FireDragon76 said:

I'm suggesting the whole line of thinking isn't particularly morally serious in the first place.

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That's your own subjective opinion, it looks like. Everyone can have his own subjective opinions about anything, but it is only the objective truth as revealed in the Bible that matters in the discussion.

Questioning Brother said:

Blink again and you will be 50 (trust me I know). I too believe the pain can't be compared to the pain. God cannot possibly have enough to make up for this pain.

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What is it God cannot have enough of to "make up" for the pain?

Firstlightdawn said:

We have to love everyone in Heaven by definition. What if our "enemy" is in Heaven? Corrie Tan Boon had an encounter with the worst guards of the camp she was in. With God's help, she was able to forgive him. I had a friend who was thrown into a Polish prisoner of war camp when he was 12 years old. Even a guard knocked out one of his eyes. He wore a patch over that eye. He was kind of paranoid, but with God's help people can straighten themselves out.

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1 John 2:5 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. NKJV

The end result of our sanctification is to make us perfect. Yes, we will love everyone in heaven with the love Jesus gifted us with.

They don’t mind tooting their own sexual preference horns. Let someone else point it out…*gasps and pearl clutching*

chevyontheriver said:

What will the poor Democrats do now?

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lol! Something will replace it. Reliable or not.

Little is known about Kim’s daughter, Ju Ae, who made her first public appearance in 2022 but appears set to be her father’s successor.

South Korea’s spy agency believes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to designate his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as his successor, increasing the agency’s earlier assessment of the teenager being the “most likely successor”.

The National Intelligence Service in Seoul informed legislators of the news during a closed-door briefing on Thursday, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency. Their intelligence agency’s findings were later shared with the media by South Korean politicians Park Seon-won and Lee Seong-gwon.

Continued below.

As followers of Jesus Christ, and as his body parts, we all have a God-given responsibility to be ministers to the other parts (members) of the body. For the “ministers” are not just the “pastors,” but all of us are to be ministers of Jesus Christ and of his gospel message and to one another within the body of Christ, the church (the only church). For all of us of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus have been given spiritual gifts, of the Spirt, and we have been assigned our body parts (ministries) by God to be put into practice.

We are all to be speaking the truth of God’s Word in love to one another, teaching, encouraging, lifting up, warning, counseling, and admonishing one another. We all are to help one another to grow to maturity in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and to not be led astray by the deceitfulness of people in their cunning and craftiness who teach a false grace gospel and not the Gospel of Christ. And we are to exhort one another every day so that none of us may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

[Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

In addition to all of that, we are to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their correct and proper biblical context, who are seekers of truth and righteousness, who desire to know, in truth, what God’s Word teaches us, because we want to obey the Word of the Lord, and our Lord. For we don’t want to be those with head knowledge only, who can recite Scriptures, and who can instruct others. But we want to be those who are putting the truths of the Scriptures into practice in our everyday lives, by the Spirit.

So, what we teach others we should be living ourselves, and if we are not, we should be honest about it, and then correct the areas where we are in error so that we don’t end up being hypocrites trying to teach others what we ourselves are not living. But that should not be our only reason for changing how we live. We should do what is right in the eyes of God because we love God, and because we want to obey our Lord and to live holy lives, pleasing to God, free from slavery to sin, for the glory of God, in his power.

And then we read here that, with all wisdom, we are to be teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And we are to be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. But when do you see that happening in the gatherings of the church? For a “worship service” where one person picks out all the songs, and where a select few lead us in singing many songs which are not psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, is not what is meant.

We are to be teaching ONE ANOTHER with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs which teach the messages found in the Scriptures, which are to help us to grow to maturity in Christ, and to be encouraged in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in holy living, which is what many of the old hymns of the faith do, but which (it seems) few of these modern-day “worship” songs actually do. So this is about us ministering to one another such songs as which help us to walk worthy of the calling of the Lord in our daily lives.

So, I am going to add this on here that, beginning in 2011, the Lord gave me a gift of writing such songs as what are mentioned here, and for the very purpose of what is being taught here. These are not for show. They are not for entertainment. They are not flashy and well-orchestrated and produced. They are simple songs of faith written very simply and sung by an old lady whose voice has seen better days. But they are for the encouragement of the body of Christ, which you will see if you read the lyrics.

And they are often included with my daily devotions, which is for your encouragement, not to entertain you. And they are examples to you of what these passages of Scripture are talking about. We need more of this in the gatherings of the church, and less showmanship and empty lyrics that do nothing to lead you to walk in faithfulness to your Lord in holy living. And if you are not familiar with the old hymns, see if you can get a copy of an old hymnal and read the lyrics. They are not all great, but many of them are!

To My Beloved

Based off I Peter 5:6-9; Ephesians 6:10-20; James. 4:4-10
An Original Work / November 14, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Put on His full armor in your fight
Against the enemy of your souls,
And resist him with all your might.
Take up the shield of your faith within you.
Salvation’s helmet – you put it on.
Put on the belt of truth,
And walk in the Spirit,
And you’ll not be ashamed.
Love your Lord Jesus; call His Name.

Call on your Lord and Savior, Jesus, and
Make Him Lord and King of your hearts.
Obey all of His teachings He has given
To you to follow in all His ways.
Repent of your sins. Return to your God.
Follow Him where’er He leads you now.
Humble yourselves in full
Surrender to His will
For your lives today.
Bow before Him, and humbly pray.

Be strong in the grace of Christ, and
Obey your Lord in ev’rything, always
Keeping His teachings in your hearts near you.
Walk with Christ in ev’ry way.
Resist the devil. He will flee from you.
Draw near to God, and He’ll be near you.
Wash your hands you sinners
And double minded.
Weep and wail o’er sin.
With Christ, your new lives begin.

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Ministers to The Body
An Original Work / February 12, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

FireDragon76 said:

You can make Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) projects for LLM's to use. They are called CustomGPT's in OpenAI's ChatGPT system, and Projects in Anthropic's Claude.

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Hmm. Are we at the point where videos can be used to train A.I.? Maybe we could just upload the Bibleman episodes as training data for how it should act. If a video doesn’t work, maybe a transcript could be used.

I do think that this thing should eventually be built on an open-source base or just developed by itself with no commercial dependencies. Having it dependent on a commercial subscription or system gives Satan some obvious attack vectors to take it out: the Christian operator’s wallet or just the commercial system itself. However, I am willing to tolerate some messiness and incomplete development solutions along the way to a more resilient structure.

Eventually I want to own my own server rack, in spite of the constant security babysitting they require. Programming an A.I. to manage the firewalls and attack vectors into that system would be helpful, and throwing intruders out with Bibleman lines would be the icing on the cake.

U.N.I.C.E also runs physical security for the Biblecave, detecting intruders and having a laser security system. So a crude start would likely have some sort of LLM base model, an Alexa-like system to allow it to listen and talk the way U.N.I.C.E does, and some sort of Nest-like home management system all hooked together like string cheese, throwing in a security camera system and a modified drone. It would seem to require a lot of hacking. Not sure that is possible yet - and even if it was, I might need 50 more server racks to run it, unlike the simple website hosting rack I had planned. I’m just starting to think about feasibility.

I mean, programming an A.I. for spiritual cyber warfare and to follow Christian ethics may not be such a bad idea. Might as well employ the technology to help humans rather than exploit them. And we do actually have a personality base model to work with. I think it’s exciting.

stevevw said:

OK you have lost me with all the corporate law stuff and who owns who.

Are you saying that whatever the connection is that makes a third party connected or interested in the content that is put out. Don't have a say or cannot have a say in what content is put out. That they cannot complain if they disagree.

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It is my understanding that when companies make large ad buys on TV networks (ABC/NBC/CBS/Fox) they pay a rate based on the number of viewers who are expected to see the ad and the demographics of the viewers. The higher the ratings the higher the fees. Advertisers do have preferences and sometimes do pull ads from specific shows in "controversies". (One recent example was on cable with the Tucker Carlson where there was a period where there were virtually no ads on his show.)

stevevw said:

Ok, I thought it was the bosses of the organisations that were connected to the TV shows.

We actually had a boss of a corporation threaten to pull funding because they did not like certain points of view. It happens. I think the corporate world is a bit murky. They have a lot of influence but not many checks and balances.

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stevevw said:

Not enough for him to sort of admit he offended a lot of people. Thats why he had to do the whole fake tear performance as part of coming back.

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I don't know what you are talking about. I watched it on YT (my local station was owned by one of the local owners that wasn't airing it) and saw no such thing.

stevevw said:

They certainly did after he made that remark.

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You need to watch your use of pronouns. The only "he" in the sentence you were replying to was Kirk.

Minister Monardo said:

I cannot explain it any different than what I just posted.
What is God's purpose in salvation?
To fulfill the Law by doing no harm to a neighbor, or to love one another fervently?
In 6-7 years on forums, I have heard "Love God and love neighbor" as if
that is a defining doctrine of Christianity.
This grossly misconstrues God's purpose in Christ.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

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Thank you for the explanation.

I can only imagine ...

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FireDragon76 said:

I set up a custom project in Claude to analyze my own games. I gave it a few classic chess strategy books (Aron Nimzowitsch's My System and Jeremy Silman's works) and I showed it a bunch of my own games and asked it to look for patterns that needed improvement. The results were surprising and not what I expected, that's partly what lead to my interest in developing better chess analysis in the first place.

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Interesting. Perhaps A.I. has improved some since GothamChess pitted all of the major LLM A.I.’s against each other in a chess tournament with comically bad results.

I do believe that giving A.I. the correct training data is important -that’s way Leela and Alpha Zero play incredibly competent chess while ChatGPT and Grok have a habit of disappearing pieces and regenerating them with illegal moves.

Zceptre said:

The book of 1 John calls us "little children" multiple times to drive the point that we are not all fully mature and we are learning and growing.

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Children can be mature. There was a program on TV Are You as Smart as a Fifth Grader? A lot of people were not.

Tellyontellyon said:

Paul talks about how it's the Christians who are the truly circumcised people because they have made themselves right with God. So, in the context of the new covenant, are the Christians now God's chosen people?

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Let’s assume that “Christian” refers only to those who are truly saved.

First, Christians have not made themselves right with God. Jesus Christ has made them right with God by his life, death, and resurrection. Circumcision of the heart is by the Spirit (Rom 2:29; Deut 30:6), and righteousness is received, not self-produced (Php 3:9; Isa 64:6). And yes, he did this because they are God’s chosen people (elect).

Second, the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) has never been defined by ethnicity; it has always consisted of those inside and outside ethnic Israel, so believing Gentiles do not displace his people (cf. Isa 56:6-7). Scripture distinguishes between ethnic Israel and the elect within Israel (Rom 9:6-8). The Abrahamic promise—indeed, even the Edenic promise (Gen 3:15)—was always teleological, the focus being the Christ and all those chosen in him (Eph 1:4; Gal 3:16, 26-29). The promised seed is and has always been Christ and those he represents. This is covenantal fulfillment, not ethnic displacement (Acts 15:14-18; cf. Rom 11:25). The church is the expansion and fulfillment of Israel in Christ; the olive tree remains one (Rom 11), as it always has: Unbelieving Jews are broken off, believing Jews remain, and believing Gentiles are grafted in. One people of God, one root, one covenantal structure, one faith, a cruciform promise fulfilled in Christ.

Third, one should keep in mind that this is how God has always worked. This pattern of judgment, exile, and restoration is repeated throughout the Old Testament. Israel is unfaithful (unbelief), they are judged and exiled (broken off), a faithful remnant is spared (remain in the olive tree), and there is a promise of restoration (grafted back in).

From the Old Testament to the New, there has always been a visible covenant people within which are God’s chosen people, the elect united to Christ by the Spirit in due time.

Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. (Mk. 7:14-15)

Recently, my adult children convinced me to watch the pop culture movie “Wicked.” As hesitant as I was to see it, I will say, the movie captured my attention. The songs were catchy and well sung, and the plot was engaging. For those who haven’t seen the movie, suffice it to say the story is a about how the wicked witch of the West came to be so…well, wicked. She didn’t start out that way, so the story goes. It wasn’t her. It was her circumstances.

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You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your grain offering.

That was God’s instruction in Leviticus (2:13). Salt was poured on the offering to prevent decay and corruption. It prevented the ancient Hebrews from giving the Lord a second-rate and therefore unacceptable sacrifice.

For several centuries, up until 1970, blessed salt was placed in an infant’s mouth by the priest at baptism. It was the infant’s first taste of blessed food, a precursor to the Holy Eucharist, and prepared the salted infant to be a living sacrifice to God.

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...another brilliant decision by Pete H and our DHS:

Another official said the FAA did not know how long the Pentagon’s counter-drone operation would last, and it appears the agency is still gathering information from defense officials. Use of the laser system was temporarily transferred to the Department of Homeland Security with approval from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, three officials said.

Who has time for the FAA's red tape when there's a new laser system to deploy?

"Strengthening United States National Defense with America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Power Generation Fleet," states, "The United States must ensure that our electric grid … remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources," calling the grid "the foundation of our national defense as well as our economic stability."
It adds, "It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security."

A good step forward for our country.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are the body of Christ, the church (the only church). And as the body of believers in Jesus Christ we are to minister to one another within the body of Christ, and we are to be taking the message of the gospel of Christ to the people of the world. This is our mission. And we are not to do this out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, looking out for our own personal interests without thought and consideration of what others need, where they are in want, where they are hurting, and how we can help.

The Lord has reminded me here of how he put it on my heart, and on the heart of my husband, to open our home to college students and to college age adults for a weekly Sunday night Bible study back in January of 1999. Two of our four children were in college at that time, but we asked all of our kids to invite their friends, and some (or all) of them did. We began small, but it wasn’t long before we had 25 to 30 young adults in our home for Bible study every Sunday night, and we fed them dinner, too, every week.

And then the Lord put it on our hearts to purchase musical instruments for them to play so we could sing songs of worship of our God together. And then we added on a game night. And we added on a Wednesday night bible study where we separated male and female, and I taught the women, and my husband taught the men, but we gathered together for singing and for fellowship and meal time. And some of the best times were when we all gathered around the kitchen and everyone had someone to talk to.

Our times together were very participatory. My husband didn’t just preach sermons, but he taught lessons and he asked questions, and the students were able to talk about what they were getting out of the Scriptures, and no one fought with anyone else. And we were forming together into a family. And everyone who wanted to participate, in various ways, was given the opportunity, either to sing or to play an instrument or to cook a meal or do clean up or whatever. We were ministering to their needs, out of love.

Now, not everything went smoothly, and we weren’t perfect in everything that we did, and this was a learning and a growing experience for us, as well. But for 7.5 years we did this weekly, mostly out of our home, although we did partner with several institutional churches for a time. But God closed the doors to those partnerships one after another after another. For that is not where he wanted us. He wanted us in the home. But the young adults graduated, and/or they got married, and eventually this all ended in 2006.

By this time I was already about 1.5 years into what God had called me to do in 2004, which I have continued to do ever since then. So, when one door closed the Lord just opened more doors for me and for the ministry to which he had called me. So, why am I telling you all of this? Well, it is what the Lord put on my heart to share, so I did share it. But I believe it is also a lesson in what it means to do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind to regard one another as more important than yourselves.

For when my husband and I ministered to those youth for 7.5 years, it was not out of any selfish ambition that I am aware of, but it was out of love for the students and the young adults and their needs. We didn’t get paid money for what we did. We didn’t charge anyone anything, either. Toward the end we were working toward turning this into a church plant, so a few people gave their tithes to the ministry, but that was the exception, for sure, and it was not at our request. For what we did we did free of charge.

And the same has continued with the ministry the Lord has given me which I do full time. And my husband and I are not wealthy people. We live on Social Security. But we have all that we need. And we have enough to where we can give to others, too. And this has nothing to do with bragging, okay? The Lord is just using this as an example here of what it looks like to care more about others and their needs and to not look for some kind of monetary or otherwise recompense. It is a model, not a self pat yourself on the back.

We who are followers of Jesus Christ are to be ministering to the body of Christ and to the people of the world in showing them the love of Jesus and in sharing with them the truth of the gospel of our salvation, without looking for anything in return. And, if we are called of God, God will meet our needs. And if we have to, we can go without some things in order to minister to others free of charge. For we are to empty ourselves, and we are to humble ourselves, and we are to lead others to walks of faith in obedience to God.

Ministers of Our God

An Original Work / June 21, 2011
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Ministers of our God,
harken to hear Him speak.
Have you given Him
your hearts and souls today?
Hasten to give all to Him.
Let Him cleanse your hearts from sin.
Cast yourselves on His altar.
In your lives do not falter.
Ministers of our God,
harken to hear Him speak.
Have you given Him
your hearts and souls today?

Ministers of our God,
flee from all your idols.
Remove them from your lives.
Be transformed today.
Listen to the words I say.
Give your all to Christ today.
Let him rule within your hearts,
cleanse from sin, His grace impart.
Ministers of our God,
flee from all your idols.
Remove them from your lives.
Be transformed today.

Ministers of our God,
won’t you come to His cross?
Die to sin and yourselves.
Penitently pray.
Humbly accept Him today.
Let Him wash your sins away.
Receive Him into your hearts.
His mercy and grace impart.
Ministers of our God,
won’t you come to His cross?
Die to sin and yourselves.
Penitently pray.

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Have This Attitude
An Original Work / February 12, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

truthuprootsevil said:

Enough, if you refuse to see him supporting what Rittenhouse did is supporting him having a gun at a protest - you just keep blindly viewing facts.

goodby

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Right so even when I quote every word Trump said in the videos you posted you still can’t admit when you’re wrong. Then you accuse me of not seeing what you can’t even prove by the very videos that you posted by just pointing to exactly which statement he made that supports your claim even though I typed everything he said for you in my post just to make it as simple as possible for you.

China is about to send humanoid robots to work at a busy border with Vietnam. UBTECH Robotics has won a $37 million contract, to deploy its Walker S2 machines there starting this month.

The assignment is led by UBTECH Robotics Corp., a Shenzhen-based company that builds full-size humanoid robots for industry and public services.

Its engineers focus on embodied intelligence, which is artificial intelligence that controls a physical robot body, so these machines can handle messy, real-world environments.

Continued below.

I heard a horrifying story on the radio today as I was driving out of town. I posted about it here: Female wrestler says male opponent sexually assaulted her, school delayed reporting incident

Car engines, aircraft, drilling machines, and even lawn mowers fill air with constant sound. For birds, sound is not just background. Sound is language, warning system, and guide for survival.

A large global study led by the University of Michigan shows that human noise reaches deep into bird behavior, body function, and breeding success.

Scientists gathered results from 160 studies across six continents. Data included 944 measured effects from 161 bird species. Such a broad review allowed researchers to look for patterns across many habitats and lifestyles.

Noise changes bird behavior​

Continued below.

I've posted some short stories in the past with Adrienna as their protagonist.
This one focuses on a different woman in the same universe.

This story is intended to show the problems with allowing transgender dudes to compete in women's sports.
Part 1 shows the physical problem, and Part 2 shows the emotional problem.

I call this story Woman Versus Man.

Disclaimer: This story contains violence.



Part 1

It was the year 2012. Layla had just arrived at the Rush gymnasium in Walker Springs, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her best friend, Sofia, usually went with her, but today, Sofia was at home because she had not been feeling well. She and Layla figured that it should last within that one day.

Layla was 24 years old. She had been born and raised in America, but was entirely of Filipino descent. Her parents had emigrated to America from the Phillipines. Her hair was long, black, and completely straight. She was very firm and athletic. She was 4 feet and 11 inches tall. She was highly trained in Muay Thai, Wushu, and Taekwondo each. Layla was dressed in a pair of black fitness mini shorts and a black sports bra. On her feet, she was wearing white socks and white fitness shoes.

Layla went into the aerobics training room. There was no one else in the room. Layla began practicing her martial arts skills. Back in 2011, in this very room, Layla, Sofia, and their new friend Adrienna had started an unofficial test of fighting skills competition for women. This was after Layla and Sofia had tested their skills against Adrienna and were easily defeated by her.

Layla heard the door open. She looked and saw a muscular transgender man entering the room. He was 6 feet tall.
"Is this where they have that test of fighting skills thing?" the transgender asked, still having his masculine voice.
"Yes, but it's for women only," said Layla, "Men aren't allowed to participate, except against other men."
"Well, what do you think you're looking at?" the transgender said.
"I know you!" said Layla, "You're that transgender guy who tried to get into women's boxing, ...Leonard!"
"The name's Lena!" the transgender said angrily.
"Did your parents give you that name?" Layla asked.
"What does that matter?!" said Leonard.
"My parents named me Layla," said Layla, "So, that's my name. And, it is written, 'Honor your father and your mother'. Exodus 20:12."
"I'm an atheist," said Leonard, "I'm not bound by what a book says."
"Then, you're bound in sin," said Layla, "And now, you're bound in a body that's been warped into something unnatural."
"This is my true body, my true sex!" said Leonard.
"No," said Layla, "Your true sex depends on which chromosome you inherit from your father when you're conceived. I'm a woman because I inherited my father's X chromosome. You're a man because you inherited your father's Y chromosome. And, the chromosome pair a person inherits from their parents at conception is part of God's plan for that person. God wants me to be a woman and you to be a man."
"I told you I'm an atheist!" said Leonard.
"I know," said Layla, "I heard you the first time."
"Then, why are you bringing up this 'God' of yours again?!" Leonard asked.
"Because, He's real," said Layla, "Atheism doesn't prevent God from existing, just like your beliefs about your gender doesn't affect it. Atheism is false, your gender ideas are false, and you're a man, ...Leonard."
Leonard approached close to Layla with his fists clenched. Layla backed away from him.
"Hey, get away from my personal circle!" said Layla, "You were blocked from women's boxing because you're a man, you have male brute strength, and if you box against a woman, then you're a man who beats up on women. 'Got it?"
"That's it, you pocket-sized Asian," said Leonard, "You and me, right here, right now."
"Forget it," said Layla.
"What's the matter?" Leonard asked, "Are you chicken?"
"No," Layla answered, "But if you fight a woman, then you're a coward whether you win or lose."

Leonard suddenly punched Layla in the mouth. Layla staggered backwards, clutching her mouth. No one had ever hit her that hard before, as she had never before been struck by a man. Leonard came at her with his fists raised. Layla quickly raised her fists. Leonard circled three quarters of a circle around Layla and swung his right fist straight towards her. Layla caught it with both hands, but the brute force of his punch rammed her hands against her chest, staggering her backwards. Leonard attacked with a series of punches, which Layla blocked with her hands and her left foot. Layla kicked at Leonard, but he blocked it with both of his wrists, causing Layla to stumble and fall against the stage platform, but she quickly regained her stance. Leonard tried to punch Layla in the face, but she dodged it, swatted his fist away, and chopped him in the right side of his head, but hardly hurt him at all. Leonard attempted to punch Layla in the belly, but she dodged while swatting it and jumped onto the stage platform. Leonard swung his right fist at Layla, but she dodged it by jumping back. Leonard swung his left fist, but Layla blocked it with her right shin. She then attacked with a series of kicks, but Leonard blocked some of them, and what he couldn't block, he could easily endure. Layla thrust her right foot at Leonard, but he caught her leg with both of his arms. He then swung his right fist toward Layla's kneecap with the intention of breaking it, but Layla quickly positioned both of her palms in the path of his fist, cushioning the impact. Layla jumped with her left leg, spun left and wrapped the same leg around the back of Leonard's neck. Leonard threw Layla away from the platform. Layla somersaulted onto her feet and turned to face Leonard, who was already coming at her. He swung his right fist and then left fist at her, but she dodged them both, and at the same time, redirected them into nowhere by punching his wrists. Layla attempted to fight back with punches of her own, but he dodged them all and punched her in the right ribs, and then immediately punched her across the face, staggering her, but before Leonard could make his next move, Layla kicked him in the heart, but again did very little damage.

Leonard strafed left and right with his fists raised, shifting toward Layla. He then attacked with a series of punches, but Layla dodged them all. She then punched the left side of Leonard's face with her right fist, causing him some hurt this time. She then hit him with 2 elbow strikes, but he easily endured them and then rammed his right fist into Layla's belly. Layla staggered backwards as she doubled over while clutching her belly. Layla immediately raised her guard back up. She then crouched down, but kept her fists raised. Leonard then attempted to kick Layla with his left leg, but Layla blocked it. He then swung his right fist at Layla, but she blocked it too and then swept her foot behind his right leg, hooking it. Layla rose to her feet, hitting Leonard with a rapid combination of punches to the left side of his ribcage along the way. She attempted to punch him in the face with her right fist, but he blocked it with his right arm. Leonard swung his left fist at Layla's face, but she ducked and pounded his left oblique with both of her fists. She lifted his left leg up and stomped the back of his right knee, forcing him onto it and his hands. Layla thrust her left fist across Leonard's face, striking his left cheek. Leonard, now heavily enraged, got up and grabbed Layla with both arms, intent on slamming her head-first onto the floor, but Layla raised her right leg high and kicked Leonard in the forehead with her heel, knocking him onto his back. Layla attacked with a volley of punches at Leonard's face, but he kept it shielded with his forearms. Layla swung her right elbow at Leonard's face, but he dodged it, causing Layla's elbow to hit the floor. Leonard then punched Layla hard in the right oblique, knocking her away from him. Layla's back hit a wall, and she lie on the floor, hurting in many places from the hits she had taken from Leonard. Both she and Leonard got back up simultaneously. Both of them raised their fists, and Leonard moved to Layla. He attacked in a frenzy, with a spree of punches. Layla redirected the first 4 away from her, but caught the rest of them with her elbows. Leonard backed away, his fingers now hurting some from repeatedly punching Layla's olecranons, but kept his fists up. Leonard thrust his left fist at Layla, but she caught it with her elbow too. Leonard immediately hit Layla's left humerus with his right fist and then punched her hard in the belly with his left fist, knocking her back against the wall. Leonard moved toward Layla, but she kicked him in the chest with her right foot and then jump kicked his forehead with her left foot, staggering him away from her. She ran at Leonard and kicked him in the chest again. Leonard thrust his right fist forward, but Layla dodged it, jumped up, and punched him across the face with her left fist. Leonard roared with rage. Layla instinctively kicked Leonard in the groin area, but did very little damage due to the complete removal of Leonard's male parts. Leonard angrily punched Layla in the forehead, knocking her onto her back. Leonard stood over Layla, pressed his left hand against her, and mercilessly punched her repeatedly with his right fist while she was down. Layla sweep kicked the bottom ends of Leonard's shins, causing him to fall to the floor. Layla then stomped Leonard's forehead.

Layla and Leonard both got up. Layla was in pain from being hit in multiple places by a muscular man and also feeling slightly dizzy from being punched so hard in the head. Layla remembered Adrienna advising her and multiple other women that if they were fighting a muscular brute, and the going got tough, to attack the opponent's upper arms and thighs.

Leonard swung his right fist at Layla, but she dodged and sidestepped left. Leonard then thrust his right fist toward Layla's face, but she dodged it and swatted it aside with her left hand. Leonard swung his right fist at Layla, but she caught it with her right hand and punched his left humerus with her left fist. Leonard then swung his right fist at Layla, but she caught it with her left hand and elbowed his right humerus hard. Leonard swung his left fist, but Layla blocked it. She then backhanded his neck and punched him left and right across the face. Leonard swung his right fist, but Layla blocked it. He swung his left fist, but Layla caught it with her right hand and elbowed his left humerus extra hard. Leonard grunted loudly in pain. Layla immediately thrust the bottom of her left foot hard into the front of Leonard's left femur. He attempted to kick Layla with his right leg, but she caught it with her left hand and rammed her right elbow hard into the front of his right femur. Leonard staggered backwards, clearly hurting in the bones of the upper halves of all 4 of his limbs. He was now hobbling and barely keeping his arms in fighting position. Seeing the opportunity to take the offensive, Layla attacked Leonard with a volley of punches. Leonard could barely keep his guard up. He then tried to attack back with his own punches, but Layla blocked them all and grabbed Leonard's neck with her right hand, wrapped her right leg around his, and forced his head down to the level of her belly. She then punched him in the head with a left uppercut. Leonard staggered backwards, but Layla grabbed both of his forearms to stop him. She then threw both of his arms aside and, with both of her fists, punched him in the face and the belly simultaneously, staggering him backwards. Layla then punched him in the left ear hole with her right fist. Leonard screamed in pain, holding his left ear. Layla attacked his face with a rapid combination of punches, beating him closer and closer to senselessness. Layla concluded the attack with a hard punch across his face with her right fist. Layla then grabbed him by the head, forced him onto his butt, and while holding his head with her left hand, hammered his head and face repeatedly with her right fist. She then stopped to avoid the risk of beating him to death and then let go of him. Leonard fell completely to the floor and lie there, defeated.



Part 2

Days later, it was Sunday. Layla and Sophia had just entered the building of the church they regularly attended.

Layla was now dressed in a white button-front business shirt, tight white jeans, and black boots. Her shirt was tucked into the waist of her pants, and the leg sections of her boots were on the outside of her pant legs. Under her boots, she was wearing white socks. Despite the tightness of her jeans, she was wearing a black leather belt as a precaution.

Layla could see everyone that saw her noticing the bruises on her face. As she and Sophia entered the main sanctuary room, they saw the two sisters, Adrienna and Casey, who they were friends with. Layla and Sophia approached Adrienna and Casey. Adrienna and Casey turned toward them.
"Oh hi," said Casey in her usual cheerful voice.
The smiles on Adrienna and Casey instantly vanished as soon as they noticed the bruises on Layla's face.
"Honey!" said Adrienna, "What happened to your face?!"
"I got assaulted by a transgender man in the gymnasium," said Layla, "I was able to defend myself against him, but he still managed to get some nasty hits on me along the way."
"I can see that," said Adrienna, "How are you feeling?"
"Sore," Layla answered, "And, ...a little shaken up."
Adrienna put her arms around Layla's shoulders. "Here," she said, "Let's sit down, and you can tell me all about it."
Layla, Adrienna, Casey, and Sophia sat on the nearest pew, with Layla right next to Adrienna.
"What happened?" Adrienna asked.
Layla answered, "I was in the gymnasium, in the aerobics room, just minding my own business, and this transgender guy, Leonard, that guy that tried to get into women's boxing..."
"Oh, I've heard of him," said Adrienna, "He calls himself Lena."
"Yep, that's the one," said Layla, "He came in and asked about that women's test of fighting skills thing we started, and I told him it's for women only. He claims to be a woman. I recognized him and call him Leonard. He gets offended and says his name's Lena. I argue that his name's Leonard and that your true sex depends on which chromosome you inherit from your father."
"Right," said Adrienna.
Layla continued, "Well, we argue back and forth, I tell him that if he boxes against a woman, then he's a man who beats up on women, and he calls me a pocket-sized Asian and challenges me to a fight. I refused his challenge. He asked if I'm chicken, and I said no and that if he fights a woman, then he's a coward whether he wins or loses. Then, out of nowhere, he suddenly punched me in the mouth. We fought, and I almost lost, but then I remembered that thing you said about attacking a muscular brute's thighs and upper arms. I used that and defeated him. So thank you for teaching me about that."
"Oh, you're most welcome sweetie," said Adrienna holding Layla to console her.
"What happened to Leonard?" Adrienna asked.
Layla said, "A good Samaritan saw the fight and called 911. Leonard was arrested for assault and stripped of his gym membership."
"Good," said Adrienna.
Layla remembered the day she and Sophia saw Adrienna in the hospital, very battered and bruised from a fight with a man that knew Jeet Kune Do. She and Sophia also knew that Adrienna was a war veteran with multiple personal bereavements.
"Who am I to complain about this to you?" said Layla, "You've been through a lot worse."
"Yeah, but I already have experience at it," said Adrienna, "You don't. And, it helps to talk with somebody who does."
"...He could've killed me," said Layla, "Or, he could've permanently disfigured my face. I think that's the stuff that scares me about it all."
"Yeah," said Adrienna, "Who knows what could've happened? Your face will recover. But the emotional effects of a dangerous situation tend to linger. You can talk to me about this stuff anytime. Give this a few days. Talk to me all you need to. Best case scenario, you'll emotionally recover and be able to move on from it entirely. But if it persists, then it might be post-traumatic stress disorder. But I'll be here to help you with that too."
"Thank you," said Layla.
"I was out then because I wasn't feeling well," said Sophia, "If only I was there, I could've backed her up."
"I told you that's not your fault," said Layla, laying her right hand on Sophia's back.
"That's true. It ain't," said Adrienna, "It's all Leonard's fault. I have experience with guilt too, so you can talk to me about that if you need to."
"You girls can talk to me too if you need to," said Casey.
"Yeah," said Adrienna, "Casey helped me out of the emotional pit I was in."
"You girls are so sweet," said Layla.

Self-identified independents drove the erosion in the numbers, the pollster said, illustrated by an 11-point bump since August of independents who said they "strongly disapprove" of Trump's immigration stance.

In all, 60% of those surveyed either somewhat or strongly disapproved of Trump's immigration policies. Another 40% approved. The numbers nearly mirror the president's overall job approval rating from the poll, which stands at a 61% disapproval and a 39% approval.

The poll surveyed 21,995 U.S. adults between Jan. 27 and Feb. 6, 2025. The margin of error estimate is ±2.4 percentage points.

Trump wasn't the only focal point for respondents' disapproval. Nearly three-quarters said they want the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be reformed or abolished: 43% said they want the agency reformed, and 29% want it abolished.

More than two-thirds, 67%, said ICE and Border Patrol agents' tactics have gone "too far," and held similar sentiments toward the federal government. More than a majority, 63%, said the federal government has gone "too far" in its disregard of local and state governments. Conversely, 37% blamed state and local governments for going too far in disregard for federal authority.

They also largely blamed street clashes on the administration (at 57%), over protestors and undocumented immigrants. Additionally, more than half signaled they think immigration officials could pose a threat, as 58% disagreed when they were asked if they thought regular, law-abiding citizens had "nothing to fear" from immigration agents.

Approval of Trump's immigration policies tumbles in new poll

In an NBC News survey taken the week after Alex Pretti's death in Minneapolis, Americans appear to sour on Trump and immigration enforcement tactics.

www.usatoday.com