Rick Brown
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Articles by Rick Brown
Criminal Justice Predictors of Child Sexual Abuse Live Streaming
Live streaming of child sexual abuse (CSA) is a criminal offense in which consumers pay money to view sexual abuse of children across the internet in real time, leaving little tangible evidence beyond a financial transaction and metadata. Prior research has developed methods for anticipating these offenses using the details of financial transactions, offering an alternate approach to detection.
Crete: Waiting with Passion, Drama, and Possibly a Plate of Baklava
In just a few months, my wife and I will be stepping onto a ship for a two-week Mediterranean cruise. We’re starting in Athens, weaving through ports and past lives, but there’s one place my heart is already wandering toward. Crete. This trip isn’t just a vacation. It’s a homecoming — four decades in the making.
The Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Life
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 8 min read · -- By Rick Brown, Professional Line Etiquette Monitor There are two rulebooks in baseball: The official one. The secret, cursed one kept in a glove box in Iowa, forged from ghost energy and pure spite.
Baseball as a Metaphor for Literally Everything (And Why You Should Probably Stop)
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 3 min read · -- At some point in your adult life, you’ve probably heard someone say, “Life is like baseball.” If you haven’t, congrats — you’ve managed to avoid both cliché and that guy from your office who wears batting gloves during Zoom meetings “to stay in the zone.” But for the rest of us, baseball metaphors are inescapable. Job interviews. Breakup talks.
Why Walk-Off Wins Feel So Damn Good (And Why Sudden Joy is So Rare)
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 6 min read · -- The Yankees weren’t just favored in 1960 — they were the baseball equivalent of a Roman empire with better suits and worse humility. They had Mickey Mantle. They had Roger Maris. They had 18 World Series titles already in the bag and the bored confidence of a Wall Street executive who knows his martini will arrive before he asks. They didn’t just beat teams — they audited their souls. The Pirates? They were Pittsburgh.
The Long Game
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 3 min read · -- (Or: Why I’m Not Famous Yet and Other Very Rational Meltdowns) Somewhere between hitting “publish” on my second book and stress-eating pretzels over my KDP dashboard, I had a minor spiral. Not a full-blown existential crisis — just a light, midsize, emotionally responsible unraveling. Sales were… not great. Okay, they were invisible. Like the Cubs’ playoff hopes in July.
Chapter 5.5: How the Hell Did I Forget New Zealand?
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 4 min read · -- Welcome to Chapter 5.5 of Waiting…In the Age of Instant Everything, also known as the part where I publicly atone for my most egregious international oversight: forgetting to include New Zealand in the world tour of chill. I know, I know.
My Absurd and Completely Justified Intellectual Crush on Simone Weil
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 3 min read · -- Look, I was just trying to write a chapter on the philosophy of waiting. That’s it. That was the assignment. A few wise quotes, a dash of Aristotle, maybe a Zeno paradox or two, and then boom, onto the next. But then she showed up. Simone Weil. The human black hole of philosophical intensity. The spiritual force of nature who sucked me into a rabbit hole so deep I came out quoting French existentialists and craving stale wartime bread.
Einstein’s Brain (Yes, That Brain)
Member-only story Rick Brown · Follow 3 min read · -- I know what you’re thinking. Einstein’s brain? Really? This can’t possibly be a thing worth writing about unless you’re a conspiracy theorist, a mad scientist, or someone who just crushed three Red Bulls at 2 a.m. while Googling “weird stuff that happened to famous dead people.” But here’s the twist: it’s all true. Every last unhinged detail of it.
The Waiting Was the Living: What We Miss When We Rush
Rick Brown · Follow 3 min read · -- By Rick Brown If you’re rushing through life, you might be missing it. (Not the kind of missing where you forget a meeting. It’s the kind where you forget what day it is, what you had for dinner, what color the sky was — because you were somewhere else. Even when you were right there.) I’m talking about the kind of missing where you look up from your tenth open tab and realize it’s suddenly Thursday, and you have no memory of how you got here.
Common Micro Optics Questions, Explained
Article | July 28, 2023 By Rick Brown Micro optics within the micro injection molding space requires expert engineering and experience, especially when your goal is to achieve tolerances down to the half micron. Here are common questions our resident micro optics engineer Rick Brown gets on a frequent basis. What is the highest refractive index polymer that can be micro molded?
Our current values are not Christ-like
We condemn human rights violations in other countries, yet we are doing no better. We are passing laws in the United States that are forcing on others moral values they do not subscribe to. Is it Christ-like for the religious right and our state governments to pass laws on their view of morality? It has been shown trying to pass laws enforcing morality doesn’t work. What harm is done in the process? I say first, it does not further the kingdom of God.
‘Just say no’ to repressive bills
As our school librarians and teachers pour through the books in their respective libraries, searching for “sex acts” in an effort to conform to our current governor’s wishes, I had the following thought. Life is a “sex act.” We are sexual beings, having a repressed human experience. Young people, and adolescents, need guidance, not censorship. Freedom of speech is the law.
Australia's Two Nations
In 1999, Australia conducted its largest taxpayer-funded focus group – the referendum on a republic. Voting in the referendum was compulsory with 95.1 per cent of Australians eligible to vote doing so. In contrast, the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, which had optional voting, had a 79.5 per cent participation rate. The result of the republic referendum was a decisive 54.87 per cent vote ‘No’. Every state recorded a majority for ‘No’.
125 Cartoon Tattoos For A Sweet Hit Of Nostalgia
It is safe to say that we are all deeply affected by the cartoons we used to watch as kids. It shaped our personalities, and the heroic cartoon characters were either ones that we looked up to or became our friends. And to some of us, this impact was so deep that we've found ourselves wanting to immortalize our childhood heroes in a way that's dearest to us.
Letter: Herrera Beutler votes wrong way
So, within the past couple weeks, U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler has voted against a woman’s right to choose to end her pregnancy, against marriage equality and against women’s access to contraception. Don’t believe me? Check her voting record on these issues. Can someone explain why anybody in her district would want her to continue to represent us in Congress?
Philipp: A
In a somewhat unexpected judgment1 that widens the scope of the duty of care banks owe to their customers, the English Court of Appeal has held that the duty of care established What happened?
Letter: Address squalor in the region
By Rick Brown, Brush Prairie Published: June 9, 2021, 6:00am I recently completed a 6,200-mile coast-to-coast road trip and as I was exiting Interstate 84 onto Interstate 205 north to cross the Glenn Jackson Bridge, I was shocked and angered over the amount of garbage, litter and filth that lined the highway. My journey took me through many large and medium-sized cities, and never once did I see the amount of road litter that I saw on I-205 and Fourth Plain Boulevard.
Letter: A Long list of reasons
By Rick Brown, Brush Prairie Published: September 4, 2020, 6:00am We have an uncontrolled pandemic, an economy in recession, compromised postal services aimed at suppressing mail-in ballots, and a new Senate intelligence report detailing the Trump campaign’s self-serving collusion with the Russians — and Jaime Herrera Beutler sends out a notice this week about sea lion removal to save the salmon. Seriously?
How 2004 foretold 2019
By Rick Brown - posted Friday, 14 June 2019 Sign Up for free e-mail updates! As the major parties and commentators seek explanations for the latest federal election results, they should re-visit the lessons of the 2004 federal election.
RICK BROWN: Drop your net so you can learn from Jesus
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 8:00 am CDT, Tuesday, May 14, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Pat Cheatham had the most unique job in San Angelo. For a quiet, unassuming man, he could quickly become the focus of attention when someone asked him what he did for a living. “I’m a blacksmith,” he would say. There weren’t too many of those around.
RICK BROWN: How you can make a home wherever you are
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 8:00 am CDT, Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Where was home to you? I don’t mean your house. I mean your home. A place where you felt safe, secure. A place where life was comfortable. You remember growing up without many worries. Parents handled things back then.
RICK BROWN: Find the father’s embrace you’ve longed for
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 9:00 am CDT, Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Often, our view of God comes from the way we have related to our fathers here on earth. In 1980, I was part of a group of college students who descended on Miami for a summer of training in how to minister in the large cities of America. The church was located in Little Havana.
RICK BROWN: Find the father’s embrace you’ve longed for
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 9:00 am CDT, Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Often, our view of God comes from the way we have related to our fathers here on earth. In 1980, I was part of a group of college students who descended on Miami for a summer of training in how to minister in the large cities of America. The church was located in Little Havana.
RICK BROWN: When you need a new view of God
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 9:00 am CDT, Tuesday, April 23, 2019 One day, a college-age girl brought home for the first time her fiancée to meet her parents. He was a seminary student training to go into the ministry. The girl’s father decided he needed to interrogate his future son-in-law. He wanted to know what kind of man his daughter wanted to marry. So he began the questioning.
RICK BROWN: Find a mentor to live the extreme life
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 9:00 am CDT, Tuesday, April 9, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy If you want to live the extreme life, you will need a mentor. You’ll need someone who is also living life differently than everyone around you. John the Baptist points us to the most extreme life mentor. John points us to Jesus. He is wise. He is powerful.
RICK BROWN: Begin with end in mind; then begin to live
By Rick Brown, Religion columnist Published 8:00 am CST, Tuesday, February 12, 2019 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Photo: Courtesy Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Rick Brown Rick Brown Photo: Courtesy Every church needs a funeral director. When I was a teenager, we helped a small church in a small Texas town conduct a summer Vacation Bible School. One of the members of the church was a funeral director. He told us he was the last person who would ever let you down.
RICK BROWN: A prayer walk will help to ease your stress
RICK BROWN: A prayer walk will help to ease your stress In the summer of 1980 I participated in an internship in Miami, Florida. Just committing to travel to Miami and spend three months there took this West Texas novice out of his comfort zone. I suddenly found myself in the heart of Little Havana. It was my first experience feeling like a minority. I felt that way, too, when it came to prayer and sharing my faith. Prayer was a struggle for me at 20 years old and still can be.
Church is hard work, not a private jet
We don’t like inconvenience, do we? Let’s face it–if you had a choice of an easy path or a rocky one, which would you take? Many would choose the path of least resistance. Steady climb to the top in your work. Little if any conflicts along the way. It would be nice to arrange our lives in a way that our surroundings make our life more comfortable, not hard. Likewise, wouldn’t it be great if being a part of a church required little effort, like flying the friendly skies? Some people seem to think so.
Puzzle Pieces Bring Transportation Team Together
Leading a school transportation department requires a combination of many factors. When it comes to retaining school bus drivers and other staff, one of the key pieces is fostering a cohesive work environment.Becky Reier leads a staff of 30 personnel who help transport the 5,500 students of Kearney (Neb.) Public Schools.
RICK BROWN: Sticky teaching changes our behavior
I learned to drive a stick shift in a Pinto. A Ford Pinto. It was a two-toned car—yes, like the horse—that was the coolest car my parents owned. They did not own cool cars. But I knew it would be good to know how to drive a stick shift just in case I was ever in an emergency and it was the only kind of car around and I could jump in it and be the hero that could drive someone to the hospital or away from danger because our lives depended on it.
This Idaho husband, father and grandfather deserves the same cancer treatment as anyone else
When it comes to my family, I’m truly blessed. Five great kids, 10 amazing grandchildren, a wonderful wife and life in Boise. Then, last fall, I discovered I had colon cancer. I followed the doctor’s orders and used the health insurance available to me through the Affordable Care Act to pay for treatments until I was prescribed an oral chemotherapy treatment. Our insurer at the time revealed it didn’t consider “all cancer treatments” the same.
RICK BROWN: A perfect formula to become a better parent
RICK BROWN: A perfect formula to become a better parent Jelena Fu teaches all ages, but her work with children led her to looking for a formula that might help parents raise better kids. She paid attention to children and their parents. But it was when she asked her own daughter what she and her friends thought they needed most from their parents that she found her formula. She shares it in her TEDx Talk. You'd probably like to know the formula she discovered, wouldn't you?
Week of Valor: Louisville leaders share how military service shaped them
In this last installment in a series on veterans in the Louisville, we turn not to recent entries into the community but rather to those veterans who have transitioned from military duty to a different successful role in the city. Throughout the years, many veterans served when called to duty through the draft – others volunteered. At the end of the tour of duty, many resumed their former life or built a new one. These veterans quietly made that transition years ago.
RICK BROWN: Don't underestimate the power of a story
Most people love stories. But not all do. One time a number of years ago I had finished preaching when a lady came marching towards me. (It's never good when a lady comes marching towards you.) The sermon was based in a gospel account, a story of Jesus. She said, "You tell too many stories." I said, "I take it you don't like stories?" "No," she said. "You need to teach more Bible." "Do you think I should teach more like Jesus, then?" I cast the line and she took the bait. "Yes.
Not in the big city? Your pilot may have less training thanks to Sen. Thune
I’m a fourth-generation pilot. My great-grandfather flew out of the Atlanta airport when its runway was simply dirt. My grandfather flew for the U.S. Navy and later enjoyed a 38-year career with Delta Air Lines. My father flies for American Airlines. And I’ve wanted to follow in their footsteps since I was 15. But it wasn’t until 12 years later that I started flying with a major airline because first I had to obtain a series of critical certifications.
RICK BROWN: What to do when you find yourself waiting
RICK BROWN: What to do when you find yourself waiting It's the four-letter word we most dread to hear. Speak it in a group of high-powered deal makers about to sign on the dotted line and watch their jaws drop. Whisper it in a fast food lane and watch old ladies react in horror. Yell it out to your kids on Christmas morning as they are about to rip into the wrapped packages and see them turn and look at you with disgust.
RICK BROWN: Let go of the hurt to take hold of new hope
RICK BROWN: Let go of the hurt to take hold of new hope The year was 1820. Ten-year-old Phineas was up before the sun. This was the day his father was taking him to the island. His island. On the day he was born, his grandfather presented Phineas with a deed to a portion of Connecticut land called Ivy Island. This day he was to see it for the first time. They climbed into the buggy with a hired-hand. Phineas could barely sit still. At the top of each hill he'd ask, "Are we there yet?
New Injustice 2 Trailer: Brainiac Makes His Entrance | Brutal Gamer
In what seems like a daily barrage of trailers, Injustice 2 is revealing its main antagonist with the arrival of Brainiac. The world-destroying alien is arriving on earth and it seems as though no one can stop him. The world of Injustice is quite different than other worlds. Superman is in prison and the world’s heroes are not as organized as they once were. Aside from Gorilla Grodd organizing a group of villains, the arrival of Brainiac certainly does a good job of shattering alliances.
NBA Development League To Change Name To Gatorade League
And so it begins. American sports will enter the slippery slope of sponsoring the names of their leagues on Tuesday. The NBA plans to announce that its Development League, the “D-League”, will be renamed the Gatorade League and will thus be referred to as the “G-League”. This marks the first time in a U.S. professional sports league has named an entitlement partner.
LOOK – RHP Colby Lewis says goodbye to the Texas Rangers
Right-handed starter Colby Lewis is still a free agent, but he took the time Tuesday to officially say goodbye to his former organization, the Texas Rangers. “Saying goodbye after all this time seems like an impossible task. I’m filled with so many emotions. Texas has turned into out second home and the people we have met over our 10 seasons here have turned from friends to family,” Lewis wrote in a statement. “Just saying ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem adequate, but thank you.
Knee Deep: Solve Mysteries In This Swamp-Noir Thriller | Brutal Gamer
An unlikely cast must work together to solve a gruesome murder in Cypress Knee. From Wales Intereractive comes, Knee Deep, the swamp-noir thriller. This episodic, story-driven narrative, follows the events of a grisly murder and the mystery that unravels in the backwoods of Florida. Along the back roads is an abandoned attraction on Florida’s Interstate 95. When the body of washed-up actor, Tag Kern, is found, the mystery surrounding this murder starts to unfold.
Here's a gift to really get excited about
Here's a gift to really get excited about What is it that gets you excited about Christmas? Young children opening presents? Giving presents? Getting presents? (It's OK to admit it.) The family reunion at grandma's house? The travel? It didn't take much to get me excited when I was a kid. I was a child of the '60s when the TV show Batman came on. I lived for comic books: Superman, Batman, Spiderman.
RICK BROWN: Church potluck a reminder of fellowship
The "All Church Fellowship" was the one announcement at church I looked forward to when I was a young single guy. The invitation typically went something like this: "Come enjoy a potluck lunch. Please bring an item to share. It will be a great time of food and fellowship. You won't want to miss it!" I really did not want to miss the food part. When you are lacking in culinary skills, these words are like music to your ears.
RICK BROWN: When mission becomes a four-letter word
I haven't seen too many people lining up to be judged, have you? But I have seen them line up to be loved. Greg and Sarah had never been a part of church life. They had not been Christians. They were a nice young couple with their first child. We had invited some neighbors of ours to a small group we were a part of. They were inactive Christians, but wanted to join our group. Alan and Keri started becoming more active in their faith because of our group and started deepening their faith.
Bucs encouraged by rushing performance against Panthers - Appeal-Democrat: National
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Even with a strong-armed quarterback in Jameis Winston and impressive young receiver in Mike Evans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers know they need a consistent running attack. With two-time Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin sidelined with a hamstring injury the past month, the Bucs were unable to establish much of one until Monday night, when Jacquizz Rodgers made his first start of the season in a 17-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Bucs encouraged by rushing performance against Panthers - The Daily Times: Sports
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Even with a strong-armed quarterback in Jameis Winston and impressive young receiver in Mike Evans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers know they need a consistent running attack. With two-time Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin sidelined with a hamstring injury the past month, the Bucs were unable to establish much of one until Monday night, when Jacquizz Rodgers made his first start of the season in a 17-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Bucs encouraged by rushing performance against Panthers - Fredericksburg.com: National Sports
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Even with a strong-armed quarterback in Jameis Winston and impressive young receiver in Mike Evans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers know they need a consistent running attack. With two-time Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin sidelined with a hamstring injury the past month, the Bucs were unable to establish much of one until Monday night, when Jacquizz Rodgers made his first start of the season in a 17-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
RICK BROWN: When you need help ask for it - Your Houston News: Living: rick brown, religion, from here to home,
I had been building up my strength on the decline and was pretty proud of the progress. I was now adding weights to the bar and so I put the 2 ½ lb. plates on each end and got ready to lift. Now, one rule of lifting is you shouldn’t lift alone. You need a spotter. I figured I could handle this by myself and, if I had a problem, could grunt loud enough for the other guy to come over and lend me a hand. At the time I did not realize it but I had made the grave mistake of already doing some arm work.
RICK BROWN: When people need help, they should ask for it - Your Houston News: Living: rick brown, religion, from here to home,
I had been building up my strength on the decline and was pretty proud of the progress. I was now adding weights to the bar and so I put the 2 ½ lb. plates on each end and got ready to lift. Now, one rule of lifting is you shouldn’t lift alone. You need a spotter. I figured I could handle this by myself and, if I had a problem, could grunt loud enough for the other guy to come over and lend me a hand. At the time I did not realize it but I had made the grave mistake of already doing some arm work.
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