Stephen Hayes

Freelance writer, editor, teacher, missiologist, Orthodox deacon, Inklings fan, church & family historian, interested in theology & literature.

Author of historical adventure/fantasy novels, mainly for children

#WritersofMastodon

Public Key

npub1jyqlgpep2fn9x97clwxksz8j32xkhfehhx0tapze8ze2t7y0tlvqj0wn7k

NIP-05 Address

hayesstw@c-im.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsfzq05qus4yejnzlv0hrtgpreg4rtt5ummn847s3vn3v49lz84lkqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qcm47re

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub1jyqlgpep2fn9x97clwxksz8j32xkhfehhx0tapze8ze2t7y0tlvqj0wn7k

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Last Notes

2026-10-01 09:54:22 UTC

My online persona according to Grok.
I asked Grok to depict a country I ruled, based on my tweets on exTwitter, and this is what it came up with.
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/117/365/036/057/187/625/original/019068874a802760.jpg

2026-09-25 05:06:05 UTC

#WordWeavers 25. Do illicit drugs or alcohol play a role in your story?
In my story "The Enchanted Grove" some teenagers try to get some younger kids to smoke cannabis, but things get more serious when they are dabbling in witchcraft.
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-enchanted-grove.html
#mglit #kidlit #childrensbooks

2026-08-04 06:22:58 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
I thought I had my browser set to ask, but now I'm not so sure. I think it tends to put thing in the last location I told it to use. Or is that my text editor app (RoughDraft)?

2026-07-09 06:23:36 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
I saw a brief flash of an update from #Microsoft, but I thought they had stopped updating Windows 10. Could it have been #malware masquerading as an update?

2026-07-09 06:01:36 UTC

Question for Internet tech people:
A few days ago I was asked to log in to several web sites that I frequently visit. Some of them sent me emails saying that I had logged in from a new device, wehn in fact I was logging in from the computer I have always used, through the same ISP, over the same fibre connection.
Why would all these sites detect a "new device"?
Has someone or some evil internet demon infested my device and stolen its identity?
Are there any #internet #fundis out there who can tell me?

2026-07-08 02:16:50 UTC

#WordWeavers What writing or publishing resource do you think everyone should know about?
yWriter free novel-writing software from Spacejock software
Keep track of scenes, characters, objects, tropes and more.
When you're ready to submit or self-publish, easily export your MS to RTF to import into your favourite word processor for final check/submission
It's FREE, so try it with your #WIP
https://spacejock.com/yWriter7.html
#writing #writingcommunity

2026-07-03 10:07:48 UTC

#ScribesAndMakers July 3: We have some new people in the community. Re/Introduce yourself and tell us about your creative work.
I am Stephen Hayes, South African author and Orthodox Church deacon.
I've written three children's novels and one adult novel, and am working on a few more, and have also been writing about southern African history.
My children's novels are set in the 1960s, and so are historical novels in a a sense, though they are also adventure stories and have some fantasy elements as well.
You can see more on my author page here:
https://methodius.blogspot.com/p/stephen-hayes-author.html
#bookstodon #authors #writing #writingcommunity

2026-06-20 02:00:41 UTC

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@nprofile…3hmk
I had to sleep in a car on a freezing winter night before I could enter the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, which I needed to cross to enter Namibia from South Africa. Actually it was this night 57 years ago, the night the first men reached the moon.

2026-06-19 03:53:04 UTC

The disappeared: people who disappeared and were never heard from again
https://ondermynende.wordpress.com/2006/06/19/the-disappeared/
#missingpersons #disappeared

2026-06-11 09:05:52 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Buy the stuff the bank's bot thinks you need?

2026-06-04 15:43:55 UTC

#WordWeavers June 4: Which fictional character could become your antagonist’s ally?
Any unemployed gods that no one is worshipping any more. Of course if they do find worshippers they might quarrel over them, but until that happens they have a common purpose.

2026-06-04 15:32:51 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Mine doesn't have the "the"

2026-05-30 06:43:13 UTC

Looking for a book for a child you know who enjoys reading? Have a look at "The Enchanted Grove".
For ages 8 to 12. Set in the stunning Drakensberg mountains of South
Africa, this adventure follows three children who love swimming and horse riding. But when they face bullies who dabble in witchcraft, poachers threatening wildlife, and a mysterious guardian of ancient Bushman cave paintings, their summer becomes a race to uncover a secret government project. This is a clean, exciting adventure with themes of courage, friendship, and respect for nature and indigenous heritage.
For more, see here:
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-enchanted-grove.html
#childrensbooks #kidlit #mglit #summerreading

2026-05-28 14:50:46 UTC

Wow! For the first time ever, I've received a payment via Payoneer for a book sale at Amazon - the princely sum of US$1.93.
And Amazon tell me they are selling the print edition of "The Enchanted Grove" for R65.10 instead of R263. Grab your cheap copy now!
https://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Grove-Stephen-Hayes-ebook/dp/B08Y3RGLDR

2026-05-07 05:39:12 UTC

George Washington couldn't tell a lie.
Richard Nixon couldn't tell the truth.
Donald Trump can't tell the difference.

2026-05-06 07:30:59 UTC

Social media score this morning:
ExTwitter -- 60%
Mastodon -- 45%
Facebook -- 35%
BlueSky -- 25%
ExTwitter had more interesting conversations, more interaction, more stuff to reply to.
#socialmedia

2026-04-29 14:39:26 UTC

#ScribesAndMakers April 29 – Someone else promotion day. Tell us about someone else's work. Let's boost away.
If I'm going to boost someone else's work I ought to boost someone who is on here, and in fact was the bloke who got me on to Mastodon and Fediverse in the first place -- @nprofile…zyt0
He's written several books, one of which is "Memoirs of a Guardian Angel", and you can find my review here:
https://ondermynende.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/memoirs-of-a-guardian-angel-review/
#writing #writingcommunity #bookreviews

2026-04-20 11:38:18 UTC

Four children off on a seaside holiday suddenly get carted away to a place that just just about as far from the sea as you can get. They encounter people of different languages and customs, creatures from mythology and folklore, and get caught up in the start of a war. They wonder if they'll ever get home.
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2022/10/cross-purposes-new-novel.html
#kidlit #mglit #reading #bookstodon

2026-04-09 10:41:40 UTC

TGIF on Friday 10 April 6:30 am South African time, 4:00 am UTC
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/374/309/724/914/854/original/c2229072f75b0991.jpg

2026-04-01 10:57:59 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Wow! If the scammers got something like that they must have had to do some editing to cut the crap!

2026-04-01 07:13:19 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Aye well, when the review appears within 20 minutes of my telling them the title and where it is on GoodReads, I know they haven't read the book and the review is bogus.
There are two possibilities:
1. They've used a scammer's manual with flattering phrases to fill in the blanks in a bogus review.
2. They've got the book description from GoodReads, fed it to a bot with instructions to write a positive and flattering review, and posted the result.
In most of the ones I've seen, I suspect the latter.
#writing #writingcommunity #bookreviews #bogusreviews

2026-03-31 16:21:08 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Yes, I have a folder in which I dump "writing journey spam" - about half of them ask me to tell them about my "writing journey".
Part of the problem is that I would like more reviews in GoodReads, because then you can get interesting results for "People who liked this book also liked..."
Trouble is, what the spammers "also liked" is usually totally irrelevant, and skews the results, which I think is possibly the intention. I can't think of any other reason why people would post bogus reviews of books they hadn't read.
#writing #writingcommunity

2026-03-31 03:56:46 UTC

#PennedPossibilities Do you ever have to deal with “trolls” where your writing is concerned? Do you receive hate?
No, I haven't received actual hate, but I have received a lot of fake love -- people who ask where my books are on GoodReads, then post bogus reviews written by AI when they haven't read the book.

2026-03-30 11:26:04 UTC

#ScribesAndMakers⁩ March 30. Do birds ever feature in your work? Give an example.
Birds feature quite a lot in my work.
In my children's fantasy novel an owl flies off with a broken hair bobble that a girl has discarded, and it comes back with magic properties.
In a sequel the same girl and some friends find themselves among people in Asia who hunt with eagles, and one of the children escapes from captivity with the aid of a talking crow.
In another series a boy who is an avid bird watcher takes his friends to see some sacred ibises, associated with the Egyptian god Thoth, who turns up looking for for them because no one worships him any more.
And in my #WIP the same characters encounter a teguuan, also known as a hamerkop, which some believe to be a lightning bird, bringing storms and controlling the weather.
#writing #birds

2026-03-23 02:33:21 UTC

Steve Hayes: "Words and Things": a TGIF talk on words that can have confusing meanings
https://youtu.be/7QNBX6llXwA?si=d14ajJVx6PVfiYWN via @YouTube
#language #usage #words

2026-03-20 11:30:31 UTC

#ScribesAndMakers 20 Mar: Self-promotion day. Shame optional.
I've written four fiction books and one non-fiction book. Three of the fiction books are for kids aged 9-99, and one is for adults. Details here:
https://methodius.blogspot.com/p/stephen-hayes-author.html
#writing #bookstodon #fiction #childrensbooks #MGlit

2026-03-05 06:02:16 UTC

Am I the only one in the entire Fediverse who uses the hashtag #missiology ?
If so, does this mean that missiology as an academic discipline is dying?

2026-03-02 04:36:03 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub 3.1 — What is the fundamental goal you seek to achieve with your current WIP?
To follow C.S. Lewis's comment to J.R.R. Tolkien: if we want more of the kind of stories we like, we shall have to write them ourselves.
#writing #Inklings

2026-02-20 03:06:16 UTC

Are blogs only for bots now?
This map shows that most readers of my #blog are bots in Mountain View, California. Though it's in English, it has no readers in English-speaking countries like UK, Canada or New Zealand. but a lot in Vietnam & Latin America
https://clustrmaps.com/map/Methodius.blogspot.com
#blogging #blogs

2026-02-04 06:37:26 UTC

Orthodox Christian parents: have your children ever read, or wished they could read, children's adventure stories with Orthodox characters? They might enjoy "Cross Purposes" by Stephen Hayes
books2read.com/u/mZnXk2
#Orthodox #childrensbooks #kidlit #mglit

2026-01-28 08:19:08 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
But following #hashtags was one of the original attractions of #Twitter.
When I first joined, the prompt was "What are you doing right now?" which wasn't very interesting. I mean, right then I was reading Twitter. But when they realised that people were using it as a microblog they changed it to "What's happening?" which widened it it a bit. And there was also a site that aggregated tweets with hashtags, paper.li, so you could follow a topic easily, until they wrecked it.

2026-01-28 08:10:46 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
Elon Musk deprecated #hashtags, and made them count less in the exTwitter algorithm, but they remain useful here, and perhaps that is why you see things that had gone.
Another thing that makes exTwitter less useful is that they deprecated some of the things that made it useful in the first place. As a microblog, one of its major uses was to draw attention to web sites that you had visited and found interesting. But they pushed posts with links down in the rankings. I don't think Mastodon does that.
#socialmedia

2026-01-27 07:47:19 UTC

Jeffery, Janet and Catherine spend their summer school holidays swimming and riding horses in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa. But then they have to deal with bullying teenagers who are into witchcraft, poachers, and the strange guardian of a cave of Bushman paintings. And just when it seems that things couldn’t possibly get worse, the children stumble across a secret government project that the police think they know far too much about.
https://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Grove-Stephen-Hayes-ebook/dp/B08Y3RGLDR
#childrensbooks #kidlit #middlegradebooks #reading #bookstodon

2026-01-22 15:27:59 UTC

A woman dies on a farm, and a lawyer goes to do is everyday job of winding up her estate, but instead finds himself on a chase across southern Africa looking for Lobengula's legendary treasure. Read about it in "The Year of the Dragon" by Stephen Hayes.
https://books2read.com/u/mVkDq5
#books #reading #bookstodon

2026-01-10 10:49:37 UTC

Notes from underground: Abandoned books
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2026/01/abandoned-books.html
#dnf #books #reading #bookstodon

2026-01-08 12:31:55 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
That's what I thought you meant.
That's what it does. I might show you on offtopic!

2026-01-08 12:21:32 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
It's plain text remember, so if I say ip 3,5 (= indent paragraph 3 spaces on the first line and 5 spaces on the following lines) it will do something like
- first line
- second line
Regardless of line length, font or anything else. the mail.pm program applies the formatting to a plain text document with a line length no greater than 65 characters, regardless of the size of the original window, and strips other formatting, such as bold, roman, italic, underline etc.

2026-01-08 11:31:48 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
That's where XyWrite works for me. I just type "mail.pm" followed by "typef .import.txt" and then import "import.txt" into my mail reader, and the indentation is preserved.
But the same principle applies to hyml documents. They should never be more complicated than they need to be. If the information can be conveyed by straight html, then use that. If it can be conveyed by html & css, then use that. Only use Javascript and other bloatware if absolutely necessary. Then there woul be no need for much of that "Your browser is no longer supported" nonsense.

2026-01-08 06:38:18 UTC

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@nprofile…zyt0
It is, however, possible to produce such a list using a dash rather than a bullet
- how did half the text of this post get put into "Search for"?
- I certainly never intended to put it there
- so how did it get there?
#plaintext #email

2025-12-31 09:17:32 UTC

#WordWeavers 31.12. Give another writer a New Year gift! Either buy their book or say something you like about them/their story/writing etc.
I've already offered a free gift, right here on Mastodon/the Fediverse. But for anyone who missed it, here's the offer again:
My Christmas present to you, or a child you know.
My ebooks on Smashwords are available free to the first 5 takers between now and the end of 2025.
Take your pick, and just enter coupon code DUXWW when asked to do so. See list here:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hayesstw
#bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity

2025-12-23 04:00:50 UTC

Expect the unexpected -- four kids on holiday are whisked off on adventure none of them could have imagined: "Cross Purposes" by Stephen Hayes
https://books2read.com/u/mZnXk2
#childrensbooks #kidlit #mglit #bookstodon

2025-12-12 05:48:10 UTC

Forty years ago it was Christian civilization to the West, & godless commies to the East.
Has that now become Christian civilization to the East, & godless capitalists to the West, or something else?
Generation Z and Religion
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2025/12/generation-z-and-religion.html?spref=tw
#GenZ #missiology

2025-12-11 02:18:14 UTC

Lobengula's treasure and the legacy of St George: "The Year of the Dragon" by Stephen Hayes at #smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/907935
#reading #fantasy #bookstodon

2025-12-09 07:43:54 UTC

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@nprofile…nmwl
If you read the article, you discover it's done on a huge scale, far bigger than a bunch of bored kids.

2025-12-09 07:30:43 UTC

Could some IT fundi please explain to me why people do this?
I know there are such things as DDoS attacks, but why do people do it? What's in it for them?
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/10/ddos-botnet-aisuru-blankets-us-isps-in-record-ddos/
#DDoS

2025-12-05 06:51:32 UTC

Looking for a Christmas gift for a kid aged 9-12 who likes reading?
They might enjoy "The Enchanted Grove" -- see here:
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-enchanted-grove.html
#kidlit #mglit #xmasgifts #books #reading

2025-11-26 06:16:00 UTC

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@nprofile…nmwl
An app to access a web site is still accessing a site on the web.
Consider a blogging site, like WordPress. From the point of view of the owners of the site, the individual blogs are "content" that attracts people to the site. To the site users, what they write is usuallt to communicate something. Same with any public web site, what used to be called Web 2.0. But in Web 1.0 sites (of which there are still many) they often have to pay people to create the content that goes on their sites.

2025-11-25 08:16:13 UTC

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@nprofile…nmwl
But YouTube *is* a web site.
And a lot of the content is prancing halfwits jumping around to this tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh-MiO4l9Ts

2025-11-25 07:55:27 UTC

What is a "content creator"?
Making content is when people who have nothing to say hire people who are good at saying nothing to "create content" to fill a space on a web site.
It goes back to the early days of the Web in the mid-1990s when web used gee-whizz graphics and all kinds of clever tricks to make all-singing all-dancing web sites.
People visited the site and duly said "Gee whizz!" to all the animated graphics and never returned. They'd already seen it.
Eventually some people worked out that people didn't come back because there was no content. The web pages didn't say anything, that just moved and jumped and sparkled and did whatever clever graphics could do, but they said nothing.
So the site owners having grasped that there needed to be some content, so they called for content creators to fill the space.
Never mistake a "content creator" for an author. A content creator is basically a hack writer paid to fill a space on a web site.
#authors #writers #contentCreators

2025-11-12 07:33:46 UTC

Three kids looking forward to a carefree horse-riding holiday in the Drakensberg encounter bullies, poachers, the apartheid regime's dreaded Security Police, and then a witch: "The Enchanted Grove," an adventure/ fantasy novel by Stephen Hayes. For kids aged 9-99.
https://books2read.com/u/31lVDW
#BookStodon #childrensbooks #kidlit #middlegradebooks

2025-11-06 05:55:07 UTC

Four children who have become friends through riding horses in the mountains go on a seaside holiday, but are swept off into a new adventure not only with horses but also with magical reindeer & even stranger creatures from myth and folklore. "Cross Purposes"
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2022/10/cross-purposes-new-novel.html
#bookstodon #childrensbooks #kidlit

2025-11-06 05:01:39 UTC

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman accuses politicians of 'serving themselves, not the people'
https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/dr-imtiaz-sooliman-accuses-politicians-of-serving-themselves-not-the-people/ar-AA1PTrrY?ocid=socialshare
#politics #politicians

2025-11-05 06:19:48 UTC

Three kids looking forward to a carefree horse-riding holiday in the Drakensberg encounter bullies, poachers, the apartheid regime's dreaded Security Police, and then a witch: "The Enchanted Grove" by Stephen Hayes at #smashwords
https://smashwords.com/books/1072405
#bookstodon #reading #childrensbooks #kidlit #MGlit

2025-11-04 04:15:11 UTC

A southern African twist on the legend of St George & the dragon: "The Year of the Dragon" by Stephen Hayes at #smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/907935
#bookstodon #reading

2025-10-15 05:15:29 UTC

#PennedPossibilities Your MC or SC meets a vampire. What do they do?
Most of my MCs & SCs are kids, and I don't know if they've read Dracula yet. If they have, they might run home and ask their parents to get one of those surgical collar things worn by people of have suffered whiplash injuries and the like.

2025-06-15 13:40:41 UTC

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@nprofile…7wld @nprofile…lfze @nprofile…3awy
I'd be interested in anyone who was planning to replace it with "root".

2025-06-15 13:29:28 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub 14 June: Do you take notes for your WIP? How closely do you follow them?
I do, if I get story ideas etc. Sometimes I follow them, sometimes I don't.
I keep them in a text database so I know which books they are for, and can search for them by various criteria.

2025-06-10 01:35:52 UTC

Pentecost and mission
https://khanya.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/pentecost-and-mission/
#Orthodox #theology #Pentecost

2025-06-09 14:17:43 UTC

694. MC POV: Do you have siblings? If so, what are their names and ages?
Tiffany Devenish has an older brother, David. He's 13 and envies her because she was asked to be a police spy and he was not. But she doesn't want to be a police spy, though he does.

2025-06-06 12:13:32 UTC

Rubio sanctions 4 ICC judges for "targeting" U.S. and Israel
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/06/us-sanctions-icc-judges-israel-gaza-rubio
#USA #genocide

2025-06-04 06:25:10 UTC

Notes from underground: How social networks undermine community and promote extremism
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2024/03/how-social-networks-undermine-community.html?spref=tw
#socialmedia #socialnetworks

2025-06-03 15:59:13 UTC

Thesis Theater: Fr. Andrew Damick, "Divine Council Theology in J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium
https://youtu.be/0eRkj7Qy-dM?si=DdcAVS77noEyzGep via @youtube
#theology #literature #Inklings #Tolkien

2025-06-01 04:54:05 UTC

"Had it been around at the time, Books for Keeps would probably have reviewed Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (1960) and The Moon of Gomrath (1963) in its books for 10-14 year-olds section. The dust jacket of Garner’s new novel Boneland (August, 2012) describes it as ‘a novel for adults, concluding a trilogy that was begun for children’. Is there another trilogy written over 50+ years? Geoff Fox re-reads, reads, and reads again."
https://booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/boneland-the-continuing-story/
#kidlit #MGlit #childrensLiterature

2025-06-01 04:41:50 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 686
Have you thought of any alternative endings for your WIP, or have you already decided on the perfect ending?
I've no idea what the ending may be until I get there.
In my first novel, I did have an idea for the ending. "All he heard was the sound of his voice echoing among the lonely hills." So I wrote the story to get there.
Then I added something, and an Eng Lit Prof I knew said he didn't like the ending, so in revising it I removed the additions but a child reader preferred the longer ending (it's a children
s book) so I restored it in the revised edition And now I don't aim for an ending, but follow the story wherever the characters take it.
Eng Lit prof's review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2047873648
#writingcommunity #MGlit #kidlit

2025-05-30 15:23:41 UTC

Notes from underground: Travels in the Free State and KZN, May 2025 (Part 1)
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2025/05/travels-in-free-state-and-kzn-may-2025.html
#travel #KZN #RSA

2025-05-30 06:20:22 UTC

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And here's another take on it:
https://www.ekathimerini.com/politics/foreign-policy/1271204/no-change-in-mt-sinai-monasterys-status-egypt-says/
#fakenews #journalism #SocialMedia

2025-05-29 14:50:11 UTC

Egypt Closes St. Catherine’s Monastery: Confiscates Its Property and Evicts the Monks
https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/05/29/egypt-closes-st-catherines-monastery-confiscates-its-property-and-evicts-the-monks/
#Christianity #Egypt #monks #monasticism

2025-05-28 08:10:25 UTC

On facing The Big Stick. Even before Cyril Ramaphosa's meeting with Donald Trump last week, South Africa came up against the US desire for world domination.
https://annpettifor.substack.com/p/on-facing-the-big-stick
#geopolitics #RSApolitics #USpolitics

2025-05-27 10:57:49 UTC

‘Seeking After Worldly Visions of “Masculinity” is Not an Orthodox Pursuit’: A Word From Bishop Irenei.
https://orthodox-europe.org/content/remarks-25th-may-2025/
#Orthodox #theology #masculinity #gender

2025-05-26 04:30:22 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 681 — Let’s talk about your current WIP. Although it of course depends on your genre, do you have an antagonist or an evil villain?
My current #WIP has both. People are neither all good nor all bad, but they can be corrupted by working for an evil organisatiion. So there is always the possibility that the villains may turn, and renounce the evil organisation -- in my case, the secret police.
#writing

2025-05-26 04:23:41 UTC

The approval rating of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is poised to skyrocket after he visited the Oval Office on Wednesday and was subjected to Donald J. Trump acting like a dick.
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/south-african-presidents-approval
#politics

2025-05-25 11:41:46 UTC

Donahttps://www.facebook.com/friends/requests/?profile_id=61576585715623ld Trump made claims about "white genocide" in South Africa, with ba lot of obviously-faked evidence. Yet he is supporting a real genocide in Gaza.
What's the real story?
https://khanya.wordpress.com/2016/05/21/white-genocide-all-lives-matter/
#WhiteGenocide

2025-05-21 12:54:47 UTC

These flowers have appeared at the sides of busy roads all over KZN. I'm told they are exotic, an invasive weed. called Mexican sunflowers. But Wikipedia says they are valuable fertilizers. #roadside #flowers #KZN
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/545/921/754/652/286/original/3c9dab12c19d88af.jpg

2025-05-17 05:46:18 UTC

Lions River, KwaZuluNatal, South Africa
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/521/584/907/747/596/original/94b9a1207183eb67.jpg

2025-05-11 05:14:24 UTC

Autumn in the Free State
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/487/488/512/407/746/original/fe3b61f8f2100414.jpg

2025-05-03 15:33:56 UTC

Rare and lost children's stories. Notes from underground: The Adventures of Skew
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-adventures-of-skew.html
#kidlit #mglit #childrensbooks #rarebooks

2025-05-03 12:40:53 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 660. What is your MC’s relationship with their family like?
Tiffany is 10, and sometimes gets a bit annoyed at her mother sending her off on errands, like to the shop to buy cigarettes. Her father is at work all day, and by the time he gets home it's time for dinner and then bed. Her older brother David is inclined to tease her, but she puts up with it most of the time, and if she's really in trouble he tries to protect her. She was a bit resentful when he got a crush on one of her best friends, though. She gets on best with her grandmother, who tells her stories, and listens to what she says and gives her advice.

2025-04-30 15:16:09 UTC

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@nprofile…6fay
In which case, I can't really tell the difference between side characters and supporting characters, and I'd have to say I'm talking about both, because they are the same characters.

2025-04-30 05:40:24 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 658 — When asked about SCs, do you talk about your side or supporting characters, or both?
I'm not sure what the difference is. I only heard about SCs here on Mastodon, and didn't at first know what it meant.
#writingcommunity

2025-04-30 05:33:17 UTC

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@nprofile…wyg9
A panacea!

2025-04-28 13:13:33 UTC

Mamelodi on Sunday: seen coming home from church yesterday
#Mamelodi #Muthi #Tshwane
https://cdn.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/415/757/180/971/596/original/d56257363f073ba6.jpg

2025-04-25 08:49:06 UTC

Happy Easter Friday, everyone!
Christ is risen!
UKristu uvukile!
Kriste o tsogile!
Christus het opgestaan!

2025-04-25 08:47:27 UTC

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@nprofile…nkpy
According to the one human reply I received, your brother is working at Target.
Answers from AI, like any others, need to be checked, but at least one can be reasonably sure of *getting* an answer.

2025-04-24 09:39:17 UTC

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It seems that AI is better that this stuff than humans. I asked here, got one answer that seemed unreliable.
So asked Perplexity.ai
What Has Happened to People Fired by DOGE?
Thousands of federal workers were abruptly fired by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, as part of a sweeping initiative to shrink the federal workforce and cut government spending. The affected employees include both probationary workers and others across more than two dozen federal agencies
. The scale of the layoffs is significant: at least 24,000 federal probationary employees were fired, and estimates for total job losses—including buyouts and contractor cuts—range from 100,000 to over half a million in high-layoff scenarios
.
Legal Challenges and Reinstatement
A substantial portion of these firings has been challenged in court. An independent federal oversight agency declared the mass firing of probationary workers unlawful, prompting a federal judge to order the reinstatement of about 16,000 employees. However, the Trump administration has appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court, leaving many workers in limbo as they await the outcome
.
Are They Finding Other Jobs?
Job Market Difficulties
Many of those fired have struggled to find new employment, particularly in the private sector. The job market for white-collar professionals—where most of these federal workers fit—has softened, with employer demand down since the pandemic. Many report repeated rejections, lengthy interview processes, and even resorting to gig work or starting small businesses to make ends meet
.
“Nonstop rejection,” said one former CDC employee. “It’s three rounds of interviews and a writing sample only to get ghosted.” To make ends meet, he started a pressure-washing business
.
Job applications from former federal employees have surged dramatically, especially among those from agencies targeted by DOGE. However, the influx of highly educated candidates into a weak job market has made competition fierce, and opportunities remain limited
.
State Initiatives and Support
Some states are actively trying to recruit these displaced federal workers. For example, New York Governor Kathy Hochul launched a "You’re Hired" initiative to attract former DOGE-fired employees to state jobs, emphasizing the value of their public service skills. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin also encouraged laid-off federal workers to seek jobs in the state, highlighting the availability of over 250,000 open positions
.
Uncertainty for Many
Many affected workers are still waiting for legal decisions regarding their potential reinstatement and, in some cases, are receiving severance pay. This uncertainty has delayed job searches for some, while others have begun to reskill or consider career changes due to the challenging employment landscape
.
Summary Table: Fate of DOGE-Fired Workers
Outcome Details
Awaiting Legal Resolution Many are in limbo, hoping for court-ordered reinstatement
.
Struggling in Job Market Facing high competition and low demand for white-collar roles, many report difficulty
.
State Recruitment Efforts States like NY and VA are actively recruiting these workers for public sector jobs
.
Career Changes & Gig Work Some have started small businesses or are considering reskilling due to job market woes
.
Conclusion
Most people fired by DOGE have not yet found stable new jobs. While some are pursuing opportunities in other states or starting over in different fields, a large number remain in a state of uncertainty, awaiting the outcome of legal battles that could see them reinstated to their former positions
. The mass layoffs have created a challenging environment for these workers, both professionally and personally.
#DOGE #USGov #unemployment

2025-04-24 09:06:09 UTC

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@nprofile…qv65
All 200000 of them?
You know that how?

2025-04-23 14:30:59 UTC

Has anyone done any research on the people who were fired by Musk/Trump?
How many have found other jobs? How many are still out of work? How they survive, or whether they survive?

2025-04-18 09:24:12 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 646 — How would you describe your MC’s job or occupation? (You can be comedic about it, if you like.)
Tiffany Devenish is a 10-year-old schoolgirl.
The police tried to get her into trouble at school but her class teacher supported her and subverted their story.

2025-04-14 04:31:41 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 642 — How old are some of your characters?
My main characters in this story are aged 10-12, and in the sequel they are 6 months older.
https://www.amazon.com/Enchanted-Grove-Stephen-Hayes-ebook/dp/B08Y3RGLDR

2025-04-09 04:35:51 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub 25-04-08 Share a simile or metaphor that stuck with you.
The sun cut itself on the mountain ridge and bled down into the valley below.
Well, you did ask,

2025-04-09 04:34:20 UTC

#WritersCoffeeClub April 9. How much room for the fantastical is there in your work?
Quite a lot.
All my fiction has elements of intrusive fantasy. I'm not quite sure how intrusive fantasy differs from magical realism, though.
#writing #writingcommunity

2025-04-08 03:51:08 UTC

Empowering people with disabilities: Philip Wetherell, a church historian of Namibia whose books should be published
https://khanya.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/philip-wetherell/
#Namibia #history

2025-04-06 04:28:03 UTC

How "woke" was C.S. Lewis?
Inside Prince Caspian
https://khanya.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/inside-prince-caspian/
#Narnia #Inklings

2025-04-05 12:33:43 UTC

#PennedPossibilities 635. Are there any specific cultural influences that shaped the world or characters in your story?
In most of my published stories the main characters are 4 children from different cultural backgrounds which have shaped them:
Sipho Mdluli, 12, rural black Zulu-speaking South African. Father is an academic, grandfather a peasant.
Jeffery Davidson, 11, white urban English-speaking South African, goes to boarding school. Father is a businessman, parents jaunt off overseas frequently, so in school holidays he tends to get shunted off to odd places.
Janet Montgomery, 10, rural white English-speaking South African. Father is conservative rich farmer.
Catherine Kopirovsky, 8, English with Anglo-Russian ancestry
More info here: https://methodius.blogspot.com/p/stephen-hayes-author.html
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/285/373/269/330/496/original/1efe09fd9da0e1aa.webp

2025-04-03 06:00:40 UTC

Christian Nationalism was discredited as an ideology in South Africa 30 years ago. It's sad to see its corpse rising zombie-like from the grave in the USA now.
Here's what C.S. Lewis had to say about it.
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2024/09/cs-lewis-on-christian-nationalism.html
#theology #politics

2025-04-03 05:38:19 UTC

Here's a Lenten exercise
Which of the seven deadly sins is most likely to tempt you, according to your political ideology?
And which will be the hardest struggle? (podvig/ascesis/jihad)
#Lent #discipline #podvig #jihad
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/114/272/410/906/379/335/original/ceb8364184f9ffca.jpg

2025-04-02 04:16:37 UTC

Three common myths about US funding cuts to South Africa
US and South African officials have contributed to misinformation about the cancellation of funding
https://groundup.org.za/article/three-common-myths-about-us-funding-cuts-to-south-africa/
#USA #RSA #aid

2025-04-01 19:51:35 UTC

The Dark Enlightenment: the Tech Oligarch Ideology Driving DOGE’s Destruction
https://commondreams.org/opinion/dark-enlightenment-elon-musk
#ideology #USA #DOGE

2025-04-01 06:27:26 UTC

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@nprofile…8qj3
The admins of so many universities in the US seem to be behaving like thoughtless mindless zombies. See here:
https://methodius.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-zombification-of-america.html
#education #academicfreedom #zombies

2025-03-30 04:11:10 UTC

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@nprofile…ufp0
I can't remember offhand, I'll have to look it up.

2025-03-29 05:46:55 UTC

I see people on social media still referring to Donald Trump and Elon Musk and their supporters as "conservatives", but their "bull in a china shop" behaviour over the last couple of months shows that they are anything but conservatives. Right-wing radicals, yes. Conservatives, no.
In the link G.K. Chesterton explains why.
https://theknowledge.io/chestertons-fence-explained/
#tradition #conservatism #radicalism #extremism