways and tell her that she would never amount to anything in her life. And when I started yelling at my Mom for the nasty way she was treating J. J started her transition at a early age. It was small at first when she came out and told the entirety of Moms side of the family that she wanted her name to be different than what it was and because it was what My Mom wanted originally, J was no longer the target of much of our Mom's wrath. So E and J started to grow closer together because they were more accepted by our Mother than I was.
See in my My Mom's and her parents eyes, I was a problem child. And I needed to behave set and set an example to my younger two siblings. She wanted me to cut contact with my Dad and anyone related to him, but I love my Dad and his side of the family more than anyone on my Mom's side. So I remained in constant contact with them. This angered my Mom. And she started to physically, mentally, emotionally abuse me. This led J and E to believe I was a bad person and when their birthday came up. And I say birthday, because J and E were born on the same exact day, just 5 years apart. Anyway they would gang up on me to make me feel bad about myself. Due to this behavior not only from my two younger siblings and Mom, but my Mom's side of the family, I began struggling mentally and emotionally for a very, very long time. Struggling with self image issues, people pleasing and misguided actions to try and please everyone around me. I never felt good enough. And I started to dress in ways that would get attention on me. To try to be seen and heard. Only to be told that as a 14 year old virgin that I looked like I was 6 months pregnant, because of how my belly developed when I hit puberty. After that I struggled to eat. And when I did eat it wasn't very much. However, when I didn't do what my Mother wanted me to do she would find news ways to punish me one of them was not allowing me to eat for 3 days straight. And the only reason that stopped was because my Dad's side of the family knew of my struggles and when I ate 3 plates of food they knew something was seriously wrong and asked me about it. And they threatened to remove me from the home if it ever happened again. Things got worse from there. I'm not going to go into anymore detail.
Skip forward to when I was 18. I started dating a highschool sweetheart of mine again. We had broken up in highschool because he had insulted one of best friends at that time. Only for her to burn bridges with me later down the road. Anyway after I had turned 19 he proposed to me. And we got married the day before I turned 20. So this was 10 years ago. Well when I married him I wasn't aware of the horrors that I gotten myself into. To not go into detail. He was extremely abusive and caused me to lose my daughter four days after Christmas day of 2015. When the doctors removed my daughter from my womb (six months along at this time.) She had a different complexion of skin than myself and my husband. She was much darker than either of us. And that is when I realized that during some naughty scenes that I thought was my husband trying to bring spice to the relationship, was actually h selling me for profit. Then what the doctors told me next pulled me out of my Epiphany of what I just realized, and caused me to spiral into the deepest depression I had ever been in. They told me that the abuse my Ex put me through caused my daughters face to cave in. After that I left my Ex husband and divorced him.
After 7 years of a shitty and abusive life after the horrible still birth of my daughter. Filled with 14 miscarriages. I have decided to get a change of scenery and moved states. Shortly after I did. I met my now Wifey (34F) and my Hubby (37M). For context. Hubby and Wifey are already married to each other. And six months prior to meeting me, Wifey had just lost her own baby through miscarriage due to medical malpractice. When I came into the state that I currently live in. I was immediately introduced to Hubby and Wifey. After the course of the month Hubby, Wifey and I all started to get to one another. And I liked them instantly. They had me on track to getting a new job, going to college, and encouraging me to be me without the fear of judgement. This made me feel safe and secure with them. Aomth after meeting them we all 3 decided to be in a relationship together. And before we had done anything remotely intimate, we ALL agreed out of respect for one another to all get checked for STD's. We all came out clean and we decided to start and intimate relationship. 6 months after being in the relationship. I find out that I am pregnant. And it was rough. Like really rough. My mornings sickness had me running to the toilet every ten minutes. Then I started to swell severely. Then I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Then I was showing multiple signs of preeclampsia. Unfortunately with me not being aware of the symptoms of preeclampsia I brushes of said symptoms as normal things that I would go through on a regular basis. This lead me to being so worn out I had to leave work half way through my shifts a lot. I went to work everyday that I was scheduled. Until the day that I went in for my final appointment with my OBGYN, before W (1 M) was born. All that day all I could think about was that my son had to get out and that something was wrong. The following day my son was born healthy and did not spend a single second in the NICU. And two days later after C-section I was ready to go home.
Then ended up having to go back to the hospital two days later, because I was having severe pain in my chest that would not go away. And got worse over the course of those two days. When we went back. I told them that I was just there for a C-section and that I was preeclamptic during my pregnancy and was having chest pain. They immediately took me back and began hooking my up to multiple monitors and started me on a bag of Magnesium Sulfate. Only for them to tell me that if I had ignored the pain and not come in that I would have most likely died within the next two days or so. After they saw that was no longer in need of magnesium they sent me home with a prescription to help manage my blood pressure.
Well now onto the Main story This past week was W's first birthday and several months ago we had planned for only my Dad to come up for the occasion and W is his first grandchild let alone Grandson of his that will know my Dad as Grandpa. Well less than a month ago. J, who has finally made her full transition to being female two years ago, ended up saying that she needed to leave state and had already made plans before this to move in with our Dad this summer. Well J ended up moving in with my Dad about a week before he was going to come to the state I am in for his Grandson's first birthday. And J wanted to come. So I said yes. Now to be clear I love my sister J with all my heart, but she's a pain in my ass at times. This time was no exception, but she crossed too many boundaries.
1 I told J that if she was bringing her dog to bring a kennel with her. She did not and did not tell my Dad or anyone that she did not bring a kennel. Due to her dog having SEVERE separation anxiety. I sighed and let it go.
2 My bigger dog is super protective of my home and my son. And due to this I did everything I could to keep her happy and calm and away from J and her dog to prevent any serious issues from happening.
3 I gave J the option to sleep on a mattress that Wifey was willing to give up for the time being. To sleep on it either in my son's room or the living room. Telling her that she would have to make room every morning for people to maneuver of she chose the living room. She chose the living room
With these three things set in place verbally. I expected her to follow the rules. Now you may be wondering where my Dad was. Well. See Wifey has her own space she calls her office, because it was where is was working from when she had a job. We have two memory foam mattresses that were there before I was and a regular spring mattress. We had finally put the spring mattress on a bed frame after sleeping on top of two full size mattress and the spring mattress. So we put the two extra mattresses in Wifey's office on top of the little couch that spread into a full size bed. I took one mattress for J and left the other in the office of Wifey. And that was where my Dad slept and Wifey left her office to my Dad for the 4 days they were here. Now my Dad is a kind loving person, but this visit he seemed stressed and did not look too well. Unlike last year. This was concerning to me, Wifey and Hubby.
While my Dad stayed in Wifey's office, J was out in the living room taking up all the space in it. She had brought her comfort items. Two really huge stuffed animals one being a unicorn and the other being a peep stuffy. While J was here she only moved the Mattress twice. Her dog was going up to my bigger dogs kennel and barking at my bigger dog cause my bigger dog to get aggravated. I told J to get her dog under control. J did not and the behavior of J's dog continued. J also constantly left trash lying around and refused to use the same bowl twice that we provided for her dog and brought out the small glass one, even though there bowls already provided. We have water bottles that we told J and my Dad that were W's emergency water supply as our Landlord has a habit of turning off water at random to work on the aquifer as we run on well water. J drank the water bottles that were meant for W's emergency supply.
While J was holding her Nephew for the first time J's dog was trying bite my son. And J set my son aside and attended to his dog and my son nearly fell from the couch, but thankfully I was right there and prevented that from happening.
While J was here she ignored that her dog was biting at our ankles and I told J and her dog that if her dog did it one more time I was going to smack it for attacking. J rolled her eyes and if it weren't a big deal for the way her dog was behaving. So the next time J's dog bit me. I barely even tapped it and the dog went ballistic as if I was killing the damn thing and J did nothing.
J also left our front door open multiple times and I told her that if she didn't start closing the door and we lost one of our cats due to it I was going to be pissed. As we have lost a cat due to people going 75 MPH down the 35 MPH road just outside our front door. J did not listen and thankfully our cats remained hidden in the house away from the devil dog that belongs to my sister.
Now I have been working on a lot of issues that held me back from keeping a clean home. And I have made a lot of progress. When J was here all that progress was thrown out the window as I see J doing the exact same things I was working to correct. She did not ever pick up any mess her dog made unless I specifically told J to do it. And then yell at her to do it an hour later. And then she immediately did it.
Now I have always been supportive of my sister J since she came out as non binary before she came out as trans and continued to support her. I had given her skirts, taught how to shave. So while she staying here. I gave her a dress that I knew would look good on her and meant a lot to me. And I taught her how to do her makeup on her.
Then yesterday, the day after my sister J and Dad left. Hubby had told me about something that was being said about me. J had told Hubby that I had gained a lot of weight since moving states and that I was turning to my Mom. And that my Mom had over ate due to her emotions. Which I know did not count for much of her weight gain. Basically insuating that I did not gain my weight due to pregnancy.
This whole experience was so infuriating. And I want to support my sister, so I contacted my older sibling and them what I should do. Only to learn that my Older Sibling cut ties with J, because of how badly J was shit talking me.
For some context
1 I have absolutely done everything I could to help support J in her transition. From clothes to makeup to shoes.
2 I have gone out of my way to defend J from anyone including our Mother from the negative and hurtful things that were being said about J being Trans.
3 I went out of my to do my best to accommodate J when she was here for only a few days.
4 I gave her a dress that meant a lot to me, because it was beautiful on her.
All of this to have get after her for not obeying the ground rules of our house, to disregard any mess her damn dog left. For her to leave the door wide open for more than a few seconds. And for her to allow her dog to try and attack my Son only for J to set my son aside and tend to her dog and leave my son in danger. After she knew all the struggles I went through to finally carry a healthy child.
So would I be the A hole to refuse my Trans sister entry intoy home ever again?

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Salam to everyone!
First, read part 1 and part 2 of this series before you read this part, because it is crucial if you want to understand everything.

Introduction:

As we approach the culmination of this chapter, the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place, and it is increasingly evident that this chapter is, as I initially suspected, a prophecy of the early Islamic era. The subsequent verses elucidate the subject matter with great clarity, focusing on a prophet, his dominion, and the sacred Covenant of Peace, along with all associated matters.
The individual responsible for shattering the unity of the Muslim community and violating the sacred Covenant is none other than Mu'awiyah, the manipulator. Mu'awiyah is a man who insidiously ascended to power, akin to a serpent, employing a deceitful strategy that involved falsehoods, massacres, and other nefarious tactics that only a corrupt and ruthless criminal would utilize. This will become abundantly clear as we delve deeper into this chapter.

Disclaimer: My stalker here on Reddit and my response...

As you are likely aware, there is an individual who has developed an unhealthy fixation with my posts and is persistently attempting to "expose" me and my articles, a situation that I find rather amusing. I have chosen to block this individual and totally ignore him due to his propensity for dishonesty, his relentless harassment of me in response to every post I make, and his penchant for highlighting even the most minor of errors that I may inadvertently commit, which he then exaggerates to an unwarranted degree.
Despite my numerous attempts to refute his claims, I have reached the end of my patience with him, as he continues to regurgitate the same arguments and refuses to acknowledge the limitations of his own understanding.
In this next section (part 3), the absurdity of individuals like him will become increasingly apparent, as it will be revealed that my initial assertions were, in fact, totally correct. I offer my heartfelt gratitude to God alone for guiding me towards this remarkable discovery and allowing me to share it with all of you.
To those of you who have commented in support of this individual and his baseless claims about me, I implore you to fear God! This person is not a Muslim and is deliberately spreading falsehoods against me and our Faith, yet you are choosing to side with him against your own brother in faith. I want to make you aware of the gravity of this.
However, there is no need to worry, as I believe that after reading this part of the series, you will humbly recognize how easily you can be deceived by individuals like him and never let it happen again. I extend my forgiveness to you, as you are still my brothers and sisters in Islam. Nonetheless, I strongly encourage you to bear this in mind as you move forward and to exercise greater discernment. The enemies of God will invariably resort to lies and fabrications in an attempt to undermine our faith and its true adherents. Their objective is to hinder the progress of Truth and to create obstacles in its path. It is crucial that we remain vigilant and steadfast in the face of such tactics.

Part 3, The End stages of the 1st Fitnah (Trial):

Verse 21:

"The next to come to power will be a despicable man who is not in line for royal succession. He will slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue."

Interpretation:

• "The next to come to power": This phrase refers to Mu'awiyah, who managed to persuade Hasan to relinquish the Caliphate to him, thus becoming "The king of the north" in place of 'Ali, whereas he had previously been "king of the south."
• "A despicable man who is not in line for royal succession": Mu'awiyah was not a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad's family, unlike 'Ali. The fact that this chapter explicitly continues the narrative in this manner by mentioning specific details such as royal succession in leadership further supports the argument that it pertains to the early Islamic era, which was marked by numerous trials and tribulations related to leadership. Mu'awiyah was a highly reprehensible individual who ruthlessly seized power by taking the lives of countless believers. It is noteworthy that Sunnis regard him as a righteous man, despite the historical evidence that suggests otherwise and paints a picture of a man who was, in fact, highly despicable. They rely on their Hadiths, treating them as divine revelations, disregarding the fact that they could have been concocted by the adherents of Mu'awiyah in his support.
• "Slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue": Mu'awiyah employed political scheming, deception, and strategic marriages to consolidate his power, ultimately becoming the first Umayyad Caliph in 661 AD.

Verse 22:

"With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the leader of the covenant."

Interpretation:

• "With the force of a flood": Symbolizes a powerful and overwhelming military force.
• "They shall be swept away from before him and be broken": Refers to their defeat to his schemes and/or campaigns.
• "also the leader of the covenant": This is Hasan, 'Ali's son, who was considered a rightful successor of the covenant that prophet Muhammad was given by God, the 'Covenant of Peace.' Hassan abdicated the caliphate to Mu'awiyah under a peace treaty and certain promises, promises that Mu'awiyah never fulfilled. It is very obvious that he was just a power-horny lunatic who lied and murdered his way to the top and thereby ruined both the Muslim reputation, the Holy Covenant of Peace and the Muslim unity as a whole.

The Covenant of Peace: God says in the Quran:

"Wherewith God guides all who seek His good pleasure to ways of the Peace (Subula as-Salam)" (5:15)

Why is God calling His ways as "ways of the Peace"? Just eight verses earlier, God says:

"And remember the blessing of God upon you and His Covenant by which He bound you when you said, 'We hear and we obey.' And fear God. Indeed, God is All-Knowing of what is in the hearts." (5:7)

Read more about our Covenant with God, the Covenant of Peace, here:
Link: Islam and Muslims in the Bible: You need to read these verses in Hebrew!!
This is an issue that has unfortunately been concealed from the Ummah, and I believe that individuals like Mu'awiyah are responsible for this. The reasons behind this will become increasingly apparent as we progress through the chapter. I plan to delve into this topic further in a future post on this subreddit, but for now, let us continue with our interpretation of the chapter.
Verse 23:

"And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people."

Interpretation:

• "After the league is made with him": Refers to the peace treaty between Hasan and Mu'awiyah.
• "He shall act deceitfully": Mu'awiyah promising things and agreeing to peace treaties that he later broke, consolidating power in a deceitful manner. Perhaps even making himself bigger than he actually was by way of utilizing war tactics in a proficient manner.
• "Become strong with a small number of people": Mu'awiyah’s initial consolidation of power with loyal supporters in Syria, particularly the Banu Kalb tribe. His following was small compared to the vastness of the Ummah of the Muslims, but he grew to become great gradually by gaining more and more support. How he did this is made clear in the next verse.

Verse 24:

"He shall enter peaceably even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time."

Interpretation:

• "Enter peaceably even into the richest places of the province": Mu'awiyah’s strategic and peaceful occupation of prosperous areas.
• "He shall do what his fathers have not done": ...
• "Disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches": Distributing wealth to gain loyalty and support. In fact, Sunnis claim that Ibn Umar said that "Muawiyah was the most generous person after Prophet" (Source)
• "Devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time": Strategic planning against remaining strongholds of opposition, but for a limited time.

Verse 25:

"He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army; and the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him."

Interpretation:

• "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South": Mu'awiyah is now the king of the north, as I've explained earlier, because he took over that position (see verse: 21), so he is now waging war against the king of the south, namely Hasan, son of Ali, who was the king of the South, based in Mecca.
• "But he shall not stand": Indicates the ultimate failure of Hassan when he gave up the Caliphate.
• "They shall devise plans against him": The successful strategies of Mu'awiyah in convincing Hassan to give up the Caliphate to him, he did this as a result of deceitful planning they made, they even made his own supporters betray him, which the next verse speaks about.

Verse 26:

"Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain."

Interpretation:

• Hasan’s forces were plagued by internal divisions and a lack of unified support. The promises and bribes led to significant desertions from Hasan’s ranks. Notable commanders and influential figures abandoned Hasan, further weakening his military strength and morale. There were also plots against Hasan’s life from within his own camp. For instance, it is reported that some of his own supporters attempted to assassinate him, hoping that his death would force a settlement with Mu'awiyah or for their own gain.

Verse 27:

"Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time."

Interpretation:

• "The two kings": Refers to Hasan ibn Ali and Mu'awiyah during their negotiations.
• "Hearts bent on evil": Indicates mutual distrust and ulterior motives.
• "Sit at the same table and lie to each other": During negotiations, both parties made deceptive promises.
• "To no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time": The deceit did not change the ultimate predetermined outcomes.

Verse 28:

"While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land."

Interpretation:

• "King of the North": Mu'awiyah, who ruled from Syria.
• "Return to his land with great wealth": Mu'awiyah’s accumulation of wealth and resources.
• "Heart set against the holy covenant": Mu'awiyah’s actions undermined the principles of Islamic unity.
• "Take action against it and then return to his own country": Mu'awiyah’s policies further divided the Muslim community before he returned to Damascus.

Verse 29:

"At the time appointed he shall return and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter."

Interpretation:

• "he shall return and come toward the south": He will leave his base in Syria and return to Mecca in South.
• "but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.": Implying that things will not be as they used to be and that the unity of the kingdom would be shattered and weakened.

Verse 30:

"Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant."

Interpretation:

• "Ships of the western coastlands": This phrase refers to the Byzantine navy. The verse describes the end stages of the 'Siege of Constantinople' that took place in 655 CE, when Mu'awiyah was not necessarily defeated but was significantly weakened at sea by the Byzantine emperor. This forced Mu'awiyah to retreat back to his own territory.
• "He will lose heart": Reflects Mu'awiyah’s loss of morale and strategic position, and not a loss per say.
• "Turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant": After retreating, Mu'awiyah directed his frustrations against the Muslim community, further undermining Islamic unity.
• "Show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant": Mu'awiyah rewarded those who supported his political maneuvers, even if it meant forsaking Islamic principles.

Historical Context and accuracy in my interpretation:

This verse is yet another piece of evidence that supports my interpretation, making it almost irrefutable at this point. It fits too well with the historical context and cannot possibly be referring to anything else.
Battle of the Masts (655 AD): This pivotal naval battle saw Byzantine Emperor Constans II leading a fleet against the Muslim forces off the coast of Lycia. Mu'awiyah's attempts to solidify control over the Mediterranean faced substantial Byzantine opposition, which led to a retreat back to Syria (Wikipedia)​.
Merrill & Baker write:

"The battle was part of the earliest campaign by Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria, to reach Constantinople and is considered to be "the first decisive conflict of Islam on the deep""

Source: Ridpath, John Clark. Ridpath's Ual History, Merrill & Baker, Vol. 12, New York, p. 483.
Shaun O'Sullivan writes:

"The siege was unsuccessful, however, due to a fierce storm that sank the ships with war machines aboard, an event the Romans attributed to divine intervention. The land force led by Muawiyah in Chalcedon, having lost their artillery and siege engines, returned to Syria thereafter."

Source: O'Sullivan, Shaun (2004-01-01). "Sebeos' account of an Arab attack on Constantinople in 654
It is truly remarkable how detailed this prophecy is and how it perfectly aligns with the events of early Islamic history. I have never before encountered a prophecy that has been so thoroughly fulfilled. The verse even specifies that "He will lose heart" rather than stating that he will lose the battle against them, which, according to historical accounts, is precisely what happened. Mu'awiyah's motivation and will to continue waned.

• "Show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant": This portion of the verse provides further evidence that the Mighty king mentioned in verses 3-4 was, in fact, sent by God, as indicated by the reference to the "Holy Covenant." Jewish rabbis, Christian scholars, and translators have attempted to claim that this chapter is about Alexander the Great, Antiochus Magnus, and others, but this verse confidently refutes that interpretation. It is clear that the prophecy pertains to a prophet or messenger of God who brought forth a Holy Covenant, rather than mere ancient kings and rulers. The only individual in history (after the Covenant with the Jews) who brought a Holy Covenant from God was the Prophet Muhammad. The new covenant is the Covenant of Peace, which is the essence of Islam. The Arabic term for Islam, "Sin-Lam-Mim," has "Salam" (Peace) as one of its definitions.

Verse 31:

"And strong ones stand up out of him, and have defiled the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual [sacrifice], and appointed the desolating abomination."

Interpretation:
This above is from the "Literal Standard Version," and they have added the word [sacrifice] but it is not there in the Hebrew verse. The verse is simply saying:

"(they have) turned aside the continual"

It is a continual/continuity (something done constantly) they turned aside in the sanctuary, i.e. the Kaaba, as you shall now see:

Mu'awiyah the innovator:

A Sunni Imam called Shafi’i quotes from (allegedly) Zuhri in book “al- Um” that he said:

Ibn Hazm writes in the book “al- Mahalli” that: “the Umayyads innovated going late for prayer of Eid, preferring oration to prayer and saying Adhan and Iqamah (declaration of standing for prayer) for prayer of Eid."

Source: al- Mahalli, vol. 5, p. 82.
Mu'awiyah and his deviant supporters "turned aside" the 'îd prayer and preferred the oration (i.e. Khutbah, preaching) so they could brainwash the Muslim community while having them all gathered.

• The definition of the word ''îd":

The word "Eid" comes from the Arabic root ع و د (ʿ-w-d),
Ibn al-A’rabi stated:

"Because it returns every year with renewed joy, the origin of which is the oud."

Source: Al-Barakatī, al-Taʿrīfāt al-Fiqhīya
"Oud" carries the meaning of "to return" and "to recur," and "continuance":

Root: عود
A 1 عَادَ إِلَيْهِ, (S, A, O, TA,) and لَهُ, and فِيهِ, (TA,) aor. ـُ (S, O,) inf. n. عَوْدٌ and عَوْدَــةٌ, (S, O, K, TA,) which latter is also an inf. n. of un., (TA,) and مَعَادٌ, (K, TA,) He, or it, returned to it, (S, A, O, K, * TA,) namely, a thing: (TA:) or, accord. to some, the verb is differently used with فِى and with other preps.: (MF, TA:) [with فى it seems generally to imply some degree of continuance, in addition to the simple meaning of the verb alone:] one says, عاد الكَلْبُ فِى قَيْئِهِ The dog returned to his vomit: (Msb in art. رجع:) and عاد لَهُ بَعْدَ مَا كَانَ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ [He returned to it after he had turned away from it]

Source: Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane (d. 1876)
I am truly at a loss for words. I cannot adequately express my awe and fascination with this entire prophecy. It is simply breathtaking. All I can say is, "Wow!" I am profoundly grateful to God for guiding us to Islam and for urging us to follow the Quran alone, and for protecting us from what verse 4 stated in this Chapter.
Mu'awiyah and his followers introduced numerous innovations, one of which was prioritizing the oration over the prayer during 'Îd. This verse emphasizes this particular innovation because it is of the utmost importance in the eyes of God that we, at the very least, perform the rituals of His religion without neglecting them. It should not be necessary for Him to delineate the etiquettes of these rituals in the Quran for us to collectively remember and perform them in His praise, adoration, and submission. And that such an early Caliph did this to His faith is beyond an abomination.
Let us proceed.
Verse 32:

"He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action."

Interpretation:

• "those who violate the covenant,": Supporters and descendants of Mu'awiyah.
• "He shall seduce with flattery": Mu'awiyah’s use of political maneuvering, distributal of booty to gain support.
• "the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action": Refers to those who remain faithful to the covenant, the real Muslims.

Verse 33:

"And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering."

Verse 34:

"Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue."

Verse 35:

"And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time."

Interpretations:

• "Some of those of understanding shall fall": Leaders and scholars facing hardship and possibly executions.
• "To refine them, purify them, and make them white": Trials serving as a purification process.
• "Until the time of the end": These events leading up to a significant conclusion.
• "Because it is still for the appointed time": The final outcome is predetermined and will occur at the designated time.

This section reflects the trials and tribulations faced by leaders and followers who stayed true to their faith, despite facing severe persecution. The interpretation suggests a narrative of enduring faith and eventual vindication aligned with early Islamic history, particularly in the struggles and eventual success of the Umayyad Caliphate and the continued resistance by the descendants of prophet Muhammad.
It is no secret that Muawiyah massacred the Muslims to reach the top. That he unalived scholars who spoke against his actions and his dominion is a given.

Mu'awiyah is portrayed as the "Dajjal":

Verse 36:

“Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak astonishing things against the God of gods; and he will succeed until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.

Interpretation:
He is being described as Sunni Hadiths describe Dajjal.
Do you understand now why I am convinced that the Sunni Hadiths have been transmitted to us by the enemies of God, most likely rabbis and Christian monks? They took notice of this prophecy and manipulated the Sunnis into believing that a "Dajjal" would emerge in the End Times, coinciding with the return of "Jesus" (despite the fact that God has not even mentioned Jesus' return). They deliberately fostered this belief in the return of Jesus and linked it to the appearance of this Dajjal for a specific purpose. Their objective was to prevent Muslims from connecting the dots and realizing that this chapter is, in fact, referring to Mu'awiyah.
There's even Sunni Hadiths saying that the Dajjal would appear in the time of the companions, ironic enough.

He will not regard any Gods, prophet Muhammad or women:

Verse 37:

"He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all."

Interpretation:
This verse has been mistranslated by all of them. The Hebrew verse states:

"ועל־אלהי אבתיו לא יבין ועל־חמדת נשים ועל־כל־אלוה לא יבין כי על־כל יתגדל:"

They have rendered "ועל־חמדת נשים" as "The one desired by women" while "חמדת" (HEMDAT) is a proper name in Hebrew, and not a noun. "Hemdat" (חמדת) is a Hebrew male first name (attestation) that is cognate with Mohammed/Ahmed. They have added the word "by" to make it "by women" while it is not even there in the Hebrew.
"Hemdat" here is of course referring to our prophet. He would not regard any God, not regard our prophet Ahmad/Muhammad, not regard women, and would exalt himself above all, just like the Dajjal is described in Sunni narrations:
The verse is actually literally saying:

"He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors, Hemdat, women, nor any other god, but will exalt himself above all."

The word נָשִׁ֛ים (nā·šîm) in Hebrew simply means "women" in the plural form. The phrase "Hemdat Nashim" should not be combined, and even if it were, it would not translate to "Desired one by women." Hemdat is a proper name, while "Nashim" is a separate word, mentioned separately in the plural form.
This marks the end of part 3, and the remaining portion of this chapter consists of general statements. I am unsure if I will create a part 4, but we shall see.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please consider sharing it and liking it. May God bless you.
/ By your brother, Exion.

Known for its low-cost ammo formerly manufactured in Russia, Wolf’s best-selling calibers are steel-cased 7.62x39mm and .223 Remington. Wolf is an importer of ammunition that is manufacturer agnostic, as well as brass and steel agnostic. When you see “Wolf Gold,” all that means is that these are brass cartridges.

Where Is Wolf Ammo Made?

Contrary to popular belief, Wolf Ammunition is not a Russian company. They sell ammunition once manufactured in the famous and historic Tula Cartridge Plant in Russia’s Tula District. This plant is owned by High Precision Systems, which is a part of the Rostec Group of companies, with a majority ownership in the hands of a holding company owned by the Russian Federation. TulAmmo is likewise manufactured at this facility. The plant is not to be confused with the Tula Arms Plant, which is a separate entity owned by the same holding company in the same region of the Russian Federation.
Another place Wolf manufactured ammunition was at Lugansk. However, this factory was destroyed in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Some of the steel-cased ammunition is made in Russia these days, but none of it is made in Tula. Wolf also imports brass-cased ammo from Taiwan, such as their Wolf Gold .223, as well as importing ammo from the same factory manufacturing Prvi Partizan.
Rostec, High Precision Systems and the role of Tula in manufacturing ammunition for the United States market and the Soviet war effort has quite a detailed history. Like all ammunition manufactured by Rostec, the emphasis is on the high-performance, tactical ammo capable of reliable use in combat situations.
The American company is affiliated with Sporting Supplies International. Wolf Performance Ammunition was founded in 2005, making it a baby in the world of American ammunition manufacturers. They also partner with SK Jagd und Sportmunitions Gmbh (also known as SK Hunting- and Sporting-Ammunition) to manufacture some of their .22-calibre rimfire ammunition.

Tula vs. Wolf

Wolf is no longer manufactured in Tula, and hasn’t been for some time. In 2009, Wolf brand ammo ended their relationship with Ulyanovsk Machinery Plant and Tula Cartridge Plant due to legal disputes between the parties. Wolf now uses suppliers from the European Union to meet their needs. The Wolf ammo website and TulAmmo both issued emails in 2009 that did little to clarify the situation beyond the fact that TulAmmo is not Wolf and Wolf is not TulAmmo.
Part of the confusion stems from what precisely Wolf and TulAmmo are. Both were manufactured at the same plant and made to the same specifications. Upon importation, they were put into different boxes with different logos and different brands. However, on the inside, they were more or less the same ammunition. While in some cases they might have been exactly the same ammunition, they ceased to be functionally identical when Wolf ended their relationship with the Russian manufacturer. Hence the statements from both organizations as to their difference.

Wolf Ammunition vs. The Taliban

The history of Wolf Performance Ammunition (also known as WPA) is tied very closely to the ammunition shortages of the 2000s. This is particularly true of the 7.62x39mm ammo, which sometimes doubled in price and in other cases, vanished from American shelves entirely. The shortage was a result of the Venezuelan military adopting the AK-103 as its standard issue rifle. They placed a massive order, as did the United States military in an attempt to supply the newly formed Afghan Army with the ammunition it needed to secure the countryside.
Make sure your favorite 7.62x39 rifle never runs dry and get some bulk 7.62x39 to keep stored up for a rainy day!
Between 2003 and 2005, the Taliban experienced a resurgence in Afghanistan, requiring a response from both United States troops and the Afghan Army they support. The insurgency was easily crushed, however, the large ammunition order stood. What’s more, the United States and Afghan forces were constantly engaged in mop-up operations against the failed Taliban insurgency.
In January 2006, the United States military began sharing its role in Afghanistan with a multinational NATO force. This prompted another Taliban insurgency requiring, once again, more ammunition supplied by Wolf and other ammunition manufacturers. The fight against this insurgency was far less clear cut and one sided, but the NATO forces obtained many tactical victories and was able to deny the Taliban territory.
Later in 2007 and 2008, Wolf’s steel-cased .308 rounds disappeared from shelves across America. 7.62x51mm NATO rounds were likewise disappearing, pushing .308 Winchester rounds to the highest prices they’d ever seen. The Afghan Army order once again played a key role in driving up prices.
2007 was indeed a rough slog for coalition forces in Afghanistan, largely the British Royal Marines. It was estimated that the Taliban was 10,000 fighters strong at this point, with between 2,000 and 3,000 of these being dedicated, full-time insurgents. Again, tactical victories were the order of the day, but the Taliban always seemed to bounce back. 2007 was also the high water mark for foreign insurgents in Afghanistan. The next year was likewise described as “precarious and urgent” by Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown increased the number of troops in the country.
While many stateside have forgotten about the War in Afghanistan, it is directly responsible for a shortage of ammunition and the attendant rise in prices.

Wolf Brand Ammo

Wolf sells centerfire ammunition for rifles in more than a dozen different calibers and in three different lines of product. Popular lines Wolf Polyformance and Military Classic Rifle Ammunition are for sale in the calibers most commonly associated with the military – including Wolf 5.56x45 ammo, .223 ammo, .308 Winchester, 7.62x39mm, 6.5mm Grendel and others. They sell bullets that are bimetal or copper jacketed and configured as full metal jacket, hollow point or soft point. The cases are steel with a polymer coating, and can be found with both Berdan and Boxer primers.
Ammo for the Wolf Gold Centerfire Rifle line is distinct from other lines they sell, as the cartridges have brass casings and Boxer primers. The same style of bullets are sold in this line, but they also include options for match hollow points and multi-purpose tactical bullets.
Wolf also sells centerfire pistol ammo in all of the most common calibers – including Wolf 9mm ammo, .40 S&W, .45 ACP and the increasingly favored .380 Auto. These cartridges come in the steel-case lines of Military Classic and Polyformance, and the calibers can also be found in the Wolf Gold line, .32 Auto, .357 Mag., .44 Mag., and 7.62 Tokarev.
Wolf Ammunition also carries .22 Rimfire ammo. You can find .22 Long Rifle Wolf Ammo with 40 grain bullets, offering three types of bullets for the .22 LR: round nose bullets, flat nose bullets, and hollow point bullets. The ammunition itself is available in many different types including Standard Plus, Match, Rifle Match, Pistol Match, High Velocity and Subsonic.

Wolf Brand Ammunition and Lacquer Coating

It is a misconception that Wolf Ammunition uses or has used lacquer coating on its rounds, in particular on the cartridge casing. This is not true. Wolf instead uses an acrylic-polymer coating, transitioning from a clear coating to a frosted style coating several years ago. Some people thought this was lacquer and that it melted while firing, despite the fact that it was neither lacquer nor even a substance that would melt when a blowtorch was taken to it. All Wolf Ammunition is in complete compliance with SAAMI standards, meaning that it is completely safe for all purposes – from plinking in the backyard to competition shooting to hunting.
With Wolf’s extensive variety of ammunition, they will likely remain a popular choice among shooters looking for low-cost, quality ammo. This is particularly true of people looking for Wolf bulk ammo – a common choice for preppers, plinkers and competition shooters alike.

FAQ

Where is Wolf ammo made?

Although Wolf ammo is an American company, its ammo is manufactured all around the world. For a period it was made in Tula, Russia at the Tula Cartridge Plant, the same place that makes TulAmmo. Wolf gets some brass from Taiwan and imports cartridges from the same Serbian factory that makes Prvi Partizan. Currently, most of the supplies for Wolf ammo comes from the European Union.

Who makes Wolf ammunition?

Wolf ammo is owned by Sporting Supplies International, an American company located in Anaheim, California.

Is Wolf and TulAmmo the same?

Wolf and TulAmmo are not the same. But from 2005 through 2009, Wolf was manufactured at the Tula Cartridge Plant in Tula, Russia, the same plant where TulAmmo is made. Wolf ammo and TulAmmo ammo shared the same configurations and were made the same way. Since Wolf has left the Tula plant, these ammunitions are no longer comparable.

Is Wolf ammo corrosive?

Like other modern commercial ammo, Wolf ammo is non-corrosive. That being said, it is “dirtier” than traditional brass-cased ammos and if your firearm is not properly cleaned after use, it can cause a buildup inside the barrel that may lead to corrosion.

Can Wolf ammo damage guns?

Wolf ammo features steel casings and steel is much harder than brass. This means, over time, it may cause more wear on your barrel than brass casings. In modern firearms, this is most likely minimal. Another reported problem with Wolf ammo, and steel casings in general, is that they tend to be “dirtier” than brass-cased rounds. When this crud is left in the gun, it can lead to corrosion. If you clean your firearm after shooting, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Why do shooting ranges ban Wolf ammo?

Wolf ammo comes in a steel case. Like most steel-cased rounds, it also features a steel jacketed bullet. This makes the bullets extremely hard, much more so than lead and copper, and can damage the backstop in many ranges. If you want to stick with steel casings, opt for Winchester’s Forged ammo, which feature steel casings with brass jacketed bullets.
History of Wolf 5.56x45 Ammo originally appeared on Ammo.com

Hungarian international law specialists and the military leadership of this country are involved in the concept of Hungary's non-participation in any actions of the North Atlantic Alliance outside the territories of NATO member states. Despite such a big announcement, in fact, the Hungarian leadership refuses to take part in the Alliance’s hypothetical actions to help Ukraine. The Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán announced this on the state radio station (Budapest, May 24, 2024). The Prime Minister stressed that his government would not participate in financial or armed support of Ukraine.
Despite the fact that Orbán and his Fidesz party have long been known for their close ties with Putin's authoritarian regime and anti-Ukrainian position on Russia's war against Ukraine, the new initiative of the Hungarian leadership may affect not only the course of the war in Eastern Europe, but the future of all NATO members. After all, Budapest wants to bring serious changes to the basic NATO's activities. Maybe it is not that serious for somebody, but, in fact, it is about activity in the territories outside the borders of the Alliance members. However, this Budapest’s position will be unacceptable for somebody, because it clearly violates the principles of solidarity, mutual trust and support. As a result, Hungary's initiative could be a significant trigger for a heated debate with great destructive potential. Of course, completely different actors, such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, would benefit from this (de facto, which are under full control of two authoritarian states - Russia and China).
Also, during this radio broadcast, Orbán continued to claim his well-known narratives: Ukraine will never be able to defeat Russia; Europe should avoid conflict with Russia; after the conquest of Ukraine, Putin is not going to attack other states, established after the collapse of the USSR, especially EU members; Kyiv should start negotiations with Moscow; Washington and Brussels are preparing for a possible military conflict with the Russian Federation, but Budapest has no intention take part in it.
It should be noted that Ukraine's future joining NATO is not a problem, but the persistent destructive position of Hungary, with some skepticism about the Alliance and the EU. So, for two years, Budapest had been blocking Sweden’s bid to join NATO. Hungarian parliamentarians constantly postponed the ratification of Stockholm's application to the next session and made vague statements about the lack of proper respect for Hungarian democracy in the Swedish political system. Hungary was the last of all NATO members to ratify Sweden's application. As for the fate of the EU, Orbán publicly doubts the viability of the United Europe project in the medium term and constantly opposes the European institutions in Brussels for various reasons.
In general, the Prime Minister Orbán's intention to officially change the terms of Hungary's membership in NATO is a gesture of solidarity with communist China and Putin's Russia, and not with the other 31 member countries of the Alliance!

My study today was spent defending Jesus as a law-giver and law-keeper. I learned that Jesus' interpretations of justice and mercy were always in existence. We were not made privy to them because of our human frailty, and our hearts hardened by sin. (Matthew 19:8, Mark 3:1-5, Romans 5:13) Even now, the parables reveal things to us that we were not ready to receive when our Lord walked the earth. (John 16:12-15)
We're made in God's image. Every lesson of life we learn, makes us more like Him. As we grow spiritually, we leave behind logic that no longer seems reasonable. (Psalm 17:15, Matthew 10:25, 1 Corinthians 13:11-13)
Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, came to give us a greater, and more glorious law. (Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:22, Jeremiah 31:31-34) Mankind was not ready to receive, much less live out, the fullness of the law when it was given on Mt. Sinai. Even now, we are being perfected and learning, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19, 1 John 2:27) Jesus explained, "I did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill." He also explained how vital it is to keep the whole law. (Matthew 5:17-20)
Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, we are warned not to "turn to the right hand or the left" in keeping the law. (Deuteronomy 5:32, Deuteronomy 17:1, Deuteronomy 28:14, Joshua 23:6) It means not to do more or less than what it says. The way Jesus kept the law (including the Sabbath law) was a correction of the rulers' current practices. Jesus used scripture, creation, and divinely appointed miracles to show people that they were the ones in the wrong.
Most of the laws Jesus explained to us are more easily broken than the law of Moses. We are no longer even allowed to hate, much less murder. (Matthew 5:43-45, Psalm 139:21-22) We can only keep these laws by the power of the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts. God's Holy Spirit makes us people of truth and love.
All Jesus' corrections of the commandments were scorned in his day. Don't you find it strange that Jesus, the Author of Life, is constantly condemned for promoting life and love in the Bible? (Matthew 12:1-24) The Word of God says, "When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord shall take me up." (Psalm 27:10) Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, kept his promises, even on the Sabbath. (John 1:1, John 1:14, Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40:8) This is the greatest complaint against him among our Jewish brethren today.
In this study, I learned that God has always worked on the Sabbath he gave us. (John 5:17, Mark 2:27) It was God that kept manna from spoiling and breeding worms every Sabbath day in the wilderness. (Exodus 16:24) Jesus used King David, and those who served in the Temple as examples and proof of God's will. We are to serve God and support life every day, including the Sabbath. I finished this study wondering if, "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years," was a literal statement. (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4) I hope that God will be finished making us into our final form when Jesus is ready for his Sabbath rest with his bride. (Psalm 95:6-11, Hebrews 4:1-12, John 3:26-36)
In Jesus' day, it went against Jewish tradition to fast on the Sabbath. Jesus' disciples did not have food to eat. They were not offered a meal by their peers. Instead they accused Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they made produce fit to eat by using their hands to take and rub clean the food God gave them. (Deuteronomy 23:25, Matthew 12:1-7)
I believe the only accusation anyone can have against Jesus is over whether or not he really was one with God. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus spoke the truth of who he was, and it cost his life. (Matthew 26:65, Isaiah 53:12)
I spent quite a bit thinking on this passage, where Jesus was nearly stoned to death before his crucifixion. The scene takes place during Hanukkah, which is also a time when fasting and mourning are not lawful... yet hate and envy seem to be allowed? No wonder we needed a Messiah to change our hearts! (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:34-37)
John 10:22-33 NLT
22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father's name. 26 But you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one." 31 Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" 33 They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."
How can anyone save people who can't discern between their friends and their enemies? How could people bent on causing death appreciate the life-supporting logic of Jesus?
Jesus' logic made sense to those who realized that "an eye for an eye" would make the whole world blind. They had learned enough about judgment to see their need for mercy.
It was God's love for mercy that drove him to sacrifice for us, Jews and Gentiles alike. May we show one another mercy, by resisting our judgmental, sinful nature. (Hebrews 12:2-4, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hosea 6:1-6)
Acts 17:30-31 NLT

30 "God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead."

Scripture references:
Jesus' interpretations of justice and mercy were always in existence. We were not made privy to them because of our human frailty, and our hearts hardened by sin.
Matthew 19:8 NLT

8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.

Mark 3:1-5 NLT

1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand in front of everyone." 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him. 5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!

Romans 5:13 NKJV

(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Even now, the parables reveal things to us that we were not ready to receive when our Lord walked the earth.
John 16:12-15 NLT

12 "There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, 'The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.'

We're made in God's image. Every lesson of life we learn, makes us more like Himself. No person stays a child forever.
Psalm 17:15 NKJV

15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Matthew 10:25

“It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NKJV

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, came to give us a greater, and more glorious law.
Deuteronomy 18:15 NKJV

15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,

Acts 3:22 NKJV

22 "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV

31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Mankind was not ready to receive the complete law when it was given on Mt. Sinai. Even now, we are being perfected and learning, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit
**Deuteronomy 18:15-19 NLT - 15 Moses continued, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, 'Don't let us hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.' 17 "Then the LORD said to me, 'What they have said is right. 18 I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. 19 I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.
1 John 2:27 NLT - 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
Jesus explained that He didn't come to destroy God's Laws. He also explained how vital it is to keep them.
Matthew 5:17-20

17 "Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to complete them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 "But I warn you--unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Scripture warns us not to "turn to the right hand or the left" from following God's commands. This means not to do more or less than what it says.
Deuteronomy 5:32 NLT

32 So Moses told the people, "You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail.

Deuteronomy 17:1 NLT

1 "Never sacrifice sick or defective cattle, sheep, or goats to the LORD your God, for he detests such gifts.

Deuteronomy 28:14 NLT

14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.

Joshua 23:6 NLT

6 "So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.

The way Jesus kept the law was a correction of traditions. Jesus used scripture, creation, and miracles to show people the truth.
Under Jesus' glorified laws, we are no longer even allowed to hate, much less murder. We can only keep these laws by the power of the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts.
Matthew 5:43-44 New Covenant: love your enemies, hate their sin.

43 "You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Psalm 139:21-22 Old Covenant: hate those who hate God.

21 O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who oppose you? 22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.

Jesus' corrections of the commandments were scorned in his day. The Sabbath corrections were only well-received by those who knew they needed mercy.
Matthew 12:1-24 NLT

1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath." 3 Jesus said to them, "Haven't you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven't you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!" 9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?" (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) 11 And he answered, "If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn't you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. 15 But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them, 16 but he warned them not to reveal who he was. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him: 18 "Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. 20 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. 21 And his name will be the hope of all the world." 22 Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn't speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. 23 The crowd was amazed and asked, "Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, "No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons."

Psalm 27:10

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will take care of me.

God keeps his promises, even on the Sabbath.
John 1:1, 14 NKJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Numbers 23:19 NKJV

19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Isaiah 40:8 NKJV

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

God has always worked on the Sabbath he gave us.
John 5:17 NKJV

17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

Mark 2:27 NKJV

27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Exodus 16:24 NKJV

24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.

The rulers of Jesus' day made Sabbath laws that conflicted for the poor. They falsely accused Jesus' followers of harvesting on the Sabbath when they legally took what God provided.
Deuteronomy 23:25 NKJV

25 "When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain.

Matthew 12:1-7 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 "how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 "Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 "Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Some people say Jesus deserved to die for breaking the law. I know that Jesus spoke the truth of who he was, and paid for it with his life.
Matthew 26:62-65 NKJV

62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" 64 Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!

Isaiah 53:12 NKJV - 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus was nearly stoned to death before his crucifixion. The account takes place during Hanukkah, a time when fasting and mourning are not lawful... yet hate and envy seem to be allowed? We needed a Messiah to change our hearts!
John 10:22-33 NLT

22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father's name. 26 But you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one." 31 Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" 33 They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."

Zechariah 12:10 NKJV

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

John 19:34-37 NKJV

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

Jesus' logic made sense to those who had seen enough judgment to realize their need for mercy.
God's love drove him to sacrifice for us, Jews and Gentiles alike. May we show one another mercy, by resisting our judgmental, sinful nature.
Hebrews 12:2-4 NKJV

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Hosea 6:1-6 NKJV

1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. 3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. 4 "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Acts 17:30-31 NLT

30 "God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead."

May God's truth and love permeate our lives and make us more like Him.

My study today was spent defending Jesus as a law-giver and law-keeper. I learned that Jesus' interpretations of justice and mercy were always in existence. We were not made privy to them because of our human frailty, and our hearts hardened by sin. (Matthew 19:8, Mark 3:1-5, Romans 5:13) Even now, the parables reveal things to us that we were not ready to receive when our Lord walked the earth. (John 16:12-15)
We're made in God's image. Every lesson of life we learn, makes us more like Him. As we grow spiritually, we leave behind logic that no longer seems reasonable. (Psalm 17:15, Matthew 10:25, 1 Corinthians 13:11-13)
Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, came to give us a greater, and more glorious law. (Deuteronomy 18:15, Acts 3:22, Jeremiah 31:31-34) Mankind was not ready to receive, much less live out, the fullness of the law when it was given on Mt. Sinai. Even now, we are being perfected and learning, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19, 1 John 2:27) Jesus explained, "I did not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill." He also explained how vital it is to keep the whole law. (Matthew 5:17-20)
Throughout the Hebrew scriptures, we are warned not to "turn to the right hand or the left" in keeping the law. (Deuteronomy 5:32, Deuteronomy 17:1, Deuteronomy 28:14, Joshua 23:6) It means not to do more or less than what it says. The way Jesus kept the law (including the Sabbath law) was a correction of the rulers' current practices. Jesus used scripture, creation, and divinely appointed miracles to show people that they were the ones in the wrong.
Most of the laws Jesus explained to us are more easily broken than the law of Moses. We are no longer even allowed to hate, much less murder. (Matthew 5:43-45, Psalm 139:21-22) We can only keep these laws by the power of the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts. God's Holy Spirit makes us people of truth and love.
All Jesus' corrections of the commandments were scorned in his day. Don't you find it strange that Jesus, the Author of Life, is constantly condemned for promoting life and love in the Bible? (Matthew 12:1-24) The Word of God says, "When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord shall take me up." (Psalm 27:10) Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, kept his promises, even on the Sabbath. (John 1:1, John 1:14, Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 40:8) This is the greatest complaint against him among our Jewish brethren today.
In this study, I learned that God has always worked on the Sabbath he gave us. (John 5:17, Mark 2:27) It was God that kept manna from spoiling and breeding worms every Sabbath day in the wilderness. (Exodus 16:24) Jesus used King David, and those who served in the Temple as examples and proof of God's will. We are to serve God and support life every day, including the Sabbath. I finished this study wondering if, "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years," was a literal statement. (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4) I hope that God will be finished making us into our final form when Jesus is ready for his Sabbath rest with his bride. (Psalm 95:6-11, Hebrews 4:1-12, John 3:26-36)
In Jesus' day, it went against Jewish tradition to fast on the Sabbath. Jesus' disciples did not have food to eat. They were not offered a meal by their peers. Instead they accused Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath because they made produce fit to eat by using their hands to take and rub clean the food God gave them. (Deuteronomy 23:25, Matthew 12:1-7)
I believe the only accusation anyone can have against Jesus is over whether or not he really was one with God. There is no doubt in my mind that Jesus spoke the truth of who he was, and it cost his life. (Matthew 26:65, Isaiah 53:12)
I spent quite a bit thinking on this passage, where Jesus was nearly stoned to death before his crucifixion. The scene takes place during Hanukkah, which is also a time when fasting and mourning are not lawful... yet hate and envy seem to be allowed? No wonder we needed a Messiah to change our hearts! (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:34-37)
John 10:22-33 NLT
22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father's name. 26 But you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one." 31 Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" 33 They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."
How can anyone save people who can't discern between their friends and their enemies? How could people bent on causing death appreciate the life-supporting logic of Jesus?
Jesus' logic made sense to those who realized that "an eye for an eye" would make the whole world blind. They had learned enough about judgment to see their need for mercy.
It was God's love for mercy that drove him to sacrifice for us, Jews and Gentiles alike. May we show one another mercy, by resisting our judgmental, sinful nature. (Hebrews 12:2-4, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Hosea 6:1-6)
Acts 17:30-31 NLT

30 "God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead."

Scripture references:
Jesus' interpretations of justice and mercy were always in existence. We were not made privy to them because of our human frailty, and our hearts hardened by sin.
Matthew 19:8 NLT

8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.

Mark 3:1-5 NLT

1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man's hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand in front of everyone." 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him. 5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!

Romans 5:13 NKJV

(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Even now, the parables reveal things to us that we were not ready to receive when our Lord walked the earth.
John 16:12-15 NLT

12 "There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, 'The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.'

We're made in God's image. Every lesson of life we learn, makes us more like Himself. No person stays a child forever.
Psalm 17:15 NKJV

15 As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.

Matthew 10:25

“It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

1 Corinthians 13:11-13 NKJV

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Jesus, the prophesied Messiah, came to give us a greater, and more glorious law.
Deuteronomy 18:15 NKJV

15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,

Acts 3:22 NKJV

22 "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV

31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Mankind was not ready to receive the complete law when it was given on Mt. Sinai. Even now, we are being perfected and learning, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit
**Deuteronomy 18:15-19 NLT - 15 Moses continued, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you yourselves requested of the LORD your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, 'Don't let us hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.' 17 "Then the LORD said to me, 'What they have said is right. 18 I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. 19 I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf.
1 John 2:27 NLT - 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don't need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true--it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
Jesus explained that He didn't come to destroy God's Laws. He also explained how vital it is to keep them.
Matthew 5:17-20

17 "Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to complete them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 "But I warn you--unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Scripture warns us not to "turn to the right hand or the left" from following God's commands. This means not to do more or less than what it says.
Deuteronomy 5:32 NLT

32 So Moses told the people, "You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following his instructions in every detail.

Deuteronomy 17:1 NLT

1 "Never sacrifice sick or defective cattle, sheep, or goats to the LORD your God, for he detests such gifts.

Deuteronomy 28:14 NLT

14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.

Joshua 23:6 NLT

6 "So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.

The way Jesus kept the law was a correction of traditions. Jesus used scripture, creation, and miracles to show people the truth.
Under Jesus' glorified laws, we are no longer even allowed to hate, much less murder. We can only keep these laws by the power of the Holy Spirit who changes our hearts.
Matthew 5:43-44 New Covenant: love your enemies, hate their sin.

43 "You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Psalm 139:21-22 Old Covenant: hate those who hate God.

21 O LORD, shouldn't I hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I despise those who oppose you? 22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.

Jesus' corrections of the commandments were scorned in his day. The Sabbath corrections were only well-received by those who knew they needed mercy.
Matthew 12:1-24 NLT

1 At about that time Jesus was walking through some grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, so they began breaking off some heads of grain and eating them. 2 But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, "Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath." 3 Jesus said to them, "Haven't you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. 5 And haven't you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? 6 I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! 7 But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' 8 For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!" 9 Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?" (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) 11 And he answered, "If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn't you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath." 13 Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! 14 Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. 15 But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them, 16 but he warned them not to reveal who he was. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him: 18 "Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public. 20 He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious. 21 And his name will be the hope of all the world." 22 Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn't speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. 23 The crowd was amazed and asked, "Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, "No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons."

Psalm 27:10

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will take care of me.

God keeps his promises, even on the Sabbath.
John 1:1, 14 NKJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Numbers 23:19 NKJV

19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Isaiah 40:8 NKJV

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

God has always worked on the Sabbath he gave us.
John 5:17 NKJV

17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

Mark 2:27 NKJV

27 And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Exodus 16:24 NKJV

24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.

The rulers of Jesus' day made Sabbath laws that conflicted for the poor. They falsely accused Jesus' followers of harvesting on the Sabbath when they legally took what God provided.
Deuteronomy 23:25 NKJV

25 "When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor's standing grain.

Matthew 12:1-7 NKJV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" 3 But He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 "how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 "Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? 6 "Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. 7 "But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Some people say Jesus deserved to die for breaking the law. I know that Jesus spoke the truth of who he was, and paid for it with his life.
Matthew 26:62-65 NKJV

62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, "Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?" 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" 64 Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!

Isaiah 53:12 NKJV - 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Jesus was nearly stoned to death before his crucifixion. The account takes place during Hanukkah, a time when fasting and mourning are not lawful... yet hate and envy seem to be allowed? We needed a Messiah to change our hearts!
John 10:22-33 NLT

22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, 23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The people surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father's name. 26 But you don't believe me because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, 29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one." 31 Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32 Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" 33 They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."

Zechariah 12:10 NKJV

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

John 19:34-37 NKJV

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

Jesus' logic made sense to those who had seen enough judgment to realize their need for mercy.
God's love drove him to sacrifice for us, Jews and Gentiles alike. May we show one another mercy, by resisting our judgmental, sinful nature.
Hebrews 12:2-4 NKJV

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Hosea 6:1-6 NKJV

1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. 3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth. 4 "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. 5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Acts 17:30-31 NLT

30 "God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising Him from the dead."

May God's truth and love permeate our lives and make us more like Him.

Race Information

• Name: Vermont City Marathon
• Date: May 26, 2024
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Burlington, VT
• Website: https://www.runvermont.org/
• Age: 35M
• Time: 3:26:22

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Sub-3:20	No
B	Sub-3:30	Yes
C	Finish	Yes

Splits

13.1 splits	Time
1	1:43:20
2	1:43:02

Ancient History

Growing up, I was always pretty active and started running in High School. Going into my Junior year, I began to take running much more seriously and made steady progress with a 5K PR of 17:06 at the State meet. Going into my Senior year, I had been training 6 days a week with the team and hitting 40-60 miles a week consistently with hopes of going low 16's by the end of the XC season. Then, disaster. Pain in my quads was getting worse and worse until a bone scan finally revealed bilateral femoral stress fractures - one midway along the midline of each femur. I was devastated, and completely stopped running from August until February. By then, it seemed like things were getting better and I was able to put in some good miles for the spring Track season. I was always a better mid-distance runner, and was able to snag a few PRs of 2:00 in the 800m (agony, 1s off) and 4:35 in the 1600m. By that point I was basically over running, completely burned out and sick of running.
10 years later...
I wake up one morning in April of 2017 to take a shower and realize that I have no temperature sensation in my right leg whatsoever. I'm now finishing grad school, I've moved across the country, first kid on the way and due in a matter of weeks. I'm not working out much at this point, maybe running every few months at best. Stress is high. I go to urgent care and the last 6 months of subtle pins and needles on the left side of my face and the occasional double vision start to make a lot more sense. Multiple Sclerosis. It's not a death sentence, but I felt like the world was ending. My kid was due in 4 weeks and now my future was completely uncertain. A month or two, an MRI and one spinal tap later and the diagnosis is confirmed.

Training

Fortunately, new medicines have made MS much more manageable and I was lucky to have a great medical team. Perhaps the most important thing to keep the disease in check beyond highly potent immunosuppressants is regular exercise. Time to start running again.
Starting out was rough, but within a few weeks I was able to feel ok running 15-20 miles a week in the 8-10 min/mile range. I keep that up consistently for a year or so and run my first 10K with a time of 44:42, which I was pretty proud of at the time. Things are going well for a while, second kid is on the way, my MS seems mostly stable, albeit leaving me with some permanent loss of function of my left leg (these gait issues will come up later), pins and needles in my right leg, and fatigue. Then COVID hits. Now I'm at home, with much more time. I increase my mileage a bit, now running 20-30 miles a week but not really following any particular plan or anything. Move across country, keep running when I can.
Mid-2023 I decided to finally take it up a level. I was mostly using the Garmin Daily Workouts at this point and running consistently 30 miles a week. I decided to run my first half-marathon, just as a virtual training run, and felt pretty good about my time with an 8:24/mi average pace. Going into fall, I juggled some illnesses but kept running. Unfortunately around November I started to develop Sesamoiditis and had to really limit my running to 35-40 miles per week. I ran a Christmas 5K with a time of 19:14, which felt pretty good, but was still dealing with the Sesamoid issue.
Over time, the Sesamoid started to resolve but I would occasionally feel some twinges in my right Adductor. Nevertheless, I felt like the time was now to try for my first Marathon. Around February, I finally committed and decided to do the Pfitz 12/55 plan. I had been consistently in the 35-40 range for a few months, so felt like I had a decent base. At first, I found the plan quite difficult to deal with. It was the most structured running I had done since high school, but after a while my schedule adapted and I was hitting all of the workouts. About halfway through, the Adductor issue started to really rear its ugly head. It seems like it's a combination of gait issues from my MS as well as compensating for the weakened Sesamoid. I attempted to strength train, but had to back off a bit.
At best, I was able to hit 53 miles a week, occasionally having to skip some workouts for cross-training or rest. I felt like I nailed the 20 mile runs pretty well and overall the LRs felt good. I ran one 5K as a kind of "tune-up" with a time of 19:21, pacing a friend, so putting in maybe 80-90% effort. Due to injuries and some travel I was never able to do one of the longer tune-up races. Unfortunately, the Adductor issue continued to wax and wane, finally flaring up badly about 3 weeks out from my target marathon. After a consultation with Ortho, I was told to stop running cold turkey for two weeks prior to the Marathon, and then a follow-up last Friday I was given the green light to try it ... cautiously ... but consider dropping out if it is too painful.

Pre-Race

My taper was compromised pretty heavily by the injury, so I was really feeling worried about how the race would go. That said, I knew that the training was done at this point, and so an extended rest shouldn't make TOO much of an impact if I feel ready. I carb-loaded three days out and tried to take on a lot of fluids. While my injury was feeling better, the next worry was the temperature. Forecast was saying low 60s for the start of the race, ramping up to the mid 70s by the time I expected to finish. We drove up to Burlington from the Boston area on Friday with the kids, and I likely did too much walking on Saturday but overall I was feeling ok and was fortunate to get a good amount of sleep Saturday night (7.5hrs).
I'm a scientist by training, so planning and preparation is second nature to me. I woke up at 4:45, had a cup of coffee, half a bagel, a banana, and a Maurten 160 drink. Because of the temperature, I decided to prepare two 500mL bottles of Tailwind, one that I would take with me and one that I would pickup from my wife at the Half point. I planned for 4 gels (Maurten@5mi, Gu@10mi, Maurten+Caf@15mi, Maurten@20) and to get a cup of water at every aid station each 2.5mi. I jogged down to the start at 6:15am, used the restroom probably 4 times, and lined up with the 3:30 group.

Race

My plan was to start out with the 3:30 pacer group and see how things go. The course is advertised as being flat and fast, but I'm not sure I believe that because there is a big hill you run up twice with 120ft of vert over about 1/2 mile and between 5-7% grade at times. The course is essentially two figure 8s, and you start in the middle. At 7:15am, we took off. The first few miles felt a bit stiff, but I was chatting it up with the pacers and feeling pretty relaxed. We were going a bit ahead of pace, clocking in at 7:50 per mile for the first 4-5 miles. Around the 10K mark, I was feeling a bit antsy and the pace was slowing down...I decided to head off alone, despite a lot of reservation that I was making a poor decision.
Around Mile 9, I was starting to feel a bit of tightness in my legs and my HR was in the high 160s. I was a little bit concerned about this early fatigue, but I knew from my training that I feel like this on almost every single run and it doesn't really seem to get worse, it just seems to be part of my mechanics or something. I kept pushing on, mile after mile, keeping my pace pretty consistently. Every aid station I got a cup of water, drank some and splashed the rest on my head. This made a HUGE difference in the end.
Mile 13, came in at the Half feeling great. Started up one of the hills and saw my wife. *Disaster* she had the wrong bottle. No carbs, no Tailwind for the 2nd half, and my current bottle was empty. At this point, I had also been taking my gels early. My stomach was feeling great so instead of a gel at every 5th mile I was taking one at every 4. The race provided gels at mile 8 and mile 21, so I had picked up an extra gel by this time and made the decision to stop at the next aid station around mile 15 and fill up my bottle with Gatorade. Salvation.
Kept chugging along, feeling a bit of fatigue setting in around the slog from mile 16-19. At mile 19, I saw my wife again and she had the correct bottle (it was my fault, she thought I meant for her to give me a larger, recovery bottle I had prepared of Skratch for after the race). I got my bottle of Tailwind and hit the monster hill at Mile 20. This was my slowest mile at 8:15 (GAP of 7:40) and it really sapped my strength. I was thinking that this must be like running Heartbreak Hill the entire time I was going up.
Through the hill, into the last 10K. Starting to feel desperate, just pushing forward every step of the way. The pacing in this marathon is quite strange, because it also has a Relay of either 2-person or 4-person teams, so you're always seeing different people with way fresher legs than you. Ended up finding a woman to run with who was crushing it, and we paced eachother the last 3-4 miles. Took a last gel around 24 miles and grinded it out to the end.

Berlin next... then Boston?

Post-race, I was feeling pretty happy with my 3:26 time. To be honest, I felt a little anti-climactic, although I'm not entirely sure why. I didn't feel a ton of adrenaline or emotion throughout the race and things seemed pretty collected. That said, I'm pretty surprised at how much I loved almost every minute of the race itself. Maybe it was just because it was my first time, but it was truly a fun and rewarding experience.
I think there were a few areas where I could have pushed just slightly harder, but given it was my first marathon on a somewhat challenging course in the heat I'm overall happy with my time. I absolutely nailed my hydration/fueling and my pacing, with a slightly negative split overall, so I'm really pleased with that. As a whole, I'd give my training cycle maybe a 6/10; I think I definitely raced too many of my training runs, likely leading to some of my injuries. I was also only able to go above 50mpw in 2 of the 12 weeks of the program.
Given my somewhat poor training cycle, I'm hoping that I still have a lot of room to improve. I was a bit worried that my MS would cause issues during the marathon, particularly my left leg, which tends to lose coordination in long, higher intensity efforts. Fortunately, it felt pretty good throughout.
Earlier in the year, I was lucky to get a spot for both Berlin and NYC. Given their proximity to each other, I'm going to try and defer NYC to next year. I've now been thinking through if I want to try and apply to Boston for 2025. Given my MS, I am technically eligible for an "adaptive" application, which has a cutoff time of 6:00. I feel in two minds about this, because on one hand I feel like I'm maybe taking a bit of the easy way out, when it might be possible for me to hit sub-3:05 some day. On the other hand, I don't know how many years I have left running so I'm thinking I might just seize the opportunity now and then try and qualify through the more "standard" way in the future. Curious on people's thoughts on this, and thanks for reading!
Made with a new race report generator created by herumph.

I think my only option is to completely resign as a stepparent. I desperately need advice about sustaining a marriage with polar opposite parenting styles, & how to deal with teenage boys with no manners or basic hygiene.
There is a lot of background here I will try to keep as to-the-point as possible. I am 34 with a 10 year-old daughter. My husband is 39 with a 15 year-old son. We each had kids at 23. We are 5 years apart, as are our kids. We were also friends for 5 years before “courting” & built a strong bond of trust already, so yes, we courted. I had rejected him a few times over the years, as I was abstinent after a toxic relationship & did not want to repeat the same patterns. Over the covid lockdowns, we started talking, texting, facetiming more than ever. When he asked me out again, I told him I was not interested in dating without the ultimate goal of marriage, to which he said, “Good. I don’t want a girlfriend, I want a wife.” 3 months later, we became engaged & our marriage is truly amazing & fulfilling in so nearly every way except one - my daughter & I, some of the most playful & outgoing outdoorsy girls you could meet, have no idea how to connect to his son. And there is nothing to make me think it is worth even trying anymore.
Miraculously, husband & I both get along extremely well with our co-parents. I could not see myself with someone that doesn’t. Neither of us have court orders or child support or rigid schedules. My daughter’s bio dad is one of my best friends, & I made very clear that a relationship with me means respecting his role. He said the same of his son’s bio mom. I come from a very blended family in which this is the ideal. My parents were at each other’s weddings & all get along & still get together. Our own coparents attended our wedding a year & a half ago. And that meant the absolute world to me & hopefully if not now, someday our kids.
For sure, my husband could not be a better stepfather. He & my daughter share inside jokes & their own games & pranks. She has her own nickname for him & will run to him & hug & climb all over him. They convinced me to add baby goats to our homestead, & have been tending to & bottle-feeding them both, a beautiful connection & commitment to share. He says, “She makes it easy.” And to put it lightly, his son does not - but I am absolutely not allowed to talk about it without getting ridiculed.
I first met the son when he was 13. Overweight, awkward, all of his hair in front of his eyes. He then retreated to his room. I know him to be the exact same now. He is 6’0 & I think over 200lbs, larger than my dad. He defaults to locking himself in his room. Unless asked to help stack wood or play a game with the rest of us, he only emerges to use the bathroom (in which he never brushes his teeth or washes his hands), or ask his dad for food - of which, he literally only eats yellow rice & chicken. He will otherwise smash an entire bag of “Takis” or flaming hot Cheetos at 10 AM & continuously throughout the day as they are available to him. He plays live multiplayer games from morning often to midnight or 3 AM, with my daughter’s room right next to him, where I blast the fan & AC & ocean sounds to drown him out. Calling this out seemed to be calling stepson out personally, so all I can do is adapt. Daughter thankfully likes it cold.
I have tried to be as soft & supportive in airing my grievances to husband, but they are never taken with grace or accountability. I am not perfect & have definitely been passive aggressive with his reactivity, as he takes my issues as insults rather than something to work on. He casts blame on bio mom or Covid, & now me. “I don’t know what goes on at bio-mom’s house, we moved an hour away & he gets carsick! I’m out of his life!” “It’s because he was stuck inside for 2 years!” “Are you sure you didn’t HEAR him say hi?” “Good news, I’ve been living with him 15 years, never sanitized a doorknob in his life, & I’ve been fine!” “I wouldn’t want to leave my room with you criticizing his every move either!”
Our first night in our new home for example, was a nightmare. My hand lotion moved from the bathroom counter to the back of the toilet - so then into our room immediately. He left the toilet seat open & my razor covered in pubes. He left open bags of chips with crumbs all over the counter. “It’s an adjustment, it’s hard on everyone!” Husband said over & over. This was an understatement, being that my daughter has been raised to ask for anything from snack time to screen time always with “please,” “thank you,” & we eat out of bowls that we put in the sink rather than stack in our room with soda cans & candy wrappers.. I am familiar with the saying, “Living room kids come from healthy families. Bedroom kids do not.” Daughter is a living room kid. Stepson is a bedroom kid. Either way, I had never had personal items used without asking &felt extremely violated by stepson, then upset that husband blamed me for it instead of understanding where I was coming from.
This remains true nearly a year later. My husband has started lashing out while drinking the past few months, accusing me of “HATING” his son, which is extremely hurtful as I do not harbor any hate in my heart for anyone. What I disdain is the way he is raising his son under our shared roof & living spaces, & that he refuses to acknowledge or communicate about it. As things were not greatly improving, I personally had a talk with stepson about basic manners. I said, “When you enter this house without a greeting or making eye contact, it is an insult. It comes off as rude & entitled & I don’t like feeling like a ghost in my own house. This is your house too & I want you to feel comfortable. But you can help me feel more comfortable too.” “Yeah, okay. Sorry.”
I have truly never had a real conversation with this kid. He does say “hi” & “bye” & the occasional “thank you” now. At this point, it is abundantly clear that he does not want me in a step role, & neither does his father, & neither does bio mom. So it seems I have no choice but to let it all go & suffer bad manners & hygiene, silence, & now bitter resentment from husband.
What I have observed is that I actually“coparent” with my daughter’s father. We coordinate around each other’s schedules, we make decisions together, we communicate about her physical, emotional, spiritual, educational, & social wellbeing. Husband & bio mom do not. They parent in isolation & simply let the other do as they please, which has resulted in a child without manners or discipline. This has led bio mom to put the kid on PROZAC without husband’s consent. This horrified me, as someone who only goes to the doctor for stitches. My daughter’s doctor is the naturopath who midwived her in the bedroom she still sleeps in at her father’s house. I understand not everyone is as holistically minded, but I begged husband to get him to a nutritionist first. The child is obese & malnourished. But too late. Bio mom did as she pleased without communication, which seems constant among them.
I have not shared my views as I know they are not welcome. Bio mom is medicated, her other 10 year-old son (deceased dad) is medicated, & now teenage stepson is as well. Husband blames our distance from him which feels like an indirect blame on me, as we are closer to my community & business as husband works from home. But truly they live in the ghetto, & I have always lived on the coast & barely like to drive through those inner cities. I set up a high school tour for them here which is one of the best schools in the state with a tech program I thought stepson would love, but he chose to stay with his friends, in one of the worst schools of the state. He incredibly won class president, though has dropped a bunch of honors classes & continues failing others.
My birthday was last week. When my husband asked what I wanted, I said baby back ribs & family. I just wanted to grill & chill due to an insane work week. I run a housekeeping business & worked for 24 hours in 3 days opening up for the summer rental season. I did not want to go crazy hosting & knew I would if we invited friends. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t be hosting, I will be! You don’t have to do a thing!” He emphasized over & again. So when a friend ended up visiting from out of state, I was ecstatic to invite her & our mutual close friend to BBQ with us. They are single moms with 4 toddlers between them & wanted to camp on our land.
We had a great day grilling & running the sprinkler & feeding the animals. Husband had promised stepson would be outside with us all day. Toward the evening, I asked where he was. “Do you see any other teenagers out there? What’s he supposed to do?” I was hurt. “Well I don’t see any 10 year-olds either, but [daughter] is still out there, & you actually said he would spend the whole day with us. I just want some time all together.” Husband knocked on his son’s door & said, “Hey it’s her birthday, it’d be nice if you come out & spend some time with us.” Then he did, & even if it was just a quick basketball game with his dad & he introduced himself to no one, it still meant so much to me.
So later when we had helped friends & toddlers set up a tent & fire in our woods, I hugged husband & thanked him for bringing stepson out with us, saying family time was all I wanted. “You two have such a healthy relationship,” my friend says. At the time, it uplifted him & he said he loved this friend to death. A few hours later, he said it was “hilarious.”
We had invited stepson’s mom, but she was out of town. My coparent joined us however, & he & husband stayed at camp with the moms & toddlers while I went to tuck daughter into bed around 9. We played some trivia to unwind, said a prayer, & I kissed her good night & went to start the dishes. Husband & coparent came back around 11 when I was ready to go to bed myself. They were suddenly on a completely different level as my slow & steady beer intake. Both their legs were gashed & covered in blood from their hike without a flashlight, which they thought was hysterical. They were loud & silly like, “You can’t go to bed, it’s your birrrfday!” & I realized, ah. They were drinking my girls’ tequila.
Coparent went on a drunk spiel thanking me so much for all the love I am, how I keep the family together, this & that & showering me with slurred praise. Husband was drunkenly yet enthusiastically agreeing & thanking me, saying I was the best. I tried staying up with them to be polite but they were so deep in conversation on a different level that I went to go make the baby goat formula for their 5AM feeding & go to bed. But I couldn’t find their bottles. I raised my hand with the men, gradually higher & higher to ask husband if he had seen them. “I see you have your hand raised, but hang on, let me finish this point,” coparent said. So husband finally noticed, & I cut in anyway asking if he had seen them. “As a matter of fact, no, YOU fed the goats last so I have no IDEA where they are,” he raised his voice, literally pointing a finger at me.
That suddenly spiraled into another drunken heated accusation of how much I hate his son. I started crying & saying all I wanted was for him to be with us today & that I was grateful he brought him out. He fought me saying they can never have a good weekend because of me, called me an “@$$hole,” & said “F you ,” 3 times in a row, upsetting me so much as there was absolutely nothing I could say, to the point I slugged him in the arm to get him to stop. This has happened twice before embarrassingly with alcohol, when he just yells & yells things that are not true & curses at me that I can’t even respond vocally. “You see how she treats me?!” Both men of course freaked out & coparent started yelling at me to listen to husband. This essentially turned into 2 hours of incessant berating from both of them. They both cried during their own tangents. It spun out of asking for baby goat bottles & continued til 2 AM with, for the first time, continual threats of divorce.
“You are not in this relationship & do not need to mediate it,” I told coparent.
“Like it or not, I am! How you treat husband affects all of us! His feelings are VALID & you need to be quiet & listen to him!” he said.
“I’ve heard this all before & it is simply not true! I do not hate stepson & he wants to divorce me because he thinks I do!”
“Emotions cause us to say things we don’t mean, he does not want to divorce you & knows you don’t hate him,” coparent said.
“Oh no, I DEFINITELY believe she hates him. And if I have to spend the last 4 years of his youth with my son being constantly criticized, I will absolutely divorce her!”
“I did not criticize him once today! I never criticize him, I am trying to help us become a functional household!”
And he just went round & round in the same circular aggressions that can only hear themselves. I continually begged for them to stop yelling as daughter’s window was open, the baby goats needed sleep, our rabbits didn’t need that stress. But I got yelled at more for that. “You can’t control passion & you need to sit down & LISTEN to your husband!” Coparent kept insisting. But I had heard it all many times before. I even tried to sleep in the goat pen, trying to settle the poor babies, still hearing the men raise their voices about me, how being critical was just my nature, & then got yelled out of there.
Around midnight, I tried to resign again & go back inside to finish dishes when stepson emerged. “Do you know where Dad is?” “Oh he’s outside, you can probably save him from [daughter’s dad].” He went into the bathroom. So I poked my head out while they continued bashing me & said, “Stepson needs you.” “I’ll be right there.” I went back to the dishes. Stepson comes out of the bathroom. As always, flushes, no faucet (or hand-washing). “He says he’ll be right there sweetie.” No words, back into his bedroom. 10 minutes go by & still no husband as I continue the endless dishes. I poke my head out again. “Did you not hear me? Your son needs you.” “ALL RIGHT!”
Turns out he needed dinner. Despite a huge spread of barbecue & potatoes & corn & pasta & salad & veggies & dips, stepson touched none of it & needed his chicken & yellow rice. So husband literally cooked him dinner at 1230AM, all the while continuing to accuse me of hating him whilst doing so.
Coparent authentically apologized the next morning on the phone. “You screamed at me for HOURS when I was ready for bed to listen to falsities I have heard over & over without ONCE trying to hear me.” He got it. He humbled & admitted specific wrongs & I accepted his apology.
“Sorry” does not seem to mean anything when you throw around the “D” word like that though. Husband pledged to stop drinking. To his credit, 3 days later, he still hasn’t. But when I said, “If you think I am capable of hate, you don’t know me at all,” the best apology he could give me was, “I’m sorry, I don’t think you hate him. But I know you don’t like him.” Then, “I don’t want to divorce you. I feel like I ruined our entire lives in one night.”
I told him that this is going to take more than “sorry” to heal, especially where blame is still cast, & he will have to “show” me. I don’t even know how, through more conscientious parenting? We haven’t slept in the same bed in 3 nights. I haven’t cooked for him, but I still clean after him. We finished some homestead projects in near-silence together.
I think I must resign to being the invisible ghost stepson makes me feel like. Do I have ANY role here but to resign & accept his parenting & continue mine with my daughter alone, while he reaps the benefits of an amazing relationship with her? Isolation parenting just like with stepson’s biomom ? If not for my daughter & our animals & gardens, I would just want to lock myself in a room all day too. But that’s what is so hard for me to get. We have nearly 30 acres & this child is permitted to be a blob on a screen living on empty calories all day & night. I cannot & will not blame a child for anything. I told my husband that when a plant isn’t thriving, you nourish it & improve its environment. He said he didn’t get it. And as deeply as I love him & don’t want to even think about divorce, I have never been so unattracted to him.

So, this has been going on for a while now. I met this amazing girl back in August of 2023 in a university club. I didn’t realized I had feelings for her until late October and I ended up asking her out in December once I was able to build up my courage. She enthusiastically agreed to go out and our first date was super fun. We went to the bowling alley where she destroyed me in every arcade game but I got a new pb in bowling that day.
Afterwards we went and ate at a restaurant that was coincidentally both our favorite restaurant. We talked there until the restaurant had to close, I offered to teach her to oil paint, she assumed that I meant right then and there at my place but I said it was getting a little late and we should probably call it a night. She looked a little bummed I won’t like, but I told her we could paint next time.
So we did exactly that, our next date was on our campus, I had baked us some cookies and made us some hot cocoa from scratch. We painted for a long time, hers was a lot better than mine… but we had a great time. Then the time came to end the night and she told me she had a wonderful time and thought I was an amazing guy but said something like “I thought about it over the break, and I don’t think I can date right now, but I would love to still be your friend” I took it as best as I could and told her it was ok and we both headed home.
She sent me a text as soon as I got home saying how she couldn’t get the right words out then in person so she wanted to clarify some things. She said “I’m just not interested in dating anyone right now, period.” This really baffled me at the time and it made me feel like I was the issue.
In the past, I’ve been lead on by someone so they could use me for emotional comfort. This girl and I actually talked about our past relationships on our first date. I learned that she had 2 exes but I wasn’t aware at the time at how recently she had broken up with her ex. But her and I bonded over being manipulated by our past partners and talking about our ideal relationship.
Anyways, I truly do enjoy her as a friend. So I wanted to respect her wishes and I didn’t ask her out again. The most I did was during Valentine’s Day I carved her a little charm to take with her on a long trip for one of her other clubs. She loved it a lot, I planned on just giving it to her and leaving but every time I tried to get up she’d insist we keep talking, so we did for a few more hours until she had to go to a meeting.
My feelings got the better of me and I sent her a long text describing how much I respected her and felt like maybe I was the issue to why things didn’t work out. I really regret sending this, but she was very respectful and replied with her saying that it absolutely wasn’t my fault and it’s something with her that she did not go into detail with.
Fast foward a bit, here we are in summer. We’ve only grown closer and she’s told me more about her exes over time. I never prodded her for this info, it usually just naturally came up in conversation. Turns out she broke up with her ex only a few months before we went out for the first time. This was because he was extremely awkward with her family and really wanted nothing to do with them. He embarrassed her in front of her whole family and we was absolutely way too attached to her.
Now, we have been hanging out together every week. We would normally hang out with other members of our club but now its just her and I. She comes over and brings me ingredients to cook with and I cook for the both of us. Afterwards we relax on the couch and watch some shows together. We get really close, the tension is really thick but I don't want to accidentally read the wrong signals and make a move.
The last time she was over was last Saturday. My dog jumped up between us on the couch as we were watching JoJo. I wrapped my arm around my dog but as I was doing so i nearly wrapped my arm around her too, it felt so natural but I realized what I was doing and I readjusted my arm so it was just around my dog. Later we end up leaning against each other's shoulders, I REALLY wanted to wrap my arm around her or just straight up ask her if it was ok if I held her but I just don't know.
Also, last time she came over, she surprised me with cheesecake that she had baked herself. She made little mini cakes for my entire household. She teased she was making them beforehand but I had no idea they were for me and my family.
There are plenty of other scenarios where the tension between us has been high, but I've already been kinda ranting so I don't want to go into the nitty gritty. I will edit the post if there's need for the smaller things.
Something I have forgotten to mention is that we have a lot of mutual friends in our club, as a matter of fact I am the new President of the club and she is the Vice President. Whenever we hang out with just us two, we don't really tell our other friends about it. Nobody in our close friend group of the club knows we went out before or that we hang out often now. I'm not sure if I should take anything from this, I know she tells her parents and some of her friends about me. I remember going to her house for the first time to help her unload some things along with a few other of the club members and she introduced everyone to her mom and when she got to me she said "You already know this guy" even though I have not met her mother before.
I could just be completely delusional, maybe she's not dropping any hints. If thats the case I am perfectly content with her and I hanging out, the last thing I want is to lose such a great friend I've made. I don't want her to feel pressured into dating again, the real reason as to why she isn't interested in dating frankly isn't my business. I can narrow it down to a few things all of which are pretty understandable. Such as her working 2 jobs while being in like 3 clubs and having to deal with school on top of that. I am just really grateful she's here.
So TL;DR, Girl I went out with a few months ago said she wasn't interested in dating, we hang out a lot more now and I feel like I should make a move to see if that's changed or not but I don't know how to.

Date: 5/26/24
Location: Buffalo, NY
Time: 3:19:01
My Strava for More Information. Give me a follow if you feel so inclined :)
Sorry to be be dramatic with the title. I promise I'm not posting this SOLELY for internet sympathy. I realize I might seem ungrateful but I just feel like I left a large amount of time out on the course and I'm not entirely sure how I would correct my performance if I could. I'm a newer marathon runner who has made a lot of progress in the last year by training super hard, cross training, cleaning up my diet, recovering, etc... . I want to learn as much as I can from this experience. I could use the perspective of some more experience runners.

Goal	Description	Completed
A	3:05 BQ	no
B	3:07	no
C	3:10	no

Background:
This was my 2nd Marathon. My first marathon was a 3:28:30 at Wine Glass in Corning, NY, 6 months ago (10/1/23). My marathon training follows my weight loss story, starting in November 2022; 230 lbs (104 kg) down to 183 lbs (83 kg) today. For reference, I am a 6'-2" male. I ran a few half marathons prior to 2022 but my training has been on and off for the last 5 years and never more than 25 miles per week.
My training leading up to my first marathon followed a fairly long MAF intensity build (30 mpw at the end) leading into Advanced Marathoning - Pfitz 18/55 with the "Long Run" & "Medium Long Run" done at MAF effort. I knew I was compromising on speed by doing this however, the mileage seemed intimidating at the time. I later committed to follow the Pfitz pace instruction for these runs for my Buffalo block (10%-20% Marathon pace for the last 5-10 miles)
Following my first marathon, I was lucky to have a very experienced friend (2:37 marathoner) coach me though another Pfitz block. I decided to set the goal of running under 3 hours in 2024. My goal time for Buffalo was initially 3:15 to get me half way there. As you will read, that quickly changed...
Training:
Pre Pfitz Block - 1 month mostly off running after Wine Glass. 10 weeks running build prior to Pfitz 18/55. In this 10 weeks, I focused heavily on zwift indoor cycling (zwift academy, rapha 500, alp du zwift >60, etc) and was running 30-35 mpw using the 80:20 rule. The last 3-4 weeks I just did the first 2 weeks of the pfitz plan over and over again. I think the cross training severed me very well to lose weight and strengthen my overall fitness
Pfitz 18/55 - First 9 Weeks - I feel like I made a lot of progress in the first half of this training plan with the following race times reflecting my gains; Wk. 4 Lake Effect Half Marathon 1:37:17, Wk. 9 Syracuse Half Marathon 1:31:51 (a very hilly course covered in ice.) These races gave me a lot of confidence knowing that I did not taper for them at all. I used the VDOT 02 predictor for marathon and saw 3:22 and 3:11 equivalent Marathon times and got very excited.
Pfitz 18/55 - Last 9 Weeks - Using my new predicted marathon time of 3:10 , I started really pushing my long runs and found that I could sustain 7:40 pace consistently on my final 10 miles of my long runs. I was also pushing the first part of these long runs to stay under 8 min / mile. I felt like I had alot of success initially pushing the pace during these workouts. I ran several non-tapered tune-up races: Wk. 14 10k 40:58, Wk. 16 10k 40:35. These results gave me the confidence to go for a 3:05 marathon. On Wk. 13, I did a 18 mi run w/ 14 miles at marathon pace and my heart rate was very high and I struggled to stay at 7:05. I chalked this up to training fatigue but in retrospect this should have been a red flag?
Pre-race:
I regret doing a bit of dieting prior to my carb load at the beginning of my taper, knowing I would gain some weight lbs in the week before the race. During the last 3 days of the taper, I ate too much bread and pasta and felt overly full up until the night before the race. My typical diet of 80% whole food plant based really fell out of sorts. I'm not a vegetarian or anything, but I find this helps me keep my weight down. Hydration and electrolytes were OK.
Race:
The strategy was to go out at 7:08/mi through 16 miles and make a decision to negative split to 6:57/mi for the last 10, or try to hang-on for a 3:07.
The day ranged from 55 degrees to the low 70s but very humid. The course was very hazy at times. I did not feel burdened by the weather but I'm sure it had some effect.
I had a maurten non-caf gel every 4-5 miles. I stopped at most water stations.
Miles 1-10 - I was surprised by the ease of my goal pace, even banking some time on a few down-hill miles. I regret this.
Miles 10-13 felt like I needed to push a small amount to keep pace but I let me self slow down 5-10 seconds per mile to minimize fatigue.
Miles 13-15 definitely required some effort to maintain pace. This effort reminded me of the early miles of the 10% marathon pace for the long runs. I did not feel like I was about to bonk at this time.
Miles 16 - I felt confident enough to speed up and test a sub 7 minute pace which I achieved for the first mile. The next 7 miles were incredible hard for me with the lactate really building up in my muscles. I progressively slowing to a 9:21/ mi pace a mile 24. I feel like I had done an OK job creating an environment during training where I needed to push through pain however, this level of muscle fatigue did not feel like it could be overcome with grit. I found my self periodically walking for 10 seconds to regain my composure. This part of the race left me with a lot of doubt about my fitness level.
Mile 25 - I saw the 3:20 pacer and decided to beat him with a very difficult last mile given the down-hill nature of the last mile.
Conclusions:
My lack of experience at this distance leaves me with more questions and than answers unfortunately. Part of me thinks I had no business shooting for a 3:05 to begin with, and that I should have read the signs and the difficulty of my predicted marathon pace during my long runs. I certainly hope to be testing this more in the future before setting a goal time. I would like to think that I may have had a chance at going under 3:10 or 3:15 if I had paced the race better and did not mess with my diet as much. Typically, when I have bonked before my heart-rate skyrockets. Here, I can only attribute my fatigue to lactic acid since my heart-rate was mostly in control and my breathing did not feel like the limiting factor.
I would love to hear advice and thoughts on this race as I recover and start training for Wineglass Marathon again in the fall marathon.
Thanks in Advance(d) for your advice,
Ken

Mile	Pace	Elev (ft)	Heart Rate (Max 190)
1	7:08	63	148
2	6:53	-15	161
3	6:56	-44	160
4	7:06	23	164
5	7:04	28	165
6	6:57	-37	164
7	6:54	-18	165
8	7:13	-15	163
9	7:14	7	164
10	7:12	-15	159
11	7:09	-1	165
12	7:07	0	171
13	7:13	26	169
14	7:17	28	167
15	7:34	26	167
16	7:15	-34	167
17	6:53	-24	168
18	7:10	24	171
19	7:42	3	165
20	7:51	-13	166
21	8:28	-11	156
22	8:08	1	160
23	8:59	20	154
24	9:20	8	151
25	9:02	37	155
26	7:54	-62	155

Hello everyone,
While I was assigned male at birth, I have recently found myself deeply interested in feminism. Maximizing freedom and human dignity is one of my key values, and these conditions cannot be realized if they do not first and foremost apply to women. Therefore, during my current time in college, I decided to educate myself further and take more courses on women's history. For a course in Women and Gender in U.S. History, I wrote the piece I am sharing today.
I am posting it here because I don't know where else to post and am planning to publish this work as a zine and am seeking any preliminary feedback, constructive criticism, or thoughts and suggestions on rewriting the piece to communicate more effectively. I hope you enjoy the read and find it interesting.
Thank you!
A Grand Domestic Revolution.
The American Material Feminist Movement of 1860s – 1930s and Their Strategy to Abolish the Second Burden.
Introduction.
In her 1981 book 'Grand Domestic Revolution', Dolores Hayden coined the term 'material feminism' to describe a branch of feminist thought and practice that emerged within the first wave of feminism in the United States. Material feminists were activist women who were the first to articulate the dependence of the society on unpaid women’s reproductive labor, in turn demanding economic and social justice for their sex. Their ideas and practice centered around a call to women that to become truly equal and thriving members of society, they must work together to alter their material conditions through creation of feminist cooperative economic institutions, homes, neighborhoods and cities that are designed to socialize housework, eliminating the ‘double burden’.
Despite being overlooked by the public and even contemporary feminist scholarship, the material feminist movement played a crucial role and influenced not only feminism but also other progressive and egalitarian movements of its time, lasted between 1860s and 1930s. Although the material feminists movement ceased to exist over a century ago, the social critiques and proposed solutions it put forth remain more than relevant to this day. This essay aims to provide an overview of some of the participants of the movement, their theory and practice as well as influence on the feminist and other movements.
Context of the time.
Although the practice of the movement can be formally seen to have begun with the founding of the Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society by Melusina Fay Peirce in 1869 (to be discussed in detail below) the critique of the traditional domestic life in America traces to the beginning of the century with the utopian socialist movement. Members and practitioners of the movement engaged in construction of ideal communities, “building new world in the shell of the old” as a saying of the time went, believing that the power of example would lead to larger transformation of society. Emancipation of women being one of the goals of the movement, Charles Fourier, French philosopher and socialist thinker, argued that “the degree of emancipation of women is the natural measure of general emancipation” and that a society where women enjoyed economic independence was superior to one where they were condemned to domestic drudgery[[1]](#_ftn1). Followers of the movement thus worked to build close knit communities with socialized childcare, laundry and cooking.
Religious communities too contributed to the rise of the movement. Between 1774 and 1826 the Shakers, an offshoot of The Society of Friends, built over 19 settlements in northeastern US, [[SK1]](#_msocom_1) although utopian communities would thrive well until the Civil War[[2]](#_ftn2). In her Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975, Dolores Hayden counted over 130 separate communities, most of them situated in the New England and Midwest regions[[3]](#_ftn3). In such communities’ domestic work was treated equally as important as agriculture or production, with men and women equally being required to participate in agriculture as well as social reproduction. Domestic chores became social labor, with the people singing songs while they worked. Communal kitchens were the “dynamic centers of the village”[[4]](#_ftn4).
It was such communities that Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an aspiring suffragette, came to encounter in 1847 when she moved to Seneca Falls, New York. At the time, the community housed two Shaker villages and at least eight Fourierist Phalanxes[[5]](#_ftn5). The following year at the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention she would give a rousing speech in support of co-operative living and against isolated home:[[6]](#_ftn6)
“my duties were too numerous and varied, and none sufficiently exhilarating or intellectual to bring into play my higher faculties. I suffered with mental hunger. . . . I now fully understood the practical difficulties most women had to contend with in the isolated household, and the impossibility of woman’s best development if in contact, the chief part of her life, with servants and children. Fourier’s Phalansterie community life and co-operative households had new significance for me.”
Some 50 years later in 1899 at the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association, she would urge Susan B. Anthony to add cooperative [[SK2]](#_msocom_2) housekeeping to the organization’s agenda[[7]](#_ftn7).
After conclusion of the civil war, Americans were witnessing a drastic change of their nation as industrialization was picking up steam. More and more people were moving into ever denser towns and cities, where row houses gave way to apartment hotels and horses beginning to give way to street cars and trains. Alongside industrial factories, commercial laundries and large-scale restaurants were mushrooming. In such context, housework began to change as well.
First Practical Experiments.
In 1864, Melusina Fay Peirce (1836-1923), published an article in The World magazine, where she first imagined housekeeping cooperatives – women’s associations where housewives and former servants would work together to produce clean laundry, mended clothing and cooked food which would be delivered to husbands for cash on delivery[[8]](#_ftn8).
Melusina Fay Peirce was one of nine children, born in 1836 to a Vermont clergyman father and a severely overworked housewife mother, Emily Hopkins Fray (1817-1856). Emily died at the age of 39, and the toil that plagued and cut short her life instilled in Peirce an ardent desire to improve the lives of housewives. Despite coming down in the annals of herstory as originating the theory of co-operative housekeeping, she must have gotten inspiration from her great aunt Caroline Howard Gilman (1794-1888), who advocated for creation of municipal cooked food services, and professionalization of housekeeping services in her 1834 book Recollections of a Housekeeper[[9]](#_ftn9). Majority of Melusina’s cooperative theorizing would come out in a series of articles published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1868 and 1869 where she developed her critique of women’s economic position in industrial society[[10]](#_ftn10):
“It is one of the cherished dogmas of the modem lady, that she must not do anything for pay; and this miserable prejudice of senseless conventionality is at this moment the worst obstacle in the way of feminine talent and energy. Let the cooperative housekeepers demolish it forever, by declaring that it is just as necessary and just as honorable for a wife to earn money as it is for her husband”.
Peirce preceded many feminists who viewed unpaid domestic labor as the source of women’s oppression, both economic and intellectual. She argued that women’s intellectual talents suffer a “costly and unnatural sacrifice” to “the dusty drudgery of house ordering” [[11]](#_ftn11). Since women's economic dependency on men was identified as the root cause of their inequality, she and other reformers aimed to create new women's public institutions and professions to foster women's economic independence. The professionalization of women’s household chores was to be done with scientifically planned equipment, built environments, and training by professional female teachers. She aimed to transform household chores into public businesses and in turn create female professions of equivalent status to that of men[[12]](#_ftn12). Even if not explicitly organized under cooperative structures, this ethos would be central to the material feminist movement. However, cooperative form of organizing became the dominant model of organization for in cooperation these women were able to carve out oases of female-dominated and -controlled space, resisting male dominated, hierarchically organized, household and the firm[[13]](#_ftn13) – in other words:
“Cooperatives were the material embodiments of changes the reformers created in gender and class power dynamics involved in the performance of household chores.[[14]](#_ftn14)”
For domestic servants turned employees, cooperative environments offered a more pleasant working experience compared to individual households. The collaborative nature of cooperative labor made tasks lighter and more manageable. Cooperatives often had access to more modern equipment, which facilitated easier completion of tasks. By working in cooperatives rather than individual households, servants were freed from the vulnerabilities associated with being employed in private residences, such as the risk of sexual assault or social isolation. Moreover, participation in cooperatives elevated the status of servants to that of higher-status and higher paid wage laborers, allowing them the opportunity to marry and establish their own independent households. From the perspective of housewives, joining cooperative environments provided a reprieve from the constant supervision of servants. Many housewives utilized this newfound free time to engage in domestic reform organizations or self actualization[[15]](#_ftn15).
On May 6^th, 1896 Peirce’s famous Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society (CCHS) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts would hold its first meeting. The experiment was partially successful but would last only until 1872. Since women had to have permission of their husbands to participate in the co-operative, Melusina decided that the board of CCHS would be overseen by a Council of Gentlemen, a board made of husbands of the members. Although praising Peirce’s scheme overall, a feminist paper The Revolution run by the Elizabeth Cady Stanton, labelled establishing the Council of Gentlemen as “licking of the male boot”[[16]](#_ftn16). Indeed, the Council of Gentlemen would be its downfall. At the beginning of the experiment, the Council consciously altered the original constitution developed by the women to hinder the experiment and restrict their wives’ labor to the household[[17]](#_ftn17). In the original constitution, each department—a grocery store, a bakery, a kitchen, and a laundry—was to be directed by four directresses answerable to a thirteen-member executive committee. This structure ensured that “the responsibility would have been so shared that it would not have fallen too heavily upon any, and the decisions arrived at in a number of cases would have been wiser”[[18]](#_ftn18). However, the new structure made Peirce an "active and responsible agent for the whole [enterprise], as in a manufacturing company," quickly overwhelming her with all the supervisory work and eventually leading to her complete burnout.
The society first opened a laundry since it was needed the most by the community. Women working in the laundry were paid higher wages than at any other industrial laundries[[19]](#_ftn19). However, despite collective efforts, the laundry could not turn a profit since the volume of the laundry being processed was a quarter of the size for which machinery had been installed[[20]](#_ftn20). On July 1870 the society opened a cooperative grocery store which Melusina expected to manage, something she could not meaningfully do due to her involvement with the laundry. Because of what Melusina would label Husband – Power, only 10-12 members patronized the society, not nearly enough for the society to break even. Indeed, many board members, managers and the president would avoid the CCHS due to opposition of their husbands. To cite one example among many, the president was made to resign because her husband expressed dissatisfaction with the frequent visits of the directors to their home for meetings. He was particularly furious when he had to wait for his wife to finish a meeting before she could sew a button for him[[21]](#_ftn21). As Peirce describes him, a famous Cambridge abolitionist would exclaim “What! My wife cooperate to make other men comfortable? No indeed![[22]](#_ftn22)” The Council of Gentlemen would vote to close the operation on April 1^st, 1871[[23]](#_ftn23).
Despite failure of the experiment, Peirce remained a respected theoretician. Her articles would remain in global print from Colorado to London UK[[24]](#_ftn24). Peirce would go on long traveling tours, first domestically then abroad to Europe where the cooperative movement was much more developed. Many of her ideas and practices would ultimately manifest themselves in those regions[[25]](#_ftn25). In 1884 she would publish her famous book Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology which summarizes and organized all her experiences so far. In the work, her feminism was sharp. She wrote that:
“No despotism of man over man that was ever recorded was at once so absolute as the despotism — the dominion of men over women. It covers not only the political area. It owns not only the bodies of its subjects. Its hand lies heavily on their inner most personality, and its power is so tremendous that whatever they are, it is because these absolute lords have willed it.” [[26]](#_ftn26)
Although brief, Perice’s experiment would ripple through the ages and continents, sparking constant attempts at the Grand Domestic Revolution.

Growth of a Movement
The movement was diverse in both class and political ideology. In 1880s Kate Field, a New York socialite, started a Cooperative Dress Association which only hired women and specialised in “healthful clothing for women”. A neat feature of the operation was that all the employees, whether seamstresses or clerks, all were provided with comfortable seating[[27]](#_ftn27). In 1885, Marie Howland (1836-1921), a New York editor and writer, fierce advocate of free love, anarchism and trade unionism, would publish extensive plans for co-operative housekeeping. Howland came to the movement when in the 1860s she lived for a year at the at the Familistere or Social Palace established by Fourierists in Guise, France. It was a vast complex of buildings which contained centrally heated apartments, day care facilities and cooked food service for 350 iron foundry workers and their families[[28]](#_ftn28). Howland would later expand the agenda of cooperative housekeeping to include collective childcare. As an urban planner, she designed and built neighborhoods with central kitchens and kitchenless houses, catering to socialists who established communities in California and Louisiana.[[29]](#_ftn29).
In 1874 Marie Howland wrote Papa’s Own Girl, a utopian novel inspired by her experience in France. The material feminist movement would inspire a whole genre of utopian literature[[30]](#_ftn30). 1887 Edward Bellamy published Looking Backwards, a utopian socialist novel set in Boston in the year 2000. In the city of the future all the cooking is done in public kitchens while washing is done at public laundries. This work became an instant success and only accelerated the movement, spreading the ideas of material feminism to the larger socialist movement.
In 1873, Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) achieved the milestone of becoming the first woman to receive a Bachelor of Science from MIT. Two years later, she made history once again by becoming the first woman appointed to its faculty. In her role, she headed a "Woman's Laboratory," which was the world's first laboratory dedicated to teaching science specifically to women.[[31]](#_ftn31) In 1892 she coins the term “oekology” as a science of consumption and social reproduction, in the future the science would lose its political rigor and would come to be known as ‘home economics’. In 1890, she established a New England Kitchen, a community kitchen that provided affordable, ready-cooked, and nutritious meals. The Kitchen was particularly geared for working classes who had to summon the energy to prepare meals at home after spending ten or more hours each day laboring in factories and mills. Her first Boston location was country's first health food restaurant, as well as its first large-scale nutrition laboratory or a “household experiment station”[[32]](#_ftn32). These Kitchens were established in cities across New York, Rhode Island, Boston, Chicago, and Hull House, and were run by well-paid women scientists nutritionists[[33]](#_ftn33).
In 1898 Charlotte Perkins Gilman(1860-1935), daughter of an impoverished single mother, published her seminal work Women and Economics: The Economic Factor Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution. In the work Gilman asserted that patriarchy was impeding human evolution by confining women to the domestic sphere. She believed that human progress could be accelerated by relieving women of domestic duties and childcare responsibilities, enabling them to pursue both motherhood and paid employment, thus granting women economic independence from men. It was her original contribution that the advancement of socialism would be facilitated by the establishment of socialized domestic work and the creation of new domestic environments, not the other way round as was traditionally thought[[34]](#_ftn34). Thus, Hayden suggests that Gilman effectively developed “a solution with-out a name to what Betty Friedan was later to call 'the problem with no name'.[[35]](#_ftn35)” Harriet Stanton Blatch, suffragist and member of the Socialist Party, saw Gilman’s work as her “Bible”, while NAWSA’s[[36]](#_ftn36) leader, Carrie Chapman Catt considered Gilman to be the greatest living American feminist [[37]](#_ftn37).
By the turn of the 20^th century collective housekeeping became a recognizable solution by the feminist movement to the problem of domestic drudgery. To some examples of many, in 1907 Carthage Missouri, local suffrage group organized a community kitchen and dinning hall to furnish which all the members of the community brought their dinner tables. Having freed themselves from constant need to cook, the suffragists converted their old dinning rooms into offices for their cause[[38]](#_ftn38). Along side Carthage, countless other community kitchens, dinning halls and cooked food delivery services would be organized across the country[[39]](#_ftn39). In 1915 Henrietta Rodman and her Radical Feminist Alliance in NYC organized a feminist apartment house in Greenwich Village[[40]](#_ftn40). In September 1918 Zona Gale published an article in the Ladies’ Home Journal, stating that “The private kitchen must go the way of the spinning wheel, of which it is the contemporary.[[41]](#_ftn41)”

Reaction and redbaiting.
Despite all this context, a pertinent question arises: what happened to this movement, and why does the second burden persist over a century later, despite attempts to address it? The answer to that question can be summarized as follows: forces of reaction. Not just the Material Feminist, but the larger feminist activist movement fell under heavy and sustained attack that came with the Red Scare starting in the 1919. Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent represented countless women’s civic organizations as being part of a “red web” answerable to Alexandra Kollontai, the head of Zhenotdel (Women’s Department) in the nascent Soviet Union[[42]](#_ftn42). Adjacent organizations were set up like the Woman Patriot which was “dedicated to the Defense of the Family and the State AGAINST Feminism and Socialism”[[43]](#_ftn43). Fears ignited by waves of labor strikes and demonstrations domestically, coupled with revolutions abroad, prompted captains of industry in the US to contemplate a variety of strategies to mitigate conflict between labor and capital. One of the results was the 1919 campaign by the Industrial Housing Associates, stating that – “Good Homes Make Contented Workers”[[44]](#_ftn44). This would be the root of the famous Levitt Towns and the modern suburbia. As Levitt himself would say in 1948: "No man who owns his house and lot can be a Communist. He has too much to do"[[45]](#_ftn45).
Among countless other contributors, in 1928 American anti-feminist Christine Frederick, would publish a book that still defines the consumer economy to this day: Selling Mrs. Consumer. She dedicated the book to Herbert Hoover, American industry, and advertising executives. In her words, advertising was to be aimed at women’s “inferiority complexes”[[46]](#_ftn46), while the industry was to flood the market with labor saving devices but implement “progressive obsolescence”[[47]](#_ftn47) to insure steady consumption.[[SK3]](#_msocom_3)

Conclusion.
Even though the American material feminist movement was not led by Alexander Kalantai, it held significant potential for sparking a genuine domestic revolution. By establishing economic institutions rooted in feminist and mutual aid principles, reformers were effectively engaging in economic direct action. They were, as the saying of the time went, "building a new world in the shell of the old," one neighborhood, town, or city at a time.
Despite losing to the forces of reaction, the movement can never completely die because the fundamental critique of the Material Feminist movement remains valid: social reproductive labor is still predominantly performed by women, unpaid, which keeps them economically dependent on men.
The hegemonic consumerist ethos made the home nothing more than a box to be filled with commodities. Incapable of addressing the multitude of crises that such an ethos created, its only response is to silence and medicate dissent. In a true capitalist realist fashion, a 1978 advertisement for Valium and Librium—drugs mass-prescribed to housewives suffering from myriad mental health problems caused by this ethos—read, "You can't change her environment, but you can change her mood."
This is the central insight of the Material Feminist School of Thought: the material environment can be changed through reason and collective action, leading to an improvement in women's lives and a deeper independence, both personal and economic. In the current crisis of imagination regarding a meaningful future, bold experiments like those undertaken by activists in previous centuries are essential to demonstrate that a better order is not only possible but preferable. As David Graeber points out, "revolution happens when there is a change in common sense of what is possible." By projecting their imagination and reason into the polit–economic realm, material feminists provided working examples of a better order, offering hope and instructions of a liberated future. Hence, the movement faced such strong opposition, because it presented a viable alternative to the hegemonic patriarchal order.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Frederick, Christine.1929. Selling Mrs. Consumer.
Peirce, Melusina. 1884. Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology.
Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868)
Zona Gale, “Shall the Kitchen in Our Home Go?,” Ladies' Home Journal, 36 (March 1919).
Secondary Sources
Albinski, Nan B. 1988. “Utopia Reconsidered: Women Novelists and Nineteenth-Century Utopian Visions.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13 (4): 830–41.
Hayden, Dolores. 1979. Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975. MIT Press.
Hayden, Dolores. “Melusina Fay Peirce and Cooperative Housekeeping*.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 2, no. 1–3 (March 12, 1978):
Hayden, Dolores. 1981. The Grand Domestic Revolution: a History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities. MIT Press.
Hayden, Dolores. 1984. Redesigning the American Dream: the Future of Housing, Work, and Family Life. W.W. Norton.
Spencer-Wood, Suzanne. 2004. A historic pay-for-housework community household: The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society.
Stanley, Autumn. “Scribbling Women as Entrepreneurs: Kate Field (1838-96) and Charlotte Smith (1840-1917).” Business and Economic History 21 (1992)
Swallow, Pamela Curtis. The remarkable life and career of Ellen Swallow Richards: Pioneer in science and Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2014.
End-notes.
[[1]](#_ftnref1) Hayden, Dolores. 1981. The Grand Domestic Revolution: a History of Feminist Designs for American Homes, Neighborhoods, and Cities. MIT Press. p. 35.
[[2]](#_ftnref2) Ibid, p. 39.
[[3]](#_ftnref3) Hayden, Dolores. 1979. Seven American Utopias: The Architecture of Communitarian Socialism, 1790 – 1975. MIT Press. p. 362-366.
[[4]](#_ftnref4) Ibid.
[[5]](#_ftnref5) Ibid, p.51.
[[6]](#_ftnref6) Ibid.
[[7]](#_ftnref7) Ibid.
[[8]](#_ftnref8) Spencer-Wood, Suzanne. 2004. A historic pay-for-housework community household: The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. P. 142.
[[9]](#_ftnref9) Ibid; Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 78.
[[10]](#_ftnref10) Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868), p. 684.
[[11]](#_ftnref11) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping; How Not to Do It and How to Do It. A Study in Sociology. Massachusetts: J. R. Osgood and company, 1884. p. 181
[[12]](#_ftnref12) Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.138.
[[13]](#_ftnref13) Peirce, "Cooperative Housekeeping II,” Atlantic Monthly 22 (December 1868), p. 691.
[[14]](#_ftnref14) Ibid, p. 142.
[[15]](#_ftnref15) Ibid.
[[16]](#_ftnref16) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 79.
[[17]](#_ftnref17) Ibid.
[[18]](#_ftnref18)Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.150.
[[19]](#_ftnref19) Ibid. p.147.
[[20]](#_ftnref20) Ibid.
[[21]](#_ftnref21) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 81: Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 107-109.
[[22]](#_ftnref22) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 108.
[[23]](#_ftnref23) Spencer-Wood. The Cambridge Cooperative Housekeeping Society. p.150.
[[24]](#_ftnref24) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 82.
[[25]](#_ftnref25) Pearson, Lynn. The architectural and social history of Cooperative Living. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988.
[[26]](#_ftnref26) Peirce. Co-Operative Housekeeping. p. 184.
[[27]](#_ftnref27) Stanley, Autumn. “Scribbling Women as Entrepreneurs: Kate Field (1838-96) and Charlotte Smith (1840-1917).” Business and Economic History 21 (1992): 76.
[[28]](#_ftnref28) Hayden, Dolores. 1978. “Two Utopian Feminists and Their Campaigns for Kitchenless Houses.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 4 (2): p. 277.
[[29]](#_ftnref29) Ibid. Architectural & social history of cooperative living. 242
[[30]](#_ftnref30) Albinski, Nan B. 1988. “Utopia Reconsidered: Women Novelists and Nineteenth-Century Utopian Visions.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13 (4): 830–41. Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 137-147.
[[31]](#_ftnref31) Swallow, Pamela Curtis. The remarkable life and career of Ellen Swallow Richards: Pioneer in science and Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, 2014. c.12.
[[32]](#_ftnref32) Ibid. p.103.
[[33]](#_ftnref33) Ibid. c.19.
[[34]](#_ftnref34) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 184.
[[35]](#_ftnref35) Hayden, Dolores. “Melusina Fay Peirce and Cooperative Housekeeping*.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 2, no. 1–3 (March 12, 1978): p. 415.
[[36]](#_ftnref36) National American Woman Suffrage Association – One of the main women’s suffrage organizations in United States. Existed from 1890 to 1920.
[[37]](#_ftnref37) Ibid, p. 5.
[[38]](#_ftnref38) Hayden. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 207-208.
[[39]](#_ftnref39) Ibid. Chapter 10.
[[40]](#_ftnref40) Hayden. Utopian Feminists. p. 282.
[[41]](#_ftnref41) Zona Gale, “Shall the Kitchen in Our Home Go?,” Ladies' Home Journal, 36 (March 1919).
[[42]](#_ftnref42) Such organizations included General Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Young Women’s Christian Association, the American Home Economics Association, the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters. Dolores. Grand Domestic Revolution. p. 281-282.
[[43]](#_ftnref43) Ibid.
[[44]](#_ftnref44) Ibid. p. 283.
[[45]](#_ftnref45) Hayden, Dolores. 1984. Redesigning the American Dream: the Future of Housing, Work, and Family Life. W.W. Norton. p. 8.
[[46]](#_ftnref46) Frederick, Christine.1929. Selling Mrs. Consumer. p. 43-54.
[[47]](#_ftnref47) Ibid. p. 245-255.

Let's first delve into the doubtlessly demeaning details: I am 24 years old, living with my mother, working a job only tangentially relevant to what I studied for, and it's not even for the living expenses -- it's to defray my degree program costs (mother insisted I shouldn't consider student loans if it can be avoided, even though it'll defer my actually receiving the degree; did I mention I'm 24 years old still paying off undergrad, and that's just one criterion out of several to fulfill? I sound so ungrateful for her provision phrasing it as that -- my apologies, even in her absence -- but I am at present prioritizing transparency over respect).
At my age, my life is not even fractionally what I envisioned it to be in my youth -- I can't say I've ever made friends in school, ever had fun, even (I can thank the quarantine), and any connections I've made fizzled out upon my departure from grade school or uni -- and I suppose that's weighing down the relationship with my mother and me. She'd give me some command, something inessential such as wiping the floor, and my response is simply lying in bed until my job or some other extradomestic obligation impels me out of it -- nearly all the time that happens, I wholeheartedly promise you I feel physically incapable of doing anything else.
I'd tell her, "I'll get to it; can I just lie here a while?"
She'd reply, "I want it done now; what else do you have to do at this moment?" with her voice carrying more than enough emphasis for both of us.
That, or I would question why something should be done or my ratiocination in why it shouldn't, and she would interpret that as my challenging the position she holds in the house, ergo I'm "trying to pick a fight" with her (the quotes are to display her wording, not my mocking it -- I truly have no energy to pick fights with anyone, let alone my own mother)
Such as her telling me, "I need you to install this modem, get to it."
"We already have a functioning one; are we replacing it?"
"Obviously. Why do you have to talk back to me all the time?"
"I'm sorry, may I just ask why?"
"Jesus Christ, does it matter? I pay for these things, not you!"
Meanwhile I wasn't comfortable disconnecting my computer from the Internet -- even for a second -- because the files I'm accessing for my school might be denied upon reactivation. That didn't matter to her, she applied the "you want it done when you want it, do it yourself" mentality, and, yes, that's exactly what happened -- I have yet to inform the professor, and I'm hoping it doesn't lead to anotber bill added to my statement.
In fact, none of it matters -- she aims to send me off to a group home and effectively cleanse her life from the stains I inflicted on her, as I have insufficient financial means to live without her; it was her sister's -- my aunt's -- idea, to demonstrate to me "who's in control" (which I never have any intention of contesting, though I'm disregarding the dissonance between intention and action in my saying that) and to safeguard her well-being against the stress I unceasingly bring her, and, goodness, I can't blame her at all for that.
The title is accurate, I'm not sure what to do anymore; should I even try to combat such decision-making? I am her only offspring and I can't say I was ever a good son to her.
If nothing else, thank you sincerely for reading. Knowing that someone would read this -- and maybe even relate -- is enough to bring me peace.