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0.996908 | 1. What are some of the forms that energy can take?
2. What happens when energy is converted from one form to another?
When we convert energy to a different form, the total amount of energy before and after is the same.
3. How can an object or system gain or lose energy?
Objects gain or lose energy by transferring energy to or from other objects or systems.
4. How can energy be stored and then released at a later time?
Energy can be stored by converting it into some form of potential energy, and released by a small amount of additional energy. | 2019-04-20T02:56:12 | http://www.learner.org/workshops/energy/workshop3/ |
0.964853 | We are declared "not guilty" because of Christ. It's in the Bible, Romans 3:21-22, TLB. "But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by ‘being good enough' and trying to keep His laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says He will accept and acquit us—declare us ‘not guilty'—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like."
Christ can relieve our guilty conscience. It's in the Bible, I John 3:19-20, NIV. "This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."
What should I remember if I am feeling guilty? It's in the Bible, Romans 8:31-39, TLB. "What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won't He also surely give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? Will God? No! He is the one who has forgiven us and given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? No! For He is the one who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven.
Believe that God has indeed forgiven you and quit feeling guilty. It's in the Bible, Psalm 32:1-6, TLB. "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record. There was a time when I wouldn't admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. All day and all night Your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, ‘I will confess them to the Lord.' And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Now I say that each believer should confess his sins to God when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment will not touch him if he does. You are my hiding place from every storm of life; You even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory."
Stay up-to-date on what’s new at Bibleinfo.com. You will receive emails about new articles, features and freebies just for you. | 2019-04-24T05:10:13 | https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/guilt |
0.99993 | Pre-game at the United Center--it's a carnival atmosphere as upbeat fans anticipate watching their beloved Chicago Bulls.
For the players, it's a time of somber preparation before their jobs begin. And for many, that means attending chapel services led by Rev. Henry Soles, a longtime resident of Wheaton.
"It's like going to church every day before going to work," said Soles, the senior chaplain for the Bulls.
Near the locker rooms, a small room is labeled "Chapel." There the Bulls and visiting players can gather to pray, listen to a Christian message and reflect on their lives away from the court. Staff and media are welcome to attend, as long as they respect the players' privacy.
On this particular evening, chapel visitors from the Milwaukee Bucks far outnumber the Bulls. The small circle of folding chairs overflows with long limbs and oversized athletic shoes. A player gives an opening prayer. Then Soles' message centers on Psalm 139, with Verse 2 offering a perfect synopsis of basketball: "Thou knowest all, whether I sit down or rise up."
During a discussion of the players' personal faith, a theme emerges: How they leaned on God while in the Continental Basketball Association, the minor leagues of the sport.
"I see the players as human beings; I don't put them on a pedestal," Soles said. "They're just ordinary people who happen to have extraordinary talents."
Soles will counsel the players about problems they might have, and the list is long. They must cope with sudden fame or the lack of it, separation from close family, or relatives who never cared for them before their fame.
The changing fortunes of athletes and fickle fans generate other discussions. Soles cites the example of Jesus during Holy Week, when he was cheered by followers on Palm Sunday but jeered at a few days later.
He reminds athletes that "sports is a slice of life, not the whole of life."
"I like to talk with them about how important it is to round out their lives," Soles said. "What they will do beyond professional sports. Some of them don't know any other life."
Soles can talk from experience about how to round out one's life. His chaplain position with the Bulls is strictly volunteer and represents just one ministry within his packed schedule. Soles' contact with professional athletes hasn't diminished his drive to reach out to people less fortunate.
"I deal with the down-and-out and the up-and-in, the full spectrum," he said.
One of his passions is volunteering at Serenity House, an Addison treatment facility for adults recovering from alcoholism and substance abuse. His participation over the last 10 years and a recent board position earned him the organization's Man of the Year honors for 1996.
"Henry Soles is our spiritual anchor, and 12-step treatment programs are based on spirituality," said Henry Tewes, founder and director of Serenity House. "And he lives his spiritual connection. He's a kind and gentle man."
Tewes and Soles go back to the mid-1980s, when both were involved in DuPage County housing organizations. Soles was instrumental in founding Community Housing Association of DuPage (CHAD), which manages 100 units of housing for low-income residents. He continues to serve on the CHAD board and is also a past chairman of the DuPage County Housing Authority.
"Henry realized long ago that there was a need for housing in DuPage County, and he initiated actions to address the problems," said John Day, executive director of the Housing Authority. "He brings compassion to his work. And we also think that he doesn't sleep."
It's easy to reach that conclusion after reading his resume. He's vice president of Gospel Outreach, a ministry to youth in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago. He serves on the board of the DuPage Prevention Partnership and Koinonia House, a residence in Wheaton for ex-offenders returning to society. In past years, he has been involved with the Wheaton-Carol Stream United Way and the Boy Scouts of America, DuPage Council. One thing his resume doesn't reveal is his age, and he's not telling.
As a free-lance writer, Soles compiled the "Soul Food New Testament" and the "Children of Color Bible," interpretations of the Scriptures designed to appeal to African-Americans and other people of color. He has made appearances on WMAQ-TV and WFLD-TV as an inspirational speaker. He works as a corporate consultant for the Chicago-based Owens Group, an insurance and risk management services company.
"Consulting gives me the freedom to do other activities and to be a minister," he said.
He and his wife, Effie, serve as ordained ministers at the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Lisle, which draws 800 members from around DuPage County. Together, they operate a personal ministry organization called Circle of Love for spiritual counseling in private homes and other settings.
It was Soles' writing ability and ministerial talents that brought the couple to Wheaton 28 years ago from New Jersey. He was employed there as a journalist, and both were practicing ministers.
"I was recruited by Scripture Press to produce materials for African-American churches," he explained. Soles later went to work for Urban Ministries Inc., a major publisher of church materials based in Calumet City. That's when he came into contact with sports ministry.
"I was approached by a gentleman who was starting a branch of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes," Soles continued. "He was going to do a chapel service for the Chicago Bears and wanted me to participate."
That was 24 years ago, and Soles' ministry to athletes has flourished ever since. While conducting chapel for the Bears, he was asked to share his talents with the Chicago White Sox. He continued with both teams for a while and then focused solely on the Sox.
Effie Soles remembers those spring training trips to Florida.
"It was a hard time for the players--to be separated from their families," she said. "They didn't know if they'd make the team. If they were cut, it meant going back to Triple A. It was stressful, and they'd need a lot of prayers."
In 1979, Henry Soles suggested to Dwight Jones, then a Bulls player, that he'd be willing to conduct chapel services before games. "We learned through a survey that the players were open to the idea," he said. "At that time, there were very few chaplains in the NBA." Chapel services have become common in recent years, he added.
Pre-game gatherings can attract 40 to 50 percent of both rosters, depending on the night. About one hour before the game, the assistant chaplain, Rev. Scott Bradley of Maywood, heads to the locker rooms to round up interested participants.
"For visiting teams, I usually contact a chaplain liaison ahead of time to let them know the time and place," Bradley said.
Chucky Brown, playing in his first season with the Milwaukee Bucks, arrives early for chapel on this night. "I attend regularly to hear the Word," he says."I don't know everything, and I want to hear from someone who does. And it helps you deal with things that particular day."
Michael Jordan has attended in the past and has prayed that players be spared from serious injury. "He comes from a strong family, and he says that going to church was non-negotiable," Soles said. "His mother instilled strong spiritual principles in her children, and his late father used to talk with affection about his boyhood church."
When the subject of Bulls player Dennis Rodman comes up, it's apparent that Soles feels he should keep an eye on a stray sheep.
"I've reached out to him and given him a New Testament," he said. "He listens, and he's a very smart young man. But growing up, he was very shy and he was in the shadow of an older sister who was a very good athlete. He just wants acceptance and attention. I tell people to pray for him. That's what he needs."
During chapel, the spoken prayers run the gamut, Soles said, most often requesting that players do their best, show sportsmanship and commitment. But they never ask for the Bulls to win.
Bulls management believes that chapel is a valuable service to players, said Tom Smithburg, a spokesman for the Bulls. "It's a great thing for the players to have a spiritual place for privacy and personal reflection," he said. "It helps them get away from the craziness before the game."
The two chaplains make sure that services don't exceed the allotted 20 minutes, which means their sermons get to the point quickly.
"We try to stay out of trouble with management," Bradley said. "It's never been a problem because we don't create a problem."
Chapel service comes to a close with everyone holding hands for a prayer--the opposing players, chaplains, media people. The room is hushed as Bradley finishes with an "Amen." The players exit to a noisy hallway to begin their warmups, their heartfelt words left behind.
"It takes time to build trust with the athletes," Soles said of his ministry. "And I never forget my role as a servant. Jesus said if you want to be great, you have to be a servant." | 2019-04-23T03:07:45 | https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-03-23-9703230289-story.html |
0.999999 | How can I have the form calculate how much someone owes when purchasing "tickets" to an event?
I am working on building a registration form for an upcoming event.
We have two ticket types: adults ($20) and children ($10).
Is there a way, based on how many adults and children they enter in a table, that a widget can calculate the final cost?
I haven't started the form yet, so I don't have a link to provide. I am just wondering if this is possible.
You can create both products there and choose the quantity available, the payment integration will calculate the total price automatically. | 2019-04-24T23:53:56 | https://www.jotform.com/answers/1376211-How-can-I-have-the-form-calculate-how-much-someone-owes-when-purchasing-tickets-to-an-event |
0.99998 | Are more gamers going digital these days?
Over the past week, the UK's physical game sales have been dominated by two titles; the Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Pokemon: Let's Go, easily surpassing recent releases like Fallout 76 and Hitman 2.
For context, the Spyro Reignited Trilogy debuted in number one position at UK retailers, even though the physical version of the game requires a full game download, while Pokemon Let Go Pikachu sits on the number 4 spot and Let's Go Eevee sits at Number six. If the sales of both Let's Go Pokemon games are combined, they surpass Spyro to take the number 1 position. Red Dead Redemption 2 is the UK's second best selling game for the week ending on November 17th.
Another factor to note is that some retailers were not supplied enough copies of Pokemon: Let's Go to satisfy launch day demand, with some retailers receiving their stock later than expected, hampering Pokemon: Let's Go's potential physical sales in the region.
Fallout 76 debuted at with the number three spot in the UK in terms of physical sales, with physical sales being down 82.4% when compared to Fallout 4, according to gamesindustry.biz. IO Interactive's Hitman 2 also launched with weak physical sales, taking the number 10 spot in terms of sales. Physical Sales for Hitman 2 are down 90% when compared to 2012's Hitman Absolution. Hitman (2016) was an episodic release and is therefore not comparable to Hitman 2 when it comes to physical sales.
At this time the digital sales of both games are unknown, though such a decline in physical sales is not a good sign for either game. Digital sales likely make up a higher proportion of sales when compared to prior series entries, though they are unlikely to have increased enough to cover this shortfall of physical sales.
In the case of Hitman 2, games like FIFA 19, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Fortnite's physical "Deep Freeze Bundle" release have all outperformed the game at physical retailers, none of which are new releases. Early Black Friday gaming deals and strong Switch sales in response to Pokemon: Let's Go's release is likely responsible for this influx in sales of some older titles.
Over the past week, over 850,000 physical/boxed games were sold in the UK, generating a total of £34.6 million in sales.
You can join the discussion on Hitman 2 and Fallout 76 experiencing weak physical sales at launch on the OC3D Forums.
lets not forget that these 2 games are essentially the same game as previously released but on new maps, Oh and half baked multiplayer added to FO.
I wouldn't know what this means, but I have noticed interest in Fallout and Hitman dying down over the last year or so. A lot of people were very unhappy with Fallout 4, and Hitman is arguably on its last legs. I thought they were even going to stop making them after Absolution came out.
I'm done with the franchise. | 2019-04-21T18:54:51 | https://www.overclock3d.net/news/software/hitman_2_and_fallout_76_experience_weak_physical_launch_sales/1 |
0.999999 | Taylor Swift performs on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles.
The first time I heard Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" was in a Las Vegas hotel room shortly after she premiered the song and music video during a Yahoo live stream on Aug. 18.
This marked the beginning of the 24-year-old's risky jump from country pop artist to no-country-strings-attached pop star.
In one fell swoop of her golden locks, Swift unleashed a catchy middle-finger anthem to critics, announced a new pop-only album (1989) and initiated a career-defining moment.
So far this year, no 2014 albums have gone platinum, the Recording Industry Association of America's million-copies-sold certification, so Swift's genre-hopping moment is one that fans, critics and everyone in the music industry are watching closely. Can she break the dismal album sales trend in the age of streaming, downloads and YouTube?
Two months ago back in Vegas, the speakers inside Planet Hollywood were constantly blaring "Shake It Off" on pop radio, and at the time, I declared, "The takeover begins."
That takeover has since been smartly executed online, on radio and on TV. Here are the highlights of the Taylor tour between Aug. 18 and her Oct. 27 album launch.
The live stream was the culmination of several social media clues that hinted at this online music stunt. An Instagram post from Aug. 4 showed Swift pushing the "18" button in an elevator. An Aug. 6 Twitter photo highlighted "5:00." And an Aug. 7 screenshot displayed the Yahoo homepage. Combined, they told fans to go to Yahoo on Aug. 18 at 5 p.m.
Standing atop New York City's Empire State Building, wind messing up her often-tamely styled hair, Swift began her worldwide live stream in the city she's called home since leaving Los Angeles in March. Once inside, she revealed three surprises.
No. 1 and No. 3 were the premiere of the "Shake It Off" audio and its music video. Swift, who roped in "I Knew You Were Trouble" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" collaborators Max Martin and Shellback to produce the track, described the sound of "Shake It Off" as something none of them had ever created before.
Surprise No. 2 was Swift unveiling her fifth album's title, cover, release date and sound.
"I like to work on albums for two years because I feel like two years gives you enough time to grow and to change and to change your priorities, change where you live, change your hair, change what you believe in, change who you hang out with, what's influencing you, what's inspiring you," Swift said. "And in the process of all of those changes that have happened in the last two years, my music changed."
Swift, who was born Dec. 13, 1989, then called the 1989 album her "rebirth," a fitting description since she also said the album is her "first documented, official pop album."
"I was listening to a lot of late '80s pop because I loved the chances they were taking, I loved how bold it was, I loved how ahead of its time it was," she added. "It was a time of limitless potential and the idea that you could do what you want, be who you want, wear what you want and love what you want and decide where your life was going."
The album immediately became available for preorder. On iTunes, she surprised her fans again with an exclusive video featuring baby Swift, just days after her birth, as well as her parents, Scott and Andrea, bringing her home for the first time in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It's 11:12 p.m. ET on Oct. 26 — 48 minutes before the album is scheduled to arrive on iTunes. The next minute, Swift sends patiently waiting fans into digital hyperventilation with a surprise message to her 70.5 million Facebook followers and 45.8 million Twitter followers: "IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT THIS IS NOT A DRILL GO GO GO #TS1989."
Then, just like that, Swift sparked her rabid legion of fans — dubbed "Swifties" — to build even more buzz for 1989. On Twitter, #Buy1989OniTunes, #TS1989 and individual song titles from the album quickly became worldwide trending topics.
Fans have been part of the hype machine every step of the way, even before the "Shake It Off" video debuted in August. Swift brought dozens of them to Los Angeles in June to be participate in the music video's shoot. The fan sequence served as the video's climactic dance-like-no-one's-watching ending (see 1:02 in the backstage video, below).
That wasn't the only time fans had to stay hush-hush. Swift also organized "1989 Secret Sessions," intimate meet-and-greets in London, New York City, Nashville, Rhode Island and London for 445 fans (89 in each location). Swift privately played the album for them by plugging in her phone, where she kept the songs closely guarded, into a sound system.
She baked cookies for them. They hugged. They danced. They laughed. They cried.
To hold fans over until Oct. 27, Swift embarked on an artsy lyric campaign in mid-October, during which she posted a lyric every day from each of the album's 13 tracks in an image she posted online.
For the next 13 days leading up to 1989, I'll be posting one lyric from each of the 13 tracks each day.
The teases made us wonder who the lyrics were about — ex-lovers, rivals or friends?
The #1989lyrics promotional strategy attracted millions of likes, shares and comments on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Swift has performed "Shake It Off" on many stages, including on the MTV Video Music Awards, X Factor, iHeartRadio Music Festival and, most recently, on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
At Kimmel, she closed down Hollywood Boulevard and also gave her first live performance of "Out of The Woods," which she co-wrote with Jack Antonoff from the band Fun.
The Kimmel appearance last week is just the start of Swift's TV blitz. After Monday's Good Morning America interview, Swift will make the rounds on the Late Show With David Letterman on Tuesday, The View on Wednesday and then return to GMA for a performance on Thursday. Count on Swift making some unscheduled surprises, too.
Here's the tv schedule for this week! Not on here, but also important: gonna be on MTV all day in between shows talking about 1989 with Jack Antonoff, and later this evening, there's a huge radio takeover called The I Heart Radio Ultimate Secret Session that you can watch online and listen to on the radio.
Only a few music critics secured advanced copies of 1989, and they unleashed their reviews in tandem last week. Kimmel read some of their glowing remarks to her face.
"Driven by synths and drums in lieu of guitars, all trace of country abandoned, 1989 holds together sonically as a tribute to the electro-pop that dominated radio 25 years ago," wrote Time's Sam Lansky. "Thematically, too, Swift breaks with the past, skirting victimhood and takedowns of maddening exes, critics and romantic competitors. Instead, there’s a newfound levity. Not only is Swift in on the joke; she also relishes it."
"The guitars, when they're there at all, deliver mostly texture; an acoustic is audible on just one song. The mandolins and violins were left back in Nashville, and there might not be a single live drum on the album," wrote Billboard's Jem Aswad. "The songwriting is still unmistakably Swift, with her polysyllabic melodies and playful/-provocative lyrics."
"1989 sets the record for fewest adjectives (and lowest romantic body count) on a Swift album," wrote Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield. "This is still an artist who likes to let it rip. Deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic, 1989 sounds exactly like Taylor Swift, even when it sounds like nothing she's ever tried before."
Though 1986 isn't perfect, its promotional blitz alone can serve as roadmap to future artists wanting to jump over the pop hurdle and even to current stars. One notable stumble is "Welcome to New York," which earlier this month was ridiculed for sounding too much like a Robyn song and for its cheerful exuberance, a sentiment not shared by all New Yorkers, considering Swift has only been in the Big Apple for half a year.
Swift already demonstrated her pop prowess with Red, her 2012 country-pop effort that at the time was only the 18th album ever to earn platinum status within a week.
What 1989 represents to Swift's young career is her staying power in the pop realm, a strategic departure from the girl we met on her innocent 2006 self-titled debut.
Overall, just like she sings in "I Know Places," Swift is now the fox — a clever fox, and other pop stars are the hunters ready to chase down her success. Catch her if you can. | 2019-04-22T16:51:04 | https://mashable.com/2014/10/27/taylor-swift-1989-pop-album-release-reviews/ |
0.999988 | The plan needs to be based upon where the organization ought to be at a certain point after on.
The plan ought to be all centered upon where the company ought to be in some time later on.
The plan needs to be all centered on where your company ought to be in any point later on. | 2019-04-20T16:14:09 | http://marlboroughvisitorsguide.com/page/57/ |
0.999997 | Article: Does Google have a sandbox?
Unless youre new to the SEO world, youve probably heard people talking about the dreaded Google Sandbox causing their site to get poor rankings. Some people go so far as to say all new sites must wait 6 months before being removed from Googles sandbox, while others adamantly deny the existence of any type of sandbox.
So is there a Google sandbox?
Officially: Yes. But thats only because Google employees have affectionately titled the beach volleyball court at the Googleplex the sandbox after the mass SEO paranoia.
There is no real Google sandbox. New sites arent penalized. In fact, in some cases, new sites are actually rewarded (MSN does this most notably).
Ok, so why is my new site doing so poorly in search? Well, there are a couple of factors you need to look at.
1.)How many other sites link to you?
2.)How good is your content? Is it fresh, deep and related to the topic?
3.)How is your site hosted?
Before we get to what these factors have to do with the Sandbox Effect, lets take a look at how new sites are most likely handled by Google.
When Google first stumbles upon a site, it doesnt know anything about it. All it has to go on is its content (which it quickly indexes). Sadly, thanks to shady SEO firms and search engine spammers content isnt enough to make a ranking decision. It may look great to the search engine, but how does Google know if its of any value to users?
A great example is the site located at www.gstones.com. While at first glance it looks to be a jewelry company, closer inspection reveals that all the links are just search results. Sure its full of content and looks great to the Google spider, but its not really useful to a person. There is no added benefit in using this site versus searching Google for jewelry.
Ok, this takes care of 2 , on to 1. How does Google tell if your site is useful to a person?
Simple, they wait. After Google finds a new site, they then look at what sites start linking to it, and how quickly inlinks start popping up. If 100 offtopic links pop shortly after a site launches, Google starts to get suspicious. On the other hand, as reputable sites start linking to you, you start building rapport with Google. As links slowly get added, your relationship with Google starts to grow. Think of it like dating: It takes time (a few dates, and a sufficient amount of money) to build the trust required for a loving relationship (and a lot more money as that trusting relationship grows into marriage).
You mean SEO takes time? I wont see results over night? Now youre getting it Ten points for Gryffindor.
Alright fine Ill wait, but what does hosting have to do with this?
What about hosting? Do you have a static IP? Are you hosting it from your house? Who had your IP before you? What did they do with it? Was it blacklisted as a spam site in the past? If so, it may take a lot longer for the search engines to realize it has a different site on it now.
A dedicated server with a dedicated IP costs money; a lot more money than the 7 / month shared hosting plans many companies offer. Which one is a search engine spammer more likely to purchase? Having your own IP is a really good way to establish rapport with the search engines (and it offers more flexibility for your developers too).
A dedicated server is also a good way to prevent changing hosting companies. Remember, even though your domain name is the same, switching hosting companies may you back in the so called Google sandbox. If youre thinking of switching to another shared host, you may want to start practicing your serve.
So is there a sandbox? Yes, but if youre a legitimate business with a legitimate website, the only thing that should worry you about the Google Sandbox is whether or not you can still fit into that old bathing suit.
The exact details of Googles ranking algorithm are a closely guarded secret. | 2019-04-25T12:19:56 | http://www.uploadx.com/articles/dedicated-hosting/Does_Google_have_a_sandbox.html |
0.998736 | The Skunk Ape : Mystery Creature or Myth?
There are several witnesses and an assortment of researchers that claim this creature is, in fact, quite real. This type of ape is also referred to as the "Swamp Ape" and many call it a "Stink Ape". This mystery creature is believed to roam the lands that are native to the Southeast portion of the United States of America. There have been eyewitness accounts in the States of Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and even in the Carolinas. The most common sightings of this ape like creature seem to occur in the Everglades located in the State of Florida.
The name of this mystery creature was established due to the fact that it has a very disheveled appearance a foul odor that is associated with it. The national based park service of the United States claims that the legend of the Skunk Ape is strictly a myth, however there are many people who claim to have witnessed this that believe that the creature does exist. Initial reports started pouring in about witness accounts of the creature as early as the 1960s, but even to this day, individuals still claim that they have heard, seen, or smelled the ape like creature.
A man by the name of Dave Shealy has devoted a tremendous portion of his life learning as much as possible about the Skunk Ape - particularly the ones that are rumored to be native to Florida. This man wishes to bring forth evidence that the creature does exist and educate the general public on the mystery creature. He has a website located at: www.skunkape.info. He has appeared on television shows on the Discovery Channel, TLC, Travel Channel, and several others. He has been seen on "Unsolved Mysteries", "The Pulse" and several other shows. He works in the area of Florida known as "Big Cypress Swamp" and actively searches for the mysterious creature.
This type of creature is believed to be relatively large and completely covered in hair. It is identified as a "Bipedal Mammal". The full grown males are believed to average in at about seven feet in height and 450 pounds. The animal is believed to be closely related to the famous "Big Foot". As a matter of fact, many refer it as the "Florida Bigfoot". In Putnam County, Florida there is a city called "Bardin". Many individuals have said that they have witnessed a Skunk Ape that is locally called the "Bardin Booger". Many that have witnessed this type of ape state that the smell it emits is compared to a foul smelling gas or eggs. While this creature has yet to be validated officially, those that have witnessed it know it is more than a myth. The Skunk Ape is considered to be one of the South’s greatest unsolved mysteries. | 2019-04-19T20:16:00 | https://www.greatest-unsolved-mysteries.com/skunk-ape.html |
0.998672 | What happens when a father chooses a rock star over his own son? Though few will ever have to compete with the likes of Johnny Cash for their papa's attention, My Father and the Man in Black serves as a cathartic parable for parents who, while ably providing for their children, are paralysed at the thought of having to converse with and emotionally engage them.
The twenty years that Jonathan Holiff knew his father, he barely saw him. On those rare instances he ordained to return home, Saul Holiff mostly communicated with his son via notes slipped under his door, written in the style of contracts agreed between himself and the musical acts he represented. As manager for country legend Johnny Cash, ensuring that the self-destructive outlaw was able to walk the line from gig to gig was a full time job that left no room for family.
The film's opening scene is a recording of one of the intermittent phones calls from the road that perhaps best encapsulates Jonathan's fatherless childhood. An empty promise of the two of them spending quality time together and playing baseball on vacation would remain eerily unfufilled after Saul committed suicide in 2005. Leaving no note and previously demanding that upon his passing there be no funeral or family gathering, Saul proved as neglectful of his son in death as he did in life.
We see many of these crushing disappointments – including the suicide – as imaginative reconstructions. As Saul pops pills, downs his last vodka and orange and ties a garbage bag over his head, footage of one of Cash's frequently cancelled concerts (often due to an incapacitating mix of amphetamines, barbiturates and alcohol) is superimposed around the perimeter of the living room. The swelling roar of disapproval from the crowd bluntly expresses the filmmaker's inchoate rage at his father's unaccounted for absence. It's a powerfully on point visual juxtaposition. Just like his star act, Saul's perpetual no-show is marked by a retreat into booze and drugs on which he had become depndent later in life. In this fashion, the visual structure of the film artfully embodies its concerns, the matte lines seperating stock footage from the modern day reconstructions, plainly commenting on Holiff's inability to reconcile past with present.
If like Holiff, you're not a fan of talking head documentries, you'll very much appreciate the film's onus on the visual and in any other year where it wasn't coming hot on the heels of The Imposter, Holiff's technique would have felt all the more striking. So soon after Bart Layton's film, simply setting the voiceover to matching stylised imagry lacks the brio of having it switch between omnipotent narration and active participation as it did in that film, not only interrupting, but also becoming becoming part of the dialogue spoken to camera and between characters.
As our following conversation attests, it would seem that for Jonathan, making the film was a remedial measure that worked wonders for his self-esteem in a way that previously becoming a talent agent like his father had not. He may never be granted the respect and acknowledgement he so coveted when Saul was alive, but examining their deeply dysfunctional relationship in the investigative format of documentary has afforded him precious peace of mind. With necessary artistic distance, Jonathan has been able to make sense of the most galling memories, rifling through them in the editing process much like he did his Saul's belongings, when years after his passing he discovered a storage room full of clues about who his father really was. Amongst the aertfacts, a daily audio diary going back many years, personal correspondences with Cash, itemised expenditures down to the last cent and a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind memorbilla from life on the road with the singer. Having unearthed this material, events that might otherwise have crippled his life forever have been somehow gilded with the harshness rubbed off. The ugly truth now accepted with incadescent understanding. You only need to listen to the voiceover to appreciate just how much Holiff has come to terms, reiterating events calmly and matter-of-fact, though it must be said, his monotone PBS quality fails to infuse requisite excitement in the rock n' roll antics he's describing or convey the conflicting emotions of life-altering discoveries.
Not there to tell his side, it's down to Jonathan to atone for his father's sins. Rather than malign the man found wanting in parental qualifications and affection, the film stands very much as a monument to the manager who put all his resources, know-how and finances into Johnny Cash's career, buoying his public persona through the scandal of a National Forest fire in Los Padres, California which desiccated several hundred acres and an arrest for drug-smuggling (hardships conspicusiously absent from James Mangold's Walk the Line, much like the character of Saul himself). When promotors grew wary of repeat behaviour that violated agreements and the headliner's penchant for not showing up at the venue, Saul was the man who pursuaded them otherwise. It was Saul who introduced Johnny to June Carter after he put her in his band to broaden his artistic appeal and who then re-defined Johnny's image as the voice of the desperate and dispossessed, instigating the world famous concert at Folsom Prison. Not only was he the designated driver without whom Johnny wouldn't have made it to a single show, more significantly, he was the mentor through whom Johnny saw the world and started to enjoy life, during a career upturn that saw Ring of Fire burning up the charts.
The sad irony of Saul Holiff is that he had unerring business sense but not the sense to know when to quit. When he finally did in a fashion unbecoming to the business ("Managers don’t quit superstars, they get fired") it was too little too late. His priorites were all wrong and clearly, he knew it too. After so many years of negligence and emotionally impassive by nature, he was never going to admit his mistakes to the people who mattered most. Recorded confessions to the Man in Black about these regrets and the certainty that he could never re-build the relationship with Jonathan to where it ought to be are profoundly moving, even as all we're watching on screen is a slowly spinning reel of tape.
In the undulating rise and fall of a great artist, Saul Holiff was the architect of an even greater legacy, paid for in part by the family he left behind.
I'm no Cash expert, so I can't speculate on the film's anecdotal interest, but the misbegotten father-son story behind the icon guarantees you'll never hear his music the same way again.
The film is currently without UK distribution and I write this enthused review in part to encourage the likes of Soda Pictures or Dogwoof to acquire it.
My thanks to Lucy Middleton for arranging the interview and Patrick Chamberlain for filming it. | 2019-04-21T02:07:38 | http://cineoutsider.com/reviews/films/m/my_father_and_the_man_in_black.html |
0.957507 | The dominant cultural influences of our times, Christianity, Science, and Capitalism, define a range of human identity that leaves us collectively with a vision of personhood as being separate from our deeper experience of spirituality in religious terms, being an objective material observer of experience in scientific terms, and being a private engine of material acquisition in an industrially powered social economy of monetized exchange. This leads to a sense of self as irreducibly disconnected and separate from the living natural world and the subjective world of deep experience out of which religious and spiritual systems emerge. Social and political change advocacy, and eastern spiritual thought, often focuses on opposition to the sense of self as hyper individual and argue for non-individual or collective definition and experience of self as an alternative. I do not see this competition as winnable by either side of the debate and thought it would be valuable to validate the reality of both ways of relating to self and world and integrate them in a framework of philosophical precepts. In this exercise I will start with defining objects, later working back to awareness of objects, then to shared awareness and meaning in a field of interrelated objects, and finally to an exploration of the nature of human consciousness, in a way that provides a foundation for development of a way to bridge the gap between humanity and nature.
All objects, inanimate, biological and experiential, have boundaries. A boundary that defines the shape of an object separates what is within it from what is outside of it. What is a boundary that is fully permeable or fully non permeable? A boundary that is fully permeable is the border of an object that is indistinguishable because there is no space within it our outside of it. A boundary that is fully non-permeable is the surface of an object with which no exchange is possible, and no degradation of object form is possible. An object with this imaginary boundary would be both dead and immortal at the same time. Neither object boundary state is known to exist; therefore all object boundaries as we know them today are semi-permeable. If there is a class of objects whose boundaries are fully permeable or fully non permeable that is discovered in the future, we would have a new type of object boundary and object category. Discovery of either new class of objects would not change the semi-permeable nature of the objects boundaries we know in nature and conscious experiencing. Therefore we can safely assert that all object boundaries are semi-permeable. This semi-permeability principal is clearly true of all cells that comprise our bodies and every other living thing on earth. On the level of our biology each individual is part of a species and all species are part of a living whole that is a complex set of interrelated living and non-living systems. Each individual entity is distinct, yet while alive is participating with all the life around it through exchange and interaction via semi-permeable boundaries. On a biological level we can say that all individual entities are both separate and non-separate relative to their existence as part of a living set of systems. Even at the level of the smallest structures that make up our universe distinctions between objects don't imply separation in an absolute sense. In quantum mechanics the principal called the quantum mechanics of a proper open system states, "There is no such thing as an isolated system, and all systems are open systems that experience varying degrees of interaction through their shared zero-flux surfaces." The whole does not exist without its parts and the parts do not exist without the whole.
If all things are formed by selectively permeable boundaries then what are they permeable to? The broad categories that readily come to mind are material, energy, and information. The material permeability of boundaries across people is structurally determined with some range of variability. Information permeability is also structurally determined within a range of variability. The material and information available for contact with an individual things boundary provides the specific universe of material and information that an individual can come to know via boundary exchange. Looking at what is known or knowable from the perspective of object interrelations before proceeding to the question of what constitutes human knowledge may seem strange at first because this approach violates the implicit assumption that knowledge is an exclusively human topic. Knowledge, defined as contact with other objects where exchange and exclusion of exchange occur is a reasonable starting point for a field of objects based definition of knowledge. Exchange and exclusion of exchange would form the basis of knowledge, both are known via the relational selectivity of object boundary.
What do objects know of each other? Objects know what passes into them from other objects, what passes out of them, and what is sensed and excluded from passage into them. The scope of possible knowledge can be defined as the entire field of object boundary and exchange relations. The field of what is knowable by any object is partial due to semi-permeable object boundaries and the effect of spatial localization of objects. Several categories of knowledge arise out of this process. Knowledge of object boundaries, knowledge of excluded aspects of other objects, knowledge of included aspects of other objects, and knowledge of object interior, are created through the existence and interaction of objects in the complex field of object relationships. All object relations can be characterized as a specific combination of push and flow relationships. The aspects of an object relationship that do not exchange across semi-permeable boundaries of touch relations are knowable because a boundary to boundary contact occurs and partial information about the contact is received. These relations can be motion neutral contact or an in motion pushing relations. The aspects of an object relationship that exchange across semi-permeable touch boundary relationships are knowable as exchange flows in an object to object touch relation. The knowledge inherent in the existence of objects, from the point of view of any object, is that of entity (boundary, outer, and inner) and relationship (push and flow). Boundaries are the transition area between the inside and outside of an of an object. Some things pass all the way through, some part way, and some bounce off. All of the process is part of what makes the object what it is. The aspects of other things that bounce off constitute what the object is as much as the aspects of the object that are retained or passed back into the outer world of the object. Due to the push and flow relations between objects, and the fact that all objects exist together in a form of massive complexity, that is partially knowable, there is no 1 object. Every one, or 1, is more than it appears to be on casual examination.
Each 1 has a boundary that allows passage of specific material and information across its boundary, from out to in, and from in to out. Many other things exist in the local environment of the 1 thing and these things touch and are touched by the 1. Some of the touching is very direct, some less direct; some relations pass a lot of material or information across boundaries while others pass less. The local area where the 1 has a milieu of touching relations also touches and is touched by the 1?s that comprise the larger environment that surrounds the local environment of the 1. Therefore 1 is always more than one to the degree that it has interchange through its boundary with the other 1?s that comprise its sphere of relations. All of those relations then have their sphere of relations that are effected by the exchange with the one. This process fades in relevance and effect as the chain of touch and exchange relations with the 1 become less local and more spatially distant. 1 never represents the reality of the object but a significant reduction in the stature, extent, and function of the 1. This is where mathematics falls down as a means of representing a condensed vision of the reality of a group of things, 1 + 1 = 2 simply adds the reduction distortion of 1 together with another reduced 1 and the distortion continues to get larger.
Now that the nature of the boundaries of things and their interrelationships has been evaluated we can explore the nature of human experience with object boundary semi-permeability in mind. Leaving aside Merrell-Wolff's description of Consciousness without an Object, human experience can be characterized as being composed of consciousness and objects. Are the boundaries that form experienced objects, with or without an immediate associated sensory contact, semi-permeable? Experience of an object boundary without immediate sensory references is easy to test for permeability using imagination. Think of a tomato plant. Can you imagine the size and color of the tomatoes changing, or the taste of a tomato changing? When there is no immediate sensory information associated with an experienced mental object, whether it is a word, image, idea, or feeling, qualities attributed to the object can change, they must pass across the mental object boundary, it is permeable. When objects are perceived sensually, their boundaries are permeated by our history of thoughts about and experiences with that object. This affects our sense of boundary and our understanding of the object space within the boundary. If you touch, smell, see, or hear, a tree knowing that a tree breathes and circulates water through its roots, trunk, branches and leaves, you might view the tree boundary, what passes through it and what is contained within it, differently than if you had not known those facts. Knowing that tree respiration is complementary to your own respiration could also affect your sense of boundary between tree and self. Because different attributes can pass across the experienced tree boundary and be included or excluded we can say that the experienced object boundary is permeable.
Sensory awareness without words is still meaningful, filled by more than sensation alone, to the perceiver even at the extreme limits of experience. A newborn baby first cries and experiences breathing, air touches the respiratory system and the exchange of gasses across the semi-permeable boundary between lung and blood. This means life outside the mother?s womb. When the baby nurses for the first time there are no words for breast or nursing. The baby finds meaning in the nursing because something the mother object has, milk, the tactile sensation of skin to skin contact, and smell of the mother and breast milk, passes across semi-permeable boundaries and there is an awareness of self that experiences the receiving. Meaning is in the conscious subject related to the object through complex flows across semi-permeable sensory and cellular boundaries. What can pass across the boundary and what functions it fills in the perceiver is the primary determinant of the range of meaning that can be imagined from the subject?s perspective. The baby is not isolated as a passive receiver of sensory perceptions that are allowed by the nature of the baby?s senses and what is available in the baby?s environment that can be sensually perceived. Babies are also involved in selecting what they focus on receiving, mother?s voice and smell get more of the baby?s attention because they mean more to the baby than other sensory input the baby is receiving. The senses don?t turn on and off but the baby can focus within the world of their sensory impressions on what is more and less important.
The baby is also an active transmitter of sensory information that affects the world. When the baby cries and the mother or father responds by talking to, looking at, or touching the baby, the nature of sensory consciousness becomes apparent, it is a two way street, there is exchange both ways across the boundaries of objects through touch. The baby also responds to sensory input from the non-human environment of objects and as time passes interacts with them and learns develops an understanding, assigns meaning to, the larger world of relations. The baby touches a blanket, or mother?s shirt, it moves. The senses are an aspect of a larger relational structure that human consciousness participates in according to the permeability of the sensory organs of the human individual.
A Buddhist, who is meditating and bypassing the effect of the conceptual object defining power of words when participating in daily life, is still aware of sensually perceived objects because they touch the senses. Light reflected off the surface of, or emitted from, an object touches the eye. It passes through the iris and touches the retina. Only the wavelengths of light that stimulate the retina cause the optic nerve to fire and send a nerve impulse to the visual cortex. When an object boundary reflects or emits a sound the vibration moves the air creating a wave that touches the body and the eardrum. The vibration propagates through the body like the impact of a hand on a drum propagates through the drum skin and it reverberates in the space of the drum cavity and a sound is known. A breeze touches the cheek; a smell from a pot of soup touches the inside of the nose, something is known. Free from the words, the Buddhist is embedded in stream of the sensual world, contemplating the wordless presence of being.
When a person is afflicted with Alzheimer?s dementia we see the importance of memory in the formation of the linkage between the experience of objects and meaning. This particular dementia is a progressive disease where all memory becomes profoundly impaired. As words for objects become impossible to remember, the sense of the meaning, or purpose, of an object persists for a while without a word association. A spoon, once its name has been forgotten, may continue to be understood as a something that is used to put food in your mouth, but eventually that awareness of spoon purpose or function disappears. Eventually the ability to chew and swallow food disappears and death approaches. The process of deconstructing a human central nervous system that occurs in profound dementia eventually reduces a person to being less functional than a healthy animal, or a newborn baby. The newborn baby is intensely connected to their relational life with wordless objects outside the womb, mother and food, and the meaning of these things is apparent in the baby?s knowing exchange with the world and sensing of self within the boundary of the skin.
The person in the final stages of Alzheimer?s dementia is progressively lost to conscious meaning. We do not know when the sense of self, other, and object disappears, or if it does, but touch remains. The person remains connected to the world in the basic way of all life, touch and exchange through the semi permeable boundaries of the cells. The lungs and digestive organs continue to pass life from world into the blood of the person that is then distributed to the cells through the circulatory system. The cells within the body take part of what has been ingested through their boundaries and use it in their internal living processes. Each cell then provides a function that is useful for other parts of the inner working of the body. It is a two way street within the body as well as between the body and the world. The grand symphony of the living whole continues to be played, note by note, by the individual cells, knowing local others through touch, and exchange, and knowing themselves through the workings of their inner processes. Their meaning, whether known to the person with end stage Alzheimer?s dementia, is life.
We live in a world of touch, embedded in partial awareness of the parts, and the whole, touching and exchanging through semi-permeable boundaries of all kinds. Through touch, boundary permeability, and exchange, we know and are known. Individual consciousness arises in this context. Things touch therefore we are. We touch therefore I am. Living in a world of partial boundary permeability, touch, and exchange of material and information, provides a strong basis for being able to approximate the range of experience of other parts of our natural system although not the exact nature of their experience. Added to that foundation are several other factors, shared physical environments, and in the case of human experience we have shared language, shared cultural assumptions, and mirroring neurons, and memory, that allow humans to approximate the experience of another human and to a lesser extent the experience of other living things.
Understanding another persons experience is always partial in nature because the shared partial experience of external physical realities, culture, language. Intentional efforts of one person attempting to communicate their experience to another person start from a large base of shared material and information that is not individually possessed, but is individually participated in and experienced by others. So, specific non-verbal and verbal communication play the role of bringing the subjective specifics of the individuals experience into the realm of inter-person communication. All of this is partial, but when it is added together a relatively full representation of the probable experience of another person can be formed. If two people have a desire to know each other better they can communicate until they both sense that the other understands them. The experience of being known deeply by another person, commonly called intimacy, is one of the most compelling relational experiences a person can have. Humans and other animals share a variety of permeable boundaries in common. Water and food pass into and out of humans and other animals in similar ways and play similar roles in energizing and sustaining individual life. All species of animal seem to value areas where water and food are plentiful and available for consumption. Reproduction occurs in similar ways. So there is a relatively large foundation for mutual understanding of animal experience from a human point of view based on commonality of boundary permeability between the species of animals.
Human and non-human animal senses, demonstrate a range of difference between species in acuity, which senses are more dominant, and the range and focus of the senses, the types of senses, visual, tactile, auditory, and olfactory are identical. Verbal language, cultural assumptions, and participation in human social structures, aren't shared across the human non-human animal boundary to bridge the communication gap between specific human and animal states of consciousness, but this observation does not obviate the range of boundary permeability that all animals have in common. Animals and plants share a commonality of physical and climatic environment, fluid circulation and respiration but don't have a cultural, verbal, or non-verbal form of exchange in common. However there is a very direct way in which animals know plants generally and specifically in very intimate ways, animals eat plants, and or they eat other animals that eat plants. In this way all animals know plants through the communication of material across their semi-permeable boundaries of injection, digestion and elimination.
Breathing animals have another form of intimate knowledge of plants, complimentary respiration. Because we can identify a commonality of object boundary permeability across the animal and plant categories of living things we can look at the meaning of what passes across these common boundaries. While the attribution of meaning is, by definition, a process in human consciousness there is no reason to look for analogous meanings across categories of living things where common meanings can be proposed and justified logically. Permeability to water, sunlight, and atmosphere are common to all plant and animal boundaries. The meaning of water and air become apparent when you remove them from any plant or animal. If you put a person, a tree, and a cat in an enclosure and eliminated water, sunlight, or atmosphere from the environment, over time all three living things would die. The presence of water, sunlight, and atmosphere mean life to living objects, their absence means death. So meaning and value don?t arise exclusively from a human subject but have some foundation in the processes of life shared by all living things. If we were not present to witness the value of water, sunlight, and atmosphere to living things, that value still would exist. In fact as far as we can tell the value and meaning of these substances to living things has persisted throughout the history of life on our planet without any human witnessing at all.
The formation of human meaning is vastly more complex than the shared meaning, partially identified above, that exists across the community of all living things, but it does not follow that this complexity nullifies the simple shared meaning of sunlight, water, and atmosphere. Therefore human meaning is not exclusively an internal subjective construction based on the complexity of memory and our ability to relate one piece of remembered information to another in the exclusive service of human objectives. That a part of meaning is held in common by the living things that comprise the web of life, and is not exclusively a product of the human subject, helps to establish a foundation for the development of human meaning that can be legitimately enlarged beyond the confines of the human subject. This mutual understanding between different living things can also help to establish a moral framework that includes plants and non-human animals without having to attribute human social concepts, like rights, to non-human living things. Flow Media In the context, or from the perspective, of object touch relations and transfer of substance and information across semi-permeable boundaries we can look at soil, air, water, and light, as the great flow mediums that are essential to the flow relationships and exchange between objects. If we add consciousness as a flow medium that is enfolded by objects and becomes self reflective thereby enabling flow relations and self awareness then you have a picture of life that physicalizes consciousness, just as a cell boundary gives water particularity, and is unified between body, mind, and environment. Particularization of consciousness as subject of a living form then is partially shareable through the flow of information across unified subject-object semi permeable boundaries. Consciousness We human beings are aware of ourselves, our own inner experience, living and non-living objects outside of ourselves, and aware that we are aware. We call this consciousness. One of the issues that come up when we begin to acknowledge our awareness and name it is that we can?t point directly to an object, a thing, when we try to in some way to understand it. A cat, a chair, a tree, a baby, an old man are all things we can identify because they have a discernable boundary we can partially comprehend through the push and flow of our touch relationship with it. If the content of awareness is always changing we can say that awareness, or consciousness, has an ever-changing boundary defined by the content of awareness but this description does not account for some of the non-object like characteristics of awareness. In some ways awareness appears to be a stationary non-bounded something that contrasts with objects that exist as boundary defined processes in space and time. The ability to notice space, time, and motion implies a process of making a contrast between a something that is not a discernable event in space-time and discernibly bounded objects in motion or at rest in space-time. When I examine my own experience I see objects and motion in space as if I were stationary and everything else was moving. The perception of events internal to my own skin, thinking, emotion, heartbeat, breathing, muscle tension and movement, seem to be discernible from a position that is different, or differentiated from, the events themselves but not observable as a partially knowable object. Even the movement of focal awareness from one object to another doesn?t effect the sense of contrast by limiting my awareness exclusively to the object I am focusing on, so awareness isn?t just the focal foreground object of attention but also includes the awareness of the background as well. I think that this stationary object discerning character of awareness combined with the inability of awareness to be present as an object leads to the experiential sense that the subject transcends the object. But this unusual property of consciousness is being known within the existence of my experience as an embodied creature and perhaps it is simply that I always see things from my point of view and that does not change, that point of view is a constant amidst the changing flow of which I am aware. Many mystics claim that the pure subject of consciousness is transcendental relative to the objects, experiential content, of consciousness. Franklin Merrell-Wolff, the American mystic philosopher, has explored the existence of consciousness in a particularly deep and thoughtful way and developed a philosophical system that posits consciousness without an object as the ground of all reality. In his aphorisms on consciousness-without-an-object, number 9, 10, and 11, Merrell-Wolff declares that; "Consciousness of objects is the Universe.", "Consciousness of absence of objects is Nirvana.", and "Within Consciousness-without-an-object lie both the Universe and Nirvana, yet to Consciousness-without-an-object these two are the same." The three foundational ideas of Merrell-Wolff?s Philosophy of Consciousness-without-an-object are ?Consciousness is original, self-existent, and constitutive of all things, The Subject to Consciousness transcends the object of Consciousness, and There are three, not two, organs of knowledge: perception, conception, and introception?. introception is the term Merrell-Wolff uses to indicate the way in which Consciousness knows its self existence, he sometimes refers to this as knowledge through identity. I am using Merrell-Wolff?s writing as an illustrative example of a profound appreciation of Consciousness as transcendental relative to experience because I think the experience of being he lays out well in conceptual terms is, to one degree or another, part of the way all people experience being alive. The knowing as a subject seems to be different than the known of the things, including body and thought. The long history of the idea of a soul, or aspect of an individual that has an existence transcending the flesh, must have an experiential basis as well as the obvious force of cultural history and being a way of compensating for the knowledge of individual mortality. In my view this experiential base needs to find a home in the world of nature in order that we become able to deal with managing industrial technology within the confines of nature. Here is my attempt to root the transcendental quality of consciousness in an ecological framework. If we were to conceive of the biosphere of our earth as an objective living thing with semi-permeable boundaries we would then place that living thing in context by looking at it's most obvious touch relationships.The biosphere touches, is part of, a planet, that planet is part of a solar system. The orbit of this planet is far enough away from the sun, the habitable zone, to allow/facilitate the existence of liquid water and other factors necessary for the development of life. It is as if the solar system were a range of musical octaves and the planets orbit the sun in keys within those octaves. Planet earth is in the middle of the habitable octave of the solar systems musical range. Everything that exists on planet earth is then sung or played in the key of our planet?s relationship to the sun and the other planets. Perhaps when the individual notes of a living thing are played the inner most intimate and summary note, that closest to our total sense of being, our awareness, is the place where we are most likely to recognize, not just our and all the other notes, but the key in which they are all playing. What if the key in which all earth objects are being played is also harmonically resonant with all the octaves of our solar system and allows us to intuit our collective unity outside the need for our own particularity. Perhaps our semi-permeable boundaries, everything that flows across them and everything that is excluded by them, play our note in a way that is harmonically related by this key that is never heard, but the key can be known directly in intuition as the within which and out of which our individual notes and local songs are played and sung. Describing consciousness this way as the key in which all experience of life is played accounts for it not existing as an object and never being directly seen, but is the transcendental constant against which our experience is know as the particulars of our song. Our individual awareness is then intuitively known as both intimate and local via a subject that does not exclude the particular body of inner and outer life. That subject then knows the transcendental relative to the individual notes and local songs that form the content of our lives because it inheres in the key of life which it intuits as its fundamental underlying nature or being. Moving beyond the particular key in which consciousness is played the potential of self-consciousness could be viewed as a undifferentiated universal substrate that is enfolded by the formation of objects. Another idea was then to look at soil, air, water, and light, as the great flow mediums that support, enable, are essential to the flow relationships and exchange between objects, add consciousness as a flow medium that is enfolded by objects and becomes self reflective so it enables flow relations and self awareness then you have a picture of life that physicalizes consciousness and is unified between body, mind, and environment. Particularization of consciousness as subject of a living form then is partially shareable through the flow of information across unified subject-object semi permeable boundaries. Or maybe Consciousness is more like a universal substrate of reality that is concentrated and focused through things, particularly complex living things. Through this individuals become intensely aware of their immediate self and surroundings and also aware of their inherence in the universal substrate of consciousness, or being. The image that comes to mind for me is that of an individual swimming in a sea of consciousness that is equally part of his/her own being and seeing only the part visible through the lens of the face-mask he/she is wearing to protect the eyes from direct contact with the water. While swimming in this sea it is natural to feel the immediate surroundings and to imagine the full extent of the ocean because you know that the full extent of the sea extends well beyond your ability to directly see it. You also know that the inner sea, the water/consciousness of your own existence as an individual is never seen in total through the lens of your inner mask, yet in many ways you can come to know the inner beyondness as an inherent contextual element of all experience. I think I like this construction best because it matches my own experience in a pleasing way. | 2019-04-23T15:58:03 | http://urpartofit.net/node/5 |
0.999728 | How to calculate Conditional Probability?
The events which are not affected by another events are known as Independent Events.
The event of getting a 6 the first time a die is rolled and event of getting a 6 the second time is completely independent and isolated.
The events which are dependent on other events and they can be affected by previous events.
In probability theory, Conditional Probability is a measure of the probability of an event given that (by assumption, presumption or evidence) another event has occurred. If the event A is unknown and the event B is known or assumed to have occurred, "the conditional probability of A given B", or "the probability of A under the condition B", is usually written as P (A|B), or sometimes PB (A).
Example, the probability that any person has a cough on a day may be only 5%. But if we know or assume that the person has a cold, then they are much more likely to be coughing. The conditional probability of coughing given that you have a cold might be a much higher 75%.
Let S be a finite sample space, associated with the given random experiment, containing equally likely outcomes. Then we have the following result.
Let S be a sample space associated with the given random experiment and n(S) be the number of sample points in the sample space S. Since it is given that event B has already occurred, therefore our sample space reduces to event B only, which contains n(B) sample points. Event B is also called reduced or truncated sample space. Now out of n(B) sample points, only n(A∩B) sample points are favourable for the occurrence of event A. Therefore by definition of probability.
Consider a country with three provinces B1, B2 and B3 (i.e country is partitioned into 3 disjoint sets B1, B2 and B3). To calculate the total forest area knowing the area of provinces B1, B2 and B3 as 100Km2, 50 Km2 and 150 Km2. obviously, we will add all the three provinces areas to get total area of forest.
The same is the idea behind law of total probability. In which the area of the forest is replaced by the probability of an event A. In a case where the partition is B and B’ , then for any 2 events A and B.
Q1. Find the probability that a single toss of die will result in a number less than 4 if it is given that the toss resulted in an odd number.
Q2. The probability that it is Friday and a student is absent is 0.03. Since there are 5 school days in week, the probability that it is Friday is 0.2. What is the probability that a student is absent given that today is Friday.
Q3. A jar contains black and white marbles. Two marbles are chosen without replacement. The probability of selecting a black marble and then a white marble is 0.34, and the probability of selecting a black marble on the first draw is 0.47. What is the probability of selecting a white marble on the second draw, given that the first marble was drawn black?
Q4. If P (A’) =0.7, P (B) = 0.7, P(B/A)=0.5, find P(A/B) and P(AUB).
drawn is a yellow ball.
We have to calculate P(A) which definitely depends on A1 and A2.
P(A/A2) = Probability of A when A1 is already happen.
given that the student is taking Science?
Sol. We need to find the probability of English given Science i.e.
P (English | Science) = P (Science and English) / P (Science) = 0.087 / 0.68 = 0.13 = 13%.
Q3. A jar contains red and green toys. Two toys are drawn without replacement. The probability of selecting a red toy and then a green toy is 0.34, and the probability of selecting a red toy on the first draw is 0.47. What is the probability of selecting a green toy in the second draw, given that the first toy drawn was red?
Sol. Clearly it is a question of conditional probability. We need to find the probability of drawing a green toy having known that the first toy drawn was red.
P (green | red) = P (red and green) / P (red) = 0.34 / 0.47 = 0.72 = 72%.
Q4. At ABC Senior Secondary school, the probability that a student takes Science and English is 0.087. The probability that a student takes Science is 0.68. What is the probability that a student takes English given that the student is taking Science?
Sol. We need to find the probability of English given Science i.e. | 2019-04-26T09:45:27 | https://www.askiitians.com/iit-jee-algebra/probability/conditional-probability.aspx |
0.998498 | A Muslim imam hailed as a hero for his actions during a terror attack on a London mosque has accused the Government of being "in denial" over Islamophobia.
"He wrote: 'If you tell me that the burka is oppressive, then I am with you", he wrote.
Johnson, who quit his ministerial position in July, due to his dissatisfaction at what he sees as PM Theresa May's "soft brexit" approach, made his comments in his latest Telegraph column which focused on Denmark's recent decision to impose a full-face veil ban for those of the Islamic faith.
However, his remarks prompted calls for an apology, with the Muslim Council of Britain accusing him of "pandering to the far right" and Labour party MPs accusing him of stoking Islamophobia.
"Boris Johnson's latest racist insults can not be laughed off, like they often are", said Naz Shah, the Labour Party's shadow equalities minister.
talkRADIO has contacted Johnson and the Conservative Party for comment.
The MCB wrote to Lewis, the Conservative Party Chair, in May to highlight incidents of alleged Islamophobia in the party and to call for an inquiry.
Writing in the Evening Standard on Monday, Mohammed Mahmoud said that the response by the government has been minimal, with a meaningful engagement from its leadership still lacking.
However, in comments which are sure to cause controversy, the Uxbridge MP admitted he thinks the burka is "oppressive" and there are times when he thinks it may be appropriate for them to be removed.
Johnson added: "If a constituent came to my MP's surgery with her face obscured, I should feel fully entitled - like Jack Straw - to ask her to remove it so that I could talk to her properly".
"I would go further and say that it is absolutely ridiculous that people should choose to go around looking like letter boxes".
But he added: "Such restrictions are not quite the same as telling a free-born adult woman what she may or may not wear, in a public place, when she is simply minding her own business".
But he warned a total ban on face-covering veils would boost radicals who claim there is a "clash of civilisations" between Islam and the West, "fanning the flames of grievance".
"Like a parent confronted by a rebellious teenager determined to wear a spike through her tongue, or a bolt through her nose, you run the risk that, by your heavy-handed attempt to ban what you see as a freaky and unattractive adornment, you simply stiffen resistance", wrote Mr Johnson.
Boris Johnson has come under heavy criticism for suggesting that women wearing face veils - also known as niqabs or burkas - resembled "letter boxes" and "bank robbers".
It recently emerged that Johnson - a potential frontrunner to be the next prime minister - is in "direct communication" with Steve Bannon, the US President's former chief strategist and former head of far-right nationalist website Breitbart.
And Labour MP David Lammy said Johnson was a "pound-shop Donald Trump" who was "fanning the flames of Islamophobia to propel his grubby electoral ambitions".
United Kingdom prime minister Theresa May's official spokesperson said: "The long-standing government position on this is clear, that we do not support a ban on the wearing of the veil in public".
Manchester United will get the new Premier League season under way when they host Leicester City at Old Trafford on Friday night. The Toffees take on newcomers, Wolves, in their first match of the 2018-19 Premier League season on Saturday, 11th August.
The EU placed heavy sanctions on Asma in 2012 after the Syrian government responded to the 2011 uprising with extreme violence. Ms Al Assad was born and raised in London to Syrian parents before moving back to Syria after meeting the president.
Anti-cheat is also top of the list, with PUBG Corp cracking down on cheaters with legal action and a "combined anti-cheat solution".
The only catch is that the fans will have to wait for two more years to Karan's magnum opus on the big screen. The next tweet also came within seconds revealing the star cast of the film.
Why are they going to spend £50m on Boateng? And Mourinho has been tetchy in preseason, demanding signings and not getting them. He revealed Everton have an agreement with Barcelona and the player over a deal - but United are sniffing around too.
Georgian soldiers observe terrain near Gori, Georgia northwest of capital Tbilisi in a file image from 2008. After the war, Georgia entirely lost control of both South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia.
Dammit, American Horror Story , we just can't quit you, even though season seven's Cult almost broke us. I think it's disgusting and really very bad , and it's been a challenge for me.
So, what should we expect from this gameplay video? Saddle up, folks, because we're about to enter the wild, wild west. There's a million phrases you could use to describe the phenomenon that is the release of a Rockstar Games title.
The Premier League is yet to employ the VAR system which was employed during the World Cup in Russian Federation . Pep Guardiola's side are the bookmakers' favourites to triumph once again and it's not hard to understand why.
Numerous key men at Spurs only returned to training on Monday after successful campaigns at the World Cup. Pochettino says he is glad to keep his Spurs squad together amid speculation surrounding his stars.
Paul Joseph Watson, who wrote about the removal on InfoWars , also called it part of a "culture war" in a tweet on Monday morning. Facebook took down the Alex Jones Channel Page, the Alex Jones Page, the Infowars Nightly News Page and the Infowars Page .
Aid has began reaching isolated areas of the island as rescuers intensified efforts yesterday to find those buried in the rubble . Meanwhile the death toll from the powerful quake continues to rise, with 347 people now reported dead, according to CNN.
Have you seen any of Schwartz's work? On top of that, this will not be the first character he voices. Sonic the Hedgehog is in production, and will also star James Marsden and Tika Sumpter.
Up to 2,000 jobs will be put in jeopardy next week when Homebase reveals plans to axe around 60 stores in a sweeping overhaul. If it is at the top end of that range, the closure programme will represent nearly one third of Homebase's estate.
June 22, 2012: India's commerce ministry says Ikea may invest 600 million euros (about $700 million) in the country. The store was opened amidst cheerful Ikea management and staff with the ribbon cutting by a customer.
The telecast is an important showcase for the film industry, and nominated movies typically attract a new wave of ticket buyers. Part of the new effort is to not only add a new category but also tighten up the three-hour long show.
Sergio Romero, Antonio Valencia, Marcos Rojo and Diogo Dalot are out through injury on Friday, as are Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic.
It added: "WikiLeaks" legal team say they are "considering the offer but the conditions must conform to a high ethical standard'". When the host pressed Assange on whether Rich was the leaker, Assange said that Wikileaks does not reveal its sources.
Kepa, on the other hand, has been at Athletic Bilbao for just two seasons after moving from Real Valladolid in 2015. Courtois spent three years on loan at Atlético Madrid from Chelsea , before becoming Chelsea's No 1 in 2014-15.
Manafort's lawyers consistently tried to paint Gates as an unreliable witness, and Gates' last day of testimony was no different. Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for Trump, on Wednesday again called for Mueller to end his inquiry "without further delay".
This contradicts an earlier report by the actress' manager, Camilla Fluxman Pines, who said Kidder "died peacefully in her sleep". As it was previously reported, the police discovered Margot passed away on the 13th of May in her home in Livingston.
There doesn't appear to be a way to toggle this feature in the Alexa app or on the Echo Show 's and Echo Spot's screens yet. Editor Bret Kinsella said he first encountered the feature on Monday when Alexa asked if he wanted to enable it.
Chelsea had also considered raids for Jack Butland, Sergio Rico and Jan Oblak as they sought to replace the departing Courtois. Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic is set to join Chelsea in a a loan deal, sources have told Yahoo Sport .
Achondrite meteorites record the first episodes of volcanism and crust formation, the majority of which are basaltic. These not only survive but took place during one of the most premiere volcanic event to occur in the solar system.
Ten fire engines from three counties spent 12 hours tackling the blaze which destroyed 600,000 plastic pallets. No one was injured in the blaze, and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Augusztinyi said.
The first caution of the race came out on lap three as #10 Aric Almirola was sent spinning coming out of turn seven. NASCAR impounded cars after Saturday night's qualifying and had post-qualifying/pre-race inspection Sunday morning. | 2019-04-24T16:48:30 | http://badmintonhq.net/2018/08/boris-johnson-compares-burqa-to-bank-robbers-and-letter/ |
0.998765 | What's the state of the selling profession today? In brief, it fluctuates significantly based on economic circumstances and a company's position in a category lifecycle. At the start of a category lifecycle, when vendors really need people who can educate and explain what a disruptive innovation actually does, salespeople are in demand and life is very good indeed. In a down economy, most selling suffers; in a recovery selling can be fun.
Of course, life is even more difficult when the economy is down and the last disruption has run its course. In my selling career, I found that it is vital to understand where you are in all of this, down to a company's trend line in its market, because even though a sales person can do a lot, the macro trends really own you.
I am always interested in the annual CSO Insights sales performance study that comes out this time of year. Its recently released 2018-2019 report is full of interesting nuggets that make me wonder where we are in various cycles.
Deep in the report, there's a finding that about a third of most companies' revenues come from new sales. Early on it notes that "average revenue attainment has reached 93.9 percent, the third straight year of growth," which is good. However, it also shows that only about a third of revenue is coming from the sales team and, significantly, 15 out of 16 seller skills have declined over the last five years.
That means companies have been bringing in more money, but sales people have been less responsible for it, and they haven't been as good at basic blocking and tackling as they were not so long ago. How do you explain this?
CSO Insights has a classic answer that I think stands up, but it also needs to be challenged in the current environment. For many years it has divided the sales world into four categories of sales process: random, informal, formal and dynamic.
Roughly drawn, random sales processes live in about 25 percent of the universe of more than 900 companies surveyed. This year the number of random process companies is down to 20.8 percent. Nicely done!
At the other end, the dynamic process supporters also represent about a quarter -- this year it's up to 28.9 percent. Good as well.
Finally, the broad middle, consisting of informal and formal process users, makes up half, or 50.3 percent, this year.
The differences are important, because the research shows that companies with dynamic processes -- those that are able to adjust to customers' changing expectations and truly provide consultative selling services -- are the locomotives in terms of getting a deal, compared to the others, with the random process guys in the caboose.
My analysis of this year's report suggests that we in tech and the selling profession might be on the downhill side of some trends.
First, I don't think you just lose skills in 15 out of 16 capabilities without cause. Sales people can be lazy. Finding the easiest way to a deal is the name of the game, and that's a benefit not a bug; plus, they aren't stupid.
For such a profound thing to happen suggests to me a significant turnover in the sales population. Newer, less experienced people are filling the ranks, and it's obvious.
Also, the fact that revenues are up while this is happening tells me that sales people are less necessary today than they were five years ago. It could be that AI and machine learning are enabling more organizations to do more with less, but I suspect what's really happening is that customers are just getting smarter and more experienced with the products on offer throughout a broad swath of the economy, so selling is being replaced by purchasing.
This happens all the time as products and categories commoditize. Vendors simplify products and the purchase process to the point that they can eliminate expensive sales talent -- or at least replace it with lower-cost versions. I've seen this before, and it's almost a generational thing, as people who "grew up" with a category or trend take their winnings and figure out something else to do.
The last time I saw this was in the 1990s. In that decade, mainframe and mini-computer business was eroding, but there was little to replace it yet. Client-server and large PC networks weren't exactly ready for prime time. The false "year of the network" proclamation came so often that the "year" turned into a decade. It took that long to shift the industry.
Meanwhile, with expectations that most of the software and gear in the data center was about to become obsolete, demand dried up for almost everything, save ERP systems that could support four-digit dates. All this resulted in a difficult time for selling that was relieved only when the ERP thing had been handled and CRM became the next big idea in the enterprise. That was more than 20 years ago.
I think we're entering another down phase for selling. So far it seems that vendors have been weathering the commoditization of their products well, and the numbers in the report bear this out. However, questions abound.
What will take over as the engine of progress if so many tech products are commoditizing? Will selling become the first white collar profession to be automated away, or will some new disruption require many people who can educate and explain things?
At the moment, the answers are somewhat obscure, though my bet is on new technologies that support sustainability and initiate dozens of new categories of products that help.
Those will be big ticket sales, and they'll require smart people who can explain and educate, as well as close deals. The big questions are whether all this will take another decade, and if we have that much time. | 2019-04-22T14:26:54 | https://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/The-State-of-Selling-85833.html |
0.999761 | Can Perl do better than grep when it comes to search files, without overcomplicating everything? The answer might surprise you.
I like Perl's pattern matching features more than Perl as a programming language. I'd like to take advantage of the former without having to go any deeper than necessary into the latter.
Here, I want to zoom in on Perl as a better grep. What's the minimum Perl you need to know in order to use Perl to search files the way grep would?
By using Perl as your grep, you get to use Perl's more extensive pattern matching features. Also, you get to use one regex syntax rather than wondering about the specifics of numerous regex dialects supported across various programs.
The Perl one-liner above requires more typing than using grep would, but you could wrap this code in a shell script if you'd like.
...because $& is a special variable that holds the result of the latest match. | 2019-04-24T05:08:04 | https://dzone.com/articles/perl-as-a-better-grep?fromrel=true |
0.999054 | I'm not sure which Acronis product I should choose. Do I need Acronis True Image Small Office or another product for my environment?
Acronis True Image Small Office is designed for a small or family business with up to 5 machines, 1 server and unlimited mobile devices to protect. Acronis True Image Small Office is extremely easy to install and set up and does not require technical expertise.
If you have a larger environment or need various backup/recovery options, consider Acronis Backup (Advanced).
If you have one or up to 5 personal computers in your family, Acronis True Image 2016 or Acronis True Image Cloud will suit you best.
How is Acronis True Image Small Office licensed?
Which operating systems does Acronis True Image Small Office support?
The software supports Windows server and desktop operating systems, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices, see the full list here.
Which features does Acronis True Image Small Office have?
Acronis True Image Small Office has the same purpose as Acronis True Image for home users, but it's designed and developed for small office infrastructure that consists of no more than one server and five workstations. It protects all data on each computer, including the operating system, programs, documents and other user files. In case of disaster or data loss, the operating system and data can be easily recovered from a backup.
Acronis True Image Small Office can be installed not only on workstations, but on a server operating system as well. It protects all data on your server and reduces possible downtime to several minutes.
The feature set of both products is identical.
Can I store backup in cloud? How much cloud storage do I get?
Can I try this product before buying?
Sure, you can download a free trial and test the product for 30 days.
Why do I need Acronis account? Will my account with registered Acronis True Image suit Acronis True Image Small Office?
The software uses Acronis account for providing cloud storage, centralized backup and recovery management as well as licensing management.
To use Acronis True Image Small Office, you need a dedicated account created for this product. You can create it in the product interface or at the Acronis website. Accounts created in the home edition of Acronis True Image cannot be accepted by the product edition for small offices. See this article.
What will happen after the subscription expires?
For 5 days after subscription expiration you can continue making backups to cloud storage.
During 30 days after subscription expiration you can restore data from cloud storage. Thirty days after subscription expiration the data in cloud storage is destroyed. | 2019-04-20T11:37:05 | https://kb.acronis.com/content/57943 |
0.999999 | TL;DR: I jumped into freelancing with blind optimism, almost went broke for it and had just the right amount of luck at just the right time to turn it all around.
Today's blog entry was decided on by Twitter, so for the people who are interested, here's the story of how I got into freelancing from the beginning all the way up to where we are now.
Since there may be a few people reading who are coming here for the first time, I'll give you some basic introduction of who I am, what my experience level is etc. Here goes nothing.
For all intents I have no real educational background. I dropped out of high school in sophomore year (2013) and decided to pick up a vocational training as media designer instead. As part of that I visited vocational school which is four grades consisting of 3x9 and 1x4 weeks of schooling. That's the absolute peak of my education. My highest achievement along traditional academia is a middle school graduation. No, I'm not kidding. I've never learned about sine and cosine or anything like that. I know that if I enter a sine function in my calculator I get an even wave form. No idea what that's even useful for.
As of writing this post I'm entering my third year of business. Last year I finished with approximately $70,000 in gross revenue. Projections for this year are higher. Now, enough braggy stuff, let's get onto the meat of the story.
but she suggested to team up and try going freelance. She would do the marketing and I would do the coding.
"I will quit my job and go freelance full-time"
In hindsight that was probably not the smartest choice but it is what it is. So for the first two months while I was wrapping up my job situation, my colleague started looking for clients. We put up a website, printed flyers, the whole nine yards.
It came out to approximately $1,500. Yup.
Divide that by two and you'll quickly realize that that's not a lot to live off of. I had savings of course and this was the moment where I was glad I had them. So while my partner continued the search I clenched my teeth and started building.
start. Eventually January became February became March. I turned 20 and had made a total of $400 from freelancing, when a bit of shocking news hit. My colleague couldn't sustain the effort next to her full-time job.
I felt a bit of a bit in my stomach and accepted the fact as it was. The very next day I did the best thing I could think of: Sign up for UpWork and find me some work. So I set up a profile and got to work.
program. I added all the things to my profile, I did the tests and scored in the top 10% for as many as I could.
And while it wasn't an overwhelming amount, at least some money started rolling in eventually. By end of March I was up to approximately 400$/month from freelancing with my first repeat customers. It wasn't huge, but at least it slowed the drain on my savings which were growing smaller each month. But the worst was yet to come.
Also the food was good. I love isaw to this day.
tool. But things didn't exactly get much better. I still hovered around 200-400$ of income per month, which was simply not enough to cover my living costs.
Eventually me and my girlfriend hopped on a bus and travelled to some places in Northern Luzon, we stayed at the cheapest hotels possible and spent our evenings eating cheap takeout from 7/11 and watching Gilmore Girls. Two weeks later we returned to Manila when finally the decision was made that perhaps I should rebook my flight to save whatever I had left and return to home earlier. And so I did.
By this time I had someone reach out to me on Twitter. He asked if I would be willing to help him develop a few things. Apparently he had followed me since way back when I still dabbled in game development and had my old job. We were scheduled to call for a first time soon after I left the country.
"Either this lead works out and keeps me afloat or I'm stopping this."
I arrived back at home pretty much hopeless and desperate. I took about a week off to replenish some energy and gather some confidence and the I went straight back to work. It turned out to be my last week-long vacation for approximately 1.5 years.
And I had a call. And this call went well. It went very well. So I started helping the person who had contacted me with developing a shop. I helped with developing a fishing trip portal.
On the side I was doing some work for previous customers. By the end of July 2017 I had somehow managed to scrape together an income of approximately $1,500. It wasn't a luxurious living, but for the first time in almost a year I had a living.
I paid back my parents for the leeway they gave me and pursued the lead further. It managed to come out to somewhere around $1,000 to $1,250 per month for this one lead, plus some extra money from other leads. I worked quite a lot during that time and developed a pattern of work schedule.
I'd get up around 8am and would work until 1pm for my big lead. I would then take off some time in the afternoon until maybe 4-5pm and enjoy the sun outside, try and get some of that Vitamin D. I would then return to scheduled calls and keep on coding until 12am or maybe 1am for other projects. It sounds crazy in hindsight, but damn, that was a happy time for me. It felt like I finally had achieved something.
Typo3 to Wordpress and needed some 800 sites of content migrated. So I took the job. It took me two months next to my other jobs, but I had tried to high-ball my hourly rate at that point (which was maybe $45/h).
So 2018 rolled around. I joined a group I have grown to love and cherish: wip.chat - The group inspired me and motivated me to do my all each and every day.
$2,500 per month. I was able to save again. I got to lease myself a new car.
At this point my old colleague from early 2017 also reached out. She had by now switched to working for the parent company for a few well-known brands and was doing digital marketing. Knowing that I was still around and programming she also generated a few leads for me that kept contributing to this roll I was own. I developed a little digital marketing asset platform for them.
In the spring my girlfriend came by to visit me in Austria for three months. And we had a good time this time around.There was no worry of being kicked out of anyone's house or my revenue stream suddenly draining to zero. Life was good. Also, I got engaged! So that was fun!
And then May 2018 rolled around. A recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn (I know, but hear me out). I responded politely and said that I would be happy to take on some freelance opportunities even for a longer period of time. Apparently they had had some trouble finding people to recruit since it was all very short-term.
"Wait a sec, they're not going to pay me $10,000 per month, right? I'm 21. That's ridiculous."
And then I was invited to an interview with that company. And they liked what I had to offer. And they hired me for a contract between June 2018 and December 2018. Yes. They paid me $10,000 a month.
in my portfolio I upped my hourly rate a bit. I added the company to my LinkedIn profile.
The next 6 months passed rather quietly. I drove out to Graz to work and drove back home again. My office times being approximately 8.30am - 3pm followed by some commuting and some work in the evening. My average income varied between $12,000 and $14,000 each month (although those are gross revenue numbers). I just packed everything into a savings account and decided to live off of $1,500 per month at most.
And each month the money would arrive. And each month I was still shocked. So eventually November came around and the end of my contract drew near. I had a discussion with my superior at the company and after everything was said and done they offered to extend my contract for another 8 months, with more hours.
During this time I really didn't have much time nor energy for any side projects, but I did finally take a week of vacation in November. My first in a year and a half. And in December we signed the contract.
And now, now we're here. My contract runs until August 2019 and I have a month of leave in May due to my getting married and moving my fiancée to Austria. My pay is still on a slight upward trajectory and I do not know where it will go next.
All I know is that right now I have leads approaching me from every side and that I don't really have the time and will to take them on. Starting with the new year I also found some more energy to invest in my side projects. In the first 9 days I've already started this blog, How Much Does This Meeting Cost? and a little nginx wrapper called jinx.
Things are good right now. Things have been good for a long while now. And I stand by one single statement: Throughout most of this journey I had little to no clue as to what I was doing. I lucked out. I really, really had an absurd amount of luck when I needed it the most. And sometimes, a little luck goes a long way.
If you find yourself having more questions, please do reach out to me on Twitter! Or maybe on Telegram!
Any burnout while working for the big client? | 2019-04-23T18:01:10 | https://dev.to/pretzelhands/how-i-got-into-freelancing-2437 |
0.998923 | (Note: Portions of this review were originally seen in our DVD-only review posted in September 2008).
In 1952, a film surprised Hollywood and swept up six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film, 1951\'s An American in Paris, beat out A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis and A Streetcar Named Desire. Loosely based on the 1928 orchestral composition by George Gershwin, Gershwin had sold the rights to the piece to film producer Arthur Freed. Written by Alan Jay Lerner, the musical screen play was required (per Gershwin\'s deal) to only use songs from the George and Ira Gershwin catalog. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the film stars Gene Kelly (who also choreographed the dance sequences) as Jerry, an aspiring painter, living in Paris. Friends with a concert pianist, Adam (Oscar Levant), Jerry is befriended by a generous benefactor, Milo Roberts (Nina Foch) - who seems more interested in Jerry than his art. When Jerry meets the beautiful Lise (Leslie Caron), he falls for her - but Lise is already engaged to the famous French singer Henri (Georges Guetary), who is Adam\'s long-time associate. Soon Milo discovers that her feelings for Jerry aren\'t reciprocal, and Jerry learns that Lise does indeed love him - but Henri takes her away to be married. Will she return? Won\'t she? I won\'t ruin it (for the few people who might not have seen the film), but the climax of the film is an 18-minute ballet set to the original "An American in Paris" Gershwin piece, as Jerry "daydreams" about taking Lise all over the city. It\'s a phenomenal piece of choreography, both from the actors, the set design, and the camera movement. It helped rejuivinate the Hollywood musical, and was a smashing success. It\'s because of this film that some of Gershwin\'s songs have the reputation they have today.
Previously released as a bare-bones DVD with just the theatrical trailer, An American in Paris now gets the full-on Special Edition treatment on both a 2-disc DVD (released in September 2008), and finally in high definition on Blu-ray. Boasting a gorgeous new "Ultra-Resolution" transfer, the film - shot in three-strip Technicolor - pops. Deep saturation is prevalent, and while it\'s a bit grainy at times, it\'s never distracting, and the bit-rate on the DVD is high enough to maintain the details. On Blu-ray, the image is crisper and while there is a bit of grain, it feels very film-like, and the increased resolution allows all of the details in the sets and costumes to come to life. On both the DVD and Blu-ray, audio is presented as a Dolby Digital 1.0 mono track, and sounds just fine and well balanced between the dialogue and music. The Blu-ray includes foreign language tracks in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Castilian.
Extras on both releases include a new feature-length commentary "hosted" Patricia Ward-Kelly (Gene Kelly\'s widow) with Leslie Caron, and Nina Foch, featuring audio excerpts from various sources of Gene Kelly, director Vincente Minnelli, screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner, co-musical director Saul Chaplin, musician Michael Feinstein, co-musical director and head of MGM music department Johnny Green, art director Preston Ames, and costume designer Irene Sharaff. Whew! It\'s a solid commentary track that is never boring, always engaging and chock-full of fascinating information. In addition to the theatrical trailer (SD, 3.5-minutes), two short films are included: "Paris on Parade" (SD, 9-minutes), a vintage "Traveltalk" from 1938 that looks at the 1937 Paris exhibition, and "Symphony in Slang" (SD, 7-minutes), a classic Tex Avery cartoon based on literal interpretations of "modern" euphemisms. It\'s a funny one that I remember from my childhood.
The Blu-ray and second DVD disc also contain a new documentary, "S\' Wonderful: Creating An American in Paris" (HD, 42.5-minutes). Featuring new and archival interview, the feature is rather extensive and does a great job supplementing the information gleaned from the commentary track, without too much repetition. It\'s great to see all the behind-the-scenes photos and footage - all in HD if you\'ve got the Blu-ray edition. A musical outtake, "Love Walked In Outtake" (SD, 3-minutes) is a short bit that was cut from the final film, but is enjoyable to watch. The 2002 PBS documentary "Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer" (SD, 85-minutes), is an excellent and insightful feature-length piece that chronicles the talented showman\'s life, and is well worth the cost of the disc.
Overall, An American in Paris has greatly benefited from the new transfer, and while the audio hasn\'t been as fortunate, it still sounds great in the original mono. The extras are solid and informative, and this - like Gigi, which is also now finally available in Blu-ray - is definitely worth picking up. If you already have the DVD and were wondering about upgrading to Blu-ray, absolutely make the switch. The extras are all identical, but the improvement in image quality is reason enough! | 2019-04-20T06:52:24 | https://www.soundtrack.net/movie/an-american-in-paris/ |
0.998993 | Vorkosigan saga written by Lois McMaster Bujold is series of SF novels and stories (reading order) Shards of Honor, Barrayar, The Warriors Apprentice, Mountains of Mourining, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, Labyrinth, Borders of Infinity, Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts, Diplomatic Immunity, Cryoburn. Thousands of pages of creative SF, located on several different planets and worlds, so far experiencing good critics, especially by women. What is the reason? Perhaps, because the main character, Miles Vorkosigan is physically disabled, but his intelligence makes up for any physical deficiencies, which often puts him in a position where often the womens are finding themselves. Maybe, due to reason that Miles seeks at least half of the issued books for real love jumping from bed to bed from beauties over hermaphrodites to cloned warrior werewolves... all they do withstand Miles and his charm and energy. Also, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan leaves carrier for love and making family, but from time to time is also able to decapitate main bud guys if required. Vorkosigan saga is not full with complicated technological details, but as proper SF, gives large amount of different alien races describing their cultural, economical and political environment. Big space battles, wars, loyalty games and wild story twists can be found in every book, and they are asking for more. If you start to read those books, be prepared to be hooked until the story ends and there are 16 parts to read.
anonymous: "Vorkosigan Saga, Shards of Honor (1986), Barrayar (1991), Cordelias Honor (1996), The Warriors Apprentice (1986), Borders of Infinity (1989), Brothers in Arms (1989), The Vor Game (1990), Barrayar (1991) Vorkosigans Game (omnibus: The Vor Game, Borders of Infinity) (1992), Mirror Dance (1994), Cetaganda (1995), Memory (1996), Young Miles (omnibus: The Warriors Apprentice, The Mountains of Mourning, and The Vor Game) (1997), Komarr (1998), A Civil Campaign (1999), Miles, Mystery and Mayhem (omnibus: Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and Labyrinth) (2001), Diplomatic Immunity (2002), Miles Errant (omnibus: Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance) (2002), Miles, Mutants and Microbes (omnibus: Falling Free, Labyrinth and Diplomatic Immunity) (2007), Miles in Love (omnibus: Komarr, A Civil Campaign and Winterfair Gifts) (2008), Winterfair Gifts (2008), Cryoburn (2010), Captain Vorpatrils Alliance (2012), Ethan of Athos (1986), Falling Free (1988), Dreamweavers Dilemma (1995), Captain Vorpatrils Alliance (2012), The Curse of Chalion (2001), Paladin of Souls (2003), The Hallowed Hunt (2005), Beguilement (2006), Legacy (2007), Passage (2008), Horizon (2009), The Spirit Ring (1993)..."
anonymous: "Vorkosigan Saga and Lois McReallyMaster review, good one." | 2019-04-25T20:20:05 | http://sparot.com/vorkosigan-saga.php |
0.999936 | An elderly couple who have spent £10,000 on CCTV and burglar spikes to stop drunken students vandalising their property described their life as being 'hell for many years'.
John and Delia Blatchford have suffered an 'unpleasant' and 'frightening' ordeal from unruly Exeter University students for the last eight years.
The couple sleep in shifts to monitor the anti-social behaviour and said it had got to the stage where they 'pray for rain' as it keeps students indoors.
They said one student had urinated in their hot tub - forcing them to fork out £150 for a deep clean - while others have stolen items from their garden.
Their £220,000 home is less than a ten minute walk from the university campus and close to the popular Imperial pub.
The Blatchfords said the university had initially been sympathetic to their complaints but had recently stopped being so responsive.
'We've spent a fortune, around £10,000, in cleaning up their mess and trying to stop it', Mrs Blatchford, 67, said.
'Life has been hell. I just lost my temper with the university and since then they've been working against us.
'For eight years we have worked with them and I'm feeling hurt, I have no idea why they have fallen out with us.
'They always used to come down to our house but they've haven't come now for the last three times we've called them.
'I'm hurt by their actions and I don't understand why they've dropped us.
'We used to buy them boxes of chocolate for Christmas to say thank you for giving us a lovely life despite the students.
The couple's troubles began in 2008 when one student climbed into the couple's hot tub and urinated inside it.
They spent £150 on a deep clean of their tub and later spent money on four CCTV cameras to catch inebriated students.
They also spent £7,000 on a wall with burglar proof spikes and an iron rail to deter youths climbing into their garden.
The couple's CCTV system had to be replaced by the university for £2,200 after a student tore down one of the cameras after a night out.
However they claimed the university had stopped trying to help them this academic term.
In October alone, CCTV captured students urinating in their gateway, construction fencing being loudly slammed against a pole next to their home and the theft of a 'For Sale' sign from neighbour's property.
Mrs Blatchford told the Exeter Express and Echo: 'We pray for rain. We can have a decent night's sleep if it rains as it keeps them indoors. It's sad, but true.
'We get no sleep when it is term time. Why is it us that has to put up with it?
'Why does it have to be our life that is destroyed?
She added: 'This is supposed to be the future elite, what is going to happen to this country?
'I really really worry, I want restorative justice. I want to be able to go up to one of these students and ask them "why did you do this?"
Local councillor Percy Prowse said: 'I regret to say, despite our best efforts, that they [the Blatchfords] have been regularly the victims of damage, theft, transient noise and antisocial behaviour on this student corridor.
'Despite measure being put in place, they are still repeat victims.
Exeter University apologised for the students' behaviour and insisted the majority are 'mindful towards their neighbours'.
A spokesperson said: 'The University has been in regular contact with the family, and treats all calls from them as a priority. Students were spoken to about an incident last week in their neighbourhood.
'The University Estate Patrol was dispatched and found two students carrying a barrier and traffic cone nearby.
'The students were extremely apologetic and Estate Patrol instructed them to return the items to where they had found them, which they immediately did. | 2019-04-18T15:02:39 | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3867602/Elderly-couple-say-spent-10-000-CCTV-burglar-spikes-10-year-feud-drunken-students-vandalised-property-urinated-hot-tub.html |
0.999478 | Why are music servers so popular? I can think of at least two reasons: 1) they can produce great sound, and 2) they offer convenient access to your music. Although there’s controversy about whether or not higher-than-CD recording resolutions offer superior sound, if you want to play hi-rez files, you’ll need a server, whether a standalone unit or a laptop computer.
New servers appear on the market frequently, and vary widely in cost, complexity, and capability. A basic computer can be turned into a good server, but for those who don’t want to struggle with the often complex and poorly documented setup of softwares needed to get good sound from a computer, many standalone servers are available. I’ve seen comparisons between standalone servers (such as the Wyred 4 Sound MS-1, reviewed here) and computer servers; usually, these comparisons favor computers, which often cost far less. A factor I haven’t seen mentioned is that server software run on a computer -- especially open-source software -- might be better than a standalone server.
But other factors favor standalone servers: 1) A computer can require lots of tweaking before it sounds its best, and few server programs provide enough instruction for the user to easily achieve the best sound. Unless you’re a dyed-in-the-wool computer geek who actually enjoys tweaking software, your computer server may never sound as good as it could. 2) Such geeks aside, most people find computers (the Mac Mini excepted) ugly things that severely deface a nice-looking hi-fi system. Geek flames anticipated.
One new model that looked particularly interesting was Wyred 4 Sound’s MS-1 server ($1999 USD), a standalone device that’s at least part of a server -- the MS-1’s lack of a display or remote control is an increasingly popular design choice. Want to view lists of the music files loaded on the server and choose some to play? Use an Apple iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. If you already have one or more of those devices, all you need do is load the appropriate Apple app: MPad or MPoD. You can also use a Logitech Squeezebox controller.
The MS-1 is a Linux-based computer that uses the VortexBox server software, and for some functions the Logitech Squeezebox program. It has 1GB of internal memory, and a 1TB internal hard drive on which it stores audio files. The MS-1’s S/PDIF output connects to your DAC via RCA or TosLink. The MS-2 ($2499) has 2GB of memory, a 2TB hard drive, and a proprietary I2S connection via HDMI for connection to Wyred 4 Sound’s own DAC-2.
The MS-1 plays a wide variety of audio files: AAC, AIFF, APE, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Monkey’s Audio, MPEG-4, MPEG-4 SLS/HD-AAC, MP3, Musepack, Ogg Vorbis, QuickTime, WAV, Wavpack, Windows Media, WMA Lossless, and WMA Pro. Of course, the formats of interest to most audiophiles are: AIFF, Apple Lossless, FLAC, and WAV. The MS-1 can play files with resolutions up to 24-bit/192kHz.
Unlike many servers, the MS-1 is relatively tiny: 8” square by 3.5” high. That makes it easy to accommodate on an equipment rack stuffed with equipment and other items (like mine). Another reason for the MS-1’s diminutive size is its use of a wall-wart power supply. The MS-1 is styled like other Wyred 4 Sound gear. I found it attractive; its black-and-silver color scheme should be visually compatible with even the most expensive hi-fi components.
An audio component should be quiet, and the MS-1 is fanless -- its only moving parts are in its optical disc drive and its internal hard drive. Music files can be loaded onto the drive two different ways: 1) insert a CD (label side down) in its disc drive and the MS-1 will automatically rip it as a FLAC file; or 2) if your files are already ripped or downloaded, they can be transferred via the MS-1’s Ethernet port. Of course, once you’ve loaded all your files on the hard drive, you’ll want to back them up, which you can do by connecting an external USB hard drive to one of the USB jacks on the rear panel. Backup is a one-click operation -- you have no excuse for not backing up your files. The MS-1 reformats the backup drive the first time you use it, but then will only add new files each subsequent time there is a backup.
The MS-1 is a small box with only an on/off switch and the CD slot. It easily fit on my rack, occupying less than half a shelf and looking quite at home among the other components. Wyred 4 Sound says that the MS-1 takes 8-12 minutes to rip a CD, and my experience confirmed that. Hi-rez files must be copied from a computer via the network.
To browse and select music to play, I used an iPod Touch and an iPhone 3 running the MPoD app. If your house isn’t wired for Ethernet, Wyred 4 Sound says that other connections will work. I tried a wireless connection recommended by Wyred 4 Sound that did not work, but you may have better luck. I finally gave up and used an Ethernet cable, which is the best way to ensure that the network will work. I connected the MS-1 to my DAC with a Wireworld Gold Starlight 6 S/PDIF cable.
With the MS-1 now communicating with my computer, I had to load music onto the server’s hard drive, and began by using the MS-1’s CD drive to rip several discs. Although I’ve seen servers that ripped faster, the MS-1 rescans a CD multiple times to ensure that the rip is accurate, in the manner of Exact Audio Copy. I can’t imagine an easier process: just insert a CD in the slot, and remove it when the rip is complete and the CD has been ejected. When the MS-1 rips the music to FLAC files, it includes cover art, though since the latter is downloaded from the Internet, sometimes the choice of art is a little quirky. The drive is a bit noisy -- you probably wouldn’t want to listen to music while the CD is being ripped. The drive will not burn or play CDs. Hey, that’s what computers are for.
Having confirmed the ease of ripping CDs, I decided to load some hi-rez files. It was necessary to sit at my desktop computer, where I’d stored the files, and copy them to the MS-1 via Ethernet. Wyred 4 Sound provides instructions for Mac and Windows users, though when I tried to connect from my Windows desktop computer, the MS-1 demanded a user ID and password. I tried providing my network user ID and password, but that didn’t work. The Wyred 4 Sound staff worked hard and found a workaround. In a flagrant display of computer perversity, my Windows laptop, connected to the network via Wi-Fi, worked just as the instructions said it should. Go figure. Once I was able to access the MS-1’s hard drive, transferring files from my desktop computer was just like copying files from one computer drive to another using Windows. Finally, I was able to play files up to 24/192 on the MS-1.
Files transferred from a computer to the MS-1 must be stored in a particular folder and file structure: \\wyred4sound\files\music\flac\artist\album. You must locate the MS-1 server on your network (it’s named Wyred4Sound) and look at the four top-level directories. Click on the “Files” folder, then on the subfolder “Music,” then on the sub-subfolder “FLAC.” Now you’re ready to create folders for the artist and album name. I was a little surprised that all files go in the FLAC folder, but they do. That makes it easier for the ripping function, which creates only FLAC files, to work.
The MPoD app is a serviceable but unspectacular server control program with about the level of competence of iTunes. That means it’s designed for pop and rock music; lovers of classical music may find it unwieldy. The Browse function shows you the directory structure of the FLAC folder, which sometimes worked more reliably than the Album menu choice (albeit without displaying cover art). One feature of MPoD I appreciated was that, every time you start it, it rescans all your music files; if you’ve added or deleted any files, MPoD will show you the current contents of the MS-1’s hard drive.
There were a few glitches. Often, when I selected a file and began playback, I heard a brief click -- only half a second or so, and not very loud. Once, when I started playing a hi-rez file, it was accompanied by very noticeable hash that I’d never heard from either of my servers. It made the piece unlistenable. But when I restarted it, the noise went away and never came back. Overall, the MS-1’s playback was silent.
The MS-1 was physically quiet, too. Hard-drive noise was inaudible more than 3’ from the unit -- just what you want in a server. As noted, the CD drive was a bit noisy during ripping, but you don’t typically rip CDs while listening to music anyhow. It’s not as if you can play CDs in the drive (though that would be a useful feature).
Using the MS-1 was a blast. I spent a lot of time browsing my audio library of AIFF, WAV, and uncompressed FLAC files, wondering how various ones would sound through the MS-1. After the few minutes needed to transfer the files to the MS-1 (file transfer via Ethernet is fast), they were ready to play. The MS-1 played them all effortlessly.
I wanted to try backing up the MS-1’s files to a hard drive, but since the hard drive is reformatted each time and I didn’t have an extra hard drive on which to first back up those files, I didn’t try it. But regular, frequent backup of files is essential: The music files on your server quickly become the most valuable part of your system. All you need is an external USB hard drive the same size as the one in the MS-1; no need to buy a 3 or 4TB drive. A cautious backup strategy would be to back up to two drives, and store one of them offsite, in a safety-deposit box or at a friend’s house -- somewhere it won’t be damaged if there’s a fire in your house.
The MS-1’s 18-page manual is downloadable -- an excellent way to keep abreast of updates. The manual was updated once during the review period.
The MS-1 sounded very incisive, with lots of slam; i.e., transients were fast, with plenty of dynamic impact. Nor did it skimp on rich tonality -- instruments and voices were fleshed out. The frequency response was extended at both ends of the audioband, but not overemphasized. Highs weren’t the least bit peaky. The opening chimes in Argento’s For the Angel, Israfel, performed by Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra on Reference Recordings’ 30th Anniversary Sampler (16/44.1 FLAC, Reference), sounded distinct from each other but not at all etched. J.S. Bach’s Prelude in D, from the same release, had admirable bass depth and definition.
The bass in Chris Jones’s “God Moves on the Water,” from his Roadhouses and Automobiles (16/44.1 FLAC, Stockfisch), was extended but not boomy; and while his voice had its usual slightly rough and gravelly texture, I could easily understand his words.
Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust,” from her Greatest Hits (16/44.1 FLAC, FIM K2 HD, a remastering of A&M AM 5 33417 4), was resonant and full, and her guitar sounded quite realistic, with a dynamic lilt that infused the music with life and momentum. It’s easy to see why audiophiles like this recording.
Ottmar Liebert’s One Guitar (24/96 FLAC, Spiral Subwave International/HDtracks) pulsated with life, with strong leading-edge transients that were at times downright scary -- no dynamic compression here. The trailing edges of waveforms subsided without fuss or overhang. Still, it was the initial transients that made the strongest impression on me.
My Auraliti PK100 is another partial standalone server ($799). By partial, I mean that the user must provide some components, in this case the display/remote control and a hard drive on which to store files. The Auraliti also lacks an optical drive; you must use a computer to rip CDs. Given the current quality of CD ripping software (I usually use dBpoweramp), that’s no hardship, but it’s undeniably more convenient to just pop a CD in the MS-1’s drive and let it do all the work. To upload new files to the Auraliti, you have to plug its external hard drive into a USB port on the computer where the ripped or downloaded files are stored. The Auraliti has an internal DAC and an S/PDIF output; I used the latter to connect it to my DAC.
The Auraliti’s use of an external hard drive has benefits and drawbacks. It’s neater and more convenient to have all parts of the server enclosed in a single chassis, but keeping the hard drive external to the rest of the electronics lets you easily swap it for another drive. And since the Auraliti has three USB jacks, multiple drives can be connected. If your music collection is big enough to require one of the new 4TB drives, it’s just a matter of copying them to the new drive, then plugging that into the Auraliti. Theoretically, an external drive should be noisier than the MS-1’s internal drive, but the Western Digital Elements I use with my Auraliti is just as quiet.
The Auraliti PK100 and the Wyred 4 Sound MS-1 sounded a bit different. The PK100’s leading-edge transients weren’t as defined or as powerful as the MS-1’s, yet the trailing edges were better defined -- when a piano note was struck (as many are in Rhapsody in Blue), it sounded overall more like an actual piano note floating in space. And the tonality of the note was just right. As with the MS-1, the PK100’s frequency extension was very extended at both ends of the audioband, yet I heard slightly deeper bass from Bach’s Prelude in D; the room pressurized quite nicely, even without a subwoofer. And the chimes in For the Angel, Israfel seemed slightly better defined, with a very slight increase in extension through the Auraliti.
Ottmar Liebert’s guitar sounded less brutal and a smidge more harmonically whole -- more like a real guitar. There was still plenty of dynamic slam, but less than with the MS-1; overall, the guitar sounded more realistic through the Auraliti. As with the piano, guitar notes seemed to have more balanced, more natural leading and trailing edges.
Through the MS-1, the orchestral instruments in Missa Criolla seemed farther from the front of the stage, where tenor Carreras stands, so the MS-1’s faster, more dynamic leading-edge transients created more apparent clarity and detail. The Auraliti’s presentation of this recording was equally spacious; both servers spread the instruments out widely.
The bass in Chris Jones’s “God Moves on the Water” seemed to extend a bit deeper through the Auraliti, with a barely perceptible increase in bass detail. If I hadn’t been desperately trying to distinguish between the two servers, I probably would have said they sounded pretty much the same with this track. One thing I did notice was that, with the Auraliti, Jones’s voice sounded smoother, though whether that means the PK100 was less or more accurate, I don’t know.
In short, the differences between the servers were perceptible but small. If you listen mostly to rock, especially the more energetic variety, you might prefer the MS-1; while classical and, presumably, jazz fans might prefer the Auraliti’s slightly softer sound. That’s not to say the MS-1 sounded bad with classical music; I cheerfully listened to classical through it for long stretches.
The MS-1’s disc and hard drives made it much more convenient to use, and the ability to upload music to it via my network was a definite convenience, and for some might cinch the deal. Both servers use the same control app, so functionally they’re identical.
Wyred 4 Sound continues its tradition of bringing the latest technology to market at extremely reasonable prices. I wouldn’t call their products cheap, but their value-to-dollar ratio is off the scale. While you can use a computer as a server for less dough, it may not work as well as the MS-1 or have a remote control -- and unless it’s a Mac Mini, it won’t look as good.
The MS-1 music server sounded superb, was user-friendly, and wouldn’t look out of place in the priciest audio system -- which pretty much checks all the boxes on my list. Geek that I am, if I were getting a Wyred 4 Sound server, I’d probably shell out the extra $500 for the MS-2, with its increased RAM and bigger hard drive. And if I already had a Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2 DAC, getting an MS-2 just so I could use Wyred’s proprietary I2S connection would be a no-brainer.
The Wyred 4 Sound MS-1 is a fantastic deal. | 2019-04-21T04:47:34 | https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/430-wyred-4-sound-ms-1-music-server- |
0.999999 | Last time saw the start of our 1,000 mile electric road trip. We navigated the Tesla model S south from London, then under the sea aboard the Eurotunnel Shuttle. We've left the car charging at a rainy hotel car park in Calais in preparation for our epic day's drive down to the town of Lorange. Meanwhile, Luke and I have gone inside. Search of food. So we've lucked out slightly. Yeah. Out of the cold and into Continental Buffet. [MUSIC] It's not just electric soup cans though [UNKNOWN] is it? We're using electricity for all kind of Things. For example, I mean, here you'll see eggs being cooked through the application of heat and water. Star rating? I would say a real solid four out of five stars. [SOUND] Eating and ranking appliances kills about an hour, but every minute we wait means more range for the next stage. At last it's time to key in our next charge point 200 miles away. The car isn't keen though, and wants to take us there via another charge point in Lille. We don't want to get stranded, so we trust the car. The car it's very easy to drive, it's very smooth. Very similar to other electric experiences we both had. Would that be fair to say Andy>>I'd say that's fair>>Yeah, it's eerily silent, very smooth accelerations through ghosts away Right. In a very satisfying way and can feel the power. We can feel it but, with car requesting a detour, we aren't using it for fear of burning through our range. Cautiously, we make our way down the motorway to Lille. [MUSIC] We're going to stop here for about 20 minutes, give it a quick boost. Then get on our way. We should have enough power to get to the next stop anyway, but never hurts to have more. Actually, it kind of can. But as we cruise down to our next charger, we haven't fully realized the toll that stopping at extra chargers is taking on our schedule. For now it's a bite to eat, a power nap, and the companionship of our animal friends. [SOUND] Leg two was 200 miles, but it wasn't because that's the one when we should have gone from [UNKNOWN] to the charger, and it didn't. It took us to a different one en route, so whether it lets us go directly from here to [UNKNOWN], we'll see. It doesn't. The car wants us to make another half way stop even though the range indicator does suggest we can make it all the way. As the detour takes us further and further from anything resembling a motorway we start to get a bad feeling The detour is slow, the roads are slower. I'm really not convinced If it's worth the tradeoff in time, it's a little bit tougher because we don't know how smart the computer is, like if it's taking everything into account. I just missed turning. That's a dirt road. We are now cruising through very rural France on these tiny little roads. How has this happened? Why has this happened? Where are we? What's going on? I mean, we don't really know where we are. I'm hungry. It's going to get dark soon. We should really have remembered that on an electric trip, detours don't just add driving time, they add charging time too. And if the charger you are detouring to is a little out of the way your travel time can quickly balloon out of control. Having topped at the cars charger at the next stop, we make a tough call. Our initial plan was to get into Orange, in southern France for 6PM. That is turns out was well, Oddly unrealistic. Cause it's now half past six and we would still have four and a half hours just of driving time to get to [UNKNOWN] from here, excluding About two hours of charge maybe. About two hours of charge as well. Now we are going to stay in a hotel South of Leon which is about two hours. Less time. At 10:30 pm, after nearly 20 hours on the road and 600 miles traveled, we arrive at our impromptu stop for the night, an Ibis hotel with a charging station. We've made terrible time but hey, we're not stranded and we saw some chickens. Tomorrow, Barcelona. If it says we've got 100 kilometers to bear, then we can make it. The car's making a new noise. | 2019-04-19T22:28:35 | https://www.cnet.com/videos/through-europe-in-a-tesla-model-s-part-2-electric-detour/ |
0.998484 | Can you Suggest form improvements?
I have the following form (attached to this post as a Thumbnail).
I want to make it user-friendly, specifically, bring it up to the modern web standards, namely, I am looking for things that that I think are modern and are user friendly and are great when considered by themselves, but together they may even conflict. And I need some help figuring out what will work best for my situation and what is technically possible.
Right now the user enteres fields into the form, into the editable fields on the left. Then user can save the fields by clicking Save, or click Del to delete the row. User can Add a new row at the bottom.
* user can use `Tab` key to navigate from one `<input>` field to the next, normally, as before, and edit values inside.
I am not a UI expert, but I did stay at a holiday Inn last night do work with some who are. So, I can say with certainty that the right UI is directly related on the context of the data being presented to the user and understanding "how" the user would use the data. Your example has been genericized so it is unclear what the data is or how it would be used. So, any suggestions provided would need to be evaluated on the actual need.
I think the idea of making the fields not editable until the user double-clicks (or used some other control for enabling them) is a good idea. The display of the tabular data definitely needs an update. I don't know how many rows of data you would normally display, but alternating grid rows might be a good idea. As for "adding" records; instead of having the input fields always be displayed, you could just have an "Add" button and then provide a dialog when clicked. The benefit of this is if you want to have a view where the user can just see "the data". But, if the users will more often than not be adding data, then having a separate dialog might add more work to the user (again it's all about context).
I assume the values of the fields to the right are dependent upon the editable fields on the left. If so, you would want to implement AJAX to auto update the rows when changes are made. This *could* be a problem if you want to update the row/record whenever an individual field is changed if that process has any delays.
I really like the second one, am going to integrate this into my project.
I thought the above ones were a bit bloated, not to mention not all free. | 2019-04-19T08:28:28 | https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/292342-can-you-suggest-form-improvements/ |
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0.998552 | Boston or NYC in December?
I'm going to be flying out of the US on Dec.18 so I can either fly out of Boston or NYC. I was planning on staying for a few days in either before my flight. I have been to NYC several times and I love it and don't mind going again but I thought this time I could visit Boston since I've never been there before. I've done some research and it looks like December is not recommended for Boston because of the cold and there aren't many tourists around so I'm not sure if that will be a good idea or not.
Which one would you recommend? Boston/NYC?
Boston's temperatures in December would not be that much different from New York's. Maybe a few degrees colder but being on the water moderates the cold.
There are plenty of tourists in Boston at that time, and everything a tourist might do is open and available except for water activities (whale watch, harbor island tours, etc.). It's a lovely time to be in Boston with skating on the Frog Pond in the Christmas lit Boston Common and special holiday music events.
What do you like to do? The Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Gardner Museum are both wonderful. You can walk the Freedom Trail, which wends its way right through the city. Many buildings to visit along the way so you're not outside walking for a long time.
New York is wonderful as well, but since you've been there it might be fun to explore a new city. Boston is compact and walkable, and the subway system is pretty easy to use.
Weather in Dec is not SO different in Boston and NYC. Boston is a little colder and gets a little more snow -but you can get very cold temps and a lot of snow in either one - possible in Dec although more likely in Jan/Feb. In either case you will need a full winter wardrobe.
So unless you are a delicate flower used only to tropical climates I would definitely go for Boston since you haven;t been there and it' a fascinating city, although not that large.
CW thank you for the info. I like your suggestions, I like to walk around a city so The Freedom Trail is a great option. I like to explore the outdoor activities, catch a show, do some shopping..
nytraveler, I have seen some harsh winters, thank you for asking! It does look like Boston is a better option.
If you have any more ideas please let me know Also, what area do you recommend for a hotel to be close to these attractions?
Recommended areas of Boston will include words like Back Bay, Faneuil Hall, Copley, Downtown in the description. There is also a Convention Center/Seaport area which is fine most of the time but just a bit farther away from most of what you are likely to want to see - and less accessible to public transit.
Be careful booking in Boston - since rates are so high lots of hotel call themselves things like Boston/Waltham - or some other name. They are not actually in Boston and even a few miles out could take quite a while on public transit.
One thing that is fun in winter is to take a Boston North End (Italian area) food tour. They stop in 6-8 little shops and the total distance walked is about 1/2 mile - so you have plenty of opportunity to get warm. Ice skating on the Boston Common (they have skate rentals) will make you feel like a kid again.
It takes a lot of snow to shut Boston down, and December is not generally a really big snow month. Still, bring warm and waterproof footwear, since stepping off the curb into a slush bowl can ruin you for the day.
December in Boston is pretty wonderful.
Both the Handel and Hadyn Society and the Boston Baroque Orchestra do Handel's Messiah, the Nutcracker is playing at the Ballet, the Boston Pops will have a string of concerts. If you like music, the choir at Emmanuel Church in the Bsck Bay (Episcopal) sings a complete Bach cantata before the principal service each Sunday, and many of the performers are "alumni" who sing when they are home from performing .
The museums are gorgeous, and the Gardner, only three blocks from the MFA, has an enclosed courtyard filled with flowers, perfect on a dark day.
The Common and Public Garden are lovely if it snows, and Beacon Hill is beautifully decorated.
Hello! I highly recommend NYC during these days since the place has a lot of sights to offer. And New York is not that cold during this month compared to Boston.
Nothing comes close to New York in December. It's great.
As much as I like Boston for sightseeing, I agree with BigRuss about New York in December. Historically, the weather in NY and Boston in December is almost exactly the same (average high temperature, average low temperature and amount of precipitation).
One reason I recommend against going to NYC in December, despite it being BY FAR my favorite US city to visit: that month is one of the highest of high seasons for the Big Apple, and lodging will be at its costliest. Boston will be cold, no doubt, but NYC will be jammed and even more expensive than usual -- and "usual" in that place is already pretty costly.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Although I love NY and wouldn't mind going there again, I have to agree with PaulRabe that hotels are very expensive at that time. I compared both locations and Boston hotels are at least half the price compared to NY.
I've lived in both cities, Boston much longer than NYC, and love them both in December. NYC, especially in areas tourists are likely to frequent, is very, very crowded in December because people love the holiday atmosphere and who can blame them? But it's not for me.
Boston's tourist crowds tend to descend in leaf season and around the Marathon. December to me is a perfect time to walk around our old fashioned and compact city. Lights on the Common, sometimes a fading rose bush still in bloom in the Public Garden, tea at an old hotel, gas lights and elegant decorations on Beacon Hill...and the low scale and funky charm of Cambridge is a pleasure for shopping, particularly on the stretch of Mass Ave between Porter and Harvard Squares. I'd take the Red Line to Porter and check out the wonderful independent Porter Square Books (with good cafe) in the large, not very charming shopping center there, and then stroll back along Mass Ave, which still has many unique and unusual stores--Abodeon for mid-century modern, Clothware for pretty well-priced clothes, small restaurants & bars. You wind up in Harvard Square with the appealing Yard, Harvard Book Store, Brattle Theater, Harvest Restaurant.
CharlotteK, if you don't work for the Boston tourist board, you should!
IMO, much of the Christmas-themed stuff in New York gets absurdly overcrowded and the shops are simply unbearable.
I'd stick with Boston and save the money. Weather will be comparable in both, which isn't saying much.
sf7307--nope--don't work for the tourist board. But I love my city--especially around the winter holidays! I've got a whole other special love for the waterfront areas as well, but that's nicer in warmer weather.
travelgourmet I agree with you on that. | 2019-04-20T20:42:32 | https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/boston-or-nyc-in-december-1029203/ |
0.999999 | Guess which three-letter American agency has been in the news again this week? That's right, the National Security Agency (NSA), which has been slowly hacking their way through the list of people it might not be a good idea to hack. Topping that list are French President François Holllande, with his official residence at Palais de l'Élysée riddled with NSA malware, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose cell phone conversations were apparently recorded along with 35 other world leaders.
It also emerged that the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, has had his personal email account infiltrated, and over 70 million phone conversations were recorded by the NSA in France. Over 30 days. That bears repeating: in France, over 30 days. It's probably safe to say that the number of unmonitored phone calls in less secure corners of the world *cough* the Middle East *cough* is extremely small. Angela Merkel phoned the US President to complain about the "serious breach of trust" that the snooping represented. If he missed anything the Chancellor said to him, Obama can presumably get the agency to play the call back to him.
Now we go switch coasts from Washington DC to San Francisco, where Apple unveiled the latest incarnation of its iPad series, the iPad Air. The fifth-generation tablet is super-thin at 7.5mm, making it 20 per cent thinner than its predecessor. Initial rumours of a fingerprint scanner and gold edition failed to materialise, and Tim Cook has switched favourite words, from "incredible" to "fantastic". He's lucky there are so many words for "good". The iPad Air has the same 9.7in screen as the iPad 4, but it curves around the sides, which makes its fans happy. It's also lighter at 454g. The iPad landed alongside the new MacBook and Macbook Pro, as well as the new OS X, Mavericks, which was available for free from Tuesday night.
Samsung and Microsoft have both made moves towards creating their own rivals to Google Glass. Samsung filed a patent for smart "sport glasses", while Microsoft has been toying with different designs for its own technological headgear. Since the Samsung Galaxy Gear landed earlier this year, Samsung has got itself something of a reputation for doing things first, if not always doing them right. With Google's Glass still in the testing phase of its first 10,000 units, this might also be true of commercially available smart eyewear.
Security firm FireHost has revealed that malware has surged in the third quarter of this year. Two distinct types of attack, SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks have both risen by a shocking 32 per cent. This is largely due to the increasing availability of automated tools to perform these attacks, which were previously the domain of the more skilled hacking practitioners. Kind of like what Instagram did to photography, in other words.
As a final note, Michael Dell wowed crowds with a shock appearance at the Dell technology Camp in Paris on Wednesday. Our own Aatif Sulleyman, who was covering the event, nearly fell off his chair, and is still recovering from the shock.
Next week, our special correspondent Alysia Judge is getting a sneak peak at the Skolkovo Innovation Centre in Moscow, and security reporter Will Dalton will be heading to the RSA conference in Amsterdam. We can also safely assume that the NSA will turn out to have hacked someone else - but who? The Pope? President Obama? The ITProPortal team? Follow us next week to find out. | 2019-04-20T10:27:39 | https://www.itproportal.com/2013/10/26/weekend-roundup-the-nsa-is-hacking-everybody-apple-launches-the-ipad-air-and-companies-rush-to-launch-google-glass-rivals/ |
0.99883 | Can Jeremy Corbyn turn Chingford red?
The FT's Joshua Chaffin reports from Tory bastion of Chingford in outer London. Long a stronghold of the Conservatives - past MPs include Norman Tebbit and Winston Churchill - Jeremy Corbyn's Labour believe they could win the seat at the next election.
Filmed and produced by Josh de la Mare.
As Jeremy Corbyn plots a path to power, he is entertaining an idea that was once unimaginable for the Labour party - capturing Chingford. The suburban constituency on the outskirts of London is the land of the white van man and a Conservative bastion.
Labour getting a foothold up here is possible, but very unlikely, I would have thought. Because these people around here, they won't elect Labour.
Corbyn drew a surprisingly robust crowd when he spoke in Chingford after last year's general election. Look at you all here today. We're young. We're old. We're black. We're white. We're everything because we're united on the kind of world we want to live in.
Labour lost the Chingford and Woodford Green seat by less than 2,500 votes, but standing in its way is history. Chingford has been represented over the years by Winston Churchill, and later, Norman Tebbit, one of Margaret Thatcher's closest allies. And for the past 26 years, Iain Duncan Smith, or IDS, as he's better known. His hard line on Brexit and benefits have made him a bogeyman of the left, but beloved by William Tozer, a retired delivery driver.
IDS. He always comes over here and knocks on the door to make sure we haven't changed our vote. I think being a Tory is a person who you work hard, you buy what you want, and you don't go anywhere for anything. I've been a Conservative man all me life. And I wouldn't change for Corbyn. I don't think he'd make a good leader in any case. He's not my sort of man.
But Chingford is changing, according to Liz Baptiste, a child of Caribbean immigrants from the windrush generation who is now running for a council seat in May's local elections.
I've been living in Chingford now for 18 years. And when I first moved to Chingford - and I'm going to have to use this language, and do forgive me - it was spot the black. And I say black you could expand that even more to say spot the ethnic minority. But now from since then till now, it is just such a big difference. Chingford is diverse.
While Liz Baptiste is a Corbyn fan, she admits the proudly socialist leader is not everyone's taste.
It's like Marmitet. You either love it or you hate it. And I think that's the view for Jeremy Corbyn. But I always put it back to say, what about our labour values? So forget the man.
You said you usually vote Labour. Do you think they have any chance?
Yeah, he seems like a very nice, down-to-earth, more in touch with reality. Kind and compassionate and thinks of people more than the rest of them.
Gentrification is also shaking things up, particularly in the Highams Park neighbourhood. Young urbanites are moving in, bringing their politics with them. Wine bars and cafes have followed. The newcomers have been priced out of central London.
Tim Bell, who works in video production, moved six months ago from Hackney.
Couldn't afford a house there, so we've just had to move farther out. Here seemed like the most -- the best value for houses and schools.
He has his doubts about a Labour takeover anytime soon.
He's progressive, and wants to try and bring back some of the old style Labour principles, but I'm just not sure that he can thrive in this kind of ultra-capitalist society.
Labour put up a good fight last year, John Moss, chairman of the local Conservative party, concedes. But he still can't see them luring the white van man of Chingford.
There's a certain independence about them, a certain arsiness basically - making your own way in the world with your own van and your own tools. They work hard. They make their money. They buy their house. They want to see their kids set up.
And I think as long as Jeremy Corbyn is playing this fairly hard left, fairly controlling, fairly high tax kind of agenda, he's never going to get those votes. He's feared by a lot of people. They actually genuinely think that his economic policies will bring ruin to our country. Some people, particularly in the Jewish community, fear him for other reasons. So is Chingford about to go red? I don't think so.
Liz Baptiste disagrees. Cuts to education and other bread-and-butter issues are awakening dormant voters, even affluent, older voters. If you take, for example housing. It's very difficult for people to buy property, so you find people who were diehard Tories saying no, enough is enough. We want better for our children. We want our children nearby. Why should they have to move to Milton Keynes?
It's a lot to balance for Anouska Atherton who has always voted Tory, but who recently moved to Chingford for its better schools and ended up voting Labour.
People are stuck between a rock and a hard place here. Certainly, I would be very happy to vote Labour going forward. I'm not in the privileged position financially I was previously. But I just could not have Jeremy Corbyn as our prime minister.
But you voted Labour. I did, because I'm kind of torn. Because Iain Duncan Smith is my local MP, so I kind of voted tactically, not that it made a difference.
And what is it about Iain Duncan Smith?
My father was a miner in the strikes and that kind of thing. So I've got a lot of family history that go with that kind of personality.
So it's not easy to vote for an arch Tory?
Labour thinks Chingford is for the taking. But it will require more than changing demography to defeat the Conservatives here. Jeremy Corbyn will have to swing some voters in the middle and convince those who had given up on Labour that it is alive and well in Chingford after all. | 2019-04-26T08:27:19 | https://www.ft.com/video/4ac45dee-4ff2-4979-9e13-52044998259f |
0.997258 | I would like to build a group of constituents who opened a previous email that can then be used as the target group for another email.
You can use the Message Open Report to identify constituents that have opened an email message and then build a group from those report results. Follow the steps below to do this.
You now have a group of constituents that opened a previous message which you can use as a target group within your next email. | 2019-04-18T14:40:38 | http://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/106746 |
0.999999 | THE talks opened earlier this year to consider the future of Northern Ireland are "suspended," not "broken down," Irish Foreign Minister Gerard Collins told a group of Monitor editors recently.Moreover, according to Mr. Collins, considerable popular support exists for a renewal of those talks. He cited a July poll that found strong majorities of respondents in Ireland (87 percent), in Britain (79 percent), and even in Northern Ireland (73 percent) favoring resumption of discussions. "And 99 percent of the people within all jurisdictions fully recognize that violence is not the way and can never be the way," he said. Since 1985 there has been an agreement between the two governments, Collins said, "the main thrust of which is that it gives the government of Ireland an opportunity to present the viewpoint of the minority nationalist [or] Catholic population in Northern Ireland on issues of great concern to them. "That has been a considerable step forward in the arrangements between the two governments," he said. The mostly Protestant unionist community, which favors keeping Northern Ireland as part of Britain, has never accepted the accord. And so it was a great surprise to many this spring that the leaders of the two main unionist parties agreed to take part in talks on the future of the province, which began in May. The sessions were carefully timed to take place in a hiatus between regular sessions of the intergovernmental conference provided for by the accord. This maneuver let the unionists construe the accord as "suspended," since they had vowed not to enter into any talks while the accord was in effect. To have postponed sessions of the intergovernmental conference indefinitely, however, would have "eroded the foundations of the accord," Collins said, and so the decision was made to suspend the talks in July, before any real progress could be made. Of the unionist leadership's stonewalling, he said: "They've lost credibility like nobody's business." But he also described an interview he gave on Northern Ireland radio, before talks started. "The main thrust of what I was trying to say [was], 'Look, the prize for all of us at the end of this is peace.... Our approach to these talks is on a "no-winner, no-loser" basis. If we are winners, they lose, therefore we can't have agreement on that.' And I think that that struck the right chord." Excerpts from the discussion follow: What is the Republic's position on the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland? It started off with basic civil-rights demands in the mid-1960s. So the British Army came in to protect the minority population from the security forces in Northern Ireland at the time. Then, at that stage, the [Irish Republican Army] became involved and they stirred up the troubles between the population and the British Army, and they moved in on it and it became a different issue. The British Army is there, in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, in an effort to defeat terrorism. Its absence or immediate withdrawal from Northern Ireland wouldn't guarantee us what we're looking for, peace and stability. How confident are you in the Royal Ulster Constabulary's efforts to get more Catholics or more nationalists into their ranks? They have not been successful in doing that, as of now. You will have to understand that there were a whole series of questions asked with regard to the impartiality or the lack of it [by the RUC]. I think on the whole that the RUC are making a very determined effort to try and win the confidence of the people in Northern Ireland. Has Prime Minister Major been much involved in the Anglo-Irish accord? He has, I would think, every intention of ensuring that a long-term solution will be found. But there is a British general election in the offing now. Would a Labor victory in the British general election affect British policy vis-a-vis Ireland? I believe that the policies of this government will also be the policies of the next government irrespective of who that government might be, because they are based on common sense and logic. | 2019-04-25T10:14:02 | https://www.csmonitor.com/1991/0925/25062.html |
0.999815 | Marvel fans and casual viewers alike can breathe a sigh of relief- the year-long buzz has not merely been hype (kind of like the Justice League-oops). It’s the real deal.
I attended an early screening of the film on Monday, February 12, thanks to a Twitter – IMAX partnership, which gave fans the opportunity to participate in a #blackpantherlive Twitter conversation with the stars of the film and then watch the movie in IMAX. At the New York City-based event, the stars answered questions, and even gave viewers across the country an opportunity to take a peek at an inside joke that led Lupita Nyong’o (who plays Nakia) to cash in on a bet and make Michael B. Jordan (Killmonger) do a push up on the spot. While the conversation was entertaining, moviegoers applauded as it came to an end. It was time to watch the film.
Obligatory spoiler warning: I won’t be revealing any key plot points but if you don’t want to know anything at all about the film, now would be a good time to stop reading.
Imagery: Wakanda is not quite like anything I’ve seen before. As an avid moviegoer, I’ve seen plenty of films featuring East African plains and rural environments. But the juxtaposition of roaming goats against a (hidden) metropolitan city teeming with street vendors, pedestrians, professionals and other worldly technology felt like my wildest dreams coming to life. As a Jamaican, I reminisced on my most recent trip there and wondered, briefly, how things would be if we had just some of that wealth.
Be prepared to feel almost overwhelmed with the amount of details and images that cross the screen. From flying wigs to zipping trains, you may often be transported so quickly from one amazing shot to another that you won’t realize you were holding your breath until it’s over.
The cinematography is very much in line with the Marvel style – broad, sweeping shots of action scenes, appropriate slow-motion edits as cars flip over and things blow up, and what I loved most – a poignant scene where T’Challa struggles with responsibility, grief, and loss. It is more beautiful in film, thanks, in part, to Hannah Beachler (production designer for “Moonlight”).
And yes, everyone is black.
The Story: One of the issues that some Marvel movies face is that a strong story line is often sacrificed in favor of witty banter, gravity-defying action, and the overarching need to connect to the other characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in preparation for the Infinity War. Save for a plot hole that I suspect may be answered soon, this movie didn’t have that issue.
Viewers get to see a younger King T’Chaka as Black Panther, a son of Wakandan tradition and willing to uphold it at all costs. It isn’t long before we realize just how harmful tradition without empathy can be (sound familiar?).
The theme of tradition and calling on the ancestors for guidance is what powers the film, which is why Erik Killmonger, similar to Magneto, is a “villain” we can relate to. Misguided, but only because he subscribes to the Machiavellian “ends justify the means” tactic that ends up doing far more harm than good. I’ve never taken to villains or antagonists who were evil just for the sake of it. Erik’s reasons are sound – his method is not. Michael B. Jordan is a master at playing these kinds of characters. There’s nothing one-dimensional about Killmonger and you know why almost immediately. I only wish that the script was filled with the kind of dialogue that would support the full range of this character. There were several times when I was left wanting him to say more.
The Dora Milaje – King T’Challa’s all-woman security team- is a fan favorite. From the vibrant red of their armor to their synchronized battle style, I was excited whenever they were on screen. As a fan, I expected more from them but frankly, Okeye (played by Danai Gurira) was all that mattered. She, along with Nakia and Shuri (T’Challa’s genius little sister who heads up Wakanda’s tech) quite literally save the day on more than one occasion. You know how in Harry Potter everyone knows Harry would’ve been dead if not for Hermione?
Same thing, except T’Challa isn’t nearly as incompetent.
My Take: There will be a lot of conversations surrounding some of the themes that emerge from the film: love, tradition, and duty, to name a few. As a first-generation American, I closely identified with the struggle T’Challa faces as pressure comes from multiple sides to have Wakanda open its doors to refugees and distribute foreign aid. Wakandans live hidden – shrouded in the belief that in order to thrive, they must keep to themselves. But with unimaginable wealth and technological resources, T’Challa and others grapple with the guilt in turning a blind eye while other Black people of the diaspora suffer.
Black US immigrants often deal with similar struggles, with many instructing their children to stay indoors and focus on attaining their piece of the American Dream. We’re often told outright that we can’t solve worldwide problems and our best bet is to focus on ourselves and our families. This means getting degrees with high ROIs, buying homes, and adhering to respectability politics, as to not ruffle any feathers. We don’t have the freedom to be too loud, too joyous, or too black.
Our parents were and are trying their best to secure some modicum of financial and social freedom for themselves and their children. And in Black Panther, Wakandans who cling to tradition are trying to maintain theirs.
Black Panther premieres worldwide on Friday, February 16.
In response to today’s Daily Prompt: Simmer , I’ve decided to write about how and why I value “letting go” of painful situations and experiences.
I grew up on the higher end of the middle class spectrum in Queens, New York. My childhood was filled with generally “normal” things: class field trips, curiosity, some bullying/teasing, and excelling academically. It was also filled with not-so-great aspects; a painful relationship with my weight, discord within family, and often feeling that I didn’t quite belong.
Young adulthood brought more difficulty – eating disorders that spanned well over a decade, anxiety, anger, embarrassing break-ups, and sexual and physical assault. The sudden death of my cousin shook me to my core as my anxiety worsened and I became almost obsessed with my own and others’ mortality, my thoughts often plagued with the various ways that I could die.
A few years ago, a relationship that wasn’t right for me prompted an abuse of alcohol that I now recognize as self-medicating. I had not properly dealt with my trauma. I had not asked the tough questions or gotten the help I needed. What made my struggle particularly challenging was my fabulous talent for masking my emotions. My own mother said to me that she only learned a few years ago that I’m as sensitive as I am. In all of her Leo-ness, she wears her heart on her sleeve. If it’s hard for my mother – who’s about as involved and caring as a mom can get – to see me, then it’s pretty much impossible for any other person.
With all of that said, I go back to the title of this post. For those of us who cook, we know that simmering means to prepare something at a temperature just below the boiling state. Simmering breaks down cartilage in bones and thickens soups and stews. It is the difference between fluffy and burnt rice. Simmering is tough preparation.
Few of us have lived a charmed life and I recognize that we all internalize pain and trauma differently. I recognize that these things also manifest in our lives differently. But I learned something extraordinarily powerful a few years ago. I could either live my life as a reactionary response to my pain – or I could simmer in it. I could let the pain break me down but firm me up at the same time. I could feel it, acknowledge it and then…let it go.
Forgiveness is often met with derision from those who conflate it with absolution. But forgiveness is the foundation of gratitude. It’s when we forgive others and mainly ourselves, that we can begin to live a life free of the toxic dumpster fire that is bitterness. I’m not saying it can or even should happen overnight – simmering takes time. But eventually you have to get out of it. Because what lies on the other side is a peace so whole that you wonder why you couldn’t or didn’t try it sooner.
I am not a guru. I am not an expert. I am, however, thrilled to be on this journey. And I want others to be able to feel what I longed to feel for so many years – better.
Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Together, the two decide that they’re attracted to one another. They go on dates, communicate via texts and calls on a daily basis, and share some of their most deepest secrets. After some time, one or the other decides that they don’t want the either to date or sleep with anyone else, so they decide to become “exclusive”. Although they are only dating each another, they are not in a committed relationship. Boy and girl are increasingly at odds with one another. Jealousy arises. Miscommunication is a norm.
Situationship (n): A waste of everyone’s bloodclat time.
In a recent article by Cosmopolitan, a situationship was defined as “the catch-all term for those relationships sitting at the intersection of “hooking up” and “in a relationship.” A label for those who don’t have a label. A situationship is essentially the squib of the wizarding world. For non-Harry Potter nerds, a squib is person born of a magical parent or parents who doesn’t have the ability to perform magic. They’re perfectly fine people, but they just don’t serve much purpose as far as magic goes. The same goes for situationships. They’re about as useful as a pair of flip flops in a snow storm; they serve a purpose, just not one that is best for you.
Women are almost always getting the short end of the stick in the deal. If I had a dollar for every woman in a situationship who actually wanted to be in a relationship, I’d be writing this from a balcony in Seychelles. Women have been conditioned to accept the terms that men define for them and the relationship, or lack thereof. Because she does not want to be alone, or “catch another body” she settles for whatever she can get.
They are rooted in dishonesty. Let’s face it, if you wanted to be with them, you would. The world may not be in black and white but when it comes to matters of the heart, it’s usually much easier than we make it out to be.
Words matter, and the very nature of a “situationship” is based on a situation, not an agreement. A car breaking down is a situation. Your two best friends fighting is a situation. Who you choose to spend your time with should be anything but.
It’s a functional form of dysfunction. Situationships or their cousins “exclusive dating”, are ideal for those who have issues with commitment. For those who’ve been reading this blog for a while, y’all know how I feel about grey areas. You are either committed or you aren’t. Nuance is great except when feelings are involved. Show me a situationship, and I’ll show you two people bound by their mutual dysfunction.
This post has been a long time coming, as I’ve dealt with my own “case of the ex” a few times now.
An inconvenient truth in the majority of relationships is that you won’t be the first, second, or even third person who has captured the heart of your mate.
When you agree to become someone’s partner, you implicitly acknowledge that they were an entire person who once loved and cared for another long before you were even a thought in their heads. And while that may be uncomfortable for some, it can be even more uncomfortable when the object of their longstanding affection takes up space in your current relationship.
This is the ugly truth about exes: sometimes they don’t ever really go away. Like lingering spirits who haven’t moved on from this world into the next, their presence still hangs around.
And that’s why I don’t believe exes should be friends in almost any circumstance.
In a perfect world where romantic feelings can be packed up and shipped off to the land of dead relationships, exes can certainly befriend one another, interacting with civility and pleasantness. They may even be the best of friends.
But such a world doesn’t exist, and in this world, we move through life with tokens of our past attached to us, making up the essence of who we are. And so, by the time you meet someone that you hit it off with, and fall in love with, you’re aware that this person wasn’t plucked out of the universe unsullied. You weren’t, either. But you both make it work, creating a new reality, and ultimately, a new future.
So what happens when an ex resurfaces in your relationship?
Some women react harshly: directly addressing the interloper and telling her to stay wherever the hell she came from. Others are more relaxed, feeling confident that whatever once was, is no more. And therefore, she has no reason to be worried.
I advise women to play their position. And to NEVER address the other woman. Your issue is not with her. If the fear of a past relationship being rekindled is strong enough, then that means your partner is providing kindling for that fire – take that up with him.
The one thing you must know is that no matter how beautiful, trustworthy, kind, and doting you are, you cannot compete with the unresolved affections of a past love.
You deserve a love that is so whole, honest, and full, that neither of you cannot imagine how life would be without one another. And that kind of love should not be begged for, it should be freely given.
These words were texted to a young woman who was questioning the direction of her relationship with someone. You may be familiar with the phrase because during a fit of a rage/sadness, she shared the text conversation on Twitter, citing it as evidence that she had been played and mistreated.
Long before #uberbae and #hurtbae, there was the #staylowandbuildbae.
And much to her chagrin, few people rallied around her but rather used the text thread against her. It was pretty obvious that he was playing her with “stay low and build,” right? Well, maybe.
Long before staying low and building, women have been told to “keep it on the down low,” “keep things quiet,” and a host of other creative ways to basically shut the hell up about the non-relationship. But discretion doesn’t automatically equate to nefarious intentions. Sometimes, it’s just about the personalities of the people in the couple-ship.
For example, I’m relatively low-key about sharing details about my significant other, both before and after we decided to be in a committed relationship. No one but us knows personal details and we’re keeping it that way.
It may also be a good idea to keep your dating situation on the low if you’re dating several people who are in the same social circles. Running your mouth prematurely may (read: will) jeopardize your prospects with others who don’t want to be associated as 1 out of the several that you’re dealing with.
So how do you know if someone is moving in silence because they want to keep things simple or to string you along?
Ask them about their intentions. Early. If you know you’re looking for a committed relationship, say that (without demanding one), and ask him directly what he wants.
Pay attention to how he acts when you’re out in public. Are you going to places that are in the cut? Is he often looking around, as if he’s on edge?
Does he remember key details about you or are things pretty shallow? I don’t mean if he remembers your birthday – does he remember that you prefer tomatoes on your sandwich, or vodka over cognac? Random details are hard to keep track of if you don’t take an actual interest in a person.
Is there any progression in your relations? Have you met key friends, family, and associates?
Has he asked you for things that are “girlfriend-esque” but never discussed a commitment?
The main things you want to look for are transparency and sincerity. And neither of those traits can be proven by saying a few words. Words, action, and consistency should all be working together to show you that the person you’re dating is taking you seriously, whether he’s shouting it from the rooftop or not.
But be honest with yourself. Are you keeping things hush-hush because that’s how you move or because that’s how you’ve been told to move? | 2019-04-21T22:20:38 | https://adrispeaks.com/category/love/ |
0.998872 | Special counsel Robert Mueller is said to be focused on four key events as they relate to President Donald Trump.
Mueller's focus on these events indicate he is drilling down on the obstruction-of-justice thread of the Russia investigation.
Mueller has long been pushing for a face-to-face interview with the president, which reportedly could come within as little as a few weeks.
The special counsel Robert Mueller's team has indicated to President Donald Trump's lawyers that prosecutors will ask him questions about four key events as part of the Russia investigation, CNN reported.
Those events are not the full extent of Mueller's focus, the report said, but they constitute significant threads of inquiry. The revelation bolsters reports over the last few months which indicate the special counsel is closing in on the White House as he investigates whether Trump sought to obstruct justice when he fired Comey last May.
The White House initially said Comey was fired because of how he handled the Clinton email investigation. But Trump later said on national television that "this Russia thing" was a factor in his decision. He also reportedly told two top Russian officials that Comey's firing had taken "great pressure" off of him.
Comey testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee last June that Trump had repeatedly asked him for his loyalty and to let go of the FBI's investigation into Flynn shortly after Flynn's firing. Comey gave no indication that he would do so and was later fired.
Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser in February 2017, when it emerged that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with Sergei Kislyak, then Russia's ambassador to the US. Flynn pleaded guilty in December to one count of lying to federal investigators about his Russia contacts during a January 2017 interview with the FBI.
Trump tweeted the day after Flynn's guilty plea was unsealed that he had been forced to fire Flynn because he "lied to the FBI." Legal experts said at the time that if Trump knew Flynn had committed a crime when he asked Comey to drop the FBI investigation into him — as the tweet indicated — it would significantly bolster the obstruction case against him. Trump's personal defense lawyer, John Dowd, later claimed he authored the tweet.
Meanwhile, Trump attracted significant scrutiny last summer when The Washington Post reported that he "dictated" an initially misleading statement that his son, Donald Trump Jr., released amid reports that the younger Trump met with two Kremlin-linked lobbyists at Trump Tower at the height of the 2016 election. Trump Jr. had to amend the statement several times as more details spilled out about the meeting and its purpose.
One of the lobbyists, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, pitched the meeting, which took place in June 2016, to offer kompromat on Clinton.
National-security experts and former intelligence veterans largely agree that the interaction, which also involved then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and senior adviser Jared Kushner, was part of Russia's effort to infiltrate the Trump campaign. Both Veselnitskaya and Trump Jr. have said nothing came of the meeting.
The elder Trump and his lawyers said he had no knowledge of the meeting. But a series of revelations, in addition to The Post's report of Trump's involvement in crafting the statement, raised questions about what the president knew of the meeting and when.
Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, reportedly insinuated that Trump was aware of the meeting when it took place.
Bannon, who called the meeting "treasonous" and "unpatriotic," added that "the chance that Don Jr. did not walk these jumos up to his father's office on the 26th floor is zero," according to Michael Wolff's thinly-sourced book, "Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House." Bannon later apologized for the remarks but did not walk them them back.
Meanwhile, Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for the Trump legal team, planned to tell Mueller in January that White House communications director Hope Hicks may have hinted at concealing crucial emails that were exchanged before the Trump Tower meeting.
Corallo reportedly told Mueller that Hicks told himself and Trump during a conference call last July that the emails "will never get out." The call is said to have concerned Corallo for several reasons. For one, Corallo reportedly believed Hicks may have been suggesting that the emails be concealed.
More importantly, he was concerned because Hicks had made the statement without a lawyer present and while the president was on the call, meaning the conversation was not subject to attorney-client privilege and could have opened Trump up to legal jeopardy.
In addition to those events, prosecutors will also reportedly ask questions about Attorney General Jeff Sessions' involvement in Comey's firing — a move that baffled legal experts last year, given that Sessions recused himself from any matters involving the Russia investigation two months before Comey was fired. Moreover, prosecutors are said to be asking questions about whether Trump knew of Flynn's phone calls with Kislyak during the transition period, and if so, to what extent.
Mueller's focus on these four events comes as Trump's lawyers have been angling to sidestep or significantly narrow the scope of an interview over the last few months.
It also comes as Trump reportedly considers firing White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who has largely advocated for a cooperative approach toward the Russia probe. Trump's personal defense lawyer, John Dowd, is also said to be considering resigning because he believes he cannot control the president's behavior.
And earlier this week, Trump added Joseph diGenova, a controversial and combative former Washington prosecutor, to his legal team. The developments indicate that the president is leaning more and more toward resisting the special counsel and taking a more aggressive approach toward Mueller.
The president's legal team and Mueller's prosecutors are still duking it out over the scope of a face-to-face interview, multiple reports have said, but the two sides could come to a decision within as little as a few weeks. | 2019-04-23T04:41:57 | https://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-team-will-ask-trump-comey-flynn-trump-tower-meeting-obstruction-of-justice-2018-3 |
0.999197 | Reason For Cleaning Your Septic Tank. Cleaning the septic tank is a very unfulfilling task. Cleaning the septic tank is however very necessary for the management of the system. Many people will turn a blind eye when it comes to cleaning the septic tank. Whether you want to clean it or not you should. It is important to clean it so that it can not be damaged when there are floods. It is costly to repair a damaged septic tank. Cleaning the septic tank can be very easy especially if you have help. You can also get a service provider to help you clean the septic tank. It will cost you less than waiting for the septic tank to fill. The service provider will help you clean your septic tank very smoothly. The is because they are experts in the fields. The the contractor should familiarize themselves with the location of the septic tanks. You need to know every thing about it before cleaning it. The location of the tank is important because of many things.
All the manholes and potholes should be closed when the septic tank is being cleaned. Plants around the septic tank could at times cause damage to the septic tank especially if they have long roots. Some roots will block the service provider from getting around the septic tank. You should ensure that there is no plant that can cause damage to the septic tank. Plant that will destroy the septic tank should be cleared.
Every once in a while you should clean your septic tank. There is problem that may arise from failing to clean the septic tank. You should also mark the location of the tank to avoid accidents that could arise. This will make sure that your family members are kept safe. Children should be kept away when the contractor is working on the septic tank. Keeping children will reduce their risk of getting hurt. Make sure that the area around the septic tank is free of any person that might get injured in the process. Cleaning the septic tank involves the service provider to have a huge truck with a nose. The nose is used to pump out the sludge from the septic tank. The hard things in the septic tank are broken by the metallic rod together with the sludge. The metal will also be used to mix the sludge to make it very easy to get pumped. This process is repeated until all the sludge is pumped out of the septic tank. The number of times the sludge is going to be pumped out will be dependant on the household. The the amount of water the people in a household use will determine the number of times the sludge is going to be pumped out. The service provider will determine the rate of pumping. | 2019-04-24T11:54:55 | http://www.jessewhite2014.com/looking-on-the-bright-side-of-septictank.html |
0.999114 | Can we be saved like the penitent thief on the cross?
I occasionally receive questions from people who visit my site. As I've said before, I always appreciate the questions I receive from you. It shows me your interest in the topics we study, and it often requires me to delve more deeply into the word of God as I answer them. This study is beneficial for me, as I hope it is for you.
Recently I received a question from a student regarding the thief on the cross. The example of the thief is frequently used as support for the doctrine stating that baptism is unnecessary for salvation. Someone may say, "I want to be saved like the thief on the cross." I believe they mean that their desire is to have faith in God, and that faith leads God to grant them salvation as they pray to Him and ask Jesus to come into their hearts. What can we learn from the thief? In this study, I will present the account of the interaction between Jesus and the thief, address the period of time in which they lived, review the New Testament teachings regarding salvation today, and summarize our study.
In preparation for this study I searched the internet for teachings regarding the thief on the cross. To my surprise I could find little erroneous information on this topic (at least within the first few pages of results to my query). I thought I would find many more pages teaching the idea that we can be saved today like the thief was then. This finding heartened me. I hope my study is of value to those who may have questions regarding the thief.
Before we can fully understand the interaction between Jesus and the thief we must consider when they lived. Please turn to Hebrews 9:15-17. Here we read, "And for this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth." From these verses we learn that the new testament (the new covenant) did not go into effect until after Jesus' death. From these verses we also learn that the blood of Jesus went back, to forgive the sins of those who were obedient to the commandments given them under the old covenant ("for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament"). We read again of this action of Jesus' blood in Romans 3:25, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;". Why was it necessary for His blood to go back and forgive their sins? Because they were not forgiven prior to His death! Hebrews 10:4 records, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." So, the sins of the people under the law of Moses were never forgiven, but were overlooked by God through His forbearance. All who had faith in God (manifested by the works in their lives, as with Abraham and his willingness to offer Isaac) prior to Jesus' death were considered righteous and were granted salvation, even though their sins weren't forgiven. When Jesus died, those overlooked sins were forgiven. When the thief was hanging on the cross with Jesus, they were both still living under the law of Moses. Since Jesus hadn't yet died, the new testament was not yet in effect. The thief demonstrated his faith in God through his statement to Jesus on the cross. This faith allowed God to overlook his sin, just as the sins of untold numbers of people prior to him were overlooked. However, just as with those before him, his sin was not yet forgiven. When Jesus died, the sins of the thief and of all who had faith in God through the prior centuries were forgiven. His faith allowed Jesus to state, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."
The period of time under which Jesus and the thief lived has passed forever. Now, God doesn't overlook sin. He has given His Son for our redemption and instantaneous forgiveness for those who are obedient. God has told us what we must do to receive the forgiveness of our sin. In Colossians 1:13-15 we read, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins:". Who is the "whom" recorded by Paul in this verse? It is the "dear Son" mentioned before the colon. Whose "dear Son" was this? He is the Father's dear Son. Who is the dear Son of the Father? Jesus Christ. But how does one get "in" Jesus Christ to gain access to the forgiveness of sins available through His blood? In Galatians 3:26,27 Paul tells us that, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Notice the "into" in this verse. How does Paul say that one gets "into" Christ? Through baptism. How does one gain access to Jesus' blood? By getting "into" Him. How does one gain forgiveness of sin? Through the cleansing blood of Christ. Therefore, what is absolutely necessary before one can be forgiven? Baptism. Through baptism, we get into Christ (Gal 3:26,27). By getting into Christ, we have access to His blood (Col 1:13-15). His blood is able to wash away our sins (Col 1:13-15). The one who fails to get "into" Jesus Christ has no access to the redeeming power of His blood.
I have a simple analogy that I think applies to our discussion above. I'm sure I'm not the only one to ever use this analogy. It is fairly simplistic. When you arose from bed this morning, you likely had the clothes you planned to wear hanging in your closet or folded in your dresser. After making the preparations necessary for dressing, you put on your clothes. At what point in time were you in your clothes? We all realize that we aren't in our clothing until after we have put on our clothes. For the one who seeks salvation, at what point in time are they in Christ, gaining access to the redemption present through His blood? Not until after they put Him on. We see in Galatians 3 that everyone who has been baptized into Christ has put on Christ. Is one in Christ before baptism? No. Just as we are not in our clothing before we put on our clothing, we are not in Christ until after we put Him on. The only way to put on Christ is through baptism into Christ!
Today, can one who is unforgiven enter heaven? No. Hebrews 10:26,27 shows us the fate of those who resume willful sin after obedience--there is no more sacrifice for sin: "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." So one who has never been obedient has never had access to the cleansing blood of Christ, and the one who has obeyed but resumed willful sin has lost access to His blood. Those who are unforgiven have only eternal damnation to look forward to. So, can one who has refused baptism be saved? No. Without baptism, one is not "in" Christ. Without being in Christ, one cannot have access to His blood that washes away sin. Without forgiveness of sin, one has only eternal damnation to look forward to after death.
You know, if God allowed us today to enter paradise in the same fashion as did the thief on the cross, He owes Jesus a tremendous apology. By doing so God would be saying to Jesus, "I had planned all along to allow them into paradise. Really, your suffering and death were meaningless. If they just ask me to overlook their sin, I'm happy to do it. Your blood wasn't necessary for them to be righteous before Me." It sounds crazy, doesn't it? But if all we had to do to be saved was to pray a simple prayer to God, how are we any different than those who lived before Jesus came to earth? As we saw with the thief, people prior to His death were allowed into paradise despite being unforgiven. If we are, in essence, no different than those people, why did Jesus have to come to earth and die on the cross? The only answer must be that something has changed for us. That "something" is that we must now come into contact with something the people prior to Jesus could never access: The cleansing blood of Jesus. So, upon His death the possibility of entering paradise in a like fashion to the thief ended forever.
In this brief study we have reviewed the account of Jesus' dialogue with the penitent thief. We have showed from the scriptures that they both lived under the law of Moses. In the scriptures we've seen that those under the law of Moses were granted access to paradise, despite having sin that was unforgiven. During this period of time, God overlooked sin through His forbearance. The grace of overlooked sin was available only to those who were obedient. When Jesus died on the cross, those overlooked sins were forgiven and the law of Moses ceased being a valid covenant between God and man. Upon His death, mankind entered a new covenant with God. This covenant contains no provision for overlooked sin, since mankind now has access to instantaneous forgiveness through obedience to the commandments of God. God commands that we come in contact with the cleansing blood of Christ, who has served as the propitiation ("mercy seat") for our sin. The path to access to the blood of Christ has been clearly laid out for us in the scriptures: We are redeemed through the blood of Christ, but have access to this blood only if we are in Him. We put on Christ by being baptized into Him. Therefore, today we CANNOT be saved in a fashion like unto the thief on the cross.
I haven't addressed speculation regarding the thief. Some approach the fact the thief was granted access to paradise without being baptized with the statement, "How do we know he wasn't baptized?" They reference the baptism of John when making this statement, and the possibility the thief may have been baptized under John's baptism. We don't know whether the thief ever submitted to the baptism of John. The Bible doesn't tell us. As we've seen, it is irrelevant whether he did or didn't. People prior to John were granted access to paradise (Lazarus was recorded as being in "Abraham's bosom" in Luke 16:23; Enoch was "translated that he should not see death", recorded in Genesis 5:24 and Hebrews 11:5; Elijah was taken directly into heaven in a chariot of fire, recorded in 2 Kings 2:11). None of these men (Abraham, Enoch, or Elijah) ever had access to any form of water baptism. So, whether the thief was baptized or not is irrelevant.
I hope this study has been of benefit to you. As always, you are invited to e-mail me with questions should they arise. I'll be happy to address them to the best of my ability. | 2019-04-18T22:37:58 | http://noeo.net/salvation/penitentthief.htm |
0.998664 | What can we say about a brother who is as famous as St. Thomas Aquinas (1125-1274)?
Has not everything been said that can be said? The answer to the latter question is evidently 'no', as the many publications in English, German, French, Spanish, and Dutch that are being published each year attest. It is amazing to think that one holy life could prove to be such an enigma, such an inspiration, that even more than seven centuries later we still study the works written by this remarkable man.
I will not dare to even attempt to summarise brother Thomas's life and achievements. But if you would like to read more, try to get hold of the lively biography by Simon Tugwell O.P. in the joint volume on Albertus Magnus and Aquinas in the Classics of Western Spirituality Series. Or read the extensive study by Jean-Pierre Torrell O.P.
What I would like to do is to share three little snippets on why I think that Thomas Aquinas is a great Dominican.
Firstly, because he was a man of strong faith who was willing to go where his quest for Truth would take him, even if that meant engaging with non-Christian sources of thought. He respected his sources, criticised them where necessary, but tried as much as possible to bring them in; to win, in the words of Frederick Bauerschmidt, every good argument for Christ.
Secondly, because he was passionate about his work. The sheer amount of his works that has been preserved testify to this. But he was even more passionate about preaching. Anyone who has ever read, or attempted to read, Thomas’s writings, will be surprised by the lively contrast between his writings and his sermons. It is the same man, no doubt, but he seems to show, much more openly than in his academic writings, his passion for the good news of the Gospel.
Thirdly, because he had a good sense of humour, which, in an academic, is a rare quality that should be treasured. We know from his biographers that he could be pleasant to and patient with his fellow Dominicans. And occasionally we encounter some little jokes in his academic writings. But what really made me laugh, was when, recently at supper, a brother showed me how Thomas's post-communion prayer seems to contain a limerick! You can read more about St. Thomas's Limerick here.
If you can combine deep spirituality, with good theology, an openness to the world and a sense of humour, then surely you must be a great, if not one of the greatest, Dominicans. | 2019-04-21T00:41:31 | https://www.torch.op.org/godzdogz/great-dominicans-thomas-aquinas |
0.999995 | Could this be the end of A-level psychology?
Back in the late 1960s an academic named John Radford hatched a plan to take psychology out of the university and into the school classroom. The result of his efforts was the establishment of A-level psychology. While only a handful of candidates began their studies in 1970, today more than 50,000 are entered for the exam each year, making it the fourth most popular A-level.
Radford, now professor emeritus of psychology at the University of East London, says that one of the motivating factors behind his efforts was to bring more females into science. He certainly succeeded in this, for around 70% of all A-level psychology candidates are girls. Girls also outperform their male psychology classmates by a considerable margin year on year.
Despite its success at A-level, there remains a reluctance to view psychology seriously - at least within schools. Despite its designation as a science, psychology is usually to be found attached to humanities or social studies and GCSE psychology has never really taken off in the same way as A-level (only a small number of schools offer it). This would suggest that schools tend to adopt psychology because it's popular and not because it's useful.
More recently, psychology in schools has taken a bit of battering from government with the massive reduction in funding for the training of psychology teachers (while other sciences like biology, physics and chemistry have been viewed more favourably). Neither has psychology been included as one of the EBC (English Baccalaureate Certificate) science subjects, despite some psychology topics being taught as part of GCSE biology. The decoupling of AS and A-level will also, undoubtedly, have a major negative impact on the study of psychology in schools.
It's certainly not that government doesn't respect psychology, it's just they often prefer to call it something else. Take, for example, Michael Gove's new favourite education guru 'cognitive scientist' Daniel Willingham – cognitive scientist? That's psychologist to you and me. Take the government's Behavioural Insights Team (or 'Nudge' Unit), populated with 'behavioural economists' – yes, they're pretty much psychologists too.
So why would we want to see psychology included in any replacement for GCSEs anyway? Psychology provides an alternative route into science, one that pupils (particularly girls) might find more relevant to their lives. Certainly its popularity can't be ignored and this can only be seen as one of its major strengths. Psychology is also a critical science, it is not only critical of itself – it is also critical of science generally and places emphasis on the need for evidence in the process of knowledge construction.
Evidence is perhaps so important in psychology because psychological evidence is often more difficult to obtain due to the nature of its subject matter (and psychology has always been aware of the necessity to be accepted as a 'proper' science) – the methodology, therefore, becomes just as important as the theory because if that's wrong, the theory doesn't stand up to scrutiny. This is difficult for many younger pupils to understand but the acquisition of such skills is vital if we are to produce the scientists of the future.
So, what does the future hold for psychology in schools? Its popularity is perhaps its greatest strength (at least at A-level) but its popularity has also led to the view that it's less worthy than the more traditional sciences – if it's popular then it can't be worthwhile. This is despite studies that have found psychology to be comparable to other sciences in terms of the demands it places on candidates and considerably more demanding than some of the subjects that will be included in the EBC. Nevertheless, the media's often negative view of A-level psychology and its absence from the Russell Groups list of facilitating subjects will no doubt lead to many parents dissuading their children from opting for a subject that is often seen as undemanding and of little use (even for undergraduate study in psychology).
The British Psychological Society is due to publish its report into the future of psychology in schools shortly – a report compiled with the help of teachers, academics, the Higher Education Academy and the National Science Learning Centre. It remains questionable, however, whether government will even read it, let alone act upon it. Ironically, the next five years could witness the demise of A-level psychology altogether, due to many young people deciding against committing two years to a new subject that they might not enjoy and opt, instead, for the new style AS. This itself would no doubt put pressure on many schools to do away with an undersubscribed full A-level in psychology.
Perhaps if we promoted psychology as 'cognitive science' or 'cognitive neuropsychology' or even 'neuroscience' it would be looked on more favourably. This might also help to equalise the gender imbalance found in A-level psychology. It would also follow on the heels of some schools who have changed the name of religious studies to 'philosophy and ethics' (or such similar designation), with quite a remarkable change in attitude from pupils (despite the content staying pretty much the same).
The fact that few schools have adopted GCSE psychology makes any possibility of having it included in any future qualification highly unlikely. Nevertheless, it's perhaps time we began to identify why psychology is often viewed so unfavourably and treated so unfairly in comparison to other sciences. What also needs to be discussed is how the inclusion of psychology in the school curriculum (at all levels) can help to promote science in general, leading to a possible change in attitude from youngsters who might be in danger of rejecting science altogether – particularly girls and pupils who feel excluded from traditional science subjects.
Marc Smith is a chartered psychologist and teacher at a secondary school in North Yorkshire. Marc is a member of the GTN teacher panel and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. Follow him on twitter @psychologymarc. | 2019-04-22T08:41:20 | https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/feb/19/psychology-a-level-threat-reform |
0.999999 | When talent agents John and Ethel Ross discovered Anna Marie Duke, they told her that "Anna Marie is dead. You're Patty now."
This life-altering change was just one of many traumas in Duke's life. Duke was born in Queens, New York on 14 December 1946. Raised by an alcoholic father and a manic-depressive mother, Duke left home with the Ross couple at age eight. Her stardom was soon to follow as she bowled audiences over with her role as Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker. At age 16, Duke became the youngest person (at the time) ever to win an Oscar.
From 1963 to 1966, Patty starred in her own TV series, The Patty Duke Show, in which she played two parts - a "normal American teenager" and the teen's identical cousin from England. But behind the scenes, she was sexually abused by John Ross, had access to prescription drugs and alcohol, and had to do housework and cooking for Ethel and John. She has said that it took years of therapy for her to recover repressed memories of the sexual abuse. And she hated "Patty," yet the other cast members had no inkling of the misery that hid below the surface of the hard-working, talented child.
Duke escaped the Ross's clutches by marrying director Harry Falk, a man almost twice her age. Over the next two decades, Duke fell in and out of marriges, suffered drug and alcohol abuse, suicide attempts and anorexia and was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. She was treated with lithium, a drug that has helped her balance her life.
Now, Duke is an activist for mental health issues, with a Web site that addresses many mental health problems and books that have helped her purge her past. In 1985 until 1988, Duke was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, the second woman to hold the position. Coincidentally, in the same year she also played the first female President of the United States in the sitcom, Hail to the Chief.
She authored two books, one her autobiography, Call Me Anna, and Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness. In December, 2007, Duke was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of North Florida for her work in advancing awareness of mental health issues.
Suggest an addtional category for Duke Anna Marie "Patty" | 2019-04-23T12:29:41 | http://www.biography-center.com/biographies/18733-Duke_Anna_Marie_Patty_.html |
0.999999 | Question An overweight 12-year-old male patient with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has had little improvement in liver steatosis or triglyceride levels over the past 2 years. Is omega-3 supplementation useful in managing his condition?
Answer Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children is prevalent in the Canadian population and can lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, transplant, and reduced life expectancy. There is no recommended pharmacologic treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Omega-3 fatty acids are associated with small improvements in liver steatosis and triglyceride concentrations. There are conflicting results with regard to liver function test results and insulin resistance, and while there might be histologic improvement revealed on biopsy, there is little evidence that fibrosis is improved. In children who have struggled to be consistent with the changes needed in their diet, particularly those with elevated triglyceride levels, there might be a role for omega-3 supplementation while continuing to focus on the mainstays of treatment (diet and physical activity); however, further research is still needed.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a leading cause of liver disease in children and is related to the overweight and obesity epidemic.1 Defined as hepatic fat seen in excess of 5% of hepatocytes in the absence of alcohol use and viral-, autoimmune-, and drug-induced liver disease,2 it ranges in severity from fat infiltration and accumulation in the liver (steatosis), to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, characterized by inflammation and risk of progression to fibrosis, cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma.1,2 The pathogenesis of NAFLD is multifactorial, but hepatic steatosis ultimately develops from an imbalance between processes that increase intrahepatic fat content (eg, hepatic uptake of lipids from the diet or peripheral adipose tissue in the context of insulin resistance; de novo lipogenesis) and those that reduce it (eg, oxidation of fatty acids; synthesis and export of very low–density lipoproteins).
Currently, no pharmacotherapy is indicated for the treatment of pediatric NAFLD, but some practitioners recommend pharmacotherapy for children presenting with a more aggressive clinical course (eg, steatohepatitis and fibrosis). Vitamin E has been shown to ameliorate liver histology findings in children17 yet is not superior to placebo in reducing serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels,18 and concerns regarding long-term safety have limited its use in practice.19 Other medications such as insulin sensitizers,20 statins,21 and supplements (eg, ursodeoxycholic acid, vitamin D, probiotics)9 have been shown to be ineffective or have been inadequately studied to support evidence-based use.12 Use of omega-3 supplementation for the treatment of pediatric NAFLD has also been investigated.
A 2007 position paper from the Dietitians of Canada and the American Dietetic Association emphasized the importance of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid consumption and recommended 2 servings of fish per week (approximately 500 mg/d of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) for healthy individuals 2 years of age and older.25 Interestingly, a cross-sectional analysis of 223 patients recruited from the NonAlcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network sites across the United States reported that children with NAFLD consumed only 10% of the recommended amount of fish and only 5% of the recommended omega-3 intake.26 This suggests that omega-3 supplementation might have a beneficial effect on patients with NAFLD.
Nobili et al performed a study assessing the effect of long-term (18 months) DHA supplementation on histologic outcomes of 20 patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD; DHA use was associated with significant reductions in NAFLD activity scores (NAS) (P < .001), steatosis (P < .001), ballooning (P < .001), and lobular inflammation (P < .05) from baseline.33 A subsequent randomized controlled study of children with biopsy-proven NAFLD and vitamin D deficiency assessed the effect of 24 months of DHA (500 mg) and vitamin D (800 IU) supplementation on liver histology findings; only those patients receiving treatment had repeat liver biopsies at the end of the study (n=18).34 Treatment was associated with a decrease in NAS, steatosis, ballooning, and lobular and portal inflammation. Similar to the previous study, treatment did not lead to significant changes in fibrosis.
Indirect evidence of the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on histology findings has previously been provided by studies examining consumption of a Mediterranean diet (rich in omega-3) or a diet rich in fish. The Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for Children and Adolescents was used to measure adherence in 243 patients and the authors found that higher adherence was associated with lower NAS, grade 2 fibrosis, insulin resistance, and C-reactive protein levels.35 Notably, all children diagnosed with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis had low adherence.35 Likewise, St-Jules et al26 reported that higher fish intake was protective against portal inflammation and was associated with a protective trend against lobular inflammation.
The literature to date suggests that there might be a benefit to using omega-3 fatty acids in patients with insulin resistance owing to the effects on fatty acid storage and hepatic lipogenic synthesis; however, this needs to be investigated further.1 Nobili et al32 showed an improvement in the insulin sensitivity index (improved insulin sensitivity) with 250 and 500 mg of DHA supplementation compared with placebo. In a follow-up study, the same group measured homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and found that levels were statistically significantly reduced at 6 and 12 months compared with placebo, and that levels were also reduced, but not significantly different, at 18 and 24 months; HOMA-IR levels were reduced with only the 250-mg dose of DHA and not the 500-mg dose of DHA in long-term treatment.28 Boyraz et al29 also found a greater improvement in HOMA-IR levels following 12 months of 1000 mg of polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation compared with placebo. Two studies showed no difference after 6 months and found similar HOMA-IR levels in the omega-3 and placebo groups; however, one of these studies did report statistically significantly lower fasting insulin levels.30,31 These differences in results could be due to the weight-dependent dosing in one study or regional differences in diet and activity (Italy, Poland, Turkey).
While many studies include changes to serum liver enzyme levels as outcome measures, only the meta-analysis by Chen et al showed a statistically significant effect of omega-3 fatty acids in reducing ALT.27 While ALT has been used as an outcome measure in studies investigating omega-3 supplementation in NAFLD, it does not adequately reflect disease severity37 and for this reason the results should be interpreted with caution. Even patients with normal or low (< 2 times upper limits of normal) ALT levels can have serious histologic findings and fibrosis, further underscoring the limitations of this biomarker as an indicator of liver disease severity.38 Two studies did find statistically significant differences in aspartate aminotransferase and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase levels,29,31 but these results have similar shortcomings.
Omega-3 supplementation is associated with a small benefit for children with NAFLD based on surrogate markers such as steatosis, liver function test results, triglyceride levels, and insulin resistance, and its exact effect on clinical outcomes or long-term survival is difficult to determine with currently available data. Improvements in steatosis and triglyceride concentrations seem likely when omega-3 supplements are used in addition to appropriate lifestyle changes. Liver enzyme and insulin resistance changes are uncertain owing to the heterogeneity of results. Some evidence suggests that histologic changes might occur, but that fibrosis is not likely to be reduced. The latter might be challenging to assess owing to the natural history of fibrosis in the context of NAFLD, which is typically slow to progress and challenging to determine in short-term studies. In children who have struggled to be consistent with recommended dietary change, there is perhaps a role for omega-3 fatty acids. Continued focus on diet and lifestyle changes should remain the mainstay of treatment with a focus on long-term adherence.
Child Health Update is produced by the Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (PRETx) program (www.pretx.org) at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Mr Clerc and Dr Mouzaki are members and Dr Goldman is Director of the PRETx program. The mission of the PRETx program is to promote child health through evidence-based research in therapeutics in pediatric emergency medicine.
. Omega-3 fatty acids: mechanisms of benefit and therapeutic effects in pediatric and adult NAFLD. Crit Rev Clin Lab Sci 2016;53(2):106-20. Epub 2015 Oct 14.
. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children: focus on nutritional interventions. Nutrients 2014;6(11):4691-705.
. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a challenge for pediatricians. JAMA Pediatr 2015;169(2):170-6.
. Histopathological characteristics of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children: comparison with adult cases. Hepatol Res 2011;41(11):1066-74.
. Histopathology of pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 2005;42(3):641-9.
. Long term prognosis of fatty liver: risk of chronic liver disease and death. Gut 2004;53(5):750-5.
. The progression and natural history of pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Clin Liver Dis 2016;20(2):325-38. Epub 2015 Dec 14.
. The natural history of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children: a follow-up study for up to 20 years. Gut 2009;58(11):1538-44. Epub 2009 Jul 21.
. A guide to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in childhood and adolescence. Int J Mol Sci 2016;17(6):947.
. Diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents: position paper of the ESPGHAN Hepatology Committee. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2012;54(5):700-13.
. NASPGHAN clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children: recommendations from the Expert Committee on NAFLD (ECON) and the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2017;64(2):319-34.
. Clinical advances in pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 2016;63(5):1718-25. Epub 2016 Mar 4.
. Prevalence of fatty liver in children and adolescents. Pediatrics 2006;118(4):1388-93.
. The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 2015;10(10):e0140908.
. Hepatic steatosis is highly prevalent across the paediatric age spectrum, including in pre-school age children. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2018;48(5):556-63. Epub 2018 Jul 11.
. The diagnosis and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: practice guidance from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Hepatology 2018;67(1):328-57. Epub 2017 Sep 29.
. Pioglitazone, vitamin E, or placebo for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. N Engl J Med 2010;362(18):1675-85. Epub 2010 Apr 28.
. The TONIC trial: a step forward in treating pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology 2012;55(4):1292-5.
. Meta-regression analyses, meta-analyses, and trial sequential analyses of the effects of supplementation with beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E singly or in different combinations on all-cause mortality: do we have evidence for lack of harm? PLoS One 2013;8(9):e74558.
. Insulin sensitizers for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. World J Hepatol 2014;6(4):199-206.
. Statins for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013;(12):CD008623.
. Fish oil—how does it reduce plasma triglycerides? Biochim Biophys Acta 2012;1821(5):843-51. Epub 2011 Oct 25.
. Cellular and molecular effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on adipose tissue biology and metabolism. Clin Sci (Lond) 2009;116(1):1-16.
. Sources of fatty acids stored in liver and secreted via lipoproteins in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Clin Invest 2005;115(5):1343-51.
American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada.
Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada: dietary fatty acids. J Am Diet Assoc 2007;107(9):1599-611. Erratum in: J Am Diet Assoc 2007;107(12):2151.
. Estimation of fish and omega-3 fatty acid intake in pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2013;57(5):627-33.
. Omega-3 fatty acids as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clin Nutr 2018;37(2):516-21. Epub 2016 Dec 23.
. Docosahexaenoic acid for the treatment of fatty liver: randomised controlled trial in children. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2013;23(11):1066-70. Epub 2012 Dec 7.
. Long-term treatment with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as a monotherapy in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Clin Res Pediatr Endocrinol 2015;7(2):121-7.
. A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of docosahexaenoic acid supplementation on hepatic fat and associated cardiovascular risk factors in overweight children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2015;25(8):734-41. Epub 2015 Apr 25.
. Omega-3 fatty acids therapy in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a randomized controlled trial. J Pediatr 2015;166(6):1358-63.e1-3.
. Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation decreases liver fat content in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: double-blind randomised controlled clinical trial. Arch Dis Child 2011;96(4):350-3. Epub 2011 Jan 12.
. Role of docosahexaenoic acid treatment in improving liver histology in pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. PLoS One 2014;9(2):e88005.
. Docosahexanoic acid plus vitamin D treatment improves features of NAFLD in children with serum vitamin D deficiency: results from a single centre trial. PLoS One 2016;11(12):e0168216.
. Good adherence to the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk for NASH and diabetes in pediatric patients with obesity: the results of an Italian study. Nutrition 2017:39-40, 8-14. Epub 2017 Feb 27.
. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, fibrates and niacin as therapeutic options in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia: a review of the literature. Atherosclerosis 2015;242(2):647-56. Epub 2015 Jun 11.
. Paediatric gastroenterology evaluation of overweight and obese children referred from primary care for suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2013;38(10):1267-77. Epub 2013 Oct 1.
. Histological abnormalities in children with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and normal or mildly elevated alanine aminotransferase levels. J Pediatr 2014;164(4):707-13.e3. Epub 2013 Dec 19.
. Efficacy of dietary and physical activity intervention in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a systematic review. BMJ Open Gastroenterol 2017;4(1):e000139.
. The utility of radiological imaging in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Gastroenterology 2002;123(3):745-50.
. Validity of real time ultrasound in the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis: a prospective study. J Hepatol 2009;51(6):1061-7. Epub 2009 Sep 20. | 2019-04-21T20:27:42 | http://www.cfp.ca/content/65/1/34 |
0.998905 | Given the red-hot Vancouver real estate market, prospective buyers are casting their eyes toward other parts of the province, and this unique property in rural B.C. is billed as a "lifetime opportunity for the vintage automobile enthusiast" — because the $1.5M property comes with 340 vintage vehicles!
The property's owner, Mike Hall, admits he's lost count of how many vehicles he has stored on the five-acre property, but estimates it's more than 340 — possibly a lot more. He values the cars and trucks at being worth between $500 and $35,000 each.
According to the listing, the property is zoned to accommodate an auto wrecking/salvage/restoration business, making this "perfect for [a] vintage auto enthusiast who loves to work and live in a beautiful area."
Along with those spectacular mountain views, the $1.45 million property (zoned for auto salvage) includes a renovated house, a 900-square-foot restoration shop, a 1,200-square-foot steel building "and enough steel beams and rafters to build 8,000 square feet of covered space."
While that 340-car estimate is rough, <a href="http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/five-acres-for-sale-beside-the-trans-canada-highway-in-b-c" target="_blank">notes Driver.ca</a>, owner Mike Hall says he's probably added another 40 to his collection since he first listed the property in 2016. He's been collecting these vintage vehicles for 40 years, while they sit on the property gathering rust while waiting for auto enthusiasts to buy them.
The property's owner, Mike Hall, says he "was away 10 months of the year working around the province. I made more money than I knew what to do with, so I would buy cars all across B.C.,” which he would haul back to his salvage yard.
“I’m 60 years old and won’t live long enough to restore these cars,” says Hall, who's hoping to sell to somebody with the wherewithal to restore these vintage gems to pristine condition.
Among the vehicles are these vintage tow trucks — restore these first in order to move some of the others around.
One of the key selling points of the property is that it's ready for the new owner to jump right in to a turnkey auto wrecking and salvage business.
The property also includes this cozy house, which the listing notes has been recently renovated.
Restoration is underway on this gorgeous muscle car, hinting at the possibilities that could await the hundreds of vehicles waiting outside.
The property is located in Tappen, B.C., about a 10-minute drive from Salmon Arm and one hour away from Kamloops.
According to Driver.ca, the property boasts cars of just about every vintage, including 1955 to 1957 Chevrolet two-door station wagons and sedan deliveries, with the oldest cars including a 1926 Chevrolet roadster pickup, a 1927 Ford Model T pickup and a 1947 Mercury Ute. The collection also includes an array of muscle cars, ranging from a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu convertible to a rare 1966 Pontiac Beaumont SD (Sport Deluxe). | 2019-04-18T19:11:35 | https://www.hgtv.ca/real-estate/photos/unique-property-in-rural-b-c-boasts-spectacular-mountain-view-and-over-340-vintage-cars-1898297/ |
0.999995 | Workers of a Venezuelan oil giant, which was hit by the United States, have taken to the streets to support President Nicolas Maduro, calling on Washington to keep its “hands off” the oil industry.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who delivered a speech to the crowd, said all masks have been removed from the US President Donald Trump.
This is not abstract: it means literal starvation, literal mass murder.
In an address to the gathering, Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said that Venezuelans “have to reject, unilaterally, arbitrary measures of theft of Citgo,” a company which operates three refineries in the US.
The Trump administration announced a new round of sanctions against oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) earlier this week, to funnel income from the country’s main oil exporter into the hands of opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Guaido, who declared himself “interim president” last week, was immediately recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader by Washington and its allies.
Maduro described the sanctions as “illegal, unilateral, immoral, (and) criminal,” saying Washington intended to steal the company from all Venezuelans.
To support the elected government of Maduro, and denounce what they believe to be a coup d’etat, protesters took to the streets of the capital Caracas on Thursday.
Maduro himself addressed Trump in an English message on Wednesday, urging him not to get involved with Venezuela. "Hands off Venezuela! Donald Trump, hands off Venezuela!” he tweeted.
The Venezuelan president has accused Washington of masterminding a coup against his government.
In a show of solidarity with Venezuelans, people in Catalonia gathered outside the European Union's headquarters in Barcelona on Thursday night.
The rally organizers said it showed support for Maduro and protest “against the coup and internal interference” in the oil-rich country.
Earlier in the day, the European Parliament voted to recognize the self-proclaimed president as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and urged the European Union to follow suit.
The motion urges Brussels to accept Guaido as "legitimate interim president of the country until new free, transparent and credible presidential elections can be called in order to restore democracy."
Elsewhere in Europe, Greeks rallied to express their support for the elected government of Maduro and the Venezuelan people.
Demonstrators marched from central Athens to the parliament and the US embassy, holding flags of Venezuela and chanting anti-EU and anti-US slogans.
"What's going on at Venezuela since these last days is an ongoing coup d'etat which has been after a long plan performed by the USA government as well as the European Union, said former Greek Alternate Minister of Finance Nadia Valavani.
The Trump administration, which has been putting pressure on the government of President Maduro, has put “all options on the table,” including the military option, to remove him from power.
On Monday, Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton was seen at a news briefing in Washington holding a notepad that displayed the words “5,000 troops to Colombia.” The media have speculated that such a deployment could be in preparation for a possible invasion of Venezuela.
The Lima Group opposes any military intervention as a solution to the crisis in Venezuela, amid speculation that the United States is preparing for such aggression.
Venezuela’s Ambassador to the United Nations Jorge Valero said on Tuesday that the US was preparing for a “military invasion” of his country.
Following the move, the Lima Group — a 14-country bloc that includes Canada — expressed opposition to any military intervention in Venezuela, though it has already recognized the opposition leader as the president of Venezuela.
The bloc had also refused to recognize Maduro as president before he was sworn in for a second six-year term earlier this month.
Caracas accuses the US of being behind the crisis as part of a bid to topple Maduro’s government.
Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice has implemented precautionary measures against self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido. | 2019-04-25T20:09:35 | https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/02/01/587354/Venezuela-protest-sanctions-oil-industry-Maduro-Juan-Guaido |
0.99668 | Given the reaction to the case of White V Orange Cheddar, I was tempted to take the easy route today and ask: Which is better, pink grapefruit or white? But 1) I already know the answer (pink, by a grove) and 2) I have an opening for another back-story, one that's been bugging me. Why are grapefruit called grapefruit?
I checked a couple of books in arm's reach but am putting my trust, as always, in Waverley Root and his extraordinary "Food" (someone, somewhere, needs to find the un-truncated version of that manuscript and publish it online; it would go on for weeks). He says the old story is that some European botanist in the 1700s came across a fruit in Jamaica that tasted like grape, but of course that's nonsense, or otherwise wine stores would be more acidic. The other explanation, that this particular citrus grows in grapelike bunches, is also not true. As he says, "If individual fruits sometimes grow very close together, producing in this case a clusterlike effect, it is because the tree bears heavily, ripening up to 30 or 40 fruits on a single branch."
So there you have it. What's more fascinating is that the grapefruit is, as Root puts it, "an infant in a world where most commonly eaten fruits count their ages in millennia." It was only recognized as a species in 1830, and commercial cultivation only began in Florida 60 years after that.
The most everything-old-is-new-again detail in Root's essay, though: Grapefruit was a strange fruit to most Americans until the Great Depression, when it took off because citrus could be had for free with . . . food stamps. And I have to give him the last laugh: "This brought the fruit into families which had previously been so ignorant of it that welfare boards received the same complaint from a number of housewives: They had boiled grapefruit for hours and it still remained tough."
Some years ago while renting a small rural apartment in Basse Terre Guadeloupe, I picked grapefruit off the trees in the owners extensive garden. I hate grapefruit, but it was the best pale yellow grapefruit that I have ever had. | 2019-04-21T00:41:48 | https://www.epicurious.com/archive/blogs/editor/2012/02/grapefruit-the-etymology-and-the-history-.html |
0.99933 | Q: In the shortlist published by RRB my roll number is not there. What does it mean?
(i)The posts requiring AT and/or TST is your lower priority as compared to the posts not requiring AT and TST and your roll number may have been included for provisional list of one of the Non Third Stage (NTS) posts e.g. Commercial Apprentice (CA), Traffic Apprentice (TA), Goods Guard (GG). Result of these posts will be published after AT and TST is done along with the result of posts requiring AT and TST. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
(ii) Your priority for the posts requiring AT and/or TST was higher than NTS posts but your marks are lower than the cut off marks for shortlists of AT and/or TST. Cut off marks for the shortlists of AT and TST are available on the websites of RRBs. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
(iii) You have not secured qualifying marks necessary for the community concerned (UR-40, SC-30, OBC-30, ST-25) in the second stage examination. You can check this aspect by ascertaining your normalized marks by logging in via link provided on website of RRBs.
(iv) The priorities of posts given by you did not include AT and/or TST posts. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
(v) You are borne in the debar list of RRBs or you were caught indulging in malpractice during second stage examination or you were absent in second stage examination.
Q: My normalised score is higher than the cut off marks of the shortlist for AT and/or TST but in the shortlist published by RRB my roll number is not there. What does it mean?
A: The posts requiring AT and/or TST is your lower priority as compared to the posts not requiring AT and TST and your roll number may have been included for provisional list of one of the Non Third Stage (NTS) posts e.g. Commercial Apprentice (CA), Traffic Apprentice (TA), Goods Guard (GG). Result of these posts will be published after AT and TST is done along with the result of posts requiring AT and TST. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: My normalised score is lower than the cut off marks of the shortlist for AT and/or TST. Does it mean I am out of the process of selection?
A: Not necessarily. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: I have been shortlisted for both AT as well as TST. What happens if I fail in both the tests?
A: This will depend on the priority given by you. If you have not given priority for non third stage post or your marks are lower than the cut off of the NTS posts (to be declared after conduct of AT/TST) then you will be out of the selection process. However, in case your marks are above the cut off of NTS posts (to be declared after conduct of AT/TST) your roll number will be reflected in the result published after AT/TST. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: I have been shortlisted for AT but not for TST although post requiring TST was one of my priorities.
A: the short listing will depend on the post priorities given by you. Your priority for AT posts must have been higher than the posts requiring TST. Your non inclusion in the short list for TST may be due to either you are below the cut off of the shortlist for TST or you may have been included for provisional list of one of the Non Third Stage (NTS) posts which was your priority between AT posts and TST posts. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: I have been shortlisted for TST but not for AT although post requiring AT was one of my priorities.
A: the short listing will depend on the post priorities given by you. Your priority for TST posts must have been higher than the post requiring AT. Your non inclusion in the short list for AT may be due to either you are below the cut off of the shortlist for AT or you may have been included for provisional list of one of the Non Third Stage (NTS) posts which was your priority between TST posts and AT posts. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: I have been shortlisted for both AT as well as TST. What happens if I pass in both the tests?
A: This will depend on the priority given by you. In case of AT posts, the merit drawn after written test and AT marks are added in the ratio of 70:30 you may get included in the result for the AT posts if you are within the cut off of the AT post list and AT post is your higher priority as compared to TST posts. In case of TST posts, you may get included in the result for the TST posts if you are within the cut off of these posts and TST posts are your higher priority as compared to AT posts. In case your priority includes NTS posts in between AT posts and TST posts and you are not getting into list of your higher priority third stage post, then you may get included in the list for NTS post if your marks are above the cut off the NTS posts in between. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: I have been shortlisted for both AT as well as TST. What happens if I pass in one of these tests and fail in the other?
A: This will depend on the priority given by you. Your final status will be based on your merit position and priority given by you.
(i) When AT post was your higher priority as compared to TST posts and you get qualified in AT as well as within cut off of AT posts, you will get listed for that AT post. If you fail in AT or below cut off of AT posts, your allocation for the subsequent priorities will be examined.
(ii) When TST post was your higher priority as compared to AT post and you get qualified in TST as well as within cut off of TST posts, you will get listed for that TST post. If you fail in TST or below cut off of TST posts, your allocation for the subsequent priorities will be examined. You are advised to wait for the publication of results after conduct of AT and TST to ascertain your final status.
Q: Why the result of NTS posts has not been declared along with the shortlist for AT & TST?
A: Many of the candidates included in the AT/TST shortlists and having these posts as their higher option are also higher in merit for NTS posts. In case these candidates fail to qualify AT/TST or falls below cut off of the AT and/or TST posts and their second stage rank is higher than the cut off of the NTS posts they will essentially get allocated to NTS posts. Therefore the allocation of NTS posts cannot be finalised before result of AT/TST is available. | 2019-04-25T07:08:30 | https://rrbexamportal.com/CEN-03-2015/faq-2nd-stage-exam |
0.999899 | You can make tasty spinach salad with hot bacon salad dressing, it's so easy to make this spinach salad. This is the perfect salad for an appetizer or as a hearty main course.
1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2.Place a wire rack inside of a jellyroll plan. Lay bacon slices over the wire rack. Cook bacon for 12 to 15 minutes in the oven.
3.Prepare the salad, place the spinach in a bowl, add tomatoes, chopped hard boiled eggs, and sliced red onion to the spinach.
4.After the bacon has cooked reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Chop the bacon and place it on the salad.
5.In a saucepan add the bacon grease, red wine vinegar, sugar, and Dijon mustard. Turn the heat to medium and begin to whisk the salad dressing until it beings to bubble, and the salad dressing turns into a uniform salad dressing.
6.Pour hot bacon salad dressing over the spinach salad, mix the salad dressing into the salad. | 2019-04-21T06:18:26 | https://ifood.tv/510259/1029948-hot-bacon-salad-dressing-spinach-salad |
0.99934 | How to get user's browser information?
I want the browser information in my email notification. This can be achieved with one of the widgets.
But I want only name of the browser and not the entire string of user-agent info.
Please guide me with right value/widget.
I'm afraid that that cannot be changed or extracted as separate information.
You could check this guide as well: https://www.jotform.com/help/234-How-to-Catch-User-s-Browser-Info with hidden box widget. | 2019-04-21T20:11:51 | https://www.jotform.com/answers/1297117-How-to-get-user-s-browser-information |
0.99963 | What can be done to improve income inequality?
Income distribution is the smoothness or equality with which income is dealt out among members of a society. If everyone earns exactly the same amount of money, then the income distribution is perfectly equal. If no one earns any money except for one person, who earns all of the money, then the income distribution is perfectly unequal. Usually, however, a society's income distribution falls somewhere in the middle between equal and unequal.
How do we measure this degree of equality or inequality? Economists often measure income equality by measuring how much income is earned by different segments of the population. For instance, if we break down all workers into five segments in terms of how much money they make: the top 20%, the second 20%, the third 20%, the fourth 20%, and the bottom 20%, and we obtain data on how much money they make, we can then create a chart detailing how much income each segment earns out of the total amount of income for all workers. The bigger the difference between the different segments, the greater the income inequality.
Let's say that the average incomes for five segments in a society are $10,000, $24,000, $50,000, $80,000, and $110,000. In order to look at income distribution, we need to see what percentage of total income each segment makes, rather than the actual amount of money each makes. Since each of the segments is equal in size, we don't need to worry about weighting the average incomes, and can do a straightforward part-over-whole calculation of each segment's earnings.
What these figures indicate is that the bottom fifth of the population gets less than 4% of the total income, while the top fifth of the population gets over 40% of the total income, indicating a large degree of income inequality.
Note that the total cumulative percentage, which should be equal to 100%, since it represents the total income earned by all workers, is only 99.9%. This sometimes happens due to rounding of numbers. | 2019-04-20T20:10:44 | http://www.sparknotes.com/economics/micro/incomedistribution/section1/ |
0.999947 | How can we confront the history of lynching?
I wasn't exactly rushing to confront the history of lynching when it slapped me right in the face at the King Center in Atlanta.
It was the summer of 2002. As the author of a book about the James Byrd Jr. murder in Jasper, Texas, I'd been invited to discuss why his killing was a modern day lynching. But first, my hosts insisted, I should walk through a traveling exhibit about the topic.
In a Thursday, June 11, 1998 file photo, the rear of the 1982 pickup truck owned by Shawn Allen Berry, 23, of Jasper, Texas, is shown. The ball of the hitch has been removed by the FBI in their investigation into the death of James Byrd Jr.
So, just moments before taking the podium, I walked through and viewed life-sized black and white images of human beings hanging from trees, bridges and poles. I heard weeping and a father drowning in sorrow as he explained to his young daughter what kind of crimes netted such cruelty. I saw, and felt, Billie Holiday's words from Strange Fruit.
Five minutes later, I was at the podium, trying to focus my thoughts on my presentation. For an eternity of quiet, I could not speak. I reached for a bottle of water, fumbling to get it open as a single tear rolled down my cheek. The somber audience knew I was beyond shaken by history, by ancestors. I was still in the mental thicket of Mississippi, Georgia and my native Texas.
There are plenty of people, black and white, who have no desire to see this type of exhibit or revisit a history that is still a tender human scab. Next year, author and freedom fighter Bryan Stevenson plans to open a permanent museum dedicated to the victims of lynching, and he will face controversy.
Even after researching and writing about the horrific dragging death of Byrd, I was shocked by the traveling lynching exhibit. Still, I think Stevenson's Memorial to Peace and Justice is long overdue and will provide a much-needed component for, as Stevenson puts it, "an honest experience" related to slavery and lynching.
"We cannot heal the deep wounds inflicted during the era of racial terrorism until we tell the truth about it," Stevenson said. And America has never dealt well with the reality of our conjoined racial history.
Stevenson led the charge in Alabama for three historical markers for lynching victims in a state that not only participated in this form of outdoor justice, but helped romanticize the era while ignoring the havoc it created.
Bryan Stevenson, who founded and runs the Equal Justice Initiative, in Dallas, Feb. 8, 2015.
If you don't know Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, I recommend watching this man give one of the best TED Talks I've ever viewed. His legal cases include successfully arguing to spare more than 100 death row prisoners from execution. But my favorite quality about Stevenson is his historical perspective on reconciliation.
The Equal Justice Initiative's five-year study, "Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror," painstakingly focuses on 12 Southern states, including Texas, between 1877 and 1950 when more than 4,000 lynchings occurred. The accusations against the victims ranged from perceived, social transgressions to sexual assault; many of those lynched had committed no crimes at all. Black people were accused of chastising children, wearing war uniforms, bumping into white women and being disrespectful.
Among the states with the highest number of victims is Louisiana, which also has five of the top 10 individual sites where the most lynchings took place. Caddo Parish, where I grew up, is No. 2 on the list, with 54 lynchings, only surpassed by Phillips County, Arkansas, the site of a single-event massacre where 244 black people were killed.
We can't wish away the horrors of slavery and lynching simply because it is painful. Nor can we dismiss how terror lynching played a key role in the forced migration of millions of blacks who fled the South. When we understand the legacy of lynching, we will make smarter decisions about contemporary issues like mass incarceration, disproportionate sentencing and absent male breadwinners. We must acknowledge history is part of the reason Americans are having such a difficult time healing and paying homage to a painful, incredible chapter. And for the haters who will write to tell me to "get over slavery" or how unpaid slaves who built the White House were "well fed," understand this: No one ever tells Jewish people to get over the Holocaust. And no one ever tells any other group not to have pride in its heroes.
My ancestors are patriotic black Americans who fought, bled and died, in every battle for this nation's victorious independence. Sadly, they have also been victims of the twin terrors known as slavery and lynching. I believe historical markers and a museum are great ways to address what Bryan Stevenson calls "a narrative of denial."
In Texas, Anderson County was near the top of the Equal Justice Initiative's list with 22 lynchings. At the traveling exhibit, among the most recognized killings was the Waco lynching of teenager Jesse Washington and the downtown Dallas lynching of Allen Brooks. Huge, smiling, festive crowds attended both murders.
In this May 2, 2016 photo, sisters Mary Pearson, left, and Evelyn Denise Mitchell hold the mayoral proclamation recognizing the anniversary of the Jesse Washington lynching in Waco, Texas. The sisters grew up hearing stories of the lynching from their grandmother, who was a relative of Washington.
A large crowd watches the lynching of Jesse Washington, an 18-year old black man in Waco, Texas. May 15, 1916.
That day, I told a patient audience about another, lesser-known lynching of an elderly black man in 1934. Like James Byrd in Jasper, Texas, his body was dragged behind a truck.
The Atlanta exhibit was based on the powerful book, Without Sanctuary, by Jimmy Allen. After the lecture, Allen, who was in the audience, introduced himself. We embraced through mingled tears.
We can confront all of American history, together.
Joyce King is the author of HATE CRIME: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas. Twitter: @writerjoyceking. | 2019-04-24T21:19:33 | http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2016/09/13/can-confront-history-lynching |
0.999542 | The man has spent 22 years in jail and has had three convictions dismissed. In two other trials, there was not a unanimous verdict. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Mississippi Supreme Court to review the sixth conviction, but the state court has rejected the claim of racial bias in jury selection. However, after the third conviction, the state court pronounced the prosecutor's decision to exclude 15 African-Americans as jurors a strong example of discrimination. He has excluded African-American jurors at a rate that is 4.5 times higher than the rate at which he did white jurors over a period of more than 25 years.
The case deals with the murder of four people at a furniture store in 1996. The accused man was a former employee, and the prosecution argues that he committed the murders in retaliation for being fired. However, the defense argues that the evidence against him is weak.
A person who is facing criminal charges may want to talk to an attorney about what to do next. The strategy may vary depending on the nature of the charges, the evidence and whether the person has any previous convictions. The person may want to go to trial in some cases while in other cases the best approach might be a plea bargain. In some cases, as in this one, an attorney might look at whether the person's rights have been violated and if the case can be dismissed. | 2019-04-22T10:06:08 | https://www.kestenbaumlawgroup.com/blog/2019/03/prosecutor-accused-of-racially-biased-jury-selection.shtml |
0.999978 | Should the U.S. Revoke Passports of Americans Fighting for ISIS?
A federal interagency working group will present a plan by the end of this month for coordinating security, preparedness and intelligence-sharing at several major events, including the summer's political conventions in Boston and New York, homeland security officials said Friday.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., sounded alarm bells about the upcoming events during a homeland security hearing Thursday.
"I happen to believe there will be a terrorist attack or more during the course of this year," the lawmaker said. "We have to deal with the World War II Memorial, we have to deal with the G8 Summit, we have two [political] conventions, we have the presidential election, and then the inauguration."
Homeland security officials say, however, there is no credible information that attacks are imminent.
Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge announced the creation of the interagency working group last month, saying the country will "soon enter a season that is rich with symbolic opportunities for the terrorists to try to shake our will." The group consists of representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Transportation and Treasury.
Homeland Security Deputy Secretary James Loy said Thursday the pending events present a "window" for carrying out attacks, especially in the wake of train bombings in Madrid in March that killed 191 people, injured 1,500 and affected the outcome of elections in that country.
Loy said the interagency planning effort puts Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 "on steroids, accelerates it, and focuses it in such a fashion that we are enormously attentive between now and over the course of the next six to eight months to the intelligence stream going by." That directive established a national policy for federal departments and agencies to identify and prioritize critical infrastructure and key resources in the country, and protect them from terrorist attacks.
"What we have done is establish five working groups inside the department with the …requirement to go all places necessary to pull together a game plan that we will present…to Secretary Ridge by the end of this month, " Loy said.
DHS spokeswoman Katy Minster said Friday the five components of the working group cover prevention, protection, preparedness, response and recovery, and special events. According to Minster, each event has its own security plan, and the working group was established to ensure the highest level of coordination between federal, state and local organizations, as well as the private sector.
"Right now, we don't have any specific credible threat information around these events, but if new information arises, then this group is there to ensure that proper communication is there at all levels," she said. "The five components will help focus our efforts as they work to strengthen preparedness efforts and information-sharing between homeland security officials and our partners."
Three of the upcoming events already have been declared national security special events. That designation, which was developed in 1998, means the Secret Service becomes the lead federal agency responsible for security. The designated events are the G8 summit in Savannah, Ga., June 8-10; the Democratic National Convention in Boston, July 26-29; and the Republican National Convention in New York City, Aug. 29-Sept. 4.
Ridge said last month on NBC's Today show that DHS was not planning to raise the national color-coded alert system for the upcoming events.
"I don't think America has any idea of the thousands of people that will be involved in planning and preparing and implementing very strong, comprehensive, across-the-board security for all of those events," the secretary said. "And you'd be absolutely amazed at the work that goes on involving multiple federal agencies, state and local officials. The planning is on the way. We don't need to raise the threat level, but we do need to come up with a unique security plan, and we will." | 2019-04-24T17:00:43 | https://www.govexec.com/defense/2004/05/agencies-set-security-plan-for-high-profile-events/16626/ |
0.998733 | 1. Cook noodles per package instructions. Drain.
2. While noodles cook, combine next 6 ingredients in a saucepan over light heat until the peanut butter has just melted and the ingredients are heated through- do not cook sauce.
5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. You can serve it now while it is still warm or chill for up to 1 hour to serve chilled.
This dish may be made ahead of time but do not toss the cucumber, onions, or sesame seeds in until you are ready to serve. | 2019-04-24T23:56:09 | https://windmillorganics.com/recipe-44-1.html?id=44&brand=1 |
0.997913 | This task will clear the deferred flag (if set) for all drawings released by the given specification id.
Specification Id The id of the specification for which all drawings deferred flags will be cleared.
Specification Id 22 22 DriveWorks will clear the deferred flags (if set) for all drawings released by the Specification with the Specification Id equal to 22. | 2019-04-26T12:54:54 | http://docs.driveworkspro.com/Topic/ClearSpecificationComponentsDeferredFlag |
0.999674 | Stephanie Thornton has earned herself a permanent place in my roster of favorite historical fiction authors. I mean, is there anything this woman can't write!? As she did with her first two novels, The Secret History and Daughter of the Gods, once again she has created another strong and heroic female character. And not only do we have the strong central character of Borte, but we have the other "women of Genghis Khan" who were also strong and heroic in their own right.
In The Tiger Queens, we get to hear the story of the women behind the legend of Genghis Khan. As any person who is obsessed with history, I have long been interested in Genghis Khan and his exploits. Now with this book, we get a glimpse of the inner workings of his life and who was really influential to him. Although this book is not non-fiction, it is so finely researched that I felt I was learning history along the way. And I always say that one of historical fiction's jobs is to spark enough interest in the reader to spur them into seeking more information on the subject, whether that be learning about it online or reading books about it. This book has definitely done that and then some!
And returning back to the character of Borte. Despite being read a prophecy by her mother that she would be responsible for great destruction in the future, Borte seeks to overcome this foretelling and bands together with the other tiger queens to ensure the happiness of their family, and the greatness of their people. Who doesn't love a character who overcomes adversity for the greater good? I know I do!
With The Tiger Queens, Thornton has firmly secured her place as one of the historical fiction greats. The glorious thing is knowing that she is hard at work on her next novel. I cannot wait for it! Please, if you have not read her books, take it from me. If you love historical fiction, or even just a great, well-told story, this is the author for you.
This month's author is Neil Gaiman, who celebrated his birthday on November 10. He is pictured here with Zoe, who passed away in 2012. In the article below, he explains why he is inspired by cats.
Neil Gaiman, author of novels, short fiction, graphic novels, and more, is perhaps most well-known for his comic book series The Sandman, his young adult novel, Coraline, his novel, American Gods, and for being a total badass and a god among the best of nerds. | 2019-04-19T14:56:54 | http://www.truebookaddict.com/2014/11/ |
0.999605 | The federal takeover of insurance giant AIG has consumers wondering: How safe is my insurance policy?
If you have an AIG policy, it's probably safe. Although the parent company needed an $85 billion loan from the government to stay afloat, its 71 state-regulated U.S. insurance subsidiaries have always been well capitalized and were in no danger of not being able to pay their claims, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
The company got in trouble mainly by buying and guaranteeing mortgages and mortgage securities in other subsidiaries.
The company plans to repay the government loan by selling assets, which means your AIG policy could be sold to another company. AIG sells virtually every type of insurance, including auto, home, life and health under names such as American General, 21st Century and the Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. (known as Valic).
What about other companies? It's very hard to tell whether other major insurance companies have similar exposure to mortgage debt and could be in trouble. To date, no other major insurers have emerged in the cavalcade of troubled financial firms caught up in the ongoing global credit crisis.
But it's good to know what happens when insurers go under.
If any regulated insurer could not pay its claims, the regulator in the company's home state - usually the state insurance commissioner - would start a process known as rehabilitation. If rehab fails, the company is liquidated and claims would be paid, up to a certain limit, by a guaranty agency in each policyholder's state. This money comes from companies still doing business in each state.
The limits vary somewhat by state, but in California they are $500,000 for property/casualty insurance, $200,000 for health policies, $250,000 in life insurance death benefits, $100,000 in cash surrender value on life insurance and $100,000 on the present value of annuity benefits. There is no limit on workers' comp.
If a property/casualty company fails, its policies are usually canceled and the customer can go out and get a new one from another company. The guaranty covers claims that have already arisen but have not been paid.
In the case of life or annuity policies, state regulators usually try to transfer in-force policies to a new company. They also transfer the failed company's assets and enough money from the guaranty fund to make sure the new company can pay the failed company's claims, at least up to the guaranty-agency limits.
"Normally, there are enough assets in the failed company that the new company will take it over with the same benefits and the same premium," says Pete Gallanis, director of the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations.
For AIG customers, its subsidiaries are neither in rehab nor liquidation. Some will probably be sold to other companies, which will take over the policies. The new companies can't change policies' terms. However, they can raise premiums or fees or make other changes to the extent allowed in the original contract. Customers can stay with the new companies or cancel their policies.
In the case of home, auto and term life insurance, it's fairly easy to switch companies, although people who had a level-term policy might pay higher premiums if they are older or in worse health than when they took it out.
Replacing a whole or universal life policy is harder. They are very complicated and consumers might pay surrender charges when they cancel a policy and hefty sales commissions, which are often hidden, when they buy a new one. Their costs also might go up if they are older or sicker.
It won't be long before agents, who make commissions on every sale, start urging AIG customers to switch policies.
"You're going to have agents who will take advantage of the situation," says Peter Katt, a fee-only life insurance adviser.
In the past, when a company has failed, been recapitalized or sold, pricing has gotten worse for consumers, he says. But he's not sure if that will happen with AIG.
Robert Hunter, director of insurance with the Consumer Federation of America, says, "I don't think AIG is a good company for consumers. Maybe if they get sold, policyholders will be better off."
Scott Witt, a fee-only insurance adviser, says he would encourage most AIG customers "to wait and see. If you take action now, you are incurring a significant and certain loss in most situations."
Witt is not worried about AIG's claims-paying ability at this time. "You don't lose anything by waiting a few months for the dust to settle," he says.
Witt says all consumers should check the health of their insurance company. If it is low-rated, consider switching. Companies such as A.M. Best rate insurance companies. You can also check them out at www.naic.org (click on Consumer Information Source), although it's tricky because insurers go by so many different names.
But "you can't conclude that just because a company is highly rated it's OK," Witt warns.
"The usual diversification logic that investors use for their portfolios should also be applied to insurance. If you have a monster death benefit, a multimillion-dollar policy, it would be prudent to have that coverage across several companies" rather than just one, he says. | 2019-04-24T12:58:40 | http://www.wittactuarialservices.com/news/how-safe-your-insurance-policy |
0.997251 | Tribune Co. is learning a tough new economy lesson: A growing Internet presence doesn't necessarily lead to profitability.
Faced with more than $50 million in losses from the company's Web sites this year, the media concern's Tribune Interactive online unit is cutting costs and getting more aggressive in its search for profits, which have eluded the unit and most other media company Internet ventures.
The failure to approach profitability online is seen as a significant stumbling block in Tribune's effort to integrate the array of media properties it holds since the June closing of its $6.5-billion merger with Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Co. Those holdings include newspapers and television stations in or around the nation's three largest markets.
"What investors seemed receptive to in terms of these kinds of investments a year ago or even nine months ago is different from what they will give you credit for today," says James Goss, a media and entertainment industry analyst at Chicago-based Barrington Research Associates. "For those promising revenues down the road, the road just got a lot shorter."
The idea that content from the newspapers, television stations and radio stations in the company's portfolio would converge into a single seamless flow of information, with the Internet as the linchpin, has so far failed to gel. So, too, have the synergies that Tribune Co. hopes to enjoy on the advertising sales side, with national and regional advertisers tied into its network of print, broadcast and electronic outlets.
Some former staffers suggest that a lack of focus has plagued Tribune's online effort, complaining that as leadership of the unit has changed hands in recent months, the vision for the operation has shifted. It's gone from a content-focused company relying on advertising revenues to an e-commerce venture and then back to an advertiser-supported model.
Tribune officials and several analysts insist it's too early to judge the company's efforts online, and that the division is on a path to profitability.
"This is still a work in progress," says Richard Read, senior media and entertainment analyst at Credit Lyonnais in New York. He adds that with a strong management team and healthy cash flow from its other businesses, Tribune is still a good bet to make money on the Internet, eventually.
As for the suggestion that the shifting revenue strategies signify a perpetually changing vision for his unit, Tribune Interactive President David Hiller pleads guilty with a sense of pride.
"That's the way of the dot.com world," he says. "We are changing as fast as we can whenever we find a better way of doing something."
Those ever-changing priorities have led to layoffs, which, while common in the Internet world, are much less part of Tribune's conservative culture. Last month, the online unit laid off 80 of its 650 staffers, the second set of job cuts in the past year. And as the company works to cut its operating losses in half next year, more jobs may be eliminated.
In addition to staff downsizing, the ambitious scope of many of Tribune's 40-plus Web sites is also being scaled back. And as the sites rely less on dedicated editorial staffs for content, the unit is more dependent on the staffs of other Tribune products to feed the online unit the breaking news that Web viewers crave. It's a strategy that Tribune leaders acknowledge is yielding mixed results.
But neither the flow of red ink nor the downsizing efforts should be read as an abandonment of Tribune's convergence strategy, insists Mr. Hiller. On the contrary, he says that the company's top executives, including Tribune Co. Chairman, President and CEO John Madigan, are committed to the concept.
"Interactive is where all our media meet," Mr. Hiller says. But while this is strategically important, it doesn't mean we have to spend ourselves silly making it work."
Early efforts to blend Tribune Interactive's advertising revenue model with e-commerce revenue opportunities have been largely abandoned.
While Tribune Interactive will look for ways to facilitate and profit from the e-commerce ventures of others by linking its users to those sites, advertising and lead-generating for marketers will be the sites' primary revenue streams in the future.
The hope is that much of that revenue will continue to come from classified advertising, which has been the unit's single biggest revenue generator. The other major advertising revenue source display ads linked to content sites is proving to be "a relatively difficult business," Mr. Hiller says, but one the unit expects to build.
Interactive revenues, about $39 million through October, pale in comparison to the $3.4 billion the publishing unit generated in the same period and the $1.2 billion posted by the broadcast group.
So, even dramatic efforts to boost income or cut costs are not likely to have much direct impact on Tribune's anemic stock price below $38 early last week, down about 30% from its pre-merger high around $59. | 2019-04-26T10:41:04 | https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20001125/ISSUE01/100015469/reconnecting-tribune-co-s-online-push |
0.997499 | The formula for cross-price elasticity is?
a result the quantity demanded of typewriters decreases from 40 to 20 per month.
The cross-price elasticity of demand is closest to?
product. As a result the cross-price elasticity of apples and oranges will become?
the cross-price elasticity of demand is?
the price of another "related" product.
the number of oranges sold will decrease, so cross-elasticity will decrease.
e) E c = (($40+$20)/(40000+10000))*((10000-40000)/($20- $40)) = 1,8. | 2019-04-26T04:47:05 | https://www.assignmentexpert.com/homework-answers/economics/microeconomics/question-70633 |
0.999963 | Myrlin A. Hermes : "Elementary, my dear Watson! Er...no homo."
"Elementary, my dear Watson! Er...no homo."
"It would be drastic, but I would withdraw permission for more films to be made if they feel that is a theme they wish to bring out in the future. I am not hostile to homosexuals, but I am to anyone who is not true to the spirit of the books."
I had to roll my eyes at the thought that apparently Ms. Plunket had no problem with seeing Holmes addicted to cocaine and Freudian analysis, transported to the 1980s, or battling the Joker with Batman--but gay? Now that would be against "the spirit of the books!"
But aside from your standard po-mo "Death of the Author" Roland Barthes theory and intellectual justifications for pastiche, slash fan-fiction, and the entire genre of intertextual fiction from Tristram Shandy through Wicked (with, of course, a brief plug for my book along the way) I didn't really feel like I had enough to add to the discussion. My only real questions about the story were: 1)Isn't Sherlock Holmes in the public domain yet? 2)Could Andrea Plunket really withdraw permission for more films? and 3)Who is this Andrea Plunket person anyway?
So, like any good Holmes fan, I did a little internet sleuthing. And the answers I discovered were: 1)Sort of, 2)Not really, and 3)Ohmygod, you wouldn't even believe.
Andrea Plunket seems to be an Orly Taitz-type character, whose convoluted claims to the Holmes story, passionately asserted on her website and in the media, are legally questionable at best. A Hungarian-born socialite, she has no connection to the estate of Conan Doyle, with whom she is engaged in frequent litigation over rights to the stories---litigation she has always lost. Her attempts to trademark the name "Sherlock Holmes" have been similarly denied.
Plunket's claims stem from her deceased ex-husband, Sheldon Reynolds, a television producer who had developed a Sherlock Holmes series in the 1950s starring Ronald Howard (not Opie, but the son of "Ashley Wilkes" Leslie Howard). He purchased the rights to the stories at a bank auction after one of Conan Doyle's heirs defaulted on a loan.
Attempts by the Conan Doyle estate to recoup the more than $100,000 in legal fees they have accrued battling her in these frivolous lawsuits have been unsuccessful, as Plunket claims she cannot afford to pay. The 40-acre Catskills estate--complete with tennis court, heated pool, and hot-tub---where she now resides with her fourth husband, Shaun Plunket (himself the heir presumptive to an Irish barony) and operates an upscale Bed-and-Breakfast, is in held in her daughter's name. "I'm just the babysitter," she claims.
A good synopsis of the entire mess can be found in the archives of the hilarious Grumpy Old Bookman blog (now sadly defunct).
At any rate, the battle between Ms. Plunket and the Conan Doyle estate, the legal system, and the hopes of Holmes/Watson slash fans everywhere can't go on for much longer: the work is already in the public domain in the UK and Canada, and the last U.S. copyright is set to expire between 2016 and 2023. | 2019-04-21T09:00:22 | http://www.myrlinhermes.com/2010/01/elementary-my-dear-watson-erno-homo.html |
0.999998 | How does a group follow up a auspicous and unique debut recording? A recording that is so completely out of step with everything that is currently in fashion in popular and even in experimental music that nearly 35 years later, it still is able to surprise people hearing it for the first time. How? Well, if you were Univers Zero, you did it by moving even more to the extremes of your music. While the influences from 20th Century classical music (Stravinsky, Bartok, Huybrechts) mixed with aspects of progressive rock (the angularity of King Crimson added to the unique zeuhl sound of Magma) remain, they are stripped down and presented in the starkest and darkest way possible. Guitarist Roger Trigaux still plays some amazing licks, but for much of the album, he is hunched over the harmonium (a 19th century pump organ), which gives the music an eerie, gothic sound - a gothic sound matched by the other front line instruments of violin/viola and oboe/bassoon. Meanwhile the rhythm section is completely electric, with heavy Magma-influenced bass and with Daniel Denis' fantastic drumming propelling everything foward.
Originally released in 1979, Heresie has long been considered a high-water mark of new music composition, performance, and dark, sinister intensity for over 30 years and has never been out of print. This reissue transforms and updates Univers Zero’s most infamous work with a new cover that uses bits of the original packaging, as well as many new elements. It also has a striking and clear new remix from the 1979 multi-track tapes that defines and clarifies all the instruments in a way that is much more focused than previous editions. Never have Daniel's cymbal's so clearly sizzled with such menace or has Guy's bass gone so low into the underworld. The reissue is accompanied by a 16 page booklet containing a history of the band’s years during the Heresie period and illustrated with archival photos. Lastly, there is a 12 minute, relvelatory bonus track from very early in the group's life added; a track that later was cannibalized by its composer, into bits that would eventually find their way into "Ersatz" on Le Poison Qui Rend Fou and "The Limping Little Girl" and "Ceux D'En Bas (Suite)" on N°6 by Roger's post UZ group, Present.
One of the most significant avant-progressive rock albums of the very late 1970s just got even more significant!
“The music is consistently ominous, always hinting at the heaviness of metal but never pummelling the listener. And when it occasionally gets dense, it’s a slab of strange, ingenious orchestration you hear, rather than a simple overdriven amp sound.” – Nick Storring, Exlaim!
"There's a hellhound on their trail..." | 2019-04-22T02:22:22 | http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Products/Univers-Zero-Heresie-(expanded-remixed-remastered)__Rune-spc-313.aspx |
0.999986 | A message string that provides a textual description of the error. Contact MySQL | Login | Register The world's most popular open source database MySQL.com Downloads Documentation Developer Zone Developer Zone Downloads MySQL.com Documentation MySQL Server MySQL Enterprise Workbench Router Utilities/Fabric Cluster Error: 1246 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_AUTO_CONVERT) Message: Column '% s' from% s to% s. A message string that provides a textual description of the error.
To avoid this error, increase the value of ER_TOO_MANY_CONCURRENT_TRXS2. Error: CR_SHARED_MEMORY_CONNECT_REQUEST_ERROR3 SQLSTATE: CR_SHARED_MEMORY_CONNECT_REQUEST_ERROR2 (CR_SHARED_MEMORY_CONNECT_REQUEST_ERROR1) Message: %s: Shutdown complete Error: CR_SHARED_MEMORY_CONNECT_REQUEST_ERROR0 SQLSTATE: 20399 (20398) Message: %s: Forcing close of thread %ld user: '%s' Error: 20397 SQLSTATE: 20396 (20395) Message: Can't create For example, the mysql client program displays errors using the following format: shell> /UdmComment0 ERROR 1146 (42S02): Table 'test.no_such_table' doesn't exist The message displayed contains three types of information: A numeric It means that the value specified in the SET command is not recognized.
If the error message refers to error −1, table creation probably failed because the table includes a column name that matched the name of an internal ER_TABLE_CANT_HANDLE_SPKEYS5 table. Please click here for complete details and online registration. A deadlock occurs when requests for locks arrive in inconsistent order between transactions. Error: 1206 SQLSTATE: HY000 (ER_LOCK_TABLE_FULL) Message: The total number of locks exceeds the lock table size How does the MySQL error message look like?
You can increase the value of the HY0002 configuration option if SQL statements should wait longer for other transactions to complete, or decrease it if too many long-running transactions are causing JackLiNew memory grant query hint MIN_GRANT_PERCENT came to rescue June 9, 2016In SQL Server 2012 SP3, we made supportability improvements in the memory grant space. Error: ER_STORED_FUNCTION_PREVENTS_SWITCH_SQL_LOG_BIN8 SQLSTATE: ER_STORED_FUNCTION_PREVENTS_SWITCH_SQL_LOG_BIN7 (ER_STORED_FUNCTION_PREVENTS_SWITCH_SQL_LOG_BIN6) Message: Can't create file '%s' (errno: %d) Occurs for failure to create or copy a file needed for some operation. It means that the variable you want to change cannot be changed because it is a read only variable.
Error: 1259 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_ZLIB_Z_DATA_ERROR) Message: zlib, the input data is corrupted. Error: 2000 (CR_UNKNOWN_ERROR) Message: Unknown MySQL error Error: 2001 (CR_SOCKET_CREATE_ERROR) Message: Can't create UNIX socket (%d) Error: 2002 (CR_CONNECTION_ERROR) Message: Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '%s' (%d) Error: In these cases, ER_NON_GROUPING_FIELD_USED4 (general error) is used. Error: 1239 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_WRONG_FK_DEF) message: '% s':% s, foreign key definition is not correct.
in the U.S. Error: 1284 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_UNKNOWN_KEY_CACHE) Message: Unknown key cache '% s'. Error: 1425 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_TOO_BIG_SCALE) Message: Too big scale %d specified for column '%s'. Error: 1238 SQLSTATE: HY000 (ER_INCORRECT_GLOBAL_LOCAL_VAR) message: Variable '% s' is a% s variable.
Error: HY0001 SQLSTATE: HY0000 (ER_ERROR_IN_UNKNOWN_TRIGGER_BODY9) Message: The total number of locks exceeds the lock table size ER_ERROR_IN_UNKNOWN_TRIGGER_BODY8 reports this error when the total number of locks exceeds the amount of memory CR_SSL_CONNECTION_ERROR7 and CR_SSL_CONNECTION_ERROR6 represent numbers and strings, respectively, that are substituted into the Message values when they are displayed. The maximum row size for the used table type, not counting BLOBs, is%ld. We encourage you to download a ' + 'new version from dev.mysql.com/doc.
Error: 1256 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_TOO_BIG_FOR_UNCOMPRESS) Message: decompressed data is too large, the maximum size is% d (probably, unzip the length of the data is corrupted). Error: 1426 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_TOO_BIG_PRECISION) Message: Too big precision %lu specified for co Skip navigation links The world's most popular open source database Login | Register Developer Zone Downloads Documentation MySQL Error: 1206 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_LOCK_TABLE_FULL) Message: The total number of locks exceeds the lock table size. Error: 1356 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_VIEW_INVALID) Message: View '% s.% S' references invalid table, column, or function, or view the definition of program / calling program lacks permission to use them.
Error: 1212 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_UNION_TABLES_IN_DIFFERENT_DIR) Message: Incorrect table definition, all MERGE tables must be in the same database. Error: 1388 sqlstate: the HY000 (ER_NO_FILE_MAPPING) Message: Can not map file:% s, errno:% d Error: 1389 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_WRONG_MAGIC) Message:% s is wrong Error: 1390 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_PS_MANY_PARAM) Message: Error: 1448 SQLSTATE: HY000 (ER_VIEW_OTHER_USER) Message: You need the SUPER privilege for creation view with '%s'@'%s' definer Error: 1449 SQLSTATE: HY000 (ER_NO_SUCH_USER) Message: There is no '%s'@'%s' registered Error: 1450 SQLSTATE: The values are taken from ANSI SQL and ODBC and are more standardized.
Error: CR_SSL_CONNECTION_ERROR0 SQLSTATE: 20279 (20278) Message: hashchk Error: 20277 SQLSTATE: 20276 (20275) Message: isamchk Error: 20274 SQLSTATE: 20273 (20272) Message: NO Error: 20271 SQLSTATE: 20270 (CR_MALFORMED_PACKET9) Message: YES Error: CR_MALFORMED_PACKET8 SQLSTATE: Error: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA7 SQLSTATE: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA6 (ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA5) Message: Can't get status of '%s' (errno: %d) Error: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA4 SQLSTATE: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA3 (ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA2) Message: Can't get working directory (errno: %d) Error: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA1 SQLSTATE: ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA0 (ER_NO_TRIGGERS_ON_SYSTEM_SCHEMA9) Message: ER_SP_NO_RECURSION was added in 5.0.9. Error: 1227 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_SPECIFIC_ACCESS_DENIED_ERROR) message: Access Denied,% s permissions are required to perform this operation.
Error: 1254 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_SLAVE_WAS_RUNNING) message: the server is running. It can only be applied globaly as follows: SQL> GRANT SUPER ON *.* TO [email protected]; Error: 1222 SQLSTATE: 21000 (ER_WRONG_NUMBER_OF_COLUMNS_IN_SELECT) Message: The used SELECT statements have a different number of columns Error: 1257 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_ZLIB_Z_MEM_ERROR) Message: zlib, Not enough memory. Error: 1426 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_TOO_BIG_PRECISION) Message: Too big precision %d specified for column '%s'.
Error: 1427 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_M_BIGGER_THAN_D) Message: For float(M,D), double(M,D) or decimal(M,D), M must be >= D (column '%s'). Error: 1204 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_SET_CONSTANTS_ONLY) Message: Maybe should only be used with SET constant expression. This number is MySQL-specific and is not portable to other database systems. Error: 1394 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_VIEW_NO_INSERT_FIELD_LIST) Message: You can not be inserted in the case of the absence of the field list the joint view '% s% s'.
Error: 1352 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_VIEW_SELECT_TMPTABLE) message: the view's SELECT refers to a temporary table '% s'. Check that your InnoDB: transactions do not set too many row locks. Error: 1291 SQLSTATE: the HY000 (ER_DUPLICATED_VALUE_IN_TYPE) Message: Column '% s' in% s the repeated value '% s'. Error: 1281 SQLSTATE: 42000 (ER_WRONG_NAME_FOR_CATALOG) message: Incorrect directory name '% s'.
Since this operation changes the primary key, it uses the slow method of copying the table and re-creating the index, rather than the Fast Index Creation technique from Section 14.16.3, “Implementation Details Home Page Contact Us Database & Sql Blog Articles the mysql exception coding error 1201-1400 Error: 1201 sqlstate: the HY000 (ER_MASTER_INFO) Message: Unable to initialize the master server information structure, more Error messages do not change often, but it is possible. Error: 1261 SQLSTATE:. 01000 (ER_WARN_TOO_FEW_RECORDS) message: line% ld does not contain data for all columns. | 2019-04-24T20:48:32 | http://electronicsfr.com/Vermont/error-1201-sqlstate-hy000-er-master-info.html |
0.998225 | In geometry, an apex (Latin for 'summit, peak, tip, top, extreme end') is the vertex which is in some sense the "highest" of the figure to which it belongs.
In six-dimensional geometry, a cantellated 5-cube is a convex uniform 5-polytope, being a cantellation of the regular 5-cube.
In five-dimensional geometry, a cantellated 5-simplex is a convex uniform 5-polytope, being a cantellation of the regular 5-simplex.
In the field of hyperbolic geometry, the hexagonal tiling honeycomb arises one of 11 regular paracompact honeycombs in 3-dimensional hyperbolic space.
In the geometry of hyperbolic 3-space, the order-6 tetrahedral honeycomb is a paracompact regular space-filling tessellation (or honeycomb).
In five-dimensional geometry, a rectified 5-cube is a convex uniform 5-polytope, being a rectification of the regular 5-cube.
In five-dimensional geometry, a runcinated 5-cube is a convex uniform 5-polytope that is a runcination (a 3rd order truncation) of the regular 5-cube.
In five-dimensional geometry, a runcinated 5-orthoplex is a convex uniform 5-polytope with 3rd order truncation (runcination) of the regular 5-orthoplex.
In six-dimensional geometry, a runcinated 5-simplex is a convex uniform 5-polytope with 3rd order truncations (Runcination) of the regular 5-simplex.
In five-dimensional geometry, a stericated 5-cube is a convex uniform 5-polytope with fourth-order truncations (sterication) of the regular 5-cube.
In five-dimensional geometry, a stericated 5-simplex is a convex uniform 5-polytope with fourth-order truncations (sterication) of the regular 5-simplex.
In geometry, the triangular bipyramid (or dipyramid) is a type of hexahedron, being the first in the infinite set of face-transitive bipyramids.
In geometry, the triangular tiling or triangular tessellation is one of the three regular tilings of the Euclidean plane.
In four-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the truncated 24-cell honeycomb is a uniform space-filling honeycomb.
In geometry, a truncated 5-cell is a uniform 4-polytope (4-dimensional uniform polytope) formed as the truncation of the regular 5-cell.
In five-dimensional geometry, a truncated 5-cube is a convex uniform 5-polytope, being a truncation of the regular 5-cube.
In five-dimensional geometry, a truncated 5-simplex is a convex uniform 5-polytope, being a truncation of the regular 5-simplex.
In geometry, a uniform 5-polytope is a five-dimensional uniform polytope.
In four-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the 4-simplex honeycomb, 5-cell honeycomb or pentachoric-dispentachoric honeycomb is a space-filling tessellation honeycomb.
In five-dimensional geometry, a 5-cube is a name for a five-dimensional hypercube with 32 vertices, 80 edges, 80 square faces, 40 cubic cells, and 10 tesseract 4-faces.
In five-dimensional geometry, a 5-orthoplex, or 5-cross polytope, is a five-dimensional polytope with 10 vertices, 40 edges, 80 triangle faces, 80 tetrahedron cells, 32 5-cell 4-faces.
0 30 polytope, 3,3,3, 4-simplex, Compound of two 5-cells, Digonal disphenoid pyramid, Irregular 5-cell, Order-3 tetrahedral honeycomb, Pentachoron, Pentahedroid, Pentatope, Tetrahedral pyramid, Trirectified 5-cell, Trirectified pentachoron. | 2019-04-19T02:51:52 | https://en.unionpedia.org/5-cell |
0.999902 | Given that students are upcoming task force for any given country, leniency has been extended to them, financial system have less approval system for these cluster in society.
For instance, credit history is not needed for a student to acquire loan or credit, in fact many banking institution have come up with special credit card and loan programs that have features specifically suited for students.
As a student, one has many ways to secure loans or credit without history, the following are just one of the few ways.
Federal loan - Majority of US citizen are eligible for federal loan, when a student is accepted for a college course and study at least half time, then they can be able to access these loans, however there exception, the fact that no credit his not needed does not mean that the Government has no vetting systems, any student with existing unpaid loan or has faced drug conviction whilst in receipt of a loan will not be considered for second one, disadvantage to these loans is that they have limits.
Student credit loans - This another type of loan that needs no history credit, the success rate of for these type of loan is very high, they are easy and an almost sure way for students with no credit history to obtain loans, they will not look at your credit history, however they vet you in regard with your education background and prowess, there is a little disadvantage though they charge high interest rates compared to the normal federal loan. Before you settle for any loan, shop around for companies offering this option, interest rate is a crucial component in looking for a loan, and one needs to get the best available option because this not free money, its money that you will have to pay in the long run. Shop around for low rates.
Private Loan companies - these another great alternative for students to get loans without credit history, however, they may be requested to have a consignor to guarantee for the loan. Here the consignor credit record is what is observed, parents or guardians can act as good consignor, loan defaults will fall on the consignor, if you are sure about these option just be honest with yourself, don't make moves that will later get people in trouble. The loans also attracts interest, so before you settle for any make sure you have shopped around for the best offer, it may help you a great deal when doing your repayments.
All in all a student on this initial paths of borrowing should know the overall implications of defaults.
Loan defaulters have a very hard time with the current financial surroundings, One should take these opportunity and build a very positive attitude a towards credit bearing in mind that, when you borrow you start building your credit history and later in life you will need it to get extra funds.
While the opportunities given to these students are rather prominent, the restrictions should be applied at some point as the responsibility will follow sooner or later, and it's better to protect those who are likely to be unable to carry it.
Quite an informative post, didn't knew that credit history is not needed for a student to acquire loan or credit. My friend is looking for such method would recommend her Federal loan way to achieve goals.
Thanks my dear a lot for the post I was in need of it now I could switch to Federal loan for my studies.I have never seen such loans in history but you made it.The best way to achieve your goal highly recommended!! | 2019-04-25T21:48:31 | http://www.teenanalyst.com/credit/nocredithistoryforstudent.html |
0.999126 | To hold another referendum on Brexit in the coming months, three key questions would need to be resolved.
First, when would it take place? Holding a referendum in the UK is not straightforward. Parliament must legislate. The Electoral Commission must test the proposed question for clarity and impartiality. Campaign groups must form. A “lead” campaigner on each side must be selected. Voters must have a chance to hear and reflect on the arguments.
In a report published by the UCL Constitution Unit last autumn, my colleagues and I calculated that all of this takes at least 22 weeks. Some referendum supporters say the process could be sped up. That is true: parliament could dispense with normal practice if it wished. But the existing procedures have been put in place so that referendums are conducted fairly. Tossing them aside would undermine the legitimacy of the result.
Counting 22 weeks from now takes us into the second half of June, well beyond the March 29th date when Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union. A referendum could therefore be held only if the Article 50 period were extended—which would require the unanimous agreement of the 27 EU members—or if Britain revoked its Article 50 notification.
Second, what would the question be? There are three viable options that could be put to voters: leaving without a deal; leaving on the terms of the deal; or remaining in the EU. The question could pit two of these options against each other, or all three.
The choice of format for the question would depend on politics. It seems inconceivable that Parliament would call a referendum without putting Remain on the ballot paper: that is the outcome most referendum-backers want. A Deal option is also likely. Most supporters of a referendum envisage a Remain v. Deal choice; despite the protestations of the prime minister, Theresa May, there would also be a clear logic to the government calling such a vote if getting the agreement through Parliament proved impossible. No Deal is the option most likely to be excluded: the majority of MPs find it unconscionable. Given the deal’s unpopularity among Brexiteers, however, leaving No Deal out would fuel understandable cries of betrayal.
That points to a strong case for a three-option question. But this would pose its own challenges. A standard first-past-the-post vote could yield a split result, with no option carrying majority support. Remain might win even though most voters wanted a form of Brexit. No Deal might win though most voters wanted a closer relationship with the EU. So a three-option referendum would have to allow voters to rank the options in order of preference, with votes being counted to reveal the option with widest support. There are several ways of doing that, each with advantages and disadvantages.
Third, how would the referendum be conducted? One crucial issue is the franchise: some Remainers feel the 2016 vote was skewed against them by excluding 16–17-year-olds and EU citizens resident in Britain. Whatever the case for widening eligibility, however, it would be unwise to change it for a second Brexit referendum: if Remain won only because the franchise had been altered, the outcome would not be seen to be legitimate.
A more significant issue relates to the rules for conducting the campaign. The referendum in 2016 revealed major problems in the existing rules. The government was able to spend millions on a leaflet, sent to all households, that backed one side of the debate. The rules on campaign spending and transparency—written 20 years ago—were shown to be grossly inadequate for the digital age. The quality of information available to voters was woeful.
The Constitution Unit’s Independent Commission on Referendums proposed measures to address all these problems in a report last summer. Some reforms require work before they can be implemented. Others can be put into effect immediately, such as improving the transparency of campaign spending and extending the period when the government is barred from campaigning. That would increase the robustness of the referendum process and therefore boost confidence in the outcome.
How media outlets covered the campaign would matter as much as the formal rules. Broadcasters widely recognise that they must do better than in 2016. The internet giants have improved their practices over the past two years but could do much more. Parts of the print media remain too willing to put advocacy above truthfulness.
Another referendum is entirely feasible, and may prove to be the best way out of the current impasse. But no one should imagine it would be easy. Only if the process were designed to be scrupulously fair could the result hope to command legitimacy. And legitimacy across the political spectrum would be essential for any referendum to herald a stable outcome.
Alan Renwick is Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit in the Department of Political Science, University College London. | 2019-04-22T15:07:40 | https://business-finance.ml/2019/01/20/why-its-right-to-hold-a-new-brexit-referendum-2/ |
0.999296 | Loung Ung was a cosseted younger daughter of a high-ranking military policeman when the Khmer Rouge overran the capitol. During the first chaotic days after the invasion, her father managed to slip his family north to a village where members of his wife's family lived; they hoped that in rural obscurity they could somehow live undetected. Unfortunately, staying with family only put them in danger as well, and eventually, as the Communists tightened their control over the entire country, the Ung family, during one of their continual evacuations, fell into the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Their capture was surprisingly anti-climactic, almost perfunctory in its off-handed bureaucratic indifference. During the following years, as the Ungs tried to keep their enemy-of-the-state status secret, family members were pulled away through death, the exigencies of the work camp, or by the desperate actions of the Ungs themselves as the parents struggled to find a way to keep at least some of them alive.
There's no doubt that this is a harrowing and moving tale. However, just as with Pauline Nguyen's acounting of fleeing Vietnam when she was also a small child like Loung, I have to wonder at the clarity of some of her recollections, particularly those of pre-invasion Phnom Pehn. There's no doubt that her descriptions of going to the market with her mother, or acquiring a headful of curls at the beauty parlor are evocative, but how factual can they be? I was particularly confounded by her claim that she took a trip to Angkor Wat with her father when that area of the country was particularly unstable. Many Cambodians who lived through that era also point out that Ms Ung's portrait of the city being quiet just before the invasion is also inaccurate, though I think that a small child could be somewhat oblivious and that the final takeover of the city would come as a surprise to her. Difficult to assess, too, are the sophisticated conversations she claims to have had with both her parents on the Khmer and American political systems; when they are coupled with other passages of naive questioning on why the Communists want to hurt them it makes these talks hard to believe. I understand that the author is trying to put things into context so that a foreign reader can understand, but the political backdrop is handled a bit clumsily. This problem of shifting uneasily from a child's to an adult's perspective is a continual problem in the book, which unfortunately gives Loung's detractors further ammunition when they say the book is implausible.
As Loung grows older in the work camps, her viewpoint matures and the story grows more powerful; I had less difficulty doubting her veracity. The psychological tensions between the family members, and the terrible toll it exacted, the suspicions the Ungs held towards outsiders who might guess their secret identities, the hierarchy of the villagers as to whom was a displaced person and who was not--are to me the most interesting part of the book. The accounts of the indoctrination from the Khmer Rouge, when the exhausted family had to listen to nightly lectures from party readers though they had all ready spent twelve to fifteen hours working in the fields, makes for gripping reading, particularly when Loung must endure them alone.
It was during this time that the most traumatic events of the story occur. Unfortunately, Ms. Ung never really resolves the problem of how to present material that she was either too young to understand, or not present to witness. She resorts to a vague claim that she has always had ESP to detail how several of her family perished; some readers might call it unflinching, but I was rather troubled by these sections of the book, and would almost call them exploitative. I certainly understand why she felt to describe these terrible occurences, but I felt a bit queasy nonetheless.
It is easy to see why other readers might have objections to this book, and why Khmer Rouge apologists or even Cambodians with a more objective viewpoint might have difficulties with Ung's account. Loung worshiped her father and called him a good man who would never hurt a flea--an understandable portrayal from a sheltered young daughter; other Cambodians might very well have a more jaundiced view of a military intelligence officer whose principle job was to extract information out of people using any method possible. Even a Westerner such as myself was irritated by her insistence that her family was only middle class; it's quite clear that her family, with its enormous apartment sheltering a family of nine, three cars and a motorcycle at their disposal, plus her mother's collection of jewelry was far more than that. Her identity as an ethnic Chinese, and the continual reference to her white skin (after living in Japan I am well aware of what an explosive topic this can be in Asia) and her belief that she was singled out because of her racial background have also ruffled more than a few sensibilities. For those individuals who want to continue the battle for Cambodia, its past, and its future, the ammunition is there. | 2019-04-25T15:55:55 | http://nofrigatelikeabook-gaeta1.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-they-killed-my-father-review.html |
0.999999 | When was the Post-exposure prophylaxis?
Question 2: The treatment consists of repeated injections of rabies vaccine and ________.
Question 3: Several studies in humans and mice provide evidence that treatment with the ________ Famciclovir soon after the first infection with herpes can significantly lower the chance of future symptomatic outbreaks of herpes.
Question 4: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is any prophylactic treatment started immediately after exposure to a pathogen (such as a disease-causing ________), in order to prevent infection by the pathogen and the development of disease.
Question 5: As a result, some doctors and patients have opted for ________.
Question 6: The antiretroviral regimen used in PEP (see highly active antiretroviral therapy) requires close compliance and can have unpleasant side effects including malaise, fatigue, ________, headache, nausea and vomiting.
Question 7: PEP is commonly and very effectively used to prevent the outbreak of ________ after a bite by a rabid animal. | 2019-04-24T03:02:53 | http://quiz.thefullwiki.org/Post-exposure_prophylaxis |
0.999545 | What Is a Color Matrix?
Just as the co-ordinates x, y, and z define a single point in 3D space, the three color components R (red), G (green), and B (blue) define a single point in color space. In 3D geometrics (and in 2D geometrics as well), matrices can be used to transform the position of a point, and, more importantly, the position of a group of points. Change the matrix, apply the matrix to a group of points, and all the points are moved together. If you apply the matrix to all the points in a specific scene, the whole scene is transformed.
A color matrix works the same way in color space. With a color matrix, you can change one specific color, say dark blue into light red, but you can also change all colors together, in a co-ordinated way. Just like a scene in 3D space, you can scale, translate, rotate, and shear the color space, or apply any combination of these basic transformations to it. | 2019-04-24T20:14:41 | http://dearymz.blog.163.com/blog/static/205657420102270658306/ |
0.998781 | For which conditions is this drug approved? Palifermin is FDA-approved to decrease the incidence or duration of severe oral mucositis in patients who have cancers affecting the blood (hematologic) and who will undergo treatment including a stem cell transplant. Oral mucositis is a condition that can be caused by treatment for cancer and it affects the lining of the mouth. Oral mucositis may result in a range of symptoms, including pain or irritation of the mouth, or severe ulceration in the mouth. It is important for patients to remember that physicians have the ability to prescribe medication for conditions other than those for which the drug has been approved by the FDA. Patients who have received a prescription of this drug for a condition other than which it is approved may wish to discuss this issue with their physician.
What is the mechanism of action? Palifermin belongs to a class of drugs called growth factors. Palifermin stimulates cells, called epithelial cells, to grow and divide. Epithelial cells comprise the outer layer of the mouth, and other digestive organs; therefore, stimulation of their growth helps reduce oral mucositis.
How is palifermin typically given (administered)? Palifermin is administered intravenously (into a vein) and the dose depends on the size or weight of the patient. Palifermin is given in 3 doses prior to therapy and 3 doses following therapy. Palifermin should not be administered within 24 hours of chemotherapy administration.
How are patients monitored? Patients will undergo assessments for oral mucositis. This may include the physical examination of the mouth, lips, gums, and tongue, as well as questions posed to the patient regarding pain, ability to swallow, ability to eat and drink, etc.
What are the most common side effects associated with treatment with palifermin?
Patients should inform their physician if they have high blood pressure.
Patients should inform their physician of any other medication they are taking (whether prescription or over-the-counter, including vitamins, herbs, etc.), as they may interfere with treatment. | 2019-04-20T23:10:17 | https://news.cancerconnect.com/treatment-care/palifermin-CX9uEwBG7kCpBL60sCYO2A/ |
0.999879 | The content of this article provides interesting history, facts and information about the Emperor Gallienus and the all-powerful Caesars who ruled the empire of Ancient Rome.
"Famine, Plague and the 'Thirty Tyrants"
Short Biography profile and facts about one of the most famous Romans of all, in the life of Gallienus, Emperor of Rome and provinces of the Roman Empire.
Obtain a fast overview of the times of the Roman Emperor Gallienus from the following facts and information about his life. Why was Gallienus famous? Accomplishments, achievements and important events. Valerian the father of Gallienus seized power via a military coup. His first act as emperor was to make his son Gallienus his co-emperor. Both Gallienus and his father sought to repel the attacks of innumerable enemies on every side of the empire including the Goths, the Franks, the Scythians and the Persians. In 259AD a campaign against the Persians culminated in a humiliating Roman defeat at the Battle of Edessa. Valerian was taken prisoner and his entire 70,000 strong Roman force was killed or captured. Gallienus made no attempt to free his father and Valerian languished for nine years in captivity until his death.
The Allemanni, meanwhile, had entered Italy, ravaged its northern territory and even threatened Rome. They withdrew, loaded with plunder. To gain allies among the barbarians, Gallienus married the daughter of the king of the Marcomanni. Every part of the empire was been laid open to the invaders. Greece was ravaged by the Goths; the famous Temple of Diana at Ephesus was burned by them, together with the city. Sapor, king of the Persians, overran Syria and Asia. He was, however, finally repelled by the brave Odenatus, who, with his queen Zenobia, ruled at Palmyra.
A crowd of usurpers rose in arms against the weak Gallienus. There were nineteen pretenders to the throne according to Gibbon, but this period is usually known as that of the 'Thirty Tyrants'. In order to reduce the threat of usurpers Gallienus forbade senators from becoming military commanders. This policy undermined senatorial power, as more reliable military commanders rose to prominence. This terrible period was also marked by the plague, which continued for fifteen years in every province. Five thousand people died daily at Rome for some time. Roman cities were depopulated and the number of Romans declined. A famine preceded and attended the plague and earthquakes were common.
Gallienus made his greatest achievements during at the end of his reign. Having lost the greater part of the Gallic empire he repelled an invasion of Goths and defeated the Alamanni. Gallienus then moved on to lay siege to Mediolanum (Milan). During the siege Gallienus' authority was challenged and Gallienus was murdered in mysterious circumstances in September 268. The death of Gallienus ended the era of the Thirty Tyrants and the Barracks emperors. Gallienus was officially succeeded by Marcus Aurelius Claudius (Claudius II), who was suspected of being involved in the conspiracy to murder Gallienus. Claudius II started the rule of the Illyrian Emperors (268 - 285).
The content of this Gallienus category in the Emperors of Ancient Rome provides free educational details, facts and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework. Refer to the Colosseum Sitemap for a comprehensive search on interesting different categories containing the history, facts and information about the lives and people of Ancient Rome. | 2019-04-23T02:10:37 | http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-emperors/gallienus.htm |
0.999805 | 2Sa 11:1 - It happened, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Yo'av, and his servants with him, and all Yisra'el; and they destroyed the children of `Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Yerushalayim.
2Sa 11:2 - It happened at evening, that David arose from off his bed, and walked on the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look on.
2Sa 11:3 - David send and inquired after the woman. One said, Is not this Bat-Sheva, the daughter of Eli`am, the wife of Uriyah the Hittite?
2Sa 11:4 - David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.
2Sa 11:5 - The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
2Sa 11:6 - David sent to Yo'av, saying, Send me Uriyah the Hittite. Yo'av sent Uriyah to David.
2Sa 11:7 - When Uriyah was come to him, David asked of him how Yo'av did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.
2Sa 11:8 - David said to Uriyah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. Uriyah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of food from the king.
2Sa 11:9 - But Uriyah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and didn't go down to his house.
2Sa 11:10 - When they had told David, saying, Uriyah didn't go down to his house, David said to Uriyah, Haven't you come from a journey? why did you not go down to your house?
2Sa 11:11 - Uriyah said to David, The ark, and Yisra'el, and Yehudah, abide in booths; and my lord Yo'av, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
2Sa 11:12 - David said to Uriyah, Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart. So Uriyah abode in Yerushalayim that day, and the next day.
2Sa 11:13 - When David had called him, he ate and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn't go down to his house.
2Sa 11:14 - It happened in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Yo'av, and sent it by the hand of Uriyah.
2Sa 11:15 - He wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriyah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire you from him, that he may be struck, and die.
2Sa 11:16 - It happened, when Yo'av kept watch on the city, that he assigned Uriyah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.
2Sa 11:17 - The men of the city went out, and fought with Yo'av: and there fell some of the people, even of the servants of David; and Uriyah the Hittite died also.
2Sa 11:20 - it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he tells you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall?
2Sa 11:21 - who struck Avimelekh the son of Yerubeshet? Didn't a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Tevetz? Why did you go so near the wall?' then shall you say, 'Your servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead also.'"
2Sa 11:22 - So the messenger went, and came and shown David all that Yo'av had sent him for.
2Sa 11:23 - The messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate.
2Sa 11:24 - The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriyah the Hittite is dead also.
2Sa 11:25 - Then David said to the messenger, Thus shall you tell Yo'av, Don't let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; make your battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage you him.
2Sa 11:26 - When the wife of Uriyah heard that Uriyah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.
2Sa 11:27 - When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. | 2019-04-22T18:18:59 | https://www.blueletterbible.org/hnv/2sa/11/ |
0.999999 | question_answer1) Which one of the following statements is true?
question_answer2) Which one of the following food items does not contain roughage?
question_answer3) _____ is one of the constituents of nutritious food.
question_answer4) Which one of the following non vegetarian food is the source of protein?
question_answer5) Identify the junk food out of the following?
question_answer6) Which one of the following food items contains no fiber or roughage?
question_answer7) Which one of the following food items is not nutritious?
question_answer8) Meat and fish give us high amounts of____?
question_answer9) Identify the picture and choose which one of the following is correct?
question_answer10) Which one of the following is not a food item? | 2019-04-22T00:11:05 | https://studyadda.com/question-bank/1st-class/science/food/self-test-4/519 |
0.998481 | The doctor called awhile ago.
Her diagnosis was simple, direct, and right to the point: the patient had been diagnosed with incurable Lyme disease.
Earlier last night my roommate and I had taken Cleo, one of our two dogs, to a local veterinary emergency center, one of the best around. She had not been able to keep food down for about 48 hours, and wasn't drinking much water. She had been running a fever in the morning, but later her nose was cool and wet, the way that it should be with a healthy dog. But she was moving slowly, though wagging her tail and looking up at us with those big brown eyes when you spoke to her.
So we took her to the vet to see what was the matter. They got her in quickly, and within minutes the vet saw her, took her temperature (which was normal), but she had noticed a few signs that she wanted to check out. So we left her with the vet and went to the waiting room.
About ten minutes later she called us back in, asked us some more detailed questions about Cleo, then asked us to wait again. About twenty minutes passed, and again we were called into the vet's diagnostic room, where she told us that she would like to keep Cleo overnight, perhaps longer, in order to do a thorough examination. We agreed, then headed home, and I made a few calls along the way to people who knew that Cleo had been a bit under the weather.
I was tired when we arrived, so I jumped into the shower, as I had a busy day ahead on Wednesday. As I stepped out of the shower, my roommate knocked on the bathroom door, telling me that the vet had just called. I quickly slipped on my clothes, stepped out and asked my roommate what the vet had said. He told me that Cleo had been diagnosed with incurable Lyme disease, and the vet had recommended that she be put down immediately so that she didn't suffer.
My roommate left for the animal hospital immediately so that he could be with her. He asked me to let him go alone, and I could understand why. He was probably crying most of the way there, as I was a right after he left, two grown men, each of us in his own private grief.
Cleo was our Chocolate Labrador Retriever, the bigger of the two dogs in the house. She really belonged to our roommate, but she and Greta, the other dog, had adopted both my son and me, so we always referred to them as our dogs. Cleo was always a happy dog, gregarious and friendly to a fault. My son would play with Cleo and Greta for hours, the classic boy and his dog(s) scenario. My son was generally the one to feed them in the evening, and had over the years taught them a few simple tricks.
And Cleo would talk to us, carrying on conversations with each of us. We understood her, and she understood us.
But Cleo had demonstrated the classic signs of canine Lyme some disease months ago. My roommate thought that it was just arthritis, which she had been diagnosed with earlier. The disease had evidently progressed further than was thought, and was now effecting her respiratory system. While at the animal hospital, the vet had noted that she had an oxygenation level in the low 80% range when it should be in the high to mid-90% range for a dog of her age, 8+ years.
It all starts from a simple tick bite, but if not discovered and treated quickly, can spread silently throughout the body. And that's what evidently happened to Cleo.
From all indications, she had probably received a fatal tick bite maybe six or more months ago. In recent weeks she showed shifting lameness where she favored one leg, then the other, and the lameness came and went. She stopped eating dog biscuits about three weeks ago. Then in the last two days, she didn't eat at all. It's possible that she was suffering from neurological damage, and also from the early signs of kidney failure.
In any case, the veterinarian advised that she be euthanized, put to sleep, and I assume by first an intravenous injection that simply puts her to sleep, then an injection, which is generally a very high dose of a barbiturate such as pentobarbital. Unconsciousness, respiratory then cardiac arrest follow rapidly, usually within 30 seconds. Most observers generally describe it as a quick and peaceful death.
But my roommate got back and he said that she had actually passed away on her own just as he arrived at the hospital. That's how far and rapidly the disease had progressed... there one minute and gone the next.
So Cleo is no longer with us, and will be missed more than I can express here.
I'm going to wait until I see my son J.R. to tell him face to face, as he's been away for the holidays visiting with family in New England. He truly loved Cleo with her always-happy face and wagging tail. You can understand this. Just a few hours ago she was looking up at me with those big, brown eyes and wagging her tail, a bit more feebly than most times, but happy for the friendship that we shared.
She wasn't really "my" or "our" dog, but this has effected me more than I might have expected. And I'm going to have a hell of a time telling my son when I see him.
I have to go now... I think that you can understand. | 2019-04-23T06:35:01 | http://jargontalk.blogspot.com/2009/12/incurable-what-hell.html |
0.999929 | Please can you advise of any remedy I can use to make my lashes thicker and longer?
To answer your questions, I myself don't have any ideas on how to make your lashes grow thicker and longer.
I do have the same problems with you. try on several mascara which claim can have a thicker one, but none of them are work for me :).
Somehow I heard that olive oil can make your lashes grow thicker and longer. but how to use it. I don't have a clue. maybe you can search the net.
I am sorry, I wish that I can help you but this is the only info I can get.
I have searched the net and found that almond oil is good to use.
Almond oil should only be applied to eyelashes at night before bed. It can be applied using your fingers, but make sure to wash them first. A drop or two should be massaged lightly into the eyelashes with the focus on the roots. Massage the almond oil up to the tips. Take care to apply it with a very light touch and to not get any oil in your eyes. In the morning, use a wet washcloth and dab the eyelids and lashes. Do not wipe as that might cause eyelashes to break or fall out.
It is best to use pure almond oil. If it's mixed with other products or ingredients, don't use it on the eyelashes. | 2019-04-18T13:22:06 | http://www.aromatherapy-at-home.com/eye-lashes.html |
0.994782 | What can an employer do to help employees manage their time well without coming down too hard on employees? The following are a few strategies to help boost individual productivity.
Get your employees involved in identifying not only the issues but also possible solutions. Make this a two-way process from the very beginning.
Start by scheduling a short meeting – one hour should be the maximum (onsite if possible or by video if not) to let employees know that the firm is launching an effort to boost productivity by identifying and reducing distractions. Before the meeting, provide a short briefing document to share general statistics on daily time loss. Identify some of the biggest productivity busters (see above list) and explain how greater productivity helps everyone.
Ask workers to come to the meeting prepared to suggest ways to reduce or eliminate some of the named issues and identify any others.
Provide a meeting agenda and keep the discussion on track. Make it clear that the goal is to find ways to reduce distraction and that finger pointing will not be allowed. Try to make sure everyone who wishes to contribute gets a chance to share their ideas.
Be prepared to kick off the meeting with some examples from your own experience. Share how you manage your emails or deal with well-intentioned (but disruptive) drop-in visits by colleagues. Be candid about where you fall short of your own goals, and strategies you use to address this.
Have a meeting secretary record discussion items and decisions made/or tabled for further discussion. Distribute copies of the meeting minutes – noting not only decisions made, but deadlines and who is responsible for each action item.
Trying to get a handle on productivity is not easy, and there is no foolproof way to enforce and monitor it. Encouraging employees to take ownership of their own issues and be proactive in developing practical solutions is a good start. | 2019-04-23T17:51:31 | https://www.cpacg.com/news-resources/blog/october-2017/tip-are-you-plagued-by-productivity-busters |
0.998763 | With its new Black Velvet Lounge, is Mother's as reassuring as it used to be?
Lisa Schroeder, owner of Mother's Bistro, is matching her Latinx employees' wages and donating them to Causa on Thursday as her contribution for the national Day Without Immigrants.
Lisa Schroeder and Anthony Park, like many restaurant owners, consider their employees family.
Both work alongside Latinx immigrants on a daily basis. Both are participating in a national strike on their behalf, known across the country as the Day Without Immigrants.
The strike is a response to President Donald Trump's promises to crack down on the country's undocumented residents and his promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two Portland restaurateurs are participating in two different ways.
Park's establishment, Du's Grill, won't open its doors. Schroeder is matching the wages earned by her Latinx employees at Mother's Bistro & Bar and donating the sum to Causa, an immigrants' rights association.
On Thursday, businesses around the country will be participating in Day Without Immigrants. In Portland, local businesses are join in in different ways -- some closing down, others donating proceeds to organizations that support immigrants.
In both cases, the service employees will be paid for the day.
"Why should they lose a day of pay to make a point?" Schroeder said.
She was originally planning on closing Mother's for the day as a show of support after her Latinx employees said they'd be staying home Feb. 16.
"So I asked, 'Are you going to march? Are you going to make a statement? How can I help?'" she said.
Approximately 13 percent of her staff is a Latinx immigrant or has parents who moved to the U.S. from another country.
"But if we're going back to grandparents, lemme tell you -- it's everybody," she said.
Because the staffers planning on demonstrating were in the minority, Schroeder decided to compromise.
"These guys (non-immigrants) were going to lose a day of pay as well," she said. "So then we thought, how can we find a solution that will achieve our goal?"
That's when one of her Latinx employees brought up Causa. Why not donate to the organization on their behalf, they told her. Schroeder decided she'd match her Latinx employees' earnings for the day and donate them to the organization.
For Park, the decision to shut down was much easier. He employs six people, all of whom are Mexican immigrants.
"They're very adamantly against the things Trump's been doing," he said. "They're very vocal about it. We have good discussions about it."
Both Park and Schroeder say tensions have been high among their Latinx employees ever since Trump was elected.
"At first there was a lot of anger -- a lot of uneasiness of not knowing what's going to happen to their families or the people they care about," Park said.
Thursday's strike is the first of two demonstrations planned in response to Trump's proposals.
Over Presidents' Day weekend, several Portland restaurants are donating 10 percent of their profits to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been on the forefront of opposition for many of the president's controversial policies.
"I think everybody is on edge. We're all worried about our future. People, particularly those from other countries, are shaking in their boots," Schroeder said.
Isabel on Northwest 10th Avenue has also announced that it is closing for Day Without Immigrants.
Revolucion Coffee will also close, per KATU.
Fifteen businesses in Beaverton closed for the Day Without Immigrants will be featured during a press conference by Voz Hispana Thursday morning. | 2019-04-22T02:55:19 | https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/02/portland_restaurants_day_without_immigrants.html |
0.997744 | Under Dynamic Views - we have Network and Servers.
Under Servers - we have Unix and Windows and when these are expanded out we see server names.
How can I export or copy this table into a new customized dashboard, I would like some columns to be removed.?
I am unable to locate a template for this.
Dynamic dashboards are created by a SQL query against the discovery tables in the database. In this particular case the CM_COMPUTER_SYSTEM table.
This will grab all the data for all servers that have reported in as Nimsoft robots and hubs (nimbus_type 1 and 2 respectively).
You would then create a table in a custom dashboard and use this query to populate the table, if a custom dashboard is where you want it displayed, that is.
A Nimsoft Dashboard expert ended up helping me create a list view which had link to Server Performance reports - filtering on Drive C because OS and IP information is not stored in the QOS tables. | 2019-04-25T02:38:20 | https://communities.ca.com/thread/241724083 |
0.999916 | 1. Be goal-oriented: You need to create a business-aligned communications strategy where everything links back to company goals. Without such a strategy, you're shooting blanks. Let your strategy dictate your communications instead of knee-jerk reaction to events or "we need a blog post immediately because something truly inconsequential just happened."
2. Use great writers: It's the quality of your thoughts that are on display and you need writers who can relate them intelligently, easily switching hats from being conversational for socially engineered content, to being informative and logical for articles, white papers and case studies.
3. Calendar everything: Plan your work and work your plan, and that starts with creating and vigilantly maintaining an editorial calendar for nearly all of your content (i.e., blog posts, strategic social media placements, white papers, case studies, webinars, videos, etc.). Share the calendar with your entire organization and ask for ideas from everyone for new content going forward.
4. Distribution rules: If content is king, then distribution is the ace. Putting content in front of the right consumers -- and lots of them -- is key. Without traffic, your content is worthless. This means distributing your content using social channels such as Facebook and Twitter, aligning with the right content curators and securing links from relevant sites.
5. Wear a white hat: The worse thing you can do is employ keyword stuffing and bogus blogs to serve as a link bait to your website. The best way to generate a high SERP (search engine result page) is to create great content over and over again.
6. Diversify your content: Content marketing offers you the opportunity to publish in multiple formats, settings and channels. Maintaining a Facebook Business or Brand Page or a Twitter account is a step in the right direction, but the mix might require blog posts, white papers, case studies, articles, webinars, FAQ lists, eNewsletters, videos, photographs, forum and message board posts, and online newsroom material.
7. Make it evergreen: Most of your content shold be perpetually relevant… I recommend a 70/30 split (70 percent evergreen, the rest relevant for at least the time being). Evergreen content stands the test of time, reinforcing your business-related goals. Example: You own a local coffee shop and you notice a trend toward siphon brewing individual cups of coffee. You write a blog post called Siphon Brewing 101 and three years from now it's still relevant and drawing upon search results.
8. Curate your content: Aggregating and providing access to content in your own branded environment -- your own website or eNewsletter or web portal -- puts you in the position of being credited for sharing, not hoarding, content.
9. Design matters: The formatting and design of your website, blog, eNewsletter, white papers, case studies, FAQ list, etc. must be great. If you don't nail the design or if you dismiss the importance of a professional layout, don't expect the majority of us to take your content seriously.
10. Analyze performance indicators: Analyze and adjust your approach to content marketing based on key performance indicators, including views, shares, response to calls-to-action, others' curation of your content and so forth. Creating content is job one; analyzing and adjusting as you go are part of job one! | 2019-04-21T14:02:29 | https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220618 |
0.999077 | Why Is A Real Estate Investment A Good Choice?
Through real estate investing, you will be able to enjoy a ton of benefits that are very much unattainable through other kinds of investments. Many of those who have tried it even deemed it as one of the best investments in the stock market. As a matter of fact, real estate investments are the most profitable kind of investments out there. Needless to say, you must also not belittle the kind of risk that you will get yourself into when you try to invest on real estates. Apparently, that is what a lot of people do and more often than not, they suffer from all of the consequences because of their judgement. Even though these investment may be too little for some, but there are still immense damages that one will be dealing with once the person is not careful enough about his decisions. Through reading this article, you will have a better grasp of knowledge on the things that you should be able to know about with regards to real estate investments and their other concepts.
Real estate investments are not as risky as compared to other kinds of businesses out there. Although there are a lot of them involved, but not nearly as much and as intense as the others. It is basically normal, like any other investment that you will make, there is a chance of failing it, but if you are more than careful enough, you can actually have the best out of it. The reason why real estate investments are good choices, is because they are found to be one of the most stable investments in the market. All you need to do and remember is to take this kind of investment seriously, as it can help you very much in the future through the successes that you can achieve with it. Check link: residential here!
This is the kind of investment that is basically sure that you will have a successful end because of the less risks that you have to consider throughout the way. A few of those factors would be the socio-economic considerations that need to be look out on, the market behavior, the population density of the area, the location of the real estate, the history of the land where the real estate is located, the mortgage rate, the inflation, and a few more important considerations, which are all basically manageable in nature, visit the website here!
If you are fortunately in a location wherein there is so much access to a number of resources, then that is the perfect place for any real estate investment. Other good reasons for you to have to check on and try out are those real estate investments with low or stable mortgage rates. To read more on the importance of real estate investment, check out http://www.ehow.com/how_5219306_choose-realtor-selling-home.html . | 2019-04-24T18:40:17 | https://realestateguidesblog.my-free.website/about/ |
0.999933 | Give the range of .
The correct range is not among the other responses.
This choice is not among the responses.
Give the domain of .
The domain is the set of all real numbers except 7 - that is, .
Every real number has one real cube root, so there are no restrictions on the radicand of a cube root expression. The domain is the set of all real numbers.
for any real value of .
This happens if and only if , so the domain of is .
assumes its greatest value when , which is the point on where is least - this is at .
Similarly, assumes its least value when , which is the point on where is greatest - this is at .
Therefore, the range of is .
The range of is .
The domain of a function is all the x-values that in that function. The function is a upward facing parabola with a vertex as (0,3). The parabola keeps getting wider and is not bounded by any x-values so it will continue forever. Parenthesis are used because infinity is not a definable number and so it can not be included.
Notice this function resembles the parent function . The value of must be zero or greater.
Set up an inequality to determine the domain of .
Subtract three from both sides.
Divide by negative ten on both sides. The sign will switch.
What is the range of the function ?
Start by considering the term . will hold for all values of , except when . Thus, must be defined by all values except since the equation is just shifted down by . | 2019-04-22T12:04:58 | https://www.varsitytutors.com/sat_ii_math_ii-help/functions-and-graphs |
0.998398 | At our college, we have a course template that is built out and imported into each online course before any content is added into the course. The first module is titled "Information: Getting Started" and provides students with pertinent information for taking an online course at our institution.
I wanted to be able to lock the first module down so that the student cannot see any other course information until they have read through all the content pages and taken the acceptance quiz, which is stating that they agree to and understand the information that was presented. Once the student reads the information and takes the quiz, all course content in the Modules area will be available. I don't want them to have access to this before the first module had been completed.
Since the eLearning office is the one creating the template, I want us to be able to lock down the first module so that it's already setup for the instructors before they add their content into the class. This way they won't have to remember to go through and lock down all of their other module with a prerequisite of the first module.
Do you have any suggestions of how I can lock down the first module either with the content pages, quiz, or module settings before the template is added to the instructor's course?
Haley, you can make completion of the first module a prerequisite for unlocking the subsequent modules. For details on how to do this, please refer to How do I add prerequisites to a module? And since it sounds like the first module has multiple items in it, you might also want to employ requirements, as described in How do I add requirements to a module?
I thought of that option but wanted to already have the prerequisites set up for the instructors ahead of time so that they don't have to remember to do it. In the template, only the first module, Information: Getting Started, is added to the Modules area. Once the template has been added to the course, the instructor goes in and imports the course specific content to the Modules after the first module that was imported from the template. So they might have Week 1, Week 2, etc. modules after the Information: Getting Started module. I didn't want them to have to put a prerequisite on all the modules they import.
If we decided to go the route of the requirement, how would we need to set up the quiz, which is the last item in the first module, so that the student's couldn't move on to any other module until the quiz was completed? I've tried doing this in many different ways but can't seem to get it to work exactly right.
Haley, your use case is complicated by the fact that teachers will be adding and importing content to the shell after you have created it for them. This means that, regardless of what requirements and prerequisites you set on the template modules, the teachers are going to have to set up requirements and prerequisites for the newly-added items.
Generally speaking, if you require students to complete all of the items in the first module in order; you set a progression requirement on the the last item--the quiz--so that students must score X in order to proceed; and you make the first module a prerequisite for all of the remaining modules, this will accomplish what you've described. So if the first module is uniform across all courses, you can place the appropriate requirements and progression restrictions in the first module. But from there, since the rest of the course will have modules added by the teachers, they will have to be the ones to set the prerequisites on any subsequent modules they bring into the course. The modules have to be in the course before the prerequisites can be set.
I would note that this is almost exactly how we created courses at our college, and teachers were given clear guidance on how to customize the modules by adding module prerequisites (and lock dates, if they chose!) after they had populated their courses with content. They didn't have a problem with it. I'd love to hear from others if anyone has figured out a way to do this in a template, before the content is in the course.
So on the first module, you would put a requirement of completing the requirements in sequential order and then another requirement that they must score a certain grade to move on. After this is put on there, the instructors would have to make the first module a prerequisite for the other modules. Is this correct?
I wish that one of the options on the first module requirement was to lock down all other modules until this module was completed. I'm sure I am the only one who would want this feature, but it would save a lot of time of time.
I definitely would like feedback from others on how they are handling situations like this.
I wish that one of the options on the first module requirement was to lock down all other modules until this module was completed.
...you might not be the only one who wants this! Why not submit a The specified item was not found. after reading How do I create a new feature idea?
I created a feature request for adding this module requirement option. Click here to access the feature request.
...and it occurs to me that, just to be safe, you probably also want to streamline the course navigation so that only Home and Modules are visible to students (and any other navigation links you have to show in accordance with the design of the course). You'll find more about this in How do I use course settings?
Instructors put everything under Modules. They don't have assignments, quizzes, discussions, etc. listed in the course navigation. This way it is a "one stop shop" for students.
We handle this by making the orientation information a completely different course that students must complete before they get access to their real courses. This way we don't need to require faculty to do anything - which makes them happy - and we know for sure that students are completing the orientation (which has upped our retention rate.
This is a great idea! Do you know if this is possible to do if your students are added by a system outside the school's IT department? Is there any way in Canvas or through a script to control where the students are added if we aren't the ones adding the students?
For us the students are added as part of the in-between programming of our SIS (student information system - where students formally register for classes) and Canvas.
Christ is is our midst!
Wouldn't the student benefit from this as a course during their entire enrollment? If the course was perpetual, then they could return to it and repeat sections of it as refresher.
Yes, it would be useful for them. The way ours is set up now is that this module is the first module in each and every online course so that they can refer back to it at any point during the semester.
Thanks for your useful discussion.
I’d like to establish a default setting in Canvas for the whole course that requires the student to go within a module and then from module to module in order, rather than having to do it each time I create a new module or a new unit within the module. Can I do that?
There is no way to automate requirements and prerequisites like this. Sorry! | 2019-04-24T20:49:09 | https://community.canvaslms.com/thread/13341-module-requirements |
0.99997 | During the late 1970's and 80's, I taught Zen and clinical ― especially analytic ― psychology throughout the University of California Extension Colleges. I was then on the faculty of the College of Buddhist Studies teaching Zen meditation.
The 1980's were an exciting time for psychoanalysis as they had more or less discarded Freud and Jung and moved onto understanding the self, which at that time was considered fantasy; that is, researchers no longer considered the ego to be a thing, but rather a bunch of images, memories, thoughts, etc., that got strung together through development.
By this time I had burnt out of just sitting and practicing the "Who Am I?" inquiry. Maybe 15 years had passed doing this inquiry in various ways without any definitive result. Lots of meditation states, lots of Samadhis, lots of solved koans and tens of thousands of hours of sitting.
During the later 70's I had begun reading the various object relation theorists, including Harry Guntrip and James Grotstein in Los Angeles. Finding that immersion in emptiness and background consciousness was kind of boring, after awhile I began looking at the mechanisms within consciousness that were creating the boundaries, such as dichotomies, between inside and outside, self and not self, consciousness and unconsciousness.
That is, how did Consciousness get structure, and what did the process of self-inquiry do to these boundaries? It was also about this time I was talking to Ken Wilber, Dan Browne, Jack Engler and others working on developing transpersonal psychology.
I attended a graduate school in psychology in Los Angeles during the mid-1980s and wrote a Masters Thesis and a doctoral dissertation on these mentation/identification processes with the help of my psychologist mentor, Eric Reitz. I distilled some basic concepts that came out of this research and wrote two papers, one published in the International Philosophical Journal, the other in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
I tried to merge what I had learned about the experience of Consciousness in meditation and what I learned about self-identification processes in psychotherapy.
Part of what I showed was that practicing various forms of meditation appeared to be used by some people as a distraction from psychic pain, or as a conscious ego defensive mechanism. You have to remember that all psychological pain occurs in the imaginal space with apparent personal objects constructed out of mind and imaging. Pain can be avoided in many ways, either by deliberately ignoring it over a period of time, which becomes repression, or "delinking" the image/idea complex, "evaporating it" to reveal its empty nature.
The prime discovery though was of the imaginal space itself and the movement of the locus of Consciousness through that imaginal space that both reveals and creates both internal subjective self-structures, and the apparent external world.
It was shortly after this that I began to practice psychotherapy and performing psychological evaluations for Workers' Compensation. It was also around this time I met Robert Adams and all interest in this stuff went away. I found it totally irrelevant.
The paper below was written in 1987 and published in 1989, about the time I met Robert. Ken Wilber, Jack Engler, Dan Browne and I had been exchanging compliments about each other's works for two years until we fell out of love concerning what we each believed to be the basic nature of the phenomenal self, whether or not there was an evolution or maturation of the fantasy self and appropriate therapies at each stage. I believed the fantasy self was just that, a dream so-to-speak, with no evolution possible.
That is, the fantasy self has no existence; it is a concept with no reality behind it. If anything, the unfolding of Consciousness itself creates the I, not the I evolving to find divine Consciousness. Of course, writing at the time as a humanistic object-relations psychologist, I wrote from the perspective of stabilizing the fantasy self in order to function in the world.
I did point out possible mechanisms by which the non-existent ego was created out of spontaneous movements within Consciousness. I expressed the theory in several places that it was spontaneous movements within Consciousness that revealed hidden structures in the self which through a process of moving back and forth across an imaginary self-other boundary, created an ever growing sense of 'I-ness'.
This still seems like it could be a very important area of research for the future: How do the fantasy personal I and the impersonal I Am core come into existence? What are the differentiating microprocesses from the subjective point of view? This is no longer my work, but some of you might want to run with it. One other well known psychoanalyst has.
After meeting Robert, all these psychological conceptualizations dropped away as irrelevant. Eventually, all conceptualizations dropped away as irrelevant and as an extremely unrewarding waste of perfectly good brain cells.
Back in the 80's, psychiatrists were going to Zen masters and Hindu Gurus looking for new directions in research which did not help their patients at all. The typical clinical pathologies of anxiety and depression are most quickly eased through medication which became predominant in the 1980s until today. Now, usually talk therapy and medication are used together and are far more helpful than either used separately. However, the complex and painstaking approach of analytic psychology, the personal/psychological analog to Buddhist and Advaita self-inquiry, is dead, sidetracked by the rapid ability of medication to reduce psychological pain and the economics of the profession. Very few people go into depth in psychology to go beyond what they are.
One positive element of this paper is the description of a psychotherapy/meditative technique that I call 'microanalysis', where the person who supposedly exists, can supposedly focus on the various phenomenal aspects of their body-mind, such as the tactile and visual senses, as well as emotions and the inner fantasy world, which "atomizes" the apparently discrete and complex phenomena-bundle comprising the self, revealing the background of emptiness upon which this complex displays. This technique can be used to end emotional pain by 'atomizing' or shredding it into its many sub-components. It also familiarizes the apparent searcher with their own non-existence against the backdrop of emptiness, or Void.
When one introspects the apparent I, eventually the background of emptiness becomes the foreground, and eats up both the I and the world.
A side note. There are a whole bunch of neo-Advaitins, or as Shankaranada calls them, California Advaitins, that accept the end result of Advaita as only the recognition of the non-existence of a personal I. They eschew practice and say "enlightenment" is all about seeing there is no personal self to be enlightened. It is knowledge. Of course they say there is no one to be enlightened. Some say to just look inside yourself for an I, and seeing there is none, become instantly free.
This is a complex subject I will not explore in depth here, but let's say that what they are talking about is a kind of tip of the tongue enlightenment and ignores the universal advice of all the great teachers to practice self-inquiry. There is far more to Nisargadatta or Ramana than seeing that the word I has no object referred to in our inner worlds. Yet, they are satisfied with this discovery and then even deduce all the finding of Advaita from this thin foundation.
But if you look at the books I wrote in the 1980s, you can clearly see that psychoanalytic theory as a whole had long abandoned that there was an entity that the word 'I' referred to, whether it be ego, id, or superego. Indeed, the object relations theorists were exploring the processes subjectivity along with Piaget's cognitive developmental stages attempting to understand how the fantasy self, the image/thought/memory complex developed and differentiated from the external world. That is, they were trying to understand Nisargadatta's I Am complex.
No one in psychoanalysis thought that there was an ego anymore. They knew they were exploring fantasy/memory/thought processes as well as subjective mechanisms such as diverting attention repeatedly, which resulted in repression of unwanted experiences. Most all of these thousands of theorists had long before concluded there was no I. Yet, they certainly did not find that to be an end-point of investigation, but merely a beginning point.
Likewise, this was the high point of Zen and Vipassana meditation along with Buddhist epistemology and ontology. Psychologists, psychiatrists and neurologists were all investigating Eastern spirituality mostly in the exploration and understanding of emptiness and the void as it related to an abstract understanding of Consciousness, as well as understanding our own experience of phenomena within the field of the void.
No one who studied any formless meditation for more than a year or two believed there was an ego. None was to be found. In fact, meditation taught many that the resting mind state often led to a disappearance of the boundaries between body and world, self and world, self and body, etc. Again, few believed in an I object or ego, as all that was ever found were bundles of phenomena rattling around in emptiness. But again, few considered themselves.
Most experienced various Samadhis after 3-4 years of meditation, wherein the Void gets experienced as the self, and nothing more is experienced. Others feel as if they become everything and there is no boundary or space between one's sense of identity and the experience of world phenomena.
Yet the California Advaitins seem to express the position that you only have to look inside your subjectivity once, and not seeing an object there which the word I points too, results in the sudden realization that neither the you nor the world exists, and that only Brahma exists, etc.
The California Advaitins do not talk about Samadhi or various levels of self; they regard these all as only transient experiences, while their "knowledge" is permanent. They deny that knowledge is just as changeable.
Let me just say there is far, far more to Advaita than their tip of the tongue freedom.
Anyway, for those who want to explore this area, and I think it still may hold value for future research, begin by reading the 'Object Relations Theory, Buddhism and the Self' (pdf download below). This was one of two academic papers I published partially as a critique of Transpersonal Psychology, which was big at the time.
I also wrote three books during this period, all expansions on my Master's thesis and Ph.D. dissertations written in 1985 and 1986. The books were written between 1986 and 1988, a year before I met Ramesh Balsakar and Robert.
I include these books because if there is an investigation of the ways psychic structures are created, we will know better how to either fix bad linkages or uncreate them altogether, i.e., to get free. This could be a whole new movement in the field of psychology.
The first book is entitled "Exploring the Inner world; Therapeutic Introspection and the Healing Self" which explores processes in Consciousness and the mechanisms of self-building and self-defense. I spend a lot of time describing "microanalysis" and processes of identification and differentiation.
I can't find the original manuscript, so I took apart one of the books and scanned it. It was printed on an old style dot matrix printer and the scanning software could not recognize the words well, therefore, individual chapters are posted as image pdfs. These are large files. I have posted the chapters separately due to their size.
The second book is more about psychotherapy and how the self creates itself out of nothingness. This is not what I exactly say in the book, but that is what I meant. It is called "The Experience of Self." Chapter 1 is below. At this time there is no plan to add additional chapters due to the length of time it takes to scan, read, edit and convert each page into a pdf file.
NOTE: If you have any interest at all about self-psychology or object relations theory, you have to read Grotstein's "Splitting and Projective Identification," and even more importantly, Guntrip's Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self." | 2019-04-22T22:13:42 | http://www.wearesentience.com/psycholanalysis.html |
0.998952 | When posed the question "Who is best, Microsoft or open source?" Adler replied "I like this debate. There are enough proof points to show that proprietary source code can be as secure as open source code." He noted that a recent bug in Apache was accompanied by public debate over whose job it was to fix it (perhaps not that different from what might happen inside a software company, of course). "Who will fix and distribute a patch?" he asked pointedly. "Who does the reviews of open source code?" "One proof point I would like to point out is this. The CERT [security watchdog] site has information about a buffer overflow bug in Kerberos [a widely used security software component]. The bug has just been found in code that has been in use for ten years." Other bugs have been found in DNS services. "This is important code," he said. "Where is the QA process? Just because code is available, there is no proof that someone has reviewed it." "We have a process in place to fix vulnerabilities," he said, indicating the Microsoft Security Response Centre, established for some years, (mailto:[email protected]). "It's open 24x7, and triages all the alerts it receives, so urgent calls get dealt with. It's like a Microsoft CERT -- it notifies CERT of any problems and their resolution." "If a user notifies us of a vulnerability and there are no fixes, it goes to engineering for a quick fix," he said. "Typically there is a patch out within 24 hours. We have a good process internally to respond to vulnerabilities and get patches out to the marketplace." With all this coming out of Microsoft's Redmond HQ, it is tempting to wonder if there is enough of a European angle to justify Adler's role, but he claims to have an active part to play in the future development of Microsoft's trustworthy computing push. "We look at EC digital signatures legislation, and how to comply with it. It's my responsibility to feed stuff back to the EC on meeting the requirements." Clearly, Adler can talk the Microsoft security talk, but can Microsoft walk the walk? | 2019-04-25T06:42:50 | https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-talks-the-talk-on-security/ |
0.999994 | I am just wondering if there is a spreadsheet of all the default kits and their settings in a spread sheet or something?
Would be great to have so if building a custom kit and you like the way something sounds and want to put that on your custom kit and adjust all the settings the same you can just look it up on the spread sheet.
again, just thinking out loud. I will probably take this on , but it would be a huge undertaking..
If you are on facebook , there is a new group for the Strike Pro.. pretty great bunch of people ..
I'm afraid I don't have anything like this at this time. However, I'll be happy to submit this to my team as a feature request for you.
Hi Lonny,<br><br>Thanks for posting. <br><br>I'm afraid I don't have anything like this at this time. However, I'll be happy to submit this to my team as a feature request for you.
Good idea, I've only had my kit a few days and would like to combine certain sounds from different kits. A spreadsheet would remove all the backward and forwarding. | 2019-04-21T06:45:21 | https://getsatisfaction.com/alesis/topics/strike-pro-kit-default-drum-kits-specs |
0.999111 | To build static executables for command line or server applications from Haskell for Mac projects on both OS X and Linux (e.g., to deploy to hosts without a Haskell toolchain), please follow the instructions in this article.
Now getting excited . Does the article means that we can develop an executable in Haskell for mac that can run in Raspberry pi without the need of haskell environment to be installed there too ? Can you please describe a little bit dependent system libraries that is needed for newbies?
I believe, the main problem in compiling for Raspberry Pi is that this involves cross-compiling (i.e., the compiler running on an Intel architecture needs to generate ARM code for the Raspberry Pi). As far as I know, Stack does not have build in support for cross-compilation. So, I am sorry, I don't think there is an easy way to get this working.
This is possible with Docker, but instead of the Haskell environment you would need to have Docker installed on the Pi (or whatever the target machine is). | 2019-04-21T22:06:07 | https://community.hfm.io/hc/en-us/articles/217958058-Building-static-executables-with-Stack |
0.999983 | Is a bond the same as insurance?
No. An insurance policy is an agreement between 2 parties, yourself and the insurance company. You pay the insurance company a premium for your policy. If you have a valid claim, the insurance company repays you for the amount of the loss as agreed to in the policy. A bond is different from insurance because it is an agreement between 3 parties. They are: the PRINCIPAL (the person or entity named on the bond), the Surety Company (the company issuing the bond), and the OBLIGEE (whose interest are being protected by the bond). When there is a claim on a bond, and it's determined to be valid, the PRINCIPAL responsible for re-paying the SURETY COMPANY for their losses.
Who does my bond protect?
A bond protects the OBLIGEE or BENEFICIARY named on the bond. If your bond is for a license or permit that is issued by the State of California such as a Contractor, Insurance Broker, Notary Public or Tax Preparer to name a few, then your Bond protects the State of California in the event of a claim.
Is it hard to get a bond?
That depends on several factors. First, it is the amount of risk associated with the type of Bond you need. The risk factor is based on the past record of claims paid on particular bond. For example, a $5,000.00 License/Permit Bond could be harder to get than a $15,000.00 License/Permit Bond because if the smaller Bond is considered to be a higher risk. On the other hand, Bonds that are in a "low-risk" category with little or no past record of claims, the requirements become more relaxed.
Obviously, with riskier Bonds such as Contract/Performance Bonds, it will be harder to qualify. Being approved for a Bond is in many ways like qualifying for a loan. Employment history, credit rating, personal assets, and your experience in relationship to whatever the bond is intending to guarantee are all factors the underwriter looks at when determining whether or not to issue a bond. This qualifying process is more common with Performance Bonds that are frequently used in the construction industry.
There are some marks on my credit report that aren't so good, and some that shouldn't be there but are still showing up on my report. Will I be able to get a bond?
It depends on what the items are, and what the circumstances are. If you know there will be something on your credit report that shouldn't be there, and you have proof the item is incorrect, a written statement from you and the supporting documents should be submitted with your application. Errors on credit reports are fairly common, as we all know, and usually can be cleared up with minimal effort.
I am a Licensed Contractor and my current Bond Company has declined to renew my Bond. Can you help me?
In most cases, yes. As long as there hasn't been a substantial claim on your current bond that hasn't been settled, and there are no liens file against you, we should be able to get you a new bond the same day.
I'm thinking of starting my own House Cleaning, Pet/House Sitting, or Janitorial Service business and want to be able to advertise that I'm Bonded. Is it possible to be Bonded if I am the owner and only employee?
Yes, upon approval of the underwriter. Both large and small service companies that have their employees going into clients' homes need protection from dishonest acts committed by employees. When you are the owner/employee Employee Dishonesty Bonds are a valuable marketing tool that can increase your business and give your clients peace of mind.
Employee Dishonesty coverage can be written for $2,500 to $100,00 and can be written to cover whatever number of employees you have. This type of bond can be written for non-profit organizations to protect their funds.
Employee Dishonesty Bonds have an Arrest and Conviction Clause. This means no claim will be paid unless the accused has been arrested and convicted of the crime. This is to protect yourself and the Surety Company against fraudulent claims. These bonds do not cover any kind of breakage or damage to your clients' property by your employees. You would need Commercial Liability Insurance for that. We also provide Commercial Liability Insurance - let us know if you would like a quote for your business insurance. | 2019-04-26T10:40:36 | http://jarvisagencyinc.com/bonding.htm |
0.999173 | Al-Hassan as-Sibt says: "The Messenger of Allah (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) ordered us to wear the best clothes we could find for the two Eids and to apply the best perfume we could find and to sacrifice the best animal we could find." [Hakim].
1 It is preferred to make the ghusl, perfume one's self and don one's best attire on the occasions of the two Eid prayers.
2 It is Sunnah to eat before going to the salah for Eidul fitr, (the end of Ramadan) but not do so on the occasion of the Eiddul adha (commemorating Prophet Ibrahim's (AS) sacrifice). For Eidul fitr, it is a sunnah to eat an odd number of dates before going to pray salatul Eid while for Eidul adha the eating should be delayed until one returns from the Eid prayers and then he may eat of his sacrifice if he has sacrificed an animal.
3 It is Sunnah to take one route to the place of Eid Salah and take a different route back.
Where should Eid Salah be Prayed?
4 Salatul Eid can be performed in the mosque but it is preferred to perform in a place outside the city as long as there is no excuse or reason to do otherwise (e.g., rain and so on) as the Prophet (Sallallaho Alaihe Wassallam) would pray the two Eids in the outskirts of Medinah and he never prayed it in his mosque, except once and because it was raining.
Should women attend and pray Eid Salah?
5 Indeed in the time of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) women attended the Eid Salaah, however the practises of women for attending Mosque (adherence to rules of Hijab etc.) must be followed and practised.
The Ulama state that due to an increase in Fitnah this is disliked.
6 While going towards the place of Eid prayer Takbeer should be recited softly (for Eidul Fitr prayer) and loudly (for Eidul-Adha prayers).
When should Eid Salah be Prayed?
7 The time for Eid Salah is after sunrise but the prayer for Eidul Fitr should be slightly delayed while the paryer for Eidul Adha should be hastened.
Ibn Qudamah (RA) says: "It is a sunnah to pray salatul adha early in order to allow more time for the people to perform the sacrifice, and the salatul fitr is to be delayed in order to give people time to pay zakat al-Fitr. I know of no difference of opinion on this point."
How should Eid Salah be Prayed?
8 There is no Adhan or Iqama for Eid Salah.
9 There is no Salah before or after the Eid Salah.
10 Eid Salah consists of two Rakaats.
11 Eid Salah consists of six Additional Takbeers.
12 Make the intention for Eid Salah before starting, "I am performing Eid for Allah (SWT) with six Additional Takbeers". The intention does not need to be verbally uttered, it is simply done within the heart.
13 The prayer begins with the first Takbeer i.e. Takbeeratul-Ihraam followed by Thana.
Note: Scholars have explained that the loud recitation of Umar (RA) was for teaching and in reality it should be recited silently as the later traditions indicate.
15 The Imam will then pronounce three additional Takbeers and everyone will raise hands and then drop them by the side. At the pronouncement of the fourth Takbeer the congregation will fold their hands and the Imam will then complete the Rak'ah as normal after reciting Surah Al-Fatiha and another Surah.
16 In the second Rak'aat the Imam will recite Surah Al-Fatiha and another Surah and then pronounce three additional Takbeers and everyone will raise hands and then drop them by the side. At the pronouncement of the fourth Takbeer the congregation will go into Ruku and the Imam will then complete the Rak'ah as normal.
17 It is Mustahab (preferred) for the Imam to recite Surah Al-A'la (Chapter 87) in the first Rakaat and Surah Al-Ghashiya (Chapter 88) in the second Rakaat.
18 It is Sunnah for the Imam to deliver the Khutbah after the Eid prayers. | 2019-04-22T10:49:18 | https://www.central-mosque.com/index.php/Acts-of-Worship/sunnah-method-description-of-eid-salah.html |
0.999009 | Will Rising Discounts Crush Ford's Profits?
Ford's profit margin was strong last quarter, but it's likely to fall. Here's one reason why.
Ford says has been reducing incentives on its outgoing F-150 pickup. But analysts say that -- like competitors -- Ford's overall incentive spending has been rising. Source: Ford Motor Co.
Ford's (NYSE:F) remarkable turnaround has been powered by its strong results in North America. Lower costs (and much better cars and trucks) have helped Ford's North American division to some of the best operating profit margins in the business.
Those big profits have helped carry Ford while the company restructures its money-losing European operation and invests in a massive expansion in Asia.
But there's a storm cloud on the horizon: Competitive pressures have forced Ford to increase its "incentives," or discounts, here in the U.S.
There are good reasons to think that Ford will have to raise its discounts even further in coming months. Will Ford's all-important North American profits get crushed?
TrueCar.com analysts estimate that Ford's average per-vehicle spending on incentives in July was $3,398, up almost 14% from a year ago.
That's despite the fact that Ford has been holding down its incentives on the F-150 pickup, in an effort to manage supply and demand while it changes over its factories to the all-new 2015 model.
So, why are Ford's incentives up? The reasons vary to some extent with the model. For instance, Ford's Fusion is a strong contender that gained a lot of ground at Toyota's (NYSE:TM) expense last year, when its sales rose over 22%.
But this year has been a different story: Fusion sales are up just 4.3% through July, as buyers have favored SUVs over sedans. It's not just Ford: Rivals like Honda's (NYSE:HMC) Accord and Nissan's (NASDAQOTH:NSANY) Altima have also seen slower sales growth.
So now, in an effort to boost sales, Ford is offering interest-free financing for 60 or 72 months to Fusion buyers through its Ford Motor Credit arm, as well as "cash back" discounts of as much as $2,000 on some models and a series of attractive lease deals.
After a strong 2013, sales of the Fusion -- and many of its midsize sedan rivals -- have been subdued in 2014, as more buyers have chosen SUVs over cars. Source: Ford Motor Co.
That's just one example. But analysts say that Ford -- and to be fair, most of Ford's rivals -- are boosting incentives across the board right now. And they're predicting that incentives will keep rising.
Why? Because used cars are getting cheaper.
It makes sense that falling prices for nice, low-mileage used cars will put pressure on new-car prices. As the price gap between a new model and a nice clean certified-used one that looks pretty much the same starts to grow, more buyers will be tempted by the used models.
That in turn will lead automakers to boost discounts (or cut prices) -- if they want to keep their new-vehicle sales growing.
But why are used cars getting cheaper? Supply and demand: More used cars are coming to market -- because the number of vehicles coming to the ends of their leases is rising every month.
Generally speaking, the best used cars -- the ones that new-car dealers shine up and offer as "certified" -- are examples that have just come "off lease".
In Ford's case, Ford Motor Credit provides the company's lease offers. Customers lease a new Ford for 24 or 36 months and then return it to Ford Motor Credit, which then auctions off the lightly used vehicles.
Many of those off-lease Fords will find their way to Ford dealers, where they'll be "certified" and offered to customers who want a new-ish car but maybe don't want to pay full price for a new one. As more and more of those cars show up on dealer lots, and as their prices start to fall, it'll get harder and harder to make the case for a new model -- without some incentives.
There are other sources of used cars, of course, but that's how many of the nice ones make their ways to market in the U.S.
Now consider how new-vehicle sales have been rising in the U.S. over the last several years, and you'll see why supplies of nice used vehicles -- which lag the new-car market by two or three years, of course -- are starting to rise.
That's why prices will fall. And that's why Ford is likely to feel pressure to boost incentives further, squeezing its profits in North America.
Here's why that's a big deal.
Ford's sales in places like China have been booming, but Ford has been reinvesting much of the money it makes in Asia in an aggressive expansion effort. The company currently has five factories under construction in China and India.
Ford's global models have been finding lots of buyers in China. The Kuga -- a twin of the U.S.-market Escape -- has been one of several Fords posting strong sales. Source: Ford Motor Co.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Ford has been working on an aggressive restructuring plan. The company lost $1.75 billion in Europe in 2012 and $1.6 billion more in 2013, as steep recessions in many European nations clobbered new-vehicle sales.
While Ford Europe turned a small profit last quarter, that was a fluke. Ford expects Europe to post another loss for 2014, but says it should return to profitability in 2015. Meanwhile, the investment cycle in Asia will continue for at least another year, perhaps longer.
Both regions should start making nice contributions to Ford's bottom line -- in a couple of years. But while those efforts are playing out, Ford is heavily dependent on North America for profits.
As you can see, North America was a profit powerhouse, with a whopping (by auto industry standards) operating profit margin of 11.6%. Ford has warned that its margins will fall into the (still good) 8%-9% range as the year goes on, because of the costs of launching a series of new models.
Generally speaking, new models require fewer discounts to sell well. The new models that Ford is launching could help the company hold the line on discounts.
But if Ford has to keep boosting incentives to keep pace with competitors (and the used-car market), its margins could be hit harder. Stay tuned. | 2019-04-20T14:14:06 | https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/16/will-rising-discounts-crush-fords-profits.aspx |
0.987011 | A while back I was having a discussion about the future of PC gaming and there were arguments that it was on the improve due to the release of Starcraft II and the take up of professional gaming in America (it's been huge in South Korea for a long time). However, my argument was not about the amount of money PC games might bring in for development companies, but that the average age of PC gamers was only getting higher. In 2011 the average age reported was 37. That age hadn't changed in 5 years, I.e. in 2006 the average age was about 32. The only conclusion you can draw from this is that it's the same people buying/playing PC games now that bought them 5 years ago. The industry isn't gaining any new customers.
The reasoning behind this 5 years ago was (in my insignificant opinion) the increase in console gaming. The xbox 360 and PS3 had just come out, young 20 somethings would rather sit on the couch and play online against randoms with server side match making / ranking facilities that sony/microsoft made available. Something the PC gaming world severely lacked. Some games implemented it, such as the arena rankings in W.o.W. but it was left up to individual game developers rather than a platform wide system.
The console gaming has now taken a massive drop off, and PC gaming is now smashing consoles in sales. Surely this is due to the outdated hardware of the PS3 et al. But where are these gamers going? Not to the PC, as the average age and sales have not changed much.
Enter mobile gaming. The same mob that did the survey last year (linked above), did the study again this year and decided they had no choice but to start including mobile gaming. As such the average "gamer" age has dropped dramatically, to 30. Little Johnny from grade 5 can't afford $100 for the new modern warfare. But he can afford $1.99 for angry birds. Will mobile gaming mean the death of PC gaming? I highly doubt it, since existing PC gamers aren't going anywhere. But I do worry about the future of PC gaming if all these teens playing "song pop" aren't switching over to guild wars any time soon. In 10 years time, will the average age of a PC gamer be 47?
It's hard to say, but mobile gaming is clearly having an effect on PC gaming, much like console gaming did. 5 years from now will something kill mobile gaming the same way it killed console gaming? Maybe virtual gaming is making a come back, if John Carmack makes it, I'll play it.
In the mean time, grab your console, whack it behind your door cos it's only good for a doorstop, delete your games off your mobile cos they aren't really "games", install Steam and checkout what real games are all about. | 2019-04-26T05:39:01 | http://blog.tigris.id.au/2012/08/the-future-of-gaming.html |
0.998951 | Below is the initial portion of Paige's interview. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion.
Reality TV World: Were you surprised to be eliminated, especially since you got the best reviews yet this season from the judges on Wednesday night's performance show? I'm just assuming you probably didn't see that coming at all.
Paige Thomas: You know, at this point in the competition, everyone's so good. So I never expected anything. But yeah, I was definitely shocked for sure.
Reality TV World: Where had you expected to fall in the rankings chart? Did you think, based upon your great performance this week, that you'd make it in the Top 3 or something?
Paige Thomas: Based off of what people around me and backstage and stuff like that were saying, they're saying like that I was in their Top 3 performance of the night. But I don't know. I don't think I really expected to fall in any certain place in particular on the chart. I just didn't necessarily expect to be the lowest either with the lowest amount of votes.
So, I don't know. I think my performance was better than what I placed. I just think I placed that way because ultimately it depends on the votes he got. It wasn't really on how good your performance was but rather just how many votes.
Reality TV World: In your final words following your elimination, you said you're excited to go home and show everyone that you've got bigger and better things to do. Could you talk a little bit about what you meant by that?
Paige Thomas: Yeah, there is so much more to me that I have to offer than what I've been able to showcase on the show such as I'm going to get back into modeling, acting -- experiment there a little bit more -- and then going back to working on my music and stuff rather than covering someone else's music. I get to do my own.
So now, I can work myself without having any limits. No one can tell me I can't have dancers or I need to wear this or so on and so forth. I can just kind of do myself and then run with that.
Reality TV World: So did you just sort of see The X Factor as a stepping stone for you? How much did winning the competition really mean to you?
Paige Thomas: Oh it meant absolutely everything, you know? That was my main goal, and I actually saw myself having the potential to win it. But yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, it comes down to the vote. So it meant everything, and that was my main goal, to win it.
But because I was eliminated at eighth place, it's now a stepping stone. Like I said, there is so much more for me to offer than what I was able to showcase with the show. So, I guess I see it as a stepping stone, absolutely.
Reality TV World: You didn't get very emotional once you were eliminated, which was a little surprising for some viewers considering you seemed to wear your heart on your sleeve all season. So what was going through your mind in the moment? Were you almost a little relieved to leave the competition or were you maybe more frustrated than sad about going home at that point?
Paige Thomas: Um, you know, it's bittersweet, because no one wants to get eliminated in the competition. But yeah, I was a little relieved -- just a little bit -- because I can do what I wanted to do now. I can really come out as to who I am.
This past week, we did -- that whole thing was about how I wanted to come out as myself and I was being kind of somewhat held back a little bit. And I didn't really necessarily see the direction of myself as an artist the way that my mentor did. So, that part was kind of -- that's why the relief came in -- knowing that I had the opportunity to just show who I am as an artist without any limitations or whatever the case may be.
Above is the initial portion of Paige's interview. Check back with Reality TV World soon for the concluding portion. | 2019-04-25T11:49:39 | https://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-paige-thomas-talks-about-her-time-on-the-x-factor-%28part-1%29-14139.php |
0.999999 | Here are some exchanges that have taken place about issues in ontological philosophy.
"Ontological Philosophy is an argument showing that certain truths hold necessarily of the world. It starts, not from how we know, as traditional (epistemological) philosophy does, but from what can be known empirically about the nature of the substances that constitute the world (ontology)."
Strictly speaking, is it possible to make the claim that you can empirically know the nature of a substance (and not just making the more modest claim that the term substance is a concept used to designate entities that exist independently of our perception)? I would think that you are making a rational inference from the data supplied by empirical observation that strikes the reflective subject as being very plausible. Your statement, taken at face value, commits empiricism to also making metaphysical claims.
REPLY: It does not seem to me that the stance of empiricism is assumed. To be sure, the empirical method is one of the three basic assumptions acknowledged in establishing spatiomaterialism as the ontological foundation for this philosophical argument. But that is not to endorse empiricism.
Indeed, given how the empirical method is defined, this assumption is not even compatible with empiricism. Empiricism holds that all our knowledge comes from perception, but when you take the empirical method to be inferring to the best explanation of what is perceived, you are assuming the right to go beyond perception as far as the kind of explanation you are using will allow. Science violates the principle of empiricism by assuming that its efficient-cause explanations are valid (that is, by rejecting Hume's problem of induction). The best efficient-cause explanation is usually refers to something that is not perceived, if only a law of nature. And empirical ontology violates the principle of empiricism by assuming that its ontological-cause explanations are valid (that is, by rejecting skepticism about the existence of substances beyond their appearances in perception).
REPLY: In fact, in all three days that the tWoW.net booth was open at the American Philosophical Association meetings in Boston, no one who talked to us left thinking that they still had a reason to reject ontological philosophy -- except those who believe in life after death. There were three of them, as I recall, one was a protestant minister, another was a nun, and the third was a young defender of anti-determinist libertarianism on the free will issue (who was embarrassed to find, after talking to us, that the only reason he had left for believing in indeterminism was his commitment in an immortal soul).
The immortality of the soul does have a special hold on its believers for some reason. Although the belief may seem narcissistic to naturalists (that is, to anyone who believes that everything that exists is located in space and time), I think that the belief is more a cause of narcissism than its effect. The problem is that, in our culture's current incoherence about basic issues, it can easily come to appear that something mystical about the individual soul is the foundation for everything meaningful about ones life, including there being a real difference between good and bad. Once one constructs a way of dealing with the world on that foundation, everything seems threatened by denying the immortality of the soul. We should have more sympathy for them. They may be narcissists, but it requires considerably more moral courage for them to take ontological philosophy seriously than it does for naturalists.
Scribner's suggestion that the narcissism is more the effect than the cause of the belief in the immortal soul seems on the right track. Yet, the origination of the belief is far more interesting than seems to be given credit in Scribner's reply. More importantly, the belief in the immortal soul highlights an important kind of error that we make in philosophy, namely taking an intuition that serves a function in one area of thought and extending the explanative power of that intuition into regions for which it was not designed. Note in Wittgenstein's Tractutus propositions 6.431-6.4312. Here, the intuition about eternal life is correct in one sense. As death is not an event of life, then our life has no limits in the same sense that our visual field has no limits. Yet, this is a psychological fact about how we conceive of possibilities in that there is no state of affairs conceived by me in which I am not conceiving of that state of affairs. In this sense, there is no limit to spirit (Wittgenstein's sense, not Scribner's) as in the case of our eye. So, the failure of the belief in the immortal soul is to take this psychological fact about conceivability and to translate it into a metaphysical fact. However, there is no cause for us to take this intuition as a metaphysical fact, not due to the fact that science simply hasn't devised yet a soul-a-meter, but rather due to the fact that in a complete explanation of the whole of physical and psychological phenomena we need never refer to such a fact as the soul. The soul, then, is in a very different position than say the basic assumptions of Scribner's ontological philosophy which seem required for the explanation of the world to proceed. --Mark Bauer Denver, Co.
Exactly right. Ontology is all encompassing, since what exists explains what happens, and I use "cosmology" as a dumping ground for the aspects of the universe that are most difficult for us to know about, the very large and the very small. My only excuse is that questions about the very large (and the very small) are currently connected with the Big Bang theory, which is a theory about the origin of the universe, or a theory in "cosmogony," and cosmogony has long been considered a main part of cosmology. --Phillip Scribner Washington, D. C.
KENT VAN CLEAVE'S NOTION OF "RELEXIVE FUNCTIONALITY"
[KVC] As for identification of "the good" and other issues of :normativity, I think we have plenty of common ground and room for discussion. My bet is that I can convince you that "good" comes from the intrinsic value in _reflexive functionality_ rather than from "natural perfection." Your main thrust doesn't require a commitment to the view you now take in this regard.
[KVC] This last claim is also one I make for metaphysical functionalism -- though in my case, everything is explained in terms of material function. It's pretty clear from your comment that you don't understand my notions of "reflexive functionality" or "intrinsic value" -- which puts you in the company of just about everybody else.... ;-) Let me elucidate.
Reflexive functionality is the physical property of "working to continue being the kind of thing that does this work." The first such thing, as far as we know, was the sort of self-reproducing molecule that we now see in RNA/DNA (or perhaps an autocatalytic set, as Stuart Kauffman has speculated, in which, for example, A enhances the production of B, B of C, and C of A). I claim that reflexive functionality IS intrinsic value, for two reasons. First, from the perspective of methodological behaviorism, the way to tell whether something is a value is to look and see whether it is being pursued -- and reflexive functionality passes this test with flying colors, and does so without appeal to any subjective opinion about what value should be, or which values are most important. Secondly, the capacity for evaluation (and therefore all varieties of subjective value) evolved as tools in the pursuit of the reflexive functionality of Life (the obviously reflexive process of "begetting begetters"). We have every reason to treat them as INSTRUMENTAL values to the extent that they fulfill that role, but where do they get any claim to being INTRINSIC? I think the sources of such claims are folk psychology and human chauvinism --neither of which provides reputable support.
So, when you suspect that my reflexive functionality "involves, in the case of rational beings, a recognition of what is functional," you're not describing my view. Reflexive functionality would be both functional and reflexive whether anyone ever knew or appreciated it. It would also be intrinsic value, for it actively pursues its continued existence as the kind of thing it is. Our opinions and beliefs about value are irrelevant to its claim to intrinsic value, although I've shown that we have good reasons to acknowledge that claim. Actually, you and I probably connect in this respect, too, for I think your notion of natural perfection is likewise independent of human opinion or belief. Three cheers for naturalized ethics!
Kent Van Cleave comments: Phillip, I have spotted what may be an illuminating difference in perspective between us. It has to do with a preference for either structuralism or functionalism. When one looks at the world, does one see objects (structures) and their interrelationships, or does one see processes (functions) as a unitary, dynamic flow?
I think these are probably cognitive strategies that people naturally adopt as they learn about the world, one in preference to the other. Structuralists will conceptualize processes as sequences of discrete states, while functionalists will conceptualize objects as "snapshots" of dynamic processes.
As I declare unabashedly in my "Overview of the Philosophy", I'm a functionalist. I think you might be a structuralist.
To illustrate, it looks to me like what you call "structural causes" aren't far removed conceptually from my "reflexive functionality". A particular material structure, together with physical laws, entails the emergence of certain events (e.g., replication of the structure in question through reproduction, given the needed raw materials). Now, there's a "chicken and egg" question here, and I'm willing to concede priority to the structuralists. A function, as a persistent natural process, must be preceded by the proper structure. But once it is up and running, I think the function "takes over", modifying structures to its own ends, and making them causally subordinate.
This conceptual divide, I'm convinced, lies at the heart of the now notorious war between the adaptationists (Dennett, Maynard Smith, Dawkins, et al.) and the non-adaptationists (Gould, Lewontin, Rose, et al.) The adaptationalists, I think, are functionalists, while their foes take the opposite perspective. The non-adaptationist notion, 'spandrel', is a good illustration: a trait that defies explanation as an adaptation. That's because traits are precisely the sort of thing that structuralists want to explain. Functionalists, on the other hand, may be mildly interested in a trait to whatever extent it plays some functional role. For them, a spandrel differs from an adaptation in one important way: though both are generated by genetic variation, the adaptation has been "vetted" by natural selection, while the spandrel hasn't. Being functionally neutral, its existence simply hasn't mattered. I'm introducing the term 'moxnix' (a bastardization of the German phrase "Es macht nichts", or "it doesn't matter") to refer to identifiable physical features that play no functional role, and therefore escapes natural selection.
In this light, let's consider your characterization of the prevailing concensus in evolutionary theory: that evolution "tracks environmental changes". Superficially, this is true -- but it isn't the whole story. Much evolutionary change involves adapting to an unchanging environment, and the variation upon which it depends is strictly genetic and circumstantial (e.g., factors like genetic drift). This sort of change has been the focus of the "new synthesis" in evolutionary theory, and its emphasis has been on genetic change -- NOT on change in the environment.
Punctuated equilibrium, on the other hand, focuses precisely on environmental change. In fact, Gould could claim no revolutionary insight unless there were an element of "creativity" that lay outside genetic variation.
Now, let's consider all this from the perspective of my metaphysical functionalism. All variation that matters biologically is in the "fit" (the valence) between organism and environment, and logically this can occur in two ways: change in the organism, or change in the environment. Gradualism or punctuated equilibrium. I'm tempted to add a gratuitous "DUH!"
Moving on, you make a special claim about the causal role of "reproductive cycles" (which is apparently roughly synonymous with "organisms" rather than with "periodic episodes of reproductive activity"). Reproduction often produces a surfeit of organisms that wind up competing with one another for resources and reproductive opportunities, and you see this as the dominant fodder for natural selection. Yes, Darwin DID note this intraspecies competition, which was immortalized by Spencer in his phrase "survival of the fittest". But this factor varies in importance according to the reproductive ("K") strategy adopted by a species. For insects or frogs, you bet -- it's a big factor. For dolphins, marmosets, or humans it's no big deal. Reproduction is designed in all cases to replace the current generation with a margin of error. There's nothing mysterious about this, for in periods of environmental stability there's automatic selection against profligate reproduction that might exhaust the entire local food supply.
This has a particularly unsalubrious consequence for the pursuit of "natural perfection", because those species that are candidates to become rational will also be species that have adopted "low-K" reproductive strategies that emphasize parental care and upbringing over sheer numbers of progeny.
[PHS]: Responding to my claim that evolution leads inevitably to rational beings like us and beyond, Kent Van Cleave wrote, "I don't disagree that evolution is change in the DIRECTION of perfection. Where we disagree is on the issue of 'perfection of WHAT'. It appears to me that you see the perfection of spiritual rationality as the natural perfection toward which evolution moves organisms. This is way too teleological for me."
Before I take up your reasons, Kent, let be clear about what I am saying. It is true that I believe that the overall course of evolution leads to rational beings and that their evolution is an instance of change in the direction of natural perfection. But that is not the definition of "natural perfection." Natural perfection is defined as maximum power to control all the conditions affecting reproduction. Hence, there are many types of natural perfection, including the natural perfection of individual species, of ecologies of species, of the set of species that evolve at each stage, and of the series of stages that occur in the overall course of evolution. Accordingly, rational beings are (or become) naturally perfect in various ways, not only naturally perfect for organisms of their kind and naturally perfect because of their contribution to the ecology of which they are part, but also naturally perfect because they are a latter stage in which life itself (that is, organisms that have power to control relevant conditions at all) become naturally perfect -- though the highest state of the natural perfection of life is a stage yet to come.
Let me emphasize that none of this is teleological in the Aristotelian sense. There are no final causes. There is no "striving for perfection" nor "will to power" behind it. Nor is it anything as superficial as the Anthropic principle, for it does not hold that the world has the nature it does in order to this natural perfection to exist. Instead, it demonstrates that the nature of the world, explained ontologically, makes the evolution of maximally powerful structures of various kinds ontologically necessary (and, thus, inevitable). And it recognizes such optimal statedas a kind of perfection (or completeness) that is appropriate for a natural world made of space and matter.
Thus, the issue comes down to whether the evolution of these forms of natural perfection is ontologically necessary or not, and there I have hope that we might reach agreement, because you are already moving in that direction. Immediately following the above, Kent, you write, "There's no doubt at all that evolution tends to perfect the ecological fit between an organism and its environment; indeed, that's the thrust of my approach to evolutionary theory: focus not on the organism, nor on the environment, but on the entire system -- the situation and its valences. Whenever there is a valence for a better fit, selection will (ceteris paribus) favor accidental genetic changes in that direction."
I would urge you to be true to your own intention when you say that you want to focus on "the entire system." The entire system is not "the situation and its valences." The entire system is a planet rotating while in orbit around a star in which organisms (structures) are going through reproductive cycles. By taking the whole system into account, it is possible to see what is ontologically necessary, that is, what all is involved in the global regularity we call evolution. What you call "valences" is something that can be explained ontologically, and when their role in evolutionary change is also explained ontologically, I believe that you will see that evolutionary change does reach natural perfection in all the ways mentioned above.
Now, let me take up your points one by one.
(1) When I argue that the attainment of natural perfection comes from organisms trying out the entire range of random variations that are possible for them at that point, you object, "Logically, we can't know that the best variations WILL occur in less than infinite time (for each variation requires a finite amount of time to be introduced and spread). To claim otherwise denies the randomness (I prefer "undirectedness") of genetic change." I believe that when one looks at the structures that are evolving and how variations are tried out, it is (or will become) clear that the entire range will be tired out before long. It is not a logical matter at all, but a matter of statistics. What you seem to be suggesting is that, by the nature of the organisms, there will not be enough variations to try out all the possibilities soon enough. I would agree that if there were evolving structures that did not try out the full range of possible variations quickly enough, they would not become naturally perfection. Indeed, they would not evolve at all. They would become extinct, because they would quickly be replaced by organisms that were able to try out the full range of possible variations, for the latter organisms would soon acquire the power to control the conditions that affect their reproduction. To show that organisms will not become maximally powerful for the reason you mention, you would have to show that there cannot be organisms whose structures are capable of trying out variations quickly enough. But I believe that the structures of organisms on earth show that they are possible.
(2) When I admit that two kinds of design plateaus are encountered in evolution (one for species adapting to particular ecological niches and another for the set of species that evolves at any given stage), you suggest that what I mean is that the organisms have gotten into a state in which "you can't get there from here." But that is not what I mean. I am denying that there is any "there" to get to from here. That is, they are already naturally perfect of their kind. There is an illusion at work here. Because in most cases we know of more powerful organisms, we can imagine the organisms in question being more powerful than they are. My claims is that that is not "ontologically" possible, or not possible as a result of reproductive causation (i.e., natural selection), and thus, not what is meant by natural perfection. Both plateaus come down to the same limitation: the organisms that evolve at any given stage of evolution have a kind of structure that is able to evolve only so much power. Once they acquire that power, the only way for evolution to go on is with a basically different kind of structure, one with a higher level of part-whole complexity, one that starts a whole new stage of gradual evolution. To be sure, before that new stage begins, some of the species that have already evolved may also have reached a plateau in the sense that they do not have all the powers that have evolved among other species at their stage. But again, there is no "there" to get to from here, because the functional traits they lack would be of no use to them. For example, mole rats are sometimes blind. But they don't need to see, and the energy spend on maintaining vision would make them less powerful as a whole over their whole reproductive cycles in controlling relevant conditions.
(3) This distinction between the gradual evolution of all the species at any stage in the direction of maximum power relative to their ecological niche and the revolutionary evolution with which a new stage begins is also my answer to your doubts about the possibility of it being inevitable that rational beings will evolve. You say, "The primary difficulty is that the direction of evolution in the vast majority of cases is SPECIALIZATION, while the essence of rationality is GENERALIZATION. Where specialization is a matter of quantitative improvement, generalization is a mixed mode of change with both qualitative and quantitative elements, and it is expressed in two general forms: versatility and adaptability. These are the hallmarks of rationality."
In order to see the inevitability of rationality, you need to appreciate how different the revolutionary evolution of new stages is from the gradual evolution during each stage. It is the latter that you are thinking of, whereas the former is what makes rational beings inevitable. A new stage evolves only when the basic structure that was evolving (in many different species) at the previous stage has become so powerful that it can be organized along with many similar structures as parts of a larger structure that goes through reproductive cycles as a whole (though that higher level of part-whole complexity must also enable them to control conditions affecting reproduction that were previously beyond their control). That begins a new stage. At first they are simple, uniform and barely able to go through reproductive cycles at all, but as they impose natural selection on themselves, they gradually become more complex, diverse and powerful as they adapt to all the ecological niches possible. The series of stages is not change the direction of specialization (specialization is what occurs to species during each stage), but change in the direction of power to control a wider and wider variety of conditions. That is what eventually leads to rationality, and does so inevitably.
(4) This seems to be what you are saying is impossible. "But any claim that rationality is the necessary birthright for evolving organisms in general needs to show the necessity of a continuous path through design space whereby every change is either neutral, insignificantly detrimental, or positive in addressing the immediate demands of fitness. I doubt such a proof is possible. [THE TRACING OF THE SERIES OF STAGES IS GIVEN IN THE SECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE GLOBAL REGULARITIES.} You say that 'one such stage of gradual evolution inevitably gives rise to another,' which would appear to be a necessary step in your argument -- yet it is simply false. The sort of progression I think you're envisioning is one occasioned by a radical environmental change that forces organisms to develop new capabilities that have been merely nascent theretofore." This is the mistake that is misleading you. My claim is that changes in the environment are basically irrelevant to evolutionary change. New stages are caused by higher levels of part-whole complexity in the evolving structures, and they are made possible by the evolution of the parts of which they are composed. That is what makes it possible to trace them all the way from the beginning of evolution to rational beings (and beyond).
You are correct, however, to point out at the end that my claim about necessity is what divides us. The source of that difference is, as I have said from the beginning, the very strategy of ontological philosophy. What attracted me to your view from the beginning is the way in which you recognize the objectivity of functionality and the foundation of value. And my complaint from the beginning is your willingness to stop your explanation of evolution with the postulation of valences as basic. Every other disagreement we have comes down to that. In each case, it is a necessary truth to which I am committed because I start with the best ontological explanation of the natural world and recognize that what follows from it is a more fundamental truth than what science and ordinary practical reasoning discovers.
[PHS]: I would like to respond to a series of comments by Kent Van Cleave on tWoW.net in an attempt to clarify our differences and hopefully pave the way to more agreement. What makes this seem possible is our initial agreement that evolution is what explains the difference between good and bad.
Kent wrote, "Phillip, I have spotted what may be an illuminating difference in perspective between us. It has to do with a preference for either structuralism or functionalism. When one looks at the world, does one see objects (structures) and their interrelationships, or does one see processes (functions) as a unitary, dynamic flow?
"I think these are probably cognitive strategies that people naturally adopt as they learn about the world, one in preference to the other. Structuralists will conceptualize processes as sequences of discrete states, while functionalists will conceptualize objects as "snapshots" of dynamic processes.
"As I declare unabashedly in my "Overview of the Philosophy", I'm a functionalist. I think you might be a structuralist."
I understand how you can see me as a structuralist and, thus, taking a different approach from functionalists, but it seems to me that this difference is not really basic and both sides derive from the deeper foundation of ontology. What makes it seem that I am a structuralist is the very strategy of ontological philosophy, that is, starting with the simplest and fewest basic substances that can explain everything in the world and using that ontology as a foundation to demonstrate that certain propositions are ontologically necessary. As it turns out, the best ontological explanation of the world is spatiomaterialism, and the recognition that space, as well as matter, is a substance helping to constitute the world, explains why structures play such a big role in natural phenomena. All structures are ultimately spatial structures.
And on this view, one of the most important structures, as you suggest latter, are what I call "structural causes" (the unchanging structures of material objects that constrain change). They are ontological causes, and the regularities that can be traced to structural ontological causes are only one kind of global regularity that holds in a spatiomaterial world like ours. Reproductive global regularities are another, though they follow from spatiomaterialism in the same way. The ontological causes in this case are reproductive cycles (or cycles in which structural causes not only reproduce themselves but also control other conditions in the world), which are, as you recognize elsewhere, just organisms. Reproductive global regularities all involve change in the direction of maximum power to control all the conditions affecting reproduction that can be controlled. That is the source of the functional traits, in my view, and they are so pervasive that that explains ontologically the usefulness of the functionalist approach you favor. Thus, when you say that in evolutionary explanations, the difference between structuralism and functionalism involves a "chicken and egg" question, I would suggest that there is no such choice to be made. Both derive from a deeper ontological foundation. We might be able to agree about that, if we continue to take ontology seriously.
But I am less sure, when you go on to say, "A function, as a persistent natural process, must be preceded by the proper structure. But once it is up and running, I think the function "takes over", modifying structures to its own ends, and making them causally subordinate." Though I would not deny that the structures (or organisms) that evolve are able to act on the world so that they change other structures, I do not see how functions can be said to be taking over. Their power to shape things in the world to their own end is a power that they derive from their own structures, and ontological philosophy implies that natural selection (or, in its terms, reproductive causation) is responsible for that. Only with the evolution of rational animals, and only because of their enormous power, can the functional activity of organisms be the source of the organic structures that have the functions we are talking about. This may, however, be my misunderstanding of what you are saying. In any case, let me invite you again to consider the possibility and desirability of founding your view on an ontological explanation of the world, rather than on one that takes functions to be somehow basic. That is, I believe, the deeper division.
There are a couple of other points you raise I would like to mention. I do not want to insist that others have held that evolutionary change is just tracking changes in the environment (though I could quote Gould and others who have). I agree with you that it can be and usually is adaptation to an unchanging environment. I also agree with you about not making the fundamental distinction between punctuated equilibrium and less radical evolutionary changes that Gould wants to make. I agree that in both cases they are naturally selected. Where I would part company with you and with Gould is in the kind of variation that is being selected. In most cases of what are called punctuated equilibrium, what accounts for the sudden appearance of many new species is the advent of a higher level of part-whole complexity in the evolving structures. (More broadly, one of the complaints that this ontological explanation of evolutionary change would make about the received views is its assumption that all evolutionary change comes down to changes in the genetic structure. This focus on genes overlooks the levels of part-whole complexity in structures that are going through reproductive cycles, though those levels are a bit too complex to spell out here.) My point is that I believe you are right to insist that both kinds of evolutionary change are cases of what you call valence (though I would deny that either depends on changes in the environment).
Finally, I do not see how my claim that natural selection is caused by reproduction is contradicted by the recognition that organisms have different strategies for completing reproductive cycles, ranging from those that produce many offspring so that a few may surely make it to others that produce a few offspring and make sure that those few make it. In both cases, reproduction will make resources scarce, and only those that are most powerful will tend to succeed. To be sure they will have different numbers of offspring, and the numbers of offspring will be a result of natural selection. But whatever the level of reproduction, population growth will tend to make resources scarce, giving an advantage to the more powerful. How else could natural selection work when the environment does not change?
[KVC] :There are several points here I need to quibble over -- though I sympathize with the general thrust. Your ontological philosophy is based (as I take it from reading parts of your admirable website) on just such an ad hoc assumption (meaning "adopted for the specific purpose" of explaining the universe): that space, as well as matter, is a _substance_. To your credit, you don't treat this as a matter of dogmatic belief, but as a belief whose justification is dependent on the validation of experience. You could be right though I am more attracted to the view that matter is a function of space-time (based on the notion of "implicate order" advanced by David Bohm, whose work you clearly appreciate). Since I take it that you don't insist that space and time are fundamentally separate aspects of the universe, we might eventually agree that space-time is the fundamental substance (and matter derivative). I'm not a physicist, though, so my position on this is quite tentative.
[KVC] If I'm not mistaken, somewhere you mention the alternative to space enduring through time (space perduring with time -- which I take to be just the notion of orthogonality of dimensions for the space-time manifold). I don't see that it's any more necessary for space (or objects in space) to endure through time in order to exist than it is for length (or objects with length) to be extended along dimensions of breadth and height in order to exist. Certainly, physical objects in our universe couldn't exist without any one of the physical dimensions of space.
I'll need to read what you've said on the subject of the co- extensiveness of space and matter, and interaction between the two substances; at first blush, it would seem that you'll be struggling under much the same difficulties as the mind/matter dualists did. I'll definitely read your section on quantum mechanics (have begun already), and I'm very curious to see what you have to say about Bohm.
Phillip Scribner's January 25, 2000, response to Kent Van Cleave posting above.
[PHS]: The issue about the nature of time may be a "can of worms," but it is a can that ontologists must open, because time has to do with the nature of existence. The endurance theory holds that existence itself is in time. This entails what is sometimes called "presentism," because it holds that only the present exists. The past and the future do not exist. This is not an obscure theory, for it is simply what we ordinarily assume.
The perdurance theory holds, on the other hand, that time is another dimension, like the spatial dimensions. It can be represented as a spacetime diagram in which time is orthogonal to the all three spatial dimensions, as you point out. And thinking of it in that way does make it seem that being extended in space is no more necessary to something's existence than being extended in any other dimension.
But the 4-D spacetime diagram is a mathematical abstraction, and it is the actual, concrete world that ontologists are trying to explain. In the concrete world, time has a certain nature. As you seem willing to admit, it certainly seems to beings like us that presentism is true. The present does seem to be real in a way that the past and the future are not. It is hard to see how that could seem to be true without our actually existing in time, that is, existing only at the present moment. I am not denying that some theory can be concocted in which the uniqueness of the present is explained away as a mere appearance. I am only saying that some such theory has to be concocted, because it certainly appears to us that only the present exists. And the simplest way to explain that appearance is to assume that it is true: nothing exists but what exists at the present moment, including all the other objects in space as well as us. Ontologists who follow the empirical method must prefer the simplest explanation, if it is possible, and as tWOW.net shows (in Contemporary Physics under Change), it is possible, despite contemporary physics. Those chapter show how it is possible to explain all the phenomena described by Einstein's special and general theories of relativity on the assumption that space is a substance enduring through time and, thus, absolute. The endurance theory accepts presentism. Indeed, it must accept presentism, or else it would have to give up its ontological explanation of much of the world.
The endurance theory explains the world on the assumption that substances endure through time, never coming into existence and never going out of existence. That is a very economical explanation, because a single substance can then explain something that exists at every moment in the history of the world. By contrast the perdurance theory must postulate a different entity (a spacetime event) to "explain" the existence at each moment of such a substance (and it is not an explanation at all, because it is then just an ad hoc assumption, which explains nothing else).
The advantage of the endurance theory is most obvious when it comes to explaining the possibility of change ontologically. The endurance of substances through time is what makes that possible, for if substances have a basic relationship, like space and matter, which permits particular substance to change their spatial relations, motion can be explained ontologically. If it occurs at all, it is simply an aspect of the basic substances enduring through time with their basic relationship. Though such change involves some spatial relations coming into existence and other spatial relations going out of existence as time passes, it does not require any change in the nature of matter or space.
The desirability of such an explanation is evident in its implications. If this is how the possibility of change of spatial relations is explained, then certain other truths hold necessarily. For example, it is not possible for bits of matter to change spatial relations discontinuously. This is how ontological philosophy solves Hume's problem and explains the necessity of the connection between efficient causes and their effects.
None of this is possible on the perdurance theory, or the belief that spacetime is a substance, because that ontology postulates every moment in the career of every substance (and every point in space) separately. Though that "accounts for" all the same facts, it does not explain anything ontologically, because all those facts are included in what it assumes. Thus, it is not possible for ontologists to avoid opening this "can of worms." Unless they take a certain stand on the nature of existence and time, there is not much room for ontological explanations at all and no way for ontology to be a new way of doing philosophy.
[KVC}: I'll need to read what you've said on the subject of the co- extensiveness of space and matter, and interaction between the two substances; at first blush, it would seem that you'll be struggling under much the same difficulties as the mind/matter dualists did.
[PHS]: To be sure, space and matter must be able to exist together in some intelligible way in order to constitute the world. But it is not hard to see how space and matter are related. Space is made up of parts that can exist only when they are related to one another spatially in all the ways described by geometry, whereas bits of matter can exist independently of one another. What is problematic about assuming that each bit of matter coincides with some part of space or other? It is a far cry from the mind-body problem. There is nothing so problematic as trying to explain how a thinking substance that is incapable of being divided into parts is related to an extended substance, which is capable of being divided. Not all ontological dualisms are problematic.
REPLY: On 1/24/00 Gary Sisto responded: Foundationalism refers to the first step usually taken by a philosophical argument. Most philosophical theories in the grand tradition of like Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hegel, use a 2-step argument. The first part of their theories are spent justifying a foundation or a series of assumptions from which the second part can be deduced as necessary truths of the assumptions. You can either begin your system with a epistemological or an ontogical foundation. Ontological Philosophy uses the latter, which distinguishes it from most of the history of philosophy from Plato to the present. Onto-phil is more in line with pre-socratic naturalism and picks up 2000 years or so after Democritus.
[PHS}: Natural perfection is defined as maximum power to control all the conditions affecting reproduction. Hence, there are many types of natural perfection, including the natural perfection of individual species, of ecologies of species, of the set of species that evolve at each stage, and of the series of stages that occur in the overall course of evolution.
[KVC} I think you should use 'maximal' instead of 'maximum' here. 'Maximum' is an absolute term that goes beyond what I think you intend. 'Maximal' is situational, and better fits the limits of circumstances you have mentioned.
[PHS] [T]he nature of the world, explained ontologically, makes the evolution of maximally powerful structures of various kinds ontologically necessary (and, thus, inevitable). And it recognizes such optimal states as a kind of perfection (or completeness) that is appropriate for a natural world made of space and matter.
Thus, the issue comes down to whether the evolution of these forms of natural perfection is ontologically necessary or not, and there I have hope that we might reach agreement, because you are already moving in that direction.
[KVC] There's_ 'maximal' -- which is better, but I still don't think it's good enough. As I'll get into in response to the rest of your message, I still think your clai/m of inevitability isn't supportable.
[PHS] I would urge you to be true to your own intention when you say that you want to focus on "the entire system." The entire system is not "the situation and its valences." The entire system is a planet rotating while in orbit around a star in which organisms (structures) are going through reproductive cycles. By taking the whole system into account, it is possible to see what is ontologically necessary, that is, what all is involved in the global regularity we call evolution.
[KVC] If I take your meaning correctly, you want to make sure I don't leave out any causal influences when I examine the situation of an organism and its potential evolutionary development. That need is exactly why I _defined_ 'situation' to include all causal influences that actually contribute to an outcome. But that needn't include everything in the Earth-Sun system; I eliminate what we might call "causal noise" -- a myriad tiny forces that ultimately cancel one another out, and include only those forces that, together, are necessary and sufficient to produce the outcome. I think that's true to my intention -- but if for some reason I haven't discovered it isn't, I need to fix it!
[PHS] What you call "valences" is something that can be explained ontologically, and when their role in evolutionary change is also explained ontologically, I believe that you will see that evolutionary change does reach natural perfection in all the ways mentioned above.
[KVC] We're probably on the same page here. _Valence_ is a purely metaphysical (I think you would say "ontological", meaning the same thing) notion, and every instance of a valence is an instantiation of the general proposition (put rather informally here) that things behave exclusively and deterministically according to their nature and the physical relations that obtain with their environment. As I've mentioned before, if people didn't persist in dreaming up non-physical causes or non-causal explanations, this obvious notion could go without saying.
I'll respond to each in separate messages, following herewith.
[PHS] (1) When I argue that the attainment of natural perfection comes from organisms trying out the entire range of random variations that are possible for them at that point, you object, "Logically, we can't know that the best variations WILL occur in less than infinite time (for each variation requires a finite amount of time to be introduced and spread). To claim otherwise denies the randomness (I prefer "undirectedness") of genetic change." I believe that when one looks at the structures that are evolving and how variations are tried out, it is (or will become) clear that the entire range will be tired out before long. It is not a logical matter at all, but a matter of statistics.
[KVC] But statistics don't yield necessary outcomes of the kind you claim. The logic of statistics is such that any outcome, however overwhelmingly probable, might not occur. If your claims were simply about overwhelming likelihood, I'd have no dispute with you. But you're claiming necessity, and I don't find support for that claim.
[PHS] What you seem to be suggesting is that, by the nature of the organisms, there will not be enough variations to try out all the possibilities soon enough.
[KVC] Not at all. I'm making no positive claim whatsoever. I'm _denying_ that a positive claim of necessity can be supported statistically.
[PHS] I would agree that if there were evolving structures that did not try out the full range of possible variations quickly enough, they would not become naturally perfection. Indeed, they would not evolve at all. They would become extinct, because they would quickly be replaced by organisms that were able to try out the full range of possible variations, for the latter organisms would soon acquire the power to control the conditions that affect their reproduction.
[KVC] There are a couple of problems here. First, we need to be careful about the phrase 'try out ... variations'. I know you don't intend to imply any intentionality here, so that's not the issue. My point is that "variation happens"; it's not introduced by the organism, but comes about through causal processes that we usually can't predict or even examine before the fact. If there's any "trying out" going on, it's the process of selection _in response to_ variations -- which is a separate issue from the question of how many of the entire range of possible variations will actually emerge.
Let's say Species A is almost perfectly suited to its niche, and that a single mutation -- one that is chemically possible under prevailing circumstances -- would, if spread through the population, make it "naturally perfect". No matter how likely it is that the mutation in question will occur, it's simply not necessary that it happen (except in the deterministic sense whereby it must happen at time t and location l, but can't possibly happen at any other time or place because the antecedent conditions and operative forces won't allow but one outcome). Absent special knowledge of the full range of forces and conditions that will cause a mutation, we can't say that it is necessary.
If that's not bad enough, we could even allow that the mutation occurs -- once or dozens of times -- but is accidentally eliminated through unfortunate events before it can spread through the population on its merits. So not even the presumption of necessary variation will definitely get us to natural perfection for the species.
[PHS] To show that organisms will not become maximally powerful for the reason you mention, you would have to show that there cannot be organisms whose structures are capable of trying out variations quickly enough. But I believe that the structures of organisms on earth show that they are possible.
[KVC] Yes, they're possible! And I wouldn't dispute the likelihood of maximal power in many cases. All I'm saying is that you can't make the leap from possibility, or even from likelihood, to necessity.
[PHS] Kent, I find your recent two replies to my earlier comments very interesting. They reveal, I believe, the source of our disagreement, and that may make it possible for us to agree in the end. To me it seems, once again, that it depends on whether you are willing to accept a more basic ontological (or as you would say, "metaphysical") explanation of what you call "valences."
What we disagree about is whether evolution is change in the direction of a natural perfection, where "natural perfection" is defined as maximum (or "maximal," if you wish, though I don't see the difference) power to control all the conditions affecting its reproduction. I say that such change is ontologically necessary, making it inevitable that such naturally perfect states eventually come to exist.
You reply that my "claim of inevitability isn't supportable." You are apparently assuming that the foundation for my claim of ontological necessity is statistical probability, for the reason you give in the end for rejecting it is "that you can't make the leap from possibility, or even from likelihood, to necessity." Earlier you sum up your opposition by saying that you are "_denying_ that a positive claim of necessity can be supported statistically." And elsewhere you say, "But statistics don't yield necessary outcomes of the kind you claim. The logic of statistics is such that any outcome, however overwhelmingly probable, might not occur. If your claims were simply about overwhelming likelihood, I'd have no dispute with you. But you're claiming necessity, and I don't find support for that claim."
You are, I believe, misunderstanding my argument. I might even say that you have it backwards. I am not basing claims about what is ontologically necessary on statistical probability. Rather, I am showing that claims about statistical probability are themselves ontologically necessary.
To show that something is ontologically necessary is to show that is it implied by the best ontological explanation of the world. And in the case of the global regularities, what is ontologically necessary are regularities about change that hold for whole regions of space, including some regularities that are currently thought to be just a _consequence_ of statistics (as a branch of mathematics). But the same ontological causes that show that evolutionary change is change in the direction of natural perfection also show the truth of propositions about statistical probability. What makes such novel explanations possible is space. Let me explain.
What I show at the twow.net web site is that spatiomaterialism is the best ontological explanation of the world, where the best one is the one that postulates the fewest and simplest kinds of basic substances in order to explain everything in the natural world. What is new about my ontology is the recognition that space is another substance, along with matter, helping to constitute the world. The best ontological explanation assumes that substances endure through time, because that explains change as just an aspect (or property) that the world has because it is constituted by substances. Hence, it is possible to show that certain regularities about change are ontologically necessary by showing that those regularities follow from the unchanging natures (and basic relationship) of the substances postulated. In twow.net, I show how it is possible to explain certain aspects of the basic laws of physics ontologically by the endurance of matter as a substance through time as it coincides with parts of space, and then I show that, by taking into account the unchanging nature of space, it is also possible to show the ontological necessity of regularities that hold of whole regions of space, which I call global regularities." One global regularity that is shown to be ontologically necessary in this way is the second law of thermodynamics, and it is part of the foundation from which I demonstrate the inevitability of evolution in the direction of natural perfection, or what I call the "reproductive global regularity."
What I am saying about evolution is similar. All the global regularities (except for the simplest, the conservation of matter) are inherently statistical in the sense that they have to do with the kinds of states that come to exist as time passes in whole regions of space. Many different processes combine in many different ways to bring about the kinds of changes involved. When I say that it is ontologically necessary that evolution involves change in the direction of natural perfection, I am saying that it is ontologically necessarily true that it is overwhelmingly probable, indeed, such a high probability of happening that you can bank on it. Chance differences among planetary systems like our own do not affect the direction or overall course of evolution. What I am challenging is your assumption that the only grounds on which we can talk about something being ontologically necessary or inevitable is when it is entailed by deterministic laws (as Laplace understood determinism). To quote from you, "Let's say Species A is almost perfectly suited to its niche, and that a single mutation -- one that is chemically possible under prevailing circumstances -- would, if spread through the population, make it 'naturally perfect'. No matter how likely it is that the mutation in question will occur, it's simply not necessary that it happen (except in the deterministic sense whereby it must happen at time t and location l, but can't possibly happen at any other time or place because the antecedent conditions and operative forces won't allow but one outcome). Absent special knowledge of the full range of forces and conditions that will cause a mutation, we can't say that it is necessary." But if you were correct, we would also have to deny that there is anything ontologically necessary about the second law of thermodynamics, for example, that it is inevitable that gas molecules released in one location will spread out to fill their container. It is just not the case that only what is determined by the laws of physics is ontologically necessary or inevitable. That kind of determinism takes only the nature of matter into account (that is, the laws of physics). It leaves out space. If you insist that global regularities are inherently statistical (because of how regions of space in general include such a wide range of particular developments), I won't quibble over terms. But I will insist that those ontological causes make the direction of change so overwhelmingly probable that that you can bank on the outcome. Their outcomes are inevitable in a real world, despite appearances to the contrary caused by the ability to write large numbers.
I think this is the core of our disagreement about natural perfection. In other words, probability is not just a branch of abstract mathematics, but has ontological causes (like the rest of mathematics), which makes it ontologically necessary. The probabilities are so great in the case of global regularities as to make the change described inevitable in the real world, and that is the sense in which the claim that evolution is an inevitable change in the direction of natural perfection is ontologically necessary.
There is, however, one further point that it may be worth making in this context, because it relates to your understanding of "valences" and may create a bridge between them and ontological philosophy.
Earlier, in reference to your explanation of the mechanism of evolution, I had urged you "to be true to your own intention when you say that you want to focus on 'the entire system.' The entire system is not 'the situation and its valences.' The entire system is a planet rotating while in orbit around a star in which organisms (structures) are going through reproductive cycles. By taking the whole system into account, it is possible to see what is ontologically necessary, that is, what all is involved in the global regularity we call evolution."
Your response to me was as follows: "If I take your meaning correctly, you want to make sure I don't leave out any causal influences when I examine the situation of an organism and its potential evolutionary development."
But that is not what I meant. I think you are taking into account all the efficient causes that are relevant in the _local_ situation you are focusing on. My point is that there is a "valence" about earlier points in the course of evolution that make relevant aspects of that situation (and all other local situations) inevitable, and valences about yet earlier points that are responsible for the previous situations, and so on back to the beginning of life. What you mean by "valence" is, as far as I can tell, a way of referring to what I explain as a global regularity, and if you recognized that valences have such an ontological foundation, you could take your valid insight back much further than you currently do. All the way back to the valences on the early planet which made the beginning of life inevitable, and all the way up to rational beings like us and beyond. That would bring us into agreement about the nature of evolutionary change and the objectivity of values.
Since we have the same insight into the objective nature of what is good, I hope this may enable us to come closer to agreement about the foundations for that position.
Thanks for your interest in tWoW.net. Let me address your questions.
[CONTRA] 2 Your concept of localized big crunches would sus- tain an infinite-time universe, except for one thing- the fact that, as the universe's supply of kinetic energy is transformed to thermal energy through inelastic particle collisions, an irreversible pro- cess that eventually leads to heat-death.
[PHS]: (2) What you call "localized big crunches" is, I think, a mis-understanding of what I mean by "local big shrinks." They are not places in the universe where matter collapses, as in the end of the universe, but rather correspond to the big bang with which the universe was supposed to begin. They are places in the universe where matter begins a cycle in which it will become a supercluster of galaxies. The universe has a steady state, because superclusters of galaxies are continually being born from such events in the vast empty spaces between superclusters of galaxies. Such new beginnings can explain all the phenomena that are currently used as evidence for a big bang (though instead of an expansion of space, they involve a shrinking of matter in absolute space). See Cosmology under Change in tWoW.net for a detailed defense of this theory.
[CONTRA] Would the fact that an infinite space does not have a defined density change the laws of thermodynamics?
Does ontological philosophy somehow change or negate Newton's laws and the laws of thermodynamics (energy conservation), similar to the way it enforces unchang- ing space on general relativity even though this vio- lates the so-called Ocham's Razor (sp?)?
[PHS]: (3) The basic laws of physics are true, according to ontological philosophy. But they describe aspects of space and matter as substances enduring through space, and they are only part of a larger truth. Spatiomaterialism makes it possible to explain the truth of the second law of thermodynamics ontologically, which shows it to be ontologically necessary in regions of space like our own, after the birth of a new supercluster of galaxies. But if there are such events as local big shrinks, as I suggest, the second law of thermodynamics would not hold of them. Each big shrink would supply an incredible quantity of new free energy which would then go through the familiar changes that lead in the direction of evenly distributed heat. That is how this would be a steady state universe.
I don't see how the belief in absolute space violates occam's razor. It explains phenomena that spacetime does not explain, notably, why the present moment is different from the past and the future and why change seems to involve properties coming into existence and going out of existence. Spacetime ontology cannot explain that. See Spatiomaterialism on the whole diagram. If you are a Christian, by the way, you might find the conclusion of the argument at tWoW.net interesting, that is, the last box on the whole diagram, about religion and the nature of God.
Phillip, I too am seeing more and more room for agreement. I'll Just comment on a few selected statements from your last note to illustrate.
[PHS] To me it seems, once again, that it depends on whether you are willing to accept a more basic ontological (or as you would say, "metaphysical") explanation of what you call "valences."
[Kent ] In my "Metaphysical Functionalism" I explain why philosophers, like it or not, operate from a metaphysical basis when they do philosophy. They have mental models about what's in the world and how it all fits together that are quite sophisticated by the time they are equipped to wonder about it all. There is no choice but to adopt the best available model and then set about refining it (or replacing it wholesale) in response to empirical data and epistemic norms.
Sound familiar? Except for our individual preferences for the terms 'ontology' or 'metaphysics', I think we BEGAN on the same page on this count.
There's still your primary ontological claim about space being a substance, and we may never agree on that -- but I don't think it's an important chasm. After all, if I suspect that matter is a dynamic pattern of space-time (based on my rather uninformed best guess), and you agree that it is empirically problematic to find definitive preferential support for your view of matter co- extensive with space and persisting through time, then Leibniz might settle the matter by declaring the identity of indiscernibles.
Next comes the real bone of contention we've tugged on for a month or so -- the question of necessity. Taking out of context two statements from your last message, I think I can show how this, too, can be resolved.
[PHS] I say that such change is ontologically necessary, making it inevitable that such naturally perfect states eventually come to exist.
[PHS] I am not basing claims about what is ontologically necessary on statistical probability. Rather, I am showing that claims about statistical probability are themselves ontologically necessary.
[Kent ] I agree wholeheartedly with this latter proposition! Statistics simply describe the complex causal regularities of phenomena we can't observe directly or completely. This is one reason I like Bohm's alternative to quantum mechanics it treats the statistical nature of quantum phenomena as descriptive rather than as constitutive.
I think now that our fundamental disagreement has been over statistics. I think you've been jumping from overwhelming probability to certainty, which won't gain you any points in the mathematical or philosophical communities, whatever the merits of your primary ideas.
Take the Second Law of Thermodynamics ... PLEASE! In your most recent message, you make comments about it that struck me as missing the essence of the law. I hate the presumptuous sound of that, but let's see what you think of my objections.
[PHS] But if you were correct, we would also have to deny that there is anything ontologically necessary about the second law of thermodynamics, for example, that it is inevitable that gas molecules released in one location will spread out to fill their container.
[Kent ] The inevitable is that each molecule will follow Newton's laws, and absent artificial barriers, there is nothing to prevent inertia from carrying those molecules all around the volume available to them, and it is extremely unlikely that any sizable portion of that volume will accidentally turn up vacant.
Let's say (I haven't checked) that the probability of the molecules of 1 litre of air at 1 atm. pressure all at once occupying 1/4 of the volume availble (or, if you want, a PARTICULAR 1/4 of that volume) is one occurrence in 20 billion years -- or 100 billion; I don't care. You make it sound like the universe must wait patiently for the allotted time to pass before the event occurs -- which stands the notion of probability on its head! The single occurrence might occur in the first dozen years, for all the universe cares. Or it might occur a dozen times during that span, and then never occur again for a trillion years. Without particular knowledge about the causal forces involved, we simply can't say when a statistically possible event may occur.
On the other hand, the very existence of a bounded container with, say, a mole of molecules bouncing around in it, guarantees that any arbitrarily small volume therein will be occupied by at least some molecule at some time, given sufficient time.
[PHS] What I am saying about evolution is similar. All the global regularities (except for the simplest, the conservation of matter) are inherently statistical in the sense that they have to do with the kinds of states that come to exist as time passes in whole regions of space. Many different processes combine in many different ways to bring about the kinds of changes involved. When I say that it is ontologically necessary that evolution involves change in the direction of natural perfection, I am saying that it is ontologically necessarily true that it is overwhelmingly probable, indeed, such a high probability of happening that you can bank on it.
[Kent ] Indeed. The overwhelming _probability_ (not the result) is ontologically (metaphysically) necessary, and I'm ready to bank on it. But no particular evolutionary result is necessary, however probable -- except in the deterministic sense. So, when you go beyond claims about movement in the _direction_ of natural perfection to claims about necessarily _reaching_ natural perfection, I balk.
Necessity and inevitability are large claims. They're also unnecessary claims if one simply wants to impress upon others the actual, immense probabilities involved. Direct appeal to them should suffice. Well, that's enough for now.
[PHS] Our original point of agreement is that values are objective because they derive from evolution. But we disagree on what that foundation is. In order to focus on the more basic issues you raise, I will make three points, one having to do with the difference in our basic approaches to metaphysics, the second pointing out how space is essential to the ontological explanation of values, and the third challenging your claim that statistical probability is incompatible with the inevitability of what happens according to global regularities.
(1) In attempting to show that we are coming at the issue of the nature of goodness from the same page, you wrote . .
[Kent] In my "Metaphysical Functionalism" I explain why philosophers, like it or not, operate from a metaphysical basis when they do philosophy. They have mental models about what's in the world and how it all fits together that are quite sophisticated by the time they are equipped to wonder about it all. There is no choice but to adopt the best available model and then set about refining it (or replacing it wholesale) in response to empirical data and epistemic norms.
[PHS] Though I agree that we both take a metaphysical approach, I think we disagree basically about what such an approach should involve. To me, it seems that there ought to be a basement beneath the foundation that you call "metaphysics."
I agree that philosophers are actually, if only implicitly, committed to metaphysical beliefs, that is, some theory or other about what exists that seems to work for them. But that is precisely what I reject in claiming that empirical ontology is the foundation for a new way of doing philosophy. I call your approach to metaphysics "realism," because it allows one's beliefs about what exists be determined by what one finds oneself committed to as a result of his other beliefs about the world (including scientific theories about efficient causes). Realism leads some philosophers to believe in the existence of properties as well as (or instead of) substances; it leads other philosophers to believe in spacetime; and it leads still others, like yourself (because you are closer to the truth about values), to believe in valences. That may be metaphysics, but it is not what I mean by ontological philosophy.
By "ontological philosophy," I mean a two-step argument which (1) begins by inferring to the best ontological explanation of the world (that is, the best way of explaining the world as constituted by nothing but basic substances of certain kinds related in some basic way as parts of a single world), and then (2) uses that empirically justified ontology to show that certain truths about the world are ontologically necessary (in the sense of being prior to our ordinary ways of knowing about the world, including science and its theories about the causes of what happens in the world). The first step infers to spatiomaterialism, and the second step infers from spatiomaterialism.
By taking valences to be basic, you are starting with a claim about the world of a kind that ontological philosophy would defend as a conclusion of its second step. That is, as I understand it, your belief in valences is a kind of realism about evolutionary biology. Since your ontology is determined by realism, it cannot claim any ontological necessity about valences. Far from being prior to ordinary scientific knowledge, the belief in the reality of valences depends on it. That makes our views of metaphysics quite different.
[Kent] There's still your primary ontological claim about space being a substance, and we may never agree on that -- but I don't think it's an important chasm. After all, if I suspect that matter is a dynamic pattern of space-time (based on my rather uninformed best guess), and you agree that it is empirically problematic to find definitive preferential support for your view of matter co- extensive with space and persisting through time, then Leibniz might settle the matter by declaring the identity of indiscernibles.
[PHS] This chasm is more important than you think, for substantivalism about space is involved in almost every ontologically necessary truth I would defend. In particular, there is no ontological explanation of regularities without substances enduring through time, because they are demonstrated by showing that certain kinds of changes are regular because of how unchanging substances endure through time. What is ontologically impossible is impossible because it cannot be constituted by substances in that way. That goes for the laws of physics (or local regularities) as well as for global regularities, as I argue in (3) below.
But before I take that up, I want to correct a mis-understanding you have of my position. I do NOT agree that the belief in space as a substance enduring through time is "empirically problematic." On the contrary, I believe that for anyone who accepts the empirical method and takes truth to be correspondence to what exists there is no alternative but to reject the belief in spacetime in favor of absolute space and time.
The belief that spacetime corresponds to what exists is falsified by something that is obvious to any rational being who takes the time to think about it. It can be seen by both reflection and perception. Through reflection, we know what makes the present moment different from the past and the future is that the present exists, whereas the past and the future do not exist. That is the assumption on which we organize our understanding of ourselves as subjects who make choices and who are responsible for what we do in the world. We could not actually do anything in the world, if the future already existed. Similarly through perception, we know that properties (or relations) come into existence and go out of existence as time passes. That is how we understand the change that we perceive in the natural world; it is the nature of what we perceive to happen in the natural world.
What makes the belief in spacetime the current consensus, despite how it flies in the face of experience, is the deference paid to physicists on this issue. But such deference is a mistake, because their preoccupation with mathematically based laws for predicting WHAT HAPPENS makes physicists indifferent to whether their theories correspond to WHAT EXISTS. I should think that philosophers, or metaphysicians, at least, would be a bit more independent in their judgment than that.
(3) Now, the specific point on which we disagree is about the status of "laws" describing regularities about change that hold of entire regions of space, such as the second law of thermodynamics and evolutionary change. I claim that those laws (or "global regularities," as I call them) are ontologically necessary and, thus, that the future states they predict are just as inevitable as those predicted on the basis of the laws of physics alone. You, on the other hand, deny that the future states they describe can be inevitable because they are only statistically probable.
[Kent] I think now that our fundamental disagreement has been over statistics. I think you've been jumping from overwhelming probability to certainty, which won't gain you any points in the mathematical or philosophical communities, whatever the merits of your primary ideas.
[PHS] I agree with what you say about the source of our disagreement. It is about statistical probability. And this is an example of how arguing with you is so worthwhile, because it forces me to clarify what I am saying. It enables me to see that what I need to show is that we do not disagree in the way that you think.
I am not "jumping from overwhelming probability to certainty," but rather jumping from certainty to overwhelming probability. When I say that global regularities are about states that can be described statistically, I do not mean that that is ALL that can be said about them. That is what you seem to hold: if future states can be described as "overwhelmingly probable," they cannot also be inevitable (on other grounds).
To put this point more aggressively, I think that your disagreement with me about the necessity of global regularities comes from an illusion caused by statistics. The illusion is caused by assuming that statistics captures everything that is causally relevant in global regularities. It leads you to say that, in referring to the second law of thermodynamics as an example of such a global regularity, I am "missing the essence of the law." You would not be alone in saying this, because it is an illusion that nearly every philosopher of science also succumbs to. But you can see through the illusion, if you stop and think about what statistical probability is and how it is used to explain the kind of change predicted by the second law.
[Kent] I think the statistical nature of the law is due simply to Newton's laws of motion (and their implications for large numbers of objects). It's a matter of simple determinism.
[PHS] I take it that what your are referring to as "their implications for large numbers of objects" are the principles of statistical probability. Hence, your claim is that those principles, together with Newton's laws, "determine" the second law. But as Boltzmann used them, those principles depend on the assumption that there is a way of describing all possible states of a system, such as a box of gas, where the molecules obey Newton's laws, and the assumption that those states are all equally probable. The probability of any kind of state is determined by the number of equally possible states that are of that kind. That gives a measure of randomness, because some kinds of states contain far more of the equally probable possible states than others. But notice that such descriptions of the system abstract from the real, physical system in two ways.
First, there is no reason to believe that the possible states of a system are finite in number. Thus, each so-called possible state is actually a whole class of possible states (in fact, an infinitely large class, given the continuousness of space and variations in momentum).
Now, I do not deny that this shows that the future states are LIKELY to be more random. What statistical mechanics says is true as far as it goes. But its truth does not show that change in the direction of greater randomness is not also INEVITABLE. For all we know from statistical mechanics, it could also be ontologically necessary that entropy increases, because it abstracts from aspects of the system that could be making change in that direction inevitable.
[Kent] The inevitable is that each molecule will follow Newton's laws, and absent artificial barriers, there is nothing to prevent inertia from carrying those molecules all around the volume available to them, and it is extremely unlikely that any sizable portion of that volume will accidentally turn up vacant.
[PHS] What I show in my explanation of the truth of the second law of thermodynamics (in MATERIAL GLOBAL REGULARITIES under CHANGE) is that such factors (including three causally relevant factors in all) add up for all the molecules in the box as time passes to change that is inevitability in a certain direction. In each case, it is a basically geometrical argument. The illusion that there is some finite probability that entropy will decrease comes from thinking that statistical measures tell the whole story, though, in fact, they abstract from those factors. This is where space being a substance enduring through time comes in. It is by thinking of matter and space as substances enduring through time that you can see that there are relevant factors that are not considered in arguments from statistical probability. It restores to view more concrete aspects of the process being explained.
As I understand your position, the relevance of the second law of thermodynamics is that it illustrates the role that statistical probability plays in the case of evolutionary change. Once again, the laws of physics together with the principles of statistics are supposed to be our only way of predicting what will happen in entire regions of space. But if statistics causes the illusion that entropy can increase in simple situations like a box of gas, it is at least as illusory when it is applied to evolution and used to argue that it is possible for change not to be in the direction of natural perfection.
Let me pause here to correct one misunderstanding you have of my position. You say that I "go beyond claims about movement in the _direction_ of natural perfection to claims about necessarily _reaching_ natural perfection." But that is not true. I do not claim that natural perfection is ever reached, because on the one hand, the gradual evolution during any given stage may approach natural perfection only asymptotically, and on the other, there may be further stages of evolution beyond those that lead up to beings like us. Perhaps the stages are endless. What I do claim is that change is inevitably in the direction of natural perfection, and that, I take it, is what you are disputing by your appeal to statistical probability.
But if statistical probability abstracts from the factors that are casually relevant to the simple increase in entropy, it utterly irrelevant when it comes to tracing out what happens in regions where biological structures are using free energy to control what happens. To be sure, many different causal chains are combined in any region of space where evolution is taking place. But what reason do you have for believing that chance events could keep biological organisms at some stage of evolution from acquiring any basic traits by natural selection. To use an example you mentioned, how can you know a priori that the random variations that would lead to some trait do not occur often enough to overcome the rate of accidental failures of reproduction in individuals who have it to keep the trait from evolving? Do you have some set of equally probable possible states on which to base your measurements of probability? If so what are they? How do you count them? I recognize that the appeal to principles of statistical probability is seldom challenged in this era of the worship of mathematics, but it nevertheless seems to me that in making an argument from the nature of statistics you are suffering from the illusion I have described. Once again, I believe that if you are willing to look at the geometrical structures (and in this case, spatio-temporal geometrical structures of reproductive cycles) that are involved and consider how they add up in space as time passes, you will find sufficient reason for believing that change in the direction of natural selection is inevitable. That is what I argue in REPRODUCTIVE GLOBAL REGULARITIES under CHANGE at tWoW.net. And that is the nature of the basement that I see beneath the foundation on which you base valences.
In any case, it should at least be clear that my argument for the ontological necessity of global regularities does not depend on inferring from the overwhelming statistical probability of some future state to its inevitability. Statistics has nothing to do with my argument. It is not a mathematical argument at all. It is an ontological argument, that is, about what kinds of change can be constituted by space and matter as substances enduring though time. Thus, while I agree that our disagreement about the foundation of the objectivity of values comes from a disagreement about statistics, I deny that it turns on my belief that one can argue from overwhelming probability to inevitability. It is, rather, a disagreement that has to do with the capacity of the principles of statistical probability to capture the factors that are relevant in giving change in entire regions of space a direction. And if I suggest that you are being taken in by the currently fashionable worship of mathematics, I hope you do not take offense, because I find the arguments you make interesting and so productive of deeper understanding on my part that I am eager to hear your response.
What a great discussion indeed!
[Kent] Phillip, I'm responding to your latest three messages with one reply -- possible only because I think most of their content pursued a perceived area of disagreement where there's really no problem. I'll be quoting passages that are out of context and out of order (and even one from much earlier in our discussion), but I trust that your meaning isn't distorted thereby.
[PHS] :(3) Now, the specific point on which we disagree is about the status of "laws" describing regularities about change that hold of entire regions of space, such as the second law of thermodynamics and evolutionary change. I claim that those laws (or "global regularities," as I call them) are ontologically necessary and, thus, that the future states they predict are just as inevitable as those predicted on the basis of the laws of physics alone. You, on the other hand, deny that the future states they describe can be inevitable because they are only statistically probable.
[Kent] We've never really zeroed in on your notion of global regularities, which I think includes, but isn't limited to, physical laws. Other global regularities would include the properties of substances, right? Anyway, your use of "law" above as "describing" regularities differs from the conception I have. There are concepts or expressions we have for physical regularities, and there are the regularities (or, more precisely, the causes producing them; both are called "laws" to our everlasting confusion. I take the physical causes, which are the necessary consequences of the physical nature of the universe (whatever that may turn out to be) as the REAL laws. The statements are epistemic, and deal more with our minds than with the world they respond to.
This is why I begin my "Overview" pages with a discussion of determinism. I think that my presumption that the universe is what it is, and functions as it must BECAUSE of what it is, underlies all the rest of my philosophy and must be understood before the rest can make sense. For me, determinism has nothing to do with our ability to predict events, but rather expresses the necessary unfolding of events according to the nature of the universe.
So, when you speak of 'ontological necessity' and 'global regularities', I think we're at least in the same ballpark.
Where, then, do our disagreements come from? After your most recent comments, I'm inclined to say that it ISN'T a split on the nature or import of statistics, but a question of consistency. Let's start with the statistics.
[PHS] To put this point more aggressively, I think that your disagreement with me about the necessity of global regularities comes from an illusion caused by statistics. The illusion is caused by assuming that statistics captures everything that is causally relevant in global regularities.
[Kent] This illusion is a real problem -- fortunately not mine, I think. My view of statistics, consonant with my view of 'law', is that they are in no way causal, but merely descriptive of generalities. Even as epistemic tools, they can't help us predict specific outcomes, but only allow us to make rational guesses concerning the likelihood of _classes_ of outcomes.
I think the statistical nature of the law is due simply to Newton's laws of motion (and their implications for large numbers of objects). It's a matter of simple determinism.
I take it that what your are referring to as "their implications for large numbers of objects" are the principles of statistical probability. Hence, your claim is that those principles, together with Newton's laws, "determine" the second law.
[Kent] That view is so common that I can understand the tendency to interpret my comments in that light. But look again. When I say "their implications" I'm talking about Newton's laws (and not just his conception of them or his expression, but the actual causal relations) rather than principles of statistical probability. The causal necessity of physical law IS determinism, in my book. On a "flow" conception of time, outcomes are determined for all time by physical laws and initial conditions. On a manifold conception of space-time, "viewed" from outside, the entire structure exists "all at once" (smuggling in an illicit temporal term in order to express the existence, together, of all moments), and its features along the time axis are ordered according to laws that are functions of time.
[PHS] I am not "jumping from overwhelming probability to certainty," but rather jumping from certainty to overwhelming probability. When I say that global regularities are about states that can be described statistically, I do not mean that that is ALL that can be said about them. That is what you seem to hold if future states can be described as "overwhelmingly probable," they cannot also be inevitable (on other grounds).
[Kent] You begin here with a good statement of my view about the relation between necessary consequences of physical laws and our attempts to quantify them with statistics. And, because I believe that every ACTUAL event is also inevitable, and many such events belong to classes that fall into manageable statistical distributions, I fully expect many events (necessary/inevitable) to be overwhelmingly probably from an epistemic perspective.
[PHS] I do not claim that natural perfection is ever reached, because on the one hand, the gradual evolution during any given stage may approach natural perfection only asymptotically, and on the other, there may be further stages of evolution beyond those that lead up to beings like us. Perhaps the stages are endless. What I do claim is that change is inevitably in the direction of natural perfection, and that, I take it, is what you are disputing by your appeal to statistical probability.
[Kent] Seeing this, one might wonder how we ever came to disagree at all. I don't dispute it except to quibble that for any given type of evolving organism, even change in the _direction_ of natural perfection (toward the optimal filling of a valence) may be necessarily precluded by physical laws -- say, the impact of a comet. What is inevitable is that, when conditions are right, physics will force this sort of change.
[T]he nature of the world, explained ontologically, makes the evolution of maximally powerful structures of various kinds ontologically necessary (and, thus, inevitable).
[Kent] I think we agree that laws, or global regularities, will do this _given the right "input"_. But a particular outcome of some type that (according to our best knowledge) is overwhelmingly likely to occur may turn out to lack the requisite initial conditions. In other words, because it is possible that the global regularities that COULD produce optimally powerful biological structures CAN'T do so, for no better reason than that you can't make lemonade with kumquats. And logically, if it is possible that not even one token of any as yet nonexistent kind of organism will be produced by the necessary operation of the universe, then it is not necessary or inevitable that such things will be produced.
[PHS] To be sure, many different causal chains are combined in any region of space where evolution is taking place. But what reason do you have for believing that chance events could keep biological organisms at some stage of evolution from acquiring any basic traits by natural selection. To use an example you mentioned, how can you know a priori that the random variations that would lead to some trait do not occur often enough to overcome the rate of accidental failures of reproduction in individuals who have it to keep the trait from evolving? Do you have some set of equally probable possible states on which to base your measurements of probability?
[Kent] But I don't need to demonstrate knowledge of some counterinstance, or even to offer some more probable alternative in order to undermine a claim of necessity/inevitability. I need only demonstrate the remotest possibility of a contrary outcome. Now, this is one place where the epistemic takes on an appropriate role. Since neither of us is capable of calculating, based on knowledge of actual initial conditions and all causal relations, the actual outcome of interest, we need to rely on probabilities.
This is why I think you're jumping from overwhelming probability to necessity -- at least in incautious moments. It's not an overstatement of the claim that laws/global regularities must produce particular kinds of outcomes wherever circumstances require it. This is solid ground. But the overwhelming probability (which I obviously acknowledge) that appropriate initial conditions will arise somewhere, sometime, to allow the necessary lawful development of some evolutionary change (the filling of a valence) is all anyone has to go on. It's not enough to claim necessity.
Have I made any progress in ferreting out the source of our misunderstandings here?
[GDS] At the risk of adding confusion to a wonderful and most intriguing dialogue that has been going on since January, I would like to chime in.
I would like to address my points to Kent in response to the last posting on onto-phil. Kent, as a person who has been taken in by ontological philosophy and as an ardent fan of tWoW.net, I thought that maybe I could help fill in some gaps in your portrayal of some aspects of ontological philosophy. Maybe my simpler (or even facile) understanding might possibly shed some light on some issues that seem to me to be misunderstood. Again, this is from my understanding of ontological philosophy and if I am misrepresenting it, Phillip, please let me know. In the end, whether one agrees or not with ontological philosophy, I think that it is important to understand it on its own grounds before one can judge it. That is my purpose here and that is the way that I became familiar with it.
Kent, all things quoted from you were posted on onto-phil on 2/25/2000.
[Kent] We've never really zeroed in on your notion of global regularities, which I think includes, but isn't limited to, physical laws. Other global regularities would include the properties of substances, right?
[Kent] Anyway, your use of "law" above as "describing" regularities differs from the conception I have. There are concepts or expressions we have for physical regularities, and there are the regularities (or, more precisely, the causes producing them; both are called "laws" to our everlasting confusion. I take the physical causes, which are the necessary consequences of the physical nature of the universe (whatever that may turn out to be) as the REAL laws. The statements are epistemic, and deal more with our minds than with the world they respond to.
[GDS] Again, as far as I can tell, in tWoW regularities refer to the laws of natural science. They are regularities of experience or experiment. Epistemic in the Humean sense of constant conjunction (i.e., everytime x occurs, y follows it). Thus it is infered that x is the efficient cause of y. What you are refering to as REAL LAWS or the “physical causes which are necessary consequences of the physical nature of the universe” for ontological philosophy aren’t laws (epistemic norms) but are ontological causes. Ontological causes are the ultimate cause--the proverbial end (or beginning) of the causal chain. These are simply what the basic substances, space and matter, do and are entailed by the properties of the substances and how those substances are related to one another. Ontological causes (i.e. substances) are not epistemic in nature, but rather are causes that are entailed by the properties of the substances that come to constitute the best ontological explanation, which happens to be spatiomaterialism when all factors are taken into account. It is important to note that at this point in the argument of tWoW that epistemology is not even a factor. The entire move of ontological philosophy is to put ontology BEFORE epistemology. Traditional philosophy and science argue with the point of view that epistemology is FIRST PHILOSOPHY. For tWoW, ONTOLOGY IS FIRST PHILOSOPHY. Epistemological issues aren’t even taken up until you get to the evolution of “knowing or thinking matter.” The method here is to formulate the best ontology (of simple substances) and then let the natures of those substances determine how they manifest themselves in whole regions over time. Thus it is possible to track how things change based on a deduction from the best theory of substances.
[Kent] This is why I begin my "Overview" pages with a discussion of determinism. I think that my presumption that the universe is what it is, and functions as it must BECAUSE of what it is, underlies all the rest of my philosophy and must be understood before the rest can make sense. For me, determinism has nothing to do with our ability to predict events, but rather expresses the necessary unfolding of events according to the nature of the universe.
[GDS] I agree, but in order to understand what the universe is and how it must function you first have to do an EXPLICIT ONTOLOGY and actually describe and define what the universe is. Unless you go down to the deepest level of existence, there is no way, to use an analogy, to track the changes over time from an acorn to an oak tree. Appeal to efficient causes only doesn’t get you the nature of the universe. To get there you must appeal to ontological causes or substances.
[Kent] The causal necessity of physical law IS determinism, in my book. On a "flow" conception of time, outcomes are determined for all time by physical laws and initial conditions.
[GDS] Again, outcomes are determined by more than just physical “laws” and initial “conditions.” From an ontological perspective, they are determined by the properties of substances (that exist “in time”.) It is the ontological causes that “explain” why natural laws are true (or false) and which define any initial conditions, which ultimately can be deduced from matter and space—the supreme limiter of all conditions.
Anyway, I hope that this is helpful. I look forward to the continued enjoyment and enlightenment of the ONTO-PHIL/EVOL-PHIL dialogue (you see, it’s already been branded!).
[PHS] In response to Kent Van Cleave and Gary Sisto on what Gary rightly calls the onto-phil/evol-phil dispute, I will simply endorse what Gary says, except for one point I would like to emphasize.
[Kent] Have I made any progress in ferreting out the source of our misunderstandings here?
[Kent] This is why I think you're jumping from overwhelming probability to necessity -- at least in incautious moments. It's not an overstatement of the claim that laws/global regularities must produce particular kinds of outcomes wherever circumstances require it. This is solid ground. But the overwhelming probability (which I obviously acknowledge) that appropriate initial conditions will arise somewhere, sometime, to allow the necessary lawful development of some evolutionary change (the filling of a valence) is all anyone has to go on. It's not enough to claim necessity.
[PHS] It is not all that anyone has to go on. The source of the claim of necessity is what Gary says about global regularities. Though they do depend on initial conditions, the relevant initial conditions are conditions that hold of entire regions that are closed or isolated from the rest of space, and in the case of evolution, they are just that the fact that it is a planetary system of the right kind, like the solar system (where the laws of physics are assumed to hold). Global regularities are laws that describe what is regular about change in the entire region, and in the case of evolution, the sorts of factors you are calling "appropriate initial conditions" are part of what inevitably comes about according to the global regularity. Those initial conditions are not just "overwhelmingly probable," but inevitable, and thus, if the "valences" you are talking about "filling" are part of the global regularity, they are inevitable.
A lot depends, therefore, on whether what you call valences are included in what I call the "reproductive global regularity." Like most evolutionary biologists, you think of evolution as occurring in very local situations relative to some environment that is taken for granted, and if you pick out a specific enough change in a particular species, it seems that all you need to do to refute my claim of inevitability is to "demonstrate the remotest possibility of a contrary outcome" in that particular case. The particularity of the case makes it seem imaginable, and since the conceivability of countervailing factors in the specific case is the foundation for your claim that calculations of probability are in order, it is what leads to our disagreement on this issue. But if it is conceivable, then what you are calling a "valence" is not part of what I am calling the global regularity.
The reproductive global regularity predicts a series of evolutionary stages at each of which biological organisms of a distinctive kind become increasingly powerful in every possible way in controlling relevant conditions in each way that organisms of their kind can tap the free energy available on the surface of their planet. That is what is inevitable. And if you consider the nature of what is inevitable in this case, I don't believe that you can "demonstrate the remotest possibility of a contrary outcome."
For example, the impact of asteroids or comets will not do it, because if certain species are wiped out, other species will evolve to tap the free energy in their ecological niche and tend to become naturally perfect in it. Indeed, as I argue at tWoW.net, such events sometimes play an essential role in the overall course of evolution, for a catastrophic change is sometimes necessary for an inherently more powerful kind of organism to overcome the advantages of incumbency and bring about a later stage of evolution. That is what happened in the case of the extinction of the dinosaurs: the asteroid leveled the playing field so that mammals could replace the dinosaurs in their energy rich ecological niches. Catastrophes shake out the system and accelerate change in the direction of greater natural perfection of the planetary system as a whole.
To sum up, while it may be true that what you call "the filling of a valence" is not inevitable, that does not mean that the course of evolution as described by reproductive global regularities is not, for those valences may not be part of the global regularity. They may be too local and specific to be part of what is ontologically necessary. We would have to consider particulars to tell.
The kind of ontological explanation that I am defending takes a much broader view of the course of evolution because it traces evolution to more basic aspects of the world. And the source of out disagreement is not, I believe, that I am mistakenly inferring from overwhelming probability to inevitability, but rather you are failing to see that it is possible to explain evolution in a more fundamental way. That is what I have been getting at by continually asking you to consider the possibility that what you take to be metaphysically basic, including valences, has a deeper explanation and that that is what ontology and, thus, metaphysics is all about in the end.
Let me conclude by pointing out that laws of nature are just another example of this same failure. You take the laws of physics to be basic to your metaphysics, whereas ontological philosophers, as Gary explains, take them to have a deeper explanation in terms of the substances constituting the world that behave in the lawful way. As I argue in tWoW.net, just as the basic laws of physics depend on the essential nature of matter and how bits of matter are contained by space, so the global regularities for regions where such matter exists depend on the WHOLENESS of space. They are caused by how motion and interaction in accordance with those laws ADD UP in space over time, and the inevitability comes, not from statistical measures of their probability, but from changes in geometrical structures that cannot fail to occur because, ultimately, something cannot come from nothing. Without some malicious demon to bring them about, the contrary outcomes you would need to conceive are as inconceivable as matter in some region of space collapsing into a star like a super nova going backwards in time.
You reject such ontological explanations by insisting that laws of nature are "REAL laws," which you seem to see as "physical causes" of what happens. Perhaps, you can explain it, but this simply does not make much sense to me. Are you assuming that laws of nature are somehow self-subsistent? That along with the bits of matter that move and interact in law-like ways in space there is something else that is pushing them or pulling them about? Surely not. (The ancient stoics thought there was such "active matter," but it is not compatible with contemporary physics.) But, if laws of nature are not an additional substance, what are they? Are they properties or dispositions of bits of matter that must be postulated in addition to the matter itself? That saddles you with an ontology that postulates material substance and properties of them separately? But what is the nature of properties, if they are not just aspects of substances? I don't get it. It seems to me that you are just projecting science's descriptions of causal connection onto the world and reifying them as "REAL laws," as if that would explain something.
In other words, I am, once again, asking you to consider the possibility that metaphysics involves a deeper explanation than simply affirming dogmatically the existence of laws or valences. To consider the possibility that metaphysics is an explanation of everything in the world by how it is constituted by nothing but basic substances of certain kinds. I believe that if you were to take that argument seriously, you would have all the reasons you need to believe that global regularities are necessary, you would have an "account" of how values are objective (as Plato would say, not just a true belief), and what is more, you would understand why the good is good, for your would see that it ought to exist because it contributes to natural perfection. | 2019-04-19T19:07:01 | http://twow.net/FAQs/onto-phil.htm |
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It's understood that the group of seven male inmates climbed down from the roof at the Wacol facility early this morning after being up there for more than 12 hours.
The centre has since been secured by prison staff.
A male staff member sustained minor injures as a result of the ordeal and was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital yesterday afternoon.
As a matter of standard procedure, Youth Justice will complete a full review into the incident.
Damage that was caused to the roof by the youths is also being assessed by authorities.
UPDATE: Three inmates have spent the night on the roof of the Wacol Youth Detention Centre, refusing to come down after they climbed up during a riot at the facility.
Police negotiators were called in to coax down the seven youths late yesterday with four returning inside.
One staff member from the facility was injured during the riot and was taken to hospital for a minor injury.
The inmates climbed onto the roof at about 2pm and caused damage to several air vents, air condition units and a security camera.
A police spokesman said officers left the facility at 2am after the situation calmed down.
It is unknown how many of the inmates are still on the roof.
It is believed an overcrowding issue maybe behind the latest riot.
EARLIER: Police have been called to the Wacol Youth Detention Centre after a disturbance broke out this afternoon.
It is understood police were called to the incident about 2pm after several inmates took to the roof.
A number of youths have since returned inside, but seven inmates have refused to move.
Police have confirmed one staff member sustained minor injuries.
Paramedics have also been called to the detention centre.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said she was unable to provide further details on the incident.
"The department can confirm there is an incident at the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre involving seven young people who gained access to a rooftop about 2pm this afternoon," she said.
"A male, age unknown, has been injured and has been transported to hospital for treatment." | 2019-04-21T11:19:28 | https://www.whitsundaytimes.com.au/news/inmates-roof-youth-detention-centre/3137514/ |
0.998358 | A new favourite recipe jazzes up any menu.
This easy pumpkin roll recipe is easy to make. The recipe is a variation to the sponge cake recipe. The pumpkin cream cheese roll is very tasty and is well suited to be prepared in advance. The decorative pumpkin cheesecake makes a delicious treat or a light pumpkin dessert.
It was so yummy we just had to repeat it the next day.
Tell the world about an exciting easy recipe using pumpkin?
Take a glass or a cup to separate the egg. This serves two purposes.
When breaking the egg and the egg yolk accidentally mixes with the egg white you don't loose the eggs you have already skilfully separated into your bowl.
You can determine whether the egg is still good for consumption.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C°. Convert!
Use two mixing bowls and separate the three eggs into egg yolks in one bowl and egg whites in the second bowl.
With a hand mixer mix the egg whites until they are white and stiff.
Into the second bowl add three tablespoons of water and two thirds of a cup sugar to the three egg yolks. Mix all three ingredients at high speed until foamy and almost white.
Mash two thirds of a cup of steamed buttercup pumpkin or butternut squash with a fork and add them to the foamy egg yolk mass with a heaped teaspoon of cinnamon.
With a spoon or a spatula fold the stiff egg whites under the egg yolk, water, sugar, flour and pumpkin mass under, until the two masses are just combined.
Fill the mixture onto a baking sheet and spread evenly. Then sprinkle the half cup of walnuts on top.
Bake for 20 minutes at 180C°.
When the surface shows a light golden colour take it out of the oven and flip it onto a paper towel. Remove the baking paper carefully. Place a fresh kitchen towel on top. Flip it back onto the baking sheet and roll it up. (We roll so that the bottom of the cake which was facing the pan as it was baking is on the outside, because it seems that the side exposed during baking tends to break more easily.) Start rolling from the longer side of the rectangle. Leave on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
In a mixing bowl fill in the two hundred and fifty grams of cream cheese, the cup of desiccated coconut and the two tablespoons of sugar. Blend it all together.
When the cake roll has cooled down unroll it and spread the filling over evenly. Roll it up again and place it onto a cake plate and dust with the icing sugar. Refrigerate for half an hour or longer and serve.
The cake can easily be prepared a day in advance.
If you have tried this pumpkin roll recipe yourself, please return and let us know how you got on and how you liked the outcome. | 2019-04-22T10:02:58 | http://www.easy-healthy-recipes-for-kids.com/pumpkin-roll-recipe.html |
0.999979 | Has the Riemann hypothesis finally been proven?
AS ONE of the editors of the Annals of Mathematics, Peter Sarnak sees his fair share of mathematical proofs. Yet there is one unsolved problem for which proofs keep on turning up in his mailbox. These are from people claiming to have cracked a long-standing conundrum known as the Riemann hypothesis. “At any given moment we probably have 10 claimed proofs submitted,” says Sarnak, a mathematician at Princeton University.
Perhaps that is not so surprising. First put forward in 1859 by German mathematician Bernhard Riemann, the hypothesis is one of mathematics’s most beguiling problems. Its allure lies in the fact that it holds the key to the primes, those numbers that underpin so much of today’s mathematics. The Clay Mathematics Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has deemed the problem so important that it is offering a $1 million prize to anyone who proves the hypothesis is true.
Despite mathematicians’ best efforts, however, no one has yet published a proof of Riemann’s hypothesis in a peer-reviewed journal. That might be about to change.
One respected mathematician claims to have cracked the problem, and has posted the proof on his website for others to scrutinise. If Louis de Branges of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, succeeds in getting his proof published in a journal, mathematicians will finally be able to sleep easier at night. “There are probably thousands of theorems in the literature which start, ‘assume Riemann, then…’, followed by some spectacular conclusion,” says Sarnak. | 2019-04-19T12:47:07 | https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19726481-500-has-the-riemann-hypothesis-finally-been-proven/ |
0.999991 | Should We Worry About An Asset Bubble?
Earlier this week, Nouriel Roubini had a column in the Financial Times warning that an asset bubble is forming. He asserts that investors are taking advantage of low interest rates and a weak dollar to speculate on assets, driving up prices. I think he's probably right. He worries, then, that this is forming yet another bubble. That might be true as well, but I need a little more convincing that this asset bubble will be as severe as Roubini appears to believe in the U.S.
Since March there has been a massive rally in all sorts of risky assets - equities, oil, energy and commodity prices - a narrowing of high-yield and high-grade credit spreads, and an even bigger rally in emerging market asset classes (their stocks, bonds and currencies). At the same time, the dollar has weakened sharply, while government bond yields have gently increased but stayed low and stable.
I've argued something similar myself -- that the stock market, in particular, can't be an accurate reflection of what the recovery will look like. It's not going to be nearly as steep a recovery as the climb of the Dow would indicate.
But here's a question: what if the U.S. experiences significant inflation like some economist fear? What if 2011-2013 average, say, between 5% and 10% inflation? One of the best hedges against such high inflation is assets, like equities, energy and commodities. Real assets will continue to be traded in nominal dollars, so inflation will be largely included as their prices changes.
So if those pessimistic inflation expectations are right, then that would serve to make the asset bubble less severe than it would otherwise have been, because inflation will increase the nominal value of assets beyond what economic growth alone would have done.
- The asset bubble's pop will have very ugly consequences.
- Assets were overvalued, but not significantly.
- There was no asset bubble, as current prices accurately reflect the future.
If you're really worried about the asset bubble, you'd expect Scenario #1. I think most of Wall Street might expect Scenario #4, or at least only that scenario would best justify current asset prices. But if either Scenarios #2 or #3 turn out to be accurate, then the asset bubble's pop might not be too catastrophic in the U.S.
Of course, if an expectation for high growth is, indeed, expected by most investors, then they may be in for a very rude awakening sooner than later if the economy proves sluggish during all of 2010. That could lead to asset prices falling sooner, before inflation really even has time to take hold. So the timing matters too. | 2019-04-23T14:24:51 | https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/11/should-we-worry-about-an-asset-bubble/29683/ |
0.999999 | Question-1: A plane electromagnetic wave travels in vacuum along z-direction. What can you say about the directions of its electric and magnetic field vectors? If the frequency of the wave is 30 MHz, what is its wavelength?
E and B will be mutually perpendicular and perpendicular to direction of propagation in x-y plane.
Question-2: The amplitude of the magnetic field part of a harmonic electromagnetic wave in vacuum is B0 = 510 nT. What is the amplitude of the electric field part of the wave?
Question-3: For X-rays of wavelength 10−10m, red light of wavelength6800 Å and radiowaves of wavelength 500 m, what physical quantity could be the same?
The speed of light (3×108 m/s) in a vacuum is the same for all wavelengths. It is independentof the wavelength in the vacuum. | 2019-04-24T10:22:45 | https://cbsenews.com/important-questions-for-class-12-chapter-8-electromagnetic-waves/ |
0.99808 | The organization of the essay depends on the purpose of the essay and requires a clear rationale for why the examples apply as an illustration of a concept.
As a single supporting paragraph, a writer uses a topic sentence to designate the main idea followed by primary and secondary support structure. Primary supports are the main ideas to support a topic sentence, and secondary supports are the examples and details to provide the concrete information to complete the writer’s point.
Purpose of Illustration: To demonstrate how a vacation at the Kanaapali Shores Beach Club Resort is enjoyable and affordable.
In an illustration essay, each of the supporting body paragraphs will follow the same basic structure. Writers should use flexibility with that structure, though. The design is not meant to be a single sentence of primary support followed by a single sentence for secondary support. Often, a writer may have several concrete secondary examples or details to use to fully develop the primary point. However, only use as many examples as necessary without being redundant or becoming tedious for the audience.
For example, if you want to illustrate the qualities of an effective professor, then you must first establish what attributes would be shared among many quality professors. Your illustration could then be based on instructional delivery methods, grading, interpersonal communication, availability outside of class. Each of these traits would be the main ideas supporting the thesis, and the examples of each trait could include descriptions of each trait or examples of known individuals who demonstrate it. Using this strategy helps the writer focus on illustrating how all professors could be amazing rather than just making the essay present like a tribute to one amazing teacher.
What if you are trying to illustrate the bad habits associated with social media use? You have choices for how you organize the essay. You could handle the examples as associated by device, or you could handle the development of the essay according to each different “bad” habit or behavior and discuss each device in the context of that behavior. For example, you could talk about all of the annoying habits a person might display when on their cell phone and then all of the annoying habits people show when on Facebook. Alternately, you could talk about “rudeness” as your distinguishing category and then use the examples of rude behavior associated with all of the devices or social media applications.
Large series of categorized examples where each category is a paragraph with embedded examples usually arranged from least to most important within each category.
Sometimes no special order is needed or process because the examples are of equal importance.
Narrative and descriptive devices are often used to engage the reader with a general overview of the presented topic.
Summarize the purpose and bring the essay full circle to the introductory device. If an essay started with an anecdote of a situation, bring closure to that situation. Be sure to reiterate the purpose for illustrating the ideas related to the topic. | 2019-04-24T22:53:18 | https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Composition/Book%3A_Horse_of_a_Different_Color_-_English_Composition_and_Rhetoric/Part_II%3A_Rhetorical_Strategies_for_Essays/12%3A_Illustration/12.2%3A_Basic_Structure |
0.999997 | Updated: Nov 22 at 9:51 a.m.
CAIRO — Authorities in eastern Libya said Thursday they have taken into custody suspects in the 2013 killing of a U.S. chemistry teacher in Benghazi, and that more suspects would be tried over the deadly attack a year earlier that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans there.
The announcement highlights efforts by Libya's eastern forces, led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, to bring justice to hundreds of cases involving unlawful killings. Authorities have also come under pressure by families of the detained who are awaiting hearings.
"Those who took part in this crime" — the killing of teacher Ronnie Smith — "are in custody," the self-styled Libyan National Army said on social media. The announcement was presented alongside details on dozens of other unsolved local cases, in hopes of stopping not-infrequent cycles of revenge killings.
Prosecutors have decided that no further information on the number of suspects or their identities would be made public as yet, the force's communications office said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Smith taught at Benghazi's International School. The U.S. State Department at the time said he was killed while jogging, while Libyan security officials said he was shot near the compound where U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by Islamic militants a year earlier.
Smith's widow, Anita, or her lawyers would be welcome to attend the trial and see all its files, the army's communication office said.
It added that Smith's killing had been ordered by Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, now imprisoned in the United States serving a 22-year sentence for his role in the rampage that killed Stevens and the three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012.
Abu Khattala was captured by U.S. commandos in Libya in 2014. Libyan authorities initially arrested dozens over the attack that killed Stevens, but they were later released.
Thursday's statement from the LNA, the dominant force in eastern Libya, said several new suspects involved in that attack on the U.S. ambassador are now also in custody and on trial after confessing to various levels of complicity. The office did not elaborate.
Libya has been plagued with lawlessness since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It is now governed by rival administrations in the east and west, and has become a haven for armed groups, including several from neighbouring countries, which survive on looting and human trafficking.
The LNA is supported by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and Russia, and is led by strongman Hifter. It answers to the government based in eastern Libya, which is at odds with the U.N.-backed government based in the capital, Tripoli.
Libyan authorities are also struggling to process hundreds of cases involving unlawful killings and showcase their efforts to establish rule of law and institutions. They have also come under pressure by families of the detained, awaiting hearings.
Representatives of Libya's quarrelling factions and of countries keen on stabilizing the North African nation this month agreed in Italy to hold a national conference in early 2019 to chart a path to stability and elections.
A more stable Libya would bolster hopes in the struggle against Islamic militants and human trafficking as thousands of illegal migrants cross the Mediterranean hoping to reach Europe's southern shores.
CINDY'S SNAPSHOT: Rob MacQuarrie, Truro, N.S.
CINDY DAY: The countdown is on! | 2019-04-23T22:07:21 | http://www.travelwithanjali.com/9a4/news/world/libyan-officials-say-suspects-in-killing-of-us-teacher-held-261715/ |
0.998499 | Hi, I got my hand on a small slab of marble which I want to use for a coffee table.
However, it has a bullnose glued to one edge. Is there any way I can remove that bullnose?
I was thinking of somehow applying acetone to dissolve what I guess is epoxy but a) will that work b) will it damage the marble and c) how to even get the acetone in contact with the epoxy?
Thank you very much in advance and best regards.
I think you're headed in the right direction with using acetone, but your guess is as good as mine with how to come in contact with the epoxy.
Usually acetone will not affect the finish on the marble, but always perform a test first before using copious amounts of acetone on the piece.
Good luck, I wish I could be more help. | 2019-04-22T13:08:07 | https://www.integrity-tile-and-grout-cleaning.com/remove-bullnose-from-marble.html |
0.999584 | A compressor is a device that reduces (compresses) the dynamic range in a sound sources softest point to its loudest point to smooth the output, and can bring your audio material up to spec with professional recordings. An instrument that goes from very quiet and very loud over the course of a song can be difficult to record and mix. Either the quiet parts get lost or the loud sections overload the recording.
You can use a compressor to turn down the loud bits automatically, making the instrument easier to record or mix. You can also use compressors to make instruments sound fatter and bigger, and can be used to beef up vocals and to bulk out your finished mixes. Most audio professionals use compressors in every piece and sometimes on nearly every track in every piece.
Here are some features you may find on a compressor: Threshold - This is where you set the limits of the compressor, meaning at what level of dB do you want the compressor to start compressing. Using a setting near to zero would incorporate the compressor ever so slightly, if you want to add more compression set the levels to a more negative number. Attack - Attack basically refers to the speed at which you want the compressor to kick in. Do you want compressor instantly or would you prefer it to gradually phase in. Release - Once the compressor has kicked in, how fast or slow do you want the compressor to release and no longer compress the signal? Ratio - The ratio refers to how much the compressor is going to reduce the range of the signal. Gate - A gate is a device that will eliminate any room noise, making recording deadly silent.
It works by turning off the audio when it drops below a defined level. When the gate is open it simply lets any sound you plug into the input of the box straight through to the output. A closed gate doesn't let anything through - you just get silence on the output. When the sound at the input is below a certain level, known as the 'threshold' the gate remains shut. When the input goes above the threshold, the gate opens and the sound is carried through to the output.
Then when it drops back down again, the gate closes behind it. It can be used for example, to filter and eliminate any unwanted background noise. When you stop playing, and the sound drops below the threshold it will cut the sound to silence. A separate outboard compressor is a great tool to have as you can tame and level the sound source before it enters the computer. However there are of course drawbacks to this, once the sound is in the computer you will not be able to "uncompress" the sounds. Use the compressor moderately as too much compressor can drag the life out of your songs.
Overuse can result in all notes sounding the same and take away the dynamics of lighter and heavier notes. | 2019-04-22T02:14:57 | http://www.freestyleliterature.com/home_recording_guitar_using_a_compressor_354664a.html |
0.99942 | In Stamford, Connecticut, "civil procedure" refers to the different processes and procedures that must be followed when conducting a civil lawsuit.
Like all laws, the rules of civil procedure in Stamford, Connecticut reflect particular values that society, through its elected representatives, wants to encourage. So, the rules of civil procedure have the stated goal of ensuring that the justice system is fair, cost effective, efficient, and accessible to everyone who has a legitimate legal grievance.
The rules of civil procedure in Stamford, Connecticut are sometimes difficult. Because civil litigation is an inherently complicated process, the rules that govern how it proceeds can't be simple, either. They govern every step of the litigation process, from filing the initial complaint, all the way to the final appeals process.
Complaint: Perhaps the most significant part of filing a lawsuit in Stamford, Connecticut is the complaint. The complaint is a document filed with a Stamford, Connecticut court that lays out the plaintiff's (the individual filing the suit) allegations against the defendant (the individual being sued), as well as the relief that the plaintiff is seeking from the court.
Discovery: After the complaint has been filed in the Stamford, Connecticut court of competent jurisdiction, the next important phase is the discovery process. In a civil lawsuit, there are not supposed to be any surprises (so the dramatic moments you see in TV trials are largely fiction). This predictability largely comes from the discovery process. Each side of the lawsuit has to disclose information relevant to the lawsuit to the other. This information can be received by sending the other side written questions, which must be answered under oath, demanding access to documents, and deposing witnesses.
Trial: It is really quite rare for civil lawsuits in Stamford, Connecticut to go to trial, since the rules of civil procedure in Stamford highly encourage early resolution to cases by dismissal of lawsuits that have no merit, and negotiated settlement of those that do. Nonetheless, when neither of those things happen, the case goes to trial. This is when a judge and jury determine the questions of law and fact, respectively, raised in the case. The jury then issues a verdict, based on the evidence presented to them.
How Can a Stamford, Connecticut Lawyer Help?
If you're suing anyone, or are being sued, in Stamford, Connecticut, dealing with issues of civil procedure is going to be a fact of life for quite some time.
In Stamford, Connecticut, procedural pitfalls can derail an otherwise-valid case. They can also be some of the most obtuse and convoluted issues in the whole case. Thus, you should not go into something like this without the counsel of an attorney. | 2019-04-20T02:34:05 | https://litigationattorneys.legalmatch.com/CT/Stamford/civil-procedure.html |
0.999114 | You have entered side a, c and angle γ.
Triangle has two solutions: a=441.59; b=125.91551314978; c=378.38 and a=441.59; b=411.62988732218; c=378.38.
1. Input data entered: side a, c and angle γ. | 2019-04-26T04:08:27 | https://www.triangle-calculator.com/?q=a%3D441.59+C%3D52.5083333+c%3D378.38 |
0.999359 | Entering content into a text field or selecting an option from a form control has predictive results. This means users should be able to predict what will happen if the user activates a link, input data into a text field or select options from a form control. People with cognitive disabilities and those with low vision are likely to get distracted due to changes that occur on input.
Submitting the form when the user fills the last element, changing the context when the user selects an option from a dropdown etc disorients the user. Either providing an instruction that allows the user to predict the behavior before changing the option or allowing the user to confirm the change with a select/ submit button will be helpful in interacting with the web content.
This check-point is considered as failure only when the context changes on input. If the content only changes do not fail it under 3.2.1 on input.
Consider that the web page has a dropdown with options member, provider and admin. Selecting the member from the dropdown displays 4 fields after it and selecting provider displays 4 different fields, selecting admin displays 6 fields. This is considered as change in content not the context. Hence this is not a failure. However selecting different options in the dropdown takes the user to 3 different pages can be considered as change of context and is failed against this check-point.
People with visual challenges, cognitive difficulties and motor disabilities benefit when changes does not happen on input.
Allow the users to predict what happens on selecting different options or input of data if change of context occurs with some instruction.
If providing an instruction is not possible provide a mechanism that allows the user to confirm the change using elements such as select/ submit buttons.
1 Trackback to "3.2.2 On Input" | 2019-04-23T08:03:57 | http://www.maxability.co.in/2015/09/3-2-2-on-input/ |
0.996592 | Can Wentz and Stump talk the talk?
Bassist Pete Wentz's well-known skills as a motormouth will come in handy as he and Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump attempt to break a Guinness World Record of most radio interviews by a pair completed in 24 hours.
The two band members will attempt to hit as many radio stations as possible across America on 31 October (which just so happens to be Halloween) Oct. 31 beginning at 3 pm PST at Premiere Studios in Los Angeles.
For those keeping track of such things, the current record for radio interviews completed by two people in 24 hours is 57.
Fall Out Boy attempted to break another world record by playing a show at a scientific colony in Antarctica earlier this year, but their efforts were thwarted by bad weather.
Should Wentz and Stump break the interview record - and meteorological conditions shouldn't be an issue in this case - it'll be great promotion for the launch of Fall Out Boy's new album, Folie A Deux, coming 15 and 16 December. | 2019-04-25T20:47:38 | https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/fall-out-boys-attempt-to-break-world-record-178788 |
0.99969 | Preheat the oven to 375° F. and butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
Cream butter and sugar well, then blend in the flour. Press into the prepared baking pan. It will be difficult to make this smooth; don't worry, it will smooth out in baking. Bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile mix flour, baking powder and salt, then coconut and walnuts in a small bowl. In a medium-size bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until light, then add the brown sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Combine the two mixtures and pour over the baked crust.
Bake for about 18 minutes longer. Cool slightly, cut into oblong bars and remove from pan to cool on racks. Don't allow to cool completely in pan because the crust will get hard and difficult to cut. | 2019-04-26T06:36:15 | http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas/blawal.htm |
0.999998 | The following example creates a semaphore with a maximum count of three threads and an initial count of zero threads. The example starts five tasks, all of which block waiting for the semaphore. The main thread calls the Release(Int32) overload to increase the semaphore count to its maximum, which allows three tasks to enter the semaphore. Each time the semaphore is released, the previous semaphore count is displayed. Console messages track semaphore use. The simulated work interval is increased slightly for each thread to make the output easier to read.
// A padding interval to make the output more orderly.
// Create and start five numbered tasks.
// Each task begins by requesting the semaphore.
// The task just sleeps for 1+ seconds.
// Wait for half a second, to allow all the tasks to start and block.
// Restore the semaphore count to its maximum value.
// Main thread waits for the tasks to complete.
// 0 tasks can enter the semaphore.
// Task 1 begins and waits for the semaphore.
// Task 5 begins and waits for the semaphore.
// Task 2 begins and waits for the semaphore.
// Task 4 begins and waits for the semaphore.
// Task 3 begins and waits for the semaphore.
// Main thread calls Release(3) --> 3 tasks can enter the semaphore.
// Task 4 enters the semaphore.
// Task 1 enters the semaphore.
// Task 3 enters the semaphore.
// Task 4 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
// Task 2 enters the semaphore.
// Task 1 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
// Task 3 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
// Task 5 enters the semaphore.
// Task 2 releases the semaphore; previous count: 1.
// Task 5 releases the semaphore; previous count: 2.
' A padding interval to make the output more orderly.
' Create and start five numbered tasks.
' Each task begins by requesting the semaphore.
' The task just sleeps for 1+ seconds.
' Wait for half a second, to allow all the tasks to start and block.
' Restore the semaphore count to its maximum value.
' Main thread waits for the tasks to complete.
' 0 tasks can enter the semaphore.
' Task 1 begins and waits for the semaphore.
' Task 5 begins and waits for the semaphore.
' Task 2 begins and waits for the semaphore.
' Task 4 begins and waits for the semaphore.
' Task 3 begins and waits for the semaphore.
' Main thread calls Release(3) --> 3 tasks can enter the semaphore.
' Task 4 enters the semaphore.
' Task 1 enters the semaphore.
' Task 3 enters the semaphore.
' Task 4 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
' Task 2 enters the semaphore.
' Task 1 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
' Task 3 releases the semaphore; previous count: 0.
' Task 5 enters the semaphore.
' Task 2 releases the semaphore; previous count: 1.
' Task 5 releases the semaphore; previous count: 2.
Semaphores are of two types: local semaphores and named system semaphores. The former is local to an app. The latter is visible throughout the operating system and is suitable for inter-process synchronization. The SemaphoreSlim is a lightweight alternative to the Semaphore class that doesn't use Windows kernel semaphores. Unlike the Semaphore class, the SemaphoreSlim class doesn't support named system semaphores. You can use it as a local semaphore only. The SemaphoreSlim class is the recommended semaphore for synchronization within a single app.
A lightweight semaphore controls access to a pool of resources that is local to your application. When you instantiate a semaphore, you can specify the maximum number of threads that can enter the semaphore concurrently. You also specify the initial number of threads that can enter the semaphore concurrently. This defines the semaphore's count.
The count is decremented each time a thread enters the semaphore, and incremented each time a thread releases the semaphore. To enter the semaphore, a thread calls one of the Wait or WaitAsync overloads. To release the semaphore, it calls one of the Release overloads. When the count reaches zero, subsequent calls to one of the Wait methods block until other threads release the semaphore. If multiple threads are blocked, there is no guaranteed order, such as FIFO or LIFO, that controls when threads enter the semaphore.
' Enter semaphore by calling one of the Wait or WaitAsync methods.
' Execute code protected by the semaphore.
When all threads have released the semaphore, the count is at the maximum value specified when the semaphore was created. The semaphore's count is available from the CurrentCount property.
The SemaphoreSlim class doesn't enforce thread or task identity on calls to the Wait, WaitAsync, and Release methods. In addition, if the SemaphoreSlim(Int32) constructor is used to instantiate the SemaphoreSlim object, the CurrentCount property can increase beyond the value set by the constructor. It is the programmer's responsibility to ensure that calls to Wait or WaitAsync methods are appropriately paired with calls to Release methods.
Initializes a new instance of the SemaphoreSlim class, specifying the initial number of requests that can be granted concurrently.
Initializes a new instance of the SemaphoreSlim class, specifying the initial and maximum number of requests that can be granted concurrently.
Returns a WaitHandle that can be used to wait on the semaphore.
Gets the number of remaining threads that can enter the SemaphoreSlim object.
Releases all resources used by the current instance of the SemaphoreSlim class.
Releases the unmanaged resources used by the SemaphoreSlim, and optionally releases the managed resources.
Releases the SemaphoreSlim object once.
Releases the SemaphoreSlim object a specified number of times.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim, while observing a CancellationToken.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a 32-bit signed integer that specifies the timeout.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a 32-bit signed integer that specifies the timeout, while observing a CancellationToken.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a TimeSpan to specify the timeout.
Blocks the current thread until it can enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a TimeSpan that specifies the timeout, while observing a CancellationToken.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim, while observing a CancellationToken.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a 32-bit signed integer to measure the time interval.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a 32-bit signed integer to measure the time interval, while observing a CancellationToken.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a TimeSpan to measure the time interval.
Asynchronously waits to enter the SemaphoreSlim, using a TimeSpan to measure the time interval, while observing a CancellationToken.
All public and protected members of SemaphoreSlim are thread-safe and may be used concurrently from multiple threads, with the exception of Dispose(), which must be used only when all other operations on the SemaphoreSlim have completed. | 2019-04-18T13:15:14 | https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.threading.semaphoreslim?view=netstandard-2.0 |
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