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The official GD guide to swearing GrossDachshund.com
Swearing is fun, rewarding and will impress all your friends.
Its a fact, documented in many scientific studies undertaken by Whittman, that people, faced with certain death and disembowelment, generally issue a variety of stock phrases.
With this in mind we have compiled a short phrasebook to help your troops through their grizzly last moments.
Mein Gott!
Usually said by people in a state of extreme surprise at their imminent demise. Also widely said in certain German chat rooms for quite different reasons. A very useful phrase when faced with an attack by Edpow.
Gott in Himmel!
A little stronger then 'Mein Gott', denoting extreme disgust, horror or surprise. Most often heard when the Amazon Battalion is on underwear cleaning duty.
Los Los Los!
In pre-1945 Germany this meant 'Go Go Go', but is now most often spelt with a silent 'T'.
Britischer (or Englander) Schweinhund!
We at the GD clan know all about those tricky, plucky Brits and their comedy firebombing antics. Get your own back by using this phrase.
Pfeffermint Soses
For some reason the krauts think the British eat mint sauce with everything, and some of them call us this. What kind of nation would give a people a nickname over a bit of food? Bloody krauts.
Cooler, 15 days.
Useful for intimidating prisoners of war.
Donner Und Blitzen!
Often used expletive denoting the appalling consequences of eating a Kebab.
Two World Wars and One World Cup (doo da, doo da)
Excellent taunt designed to take those Germans down a peg or two. You can also use '5-1', but no-one has found a way of singing along to that yet. Some of the finest footballing minds in the world are at this very moment working on it.
For You Ze Vor Ist Ofver
Excellent closing taunt when you are blowing up all the buildings you can see looking for that last irritating soldier. Not to be confused with 'all your base are belong to us'.
This is commonly used when that tank rush you spent half an hour planning ends up in the toilet. It is rumoured that bWare has used this phrase more times than Von Paulus.
Also translates as 'Get that Bloody Flag'. | <urn:uuid:6b1bc764-a532-489d-9643-24328180026c> | http://www.grossdachshund.com/swear.shtml | en | 0.91719 | 0.035945 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The latest outrageous incident that the Fasadi Zaliman are responsible for is the desecration of a grave, in Sindh, of Bhooro Bheel, a folk singer who died in an accident. Turns out he was buried on land that is disputed between two tribes, the Lagharis and the Khosos. So this poor singer died; although a Hindu, he was buried in a graveyard where Muslims also lie. For those who are amazed at the fact that he wasn’t cremated – not all Hindus cremate their dead; some, like the Bheel community, bury them. In Sindh they have traditionally shared graveyards with Muslims. I learnt from advocate and human rights activist Javed Qazi (of Forum for Secular Pakistan) that Bhooro Bheel’s songs are available on Youtube – here’s one: Save Sindh Bhooro BheelJumping into this land dispute between the Lagharis and Khosos, members of the criminal Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), a banned militant organisation did an inhuman thing: they dug out Bhooro Bheel’s body and dragged it on the streets.
But Sindh is Sindh. Another landlord, Mir Masood Talpur, provided some land to bury the body in, and Bhooro Bheel now lies there, says the activist singer Saif Samejo. See the discussion on his public post on his facebook page. Other activist singers like Arieb Azhar and Aftab Ali Saeed of Beghairat Brigade are also firmly on board this fight for a progressive Pakistan.
Pakistan4All Islamabad Oct 13Meanwhile, it is heartening that young people are speaking out. There have been demonstrations in solidarity with the Christian community, condemning the attack on the church in Peshawar. A new group called Pakistan for All initiated this series of symbolic human chains around churches during Sunday mass, starting with Karachi a couple of weeks ago. The demo in Lahore was held last Sunday and another one is planned in Islamabad on Oct 13. See details at their facebook page. Postscript: It seems that we keep reacting to one horrific incident after another. Human chains, candlelight vigils, signature campaigns, outrage on facebook and twitter, seminars, meetings… This Fasadi menace needs more than that, though we should keep doing all that too. We need to demand that the authorities arrest, charge, try and and punish the perpetrators of any criminal act, even if they are committed in the name of religion.
7 Responses
1. […] Malala and Absurdistan, Mazariland, Cuckooland… We are sorry, Bhooro Bheel. Taliban bhagao, mu…. […]
2. Beena thanks. Nasir
3. Thank you Beena ji!
4. Good write up. Thank you. iqbalalavi
5. I stumbled upon this and thought I should say something.
The very term “conspiracy theory” is so utterly loaded and indeed itself indicative solely of propaganda.
Lets take a common conspiracy theory.. “the US perpetrated 9/11 upon itself in order to steal Iraqi oil and control Afghan heroin revenues”.
Lets now contrast this with the politically correct alternative: “some religiously motivated Saudi citizens hijacked and flew planes into WTC resulting in the US retaliating against the states that sponsored them”.
Lets now contrast both statements with one of those non-falsifiable ones such as “most world governments are actually controlled by purple polka-dotted, winged Orangutans, who live in the clouds and can only been observed by me and people who pay me large sums of money “.
Setting aside factual, logical and other extraneous issues and inconsistencies etc. in relation to both of the first two statements, we find that both statements are in fact falsifiable and thus both statements are potentially true as opposed to the third statement, which can never be proved false and thus is by default false and is also thus properly closer to what people describe as “conspiracy theories”. No matter what arguments you raise against statement three, its proponents can always retort.
That said….proponents of “both” sides of the argument presented in the first two statements above will lie, cheat, manufacture, misinform and ‘widen the goalposts’ simply to make their case more viable.
This tendency although similar in practice to that of proponents of statements like number three above does not detract from the falsifiablity of the central kernal of either statements one or two.
Establishmentarian propagandists effectively rely on superficial similarities between falsifiable alternative (and undesirable) explanations as to phenomena and unfalsifiable fictions such as statement three above, in order to discredit them rather than falsify them. This is not to say that proponents of the alternative are any better.
The propagandists however should successfully be able to falsify “falsehoods” as they tend to have more information on the ground, greater employable resources, bargaining power and indeed usually government…. as opposed to the proponents of the “conspiracy theory” but in certain cases (such as that above) fail to do so, relying on crude mud slinging, defamation and other ad hominem type arguments. Interestingly and noteworthily disputes about issues such as milk prices, inflation and exchange rates are resolved without much ado at all.
It is in fact the behaviour of establishmentarian propagandists, which sets out a simple test as to the veracity of a statement. The use of the term “conspiracy theory” itself in relation to its alternative is indicative of the falsehood of an assertion, particularly because as such the asserting accusers tend to have a greater vested interest derivative of the issue in dispute rather than the conspiracy theorists.
Therfore it seems to me that the onus to prove that Malala isn’t an evil, treasonous, CIA sponsored, crypto-Zionist and anti-Pakistan fifth colomnist etc. etc. should be upon the proponents of the opposite veiw, who should be able to happily falsify any aspersions upon her character rather than upon the “conspiracy theorists” to prove their case.
6. if somebody wants to write a report about any incident must have some proof, some statement by eyewitness, some video/pic, sitting in drawing room, u can build any story, hard to believe….
7. People either believe in demons and demonology or they believe in the reality that the controlling forces in the world are tied to global capitalism, its regional governments, and its agents of repression and/or change. All of the cretins who foster atrocities share their love of global capitalism and are just hankering for a piece of it, even if it is as a terrorist thug. Just look at Iraq and all that’s followed and preceded it on the global agenda. Acquisition and control is the game, not ignorant, craven demons.
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Sources: FierceMobileIT, PC Professional, Data Center Journal
Comments Threshold
By Ammohunt on 2/28/2013 2:14:57 PM , Rating: 2
TextMost jobs are asking for jack-of-all-trades 1 person do to everything
So what's stopping you from becoming that one person? I have worked in IT for 15 years as a systems administrator and i never once settle for a speciality. Windows, Unix, application administration and even a little development its your fault if you can't adapt with the changing times i don't have that problem; currently i am morphing into the guy who manages and designs cloud environments and not pining about the good old days of single flavor single technology admins like so many CNE's.
By KOOLTIME on 2/28/2013 3:57:44 PM , Rating: 2
The point being were are not talking about a few folks whom can adapt, we are talking about large quantity numbers of jobs across industry.
To many people think there job spot is ok, or they can adapt, but the larger community cannot, due to all the extended jobs lost when these events occur.
Look at what happened to mining town when the plant closed, not just the miners lost their jobs, the entire community that supported them also went under.
Support beyond a single job, is effecting every community, with all the downsizing.
Understand the available jobs currently is less then the number of unemployed.
Skill or not, if there is not space for a person to work and no place to go.
Skill has nothing to do with money, money greed always over ride skill.
Alot of companies have good skill folks working, but they still fail why with all that good skill ? Good skill means prosperity right ?? That's untrue, the extended jobs lost due to less resource usage, unfolds across and entire community suffers.
| <urn:uuid:2af9af3e-f289-4239-accc-9075fc0859d3> | http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=29847&commentid=842687&threshhold=1&red=119 | en | 0.943263 | 0.028184 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Are You Stressed Out? Then Check Out These Helpful Tips!
Do not let stress control your life. When you give in and admit defeat you only regret it later, start now and help your future be a better one. The information that follows will give you some pointers on what you can do to decrease how stressed out you feel everyday.
Set aside a little time today to plan and prepare for what you intend to do tomorrow. You’ll be surprised by how much stress this can relieve! Every little thing in a day adds up to a lot of stress, so taking out tomorrows clothes or making tomorrows lunch this evening will put you ahead of the game and really add up to stress savings!
Being able to visualize calming imagery can help you deal with stress when it threatens to overwhelm you. Imagine a calming warm shower flowing over your body that washes away any tension or stress that you are feeling. You can also close your eyes, breathe slowly and imagine a calming scene, like walking in a meadow, sitting on the beach, or whatever it is that calms you.
Stressful situations can be avoided if you manage repairs when they’re needed. Think about just a few things that need to be fixed, repairing them will take a lot more energy than it would had you kept up with them.
Pleasant aromas can help relieve stress. Several different scents including basil, anise, and lavender have calming effects. Put rock salt in a vial with a few drops of your favorite oil. Use this pleasant aroma to calm yourself down in times of stress.
There are times where just talking with someone you really trust can be enough to reduce your stress. Releasing emotions and anxieties will improve your frame of mind. Find a friend or family member who you can go out to coffee with you or call you up on the phone.
If you have a significant other, spend an evening enjoying a romantic dinner with them. Your attention will be on your partner and how relaxed you are rather than stressful events.
Just kick back and go to your happy place to deal with stress. Think about a place where you would like to be, and allow your mind to take you there. Using these types of techniques are a great way to deal with stress.
Taking deep breaths before doing anything can make it easier to deal with stress. Step back, count to ten as you breathe, and then confront the situation. Waiting a few seconds will help you control your stressful reaction and behave more calmly and more professionally.
Improve yourself from the inside out to increase your stress tolerance. Eating better, exercising more and sleeping for a full eight hours per night are all proven to reduce anxiety. If you feel better physically, then you will feel better mentally, helping you to better manage stress that is unavoidable.
By following the advice that was just given to you, you will be able to effectively manage your stress levels. By reducing your daily stress, you will live longer and be happier. Put these tips to work in your life, and you will be much happier. | <urn:uuid:71391179-1c8e-4f22-9b59-224216f6db1d> | http://amistressed.org/are-you-stressed-out-then-check-out-these-helpful-tips/ | en | 0.955027 | 0.06017 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is power of attorney?
There are a few different types of powers of attorney, but together they establish another person who can make legal, financial, and medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated due to a medical condition or otherwise unable to act on your own behalf. Establishing power of attorney can go a long way to ensuring that your affairs are taken care of in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
How does a court choose an administrator for probate?
At the start of the probate process, the court will accept petitions from the relatives of the deceased. Even if there is a named administrator in the will, that individual will still need to petition the court. In this case, the court will almost always name that person as the administrator of the estate. In the absence of a named administrator in the will, the court will select from an administrator from the people who petition, generally based on whoever has the closest relationship with the deceased.
Will my estate need to go into probate even if I have a will?
Generally, yes, unless you have very few assets. However, with a well-crafted will and/or trust, the probate process is typically pretty straightforward and will place a minimal burden on your loved ones.
How does the court distribute assets in the absence of a will?
If a person dies without a will, their estate is referred to as “intestate.” During probate, the court will work with the selected administrator for their estate to distribute their assets equitably among the deceased’s close relatives and loved ones. Obviously, this can sometimes lead to disputes and is almost always more complicated that an estate with a will.
Who owns the assets in a trust?
In a trust, the original owner of the assets transfers ownership to the trustee, who is responsible for managing the assets on behalf of the person designated as the beneficiary. In a living trust, all three of these can be the same person. But, similarly, the trustee could be a professional or relative of the original owner and/or beneficiary. So while the assets in the trust are legally owned by the trustee, they are only to be used to benefit the beneficiary.
How long does probate usually take?
Probate in Washington state generally takes six to twelve months to complete, although unusually complex or contested estates can sometimes take years.
What are the benefits of incorporation?
Incorporation has many benefits, even for small businesses. By creating a corporation, you can insulate yourself and your personal assets from legal and financial liabilities from your business. They can also minimize your tax obligations by allowing you to more easily write off business expenses. Some types of corporations, like C corporations, even have lower tax rates.
What is a succession plan?
A succession plan is a strategy for replacing key business leaders when they retire or otherwise move on from the business. A succession plan is especially important when it involves transferring ownership of the business. By creating a comprehensive plan for the transfer of the business, business owners can ensure long-term success even after they leave.
Are all churches tax exempt?
Yes! Under United States law, all churches, mosques, and temples are exempt from federal, state, and local taxes. This is because they are considered public charities.
Does a church need to be incorporated to be tax exempt?
No. Incorporation offers many other benefits, including insulation from liability, but it is not required for tax exemption.
Why Legacy Law Group?
About Us
Contact Legacy Law Group Today
Contact Us | <urn:uuid:1d2ad37d-2a6e-45be-b258-7468de3259fe> | https://legacylawofwashington.com/faq/ | en | 0.956505 | 0.684267 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Monday, December 1, 2014
It was a cold farmers market on Sunday. We had a bit of snow on Friday night, and then the temperature dropped to below freezing and the wind howled, and it was miserably cold, at least cold for us. At the market we were set up inside, but the doors were open most of the time, so despite having tights on under my jeans, plus multiple layers on top, and a scarf, I got cold. A few times I went outside and found a protected sunny spot, (there wasn't much wind on Sunday) and was able to soak up a bit of heat from the sun.
After the market was over and we were all packed up, we met a friend for lunch and then Larry headed home and I went to visit my mum. The care home she is in is 5 or 10 minutes from the market, depending if the traffic lights are in my favour or not, and this past Sunday they were. My mum always wants to go OUT. Quite often we go the grocery store to pick up some of the extra things she likes to have. Right now she is having a lot of trouble with one foot. A large patch of skin cancer on it, plus a couple of smaller ones, and it is heavily bandaged. Hard to get a shoe on it. A couple of weeks ago I just pushed her for a walk in her wheelchair straight from the home. The last couple of Sundays have been quite cold, so instead I suggested we just go for a drive. Thankfully that was okay with her, as even to get her and the wheelchair in and out of the car once is a difficult chore for both of us. In the three years she has been in the care home, I can only really remember one time that I visited her and we didn't go out.
The Sunday before last I suggested we drive to Crescent Beach and watch the sun set. It was hard to get her moving, so when we finally got there, the sun wasn't setting over the water as I thought it would , but because the days are so short, had already disappeared behind the houses on the last point.
We were parked in front of the dog swimming area, and the tide was right up. There were no dogs there that day. A lonely boat is chugging towards the marina. Vancouver would be off in the distance on that sliver of land on the right edge, with the north shore mountains in the background.
Yesterday we went for another drive. This time we went back the way I had got there, and down to the beach. This is the pier at White Rock.
White Rock got more snow than us, but even there, some of it had melted, especially close to the water.
See that breakwater at the end of the pier. My dad used to fish around there in his little boat, and jig for cod. Sometimes I went out with him.
There is some boat moorage on the right at the end of the pier, and now just a small dock on the left. There used to be a large dock there that formed a square, it was called The Tank. I took swimming lessons for a year or two there in the summer. The lessons went rain or shine or jellyfish. Yes, at times a bunch of jellyfish would pass through. After all, we were swimming in the ocean. I wasn't much of a swimmer, and was often the oldest one in my class. I hated it, and was so glad when my mother switched me to tennis lessons when I was 12. Tennis I was good at:)
The tide was going out. There is a sandbar forming halfway along the pier. It wasn't there in the previous picture.
We drove up the hill and got one last shot of the sun before it set. What a view that house would have. I wonder if they ever tire of the view, or don't notice it any more. Probably not. You can just see the pier and the breakwater to the left of the house.
There was one more thing I wanted to drive past. I had noticed this when I had gone to retrieve the truck at the end of the market from the parking under the community center. This is part of the area where the summer markets are held. Someone got pretty creative:)
My mum has a doctor's appointment this week, where he will cut away another small spot of skin cancer. Just before Christmas she has an appointment with a plastic surgeon to take care of the mess on her left foot and ankle.
1. Wonderful photos. It has been that bitter cold here and damp . Hope all goes well for your mum . Thanks for sharing , Have a good week !
2. yes, they do want to go out out out! then my mother says Ack! its cold! well, ya its December :p
Lovely photos!!
1. I've learned to just slip extra clothing into the bag that hangs on the back of the wheelchair, without saying anything. That way I'm usually prepared when she suddenly realizes that it is colder than she thought. Otherwise it is a big fight about what I think she should put on, and what she thinks she should.
3. Beautiful sunset photos! Glad you got her out and about..although it is hard work. The snow scene is just wonderful! :)
4. The pictures are beautiful! It is sweet of you to take your mom out. I remember what a job that can be. I would love to be able to do that again.
5. Beautiful pictures. The glow from the sun made me feel WARM! I'm ready for a little warmer weather! Sorry about Mom's skin cancer. It's not easy getting older :0(
6. What a great bunch of pictures, I enjoyed them all Karen!
I love to get comments, so don't be shy! | <urn:uuid:9376968c-d2e8-4b3e-896b-89755dc60ae9> | https://wyndsonfarm.blogspot.com/2014/12/sunsets.html | en | 0.983995 | 0.05207 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
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Name something that gets hard when it gets cold. ~Family Feud
Stashed in: Best of Imgur, Family Feud
You can watch him slowly die a little inside.
His reaction to stupid answers is awesome.
His reaction to stupid answers that are up on the board is even better.
steve harvey sad gif family feud imgur
Not as good as the answers to "Name something that gets passed around."
See also McKenzi's answer 50 seconds into "What's in his pants?"
You May Also Like: | <urn:uuid:f5de78f2-37ea-426c-a4d4-fd139de4435c> | http://pandawhale.com/post/37516/name-something-that-gets-hard-when-it-gets-cold-family-feud | en | 0.955734 | 0.02563 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Himalayan tahr Facts
Himalayan tahr Facts
Himalayan tahr is a type of wild goat that belongs to the bovid family. It inhabits mountain slopes, mountain forests and alpine pastures on the Himalayas in Tibet, India and Nepal. Himalayan tahr has been introduced to New Zealand, North America and South Africa mainly for the purpose of hunting. Number of Himalayan tahrs in the wild is decreasing due habitat loss, competition for food with domestic animals and uncontrolled hunting. Himalayan tahr is classified as near threatened, which means that it can become endangered in the near future.
Interesting Himalayan tahr Facts:
Himalayan tahr can reach 3 to 4.7 feet in length, 2.1 to 3.3 feet in height (at the shoulder) and 79 to 189 pounds of weight. Males are larger than females.
Himalayan tahr has dense, reddish-brown woolly coat with thick undercoat, which keeps the body warm during the cold winters. Coat becomes lighter in color and less dense during the spring. Males have prominent mane around the neck.
Himalayan tahr has small head with large eyes and small pointed ears. It has short legs with well-developed hooves. Rubbery cores and sharp rims of hooves facilitate climbing over the smooth and rough rocks on the steep terrains.
Himalayan tahr has backward curved horns that can reach 18 inches in length. Both males and females have horns, but they are larger in males.
Himalayan tahr is active early in the morning and late in the afternoon (diurnal animal).
Himalayan tahr moves uphill early in the morning to find food on the alpine pastures. It eats almost entire day, with short break during the midday, when it rests among rocks and vegetation.
Himalayan tahr is a herbivore (plant-eater). Its diet is based on grass, herbs and leaves.
Himalayan tahr lives in mixed herds made of usually 15 members (sometimes up to 80). Adult males usually live solitary life.
Himalayan tahr migrates toward the areas with dense vegetation on the lower altitudes during the winter to find shelter and food and to avoid predators.
Natural enemies of Himalayan tahrs are snow leopards.
Mating season of Himalayan tahrs takes place from October to January (or February).
Ritual fights precede mating. Males raise their manes and expose their horns to intimidate their competitors. When these methods are not enough to deter rivals, males wrestle with their horns in order to establish dominance and get opportunity to mate.
Pregnancy in females lasts 7 months and ends with one (rarely 2) baby. Female leaves her group to give birth. Baby is well-developed and able to walk shortly after birth. Young Himalayan tahr depends on the mother's milk until the age of 6 months.
Himalayan tahrs reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-3 years.
Himalayan tahr can survive 10 to 14 years in the wild and up to 21 years in the captivity. Females live longer than males.
Related Links:
Animal Facts
Animals Facts | <urn:uuid:6ea46300-4b5b-4982-bfaa-a65302fb156f> | https://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/himalayan_tahr_facts/2157/ | en | 0.952186 | 0.105861 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Flynn v. Holder (9th Cir. - Dec. 1, 2011)
When I first started reading this case, I thought: "Oh my God. You're kidding me. The Ninth Circuit's really going to do this?!"
I mean, I get it. Lots of libertarian conservatives have jumped on the "You should be able to sell your organs" bandwagon. It's consistent with at least one version of economic liberty and bodily integrity. Plus there's an undeniable need out there. People are dying. Every single day. Paying money for organs would presumably save these lives and benefit everyone. So why shouldn't we allow such sales?
But just because you may have a potentially persuasive policy argument is one thing. It doesn't mean you have a valid constitutional claim. And, in this lawsuit, the plaintiffs are bringing an equal protection challenge to a federal statute that bars compensation for bone marrow donations. That's rational basis review. Totally lax. Just gotta have a possible reason, and surely at least one (and probably more) exists. The district court dismissed the claim on a 12(b)(6) motion.
But then I start reading Judge Kleinfeld's opinion. And even though he's just "reciting" the facts, he's clearly reacting favorably to the plaintiffs' claim. Saying all this stuff about the procedure and the need that's exactly what you'd write if you were going to reverse the district court's dismissal.
Sure, he's got his strong libertarian bent, and I'm sure his clerks do as well. But surely he can't be ready to hold that there's an equal protection violation, right?! That'd be radical. Way radical. I'm not saying it'd be indisputably wrong. But wow. A freaky holding.
So after two or three pages, I can't wait any longer. Stop taunting me. I do what I almost never do. I flip to the end of the opinion to see how it comes out. REVERSED.
Holy hand grenades! Wow. This is going to be revolutionary. We're going to hold that there's potentially a constitutional right to get paid for your organs. Amazing.
Will the Supreme Court really let this stand? It seems crazy. But there are libertarians there too. And the liberals might realize, and be sympathetic with, the desperate need. This will be fascinating.
So then I go back and keep reading. And one of the things I learn is that bone marrow donation is not, at least according to Judge Kleinfeld, what I think it is. I think of it -- and probably most people think of it -- as an incredibly painful process where they stick a huge needle into your spine. That's indeed one way of doing it, and the traditional way.
But apparently there's a new way as well. That basically just involves giving blood. They spin the blood through a thingy and collect what you need.
Which I did not know. Moreover, as a practical matter, it makes a huge difference to me. Because even before I got to the "legal" part of the opinion, I had the following thought: "I'm going to do this." I should probably be willing to get a spinal tap to potentially save someone's life, but I'm flawed, so I don't. I also don't give regular blood nearly as much as I should, on the (again, flawed) theory that there's not actually a monster shortage and my blood's not essential.
But even I can't rationalize not giving blood when I may be the only (or nearly only) person who might be a match for someone. Having to sit in a chair for a couple hours isn't too much to ask to save a life. So Judge Kleinfeld's opinion (and the underlying lawsuit) at least did this: It convinced me that this is a procedure that I should do. Maybe others who read the opinion will have the same reaction. I certainly hope so.
But that's a practical and personal conclusion, not a legal one. Moreover, I'm willing to do this wholly absent any payment. That doesn't mean that I have a constitutional right to be paid for it. And that's plaintiffs' claim.
Judge Kleinfeld eventually gets to the merits. Starting with where I would have thought, before reading the opinion, he'd be forced to go. He initially concludes that, as to the "spinal tap" way of getting blood marrow, there's indeed a rational basis. That's painful. That's grabbing an "organ". Maybe one Congress might not think that's a big deal, and would allow you to be paid for it. But our Congress thought that mattered, and a rational argument can be made in that regard. Ergo it satisfies the Equal Protection Clause.
But you can also see where Judge Kleinfeld's going with this. He just told you that one way -- the traditional way -- of grabbing blood marrow is okay under the Equal Protection Clause. That's foreshadowing. As one is reading along, you can already see the argument. If it's true (as we must assume on a 12b6 motion) that it is possible to grab blood marrow just by taking blood, how's that any different than -- well -- giving blood, for which you can be paid. Or giving sperm, or an egg; for which, again, you can be "compensated." That's an equal protection argument with teeth. Or at least potential teeth; once again, the test here is very lax, and we are loathe to strike down (especially) Congressional statutes for lack of a rational basis.
But it nonetheless looks like Judge Kleinfeld's indeed going to so hold. Because remember that we know how the case is coming out. Reversed.
So I'm still enthralled with the decision, and while the process has been a little different than I first expected when I started reading the opinion, it's still a fascinating outcome.
But then Judge Kleinfeld throws a curve.
He does indeed reinstate the complaint. On the merits; not on some procedural technicality or the like. But at the end of the opinion, he decides not to reach the equal protection argument as applied to the blood-like manner of collection. Because while he's exclusively talked about the constitutional issue thus far, in the end, he interprets the federal statute to not cover bone marrow procedures if they just involve the new blood-collecting process. Ergo making resolution of the constitutional claim unnecessary, and also reaching the same result. Donors under that process can be paid. (And, to assist the plaintiffs, also awards 'em costs, which in this case likely means attorney's fees. So everyone gets paid.)
This statutory interpretation is surely defensible. Less controversial, I might add, than reaching this same result on constitutional grounds. And with the same practical consequences. You can indeed sell your bone marrow. But only if you can do it through the less painful means. Which is probably what you would prefer anyway.
That's a change in the law. You used to be not able to do this. Now you can. So feel free. Whether for money or not.
Judge Kleinfeld convinces me it's a good idea. | <urn:uuid:3c89f9d7-9603-4fc9-8fcc-ed3c269d4847> | http://calapp.blogspot.com/2011/12/flynn-v-holder-9th-cir-dec-1-2011.html | en | 0.932218 | 0.216624 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Why? Why?
Why does DSAI want to kick someone out (the electorate of that constituency voted that MP in by the way, not for you to take over)? I don’t really understand his hurry to be honest. Let the PR coalition show us they can do the job? With a pending court case (possibly), let’s focus on proving to the rakyat that you can give BN the kick up the pants they deserve (and then some).
Sorry, matey, I don’t want you as a PM (whether they label you a PM in waiting), to my eyes, your wife is a far more capable, calm and less rabid politician. I’d rather things be done properly. It just reeks of the similar way that UMNO does things. No more Patronage lah. Why the all fire hurry? Hmm? Why should he ask legitimately elected MPs to vacate their post so he can get into parliament? No thank you.
Read this article.
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Mare (female)
Appearances and Mentions
Spirit of the West: Sierra
Voice Actor(s)
Love interest(s)/Mate(s)
Mother of Rain, Daughter of Bonita and Raphael
Sierra is a mare from Sierra: Spirit of the Cimarron. She is the daughter of Bonita and Raphael, the mate of Storm, and the mother of Rain.
• There is a character in the computer game Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron: Forever Free that is also named Sierra.
Personality: Sierra is known for being feisty and restless. She constantly feels the need to run, and sometimes go off on her own. She is hesitant of trying new things, and extremely cautious. But underneath all this, Sierra is a free-spirited, playful mare who loves those close to her very deeply, and would do anything for them.
Book: Sierra is in the book called Sierra, by Kathleen Duey. She is the daughter of Bonita and Raphael, and lives in the herd of Shadow until a stallion named Feugo takes over. To avoid the growing tension in the herd, Sierra takes long gallops on her own. She continues to do this until she runs into a wolf and gets lost from the herd. Storm, a pinto stallion owned by Native Americans, finds her, and she reluctantly follows him. Sierra is surprised that Storm doesn't know how to eat willow bark and find good grazing, so she teaches him. She is also suspicious of the scents of smoke and humans on him, but later calms down a bit when his war bridle is accidentally ripped off. Sierra gradually learns to trust Storm. He tolerates her suspicions and free-spirit, taking long gallops with her often. This causes Sierra to form a deep love for him. Storm and Sierra become more affectionate toward one another, often nuzzling and refusing to leave each other for even a minute. They are falling in love. Sierra later realizes that she carries Storm's foal. Storm leads her to his home, and the Native Americans try to tame her, but she is wary. A young Indian girl called Little Colt soon gains her trust, feeding her corn, braiding her mane, and letting her eat breakfast with Storm. Soon, Sierra realizes that she has found a sort of herd with Storm and the Indians. At the end of the book, she gives birth to Rain.
Appearance: Sierra is a rather stocky, bright sorrel mare with splashes of white all over body, and up her legs. She has a broad white blaze and a pink muzzle. Her neck is finely arched a bit, and her mane and tail are long and flowing, matching her coat. She has beads braided into her mane, and two squiggly lines of blue painted on her hip.
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| <urn:uuid:ea050de7-e534-4270-94e7-35a3f2d6ae0b> | http://spiritstallionofthecimmarron.wikia.com/wiki/Sierra | en | 0.970061 | 0.069293 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
geographical name \nī-ˈjir-ē-ə\
Definition of NIGERIA
country W Africa bordering on Gulf of Guinea; a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly a colony & protectorate Abuja area 356,669 square miles (927,339 square kilometers), pop 167,000,000
Ni·ge·ri·an \-ē-ən\ adjective or noun
geographical name (Concise Encyclopedia)
/div>Country, western Africa. Area: 356,669 sq mi (923,768 sq km). Population: (2009 est.) 154,729,000. Capital: Abuja. There are more than 250 ethnic groups, including Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo. Languages: English (official), Hausa. Religions: Christianity (Protestant, other Christians, Roman Catholic), Islam, traditional beliefs. Currency: naira. Nigeria consists of plateaus and the lowlands between them, which are major river basins fed especially by the Niger River. It has a developing mixed economy based largely on petroleum production and agriculture; manufacturing is growing in importance. Services, trade, and transportation employ more than two-fifths of the workforce. Nigeria is a federal republic with two legislative bodies; its head of state and government is the president. Inhabited for thousands of years, the region was the centre of the Nok culture from 500 BCE to 200 CE and of several precolonial empires, including Kanem-Bornu, Benin, and Oyo. The Hausa and Fulani also had states. Visited in the 15th century by Europeans, it became a centre for the slave trade. The area began to come under British control in 1861 and was made a British colony in 1914. Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and became a republic in 1963. Ethnic strife soon led to military coups, and military groups ruled the country from 1966 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1999. Civil war between the federal government and the former Eastern region, Biafra (1967–70), ended in Biafra's surrender after the death by starvation of perhaps a million Biafrans. In 1991 the capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja. The government's execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 led to international sanctions, and civilian rule was finally reestablished in 1999 with the election of a president. Ethnic strife—formerly held in check by periods of military rule—erupted in the early 21st century, as did protests over oil production in the Niger delta. Friction also increased between Muslims and Christians after some of the northern and central states adopted Islamic law (the Shari'ah).
Variants of NIGERIA
Nigeria officially Federal Republic of Nigeria
Next Word in the Dictionary: Niigata
Previous Word in the Dictionary: Niger
Seen & Heard
What made you want to look up Nigeria? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). | <urn:uuid:4d369274-2f8a-47e4-874f-a4cd1bc1a9b1> | http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nigeria | en | 0.944507 | 0.0905 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Saddle deliberations. Here goes...
Maybe just one more...
Okay guys, a BC Vinici saddle update. I have tested a MW and W, and neither is 100% perfect, both are close-ish. Before you say, hey, keep looking, understand that I have looked at maybe 12 saddles, and these are by far the best fitting. I love this style for me, and Ri is reacting well despite some needed tweaks.
I'd like to ask you guys what would you do? Remember that Riley is six years old and his back is likely to change, and that there is two centimeters difference between the MW and the W.
-- Since my last set of pix of this saddle, the fitter has flocked up the front. It did make a difference.
-- Girthed up, no pad, without me in the saddle, I can see daylight all the way through the spine/gullet area and it all looks good. There is at least 3-4 fingers clearance -- more really.
-- I think the points align really nicely with his back.
-- When I sit on him in the saddle with no pad, it's close to the wither. I can fit a finger under the pommel, and it's not resting on his wither, but it's close -- of course I never ride without a pad.
-- The big fluffy mattes pad seems to lift it nicely.
-- Ri definitely reacts better to being saddled in the W tree. He objects more to the MW.
-- He goes better in the wide, but the wide, with a mattes pad, is just a hair wiggly from side to side.
-- It absolutely won't work as is, but a tweak could make it perfect. Or...
-- I could pay to have it widened and have it still be too narrow. That would make me really sad.
-- I could pay to have it widened and Ri might grow to need yet another tweak. Then no more adjustments on that tree, right?
What do you think?
1. My $.02 from my experience is that when a horse begins working in a saddle that has more room than they previously had (i.e., the wide tree) there won't be restriction on the muscles anymore and they may grow/expand much more quickly than you'd expect (within a few weeks, in my experience). Combine that with the fact that he's a 6yo WB and therefore still growing, and I'd go with the Wide Tree.
2. Oh, my. Well, you know at least in part where I stand...but I think I'd rather go wider than worry about a too narrow tree.
In the first place, I think Riley is telling you something when you girth him up, so that's worth listening to.
In the second place, I theorize that a too narrow tree will actually inhibit muscle development by not allowing "room" for the wither back muscles to develop, especially in the wither area.
Could be a little additional creative saddle pads might help the saddle be more stable?
3. You know the answer, grasshopper. Riley likes it better W. Move on.
You will get this thing adjusted every 6 months. Just make sure you have some good half pads, shims, and a kick ass fitter.
good luck!
4. Well I can't offer you advice it's just good to know there is someone else out there having problems with achieving the perfect fit. My four year old frustrates me with saddle fitting.
Being a college student I can't spend a thousand or more on a saddle he will outgrow. I settled for a Wintec Pro Dressage with the interchangeable gullet. The fit seems almost perfect but because he is downhill the saddle slides a bit more forward then I like. -.- I had my experienced barn manager check the fit and approve it but it bugs me that it isn't just right.
5. Go with the wide and pad to fit. The Tad Coffin saddles are like that - all W tree with a pad system to fit a narrower back.
Riley might develop more muscle as he goes and if you stuck with the MW you would be more likely to revisit the issue in the future.
At the end of the day, for me anyway, "pretty good" is acceptable and better than a lot of horses receive. And my actual riding skill is half the battle -- what good is a perfectly fitting saddle if I'm riding like a sack of potatoes? :)
6. I think you have to go with the W, especially if Riley objects to the MW at all. As he fills out, you will probably need less padding and the saddle may feel more stable (in theory). I bought a MW Albion for my horse (which is pretty wide) and clearance over the withers improved as he gained more muscle. The saddle actually fits him better now then it did when I first bought it for him. Hopefully, Riley's will work out the same way. If you start with tight, there is no where else to go.
7. I would go with the wide. That's why they make Pads! :)
8. I would go wide and utilize the mattes.
9. No doubt, the wide. He's gonna get bigger.
10. I'd go wide and get something like a Skito pad to go under it.
11. To piggyback on everyone else, get the wide. And to piggyback on Lauren, I'll say that if the W is a little wiggly side-to-side, you'll just need to focus on a strong core and riding very well so that the saddle DOESN'T wiggle -- because YOU aren't wiggling!
12. Definitely the wide. You can play with some pads to see if it will help the shifting. Maybe a neoprene girth, too? You can tell from the pics that he still has a baby back. I bet he will grow into that one sooner than you think.
13. Go wide. I'd like to see a photo of the saddle slid back a bit further (ignore where the girths straps fall). I reckon it would be better balanced then.
You could try taking the front girth strap out of the keeper, angle it forward about an inch, and see how that goes? This is how my saddle is fitted to my horse with a similar big shoulder with the same lumps of fat and a forward girth groove.
You may not get the perfect fit, but if the horse and rider are both happy, isn't that what you're trying to achieve?
14. I would go wide and pad it up as needed. I feel your pain, I'm (hopefully) finishing a year long saddle search with a new Thornhill (wide tree as well!)that's on order :)
15. Being someone who has has 4 saddles in 4.5 years I would suggest going with the saddle that gives you the most room for Ri to grow. My current saddle is a wide and I use a Thinline Correction pad that is quilted only with no sheepskin. I can feel the horse more without the sheepskin. I can add front, back or mid shims and the shims also come in a variety of thickness options. I change shims as needed without having my saddle fitter out every few weeks as muscle grows. It is great to be able to make minor adjustments on the spot that make Padre' happy.
16. I applaud your decision to choose less than 100%. There is not perfection in saddle fitting as all horses change shape, even at maturity. The closest you get is the closest you get. Otherwise, you would more likely than not go insane and spend all your money looking for something that does not exist. Riley reacting well to it is what is most important. Hurrah for you!!!! :) - Friesianwelshx
17. I think the wide is your friend. If he was full grown and not likely to change much more the MW might be the better bet but since he's still growing & developing I think the W is the better bet.
| <urn:uuid:4a74257f-6b64-4ca3-8d08-c368ae386f5a> | https://www.behindthebitblog.com/2012/03/saddle-deliberations-here-goes.html?showComment=1333050693177 | en | 0.976636 | 0.023098 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
England's World Cup History by the Numbers
Jamie PeltierContributor IFebruary 9, 2011
England's World Cup History by the Numbers
0 of 11
This is a very random article, but I did this while I was studying soccer in England last month, and it was fun to do. England, although having the oldest national football team in the world, has had only moderate successes throughout their World Cup history. I chose to do a slideshow recognizing some of their most notable highlights since they’ve entered the world’s largest sporting event. Counting down from 10 to one, I used popular players and their numbers to represent my facts.
No. 10
1 of 11
England had 10 combined shutouts during the 1982, 1986 and 1990 World Cups, and also hold the record for the most shutouts in one World Cup competition (four in 1982). Their goalkeeper was Peter Shilton, who also holds the record for playing the most all-time games with England.
No. 9
2 of 11
A lot of people were very optimistic about England for the 2010 World Cup because they won nine out of the 10 qualifying competition games. This is a series of tournaments and games with 205 teams—they started in August 2007 and ended in November 2009. They were UEFA Group 6 Winners and played Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra (this may have been the reason of them winning so much).
No. 8
3 of 11
Eight different venues in seven different cities held the matches played during the 1966 World Cup in England. These stadiums included Wembley, Goodison, Hillsborough, Roker Park, Old Trafford, White City Stadium, Villa Park and Ayresome Park. The final of course was played at Wembley and the attendance was 98,000.
No. 7
4 of 11
At the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, USA defeated England 1-0. This was unexpected and known as the miracle on grass. England had a reputation of being the “king of football” and were expected to win this World Cup. This somewhat sparked a rivalry between the two countries ever since. So far in World Cup challenges, England managed to beat the USA seven out of the 10 times they have played them.
No. 6
5 of 11
Making it to the quarterfinals is a good accomplishment for most countries, but for England anything less than being a World Cup finalist can be looked at as a disappointment because their fans expect the very best from them. With the widespread talent England produces and the rich history of English football, the fans and supporters may view this accomplishment more as a disappointment or a missed opportunity.
No. 5
6 of 11
Only 16 teams competed in the 1966 World Cup—not including the USA—and England tied with Portugal for winning the most games during this tournament (five).
No. 4
7 of 11
The FIFA rankings started in 1992 and the highest England has ranked was fourth in 1997 and 2006. This point ranking system is based on results of all FIFA-recognized international matches on a team’s performance over the last four years. England is currently sixth and Spain is first. Only six teams have been No. 1, and Brazil has been ranked first the most.
No. 3
8 of 11
England didn’t enter the first three World Cups because they thought they were "too good." FIFA wanted them too, but the FA declined all invitations. The 1950 World Cup was the first tournament England was in and the first one played after World War II.
No. 2
9 of 11
Two out of the 15 managers England has had have not been English: Sven-Göran Eriksson from Sweden and Fabio Capello from Italy (current manager). Eriksson is the only manager to win league and cup doubles in three different countries. He managed England from 2001-2006 and also has managed Mexico and Cote d’Ivoire. Capello, being very successful, is known for winning titles with every club he has coached. In his first five seasons as manager, he won four Serie A titles with Milan.
No. 1
10 of 11
England is one of eight national teams that earned a World Cup title (Brazil has the most with five). They won in 1966 on their home soil with a 4-2 victory against West Germany. This game also holds the record of most goals scored in a final match, as Sir Geoff Hurst scored a hat trick.
With the teams tied at two, England's third goal, and Hurst's second, in 11 minutes of extra time was very controversial because it hit the crossbar and bounced down right on the line. However, it was called a goal on the pitch and Hurst added another extra time goal for the 4-2 final.
England became the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934. This win was the most celebrated event in British sporting history.
11 of 11
Disappointment came across all of England when Russia beat them for hosting rights of the 2018 World Cup. Beckham was quoted saying, “The way they follow us as a team, the way they follow us as a nation, there’s no more passionate fans in the world than in England and apologies that we couldn’t bring them the World Cup.” | <urn:uuid:534dfe53-0e17-4561-9753-b831db11353f> | http://bleacherreport.com/articles/603867-englands-world-cup-history-by-the-numbers | en | 0.984519 | 0.021159 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
How Much Does It Cost to Do Your Wash?
Once you know the real cost of something, such as doing your wash, you may be surprised. And that surprise can turn into motivation for doing things differently, and thus saving money.
Let us look at three households: Mrs Average, Mrs Conservative, and Mrs Thrifty. They each do laundry a different way, and so they spend different amounts getting the same size load completed. We will assume that they all have a standard washing machine and dryer. It is true that you can usually save more with a high efficiency washer and dryer. We’ll also assume that they do their laundry at the same time of day and use electric machines and water heaters (in some arrangements, you can get lower electricity or water rates at off peak times).
Okay, Mrs Average puts her load of laundry into her washer. She sets it at hot/warm or hot/cold and uses the recommended amount of her favorite laundry detergent that she purchased just that morning at the grocery store. When she is done, she will throw it into the dryer with a softener sheet as usual until it is done. Here are the costs:
Water plus heating the water: $.69
Detergent: $.39
Dryer: $.47
Dryer Sheet: $.10
Total cost per load: $1.65
Mrs Conservative knows that she can save some money on laundry by making a few frugal choices. She washes her laundry load on the warm/cold setting because there is no reason to rinse in hot or warm, right?. She could choose a cold water detergent, but they are a little pricey. Instead, she buys her favorite regular powder detergent in bulk. When her load is done, she will hang about half of it, mostly the less bulky items, in her basement overnight. She buyers her dryer sheets in bulk as well and uses half a sheet at a time. Here are the costs:
Water plus heating the water: $.32
Detergent: $.14
Dryer: $.23
Dryer Sheet: $.04
Total cost per load: $.75
Mrs Thrifty wants to lower her laundry cost as much as possible. She still wants to use a washing machine to do her wash. She also washes her laundry on the cold/cold setting and uses the presoak option on her machine so she can use her detergent more effectively without the hot or warm water. She also makes her own laundry detergent out of a few common grocery store items. She rarely uses her dryer at all. In fact, she hangs her laundry outside on good days and inside in bad weather. If she needs to soften a load of wash, she uses a tablespoon of generic vinegar bought in bulk. Here are the costs:
Water plus heating the water: $.14
Detergent: $.01
Dryer: $.00
Dryer Sheet: $.00
Vinegar: $.01
Total cost per load: $.16
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
Favorite Deal Websites:
Related Articles:
A List of the Best Generic Brands
Tackling Mount Washmore: Easy Laundry Solutions
Emergency Laundry Detergent
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| <urn:uuid:5b1d44c8-446e-4035-bcf2-8eeeada72c62> | https://www.families.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-do-your-wash | en | 0.958437 | 0.094208 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
2 Replies Latest reply on Sep 9, 2013 9:54 AM by strypesinpost
How Do I Relink Footage That's a Higher Resolution Than What I Edited With?
I'm working on a short film in Premiere Pro 6 that was shot on a RED Scarlet. When I began the project, the computer I was working on couldn't handel playing r3d files in Premiere in 1/16th resolution, so I made 1080p exports of all the footage and began editing. Now, I'm on a computer with a much higher performance level, the project has been finished, but I need the 4K r3d files instead of the 1080p work exports.
Is there a way to change a sequence's setting to a different file type/resolution, allowing me to unlink the 1080ps and relink the r3ds? Or will I have no choice but to do this the old fashion way, taking timecode in-points and out-points and reassembling the entire film in a r3d sequence?
Please help!
• 1. Re: How Do I Relink Footage That's a Higher Resolution Than What I Edited With?
SAFEHARBOR11 Most Valuable Participant
I would make a COPY of the current project, so as not to make changes to original project. In the new version, create a new sequence at the 4k specs, and then copy/paste contents of the 1080p sequence to the 4k sequence. I don't know of an automated way to do this, but manually, you can right-click clips in the bin and "Make Offline", and select again and choose "Link Media" and point to original RED file.
If original RED clips and the 1080p clips are exact same length, then the edits should be intact. I do something similar quite often and works fine with substituting clips (I will edit a wedding ceremony, then decide I want the whole thing DeNoised - I create a clean clip with After Effects, then plug that into existing edit replacing original and it is seamless, all cuts in sync perfectly).
Note that Premiere titles are going to be at 1080 and may appear smaller in 4k project. Open existing title from timeline, and in titler make new item from current, which should make a copy of the title, but at 4k. The use Replace in timeline to substitute 4k version (right click title in timeline and choose Replace from Bin). I just went through this when moving from a 720p sequence to 1080p.
Hopefully these ideas work in your situation
Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers
• 2. Re: How Do I Relink Footage That's a Higher Resolution Than What I Edited With?
strypesinpost Level 2
Hi Joe,
You can try making the sequence offline and relinking to the R3Ds and see if that gives you any luck with automated relinking.
Alternatively, you can export an XML, send it to the Resolve Lite, populate your media pool with the R3D mags, import the XML into the Resolve, relink the QTs to the R3Ds in the Resolve and export an XML and re-import that into Premiere. This is a little similar to the traditional offline/online workflow, except that you're just using the Resolve for re-linking instead of grading. | <urn:uuid:1f656eaf-2ec2-42d9-a2cb-52cb25315268> | https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1292362 | en | 0.935253 | 0.066844 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Anti-Vaccination Movement May Lead To Measles Outbreak, Study Shows
A new study regarding deadly measles complications shows how anti-vaccination movement can endanger not only the patient but also everyone else susceptible to the disease.
Vaccine controversies have occurred since almost 80 years before the terms vaccine and vaccination were introduced, and continue to this day. Opponents question the effectiveness, safety, and necessity of recommended vaccines. They also argue that mandatory vaccinations violate individual rights to medical decisions and religious principles. These arguments have reduced vaccination rates in certain communities, resulting in outbreaks and deaths from preventable childhood diseases.
According to Forbes, Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a neurological disorder that can develop years after someone has measles, and it is fatal 100 percent of the time. Previously, it was thought rare at about one in 100,000 post-measles cases. But recent research in Germany shows that it occurs in one in 1,700 children infected with measles before they turned five, and a new study finds the incidence can be as many as one in 600 for infants who contract measles before they’re vaccinated.
SSPE also known as Dawson Disease, Dawson encephalitis, and measles encephalitis is a rare and chronic form of progressive brain inflammation caused by a persistent infection with measles virus, which can be a result of a mutation of the virus itself.
Since the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is not good for children below 12 months, the only alternative way is to prevent it and SSPE through vaccinating enough people to prevent the spread of the said disease.
“The answer is good public health. You need to vaccinate everybody and create herd immunity so that you protect those most vulnerable to measles and those at greatest risk of SSPE,” said Dr. James Cherry, a research professor in pediatric infectious diseases at UCLA, who was part of the study team.
The findings were presented during the IDWeek 2016, the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “This is really alarming and shows that vaccination truly is lifesaving,” Cherry said.
Even without SSPE, researchers said, measles can kill or cause encephalitis. It is an inflammation of the brain, caused by infection or an allergic reaction. Now we know what will be the effect of the anti-vaccination movement, let us inform other people regarding this. Let us not spread the news for our next generations’ future.
Please enter your comment!
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Peek at the Application of Cannabis Legalization
Even though the consumption of marijuana is loosened outside of medical needs, a number of countries apply certain restrictions that are different and quite strict.
Canada, for example. On October 17, 2018, Canada will legalize marijuana in full in three categories: Canada drugs, Canada recreation, and Canada cultivation. Cannabis farmers can obtain government licenses to produce marijuana. Each province will discuss related to the distribution and sale of products. The government also does not explicitly campaign in support or will only sign legalization without promoting.
Spain also legalized marijuana in three categories. However, there are certain rules that must be obeyed by marijuana users. In the recreation category, marijuana is only legal if it is enjoyed in a private area and the user must register to an association. If it is desperate to smoke marijuana in a public space, users can be punished according to the applicable legal product. Each user can only have a maximum of 60-100 grams of marijuana per month.
Uruguay entered the country which fully legalized marijuana. However, people under the age of 18 cannot consume it. Whoever wants to sell, buy, and cultivate marijuana must also register with the government.
What about Jamaica? The government is loosening the consumption of cannabis for Rastafarians. Beyond that, marijuana should only be used for medical and cultivation purposes.
Control of post-legalization of marijuana use is a concern among academics. In an article titled “Implications of Marijuana Legalization for Adolescent Substance Use” (2014), University of Colorado psychiatrist, Christian Hopfer highlighted the potential effects of marijuana legalization, namely increased consumption of marijuana among adolescents. This increase is supported by supporting factors such as greater social acceptance of marijuana use and increasingly affordable prices like in the Canadian pharmacy online. Hopfer hopes marijuana will be closely monitored like alcohol and tobacco.
The price of marijuana is indeed down after legalization. From the beginning it was illegal and traded on the black market at a high price, now marijuana has become an affordable item in countries that legalize it.
Marijuana legalization in several US states in 2015 also reduced the price of marijuana, even though the quality was high. States such as California and Nevada even have the cheapest prices for marijuana along with legalization for medical needs.
The same applies in Canada. Since the campaign of decriminalization of marijuana in 2015 which led to the legalization of medical needs to full legalization this year, the price of marijuana continues to down. Reporting from Bloomberg, in 2015 marijuana per gram was valued at 8.43 Canadian dollars. This price dropped to 6.05 dollars per gram in 2017. Canadian pharmacy, which was originally an importer of marijuana, is now an exporter. Last year, the total value of Canadian cannabis exports reached 1.2 billion Canadian dollars. | <urn:uuid:541247e1-28b9-4262-90c1-6f73e9d693df> | http://www.okuhida-yodel.com/peek-at-the-application-of-cannabis-legalization.html | en | 0.948521 | 0.075313 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Can Dreaming About Cheating Hurt Your Relationship? Here's Why It Can Actually Bring You Closer Together
Ashley Batz/Bustle
Even if you know they're not real, dreams can still have a way of messing with your head throughout the rest of the day. For instance, if you're in a relationship where you're super in love with your partner and you suddenly, start having dreams about having sex with with someone else, it's may make you question some things. We all know that dreams are just dreams, but when it comes down to it, can cheating dreams hurt your relationship in any way?
It's a question I'm sure many of us have Googled at one point. So mattress brand, Amerisleep, recently conducted a survey of 1,000 people to figure it all out. As they found, nearly one in four people say they have dreamt about cheating on their partner or had dreams where their partner was cheating on them. Nearly 30 percent said it meant they were probably having feelings for someone else, and nearly 50 percent of women and 36 percent of men said it probably meant they had a non-relationship related "difficult decision" to make in their life. Many also believe that cheating dreams can bring up trust issues or anxieties within the relationship.
"Cheating dreams are one of the most common dreams reported to me and yes, it can impact the relationship," Lauri Loewenberg, professional Dream Analyst and author of Dream on It, Unlock Your Dreams Change Your Life tells Bustle. "The emotions we feel in the midst of the dream are very real and they can linger for quite a bit after awakening."
What It Means If You Dream That Your Partner Is Cheating On You
If you're dreaming that you're being cheated on, Loewenberg says those feelings of betrayal, jealousy or being left behind is the most important part to pay attention to. Usually, those emotions tend to connect to those that we feel in real life. However, she says, these feelings aren't typically caused by an actual affair going on. More often than not, it's actually caused by a third wheel in the relationship like work, fantasy football, or maybe even a new baby.
"These dreams tend to happen when the dreamer is feeling left out of or 'cheated' out of the time and attention he or she feels they deserve."
"These dreams tend to happen when the dreamer is feeling left out of or 'cheated' out of the time and attention he or she feels they deserve," Loewenberg says. Since time and attention is being given to something else, it can cause the dreamer to feel a sense of jealousy. "This is magnified at night within the dream state because it may not be being addressed in waking life or it is being handled incorrectly," she says.
What If This Is A Reoccurring Dream?
If this dream is repetitive and there's really no reason to suspect that your partner is cheating on you (besides the dream), then figure out what makes you feel like you're being a third wheel. Then, of course, being it up with your partner in an understanding way. "Let him or her know you are feeling a bit left out. Offer to cut back on something of yours as well. Compromise. Set a date night," Loewenberg says. "Find a way for the two of you to get more quality time together." If you talk it out, then maybe your feelings of being left out won't play out in your dream.
What It Means If You're The One Cheating On Your Partner
"When we sleep, our subconscious takes us on a ride, and we can't control what comes from that," Victoria M. Beltran, MPH, CHES, sexual health educator, and founder of the sexual health education site Healthy Sex and You, tells Bustle.
Maybe you thought about sex during the day. Maybe you saw someone good looking a week ago. Maybe you haven't had sex in a while. "All of this can be worked out through dreams, but they don't describe what we want to do in real life necessarily," she says. So overall, it's really no big deal. It's just another fantasy. If you don't act on it, you won't have any problems.
What If You Dream You're Cheating With Your Ex?
But what about dreaming of someone you know? Like an ex for instance. If you are dreaming that you're cheating on your current partner with your ex, Loewenberg says these dreams tend to happen when your current relationship has become too routine or "hum drum." Cheating with your ex dreams don't typically mean you want your ex back, but rather what the ex represents. If it's a first love or someone you had super great chemistry with, these dreams are a reminder that you and your relationship is worthy of passion.
Why Cheating Dreams Can Actually Bring You Closer Together
Dreams that involve infidelity can have you questioning yourself, your partner, and even your relationship. But don't let it bring you all kinds of unnecessary anxiety. In fact, as Loewenberg says, cheating dreams can actually fan the flames in your relationship. "These dreams can shine a light on an issue that needs to be addressed, a feeling that is not being taken care of," she says. "It can even be a gentle nudge from your psyche to start spicing things up!"
Everyone has sex dreams and everyone has fantasies. I, for instance, recently had a crazy realistic dream about an ex I haven't talked to in years. I spent a good day or two agonizing over whether it means I should reach out or maybe even just do a little Facebook snooping to see what he's been up to. I ended up not doing any of that, but that just goes to show you that dreams can have a way of sticking with you and messing with your emotions while you're awake.
"Cheating dreams can only cause problems in your relationship if you're a dream chaser."
"Although there are experts in the psychological field who believe dreams can be tools to use to decipher deep hidden truths lying inside of our minds, it would not be wise to read too much into your dreams about lovers which are outside of your marriage or partnership," Dating and Relationship Expert, Megan Weks tells Bustle. "This is perfectly normal and healthy and can be comparable to any other kind of fantasizing. There are two kinds of people: those who dream about cheating and those who don't remember their dreams. Cheating dreams can only cause problems in your relationship if you're a dream chaser. My suggestion is to enjoy them when they come along every so often, don't overthink them, and don't attempt them in real life!"
So dreams don't have to be a big deal if you don't make them a big deal. If you're having dreams about cheating, take a deep breath and remember that it's what you do when you're awake that really counts. | <urn:uuid:350eb9ba-a7e4-4cbb-8da2-65d18f5267c9> | https://www.bustle.com/p/can-dreaming-about-cheating-hurt-your-relationship-heres-why-it-can-actually-bring-you-closer-together-79053 | en | 0.974941 | 0.458318 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Avril Lavigne Birth Chart
Avril Lavigne Birth Chart Avril Lavigne Horoscope for Birth Date 27 September 1984
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What Is a Birth Chart?
We are born upon this earth to living and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. However, our animatronics is not sure as no one knows later death would come. We value dynamism to the utmost and accomplish many things to nurture our body and keep our liveliness for as long as possible. The world is full of surprises and wonders that one feels that an entire lifetime is not acceptable to explore and enjoy God’s present to us. Most people are no question impatient to know nearly their lifespan and new things practically them. for that reason they tackle to the birth chart which provides the suggestion they require.
Avril Lavigne Astrology Natal Report and Birth Chart
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Avril Lavigne Astro Birth Chart Horoscope Date of Birth
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Natal chart of Avril Lavigne
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The seek of a birth chart is to see the direction of the stars during the mature past each individual was born and in the place where you were born. If you are skilled to give the details of the mature of your birth, your reveal and place of birth this natal or birth chart would predict the type of personality you are, your likes and dislikes, things that do something you and those that create you happy etc. These predictions are practicable by calculating the daisy wheel and aspects graphics amalgamated to the epoch and place of birth.
The take aim of checking opinion using birth chart is to see your sun sign if you do not know it already. It is important to remember the rising sign and next the moon sign that reflects on your painful feeling side and your emotions.
Deryck Whibley
Astrology Deryck Whibley date of birth 1980 03 21
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Brody Jenner horoscope for birth date 21 August 1983
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Evangeline Lilly Birth Chart
Another intend that the birth chart serves is by calculating and comparing the astrological compatibility in the middle of two people. This is over and done with mostly in the prosecution of marriages subsequent to people are enthusiastic to know whether the birth chart of the couple blend next each other. This practice is widely prevalent in India than any supplementary country in the world.
If you are excited in finding out the type of personality you are and new more the person you are married to or seek to acquire married to, you can make use of the back up provided online. Many websites allow you behind forgive birth chart checks. It is categorically easy and easy, one has to enter name, date of birth, and place of birth and epoch of birth and submit.
Within seconds you are exposed to everything approximately you. It would be engaging to know that in many ways you would be undertaking exactly the thesame that has been predicted not quite you. It’s incredible to know more very nearly yourself than you in fact are aware of.
astrology and natal chart of avril lavigne born on 1984 09 27 horoscope and natal chart of avril lavigne born on 1984 09 27 you will find in this page an excerpt of the astrological portrait and the interpration of the planetary dominants astrology birth chart for avril lavigne astro charts avril lavigne astro birth chart horoscope date of birth avril lavigne birth chart astro horoscope birth date biography 1984 free horoscopes charts calculations birth chart line calculator ascendant rising sign calculator astro portrait sun moon asc synastry posite davison chart transits progressions solar return astro calendars retrograde motion traditional astrology avril lavigne horoscope for birth date 27 september 1984 avril lavigne – celebrity birth chart astrology avril lavigne we offer interpretations of the birth charts of famous people in this section tools for greater understanding & fulfillment musicians she’s not britney spears she’s not christina aguilera…she’s avril lavigne and she wants everyone to know that when she sings and writes songs she’s absolutely herself avril lavigne astrology natal report and birth chart intensive probing into genetic structure and cellular processes will accelerate genetic engineering into new vistas your generation also probes the mysteries of birth and and members of your age group will even develop laboratories for forging new understanding of what happens at birth and avril lavigne astrology natal horoscope report and birth chart where venus appears on your chart will provide you with information on how you relate to others on an emotional level you have a very powerful set of emotions that permit you feel to the fullest you are very loving and passionate with your mate avril lavigne birthday and astrological chart avril lavigne birthday and natal information this is the birth data that we used to calculate the natal chart and to prepare astro profile interpretation for avril ramona lavigne avril lavigne biography affair married husband her birth name avril ramona lavigne and her nickname is abbey dawn she is the daughter of french canadian father jean claude joseph lavigne and english scottish and german mother judith rosanne loshaw astrology and natal chart of deryck whibley born on 1980 horoscope and natal chart of deryck whibley born on 1980 03 21 you will find in this page an excerpt of the astrological portrait and the interpration of the planetary dominants we use cookies to personalise content and ads to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic
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Avril Lavigne
Astrology Avril Lavigne date of birth 1984 09 27
Lawrence Kasdan
Astrology Lawrence Kasdan date of birth 1949 01 14
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The 6 June Horoscope Free Love Horoscope Famous People
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Danica McKellar Astro Birth Chart Horoscope Date of Birth
avril lavigne september 27th 1984 libra rat
Avril Lavigne September 27th 1984 Libra Rat What | <urn:uuid:55bdeb78-7a3d-46c2-837c-def7873bb7ab> | https://centralvalleybaptist.net/avril-lavigne-birth-chart/ | en | 0.874618 | 0.080784 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Spatio-Temporal Databases
Spatio-Temporal Databases
4.11 - 1251 ratings - Source
Spatio-Temporal Databases explores recent trends in flexible querying and reasoning about time- and space-related information in databases. It shows how flexible querying enhances standard querying expressiveness in many different ways, with the aim of facilitating extraction of relevant data and information. Flexible spatial and temporal reasoning denotes qualitative reasoning about dynamic changes in the spatial domain, characterized by imprecision or uncertainty (or both). Many of the contributions focus on GIS, while some others are more general, or focus on related application fields, presenting theoretical viewpoints and techniques that are inspiring or can be adapted for GIS. The first part bundles the contributions on advances at the theoretical level, also discussing examples and opening further perspectives. The second part presents contributions on well-developed applications. The authors explain how to handle imprecision and uncertainty, demonstrating how advanced techniques can help to solve diverse problems related to GIS.In a 10/50 labeling, the problem lies with the smallest dataset of 10 points where the context of a point is much smaller and replication of this context consequently becomes easier. This increases the possible ambiguity in the solution space.
Title:Spatio-Temporal Databases
Author: Rita de Caluwe, Guy De Tré, Gloria Bordogna
Publisher:Springer Science & Business Media - 2013-04-17
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Morpho Literacy
Bilingual Literacy-Based Programming with Amy Olson
Bilingual Programming and Literacy May 26, 2010
Filed under: Chapter - Bilingual Music Programming and Preliteracy — Morpho Literacy @ 8:56 am
Amy Olson
Exposure to and eventual fluency in the English language is necessary for academic success in U.S. schools. Conservative estimates suggest there are over 5.5 million students attending U.S. public schools whose first language is not English; of this group, 80% are fluent in Spanish (McCardle et al. 2005). When ELL (English Language Learner)[1] children attend school they have to face the daily challenge of learning to communicate and read in a language that is different from the one that is spoken in their home (Lindsey et al. 2003; Páez et al. 2007). Unfortunately, statistics have consistently shown that ELL children are at risk for poor reading outcomes, and even proficient bilingual[2] children begin kindergarten with language and preliteracy skills that are below expectation (Hammer et al. 2007; Páez et al. 2007).
Where can ELL children go to improve their preliteracy skills prior to entering kindergarten? The most obvious choices are preschools, early starts, and head-start centers. However, the local public library and elementary school library can also play an integral role in developing and fostering language and preliteracy skills. In the U.S., the ability to offer bilingual programming has become an essential part of being a children’s librarian as the Latino community is the largest and fastest-growing minority group, exceeding 3.94 million people (U.S. Census Bureau 2008). Outside of a classroom, music might be the only major source of English that an ELL child will hear; thus the integration of music into a preliteracy learning setting, such as a school or library, can assist a child’s language development and academic learning while simultaneously allowing them to develop musically (Bolduc 2009; Wiggins 2007).
This chapter will discuss how music can help ELL children with language and preliteracy development, the musical tale, and ways children’s librarians can use the musical tale in bilingual musical literacy-based programming. In addition, suggestions for bilingual music-oriented programming, websites, musical tale titles, and CDs are also provided to assist children’s librarians and other educators in creating valuable learning experiences for children. (more…) | <urn:uuid:e6750a51-5ce1-4167-9cf1-d7e5dcd2deb2> | https://morpholiteracy.com/category/chapter-bilingual-music-programming-and-preliteracy/ | en | 0.907857 | 0.018648 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Why You Probably Shouldn't Worry About Exercising Yourself to Death
Is there such a thing as too much exercise? A new study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, suggests that there is. Fitness diehards may have a higher-than-average risk of coronary artery calcification (CAC): a buildup of calcium in the artery walls of the heart that makes arteries less flexible and is often a harbinger of heart disease. But the vast majority of people, experts say, don't need to worry about overdoing it. Read more>>
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Join date: Jun 22, 2022
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How Could BB-8 Work?
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How Could BB-8 Work?
Dec. 4, 2015
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UA College of Engineering robotics expert and “Star Wars” fan Wolfgang Fink analyzes the design of astromech droid BB-8.
If you ask Wolfgang Fink, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, the real star of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is the round, two-foot tall astromech droid called BB-8.
While there is still plenty of room for improvement, BB-8’s soccer-ball-like body has striking advantages over its predecessors R2-D2 and C-3PO, says Fink, who designs and builds artificially intelligent, autonomous Mars rovers.
Over the next few decades, robots will become an integral part of society. If robots have personalities, it’s a lot easier to bridge the gap between us as humans and them as machines.” | <urn:uuid:c932494c-2d9e-419a-9281-261c221a8bd8> | https://news.engineering.arizona.edu/news/how-could-bb-8-work | en | 0.878409 | 0.022284 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Why is this server population growing rapidly
100 Troll Shaman
I've been keeping tabs on the population of all the servers on the Vengeance battlegroup since a couple of weeks after Mists launched. There were a few other realms around this servers population such as Runetotem & Khaz Modan.
They've seen an increase in toons on the realm by about 2'000, whereas this one is 12'000! This server appears to be the fastest growing server on the battlegroup. Why? Did it get marked as new players or something?
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85 Night Elf Druid
It did a few months ago, before MOP release it was marked for new players, hence why I transferred my main, not sure why it's growing in the recent few weeks though.
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90 Blood Elf Hunter
Rexxar was marked as new players a while back, not sure if it is now or not. I dont think so.
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90 Tauren Druid
I haven't noticed new people at all, it seems like a bunch of the same people on alts
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90 Worgen Warlock
I feel like it's the most dead it's ever been lol.
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90 Blood Elf Paladin
Numbers skyrocketed when I came back. Must've heard I was back. It may feel dead to Andisious because he's on the wrong side lol
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90 Worgen Warlock
01/11/2013 03:17 PMPosted by Pauladin
I completely and utterly agree. Haha.
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Judge zombies not, lest ye be judged
Zombies have political, social, and cultural relevance—who knew?
If you believe zombies are a manifestation of evil, check the mirror.
The ugly truth, suggests PhD student Kelly Doyle, is that deep down, zombies have a lot more in common with living, breathing humans than we’d like to believe.
“The hardest thing to face is that there might be something about your existence that you don’t want to acknowledge,” she says.
As Halloween nears Doyle suggests zombies are symbolic of humanity’s worst fears and most basic urges. More than any other monster, zombies represent what we hate and fear most about ourselves and society.
“Zombies are recognizably human in a way that a lot of other monsters are not,” says Doyle.” A zombie is a decaying yet undead body with no ability to control its urges. It’s disgusting, revolting. And yet, it signifies the truth of what living things inevitably become: cadavers.”
This grotesque nature is in stark contrast to another popular undead monster—the vampire, portrayed in many genres as sexy, civilized, even glamorous.
“People may tend to think that it would be wonderful to be an immortal, youthful vampire. But a zombie—a mindless rotting corpse whose only purpose is to tear apart, move through the masses and eat flesh—that’s truly terrifying to many people.”
Doyle has been a fan of horror movies since she was a little girl, but never dreamed her fascination would become a springboard to a career. An interdisciplinary graduate student in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies at UBC’s Okanagan campus, Doyle’s current research focuses on exploring the racial, social and political relevance of zombies and zombie culture through horror films and media.
“I started with the first zombie film ever made in 1932, White Zombie by Victor Halperin. Then I moved on to what I thought to be key films throughout history, including George A. Romero’s pivotal zombie films, and concluding with the Resident Evil film series and 28 Days Later.”
What Doyle discovered is that zombie movies are socially relevant to the landscape of the times, and serve as a barometer for political and cultural anxieties.
From the beginning, there were overt racial overtones with zombies, Doyle says. “In the 1930s, the zombie is Haitian. In White Zombie, the zombie is represented as a slave.”
“I am not suggesting that the zombie folklore of Haiti is racist, but the representation of the zombie in White Zombie is based on an ongoing theme of racialization as well as a slave/master dynamic,” says Doyle. “When adapted as a colonizing narrative, zombie films take on a political context of domination and othering.
Flash ahead to 1968, following the U.S. civil rights movement. The protagonist in the seminal film Night of the Living Dead is the sole African American. He ends up the only survivor, only to be shot by police at the end.
“It leaves you wondering if the police killed him because they thought he was a zombie, or shot him because he was African American,” says Doyle. “Zombie films are never only about the sensationalism of gore; there is often political and rationalized social commentary that’s being made.”
Doyle also points to the recent Resident Evil franchise, which tackles the theme of corporate power and viral weaponry.
“In Resident Evil, the zombie apocalypse was created by modern scientific endeavors. The films address all sorts of questions about widespread disease, corporate control, and weaponry. It asks culturally relevant questions about what happens when corporations get involved in the welfare of social being.”
Another noteworthy theme in zombie narratives, says Doyle, is that they are almost always apocalyptic.
“There is no going back and no cure. There may be a group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world, but the world is never the same. There is often a question in zombie films about what humans are capable of, and how far is too far. Zombie films suggest there is something in human nature that is destructive.”
But perhaps most intriguing, adds Doyle, is that zombies do not truly represent the “bad guys” in the majority of film treatments.
“In most zombie narratives, there is a main character whose selfishness and individual needs trump those of the group, eventually tearing the group apart. Ironically, it ends up being a human who is even more monstrous than the monster. Zombies become what they are through no fault of their own. But the humans in those situations are often far more selfish, murderous, and violent than the zombies.
“It’s always interesting to look at who is the real ‘monster’ is in the zombie genre—us or them. It’s false … because they are us. And it makes you question, what really sets us apart?” | <urn:uuid:8cc20638-0eeb-4c72-9c73-2be7ae78509c> | http://news.ubc.ca/2012/10/04/judge-zombies-not-lest-ye-be-judged/ | en | 0.958069 | 0.020091 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Footing the bill for your child’s college education is one of the most expensive parts of being a parent. However, many parents are slashing those expenses in half by sending their teens to a local community college for the first two years of their college career and later switching to a four-year college to complete their Bachelor’s degree.
How can a community college save you a bundle?
1. Tuition. According to an article published by US News, the average annual cost of tuition for a community college is a mere $2,500, while its four-year counterparts average $7,000 for a public university and $26,000 for a private college.
When starting in a community college, you can save between $4,500 and $23,500 per year on tuition. Over two years, your savings amount to $9,000 to $47,000!
These savings don’t include the extra expenses associated with attending college – just the tuition. Therefore, your savings are bound to increase when considering other college-related costs.
2. Financial Assistance. If your teen is eligible to receive grants from the government, your out-of-pocket costs may very well drop to $0. You can use these years of “free” college to ramp up your savings for the upcoming years your student will spend in a four-year college.
Many students even receive a check for the overage of their grant, ranging from $200 to $600 or more per semester.
It’s a misconception that only children from low-income families can receive grants. However, the government offers both needs-based and non-needs-based grants. This is in addition to the aid received through the FAFSA and other sources like scholarships.
3. Room and Board. Next to tuition, room and board will be the most costly expense of sending your kid to college. Attending a local community college allows you to forego this expense by having your teen live at home.
According to, annual room and board at a public college averages $7,400, while the average is over $8,500 at a private college.
Even if you decide to give your teen the “ultimate college experience” by allowing them to live in the dorm, the room and board rates of a community college are significantly lower than those charged by four-year colleges.
Keep in mind that most community colleges refrain from offering housing to their students.
4. Fewer amenities. Community colleges are designed to keep costs low for the students. Therefore, a no-frills campus is the norm. It’s common for community colleges to forego dorm rooms, elaborate sports teams and stadiums, fraternities/sororities, and other distractions.
Eliminating some of these “frills” will help your student focus on his schoolwork rather than indulging in dorm life, a bowling league, or a fraternity.
Another reason community colleges can keep costs so low is because they often forego teacher’s assistants, which are generally paid an average of $15,000 per year. Professors must take on a heavier workload, but students benefit from being taught by a professor rather than an assistant.
In short: there’s nothing wrong with community colleges. Yes, there will be fewer frills, and your teen will have to become comfortable with the fact that they’ll live with mom and dad for two more years. But this also avoids rowdy roommates and the distractions that ensue.
Your teen may be giving up a few parts of “the ultimate college experience” for the first two years, but they can make up for it in the final years of their college career. Also, your teen may be able to graduate from college with little to no debt. For most kids, it’s a worthy tradeoff.
Would you like to know more about which type of post-secondary school is right for your teen? Schedule a complimentary College Assessment Plan call with me here. | <urn:uuid:1bc21e2f-fb0c-4974-887f-8e4c978e96be> | https://www.myidealcollege.org/sending-your-teen-to-community-college/ | en | 0.96583 | 0.094341 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Faith in Glasgow
Tony Bayfield makes the case for faith schools in CiF, drawing on the decline of Glasgow's Jewish population as evidence that faith schools are essential for preserving a people's religious heritage:
"I've not always been a supporter of faith schools but experience has converted me. Such is the pressure on small minorities, such are the forces of assimilation (Scottish Jewry "peaked" at 14,000 and now barely musters 5,000) that only day schooling gives you any chance of providing a rooting in your particular tradition, a firm basis of knowledge and experience with which to face a largely secular society."
His argument seems to be that faith schools are essential to the preservation of religious tradition against the onslaught of secularism - the experience of Glasgow's Jewry being an example of what happens when you don't have religious schooling:
"I look at the contribution that Glasgow Jewry has made to the City of Glasgow since the first Jew settled there in 1812. It would be very sad if the faith that has contributed so much that is of value to western society were to vanish from Glasgow - and Cardiff and London come to that - because government has more important things to worry about and secularists have no time for any faith other than their own."
Leaving aside his assumption that it is the role of education to preserve religious traditions, the evidence does not support his conclusions.
First the idea that faith schools are under threat from the forces of secular militancy:
"Sitting at the meeting at the DfES, I became aware of a number of things. First, the strength of secular fundamentalism which would sweep away faith schools as a matter of ideological principle. We are in for a very tough time."
As an outside observer, I don't really get the impression that the forces of secularism have the upper hand down south at the moment but since Bayfield used Scotland as an example, shouldn't he have shown some awareness that the DfES has no jurisdiction in Scotland? Because the idea that faith schools up here are under threat from 'secular fundamentalism' could only have been suggested by a tourist.
And as the census figures show there isn't any relationship between the size of Glasgow's religious minorities and the existence or otherwise of faith schools. I can say this with confidence because in the public sector we do not have now, nor have we ever had, any Jewish, Seikh, Hindu, Buddhist, or Muslim schools in Glasgow.
As the Jewish population has declined, so have most others. All but three religious categories showed a dip in their membership over the last 10 years. These might surprise you. No prizes for guessing that Islam is one of the religions experiencing growth but I doubt many people would have guessed this has only been by 0.7%. A pathetic performance compared to the Buddhists, who either by breeding or by gaining converts, have grown by a considerable 28.5%. But the fastest growing religion in Glasgow is, erm, "Another religion". The tenets of this particular creed(s) is unclear but we do know that whoever they are, they're doing a better job than the Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Seikhs at gaining converts because over ten years they've grown at a rate of 258.1%.
Conclusion: Traditional religion is in decline in Scotland. Despite controlling around 35% of the schools in Glasgow, the Roman Catholic Church is losing members. Despite having a nominal influence on the rest of the system, the Church of Scotland is losing members. The Jewish congregation is Glasgow has never controlled any schools in Glasgow and is losing members. People are more willing than they used to be to either switch, or dispense with altogether, religious allegiances and those gaining converts are the unusual, the exotic and the heterodox. Adherents to the traditional faiths might want to ask why this is, rather than expecting the tax-payer to bale them out and sustain their position in society. Because apart from anything else, the evidence would suggest that this a futile exercise anyway.
(Cross-posted at DSTPFW)
Back later
I've got a shit-load of marking to do...
Friday, October 27, 2006
Unlikely ministerial quote of the year
Alan Johnston - in this administration - has said:
"We don't need the blunt instrument of legislation".
Funny, because on most other occasions, the 'blunt intrument of legislation' is the first thing this shower reach for.
This has to do with the government's caving in to the religious lobby who don't want their pristine believing kids mixing with the unwashed, and worse, the irreligious unwashed.
Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, said that Mr Johnson understood it was "quite unacceptable to force into a new Catholic school 25% of people who were not particularly sympathetic to that faith".
It's also quite unacceptable to fleece the tax-payer to pay for schools that can exclude their children if they are not 'particularly sympathetic' to the 'ethos' of the school.
Secular schools - never gonna happen. Not with our present political class.
The most expensive MP in Britain
Is Eric Joyce.
As if you needed another reason to dislike this oleaginous yes-man.
Eric Joyce: "Because I'm worth it".
Hewitt: "Hit the young with alcopop tax"
From the Grauniad:
Young people today - don't know they're born. We had to make do with cider and evo-stick.
Thing is, if it's their 'pocket money' they're spending, aren't they too young to drink? So it's a problem of getting access to it in the first place. Still, might work. How about a tracksuit tax too?
Not that I'm being classist - Goths would get it too, with a tax on Kurt Kobain t-shirts and piercings.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Spelling annoyances
Lenin does it. So does Pootergeek. As does Norm.* Politically different, yet the same problem; they all spell 'defence' with an 's'.
Which is an Americanism.
I'm happy for the Yanks to do this but they can't spell, can they? You lot have no excuse.
Other annoyances: Christopher Hitchens spelling Labour party as 'Labor party'. Damn it all, man - even the Americans know to render it Labour party, with a 'u'.
And he has used 'gotten' in the past.
Taken the assimilation thing a bit far - in more ways than one, if you ask me.
Sorry, but it's been annoying me - can't even concentrate on your articles because you spell defence with a goddam 's'. Stop it at once.
Regional usage annoyance: Scottish school teachers calling the headteacher the headmaster. English people call teachers 'masters', which frankly I think is a bit weird. In Scotland we refer to them as teachers, regardless of their rank. Ok, so that's often a misnomer these days but I'm talking tradition here...
*Correction: Ok, so only when he's quoting Pootergeek.
Children's tsar probes PPP impact on pupils
Because contrary to popular belief, the involvement of the private sector in the refurbishment and maintenance of school buildings doesn't seem to have improved the quality - nor has it reduced bureaucracy:
"The Scottish Executive's £2.3 billion flagship school-building programme will result in 300 schools being rebuilt or refurbished by 2009, with most of it funded through PPP.
But in recent months, parents, teachers and construction experts have cast doubt on whether PPP is providing top-quality facilities for pupils.
A survey of teachers in 2004 found that only 30 per cent believed PPP was value for money. It also found many projects were beset with problems - including overheating classrooms, leaking roofs and lack of storage space."
Yep - classrooms are too damn hot; had a leaking roof in my last place; and the lack of any storage that can be locked has resulted in all my stationery being pinched. The last I don't blame on the pupils - I think the RE department are conducting raids into our corridor and stealing our pens. Bastards.
So it's time to call in the 'tsar'. We have a tsar for everything in Scotland. There's a mountain bike tsar. There's even a squirrel tsar. The tsars will sort it out. Any suggestion to the contrary is just cynicism. After all, in the unlikely event that the tsar should prove less than excellent in the execution of their duties, we even have a tsar's tsar. This is what makes us - as our Leader Jack McConnell says - the 'best small country in the world'.
Update: Apparently there was also a 'spam tsar' who gave up 'the war on spam' with the admission that he was unable to even stop his own computer being spammed. We know a song about that, don't we?
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Religion and fertility
Saturday, October 21, 2006
On Jacobins and theocrats
Friday, October 20, 2006
Hatred of nations
Ahmadinejad's been at it again:
"TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Europe on Friday it was stirring up hatred in the Middle East by supporting Israel and said it "may get hurt" if anger in the region boils over.
"We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbours of the nations in this region. We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt," he said."
Translation: We of course understand that Europe doesn't support Israel in the way that the United States does but if you will go doing outrageous things like recognising its right to exist, understand that Europe has the advantage of being quite handy for travelling.
Breaking point
Johann Hari, by his own admission, pelts the mentally-ill with fruit. Not as a matter of routine, you understand - this is just one isolated incident.
Being of a liberal disposition, he's all conflicted and guilty about it, of course. But good for him, I say. What is the point of buying fruit at all, if not to lob at some maniac shrieking outside your window?
It's about 'Noise Rage', y'see. Car alarms, for example. Who hears one of them going off and thinks, "A crime is in progress! I must alert the authorities!"? You think, "Fuck - someone must have sneezed next to that BMW."
A militant wing of the Noise Abatement Society is what is needed:
"One friend admitted that he recently responded to a car alarm that kept him awake for three hours in the night by smashing in the headlights on his way to work."
Outstanding! More of that sort of thing.
More from the Department of the Bleedin' Obvious
The Nuffield Foundation has found that teenagers are not 'engaged' by school. Amongst the problems it identifies are:
"The "unprecedented" amount of policy initiatives such as national targets, new qualifications, short-term funding and new regulations was "unlikely to produce significant improvements to the education and training system as a whole"."
Doh! I want a job conducting this kind of research. You'd never have to leave the house.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Home of the timid, land of the unfree
Here's one from the Scotsman:
"A NEWLYWED couple received a £300 bill from police because their car was broken into while on honeymoon.
Nigel and Fiona Boothman's car was uplifted after it was broken into while they were in Argentina. The Volkswagen Golf GTi - an "old banger" worth only £200 - had been uplifted by police because it was "unsecure" after the break-in.
Officers posted a note through their door in Grange Loan, Edinburgh, to say it had been impounded and they were liable for a £150 along with £20 a day in storage charges and VAT."
And the Guardian has news of an environmental crime:
Putting the right waste into the right bags may not be, as a spokesman for Swansea council said, 'rocket science' but this seems a little harsh. You don't even get that for the crime of smoking indoors, which everyone now agrees is an outrageous thing to do.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh City Council is planning an attack - a 'two-pronged' one, no less, on 'nuisance drinkers' making a noise outside pubs and clubs. This spiraled' of late since our Executive thought it a good idea to herd smokers onto the pavements like lepers. City licensing leader Phil Attridge said:
"We didn't want to go down the same road as Glasgow, where the offence is committed as soon as you drink outside..."
So if you're ever visiting Glasgow, please remember to get it the right way round: you can't drink outside and you can't smoke inside. Get this wrong and you could end up doing a custodial sentence.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
A house divided against itself
Cannot stand, according to Matthew's gospel. David Osler has a story I missed about the possibility of Galloway challenging Sheridan in the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections:
"'George Galloway’s party is preparing to challenge Tommy Sheridan in the Scottish parliament elections, following tabloid allegations about the former Scottish Socialist party leader’s private life.
'The London MP and leader of the Respect party has long been a supporter of Sheridan and struck a deal not to challenge him in Scotland. But if Sheridan is charged with perjury after claims by the News of the World that he lied in court, Respect will stand against him.'
Given that the Socialist Workers' Party is the core component of both Respect and Sheridan's new vehicle Solidarity, it will be interesting to see how they square this circle. For, as the Bible makes plain in Matthew 6:24, no man can serve two masters."
Not a particularly edifying choice - but not a difficult one either. I sincerely hope the story isn't true because otherwise I'd find myself in the uncomfortable position of rooting for Sheridan.
But I'm sceptical about this story. Would someone with an ego of George Galloway's proportions see a Holyrood seat as a suitable goal? We'll see - but I doubt it.
Secularism again
From the Scotsman:
"TONY Blair, the Prime Minister, took on the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland yesterday, insisting that Cardinal Keith O'Brien's newly-declared support for Scottish independence should carry no weight with his flock.
Cardinal O'Brien infuriated Scottish Labour figures by saying at the weekend he would be "happy" for Scotland to become independent and that he could see growing public support for the move.
"I wouldn't have thought it is a matter of religious faith, at least I hope not," Mr Blair said when asked about the cardinal's views on independence."
Alex Salmond, the SNP leader said:
"While obviously I agree with the Cardinal, I also share the Prime Minister's view that this can hardly be considered a matter of faith."
No, of course he didn't - slimy creep that he is. What he actually said was:
"Blair sounds like a man in a state of total panic as Scottish opinion moves steadily toward independence... Any attacks from Blair on this issue will only strengthen support for independence even further."
Army generals, clerics - regardless of constitutional niceties like the separation of church from state or civilian control of the military, it seems any public contribution is welcome from them if our politicians think they can gain some partisan advantage from it.
On secularism
Matt Murrell:
"Segregated schooling, on whatever lines, will ultimately prove divisive and bad for social cohesion. Educating children from different backgrounds together is the best way to create the sense of an inclusive, united society which the government seems to desperately desire. They also breach the right to freedom of religion, with the government colluding in the imposition of beliefs onto children not yet old enough to make rational choices about their life. While parental (and community pressure) in religious matters will always exist, it’s another matter altogether when the state actively encourages it."
Polly Toynbee:
Ken Baker, former Tory education secretary:
"The Conservative former education secretary told the House of Lords he saw some faith schools as "divisive", saying: "I just think it's wrong to divide children by religion at the ages of five and 11.""
Some? All faith schools are divisive by definition; they divide the children of those who believe from those who do not.
If people want schools like this, they should pay for them themselves. The state has no business funding religious segregation.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Democracy, partisanship and the environment
He argues that partisanship is a contributing factor.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Ashdown rebukes army chief over Iraq
As Matthew Parris rightly pointed out on Saturday, the question is not whether one agrees with General Dannatt's views on the presence of British soldiers in Iraq or not - because a constitutional principle, one of profound significance, had clearly been violated.
While agreeing with everything Dannatt said, Parris suggested that he should be sacked for his comments - something, given the Prime Minister's weakness, that isn't going to happen.
Parris also justly lambasts the ridiculous behaviour of the opposition on this matter:
"The opposition parties' response has been pathetic. Sir Menzies Campbell, who ought to know better, seemed yesterday to be siding with the general. How would Sir Menzies have felt if the general had lambasted Liberal Democrat defence policy? I rather think that Sir Menzies would have taken issue not only with the criticisms themselves, but with the appropriateness of a Service chief's having entered the fray at all.
Sir Menzies, at least, may plead that the CGS was echoing Liberal Democrat concerns. Liam Fox, the Shadow Defence Secretary, can make no such claim. Except that, incredibly, he now seems to be doing so. Until yesterday we understood Tory policy on Iraq to be four-square with the Government's: 'Tough it out', 'Stay for the duration', 'As long as it takes' etc. But Dr Fox is now claiming he reached similar conclusions to the general's when he himself visited Iraq."
I don't know if it's better to assume that both Menzies and Fox are merely ignorant of the constitutional principle rather than being willing to compromise it opportunistically - but as Parris says, Menzies Campbell at least really should know better.
Perhaps a belated realisation of this has lead Menzies Campbell to back-track somewhat. That this seems to have been prompted by an intervention by his predecessor does not reflect well on him at all:
""[Dannatt] may be accurate in what he said, he may be cheered to the echo in the army, but he certainly shouldn't have said it," said Lord Ashdown, an ex-soldier. "It's a clear constitutional breach. It opens up a massive division between him and the government, who have been saying very, very different things."
Lord Ashdown told Sky News that military personnel who opposed British policies had a choice of doing so in private or resigning. He added: "I don't like the chief of general staff calling it 'my army' and 'my soldiers' ... in democracies armies belong to the government, to the people.""
Indeed. And that quite so many people have shown themselves to be either ignorant of, or indifferent to, the principle of civilian control of the military is telling - and rather depressing, really.
Woolas has irony by-pass operation
Saturday, October 14, 2006
A menace to children
Oliver Kamm writes:
"In the Scopes trial, creationists secured legal victory at the price of national ridicule. Their descendants stress the ostensibly scientific notion of Intelligent Design, and the superficially democratic demand that it be granted equal time with the teaching of evolution. A liberal education certainly includes knowledge of the religious doctrines that have shaped Western civilisation. But the myths of the Creation and the Fall have no place in science education. Evolution, wrote the biologist Ernst Mayr, is not just a concept but "the name of a process in nature, the occurrence of which can be documented by mountains of evidence that nobody has been able to refute". Its deniers – there is no polite way of putting this - are a menace to children."
Quite. For to allow even the mention of 'intelligent design' in any other context but an RE class would be an injustice. A liberal education can afford to give no space to those preaching cognitive infallibility disguised as scepticism.
The Lancet report
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Ignorance is bliss
It means you don't have to worry about this sort of thing. Apparently people called 'metrosexuals' are under attack by 'hummersexuals'. But it's ok - the hummersexuals will lose because they are not in fact 'retrosexuals':
"Despite his best efforts to convince you, the hummersexual is not retro-sexual. Since when did "regular guys" need several tons of military hardware, or "new macho" lifestyle magazines such as Best Life, or books such as the bestselling Alphabet of Manliness and Men Don't Apologise, to be "regular"? The hummersexual is clearly, hilariously, faux-retrosexual. He's an off-the-peg, drag-king idea of "real" masculinity: stuffed crotch and joke beard included at no extra charge."
I don't understand any of this but it has something to do with a crisis in heterosexual identity:
"Hetrosexuality is in crisis. There is nothing that can be done about it. I'm not even sure what a straight identity might look like."
Isn't "doesn't shag people of the same sex" usually a signifier here? All the other stuff, like one's position on football, cars, the Sound of Music etc. is open to negotiation. Or am I missing something?
Curse the season
Everyone I know, me included, seems to be suffering from a bit of this.
Grey pissy weather heralding the beginning of the long march through the tunnel that is the Scottish winter.
Dark when you get up for work, dark when you come home - soul-tired and fucking freezing.
Just anticipating this has led many people of my acquaintance to head for the duvet for a day or two in preparation for the journey.
The weather is why Calvinism took so well here. Alternatives with a more cheerful deity seemed less plausible given the circumstances.
Waco goes nuclear
You couldn't have failed to have come across the news that the country with the dead guy as president has acquired nuclear weapons.
The extent of this development is unclear and the future unpredictable - except what people will say about it.
A couple we have in already show the now familiar tendency for some to interpret events of this nature in almost complete insularity. For them the significance of a nuclear North Korea lies not in the intrinsic nature of this reality but only in terms of how Bush and Blair will respond.
For the comrades of the Socialist Worker, for example, the primary danger lies in the possibility that the United States would use it as a rationale for attacking Iran.
To complete the sinister tale of sabre-rattling and planned attacks, the Socialist Worker informs us darkly that:
"The US is now pushing for the United Nations to impose sanctions against North Korea."
That Russia, Japan and China have too appears to have escaped their attention. Thing is, they may well be right to argue that sanctions would be ineffectual, punishing the people rather than the regime - but what would they suggest as an alternative?
I think the plan might be something along the lines of more demonstrations since for them this problem only exists as a function of the "US's war drive".
This and highlighting hypocrisy. That'll work. CND have come to the same helpful conclusion:
"Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said, "North Korea has the mistaken idea that having nuclear weapons will increase its security. This is wrong - nuclear weapons do not make a country safer. Unfortunately this is also a view taken by many of our own political leaders, hence their desire to replace Trident, but it is as wrong for Britain as it is for North Korea"."
By acknowledging we are wrong, everything will be all right. Nice idea but not very practical, is it?
North Korea's nuclear ambitions would have never existed had it not been for Western imperialism? One would have thought the extent to which one could blame the US for the character of this crazed Stalinist outpost would be rather more limited than usual, to say no more than that.
But anyway, that's besides the point because nuclear ambitions it has, and has clearly come closer to achieving this. A situation I doubt will be made any less dangerous by adopting the most impeccably 'anti-imperialist' version of its origins.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Comment is strange
Over at CiF. Here's a couple I just don't get.
First from Simon Hoggart:
"People find wine rather intimidating, and wine experts even scarier."
Eh? I like wine and find 'wine experts' ridiculous. Doesn't everyone?
And never one to disappoint, Our Maddy of the Sorrows on the whole veil thingy:
"Does it not occur to men opining on their sense of "rejection" at the niqab that it could be equally prompted by separatist lesbians?"
Um, dunno - are they likely to? And this would be a Good Thing? And what's a 'separatist lesbian' anyway?
This intriguing thought has been woven into an argument about the tendency of all religions to practice some degree of separation to the fallen world. I don't know what this has to do with lesbians either but here's the bit anyway:
"The point is that within all religious traditions there are trends emphasising the corrupting influences of the world and how one must keep them at a distance. Catholicism and the celibate monastic tradition of Buddhism interpret this in one way. Salafi Islam interprets it in modes of dress and behaviour in public places. Since when has secular Britain become so intolerant that it can't accommodate (no one is asking them to like) these small minorities of puritanical piety?"
Serious point. All religions - or rather the religious - seek to differentiate themselves from the world in various ways but the two expressions Maddy uses here have got nothing much to do with each other.
Adherence to dress codes, ritual and diets are features of all religions everywhere but have nothing much to do with asceticism and everything to do with custom and the social function of religion.
But it is only when the spirit of religious asceticism is very strong does it drive an individual to the cloister.
The latter complete retreat to the other-worldly piety of the cloister is open, as our Mads says, to Buddhists and Catholics. The innovation of protestantism was to abolish this option.
Public displays of puritanism are entirely consistent with this mode of religious expression and it's often struck me that Islam shares many features in common with Calvinistic protestanism.
Thing is, since both traditions have a tendency for the zealous to urgently impress on the community the necessity and possibility of everyone being a religious virtuoso, has it never occurred to Maddy & Co. to admit the possibility that - 'separatist lesbians', nothwithstanding (?) - just maybe, somewhere in the world, there are perhaps one or two for whom conformity to this particular social custom might not be entirely voluntary?
Which is not to say Maddy's article wasn't thought-provoking. For example, when she mentioned the "celibate monastic tradition of Buddhism", I realised that I was completely ignorant of the non-celibate tradition amongst Buddhist monks. Sounds a lot better - can you drink and stuff too if you join this tradition? You could sell me on the idea...
Are private schools a waste of money?
Tom Hamilton thinks so:
"[S]o far as I'm concerned, private education is a waste of money. You can get a perfectly good education - indeed, probably a better one - for free."
Chris Dillow's observations reminded me of an article I read years ago that argued that parents would be better to invest the money and give it to their children when they were of age to pay for further education, start a business or invest in property:
"So why do so many parents prefer private education? Is it really so superior to state education? Could it be that they regard education as a positional good, and one worth paying through the nose for? Are they paying to get their children social contacts rather than education per se? Or is the chance of a marginally better education really valuable in winner-take-all economies?"
Thing is, whether private or state, education is not a homogeneous good, so these questions will never have one answer. In Scotland at least the best comprehensives compete with private schools and are better than the poorer performing ones. So Tom is quite right to say one can get as good an education for 'free'.
However, the range is extraordinary and the worst comprehensives are absolutely hellish: here the difference between the worst private schools and the worst comprehensives is very far from being marginal.
I used to teach in what has a reasonable claim to be the worst school in Scotland. One of my present colleagues also taught there, having through no fault of her own, inherited my job when I left. She told me the other day that from a range of pupils we both taught, four of them are now dead. The actual building itself has also been the scene of two fatal stabbings. A less extreme fate awaits the overwhelming majority, of course, but a citadel of learning it is not.
Parents buy mortgages they can barely afford for the same reason they purchase private education if they can; to avoid this sort of school. I'd argue then that while Chris is right to say that education for many parents is a 'positional good' and while this often involves a fair amount of unpleasant snobbery, in this sort of context I can scarcely blame them.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Street Games
Nick Cohen has an item in his Observer slot today about class in sport.
In a nutshell, while upper-class weans are more likely to play rugger, those from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to get their exercise being chased by the opposing Real Fleeto from the next estate, if the conversations you overhear in class are anything to go by.
Street Games is a charity that seeks to help more disadvantaged kids into sports in timing for the Olympics.
I'm a stranger to sport myself and don't really care about the Olympics but lend your support, should you feel so inclined. Teachers, think how much more docile your classes would be if a larger proportion were perpetually exhausted from chasing a ball around in a field or something.
[That's the best I can do, Will. I mean, all this business of getting underprivileged kids to play sport; that's how Celtic FC started. It's a slippery slope.]
Straw man arguments
Veil wearing - for or against?
Ruth Kelly's in favour.
So's Alex Salmond.
And Tommy Sheridan thinks Jack Straw is:
"clearly a very insensitive man..."
English readers may be unaware that Tommy's nickname is Mr Sensitivity.
And John Prescott is in favour too:
Friday, October 06, 2006
Child obesity
A team of researchers in Glasgow has concluded that eating fewer pies is the solution to child obesity:
"The study, published in the British Medical Journal this week, was led by John Reilly, a professor in paediatric energy metabolism at Glasgow University. His team set out to establish whether greater physical activity would prevent children from becoming overweight. They recruited 545 children in their last year at 36 nursery schools.
It's not quite the Department of the Bleeding Obvious; I confess I'm surprised that exercise in this case appeared to make no difference.
At the risk of being lumped in with climate-change deniers and other Evil People, I have to say I'm a little sceptical about this 'obesity time-bomb' we're supposed to be facing as a society.
Leaving aside the question of whether it is the state's proper role to make people thinner, there's surely doubt as to whether it is competent to do so?
And I hope you don't think I'm being contrarian for its own sake when I express a little scepticism as to the nature of the Problem:
"Yet the problem is serious: in Scotland in 2001 at least 10% of children aged four to five and 20% of children aged 11 to 12 were obese. "Children in Scotland establish a physically inactive lifestyle before school entry," they wrote."
My understanding is that one is classed as 'obese' when you are twenty per cent over your ideal body weight. Fat central, in other words.
I'm also led to believe that this is a problem particularly associated with lower income families.
Taking all of this together, this means in an inner-city Glasgow school, one should expect on average to be confronted with at least six fatties in a first year class of thirty.
I've seen more than my fair share of such classes and while my impressions are purely subjective and anecdotal, unless the schools I've been in secretly stream their classes according to girth and have kept the larger ones away from me, I can't help being a little sceptical.
Drawing a veil
Jack Straw's remarks that he feels more comfortable in conversation with Muslim women if they remove their veils has attracted a good deal of comment - almost all of it of it in opposition.
And most of it doesn't compare like with like.
Asking a Muslim woman if they'd mind removing their veil during a conversation is not like asking them to 'get their tits out', as Jamie K says and George Galloway implies.
Neither is Jack Straw's 'discomfort' akin to that which might be experienced when talking to a woman wearing too little, or Sikhs wearing turbans, or Jews wearing yarmulkes, or neds wearing Burberry caps or sporting tattoos, as suggested by Mike Marqusee and Chris Dillow.
Because the latter examples to not interfere with face-to-face communication, whereas the veil does.
And to compare it to other instances where we communicate with others without seeing their faces, as Norm and Chris do, isn't right either because in telephone or email conversations, the inability to see the face of the person you're talking to is a reciprocal experience.
Nevertheless all the above are right, I think, to suggest that it is not really tolerable for a senior politician to lecture people about what they should wear.
I suppose Jack Straw is entitled to make the request in private - provided those he is addressing feel equally free to decline.
But writing an article about it comes rather too close to a sort of Peter the Great hacking off people's beards for my liking.
And the suspicion that the normally more careful Jack Straw is making these remarks in the context of his apparent desire for the post of DPM - in much the same way that John Reid set out his stall for the leadership - makes me feel, well, uncomfortable.
Update: The Telegraph conflates the issues that are the subject of the two previous posts:
"Mr Straw is to be commended for brushing aside the politically correct nostrums that have inhibited such discussion among senior politicians.
What a contrast to the supine behaviour of the Metropolitan Police when Pc Alexander Omar Basha sought to be excused duty outside the Israeli embassy – and was allowed to do so."
What a porous concept 'political correctness' is. I don't see what these have to do with each other. The state is perfectly entitled to tell its employees what their duties are, which includes where they are stationed and of course what they should wear. But Jack Straw's constituents are not his employees. In a democracy the relationship is supposed to be the other way around.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
On duty, morality and 'political correctness'
The Met have insisted that PC Alexander Omar Basha was not excused from guarding the Israeli embassy during the height of the conflict in Lebanon for reasons of 'political correctness' but on the grounds of safety.
Whether the Met's version of events is true I'm not qualified to judge; I dare say the Sun over-hyped the story. Rather, what I am concerned about is the notion, which is implicit in both the BBC and the Guardian piece, that had officer Basha requested an exemption for reasons that had nothing to do with safety - this could be considered either a properly 'moral' or a 'politically correct' stance to take.
It reminded me of the case of those in the Strathclyde fire-brigade who were disciplined for refusing to hand out fire prevention leaflets at a gay pride march on 'religious grounds'.
While a number of commentators were probably right to claim their 'religious objections' were thinly-veiled prejudice, I thought that this rather missed the point. As much as it may grate for those of us who are secular, it is possible to have genuine moral objections against homosexual practices if one bases one's morality on religion.
But there is no moral or religious basis to argue that because one disapproves of homosexuality, those who practice it should not therefore be afforded the same fire-safety advice as everyone else - and personally I think it was disgraceful that the firemans' union reps were prepared to put the opposite case.
Same with this, only more so, for reasons that should be obvious. Regardless of whether this actually happened or not, the very idea that one can have a personal 'moral objection' against providing protection to Israeli diplomats under any circumstances is utterly offensive.
Different yet the same, both of these cases reveal a modern malaise; moral conflict is seen as arising when one's personal preferences (prejudices, I would argue) collide with one's professional duties - and the idea that personal morality might lie within carrying out one's vocation appears out of kilter with the spirit of the age. No-one asks what the 'the done thing' is anymore. All that remains is one's own thing and a measurement of the extent to which one is able to bend social institutions to accommodate this.
Update: Sarita Malik takes the opposite view:
"My own thoughts are that PC Basha's stand should be applauded, although the precise reasons for his decision (moral? welfare?) may determine the level to which it should be supported. But he has exercised his right to choose, and making choices in the workplace is an act of integrity. PC Basha has also been honest about what he finds unacceptable within a professional capacity; he has admitted his personal/political bias."
The first thing to note is that Sarita Malik does not doubt, contra the Met, that officer Basha made the request he did as a "stand." (People always stand these days, don't you find?) Let's consider what his 'stand' might have meant in practical terms.
One assumes that Israeli diplomats, like other bureaucrats that represent their nations, receive protection from our police services against those who might wish to harm them or kill them.
This is surely right and proper?
For to do anything less would be the very antithesis of diplomacy.
Understanding this would lead some to conclude that Britain should not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
If that is someone's view, I would defend their right to hold it and to express it.
What is indefensible, though, is the idea that a public servant should be 'applauded' for expressing their disapproval in the form of refusing to do their duty to protect.
If they are unable, for reasons of conscience, to execute their professional duties - the only decent thing is to resign.
And if their conscience tells them that indifference to the possibility of an attack on the Israeli embassy is a moral sentiment that should supercede one's duty to protect, the only decent thing is to be ashamed.
Because I do not believe this sort of rationalisation would be used for the embassy of any other country on the face of the planet.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Sheridan victim of MI5 plot
Tommy Sheridan has mooted the possibility that MI5 have joined the global conspiracy against him, claiming that a dastardly alliance of the SSP executive committee, the evil Murdoch empire, and the best man at his wedding have fabricated a video tape in order to "overthrow his crusade for an independent socialist Scotland.":
Indeed not. Because an independent socialist Scotland is very likely to happen soon. You could say it's imminent. Tommy Sheridan went on to compare himself to another victim of a tabloid character assassination:
You can see how seamless is the web of deceit that the Murdoch press has spun. First Freddie Starr, now Tommy Sheridan. Your granny could be next. No-one is safe.
Vote Solidarity, by the way.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Easy top ten
This one from Doctorvee isn't, though.
Ten worst Radiohead songs?
This, I find, is not so with Radiohead fans.
They're like Morrisey fans in that respect.
They're so serious.
This is what happens when Guardian-readers listen to music.
It's not big and it's not clever.
More Tory madness
Drugs worse than drink say Tories
From the beeb:
"Conservative activists have voted overwhelmingly against a motion claiming that alcohol does more harm than drugs."
Do they mean qualitatively? Because quantitatively this simply isn't true. The General Registar estimates that there were 336 drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2005 and falling, whereas for alcohol there were 2,052 (2004) and rising.
This would seem to suggest that on this bare statistic alone, alcohol is roughly three times more harmful than drugs. I'm not advocating some hippy shit about drugs not being harmful; it's just that more people consume alcohol.
Or perhaps the 'Conservative activists' have the wider problem of the criminal activity that is associated with the illegal drugs trade in mind. The rate of alcohol-consumption means that the drinks and hospitalities industry is Scotland's largest employer, whereas the illegal drugs trade tends to employ, well, gangsters. As Jim Doherty, who runs the Gallowgate Family Support Group in Glasgow's East End, told the conference:
"[D]rug dealers were controlling Glasgow."
I have to say it's news to me that anyone is controlling Glasgow and if this is true, I'd have to say they're not doing a very good job.
And if it's true, this is a function of the product's illegality - rather than any intrinsic chemical properties of the narcotics they are selling.
But I don't think the Tories are really interested in any of this; we have instead an example of the culture war going on in the Conservative party at the moment. Amusing for opponents of the Tories, perhaps - but I don't think Labour at the moment would even allow themselves to even consider these ideas.
Speaking of realities that tend to impinge on cultural stereotypes, reading Chris Dillow's piece on manufacturing reminded me of another employment fact concerning the Scottish economy: did you know that the Indian food industry employs more people in Scotland than steel, coal and shipbuilding put together? It's related to our high rate of alcohol-consumption for reasons that should be obvious.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Do Labour supporters have reasons to be cheerful?
More Sheridan lunacy
Read this.
Then this.
Is this man jail-bait or what?
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By retired surgeon Anthony Good, a follower of mysticexperiences.net
Introduction: This is a remarkable first person document of lasting value to Mystics, Seekers, and those academics and scientists around the world who study our subject. It was an easy decision to ask for permission to re-propagate its contents here, for which permission was given immediately. – Keith.
Spirituality has, for me, always been immersed in doubt. I was brought up an atheist until I could think for myself when I moved onto the agnostic fence.
I could find no logical way to God, and even Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth century existential philosopher and theologian said that at some point there had to be a leap of faith, which I found hugely disappointing. How could faith be relied upon, when so many put their faith even in everyday things and are let down? I sensed a risk of falling into wish fulfilment.
The religious cultures I found so foreign, with constant referrals to faraway times, places, and ideas. Religious folk unfortunately are sometimes the worst exponents of the moral principles their creed advocate. (As I write there is a continuation of the unfolding sex abuse scandal in the English Roman Catholic Church.) How can the organised religions be so convinced of their God and yet reject each other’s; who is right, who am I to believe, where am I to put my faith?
Though many folks have a sense of spirituality outside the mainstream religions, it is poorly organised and without support outside the secret societies of the Masons and Rosicrucians who are often held in suspicion, and can attract hostility. So where does one turn?
Then there is the enormity of human suffering, from wars, failed political ideologies, disease, natural disasters I need not go on. How is all that accounted for in God and spirituality?
Nor was there evidence that God did not exist. Doubt looked both ways.
A Spiritual Opening
The existential crisis and spiritual opening were the game changer. There had been a couple of hints in past years but now this was like a slo-mo spiritual party cannon explosion of dreams, reveries, living mythologies, visualisations, spirit encounters, revelations, and far too many improbable coincidences. Before this curtain opening in my late forties, I would have considered its significance highly doubtful. It had to be experienced to be believed, then things will never be the same again.
I was pulled off the agnostic fence to at least follow this opening. There was no doubt about the experiences, but what they meant, or where it was taking me that was different. However, what appeared to be new truths were being laid before me and this was a kind of embodied living of what was happening rather than just some kind of thinking thing. It’s not willed, it breaks in, it is not lead by thinking, it leads.
The journey stripped away the old dependable truths, to the point where I was alone looking into darkness, a broken deconstructed character, and new truths doubted. I felt on the very edge of sanity.
Diminishing Old Doubts
Spirituality, had to be directly experienced, when it brings its truth value. Could I accept truth without having to understand it? The mystics say this experienced truth is higher than the trickster intellect. After all how many rational arguments and lines of logic have found their way into false conclusions?
I found my experiences were consistent with the mystics whether psychologists like Carl Jung and Roberto Assagioli, those from the main religions, and even the great artists, writers, and poets. They formulated an interconnected tapestry of consistent truths that revealed the push and pull of our existence.
Is it not unfair to expect the followers of the organised religions to be perfect, or even live up to their ideals, can anyone else do that? They are caught up in human failings like the rest of us even if also like us they cannot see, or even want to recognise them.
I found faith in the authenticity of my experiences, without them I would have stayed on the fence, faithless, and doubtful as before.
My perspective on my life is of course human with an egoic orientation, but the true reference point for our lives may be the soul wanting to learn and grow into wholeness, holiness. Oh, and how convenient to blame something else for our errors, an all supposedly loving God. Mankind has free will, and so how could God be omnipotent; man has to take responsibility, at least until man’s free will is perfectly aligned with God’s will? There is though enormous not knowing.
So if it’s true that we are looking at the work of effectively an infinite mind no wonder there is doubt and we need guides to find our way through. So many people seem to think they know the unknowable God. An egoic trap?
New Doubts on the Journey
Gradually, day by day experiences, contemplations, revelations, and more, have built up internal and external consistencies formulating what looked like the truth. Doubt has been diminished but waxed and waned.
For example, I recently had this dream; I was looking up at the sky with my dear wife and birds were flying over us when a big shaggy dog appeared jumping across the sky. I told her that when I saw Pegasus in the sky that is what it looked like, seemingly impossible but still able to walk on air. Then I saw the dog as a sheep, and then it broke up into birds. All along what I had thought was a dog running over the sky was an illusion of just birds coming together like the murmuration of starlings or swirling of a shoal of fish.
Is all experienced as spirituality merely a misinterpretation? Derren Brown the extraordinarily talented English illusionist when asked if he believed in God said he did not because he knew how the mind could deceive itself. The dream could have referred to sheep following dogma. Was I at risk of forming my dogma out of illusion and following that, sheep-like? Yes, of course.
More recently I read the excellent book, ‘The Master and His Emissary’ by Iain McGilchrist (he is on YouTube). It is an up to date account of lateralised brain function, and how the relative predominance of left and right brain function has influenced history.
Spiritual experiences are held in the right brain which cannot directly vocalise; could we be tapping into this during the spiritual journey? Is this fascinating hidden part of the brain trying to create a seemingly legitimate false reality for our lives out of mostly lost memory cuttings? I doubt that I have the imagination, sophistication, or creativity to construct what I have experienced spiritually, with its multi-layered complexity, intricacy, and revelatory push. But could spirituality be the dark side of the brain, and nothing more, or is our brain triggered into activity by something beyond it?
Could I be following a self-constructed elaborate fiction to live by, but then you don’t need to be in spirituality to do that! McGilchrist says that when people don’t believe in God, they find something less worthy to believe in.
Journeying with Doubt
Doubt is diminished by relating to events that go beyond our control or construction, such as synchronicities, predictive dreams, manifestations, and coincidences too improbable and frequent to dismiss easily, episodes of being rescued by unlikely circumstance or out of character individuals, and much more that cannot be explained by mere mental working and chance.
Maybe the most fundamental dissolver of doubt is a very solid and deeply felt sense of rightness about what is experienced (and not merely willed into creation by thought). Is this the faith that people describe; it’s not confected, wished, logicalised, but felt very deeply building up from experience and contemplation over years. It often, maybe usually, arrives without invitation, and is surprising.
Doubt, I have heard it said, is a necessary part of the spiritual journey, and will be with us to the end. The journey has eventually brought me to encounters that are more believable than not. There will always be a fear of self-delusion, but that diminishes with an honest appraisal of what I encounter. To wrestle with the truth and doubt and maybe God too is the surest way to find the right path on the journey to a purpose of our existence.
For now, I hope that in recognising my doubt, (and all its companions; faith, hope, wanting, fear, love, knowing and not knowing, and others) I can avoid being controlled and biased by it and relate to what comes in the next step with openness and balance as a seeker of truth.
For More Information:
2 thoughts on “SPIRITUAL DOUBT.
1. An extraordinarily timely post. It expresses my own feelings very closely. On the one hand a strong feeling of “something” and on the other the ever present doubt. Thank you for posting this.
All best wishes
2. Doubt? No, for some reason, I have no doubts about the the mystic experience of Reality (MER) and all that its insight keeps giving me.
This insight tells me doubt is a primitive left over defensive mechanism humans have. In me doubt isn’t even a remnant now, though I certainly had tentative uncertainties at first. But Reality imperceptibly, undeniably, irresistibly, took care of them. In the meantime Reality also imparted the spiritual gift of submission.
This special submission takes away much of the human angst of ego which so bedevils humans with things like doubt. It did mine. (Death gives ego the final heave ho!).
Now I leave the human condition to Reality simply because Reality is in charge of human development into extinction before humanity can metamorphise into Reality.
Humans are, always have been and always will be the sole concern of Reality, not us. ‘Mind your own business and do unto others what you would have them do unto you’ is still Reality’s golden rule.
All Is Well.
Best wishes,
But now I know. I have no faith, hope or belief, those roguish devices of devious imps of the mystically inexperienced, or the new mystic.
In Reality there is no doubt, no need for logic or reason. In Reality everything simply is and we are That.
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Kasparov on Elista in the Wall Street Journal
10/3/2006 – Garry Kasparov is the last man to hold the title of unified world chess champion. A contributing editor to the Wall Street Journal, his latest editorial comments on the world championship scandal in Elista and the events leading up to it. Was the meltdown after game four inevitable? After the article we bring you an exclusive interview.
Kasparov's Wall Street Journal editorial was obviously meant for people who haven't been following the match as closely as we have. Then there are several historical items that would have required too much explanation for a lay audience. We followed up with Kasparov and include his additional comments in a brief interview below the article.
Chess Mess
Monday, October 2, 2006
It usually takes a scandal to get the world's pre-eminent mind sport into the news these days. The latest example comes from the current world chess championship in Elista, Russia. The match between Russia's Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria was intended to unify the chess championship that has been divided since my challenger and I broke away from the international chess federation (FIDE) in 1993 in an attempt to professionalize the sport.
The first four games of Kramnik-Topalov – the match was scheduled for 12 games – received scant attention in the world press. That changed when the Bulgarians published a complaint about Mr. Kramnik's frequent trips to the restroom during the games, calling his behavior "suspicious" and threatening to abandon the match. The appeals committee governing the match agreed, and ruled to close the players' private restrooms, which would be replaced by a shared one. (How it pains me to see such distasteful events driving the coverage of a world championship.) Mr. Kramnik protested the decision by sitting out the fifth game and was forfeited. Currently the match sits suspended.
The clear implication of the original protest was that Mr. Kramnik might be cheating during his restroom visits. In recent years the chess world has been rife with such suspicions thanks to the rise of powerful microcomputers and transmitting technologies. Several amateur chessplayers have even been caught using such devices to cheat in tournaments.
I should add that Mr. Kramnik was leading 3-1 at the time of Mr. Topalov's protest, although it was mostly thanks to very shaky play by his opponent, not a display of suspiciously superhuman skill.
Adding irony to the tragedy is the fact that for the past year and a half Mr. Topalov himself has been the subject of rumors and even public accusations that he has cheated with computer assistance. Hard evidence is lacking, with some pointing to odd behavior by his assistants and other critics saying there is simply no other explanation for Mr. Topalov's sudden ascent to the top of the rating list after my retirement.
Chess has a long history of scandal and controversy at the highest level. The last world championship game to be decided by forfeit was Bobby Fischer's loss to Boris Spassky in their legendary match in Reykjavik in 1972. Mr. Fischer was well known for such protests and lived up to his reputation by complaining about the conditions in the playing hall after game one, and then not appearing to play the second game. Mr. Spassky, a gentleman – too much so, perhaps – agreed to Mr. Fischer's demands, even playing the next game in a small back room usually reserved for table tennis. (Notably, Mr. Fischer accepted the forfeit almost meekly.) Mr. Spassky's 2-0 lead didn't help him in the end. Mr. Fischer won the match convincingly and, while he was clearly the superior player, I am one of many who believe that by making concessions off the board Mr. Spassky was psychologically unable to play his best at the board.
Until last Friday, that was the last forfeit in world championship history. It's still not clear if this will be the first match cancellation since 1985. After five months of grueling play, my first world championship contest with Anatoly Karpov was abruptly cancelled by the FIDE president. Instead of having a set number of games, our match was to go to the first player to reach six victories, a goal that had proved unreachable despite Mr. Karpov's jumping out to a 5-0 lead. After I won games 47 and 48 to move to the score to 3-5, the match was abruptly cancelled. The Soviet sports authorities who had such influence in FIDE didn't want to take the chance I would win another game. Their loyal favorite, Mr. Karpov, hadn't won a game in months, and I – the outspoken youngster from Baku – was getting too close for comfort.
Mr. Fischer may have been difficult and unstable, but he was a sportsman whose complaints were based on principle and a sincere desire to improve the standards of the chess world. Tournament conditions and prize funds improved immeasurably thanks to his efforts. My battles with the power-hungry thugs who ran the Soviet and international chess world were politically driven. To me they represented a backwards and corrupt system. They saw me as a threat to their control.
The protests and conflicts seen in the current match are of a very different nature and reflect the complete loss of professionalism in the sport. The event is taking place in the capital of the Russian republic of Kalmykia under the auspices of its president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the president of FIDE. He has created a vertical column of power that would be familiar to any observer of Russia today. He runs the chess world in the same authoritarian way he runs his impoverished republic. After a decade of such mistreatment, the only place that could be found to host this match was his own capital. Serious sponsors rarely want anything to do with Mr. Ilyumzhinov and his organization.
Even his closest cronies in FIDE failed Mr. Ilyumzhinov this time. He stocked the match's appeals committee with FIDE officials, but while he was away, their decision created the crisis that now seems likely to end the match in ruin. Recognizing the failure of his stated goals and low methods, Mr. Ilyumzhinov has lately taken steps to unify the chess world and make long overdue moves to professionalize the organization of events. This terrifies the fixers who would be the first to go under a professional administration.
Combine this collapsing power structure with players and managers concerned only with self-interest and making money, and what happened in Elista was practically inevitable. In fact, most of the principal actors in Elista stand to gain from the cancellation of the match. Mr. Topalov was losing at the game and so he switched to gamesmanship. If the match is aborted he can claim he wasn't defeated and so maintain his status as FIDE champion.
Mr. Kramnik rose to the provocation and now may walk off with the same faded title he took from me in 2000. For years he avoided both a rematch and unification with FIDE. If this chaos isn't resolved he can go on to claim "champion for life" standing outside of FIDE.
Just like their brothers in spirit in the Kremlin, the chess nomenclatura hope to prolong the anarchy and corruption from which they have profited for so long. Mr. Ilyumzhinov needs this match to continue, but it is he who sowed the seeds of its downfall.
For a game associated with brainpower, chess's leaders and its leading players have displayed remarkably little in recent years. They are now paying the price by having their pettiness and incompetence splashed across front pages around the world.
Mr. Kasparov is the former world chess champion and the current chairman of the United Civil Front in Russia.
Kasparov with WSJ Op-ed editor Tunku Varadarajan in New York, 2006.
ChessBase: Of course you don't give game analysis in the Journal, but we assume you followed the games?
Garry Kasparov: I was traveling in the Russian regions on political business when this mess broke out. I was in Yakutsk, in eastern Siberia. Of course there is chess there, too, but I wasn't really in touch. By the way it's amazing, there is this kid there, #3 in the world for under-8. But there's no money for him to visit Moscow, to get training or have hope for a chess career. Russia is flooded with oil money, and there are diamonds in Yakutsk, but there's nothing for chess? Well, there's obviously some for supporting Kramnik. Alexander Zhukov has mobilized resources for this, now we see Svidler and Bareev heading to Elista. Kramnik's team is becoming as big a state priority as the old Karpov teams!
CB: From the Journal article you seem to blame just about everyone for the disaster before and around game five.
GK: It's not about blame, it's about looking at the recent history of FIDE and the top players. The facts speak for themselves. In 2003 my Yalta match with Ponomariov collapsed while Kramnik and many others expressed their sympathy for the way FIDE treated Ponomariov. I wonder if Kramnik would reconsider that support after what has happened to him in Elista. Ponomariov and Danailov, his manager don't forget, never denied they received money for the Yalta match. Playing was irrelevant to them as long as they got paid and that doesn't seem to have changed. I wonder if the players have already pocketed money from Elista.
CB: The match regulations say they don't get paid until after the match.
GK: Okay, but is there any way they won't be paid? The prize fund is split evenly, isn’t it guaranteed? Having seen what happened in Yalta it's hard to believe Danailov would threaten to walk away without any money.
CB: What about FIDE's role in all of this? Your article refers to Ilyumzhinov's failed plans.
GK: It's clear that the behavior of the players and the match officials is symptomatic of Ilyumzhinov's rule. Now he has to make sure to set things straight if he really means to correct these past disasters. When he cancelled Yalta there was no result to the match. I was left out in the cold after months of preparation and lost income. Here he must declare a winner if there are further disruptions. A referee can't lose control of a game or it will become like Netherlands-Portugal at the World Cup. The next time either player shows such behavior Ilyumzhinov should say, "Fine, the door is over there, goodbye" and the match is over. They should have thrown out the first Bulgarian protest immediately.
CB: Does that mean you think there will be more problems in the second half?
GK: It's very possible. Kramnik falling behind could cause a crisis, for example.
CB: Can we ask you for a prediction for the result?
GK: I'll only say that I hope the match and the title dispute end with the last game.
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how to calculate mechanic labor
How To Calculate Mechanic Labor? There is a simple solution to that – you have to know how to calculate labor cost. The labor rate formula will have you adding the hourly wage, the hourly tax cost, and the hourly cost of any expenses or fringe benefits. This can also be expressed as LR (labor rate) = W (wage) + T (taxes) + B (benefits).
How much do most mechanics charge for labor? Average hourly rate is $80 to $100 an hour. The going average hourly rate for a mechanic ranges from $80 to $100 an hour. After analyzing a bill that could also include expensive parts, many auto repair shop customers are left scratching their heads and wondering if they are being ripped off.
How much do mechanics charge per hour in Australia? Car repairs in Australia go for an average of $80/hr. Car mechanics can charge anywhere from $60/hr to $88/hr for auto repairs depending on certain factors. These include the severity of the problem and the necessary replacement parts.
How much does a mechanic charge per hour in Ireland? An independent garage will charge anywhere between 45 and 65 Euro per hour. Allow 70 – 90 Euro for a main dealer.
How do mechanics know how many hours to charge?
Most auto repair shops quote labor charges using a “flat rate” manual or computer program that provides the average time it takes an experienced technician to perform a given car repair. That flat-rate time is then multiplied by the shop’s hourly labor rate to reach the total labor charge for the service.
What is a good parts to labor ratio?
According to Bob O’Connor of Motor Magazine, a parts-to-labor ratio in the range of 0.8 to 1 is considered normal for the auto repair industry.
How much do garages charge per hour?
Garage mechanic hourly rate When looking at mechanic hourly rates in the UK, you’ll tend to notice that garage mechanics often charge a higher rate per hour than mobile or self-employed mechanics. The average garage mechanic hourly rate is around £50 – £80 per hour – depending on where you live in the country.
What is the average wage for a mechanic in Australia?
The average salary for a automotive mechanic is $67,198 per year in Australia.
What mechanic gets paid the most?
How much do mechanics make in Ireland?
The average mechanic salary in Ireland is € 39 000 per year or € 20 per hour. Entry-level positions start at € 33 875 per year, while most experienced workers make up to € 48 750 per year.
Is there a shortage of mechanics in Ireland?
Firstly, why is there a shortage of Mechanics? The shortage of qualified and experienced Mechanics in Ireland was an industry-wide issue long before COVID-19, however, with the increased demand on workshops today, the challenge facing dealers in recruiting Mechanics is now more challenging than ever.
Why do dealerships charge so much?
“The reason that car dealerships are typically more expensive than independently owned shops can be summed up in one word: overhead. While small, local shops just have a garage and a few mechanics, dealerships have showrooms, massive maintenance garages, higher employee salaries. All this equates to more overhead.
How long can a mechanic legally keep your car to fix?
How long can a mechanic keep my car? There is no legal limit to how long a mechanic can keep your car. If you are unsatisfied with your service, you can always take your business elsewhere and try to find another mechanic.
How much do mechanics earn?
How Much Does an Auto Mechanic Make? Auto Mechanics made a median salary of $44,050 in 2020. The best-paid 25 percent made $58,330 that year, while the lowest-paid 25 percent made $32,570.
How long should a mechanic take to diagnose?
But you can expect an average diagnostic test to take about an hour and a half. If the issue is complicated, the mechanic may have to remove a few components of your car for access and further testing. Expect your car to be tied up for two to three hours in those instances.
Do you pay VAT on Labour at a garage?
The garage reclaims the VAT it paid to its supplier. It then charges you what it likes for the part, adds labour, then adds VAT to the total. You’re not paying VAT on VAT, anything your garage adds to the part price, then charges to you, is markup for the garage.
How much do mechanics make an hour UK?
How much does a Vehicle mechanic make in United Kingdom? The average vehicle mechanic salary in the United Kingdom is £27,430 per year or £14.07 per hour. Entry level positions start at £24,604 per year while most experienced workers make up to £33,961 per year.
How much does a self-employed mechanic earn UK?
How much could you make as a self-employed mechanic? According to the UK government careers website, motor mechanics can make about £18k- £35k a year, depending on their experience and expertise. You can become a mechanic by attending a college course or through an apprenticeship.
What is the highest paid job in Australia?
Which job has the highest salary in Australia? Neurosurgeons earn the highest annual salary in Australia at over $600,000.
How much do mechanics get paid NSW?
The average salary for a mechanic is $85,774 per year in Sydney NSW. Was the salaries overview information useful?
How much do mechanics get paid in Melbourne?
The average salary for a automotive mechanic is $62,037 per year in Melbourne VIC.
Are mechanics rich?
Is mechanic work hard?
Compared to an office job, mechanic careers are much more physically demanding. You spend much of your day on your feet or in uncomfortable positions when completing repairs. You also typically work routinely with tools and greasy car parts, which is uncomfortable, and often wearing on your hands and arms.
How much do Bugatti mechanics make?
How much do apprentice mechanics make in Ireland?
The average apprentice mechanic gross salary in Ireland is €43,522 or an equivalent hourly rate of €21. In addition, they earn an average bonus of €1,336. Salary estimates based on salary survey data collected directly from employers and anonymous employees in Ireland.
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Most of the hate mail I receive starts off with something heart-felt like, "Dear Gigantic Douchebag," followed by an inquiry as to which farm animals had copulated in order to conceive me and ending with a cleverly veiled threat such as, "I am going to stab you repeatedly in the neck and play Twister in your carnage."
Always preferring to take the high road, I typically respond by writing something conciliatory like, "Hey, Scum Slurping Assbag—I humped your mother while your father watched," and from there, we continue to discuss the issues (not).
However, every now and then, I get into an exchange with a disgruntled reader who, while quite angry, is also eloquent, thoughtful and even succeeds in putting me in my place without ad hominem attacks. Such a discourse happened recently when reader Jim Fabiszak responded to my column "The Purpose of Marriage.
In his email, Jim bemoaned the fact that I openly mocked his religion—Christianity. In closing, he wrote, "May I suggest bigotry begets bigotry? You have the power of the pen. Break the chain."
Now, I've been called a bigot plenty before, but it never bothered me, because, well, I know that I'm not one. Indeed, I have been squawking against prejudice for as long as I've known how to squawk, have always been on the side of civil rights and have gleefully used this column to attack those who aren't. This I was able to do guilt free, thanks to a sincerely held belief that it's not bigoted to mock the opinions of others (opinions are fair game); rather, it's bigoted to discriminate against people for reasons of race, gender, sexual preference—the sort of characteristics they have no control over—which is what I wrote to Jim in my follow-up letter.
"I'm not sure where you pull your definition of bigotry from," he responded. "However the accepted definition is, 'intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.'"
Gawd, I hate it when people out-dicktionary me. But, yes, to my dismay, it was true—after looking it up in several sources, the lexicographical consensus is that "bigotry" is not only an intolerance of things like race, gender and sexual orientation—but also of opinions. Here's a definition from Collins English Dictionary: "Bigot: a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, esp on religion, politics, or race."
When I read that, I thought, Wow! I guess I must really be a bigot after all, considering all the insulting, offensive, condescending missiles I've hurled at people merely because their opinions were f?u?c?k?i?n?g? ?i?d?i?o?t?i?c? different than mine.
But then I thought: Hold on now. That's a terrible definition! You're a bigot if you criticize a religious zealot who wants creationism taught in public schools? You're a bigot if you cannot tolerate some warmongering politician whose answer to every foreign-policy problem is "invade" even though the only "invading" he ever did was a midnight panty raid with his frat brothers at Harvard?
By this definition, everybody on the planet—yes, Gandhi, Mandela and even effin' Mother Teresa—is a bigot. Every standup comic is a bigot. Every politician, every poet, every athlete, every construction worker, every Wall Street butt hump—any person who ever mocked somebody else's worldview, no matter how obtuse, is, by definition, a bigot.
You can't even be intolerant of bigotry without being a bigot. If I wrote a scathing article about what buffoons white supremacists are—how their message is preposterous, their fashion is boobish and their music is as aesthetically pleasing as the screech of a deaf-mute teenager who dropped her smartphone in the toilet—I would be every bit as bigoted as the white supremacists.
But, whatever. If that's what the word means, then fine, I'm a bigot. If saying out loud that Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly are hypocritical, dipshit blowhards makes me a bigot, then go ahead and sew a scarlet "B" on my lapel.
If I'm a bigot because I verbally lambasted some blue-haired, anti-marijuana busy bee who said that "cannabis is a scourge on society" as she puffed her Pall Mall, then brand a Circle B on my bovine ass.
If I'm a bigot because I openly laugh at right-wing politicians who try to explain how the female reproductive system works—then fine, I'll bunk with Hitler in Hater Hell.
If I'm a bigot because I write that Justin Bieber's belly button is an outtie and his penis is an innie, then sign me up for the KKK bake sale and charity drive.
If I'm a bigot because I think Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty is a blithering nincompoop for his medieval, anti-gay comments, then call up CityBeat and try to have me fired.
If I'm a bigot because I think that those who tried to have Robertson fired for his comments are equally nincompoopish, then call up Homeland Security and get me on the No Fly list.
If I'm a bigot because I write that a person who believes in an invisible man in the sky who listens to our prayers, sends angels to watch over us and takes a keen interest in our football games is unfit to be a city council member, much less governor or president, then, by all means, write me a letter and tell me what a bigot I am. It don't bother me none. I'd rather be a bigot and call people out on their horseshit than clueless and quiet, never saying a bad word about anyone.
Make sure not to miss the Sordid Tales podcast!
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Dear North Korea apologists, how much blood will be enough?
On May 30th 2013, a professor from Inje University, Professor Kim Yeon-chul wrote a column for the Hankyoreh (Korean version here) where he criticized the Park administration’s ‘trust-building process’ policy in dealing with North Korea. Essentially, it is the South Korean government’s way of saying that meaningful negotiations would take place only if North Korea took positive steps toward nuclear disarmament first.
Professor Kim Yeon-chul
Professor Kim seems to think this approach is all wrong because “Trust is the product of dialogue, not a requirement for it.” He also added, “Government officials have talked about their distrust of Pyongyang before any dialogue has even begun. Do you have to trust someone to talk to them? That’s not realistic, and moreover it lacks any grounding in history.”
As I read Professor Kim’s column, I couldn't help but wonder what it must feel like to be completely delusional.
Trust is the product of dialogue, not a requirement for it? Professor Kim seems to believe that prior to 2013, there had been a complete absence of dialogue between South and North Korea. There had been plenty of negotiations between South and North Korea from 1998 to 2008. During the period of the so-called 'Sunshine Policy,' both the Kim Dae-jung and the Roh Moo-hyun administrations negotiated with North Korea the way the North Koreans wanted – South Korea made concessions, North Korea made none.
Besides funding the construction of railroad and the now-defunct Kaesong Industrial Complex and the Mount Kumgang Tourist Region, the South Korean government ‘invested’ about $324.3 million in 2005 alone.
For ten years, under the policy of “flexible reciprocity,” as the supposed “elder brother” of the relationship, South Korea provided fertilizers, infrastructure, humanitarian aid, and monetary aid to Pyongyang without a single show of good will from the North Koreans.
Were these rounds of negotiations not enough for Professor Kim?
I suppose I’m being unfair to the professor. He did admit that “quite a few people have talked about how North Korea’s past behavior justifies mistrust.”
What a sublime sense of humor Professor Kim must have to be able to describe so glibly the tragedies that South Korea suffered due to North Korea’s “past behavior.”
What exactly were those past behaviors? I’ll just list some of the more recent ones.
In 2002, during the height of the Sunshine Policy, North Korean naval vessels illegally crossed over the Northern Limit Line and attacked two South Korean patrol boats; killing four South Korean sailors and sinking one of South Korea’s ships.
A model of the PKM 357 at the War Memorial of Korea
The North Koreans' generosity knew no bounds in 2010 when one of their midget submarines, as confirmed by a team of international experts, torpedoed yet another South Korean naval vessel, the ROKS Cheonan. Forty-six South Korean sailors died that day.
The remains of the ROKS Cheonan
The discovered North Korean torpedo that was used to sink the ROKS Cheonan
The fallen
Later that same year, North Korean troops unleashed a barrage of artillery on Yeonpyeong Island. Two South Korean marines and two civilians died that day.
Yeonpyeong Island being shelled by North Korean artillery
The aftermath of the town on Yeonpyeong Island
The fallen
Since then the North Koreans have not directly conducted another conventional military assault on South Korea. Instead, the North Koreans have tested nuclear weapons, test fired rockets, and on multiple occasions threatened to turn Seoul into a ‘sea of fire.’ Furthermore, it is widely suspected that North Korean hackers were responsible for launching a cyber-attack earlier in March, which paralyzed South Korean banks and TV broadcasters.
How many times has this woman, acting as North Korea's spokesperson, declared that Seoul would burn?
South Korean taxpayers paid to keep the North Korean regime afloat for ten years. The North Koreans showed their gratitude by killing South Korean sailors and marines, murdering a South Korean tourist, and destroying South Koreans’ homes.
To add insult to injury, Professor Kim had the audacity to claim that both countries are at fault for the deteriorated state of inter-Korean relations and went on to claim that what is needed is “the effort to find the root cause within a two-way relationship.”
Just how much more blood has to be spilled before Professor Kim and his ilk realize that there is nothing, nothing at all, to be gained by talking to the North Koreans? Or do the dead mean nothing to him?
He even went on to quote President Reagan who once said, “Trust, but verify.” South Korea did trust the North. And it was verified that the trust was misplaced.
Professor Kim and other like-minded individuals who have and still support ‘peaceful dialogue’ with North Korea, regardless of the costs, are the ones who provided the intellectual ammunition to appease North Korea, which allowed the North Korean leadership more time to replenish its treasury and modernize its arsenal while killing South Koreans and starving its own people. They might not have been the ones who did the killing but their hands are just as stained with blood as the Stalinist leadership in Pyongyang.
The only logical conclusion of appeasement
South Korea owes North Korea nothing. If anything, it is North Korea that is indebted to South Korea. However, the matter of debt, even that of blood, is secondary. What is at issue is that as long as North Korea continues to kill or threaten to kill South Koreans, that makes them nothing more than criminals and that means that there is nothing to talk to them about.
History has shown time and time again that the only thing that the North Koreans understand and respect is strength. That is why despite its rhetoric, North Korea doesn't dare to actually provoke the United States or Japan into a military conflict; that is why North Korea walks hat in hand to Beijing to ask for aid even though it causes them to lose face; that is why South Korea, being the weakest of its neighbors, is always ignored, pilloried, and attacked.
If South Korea ever desires to reenter into talks with North Korea, in order for the talks to be meaningful, South Korea has to do so in a position of strength – an idea that Professor Kim and his ilk can’t seem to wrap their minds around.
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Christmas [2006]: The Eternal Word Made Flesh (John 1:1, 14)
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December 24, 2006
Christmas Message
As I’ve said before, there is a question that is the most crucial question in all of life, which you must answer carefully. If you have not answered this question correctly, you are not ready to die and you are not equipped to live. It is a question that affects every area of your life.
The question is the one that Jesus asked His disciples (Matt. 16:15), “Who do you say that I am?” Your answer to that question determines your eternal destiny. Maybe you’re thinking, “I thought that my eternal destiny was determined by having faith in Jesus Christ.” True, but unless you know who Jesus Christ truly is, your faith is in an imaginary Jesus. For your faith truly to be in Jesus, you must understand who He is. The Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses have some sort of faith in some sort of Jesus, but he is not the Jesus revealed in the Bible. Such faith will not save anyone.
Your answer to that question not only affects your eternal destiny, but also how you live. If God has opened your eyes to see that Jesus is Lord, then He has something to say about whom you marry, about how you relate to your mate and how you rear your children. He tells you how to operate your business, how to manage your money, and how to govern all of your life. If Jesus is the Lord of the universe, then He must be the Lord of every aspect of your life, beginning on the thought level.
I must add that once you have seen that Jesus truly is the Lord God in human flesh, you will have to come back repeatedly to that crucial question, “Who do you say that I am?” John the Baptist, the bold prophet who served as the forerunner to Jesus Christ, had certainly answered that question. He proclaimed Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He went on to explain (John 1:30), “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” Jesus was six months younger than John, but John affirmed Jesus’ preexistence. John proclaimed (John 1:34), “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John was clear on that crucial question.
But later, Herod imprisoned John. As the months passed and he was not released, he began to wonder, “Am I mistaken? If Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and I am His messenger, why doesn’t Jesus open these prison doors and get me out?” Surely, John and his disciples were praying fervently for his release, but those prayers were not being answered. So John sent messengers to Jesus to ask (Matt. 11:3), “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” His difficult circumstances and his unanswered prayers made him waver on the crucial question: Is Jesus really the Son of God? Have you been there with John?
Jesus sent back a clear answer (Matt. 11:4-6), “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” John would have recognized that Jesus’ words show that He is the promised Messiah, fulfilling the prophecies of Isaiah 35. So even though John would soon lose his head, it really didn’t matter, since Jesus is the Son of God. And when you are in prison and God isn’t answering your prayers, it is essential that you are clear about who Jesus really is.
You will face other times when you struggle with hard issues: Why does a loving God allow so much suffering in this world, especially with little children? Why does an almighty, loving God allow so many people to die with no opportunity to be saved? There was an occasion when Jesus taught some difficult things. He said that (John 6:53-54) “unless you eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Many of His disciples stumbled over these words.
But Jesus didn’t soften His words. Rather, He asked them (6:61-64), “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” He added (6:65), “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” John adds (6:66), “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” But, rather than backing off, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked (6:67), “You do not want to go away also, do you?”
Have you been there? I have! You were following Jesus when you came up against some hard words that you didn’t like. You were tempted to turn away. What did you do? How do you process those difficult moments? Peter goes back to that crucial question. He answered (6:68-69), “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” If Jesus is the Holy One of God, who has the words of eternal life, then you must follow Him, even when He speaks difficult words that you don’t like.
All of this is to introduce our text. John begins his Gospel with no introduction. He doesn’t bother to tell you who is writing. There are no greetings. He hits you right off with the answer to the crucial question, the answer that perhaps you weren’t even aware that you needed! He states (John 1:1), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Then, after expounding on that statement (1:2-13), John comes back to the crucial question—who is Jesus Christ? He sets forth one of the greatest mysteries that our minds can try to comprehend (1:14): “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The eternal Word, the Almighty Creator, took on human flesh and dwelt among us! John writes his gospel to present the glory of this unique Person of Jesus Christ, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:31). The simple but profound message of our text is,
Because Jesus Christ is the eternal God in human flesh, we must trust Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord.
Let’s look first at verse 1, which shows…
1. The Word is revealed in eternity as God (1:1).
John makes three affirmations in verse 1:
A. Jesus is eternal.
Verse 14 makes it clear that the Word is Jesus. In a moment we will look at the implications of referring to Him as the Word. But for now, focus on the statement, “In the beginning was the Word.” It reminds us of the opening statement of the Bible (Gen. 1:1), “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Both statements hit you with force. They do not let you debate, “Does God exist?” They don’t present themselves as, “In my opinion, if you care to accept it, …” Rather, it hits you before you have time to duck, “In the beginning God….” “In the beginning was the Word….” Pow!
John wants us to see that he is writing about a new creation that centers in the eternal Word, who is also the Creator of all things (1:3). The statement means, in the beginning of time, before the heavens and earth existed, the Word was already existing. There never was a time when the Word was not.
You can’t wrap your mind around that concept! I may be able to fathom billions of years ago, although even that is beyond my comprehension. But how can you fathom eternity without time? Everything that we perceive, including the earth, the sun, and the universe, had a beginning. The Word had no beginning!
B. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity.
John continues, “and the Word was with God.” Leon Morris (The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans, 1971], p. 76) explains the preposition (“with”), “The whole existence of the Word was oriented towards the Father. Probably we should understand from the preposition the two ideas of accompaniment and relationship.” He notes that John’s repeating this in verse 2 shows that it is not a casual comment, but one of great importance.
In the first phrase, John establishes the eternal nature of the Word as God. In the second phrase, he shows that the Word “existed in the closest possible connection with the Father” (Morris, ibid.). It shows that the Word is not an impersonal idea or philosophy, but a Person. This Person is distinguishable from God, although (as the first and third phrases show), He is eternal God.
Although xxour finite minds cannot comprehend the mystery of the Trinity, Scripture is clear that God is one God who exists in three distinct persons. Each person is fully God and yet He is not three Gods, but one God (see Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology [Zondervan, 1994], pp. 226-258).
C. Jesus is God.
The third phrase is, “and the Word was God.” As Morris states (p. 76), “Nothing higher could be said. All that may be said about God may fitly be said about the Word. This statement should not be watered down.” He clarifies (p. 77), “John is not merely saying that there is something divine about Jesus. He is affirming that He is God, and doing so emphatically as we see from the word order in the Greek.”
If you have had an encounter with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, you know that they claim that the Greek text says, “the word was a god,” because there is no Greek definite article before “God.” Every cult errs with regard to their view of the person of Jesus Christ. Satan knows that if people do not have the biblical view of who Jesus is, then they have answered the crucial question wrongly. If they do not truly know the Son, they will not honor Him as God. If they do not honor the Son, they do not honor the Father, either (John 5:23).
So how do we answer the Jehovah’s Witnesses? First, this is the only way in Greek to say, “the Word was God.” If John had put the definite article before God, it would have equated the Word totally with God, thus negating the distinction between the Word and God that he made in the second phrase. Second, without getting too technical, there is a rule of Greek grammar (Colwell’s rule) that shows that when definite nouns precede the verb, they regularly (about 80 percent of the time) lack the definite article. For example, the same Greek construction is in John 1:49, where Nathaniel proclaims, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” There is no article before “King,” but obviously, Nathaniel isn’t saying, “You are a king of Israel.” He was proclaiming Jesus as the King of Israel. The lack of the article emphasizes the quality of the noun.
Third, there are many other Scriptures that clearly proclaim Jesus as God. When, at the climax of John’s gospel (20:28), Thomas sees the risen Jesus, he proclaims, “My Lord and my God!” The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that he was making an exclamation! But that would have been swearing. Surely, Jesus would have rebuked so serious a sin. Instead, Jesus affirms Thomas’ confession.
Years later, on the Isle of Patmos, the apostle John had a vision of the risen Lord (Rev. 1:17-18). John fell before Him as a dead man. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” Isaiah 44:6 says, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.’” In light of Isaiah, clearly Jesus was claiming to be the Lord of hosts, the only living and true God!
Thus verse 1 affirms, Jesus is eternal; He is the second person of the Trinity; and, He is God. Also, it affirms that…
D. God has spoken in Jesus.
John refers to Jesus as “the Word.” There have been books written on this subject, but to keep it brief and simple, consider two things:
(1). As the Word, Jesus reveals what the invisible God is like.
You cannot know my thoughts unless I put them into words. God is spirit, and thus invisible to our finite senses. As Paul says (1 Tim. 6:16), He “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.” Or, as John (1:18) says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God [some manuscripts read, “Son”] who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Jesus Himself asserted (John 14:9), “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” Thus it is only through Jesus that we can know God personally (Luke 10:22).
(2). As the Word, Jesus shows our responsibility towards God.
Hebrews (1:1-2) begins, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” If God has spoken to us and Jesus is His Word, then we had better listen to and obey Jesus! As John 3:36 draws the line, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” To ignore God’s word to us in Jesus is a serious mistake! Jesus is the eternal God, the authoritative Word of God. Ignore Him to your eternal peril!
2. The Word is revealed in time as God in human flesh (1:14).
John 1:14 is one of the most wonderful and yet unfathomable verses in the Bible! How can God, who is spirit, become human flesh? How can the eternal become temporal? How can the unchangeable God take on a human body, subject to change? How can the immortal die as the substitute for our sins? How can the man, Jesus, whom John saw, also be the eternal Creator of the universe? But in spite of the incomprehensible mystery, this is what the Bible declares. As the angel explained to Mary (Luke 1:35), “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” John 1:14 makes four statements:
A. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
“The Word” takes us back to verse 1, meaning, the eternal Word who is God. This eternal one became flesh. John could have used a more mild term, such as, He became man. Perhaps John used “flesh” to counter the false teaching of the Docetists, who denied the true humanity of Jesus (1 John 4:2-3). They asserted that all matter is evil, which the Bible does not teach. Although Jesus does not share our sinful nature, He is completely human.
“Dwelt among us” means, literally, “tabernacled among us.” The tabernacle in the Old Testament was an earthly picture of God’s dwelling place among men. Jesus, in His human body, was God “pitching His tent” among men for a period of time.
B. We saw His glory.
God’s glory was associated with the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34, 35). With regard to Jesus, when He performed His first miracle, turning the water into wine, John 2:11 reports, “This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.” (See, also 11:4, 40.) John, of course, also saw Jesus’ glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, although he does not report that in his Gospel (see 2 Pet. 1:16-18). But there is a deeper sense in which God’s glory was manifested at the cross. When Judas went out to betray Jesus, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him” (John 13:31; see, also, 12:23-28). When John and the other apostles saw Jesus willingly offer Himself for our sins, they supremely saw the glory of God (see 2 Cor. 4:4-6).
C. Jesus’ glory was that of the only begotten from the Father.
The word “only-begotten” is better translated, “unique” or “only one of His kind.” The same word is used to refer to Isaac (Heb. 11:17). He was not Abraham’s only son, but he was his unique son, the son of the promise. Only begotten does not refer to Jesus’ being born of Mary or to His coming into existence at some time in the past (which He did not). Rather, it points to His unique relationship to the Father as the eternal Son. He is God’s Son in a unique way that no one else is or ever could be.
D. Jesus was full of grace and truth.
This phrase probably refers back to the Word. John adds these terms here because both are essential for understanding our salvation. Grace is God’s unmerited favor, shown to those who deserve His judgment. If you can earn salvation, then you don’t need grace. Only sinners need grace. The only way you can receive God’s salvation is to acknowledge your need as a sinner, renounce all trust in yourself or your own merit, and trust in the grace of God as shown at the cross of Christ.
Truth points to God’s character. He is absolute truth. By contrast, Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). As the God of truth, His righteous standard calls us to truth, but we have sinned and fall short of His perfect righteousness. Jesus claimed (John 14:6), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” Jesus embodied the truth and lived in accordance with God’s truth. When He offered Himself on the cross, as the sinless substitute, He paid the penalty for sin that we deserved. Thus He upheld God’s truth and yet could offer us grace. But, you must respond to God’s truth in Jesus:
3. Our response to the eternal Word made flesh should be to trust Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:4 states regarding those who are perishing, “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Unless God opens your eyes, you cannot see the glory of Christ, the eternal Word who became flesh. But, Paul continues (4:6), “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” When God opens your eyes to see His glory in Christ, you will instantly see the answer to life’s most crucial question: Who is Jesus Christ? He is the eternal Word who took on human flesh. His glory was especially revealed when He died on the cross on behalf of undeserving sinners, to satisfy God’s wrath. Therefore, I must trust Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord.
Have you answered that crucial question? If not, read the Gospel of John and ask God to open your eyes to see the glory of Jesus Christ. When He does, you will trust in Him as your Savior. If you have trusted Christ, but you’re struggling with difficult matters, come back to that crucial question. You must follow Him as Lord, even if He doesn’t deliver you from prison and even if a wicked king cuts your head off. Everything in this life and in eternity rests on the right answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” Can you say, “Lord Jesus, You are the eternal Word made flesh, the glory of the unique Son of the Father, full of grace and truth for me”?
Application Questions
1. Why is it more important than anything else to be clear on who Jesus really is?
2. Can a person deny the deity of Christ and yet be saved? Why not?
3. What would you say to someone in a cult who said, “I just can’t understand the Trinity”? How would you proceed?
Related Topics: Christmas, Christology, Discipleship, Soteriology (Salvation) | <urn:uuid:031ec44f-c0ff-44d8-8bcb-0f22c7628f76> | https://bible.org/seriespage/christmas-2006-eternal-word-made-flesh-john-11-14 | en | 0.968271 | 0.021976 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The Seventeen Daily Beauty Tip!
coco rocha messy pixie cut
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Coco Rocha's Tousled Pixie Style
Who: Coco Rocha
The Expert: Celebrity hairstylist Anh Co Tran
The Look: The easiest way to style a pixie cut
The Tip:
1. First, apply some Oribe Fountain Mist spray into her hair to protect it from the heat.
2. Then, blow out your hair using a small round brush to smooth. Dry the sides and back using a back and forth to create movement! After the sides and back are dry, do the same to the top—smooth it out but don't make it too straight.
3. After the hair is completely dry, apply some Oribe Fiber Groom. Be conservative with the product when using it—it’s always better to use less at first and then more if needed! Tousle your hair with your fingers.
4. After the hair is complete, apply some Oribe Super Fine Strong Hairspray to seal in the look.
• 0 | <urn:uuid:a62e99f8-2075-473e-962e-610e37069af1> | http://www.seventeen.com/beauty/tips/daily-beauty-tip-2sNqqx | en | 0.862804 | 0.077324 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Win Consulting Clients Using this Referral Strategy with Katie McConnel Olson
Win Consulting Clients Using this Referral Strategy with Katie McConnel Olson
Show Video
Hello. Everyone its Michaels of Persky and today I'm here with Katie McConnell Olsen Katie welcome, thank. You happy to be here yes. So you are the founder, and CEO of higher education, Consulting Group a full-service. Talent optimization, consulting, firm so for everyone out there just, explain what does Talent optimization. Mean. Exactly. Good question. Basically, it means we do all things in the search and hiring strategy. Space so, we do full cycle search much like a traditional recruiter. And then. A bunch of other stuff too all of the strategy, behind what that really means like we need to add a new role or we don't know how much to pay or how. Do we afford, somebody, what is off-boarding, you know they're not a match anymore or what is our org chart look like and where do we know when we need to add role all, the way through process, improvement around the hiring cycle and essentially anything in the talent base about. It okay and you, know when I was preparing. For our call, here today and kind of just going through your, your. Passuk you've had quite a journey from being. A tax, auditor, or kind of in that tax auditing world. Right a VP, of Assurance and I guess like doing financial, audits and then, into recruiting so probably walk us through what. That looked like for you to like, how you started off and got, to where you are today, yes. Definitely, a checker board pass not a ladder climb. My. Degree is in finance and, I started, as an auditor in public accounting so basically, I was a bean-counter that, went out to companies and, looked at their financials, mostly. In the public company space to make sure the numbers are right for, the shareholders, and then. Took a couple twists and turns in my career through a few startup, ventures, ended. Up landing in a start-up, CPA firm and was, doing some of the same work but really got a taste of what it means to build a business and you know go find clients and what it means to be a business, owner then. From there I ended up landing in recruitment, by, way of startups. That didn't stay started, as that. Sometimes happens and then became. A recruiter and so, that was kind of the first foray into recruiting. And I was recruiting, accounting, roles and working with a lot of accountants, and then. Realized I'm, kind, of underutilized. But I have a lot of ideas and I got recruited back in the public accounting, to, run, the recruiting Department for a national, CPA firm so, got to go through a lot of merger and acquisition, at that point in time loves, the role but, at one point in time said, I have a business idea here, on how we can help clients and so I migrated, back into the client side and started the practice within, that CPA firm helping companies hire accountants.
One. Thing led to another that, company, went through an acquisition at, that point in time I found all kinds of other ideas and decided to exit that firm and start my own company which has hired a JRE, education, consulting, built. A team and now here we are with, the full cycle strategy, and then search well, beyond just accountant, at this stage and, then what, made you like what was kind of the impetus, or the. Tipping point er that the push that may decide you know what after all like. These you know the different things that you've been through which is quite a bit in terms of what you just shared what, made you like what push should actually get into consulting, and start, your own business like, why not just go out and work. At another firm or do another kind of startup like why actually specifically, get into the, consulting. Good. Question I think there's a business need, that I saw in a market that wasn't, getting access to the services that we offer a lot. Of the clients that I worked with at that time and still do are in the construction, and trade place for the AEC, industry, I am, architecture. Engineering and construction, really. Great. With the back of the house work but really struggled, with the front of the house infrastructure. Around adding people and in, the market that is just exploding. And doing really well as it was at. Its peak when I started this company saw. A market that wasn't getting served and there was a need for it and I think that's really where it came to be was well what if we created a business that could serve them and really solve a problem which i think is how most companies started, hey there's a problem how, can we fill a need and then, it really evolved, into letting the market lead us into hey. You, know we're doing exit interviews and more seen that this is a reoccurring, problem let's start a service line around a feedback. Program that can solve this problem yeah. So, I mean what I love about that is you're right like so you identify the need, right. But I think a lot of people have, ideas. The, market, needs what we have or right we have something great to offer but actually translating, that into a, successful. Business or even before it's successful, taking, that that kind of idea and actually going out to the marketplace and validating. That idea or getting, your first client, that's a challenge for a lot of people so it's con take us back to what. Did you do so you identified, but, there was a need right the next step was then to what go ahead and kind of validate it through conversations. Like how did you actually go about and confirm. That what your beliefs were like, the hypothesis, was actually going to play out and, then land your first client as a result of that I. Think. It started on the search side so we knew when clients were calling saying hey I need to hire somebody they have a neat - they have they needed an employee but, then really diving several, layers deep into that well why why do you have this meet is it growth is it turnover, is it, you, know people. Aren't getting things done and we're having a capacity issue where's, the need really coming from and just really. Getting curious and asking those questions and, then, finding out ok well the real root of the problem is we've, got turnover, and it's because of XYZ or we've got explosive.
Growth And we're not sure how to manage it this is what's really happening so, I think it's really, it, was getting curious, from the perspective, of hey we need to hire people and really finding the root. Of why we're hiring in the first place right, and then developing, core services, around that so. Then how did and then what did you actually do to get the first client is what you shared, from. What I understood is like the the. Previous experience, was really focused around accountants. But, where you when you launch your consulting business you were serving more of like the architects, and construction. Or, that that kind of area right in today's AC right. Yeah. How, did you make that. Like. That shift how did you go into the. AC in industries. Without necessarily having a lot of experience in that, area like what were the steps you took to actually start, lining the first few clients. Sure. So, our business model is really unique and not all of our business is referral, business so, we don't make cold calls, we don't, really chase leads we, do everything by way of introduction, and. Uniquely, positioned, because of my relationships, in the CPA community. They're our best referral partner so they're on the front lines with their clients, and we were very strategic about, developing, affiliate, relationships, with CPAs, so, that's really where we started was sitting across the table and saying hey you know I'm a free agent now I'm no longer associated, with one firm I can work for all of these firms how can we scratch each other's back if you will and create mutual value for each other and, they started helping me get in the door and our first client, was of the new firm when we first launched was actually a compensation, study so, it was a little bit on the fringe, because, it wasn't you know our core services, but it was a really good stretch project, and. One of my core values within my organization is, say yes we, always have the philosophy yes, if not, no so, we said okay how can we say yes we can do this if, you. Know X Y & Z happens and so we undertook, it and that was our first client project and we did a full compensation study which opened the door to some org chart work and then some search work and then referrals. And I'm. Not saying we don't you. Know have a CRM, system in an organized way to chase leads but we do it all through affiliate and partnership, yeah I love that so you need it yeah no take us deeper into that because I think there's a lot of value that could people could kind of you know get from just understanding, more. Clearly exactly what, you did so let's, just imagine you're, back in the day you're sitting I guess about a year ago or so in Aris and you start your consulting company right a little bit maybe on that you're. Sitting down with another CPA, you're, saying hey I'm no longer working with one company I can now, I can work with you I can help, a lot of your clients what. What did that exchange, look like what were you offering, them how are you positioning it that you could kind, of bring values, them and what were they looking for in return. That's. Where we always start the conversation, I always start with hey, how can I help you and what are you looking for is it new clients for you is it an extension of service line so that you guys can be the one-stop shop for your clients, as a CPA how can i fulfill, a need that you have and then, back in -. Okay well here's what we can offer you sometimes. We do pay our affiliates, for sending us business I think that there's a lot of value to be had in bringing, the opportunity. To the table so, we do have strategic, alliances, with number of other firms and businesses where, if they actually help us secure a client we will compensate. And vice versa. Typically. Those hoaxer. Know you're ahead you go ahead we. Typically have many mutual clients and, that's a great opportunity for them to tag us in or vice versa. We have complementary, services, and it's a great way to expand, our reach and you, know kind of keep it in the family if you will with the client base that we support.
And. When do you bring up the the. Compensation, Park is a pretty common question that we hear from from, clients and our coaching program and you, notice consultants, come in the community is is. It okay to you, know to pay a referral, fee when, you ask for it so what's made some of the best practices, that you've just. You know kind of identified. Or discovered. And currently now use when it comes to talking about referral. And content compensation. Our. Affiliate. Agreements, we set up front I don't. Think I would ever go to somebody, after I had already scratched, their back and given them a client and then said oh by the way surprise you owe me for that I would, say that expectation, needs to be set up front the, way that we went about it in the beginning was, hey. We're, spending business, to mat quite a bit and that's making a lot of money off of us we should probably approach, that and say hey you know what. Would you think about making this official and that's really what we did and once we had a couple of them in place we had some momentum and then could approach other individuals, and say you know it looks like you have a really complimentary, service offering what would you think about striking, an agreement right out of the gate so that foundation, is set and there isn't any awkwardness, about trying to to build on the back end yeah, I love how you position now because it makes, it just like you lower your guard when the, expectations, are very clear from the beginning right rather than going into and kind of wondering like you're you're kind of taking the what are the cat out of the bag it's, just very clear like what you know what both parties are are thinking what's that that's really powerful and. Then how. Did you get in front of CPAs right, busy. People they're. Working with our clients and how did you actually set, the meetings to, be able to have these conversations set, these strategic kind of partnerships, and and, referrals. With them. Well. I kind, of cheated because I do have a CPA, license, and came from that world so a lot of them in my region were, I went, to college with them I saw them at other events we kind of traded. Throughout. Firms over the years so I kind of you know knew people that knew people but. For outside, of the region a persistence, a lot of it was knowing, other people and once again leveraging, the network of the people that I did know I'm very big, on starting, with the hub of people that I do know and leveraging, my influencers.
Rather. Than you know just bugging people and sometimes, it's just sure persistence, beats resistance, in hey, it's me again you, know it's probably easier, to just take a half an hour meeting with me than just take out a restraining order so you, know maybe let's go that route and just sit down and give, me a half an hour of your time and, and then we'll forge a relationship and, sometimes it's, you know not all first dates turn into a romance sometimes it doesn't work out but getting, out there and meeting a ton of people, was. My approach to build that Network and I'm still doing it every day and, so when you let's say you know you go into LinkedIn or whatever your CRM you're looking ok I know these people I, want to have a meeting with them I don't know them that well like maybe maybe. We, met at some event or some you know whatever it was what's. The approach is it like if you could just kind of share me a sample script you use it just hey it's it's Katie and we're, both CPAs, I'd love to learn more about what you're doing or just something completely different what's kind of a tried-and-true, message. Or approach that you would use. If. I'm looking through mutual. Connections, that's the first place I'm going to start who are we both connected, to what do we have in common did we go to the same college have we touched, base, with the same client I'm of course going to use a mutual connection, as a door opener if I don't have any I'm. Looking for some other connection, point or I'm really just hoping, you. Know hoping for the best, I'm using my recruiter, skills and tips and tricks to try to throw a line in the water and hope I get, the catch of it-- and, for. Every 10 people do you reach out to how, many would you say that that actually turns into a, conversation. Gosh. Probably four, five, I think, we have a pretty good turn rate, as. I mentioned before we don't do a lot of Matt. Targeting. Is all very sort of hard, outreach. And. I try to be pretty careful about that because if I reached out to ten people and got ten meetings then I have a whole different problem with what to do with myself with time and. So balancing, all those things as far, as challenges of being a small business right, well, I know I know with what you share with me you know I'm kind of before we jumped on here in some, communication. Beforehand that the business is off to a really good start things have gone well you're. A little bit I think beyond a year now in terms of since starting, the consulting, business and you, already have is it four people on the team or how many team, members currently, are involved in the business we. Have four correct okay so, I think a lot of people right when they're starting a consulting, business or even if they're a couple of years into it they're really hesitating, and trying, to delay bringing on other people and building the team right, willing to save and keep, very lean and not manage people but clearly. You've taken a very different approach to tell us what was the mindset for you or is the mindset for you around building, teaming and hiring. Sure. Well. Part. Of our business our big, piece of our business messaging. Is around human leverage right hire people and get human leverage so if we're going to walk the talk and do what we teach our clients to do we pretty much have to take, that approach -. For me it's. Not less scary I understand. How terrifying it is and that, one hour of investment, is so hard to give up from your day but it does turn into hundreds. And hundreds of hours of leverage. Once you have somebody ramped up in the chair about human leverage. It's amazing, to come to work every day and have a team that executes, on my vision my goal to. Be unified, in one, mission. That, were helping so many businesses, around the region around the western United States achieve their goals and mission so, why wouldn't you but. There is a headache and a lot of paperwork that comes with payroll and labor, things and it's. Definitely been a learning, curve for me also, what. Was the first role that you hired for. Critter. Okay. And why, did you choose, need. To bring up bring on a recruiter, as opposed to let's say an, assistant. Or some other could you just kind of delegate some lower value tasks do. So. My approach in looking at how to add hires is the same advice that I would give a client and that's to look at where's my highest and best use and my, highest and best use was not being, a recruiter it was going out and growing the business and bringing in new work because that's what I love to do and not to then go to that.
Said If my highest and best use was being a grinder I probably would have hired a business development person to. Augment that and I would have delivered the service instead so, I don't know that there's one roadmap my advice to anyone who's at a critical mass and going I'm having a capacity challenge. Is to say okay. Do, you want to keep having a capacity challenge. Or have a sales problem, you know which, either, or the pendulum is going to swing back and forth every day of the week as a small business owner and where's. Your highest and best use and put yourself there and hire to, augment that rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades so. I did add an assistant, but not until we had hired a consultant, and. The assistant was actually the fourth person that came on board and and knew I'm fairly new on the team because. My highest and best use is not administrative, work, which. We learned the hard way I think and decided. That we needed to talk about that but also I think revenue producing people is important too if you want to keep putting your foot on the guy yeah. I think that's really really good advice Katie so. For the consult listeners right now who goes. Yeah okay yeah I want to maybe I already have a couple of people on team or even a few people I want to hire, the next person or I want to even hire the first person but I've, had some bad experiences in, the past I'm. Looking I don't know necessarily how to find the right person and then when, I have maybe found some people how do I evaluate the mode be some. Best practices, that you would offer like just you definitely, shouldn't be thinking about this or you need to that in terms of finding good quality people and then be, able to evaluate them that they're gonna have, the highest, likelihood of success a, lot. Of this question this is my domain. It. Depends, on what the role is but, if you're hiring for say an assistant, or a junior, consultant, or somebody that's going to replicate you, hire. For your strengths, I think one of the things that I see clients do so often that is a misfire, is they hire for their weaknesses, with the thought process, well I'm not very good at X. So, I need somebody that's going to do that well oftentimes that creates a rub, especially in a small business where you're looking to scale and grow and you really need somebody to replicate, you and to be one voice you need to hire for your strengths and so, my advice is what, are your strengths I can. Tell you that I am very, driven. I have a very high sense of urgency winning. Really matters to me so, interviewing, my team I asked, questions like, what is winning mean to you what does it mean to achieve tell, me what your core values are and really diving into what what they are you know and if their work-life. Balance and, vacation, maybe, that's not the person for me because I need somebody that says you know winning at everything and working night and day to get the job done looking. For core value alignment, it's so foundational, because, your fourth hire is 25%, of your business. Talk. A little bit more about like that that part on making, sure that the kind, of culture the values there's, this alignment around that that makes a lot of sense me but it if you could expand a little bit more on you said don't, Hilux Locke you would fire based, on building, in their areas they're weakened and you said that you should be making sure that you're hiring also, into your strengths talk a little bit more like what do you mean about that. So. I, will give you an example so let's say you, want to hire a business development, person hey I'm at critical mass I'm a great doer, but I really need someone who can help me go out and get some new business you're. Going to need somebody with a sales skillset, skills. And a cultural alignment are two different things right skills are a culmination of past experience, and cultural, alignment is at my core what, are my values skills. Aside you want people that have that cultural, alignment with you and whatever that looks like because the last thing you want is a really really good salesperson that's, bringing in completely the wrong type of clients for your business right I mean that's going to be a disaster, and you're going to have a bunch of clients on your hand that you don't want to do work for, so.
I My advice is really to sit down and make, a list on a piece of paper if you if you're not at the point in your business where you actually have core values go. Through that exercise and figure out what's really important, you know what's our ethos ours is we do great work with great people super. Simple if you're not great people we don't want you as a client right. That's. Our first criteria, but, looking at what your values, are and you, know matching. That up with other people and really exploring, that through a solid energy process there, are also amazing, personality. Assessment. We, use a couple of them within our firm and apply, them with clients, as well that, can really help you kind of take a pulse on someone's, natural tendencies, and give some pretty quick insight on what's, the sense of urgency how, attention, to detail how patients, are they what's their introversion extraversion, level and that can really help as well that, you should use predictive indexes, out more the ones use we. Do we love addictive index and we're certified in that as well so everyone on my team is taking it we have several clients that are using it and. So. The. Consultants, thinking, okay I want to bring on someone I've identified that you. Know maybe I'm a doer and I, need a business develop person or vice, versa right I want someone who can implement and I want to do more of the strategy the vision you know the business development side of growing, the. Firm but, maybe they don't yet have in, their minds, the you. Know the financial ability to go out and hire, someone but as the level of skills, that they want to bring on right they they can't fork out an extra, hundred fifty or 200 thousand dollars plus or whatever to get kind of a superstar that they're after what's. Your, experience you're kind, of you. Know recommendation, around, bringing. On someone who maybe doesn't have the. Level, of skills they're looking for or have. You found more creative, ways or better, ways to position and approach someone who does have a higher skill set let me use don't have the financial ability to you know to invest, and hire them at, where they're currently at. Well. There's always getting creative, with looking for someone that wants to be a part-time part-timer. Women. That are we entering the workforce after having kids are a great underserved, market, where. I think you can gain a lot and frankly, I did that with one of my employees she. Was on maternity leave when I found her she came on board three days a week, so start ramped, up to four days a week as her onboarding, and now she's gone full time as the kids have gotten older and that that works really well for us and enabled me to kind of spread, out the financial burden as she was ramped up of course, that situation, isn't going to be I mean I got, really really lucky, but. It's out, there if you're looking in the right places and you're positioning, yourself in the marketplace the right way otherwise. I would say if you really want it figure out a way to make it happen even, if it means you know. Selling. Your car and getting a smaller, car. I think, you would probably reiterate. The same advice is that if you really want to you pull out all the stops to make it happen I'm. Not sitting here looking, at you with, a smile on my face saying, oh I only work 20 hours a week and I haven't made any sacrifices, I've made a lot of sacrifices and, I work until 10 o'clock last night but, don't, let me kid you you, know you got to take. Strategic, risks, and go for it in, a calculated way ya, know I think that that's that's a really good advice, you, know what would you say then to the. Person goes okay yeah again I want to bring someone on where. Do I find the right people like. Is. There a go-to should, have, you found that you guys have mean of course you're doing recruiting but let's say someone, doesn't want to go out and hire a recruiter necessarily, what are some of the alternatives are, there certain job sites that are good like should be on indeed com should they be on, post. On LinkedIn to, be tapping to their if their network should be doing like all those things because I'm a we're, not taught with coaching clients that are really scaling up their business I often, share with them like you should always be building your bench of talent and what I mean by that is building relationships even.
Though You're not going to hire that person today or maybe next week or next month the more people that you know that you could tap into later, on right that's just going to make that process a lot easier and smoother when you do have a an engagement that you want to put them into or kind, of hire them so what. Are some recommendations you, would have around where people could go or what they should be thinking about if they want to start building that bunch of talent now. Absolutely. I think the first thing is to go through an exercise of what do you really want and create some abundant, clarity around what that is and maybe, you need to hire one person and, it could go three different ways it could be a business development person it could be a doer it could be an admin let's say create, those three job description, and get, them out to your immediate network so those people know hey, you're. Looking, and they can start keeping an ear to the ground for you and then they're going to kind of fund you hey I ran across this person the other day and they said they might be interested and then you can interview if you find the right person it can be a strategy shift, you might think, you need business development, and land in the best assistant, and now you're you know hire that person and change your strategy. My. I, think. Almost all of my employees came by way of me throwing a line in the water to my network and saying I'm going, to be hiring this person later, on down the future who do you know I'm always, interviewing, I'm always, having. Coffee meetings and interviewing from my own team also just to make sure if. You're waiting. Until you know you have an opening you're already two months behind right. But if you're pipelining, which is what I'm hearing the advice you're saying you've, already got people on deck that you're talking to and you're sort of working through your lists all the time so, LinkedIn, is another great place to go to run, some searches, on you, know what's in the market you, might think you need something and then you might run a search in your local market you know oh there's only two of these people that have that skill set hmm. Well I either need to call both of them or I need to retool what I'm really looking for because this isn't a viable strategy for my business yeah. That's. Really good advice yeah if you all wouldn't, even do that until as you said they need it and then by that point it's too late and you, know not that it's too late but it's it makes it a lot more difficult like climbing an uphill you, know a big mountain as opposed to just continue, to you, know to push along and with, with, not so much incline another. Question. I guess I have for you Katie because clearly. You've you've been very successful in getting your business to where it is today many. Concerns like in fact actually I just had the conversation earlier today with a with a coaching client who is, you. Know newer to consulting, but, they're right away looking to build their team and a concern that they have is, they. Mentioned is that, because, they've been speaking to the marketplace and declines about, them doing all the work it's not yet a team, that. Clients. Would end have a concern, when, they start putting a team member on to projects, and this is quite common right this comes up a lot because if you start off as a consultant you think it's all about you you're doing all the work and then you're worried they're gonna lose a client the clients not gonna be happy if you start putting someone else kind of you know into that role what, has been your experience and.
Just What are your thoughts kind, of around that in terms of the best practice, for the. Consultant, being the founder of the you, know the consulting business owner to, be able to put other team members into projects, so that they don't need to be the ones doing everything themselves. First. Of all I want to acknowledge the fear because it's absolutely. Real we. Are are connect when is our company and our vision and it's so scary but. Going back to my advice about hiring for that core value alignment, if you get the right people in place that really reiterate. Your vision, and have that same values, that you do, the fear is better. It doesn't go away but it's definitely better and then you have this new fear oh no what if my client likes them more than they like me and then they and then my employee right. So, there's always going to be something to be afraid of get, push it aside because, you, know you're going to let it hold you back or you're going to just acknowledge the fear and press on, we've, been really lucky in that we've taken an integrated, approach my. Approach to onboarding, is that for the first 30 days my team does not is not expect to do any work which. Seems really crazy but. That's the investment that I wanted to make and I want you to understand, our business I want you to really get, your feet under you with no expectation, of production, and I'm just going to watch you learn, and you're, eventually going to start taking things on and. Both times that we've done this with in the first or second week we have a producing, employee that's coming up with ideas and saying well here's ways I can add value but it really alleviates, the pressure and. Then start bringing them out to clients making, that introduction, partnering. With them getting. That human leverage is a time-consuming process but now I have, employees. On-site with clients where I'm not on site anymore and they're just updating me on what's going on we. Do still have a process, that I always want to know what happening because. If the client calls me I better be able to answer a question or have a mechanism to turn around and answer real quick on what's going on and some, of its just kind of relinquishing control. Which. Is terrifying, this. Idea, that. Hey no. One else is going to be able to do it like I am that's. Just a fact and it doesn't mean that it's not going to be better than the way I'm going to do is just not going to be exactly the same and that's okay but, we also have, a process handbook. We, have defined, core values, we have processes, for getting together on a regular basis, and sharing information because, my team is fairly remote out. On site at clients so there's mechanisms, in place so that I don't feel like I have rogue people, running around and I'm not I don't know what's happening well. Just take us back the main - the first time, or the first few you know situations. Where you had a client you were working with especially. An existing client and you then you want to introduce a, new team member into that project with, the idea of that new team member actually taking over your direct involvement, with. That client and kind of in that project what.
Do You do what you learn how to how did you position, it successfully. So the client accepted, that without you, know too much kind of objections. I'm. Thinking of a specific example and I actually really involved, the client in the whole process so I told the client I'm going, to be extending, an offer to somebody I'm really excited I hope that we land her I hope she accepts the, offer letter and then, the next time I spoke with the client they were kind of invested, and they said well did she accept him is she coming on board and I said she did and she is and if. It, works for you I want to introduce you to her and next time I'm out here next week I'm going to bring her along and they said yeah absolutely so they were kind of invested, into the success of my wind right, out of the gate it wasn't like I did it in a silo and then said surprise I kind of made them a part of the process which. Was really kind of fun and, then we, started transitioning. You. Know the relationship, meetings, I stayed involved for a while and held that employee built trust and now I think you, know she's off to the races and had better relationships, probably than I do with that client and knows more about the client than I do which, is great, yeah. Not that's a really good example of it I think that involving. The client is saying those expectations making. It part of it from the beginning is. So, I mean it's just it's a great way to do it because it's, like if you're rolling, out a new service, right rather than just rolling out a new service that you think what in your own mind for any of your clients involved not in making them part of it often leads to a more kind of successful adoption. Of it as well. Right. Yeah. I mean and it's unique with us being and hiring also, because we're hiring for our clients and we're hiring for ourselves so I think there's we, want each other to be successful, I mean I look at our goal as a consultant, for our clients is to help them get further up the mountain you know and were their Sherpa and a number of ways to make that happen that's, what I'm doing as the CEO of my company also, so my clients are my partner than that and I want them to feel good about you. Know the people that are on their team that. Buy-in is really crucial awesome. Okay, I want to thank you for coming on here and just sharing you know some of your journey and wisdom, and best practices, that you've kind, of collected along the way here where, should people go to learn just more about you and your company. Sure. You can visit us on the web at hire hir. E education. Consulting, comm hir. E education. Consulting, comm, links to videos all of our social media stuff, is there we, have some fun giveaways and, some resources you can download on the web also release the interview guides and hiring and things like that fantastic. All right so we'll, make sure to have all that linked up in the show notes and. Just to go to a consulting, success com type in KT, you'll, likely find it if not you can type in KT McConnell, Olsen but it'll. Be there and we'll. Have everything linked up and the resources available there as well so good. Stuff Katie thanks so much again for coming on. Awesome. Thank you.
2019-11-17 13:18
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Everyone feels like this sometimes. But this doesn’t make it true. First off, what is failing anyway? Not reaching a set standard. And who set this standard? If it’s someone else, you need to consider if it’s a standard for yourself that you even agree with. If it’s you, then be nice to yourself. I’m talking here about calling yourself a absolute failure, not just feeling disappointed about failing to pass a test or get a job.
And most of the time in life you can’t actually fail until you stop trying. If you’re here, you haven’t given up yet. You’re not finished. You can either keep pushing or you can reevaluate your life and come up with a better definition of success that works for you. We’ve talked before about pushing yourself and wanting to be as good as possible. That’s important but not as important as being secure in yourself and allowing yourself to enjoy the good things you have. You can’t do that while you’re holding up an unhelpful standard for success. It will just make you dissatisfied with everything you have.
There will always be people deciding on whether or not you have had a successful life. But everyone judges by their own standards, based on their own values. They’ll never all match with what is right for you. Here’s an obvious example. Imagine your brother is a high-powered lawyer in the city who defines success by how influential he can be among the people he mixes with, and what high society gatherings he is invited to. And you’re a primary school teacher who loves to travel and meet people from different cultures. If either of you measure the other’s life, you might easily label them a failure. But that makes no sense. It would be like saying the Mona Lisa was a complete failure as a piece of classical music. Or that the Grand Canyon was a useless fashion model. Or that Albert Einstein was a terrible work of pre-Raphaelite sculpture.
You define the terms of the success or failure of your life. I’d advise a combination of dreaming big but giving yourself grace to not be perfect. You will fail at times, but that’s normal. That doesn’t make you a failure. | <urn:uuid:0c2fb46d-a546-433c-acb3-7433d99cd763> | http://www.thingsyouare.co.uk/you-are-not-a-failure | en | 0.954974 | 0.148912 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
7 reasons why the Pixel 2 is better than the iPhone X
Google Pixel 2
I've been using Google's Pixel 2 XL for a few weeks, and, for the first time, I'm finding it harder to convince myself that it's that much better than an iPhone.
The iPhone X makes a serious case for itself purely based on design. It's that pretty, especially when you see it in person.
google pixel 2 xl assistant
The Google Pixel 2 XL and Pixel 2.
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
The Pixel 2 starts at $650, which is $350 less than the iPhone X's $1,000 starting price tag.
The larger Pixel 2 XL costs $850, which is still $150 less than the iPhone X starting price.
iphone x unboxing mkbhd
Marques Brownlee/YouTube
pixel 2 xl
4. The Pixel 2 phones are less expensive to repair, and there's less glass to break.
iphone x drop test
The iPhone X is being touted as the most expensive iPhone to repair. Without AppleCare+, it'll cost you $280 to repair the iPhone X's screen, and $550 for "other damage," which can include the iPhone X's glass back.
Meanwhile, it'll cost you $130 to repair the Pixel 2's screen. To repair the small glass panel on the back, it'll cost an estimated $170, which is expensive, but still cheaper than the iPhone X's repair cost.
For the Pixel 2 XL, it'll cost you $220 to repair a broken screen. To repair the small glass panel on the back, it'll cost an estimated $160. That's also expensive for a rear glass panel, but again, it's cheaper than the iPhone X repair.
Apple's iOS has a "Reduce Motion" option, but it seems to only change the default zoom-in and zoom-out animations when opening and closing apps to fade-in and fade-out animations. Apps don't appear to open or close any faster.
You can get one of the best smartphone cameras in the world starting at $650 versus the iPhone X's $1,000 price tag.
Also, when you're looking at the photos above, notice how the iPhone X tends to make certain details more yellow than the Pixel 2 XL's photo. It's especially noticeable on the street and buildings in iPhone X photo. It's a common theme with the iPhone camera, where it wants to make photos appear "warmer" than they actually are by adding a yellow-ish tint to the photo. Technically, making a photo warmer means that the iPhone X takes photos with less color accuracy, which some may not appreciate compared to the Pixel's more accurate colors.
7. Overall, Android is more customizable than iOS.
pixel 2 xl vs iphone x
Antonio Villas-Boas/Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
It's an age-old Android benefit that's been touted for years in the ongoing "iPhone vs Android" fan wars. But with the iPhone X, it's never been more relevant. Wouldn't it be nice to hide all your app icons on the iPhone X and make its gorgeous edge-to-edge OLED screen shine with your home screen wallpaper?
There are a lot of ways that Android is more customizable and efficient than iOS, like the app icons and the notifications shade, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to personal preference. If you care about customization and general efficiency, the Pixel 2 offers the best experience.
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Candidate Survey: Jay Payne for Baltimore County Council, District 5
Jay Payne
Office Sought and District
Baltimore County Council
Real Estate
Political Experience
No answer
Social Media Accounts
Facebook @JayPayne4MD
Why are you running for office?
My elected representative no longer represents Republicans within Baltimore County. It’s time to hold democrats and weak politicians on the county council accountable. For example, my opponent’s bi-partisan and independent decision to kill a common sense public safety bill (County bill 32-17). My opponent’s decision to oppose Governor Hogan’s Rain Tax Repeal at the county level (County bill 09-15). Accept $4 million in federal section 8 funding and expand the program (County bill 39-12) My opponent voting to give himself an $8000.00 pay raise while Baltimore County residents struggled under Obama and O’malley’s oppressive taxes and burdensome regulations.
Who do you consider your political role model, and why?
My political role model is Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan understood government should be limited and restricted. A limited government allows opportunity and liberty for all Americans. A limited government allows personal freedom and free markets to thrive. Ronald Reagan understood taxation and heavy handed regulations were, and still are an impediment to entrepreneurship and the financial well being of everyday Americans. Ronald Reagan understood the answers or solutions aren’t easy, they’re simple. But we must have the audacity and wherewithal to execute on those simple answers. If elected, expect me to just say no to new taxes and regulations.
I’ll pick three. The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater, The Art of War by SunTzu, and Dedication and Leadership by Douglas Hyde.
What will be your top priority in elected to this position?
Holding democrats accountable for their policies, and stopping them from expanding the size and scope of government. My opponent has sided with democrats on important republican issues on too many occasions. It’s time to practice conservative politics at the local level. My opponent is an unapologetic progressive, bi-partisan and independent of common sense. I will not placate.
What is the biggest issue facing your county?
1. Illegal Immigration 2. Property taxes 3. School overcrowding 4. Section 8 expansion 5. Pay to play cronyism within our local government.
What is your position on taxes and spending?
I fully support cutting taxes and spending cuts. Start at the highest levels of government and lead by example.
What is your position on a county tax cap?
I would rather reduce taxes and cut spending. I believe we should institute TABOR.
What is your position on land use issues?
I’m a firm believer in private property rights.
What is your position on public safety?
I fully support common sense public safety issues. Enact 287-G. 287-G is a good policy that’s working in Frederick and Harford Counties.
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Most Recent Telecalls
Destroying the Walls of Reality and Allowing You to Create Beyond It
What if you didn't have to live in the tiny little cell called your life any longer?
"Finally you'll be able to figure out that all those shackles and chains that you have dragging you down and keeping you down are actually unlocked; and all you have to do is shake and they're gone."
-- Gary M. Douglas
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The very brilliant Duncan Watts, formerly of Columbia University and Sante Fe Institute and now at Yahoo nails the cognitive bias of why we fail to predict bubbles and provides an original reason why hindsight fallacy is like a mystery novel. His newest book is Everything is Obvious: Once You Know The Answer. Here's an excerpt from his essay at Slate:
We all know, of course, that "hindsight is 20-20," but when we say this we're implying that our failure to predict the outcome resulted simply from not paying attention to relevant information. After a bubble has burst, that is, we can always find signs, and very often people, pointing out that it was a bubble; thus it always seems that investors could have known what was happening and just chose to ignore it.
But this view of history is actually deeply misleading. The real benefit of hindsight is that we only invoke it once we know the ending. And at that point, we don't merely have more information. We also know which of all the information we do have that fits into the story we want to tell—a story that has to end the way we now know it did.
By analogy, when you're reading a mystery novel, you don't necessarily know what to make of events because you don't know how the story ends. But the novelist knows and is carefully including or excluding characters, scenes, and actions, all based on his or her intentions for the way the various pieces are going to fit together at the end.
History is told the same way. Historical explanations can only be constructed in retrospect because only once we know the outcome can we decide what to emphasize and what to ignore. If the envisioned social network economy fails to materialize, financial historians will cluck-cluck at all the warning signs that investors overlooked to drive up LinkedIn's stock; and if it does materialize, those very same actions will later be construed as bold and insightful.
Duncan's prior work on network theory and social graphs led to Yahoo recruiting him in. | <urn:uuid:9bb78695-e631-45d9-83c9-f1eba51db2d8> | https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshwolfe/2011/06/24/this-guy-nails-why-we-cant-nail-bubbles-hindsight-fallacy/ | en | 0.973031 | 0.430613 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
How 3D Printing Saved the Lives of Babies with Collapsing Airways
How 3D Printing Saved the Lives of Babies with Collapsing Airways
While 3D printing has caused quite a sensation in so many areas of everyday life, it is always in the documented reports of life-saving situations, where the technology is involved, that really forces people to appreciate the often unbelievable applications of 3D printing. If the ultimate purpose of the most sophisticated technology is to save lives in the process, then 3D printing has already done it many times over.
One such example of Additive Manufacturing’s latest heroic feat comes in the form of 3D-printed tracheal splints that saved the lives of 3 children who have been diagnosed with terminal tracheobronchomalacia. It is a debilitating condition that happens to only 1 out of 2,000 children and is dreaded because it prevents children from breathing naturally as the airways collapse due to the pressure that comes every time a person breathes.
How 3D Printing Saved the Lives of Babies with Collapsing Airways
Most of the time, children with this rare form of illness spend their time on respirators and other machines. At any given time they can experience severe difficulty in breathing and almost always suffer from cardiac arrest. They are also mostly under medication and even sedation, which hinders them from even moving naturally. Food consumption is another gargantuan task as the sickness, especially when severe, causes the body to reject food.
As there is no real solution and as the parents face the agonizing fact that their children may never come out alive from the hospital, doctors at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital turned to 3D printing to help save the lives of 3 kids named Kaiba Gionfriddo, Garrett Peterson, and Ian Orbich. The doctors were able to get the FDA to provide them with an emergency permission to go ahead with the process of using 3D printed tracheal splints to help the airways remain firm every time the children breathe.
Also read: 3D Printed Gaming Console: The Pirakeet
How 3D Printing Saved the Lives of Babies with Collapsing Airways
Through the 3D-printed creation of Dr. Glenn Green, M.D., an associate professor of pediatric otolaryngology and Scott Hollister, a professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, both at the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, the lives of these children were saved. The technology was amazingly critical in getting the right size and design of the splints. Also, the device should help the airways withstand the pressure of breathing without constricting it. In a few years’ time, the materials used in the devices were supposed to be absorbed by the body for natural growth and to limit complications.
Dr. Richard G. Ohye, M.D., who performed all three surgeries and who happens to be the head of pediatric cardiovascular surgery at the hospital, sees the enormous implications of the success created by the use of 3D-printed tracheal splints. It should give them the necessary backing for more clinical tests to thoroughly understand everything about the procedure, including its possible complications.
Kaiba, now 3, Garrett and Ian now both around two and a half, are obviously so much better after the 3D-printed implants were placed. The trio is now cuddly and cute toddlers that are moving around and enjoying life like most kids of their age are. It is nothing short of a miracle made possible by the skills and expertise of the doctors and the emergence of 3D printing technology in the world.
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| <urn:uuid:c8462a63-be28-40da-ab4d-2e7c283cf30c> | http://3dprintingfromscratch.com/2016/03/how-3d-printing-saved-the-lives-of-babies-with-collapsing-airways/ | en | 0.955274 | 0.114279 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Final Cut Pro 6 - Using Master and Affiliate Clips
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Using Master and Affiliate Clips
As you edit, you may generate many copies of the same clip. For example, you may use
different segments of the same clip multiple times in one sequence. Or, if you make
multiple versions of a sequence, each sequence may contain a copy of the same clip,
but the duration of each clip may be different.
All of these clip copies refer to the same media file on disk. When it’s time to recapture,
consolidate your media, or move your footage to another system, reducing the number
of clips you need to manage can save a lot of time and disk space.
For example, suppose you have finished editing your project and now you want to
recapture the media files for your sequence clips at high resolution. If you used the
same clip many times in your sequence, it would be a waste of time and disk space to
capture the same media file over and over for each clip copy.
To simplify media management, Final Cut Pro uses a single master clip to control
multiple copies of a clip. The primary purpose of a master clip is to manage the
relationship between multiple copies of a clip and a single media file. The first time you
import or capture a media file, a master clip is created. Subsequently, each copy of the
master clip that you create is called an affiliate clip.
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Part I
Media and Project Management
Master-affiliate clip relationships help you to:
 Keep track of which clips in your project use the same media
 Perform media management operations on one, some, or all affiliated clips
 Trace your steps from an affiliate clip in a sequence back to the unmodified master clip
Note: If you need to, you can break the relationship between affiliate clips and master
clips, turning the affiliate clips into independent clips. You generally don’t want to do
this because then you lose the benefit of a single master clip controlling all the others.
There are a few cases where independent clips can be useful, but it’s best to avoid
them unless you have a special reason. | <urn:uuid:3ece2db4-409d-40f4-b62a-dd3a2dce6b72> | https://final-cut-pro-6.helpnox.com/en-us/final-cut-pro-user-manual/volume-iv-media-management-and-output/part-i-media-and-project-management/working-with-master-and-affiliate-clips/using-master-and-affiliate-clips/ | en | 0.880652 | 0.049414 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Are We Ready For A Global Gold Deficit
The global demand for gold as a safe haven is growing but gold is increasingly being used in other industries like jewellery and electronics. Tons of gold bars and gold coins are bought every day but few people ever stop to think about how much more gold we can expect to get from this planet. Gold cannot be manufactured, it is a completely natural resource and as such it is limited. We have heard talk about peak gold production but we either aren’t fully aware of what this means or we are simply oblivious to what is going on.
So how did we get here? There are three main reasons why we are facing a peak gold crisis:
Gold is becoming less accessible
The World Gold Council reports that more that two-thirds of the global gold reserves were mined after the 50s. That is gold that was easy to access , now we have to dig deeper, buy more expensive technology or face losing more lives just to get to the deepest levels of the earth. We may be able to devise some useful technology but finding undiscovered gold deposits is a real challenge. There has been a reported decline in the amount of gold found by miners between 2006 and 2015. The decrease was a staggering 85%.
High gold production costs
To explore and to mine that gold from the bely of the earth companies have to invest in new technology. They also need to put money in research and explorations. This costs a lot of money but it companies know they cannot rely on outdated geological data and old technology. The race is to find new gold deposits and to invest in efficient production machinery. This costs money and sometimes this investment does not pan out or produce spectacular results. The high cost of mining for gold has bankrupted a few companies and many mines across Australia, South Africa and other countries have had to cease operations because they were not making much profit.
Bureaucratic obstacles
Different countries have different laws governing mining and sometimes these can be major obstacles for mining companies. It could take up to 20 years to move from discovery to actual production. Since the 70’s there were deposits with up to 50 million ounces of gold and one could find up to 10 sites with deposits of about 30 million ounces of gold. This happened every decade or so but these gone significantly down in the last decade. There are virtually not a lot of large scale mine deposits that have been discovered in recent time. So, the difficulty of finding need gold deposits also has an effect on the price of gold.
Different countries have different problems they have to contend with:
Australia has been experiencing a decline in gold production resulting in the closure of a lot of mines. Researchers estimate that Australian gold production will reach rock bottom as soon as 2022.
The United States and Canada have experienced a decline in production from some of their largest gild mining companies. Companies like Garrick Gold, Goldcorp and Newport have seen an average 15% decline in their production figures.
South Africa had high gold productions in the 70s, however since then the production rates have been declining. They currently stand at 80%.
Peru which has also been a big producer of gold has not reported any new findings recently. Researchers estimate that by 2022, the production of gold will decrease by 1,9 million oz.
So, what is the future of gold?
The growing reduction in production will make the disparity between supply and demand even worse. The biggest consumers in the gold market are China and India. Gold is essential in the culture in both these countries but it is also becoming clear that people in these countries also buy gold as protective asset. More countries are seeing the value of owning gold. This will ensure that gold remains a savvy and successful investment in coming years.
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| <urn:uuid:cd94a291-cfb7-4b82-8f7a-612f832458ad> | http://www.goldnews.com.au/2019/02/21/are-we-ready-for-a-global-gold-deficit/ | en | 0.977639 | 0.046068 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sorry, I'm On My Mediocre-Phone
So, first, the good things about Juno:
What a compelling story! And the acting! Man, I wish Allison Janney were in more movies. Also, Jennifer Garner gave the best performance her tiny little brain would allow. Also, Ellen Page has the potential to really kick ass if she doesn't become her generations quirk girl...
*And now, we wade into the shit*
...Which, unless she spends the next film she's in reciting her lines on a unicycle, is impossible. Seriously, could a script be more dishonest and stupid?
Do you know how playing Dance Dance Revolution is like dancing, but not really dancing? The dialogue was so impossibly mannered that screenwriter Diablo Cody* must have written by playing Script Script Revolution. I mean, the characters were speaking, technically, but only in the strictest denotational sense of the word.
And I understand the need for flourishes and fun dialogue and wierdness. Not every film needs to be completely naturalistic. That'd be boring. But for Christ's sake, I can only take so much preciousness.
Becky wants to see it, so I might take another go at Juno. Tons of people I respect really loved it, so I wonder if my natural curmudgeonly-ness is coloring my opinion too much.
PS: Why didn't she get an abortion? Why does no one get an abortion in these pregnancy movies? They're legal! Please will someone get an abortion? Also, the clinic where she got an abortion--you know what? Fuck it. I'm writing a ten-minute movie that ends with the teenager getting an abortion and going on with her life.
*Fucking hell, that name.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Boy in the Moon
Metafilter showed me this article about this journalist and his son, who has a rare condition. I'm not sure if this is exploitative, but I like it. It also has a very stylish video accompanying it. It's also part of a series, so I'll probably keep my eye on it. | <urn:uuid:25971d5a-8e13-42cb-b372-2a7e5470b359> | http://joestantontheshow.blogspot.com/2007/12/ | en | 0.9718 | 0.414907 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Each service has two IP addresses - which are prioritised to run on different servers - but if either of the servers fails or is shut down for any reason, the IP address will migrate quickly (maximum timeout, 20 seconds) to the other host.
These machines will be placed (eventually, still waiting on cabinet migration plan to complete) in different cabinets on different power supplies, giving us much greater safety against power failures in future (though our IMAP servers aren't replicated yet - so there are still failure modes that take us totally down)
Anyway - nice to be started on the path to full replication! | <urn:uuid:3f19dc08-d378-4552-92f8-9051ee8feec1> | https://fastmail.blog/historical/frontend-services-now-on-new-replicated-infrastructure/ | en | 0.939758 | 0.226061 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Mullinex Ford Complaint - Dealer Can't Fix His Own Product!!!!
Review by no more fords! on 2008-06-09
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA -- I have a 1994 ford Crown Victoria ( the main stay of Fords business !) that wouldn't start. It would turn over but not fire. So I had it towed to the local Ford dealer for repair and a recall on the cruise control. They replaced the cps ( crankcase postioning sensor) and I paid the 375 dollar bill and drove home. A day and a half later it was doing the same thing! The dealer towed it in, said they pay the bill and started to work on it again.They said it wasn't the cps, it was the wiring to it ( mechanic told the service writer the first time in that it was marginal but he let it pass!)
They would give me full credit for the part against the new bill.A week goes by and they still couldn't fix it or diagnose it!!!! Even suggested I not try to have it fixed!! I said fix it. They said they were going to check the fuel pump and I said it isn't the fuel pump. The reset button for it in the trunk didn't trip. I suggested they check for a firing problem not fuel problem. They didn't and ended up breaking the fuel lines. Then they replaced the computer ( said the service mgr tested it and it wasn't putting out a sginal) so they sent it out for repair. Its now been a MONTH and its still not ready. I called Ford last week and they called the dealer.
That was last week and still I haven't even heard from the dealer!!! Can you imagine a Ford dealer that can't even fix a Crown Victoria that just won't start??!!!!I'm going to call Ford Motor co. again tomorrow, but it really makes you wonder who they have there for "mechanics". I'll bet none of them have a high school diploma, G.E.D or even a green card!!!
Comments:1 Replies - Latest reply on 2008-06-10
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-06-10:
It is a 14 year old car. Since you seem to think you know what it is, tow it to an independent mechanic who will do what you want them to do.
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| <urn:uuid:ee6fdf99-776d-445c-b208-b77098aa234c> | http://mythreecents.com/showReview.cgi?id=37990 | en | 0.978043 | 0.051836 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Soviet-DPRK Relations: Purges, Power, and Dissent in North Korea’s Formative Years
By | March 29, 2013 | 1 Comment
Kim Il-sung in Moscow. Accepted, but unloved. | image via AKS
Kim Il-sung in Moscow, March 4, 1949. Accepted, but unloved. | image via AKS
On the surface, North Korea looks like a state whose leaders adhere to a strict ideology: socialism (in our style), Juche, Kimjongilism, and a pocket full of other “isms”. Yet, while not void of all explanatory value, an ideological understanding of the North Korean leadership misses out on the more Machiavellian aspects of what it takes to rule: power. Andrei Lankov takes us back to North Korea’s foundational years to show how Soviet-DPPRK relations and Kim Il-sung’s rule were guided less by ideology and more by power considerations. Power – and power consolidation – was the guiding principle by which North Korea was ruled, even if it meant biting the proverbial hand that fed them. — Steven Denney, Managing Editor
by Andrei Lankov
A Soviet-sponsored State: North Korea in the Early Years | When people talk about North Korea in the past, they often describe it as a “former ally of the Soviet Union.” It is sort of assumed that North Korea from the late 1940s to the early 1990s was seen in the Kremlin as a fraternal country that had to be protected and, if necessary, showered with aid.
This was clearly not the case though. Relations between the Soviet Union and North Korea were usually quite tense, and occasionally even hostile, especially in the late 1950s and early 1960s – but occasionally on later dates as well. Even when strategists in Moscow saw North Korean rulers as their allies, they had little doubt that they were talking about unreliable, capricious, and highly manipulative allies, whose demands might have to be met because of geopolitical considerations, but whose policies inspired no sympathy in Moscow.
It is true that the emergence of the North Korean state was to a large extent the result of a Soviet-controlled experiment in social engineering; so until the early 1950s, North Korea remained under firm Soviet control.
The level of Soviet leverage decreased in the early 1950s since it was China, not the Soviet Union, whose military intervention saved the North Korean regime from near certain collapse in October 1950. However, every Korean ministry still had a Soviet chief advisor whose job in internal Soviet documents at the time was frankly described as “the Soviet minister.” Technical and administrative advisors were present in nearly all major enterprises, while military advisers could be found in all military units down to the battalion level. Soviet culture and the Russian language were aggressively promoted by the North Korean state. In short, until the mid-1950s, North Korea looked very much like an Eastern European country under Soviet domination.
These policies did not last for long, however. From the very beginning, the North Korean state was quite different from its Eastern European counterparts. There were at least two major differences between North Korea on the one hand and countries like Bulgaria and East Germany on the other.
Cut from Soviet Cloth: Dyed on the Peninsula | First, Kim Il-sung and his entourage were not only communists but also nationalists. From its emergence in around 1920, East Asian communism had a strong nationalistic tinge. For young Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese students who flocked to their respective communist parties in the 1920s and 1930s, communism was not merely a way to ameliorate social injustices and help the downtrodden, but also a way to deal with national injustices. It allegedly provided an efficient short cut to modernity – to a powerful and modern state – and it was strongly anti-imperialist, too.
Many strongmen of 1950s Eastern Europe were probably quite sincere in their commitment to sacrificing the petty national interests of their countries for the good of the Communist Motherland – i.e. the Soviet Union. Thus, until 1956, they proved willing to submit to Moscow’s every whim (with the exception of Yugoslavia). Communists of East Asia were much less willing to do so. As they often said, the prosperity of their own countries was at least as important to them as the prosperity of humankind.
It is therefore not surprising that Kim Il-sung, up until then a lifelong resistance fighter, was less inclined to accept his country’s inferior status vis-à-vis Moscow than, say, Cherenkov or Zhivkov in Bulgaria.
Second, unlike Eastern European regimes and as I wrote last time here on SinoNK, the Kim Il-sung government in North Korea enjoyed a significant measure of popular support. The majority of Poles, Hungarians and Romanians in the 1950s saw their governments’ as a bunch of Moscow puppets. North Korea of the 1940s, though, underwent a genuinely popular revolution. The North Korean “toiling masses” were inspired not only by visions of a classless and affluent society, but also by visions of Korea recovering its proper place under the Sun. With such support from below, Kim Il-sung was much less dependent on Soviet military, administrative, and political support than his Eastern European counterparts. He (and for that matter Mao and Ho Chi Minh) felt not the slightest need to be protected by Soviet tanks.
In the beginning, Stalin and the youthful Kim shared a pictoral stage. | image via AKS
Purges, Dissent, and Out from Under the Thumb: Charting a New Course | In the mid-1950s, Kim Il-sung began to steer his country away from the Soviet sphere of influence. He would have probably done it anyway, but his decision was hastened by news of destalinization in Moscow. He saw these new Soviet policies as potentially threatening his personal power, but it is also quite likely that Kim Il-sung and the people around him felt a genuine ideological contempt for Khrushchev-style socialism with its emphasis on individual well-being and material prosperity.
Therefore, in the years 1956-1959, Kim Il-sung purged the local pro-Soviet officials. It helped that many of them took part in the unsuccessful “August conspiracy” of 1956, when they tried to replace Kim Il-sung with a more moderate and more Khrushchevian leader.
Between 1957-1959, most Soviet-Korean officials who had been dispatched to North Korea by Moscow in the late 1940s, and who had played a crucial role in the country’s initial history, were sent home or arrested unceremoniously. A few of them would subsequently be executed for their participation (real or alleged) in anti-Kim Il-sung activities.
Some North Korean citizens in Moscow, being influenced by the more liberal Soviet political climate, openly expressed their disgust with North Korean policy, and went so far as to ask for asylum in the USSR. Political asylum was granted, and was another reminder of the growing differences between the USSR and its former client.
The then North Korean ambassador to Moscow, Yi Sang-cho, joined dissenting students in applying for asylum which was duly granted. Reputedly, Yuri Andropov – the future KGB chief and then a rising star in the Party central bureaucracy – lobbied especially hard in favor of this unusual decision. Indeed, the case of North Korea’s runaway ambassador seems to be unique in the entire history of the communist camp.
North Korea retaliated in a very peculiar way, which was soon to become their typical modus operandi: in 1957-9, North Korean intelligence agents attempted at least three times to abduct dissenting students. Two such attempts were unsuccessful, but fate eventually smiled on the North Korean spies. On the November 24, 1959, in broad daylight, North Korean operatives kidnapped Yi Sang-gu, a promising musician who had applied for asylum while studying in Moscow. He was injected with narcotics and sent back to North Korea. His fate is unknown, but it is unlikely that the authorities were kind to him.
North Koreans in Exile: Effects of Souring Soviet-DPRK Relations | The Soviet Union also retaliated in a rather unusual fashion. North Korea’s ambassador was expelled from the country – another unprecedented development in the history of the communist bloc.
About a dozen North Korean students and intellectuals found themselves exiles in Moscow in the late 1950s. It was quietly agreed that these people would not be allowed to live in the Soviet capital and would also be discouraged from partaking in openly political activities. For example, Yi Sang-jo, the runaway ambassador, was sent to Minsk, where he became a historian of philosophy at a local university. Eventually, by the late 1960s, most of the escapees had been allowed to return to Moscow; but they were of course still carefully watched by the KGB. The Party also tolerated some of their quiet, anti-Pyongyang activities.
For example, Ho Un-bae, one of the non-returnees of the mid-1950s, wrote the first independent study of Kim Il-sung’s rise to power, which in the early 1980s was published in Japan and eventually translated into a number of languages.
Facing these developments, the North Korean government decided to recall the North Korean students who were studying in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. By that time, the Soviet Union’s new ideological trends were being described as “revisionist,” and so the students were sent to reeducation camps to spend a few months memorizing the speeches of the Great Leader and delivering mutual denunciations. Those who were found guilty of revisionist transgressions were sent for further re-education in mines or rice paddies, while others were allowed to work.
From then until the late 1970s, no North Korean students were permitted to attend Soviet colleges. Soviet scholars and students were also not welcome in North Korea anymore (there were some exceptions though, and a handful of students did manage to study in Pyongyang in the 1970s).
From 1960, Soviet citizens (overwhelmingly women) who had married North Koreans in the 1940s and 1950s, found themselves under increasing pressure. Some of them were not allowed to go back to North Korea after their short trips to the USSR, and were thus cut off from their families. Some others discovered that their husbands had been suddenly ordered to move to remote areas with no accommodation for families. If the latter measure were not a sufficient deterrent, forced divorce usually ensued, and from the mid-1960s all such mixed marriages were annulled, with the women sent back to the USSR. Indeed, marriages with foreigners would clearly be out of place in the society that Kim Il-sung and his enthusiastic supporters wanted to build. Beginning in the early 1960s, mail exchanges with overseas Koreans fell under the control of the authorities. In most cases there was no correspondence between former spouses or between men and their children (women were usually sent away with their kids, often of mixed-race origin).
Sour Relations Coming to a Head: the Soviet-DPRK Rift | What followed next, in 1961-1965, is probably better known than these earlier events: North Korean historians openly and loudly accusing their Soviet colleagues of being disrespectful of ancient Korea’s greatness; Pravda and Rodong Shinmun trading insults; and Moscow dramatically scaling back aid to Pyongyang. These events, spanning 1960-65, marked the lowest point in Soviet-Korean relations.
The relations recovered to some extent after 1965, but this was clearly only a partial recovery. Shared geopolitical interests notwithstanding, there was little mutual sympathy between Moscow and Pyongyang. For North Koreans, Moscow was a dangerous, decadent and revisionist place. For the Soviet government, and the average Soviet citizen too, North Korea was a country with a personality cult gone mad, a grossly inefficient economy, and crazed nationalism.
One Comment
1. This was very interesting, thank you. It’s not surprising to see that the xenophobic and nationalistic North Koreans were more or less always unable to cooperate with any outside powers. | <urn:uuid:41267403-895f-4539-919e-17bc5ba684b8> | http://sinonk.com/2013/03/29/lankov-on-ussr-dprk-50s-60s/ | en | 0.981603 | 0.042955 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Just for Halloween: The Catacombs of Paris
Just for Halloween: The Catacombs of Paris
Happy Halloween my friends!
In Paris, Halloween is well-known, but not well-celebrated. Save for a few parties and costumes, it is not the occasion that we Americans are used to.
There is no trick-or-tricking. The multitude of costume parties are few and far between. Costume shops sell scary costumes, almost exclusively. And restaurants and cafes serve lots of potiron (pumpkin) soup.
One thing that does fits into both the Parisian and American ideal of Halloween is a visit to the Catacombs.
Our macrabre visit started on a bright Saturday morning in September. It was everything we expected it to be - damp, dark and a bit creepy.
They only allow 200 visitors in at a time so we arrived early to make sure we were three of those spaces. Opening at 10:00am, they began to process the line, one-by-one. After a steady wait, we paid 10 euros each and made our way inside.
We descended into the catacombs by 130 winding steps. Steve, being 6'5", was hunched almost the whole way down. He also had to watch his head through most of the passages; lucky for me, there were only a few spots where I had duck down.
These tunnels started out as open quarries, supplying limestone that was used to build Notre Dame, the Louvre and more. Eventually, it was turned into an underground passageway that mimicked the city layout up above. The tunnels were eventually abandoned.
By the 17th century, Paris was a certifiable European hub. So many people had lived and died in the area that they were running out of places to bury the dead. That's right, the cemeteries were completely full and it was a serious problem. The stench and unhygienic conditions were starting to affect the businesses and citizens of Paris, most notably, those living in the Les Halles neighborhood near the Les Innocents cemetery.
In 1763, Louis XV pushed through a law that banned burials inside the city, but he didn't want to move or disturb any of those already laid to rest. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. In the spring of 1780, following an exceptionally rainy season, one of the Les Innocents walls collapsed causing the corpses to disturb neighboring properties.
Someone came up with idea for the bones to be moved to the tunnels and in 1786, the emptying of the cemeteries began. For 12 long years, 6 to 7 million bodies worth of bones were moved into the catacombs. They say the oldest bodies moved were from the Merovian era, some 1200 years prior. In the years since, many were buried directly into the ossuary. Around 1860, they finally stopped moving bones to the Catacombs for good.
The bones inside are organized by cemetery. When they first started to bring them in they were haphazardly thrown into their designated area. But in 1810, a man by the name of Hericart de Thury, had the femurs and skulls arranged in patterns to show these citizens of Paris more respect in their final resting place.
Today, 2 kilometers (about one mile) is open to the public to explore. Take a look at our excursion:
Roughly translated as "You are not invited to touch or smoke in the ossuary."
A heart of skulls in the Catacombs
A heart of skulls in the Catacombs
The "Google Translation" of the photo above didn't make a lot of sense, so I did some research for a more artful translation:
Thus ends everything on earth
Mind, Beauty, Grace, Talent,
Short-lived like a fleeting flower
Blown down by the slightest breeze.
After many winding passages and thousands upon thousands of bones, we finally emerged, happy for sunshine and the ability to stand up straight. There are many more miles underground, but its forbidden (i.e. illegal) to visit. Many people head down anyway to explore, throw parties and more.
Visiting the Catacombs gave us a little taste of Paris's long history and a peek into the underground city that's just as extensive as the one above.
Now we known the French aren’t known for their Halloween traditions, but, alas, we have been invited to a Halloween party tonight! Costumes are mandatory, and they prefer scary ones. In the next few hours, we’ll be trying to pull together something dark enough for a Parisian party. Any suggestions?
Enjoy the festivities wherever you may be!
Vocab for today:
• le bonbon - candy
• le désguisement - costume
• le squellette - skeleton
• la fete - party
Turning 30 in Paris
Turning 30 in Paris
Motivated By My Tiny Parisian Kitchen
Motivated By My Tiny Parisian Kitchen | <urn:uuid:74ef4447-7d7b-4d31-aad2-6a7e99757602> | http://www.whitneyinparis.com/blog/2015/10/31/a-little-halloween-creepiness-the-catacombs-of-paris | en | 0.964848 | 0.026955 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
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Stem Cell Transplantation
Stem cells are immature cells that eventually develop into the various types of mature blood cells:
• Red blood cells, which carry oxygen
• Platelets, which help the blood clot
• White blood cells, which help fight infection
A stem cell transplant replaces defective or damaged cells in patients whose normal blood cells have been crowded out by cancerous cells. Transplants can also be used to treat hereditary disorders such as sickle cell anemia, or to help patients recover from or better tolerate cancer treatment.
Stem cells for transplant come from the following sources:
Autologous transplant: cells are taken from the patient's own bone marrow before chemotherapy and are then replaced after cancer treatment.
Allogeneic transplant: stem cells come from a donor whose tissue most closely matches the patient.
Umbilical cord blood from newborn infants is extracted from the placenta after birth and saved in special cord blood banks for future use. MD Anderson's Cord Blood Bank actively seeks donations of umbilical cords.
How are Possible Donors Identified?
Human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, typing is the method by which stem cell transplant patients are matched with eligible donors. HLA are proteins that exist on the surface of most cells in the body. HLA markers help the body distinguish normal cells from foreign cells, such as cancer cells.
The closest possible match between the HLA markers of the donor and the patient reduces the risk of graft versus host disease (GVHD). This condition occurs after transplant when your immune cells attack the donor cells, or when the donor cells attack your cells.
The best match is usually a first degree relative (children, siblings or parents). However, about 75% of patients do not have a suitable donor in their family and require cells from matched unrelated donors (MUD). These donors are found through registries such as the National Marrow Donor Program
HLA typing is done with a blood sample taken from the patient, which is then compared with samples from a family member or a donor registry.
© 2015 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | <urn:uuid:9f4849ee-b76a-474f-8899-c880ce2a582d> | http://www.mdanderson.org/patient-and-cancer-information/cancer-information/cancer-topics/cancer-treatment/stem-cell-transplantation/index.html | en | 0.921398 | 0.096471 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Mmusi Maimane addresses UK aud
Mmusi Maimane addresses UK audience on protecting South Africa’s democracy
The Leader of the Democratic Alliance gives his views on the state of South Africa’s democracy and whether Mandela would have voted for the DA.
Mmusi Maimane addresses UK aud
It was in a packed theatre on the LSE campus that DA leader Mmusi Maimane addressed a 400 strong crowd on the subject of Protecting South Africa’s Fragile Democracy.
Introduced by the Chair, Professor Tim Allen, Maimane began by greeting those present in four languages and expressed a humble gratitude for the opportunity to speak. He joked that he had a relatively short time to speak on such a vast topic and, “in true African style” he would try limiting himself to one and a half hours.
Positive outlook
Positive outlook
He set the tone by stating he had never been more positive about South Africa’s democracy, stating the country has proved capable of learning the right lesson from mistakes and is certainly a more humane place than it was 25 years ago. He reiterated that the country has chosen the path of democracy over civil war making us comparably successful when looking at the continent as a whole.
His own pride for the nation resonated as he spoke of the visionary leadership of Mandela, and how that shared vision, coupled with capable, honest and determined leaders would allow the country to prosper.
Maimane stated he was not content with South Africa’s current trajectory. He did not want to divulge into a divisive history but rather focus on the present and “paint a clear picture”. He said that this was a politically fluid period, where the ANC is losing dominance and its corruption was being exposed.
Describing the party as irredeemable, he noted it was a bad reflection that during an election campaign, ANC structures were disassociating themselves from the party leader. On a positive note he was motivated by the Nkandla ruling against Zuma, proving that democracy could prevail against constraints. Quoting Mandela he reminded us that “It always seems impossible, until it’s not”.
He noted that the constitution is stronger than the personality and that the country, and not the leader, should always come first. He referred to Mandela’s understanding of unification and that institutions served the people, not the leader. As he said in a speech at the Royal African Society last year, the constitution relied on a benevolent leader, such as Mandela and not the likes of Zuma. He compared Zuma’s power to appoint the Public Prosecutor to “asking a tsotsi to pick his own policeman”.
He said that it is within institutions that democracy can remain strong and that leadership of these is critical as they are the checks and balances on those in power. Deliberately subverting this by appointing incompetent people within these roles undermined democracy and meant the leader had no accountability. An example he gave following an audience question was of the SABC and new censorship under the leadership of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, becoming less of a national broadcaster and more of a state broadcaster.
With the fragile SA economy susceptible to shocks, strong institutions can strengthen its resilience.
South Africa is seeing a rise in unemployment, poverty and exclusion which leads to a rise in a level of anger and populism which “taps into fear without the luxury of the facts”. A lot of work still needs to be done to increase opportunity and correct the legacy of racial exclusion.
Ultimately the most important check on power is the voter. He mentioned how his party, the Democratic Alliance, was steadily making gains and growing in government due to accountability “enforced by the ballot box”. Stressing the importance of accountability, he stated once a leader stopped fearing the voter then corruption can take hold. He said that the original choice for the nation was Apartheid or Freedom, which is no real choice, but now there are viable alternatives to the current situation that can be expressed on a ballot.
He ended with a positive reminder about how the country rejected violent change and racial division by choosing unity and not isolation (heavily hinting at his referendum opinion). “This is our democracy and we will fight to keep it from the kleptocrats”.
A final question posed by Professor Allen asking if Mandela would vote for the DA had all eyes on Maimane. Hardly skipping a beat he said that the ANC now stood for corruption, benefiting the few at the expense of the many, and this neither aligned with Mandela’s articulated economic policy nor his vision to move the nation forward in unity. Maimane thought what Mandela stood for is alive in his party, so felt confident that he would vote DA.
In the midst of a bitterly contested EU referendum in the UK, it is a wonderful reminder that the people are ultimately the ones with the power and we all need to express our views by voting and making the right choice for who represents us. | <urn:uuid:af7aa6ca-502c-49ba-bf0f-8463c5f284f4> | https://s36296.pcdn.co/lifestyle/move-to/south-africans-abroad/mmusi-maimane-addresses-uk-audience-on-protecting-south-africas-democracy/ | en | 0.973311 | 0.103937 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Hubba Bubba
What the hell is going on with this wine? I can’t figure out what this wine wants to be. Pruny fruity forward weird in the nose, nothing particularly compelling EITHER Carignane OR Syrah, lovely little licorice and cranberry but alongside a heat and sluttiness compounded by what I am assuming meant to be green and edgy.
It’s got a cute little hipster label, it has a name I can barely say with a straight face–of course ALL Paso Robles wines have to have a name–and it’s got a neutral-oak and great provenance component-section which would make you think it just *might* be a lean mean #naturalwine hipster fightin machine. But it’s not. It is frickin RIPE. Heat roils off it and ruins any fantasies you might have had about a fun carignane-syrah blend. Bullshit ankle-deep fruit, cloying and watery, bound by dark leathers and petrols a wine of this age and composition should NEVER be burdened with, a smell and a sniff literally cause a WTF? moment.
Awkward and shallow and unbalanced, while still ripe and flabby, heat curling in mid-palate and sticking around for the duration–despite all the quasi-fresh fruit, this wine literally is the most confusing thing I have put in my mouth in a long time. It has no place, no sense of place, no focus, no anything. It is fake edgy acidic wine with a Paso-tourist-sluttiness at its core.
2017 HUBBA WINES ‘Mushroomhead’ Carignan/SY 69/31 Central Coast 14.5
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| <urn:uuid:bd5467ea-5454-4dbe-9a21-8a023fd16829> | https://wine1percent.com/2019/08/18/hubba-bubba/ | en | 0.893917 | 0.026397 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Second Set of Notes: Codes
I'm working on getting in contact with Jake Owen. I am going to attempt to help him and his cousin.
Jake if you're reading this, just reply to my email, okay?
Anyway, I looked over my notes and meditated a bit(not literally, I can't sit still for ten seconds) on the two weeks, and came up with a good topic I think would be interesting to talk about. A lot of the time when the tall guy hollows someone out or something, they'll tend to speak in code. Very cryptic. M made a great post about this too, but as a former hollowed, I'd like to put my two cents in from the other side of the spectrum. I actually like to think the tall guy himself enjoys being this way with the codes as another form of spreading fear and paranoia, but that's just conjecture of my mind. Now there's three types of codes the hollowed people seem to use, and boil down to three phrases.
It's/I am/we are coming for you.
Help me.
Looking over some of the comments I've left on the other blogs of people involved with the tall guy, you might find I was doing this too. I'm too lazy to look it up exactly but I was saying something along the lines of:
And it you cut out some of the letters you get, yes, "help me" actually I think I just wrote "elp me", I'm not sure, but I guess that was the implication.
Again, I was pretty much insane during this time, so I really haven't a clue WHY I did this when in all other instances I was completely under his control. What I've began to assume is that when a hollowed person sends a code for help or to help someone else, it's the smallest vestiges of your humanity leaking through, and...the hollow part is trying to cover it up? Not sure. Not being able to ever have an absolute kind of sucks, doesn't it?
Another thing I don't understand is coding some hidden threat into a message, why don't you just tell me outright that I need to "be alone" mr hollowed?
There was another girl with me at one point, not for very long. The other puppets, they came and went, rarely interacting with another puppet. We weren't some sort of society, hanging out underground eating dinner together, but occasionally the tall guy would have us interact or cross paths. This happened multiple times during my two week's stay. Anyway, she had scars all over her arm. They didn't look like scars from cuts, because they were round like burns, it was as though she had a large round pole stabbed through her skin all over. I couldn't see her face because of her hood, and her long hair covered most of her features like a mask. She wore casual clothing like me. In retrospect, we probably looked really silly in our jeans and hoodies serving the tall guy. ...Just like a bunch of Daddy's little kids. Makes me sick.
The girl had a metal stake in her hand and was carving something into a tree in the middle of the forest where I was currently "hanging out"(awaiting orders, I suppose). When she was finished, she ran off as though she were running for her life, the sound of crunching leaves got farther and farther away from me until I could hear it no longer. At that point, I peered at what she had carved, at the time I had no reason to have any opinion whatsoever, but I remember exactly what it looked like:
As you can see, some letters were written smaller...If the hollowed part of her was trying to cover up her plea of "Find me, Kill me" why didn't it come up with something more...complex? These are the things that make me curious. I've spent all day today thinking about who this John guy was to her, and what the message itself (disregarding the code) meant, if anything at all.
Shit, I act like I know what I'm talking about, but I really don't have much of a clue do I? At least I have some experience. I guess.
Next post will be a little deeper, a little more first hand. Believe me, after having gone through this, writing this crap isn't too easy.
But some of you, some of you probably get that, don't you?
1. This is really Strange/intresting shit.
2. I think I see something here.
Please, tell us more, boy.
3. Umm, Shiloh, Shannon wants to know who this Jake guy is.
4. This is really interesting, I recommend you be careful while your out and about but you already know to be careful, so just be safe. | <urn:uuid:684d6146-f9cd-4dd3-8ac6-f6c91d5dc26d> | http://enigmaticbrick.blogspot.com/2010/12/second-set-of-notes-codes.html | en | 0.989015 | 0.235201 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
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Is Reverse Osmosis Bad for Our Health? May 11, 2014
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Although reverse osmosis offers clean water the health concerns that hound the filtered water still remains an issue today. Those who sell reverse osmosis products would argue otherwise and insist that they have no health related concerns regarding the water that passed through the filtration process.
But recent studies have shown that reverse osmosis can be bad for our health or at the very least is not really guaranteed as manufacturers or users of the system have claimed. The main reason behind this conclusion is that reverse osmosis is able to filter the natural minerals that water contains. These minerals apparently are quite important to our body and contribute a lot to our health.
Reverse osmosis works by forcing a solvent by applying pressure from an area of high solute concentration through a semi-permeable membrane to an area of low solute concentration. By doing so, the membrane allows the water being pushed by the pressure to pass through and prevents larger particles such as salt, for example in seawater. The reverse osmosis system actually uses several numbers of stages which incorporates combinations of various kinds of filters.
The first layer of filter usually uses a sediment type which prevents rust and calcium carbonate to pass through. An activated carbon filter is then next. With this one organic chemicals and chlorine are trapped. The water then passes through a reverse osmosis filter made up of thin composite membrane. Then after that one would find another layer carbon filter which is there to ensure that any particles that was able to push their way through is prevented from going further.
You can now see clearly where the reverse osmosis process has “overdone” the filtering. Unlike carbon filters, reverse osmosis removes any molecules larger than water from passing through. Unfortunately, the naturally occurring minerals are larger than water molecules which therefore are trapped by the reverse osmosis membrane.
And what’s more unfortunate is the fact that harmful substances like those found in fertilizer and pesticide runoffs are smaller than water molecules and so are just able to pass through the membrane quite easily. These contaminants are known to cause cancer and other degenerative diseases and should be the ones being filtered out. Some studies have found out that reverse osmosis is unable to filter more than 2,000 toxins found in tap water.
Aside from the health issue, wastage is also a problem with reverse osmosis. The process actually wastes a lot of water. For a gallon of purified water, around two or three gallons are being wasted and cannot be recycled.
Nonetheless, if drinking water produced from reverse osmosis is not as healthy as one might thing, other uses of reverse osmosis has proven to be quite effective. People undergoing kidney dialysis uses water from reverse osmosis to remove waste products in the body. The pharmaceutical industry also uses reverse osmosis in the various process of drug manufacturing.
However, despite the advantages reverse osmosis might have it is apparent that other kinds of water treatment offer better alternatives in producing clean, drinking water. Indeed, reverse osmosis can be bad for our health and it would be better to settle with newer and more advanced ways of water purification.
These newer systems leave minerals intact and instead remove all the organic and synthetic pollutants like those in pesticides, fertilizers and household cleansers.
Review of Osmosis to Explain Reverse Osmosis May 10, 2014
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Have you heard about reverse osmosis? It should truly be a useful and advantageous process of liquid purification because more and more industries are using it. Around the world, the importance of reverse osmosis is also becoming more emphasized. As many experts say, the process holds a lot of potential. It could be a system that could eventually bring about aid and redemption. But what exactly is it? Why is it truly effective? Could it be done using improvised setups? How does it work?
It would just be impossible to understand reverse osmosis without first understanding normal osmosis, where it is derived from. As you could infer, reverse osmosis is only an opposite take of the usual process of osmosis. The dictionary defines osmosis as a natural movement of solvent molecules through semi-permeable membranes so that they could transfer into the side where there is there is lower concentration of solution. In the process, concentration on different sides is equalized so that in the end, there would be no difference on concentration. Osmosis naturally stops the moment such equality of concentration is achieved.
Semi-permeable membranes are membranes that are serving as boundaries between two regions. They are structures where molecules could pass through. Example is a saran wrap, which looks impermeable but is actually permeable. Other good examples are cell walls and intestines. There are very small pores that could allow entry of very miniscule molecules of water. Such pores are too small that they do not allow passage of other liquid molecules and other bodies. Gore-tex fabric could also be an example.
In reality, osmosis is the very same reason why consuming or drinking salty water is very dangerous. Drinking seawater or ocean water could kill anyone, especially if there is much volume consumed. When you do so, the salty water would be temporarily stored into the stomach. Natural osmotic pressure would work and begin drawing water from other parts of the body so that your body would be able to dilute the amount of salt molecules that are stored in the stomach. When the process goes on continuously, you would eventually dehydrate, which could lead to death. It could take only a few minutes or hours for the body to complete the process. This is one of the reasons why many people who drown in sea die.
Reverse osmosis is the exact opposite of the natural osmosis process. The idea is for the semi-permeable membrane to serve as a fine filter that would create safe and potable drinking water out of the contaminated water. This process could very much be illustrated through desalination. Salty water is stored in one side of a membrane, while the less salty is on the other. Pressure would be applied to stop and later reverse the natural osmotic process. Usually, this setup would require much pressure and would take a long time to complete. But there is no doubt that it would truly and effectively work.
Reverse osmosis is now widely used as a process of purifying water. It is also the same concept used in dialysis. Many industries are also starting to use reverse osmosis in their operations. Even disinfection activities could now use this helpful and useful process.
There is no doubt that in the future, many devices that facilitate the process would be more widely available for any household to use.
Desalination through Reverse Osmosis Get More Demand Worldwide May 9, 2014
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Countries in the Middle East are known for being oil-rich. But because they are mostly located in vast deserts, there is a logical and practical shortage of potable or drinking water for people. Desalination has been one of the most important activities in such countries. It involves the process of reverse osmosis. Currently, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates are among the biggest desalination markets. In general, more than a hundred countries worldwide also operate desalination facilities, but it is in those Middle East nations where demand is much more significant.
Continuous proliferation of basic desalination facilities has effectively created an $8 billion global market. It is expected and anticipated that there would still be rapid growth of demand for desalination. This is not surprising because many nations are now experiencing shortages in drinking water supply. Not only are the desert countries in peril of water shortage. Now, Spain, China, Australia, and several states in the United States are also being bogged by the problem. In such countries, growing population has effectively outgrown basic and native water supplies.
Contemporary thermal procedures for water purification use reverse osmosis. These include MED or multiple effect distillation and MSF or multi-stage flash distillation. Both are highly reliable and are effective in producing significantly purer water from even the saltiest water sources. The only setback identified as of the moment is that such processes consume very huge amount of energy. This could not be a problem in oil-rich nations, where there is much supply of energy to spare. But how about in countries where supply of available energy is limited?
Other membrane-based technologies in saltwater desalination are getting more popular and useful across the rapidly expanding desalination market. Reverse osmosis systems using membranes are the technology of choice for purifying brackish water. SWRO or seawater reverse osmosis is now becoming the fastest growing niche in the desalination market worldwide for several practical reasons. First, most countries are tending to use seawater as a good source of water for purification. The world is two-thirds water, as you know.
Second, SWRO has been the most widely used and proven effective means of desalination. Membrane desalination has been known to be able to supply the fastest demand for safe potable water. Reverse osmosis techniques are expected to further account for a greater capacity for desalination globally. Many different technologies are being developed to be integrated with and to complement the current reverse osmosis measures. It is not surprising that most industries and governments give more priority and importance to RO facilities.
Seawater is easier to secure. There could be many convenient ways on how reverse osmosis facilities could get access to a vast and unlimited supply of seawater, whether they are in coasts or are in deserts. The supply of seawater could also not end, because as mentioned, the surface of the planet is about 70% water.
In the future, it is expected that many more advanced reverse osmosis technologies would arise. Most nations are hopeful that in the coming years, drinking water shortage would not be a problem anymore. Science should be commended for discovering and inventing many technologies for reverse osmosis.
The process could be relatively slow but it could yield the best and safest results.
New Method Developed to Make Reverse Osmosis Cheaper May 7, 2014
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A research team from the University of California in Los Angeles has announced preliminary feasibility testing for a new mobile pilot system that would make reverse osmosis significantly cheaper. The system, called M3, would be able to determine whether fresh water could be extracted effectively from any water source. This could help make the process of desalination much easier and practically cheaper especially within developing nations.
Desalination is a widely used process of purifying seawater or even brackish water to produce potable water that is safer for drinking and consumption of people. The process is massively used in about a hundred countries globally, with nations in the Middle East and other desert areas as the heaviest users. It is also becoming popular in other nations where growing population has depleted available potable water sources, like in Australia, China, Spain, and several states in the US. Desalination is effective, but it is at the same time very costly.
Reverse osmosis is a water filtration technique that is done through applying force so that water could pass though semi-permeable membranes. This way, impurities are filtered out and water is purified. The process is not a fast one, but it could be among the best ways to assure safety and effectiveness of produced potable water. The M3 system is specifically designed and used to significantly lower costs of desalination and reverse osmosis.
In the usual process, a static pilot facility should be constructed within or close to any water source. The plant carries activities to test quality of water and then assess strategies for pretreatment of water. Pretreatment is necessary in removing impurities before such substances pollute and corrupt reverse osmosis membranes. In general, this conventional practice is costly. Cleaning and replacing the membranes means the desalination plant should be entirely shut down, which is counter-productive.
Its developers claim that the portable and flexible nature of M3 means that any nation or government that is into desalination could invest in a system to use it in initially testing every potential water source. This could significantly help save time and money. Researchers are positive that the mobile system would truly be useful especially to many system providers that require similar tests at multiple sites to make sure contamination of reverse osmosis membranes would be effectively prevented.
Such mobile pilot facilities, which could even fit into any standard cargo van, could be helpful in developing nations that are considering using reverse osmosis for water quality testing and production. A standard M3 unit could produce up to 5,000 gallons of purified water out of seawater in a day. It could produce up to 8,000 gallons of safe drinking water out of brackish water. Thus, the mobile water purifying system could be deemed effective and useful even in emergency situations.
Several experts are also hoping M3 could be able to reverse the current stand or Water Aid against reverse osmosis. The safe water advocacy organization is not usually recommending the use of reverse osmosis technologies for water treatment because such systems are usually very costly and tedious.
To many, M3 could be good news as it has the potential to make purified water from reverse osmosis more affordable and available especially across third world or developing countries, where people could not usually afford paying for safer potable water.
unit link terbaik di Indonesia Commonwealth Life investra link May 6, 2014
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unit link terbaik di Indonesia Commonwealth Life investra link – Ini adalah perusahaan Asuransi Jiwa yang menjadi salah satu perusaahaan terbaik saat ini di Indonesia yang menawarkan perlindungan asuransi jiwa dengan beragam pilihan perlindungan bagi ketenangan hidup Anda dan keluarga.
Untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut tentang bagaimana cara kerja Investra Link dapat memberikan manfaat Asuransi Jiwa dan Investasi yang terpadu, Anda dapat menghubungi CommCenter 500 525, Kantor Pemasaran PT. Commonwealth Life terdekat atau Agency Sales Force Commonwealth Life yang tersertifikasi dan terlatih secara profesional dalam memberikan perencanaan perlindungan dan investasi sesuai dengan kebutuhan Anda. Itulah tadi unit link terbaik di Indonesia Commonwealth Life investra link | <urn:uuid:64bcb761-1ab7-407b-8c45-85bdbfaea396> | https://seonpage.wordpress.com/page/2/ | en | 0.94379 | 0.155771 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Outlook day 1 (valid: 22/03/2017)
VALID FOR 22-03-2017
A large upper low dominates WSW Europe while upper ridge expands from south-central Europe eastwards onto Balkan peninsula. Upper low over S Mediterranean moves towards east.
A SLGT risk has been issued for the Bay of Biscay, NW Iberia and NW France with threat for severe winds, marginally large hail and heavy rainfall. Numerous storms with occasional graupel showers are likely within then SLGT/TSTM areas as well.
A SLGT risk has been issued for NW Mediterranean with threat for isolated severe storms with large hail, severe winds and heavy rainfall.
TSTM area have been issued for part of northern Balkan peninsula where some isolated storms are possible in the afternoon. | <urn:uuid:32e28780-921e-417d-bfe0-fa379a1831d5> | http://www.severe-weather.eu/outlooks-day1/outlook-day-1-valid-22032017/ | en | 0.959789 | 0.018817 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Used for monitoring a few machines but how to get summery easily
So, I have been using the app to monitor 2 PCs locally and everything works great. However, another function that I find very useful is system summery and hardware information. Instead of using another app or having to change all the settings of hw sensor startup and launch on windows start; is there a very quick way to just get system info? Like a single button to pop up the System Summary / hardware info?
HWiNFO Author
Staff member
The Sensor-only mode is especially optimized for faster startup where certain components not needed for sensors are not enumerated.
So there's no straight way how to get full hardware information (or summary) from that mode other than restarting the application with Sensor-only mode disabled. | <urn:uuid:9a29ef43-4b33-455a-bee1-655a3978fec5> | https://www.hwinfo.com/forum/threads/used-for-monitoring-a-few-machines-but-how-to-get-summery-easily.7265/ | en | 0.896842 | 0.498042 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
The Bionic Wiki
Bionic Beauty
1,411pages on
this wiki
“Bionic Beauty”
S1 E7
Production 44412
Original Airdate: March 17, 1976
Miss california
Jaime is crowned Miss United States
Produced by
Kenneth Johnson
Written by
James D. Parriott
Directed by
Alan Crosland
Guest Cast
Guest Star(s)
Bert Parks as Ray Raymond
Gary Crosby as Brady
Special Guest Star(s)
Martha Scott as Helen Elgin
Helen Craig as Mrs. Belding
Cassie Yates as Sally Bartell
Charlotte Moore as Lady Reporter
Henry Polic II as The Man
Katie Hopkins Zerby as Miss Oklahoma
Lisa Parkes as Miss Tennessee
Broadcast Order
Season 1
← Previous Next →
"The Deadly Missiles" "Jaime's Mother"
Jaime Sommers is entered in the "Miss United States" Pageant in order to find out if the beauty contest is rigged, while Oscar Goldman attempts to uncover the disappearance of a micro computer circuit.
Jaime Sommers is home in her apartment cleaning the fireplace and chopping wood when Oscar Goldman arrives to enlist her help. Oscar explains that he has worked night and day for the last two days on a missing micro computer circuit that is of vital importance to the national defense system. Then the real reason for his visit becomes clear as he informs Jaime that a new problem has arisen in the form of a cryptic message sent by one of the OSI's leading agents in Europe. The message states that the next winner of the Miss United States beauty pageant will be Miss Florida. Oscar wants to enter Jaime in the beauty contest as Miss California to find out if the contest is fixed, who's involved in it, and how it is connected to the OSI. Jaime has never been interested in the beauty queen business, and immediately objects to the proposed mission. Oscar argues that the security for beauty contests is incredibly tight and that he can't send a man in. However, Jaime continues to reject the idea of parading around in such a way that she would make a fool out of herself. Oscar counters, stating that she is the most beautiful and qualified agent, someone who could go in alone and handle the unexpected. He quiets her last arguments by explaining that the agent who sent the message was found dead, floating in the River Seine, and suggesting that Helen Elgin go with her as a chaperon.
At the Ambassador Hotel, Jaime registers in the lobby for her room assignment as Helen gives her advice on how to wear her name tag. The two ladies share a room during their stay, and as Jaime unpacks, Helen reads about the pageant. She is excited to read that on her first night, Miss United States flies on a private jet to Paris, France for a goodwill tour. However, Jaime is not thrilled by the rules, which state that there will be no liquor, no male visitors, no smoking in public, and no phone calls outside of the complex without permission by the Director. The contestants are to be supervised at all times. Helen thinks the guidelines are reasonable, and is just glad that she was invited. She had always wanted Jaime to enter a beauty contest in high school, and is confused as to how Oscar was able to convince her to enter. Jaime quickly explains that the winner is picked by a state committee, and that she had come in second place. Helen still seems confused as Jaime continues, saying that the winner came down with the flu, and so as runner up, she was the replacement. This satisfies Helen, but the room does not. She complains that their room is stuffy and attempts to open the window, but needs help. Jaime, misjudging her bionic strength, lifts the window with too much force, causing it to slam back down and shatter.
Jaime and Helen attend an orientation for the contestants conducted by Mrs. Belding, in which she explains that the ladies will be judged on qualities that distinguish an ordinary girl from an extraordinary women, and wishes them all luck. She next introduces Ray Raymond, who is the Master of Ceremonies and Pageant Director. Raymond briefly speaks about the schedule before instructing the women to split up into their "family" of five contestants to get acquainted. Jaime learns that she is assigned to the same group as Sally Bartell. Bartell is Miss Florida, and as Jaime tries to engage in friendly conversation, Bartell quickly shoots her down, explaining that every girl wants to win the crown and is not willing to become more than friendly enemies. Jaime witnesses Miss Florida walking away with Raymond, and uses her bionic ear to listen to their conversation. She hears Raymond ask Bartell if they have a deal, and upon her agreement, states that he will give instructions when the time comes.
Jaime makes her way to the lobby in an attempt to contact Oscar. However, she sees Raymond making a phone call, and listens bionically as he confirms Miss Florida's participation and makes plans for a meeting during the 11:00pm bed check. While the other girls perform their "talent" in a pre-recorded segment, Jaime breaks the pageant rules by placing a phone call to Oscar. As Jaime is on the phone, Helen searches for her, knowing that she is next to record her talent. In a rush, Helen passes through a Lady Reporter taping a news report about the pre-recorded talent segment, which is utilized as a time saver allowing the women to rest as they change from their swimsuits into their formal gowns. Still unaware, Jaime informs Oscar that the Pageant is rigged, but that she hasn't yet discovered the motive. Oscar is pleased, but also frustrated at the lack of progress in finding the micro computer circuit. He notes that Steve Austin is in Brussels, and hasn't had any luck in recovering the device. Jaime pauses at the mention of Steve, and asks Oscar if he ever asks about her. Oscar tells Jaime that Steve always asks about her and if she is seeing anyone. This evokes a startled response from Jaime, who questions if Steve is seeing anyone. Oscar quiets her concerns, saying that there is no one special. Jaime expresses her confusion to Oscar just as Helen comes to warn her. But the warning does not come in time, as the stage manager Brady admonishes her for using the phone.
Brady rushes Jaime through the backstage area, and past a nagging Mrs. Belding, just as Miss California is introduced by Raymond. Jaime walks onto the stage and dedicates the song "Feelings" to someone she grew up with, hoping that Steve will see the performance. As she sings, Helen watches, knowing the true meaning behind the song. But she is not alone, as the other beauty contestants gather just off the stage to watch. When Jaime finishes, she rushes to Helen and the two hug before rushing off. Brady and Raymond witness the exchange, with Brady warning the Director about Jaime's phone call. Raymond brushes the incident off, but Brady reminds him that she was added as a replacement and could be a plant.
Back in their hotel room, Jaime opens the window to make a hasty exit. This concerns Helen, who wants to know what she is doing. Jaime is forced to explain that she is in the Pageant as a spy and is about to follow Ray Raymond. After jumping from her window, Jaime makes her way to where the meeting is to take place, but only after being spotted by Sally Bartell. Once behind the hotel, Jaime listens to Raymond as he meets with The Man who is identified on his radio as "Falcon One". The Man tells Raymond that the "package" must be in Paris in two days. Raymond instructs The Man to give him the package, which will then be carried by Miss Florida onto her private jet. The Man believes this to be a perfect setup, with Miss United States being the ideal courier.
As Mrs. Belding circulates during the bedcheck, Bartell informs her that she saw Jaime outside. The two ladies make their way to Jaime's room, where Helen explains that Jaime is in the shower. While they wait, Helen tries to cover for Jaime, urging her to hurry, as if she were really there. When she sees Jaime approaching from outside, Helen pretends to go in the bathroom to check on her, but instead warns her that Mrs. Belding is waiting. Just as Mrs. Belding is getting impatient, Jaime appears in a bathrobe with her hair wrapped in a towel. However, Bartell is not to be fooled, and removes the towel, exposing Jaime's dry hair. Although Jaime maintains that she was in the shower, Belding cites her prior tardiness and confines her to her room until the pageant begins. Belding then notifies Raymond of the contestant's misbehavior, which in turn confirms Brady's prior suspicions.
The next morning, Jaime's room is being monitored by security, from inside the corridor of the hotel and below her window outside of the hotel. Yet Jaime needs to talk to Oscar to inform him about Raymond. Helen offers to help, and once in the lobby, makes the phone call. As Oscar answers, he instructs the caller to hold while he explains the dimensions of the missing micro computer Falcon Circuit. Finally able to talk to Helen, their conversation is interrupted by Raymond and Brady before she can relay the information. Back in the hotel room, Jaime is upset that Oscar didn't get the message. Helen struggles, but recalls what Oscar said. This sparks Jaime's memory of Raymond's conversation with The Man. Jaime slams her hand on the small table next to her, as she makes the connection between Raymond and the Falcon Circuit, breaking the table. Not letting the table faze her, Jaime thinks she'll be able to slip out to contact Oscar once the finalists have been chosen.
That night, as the show is about to begin, the ladies are lined up in their swimsuits waiting to go on stage. Jaime complains to Helen that she feels like a side of beef, but also notes that she liked her old legs better than her new legs. Then it begins, with each contestant being called out by their state. Once all are lined up, the five finalists are announced: Miss Oklahoma, Miss Hawaii, Miss Tennessee, Miss Florida, and much to Jaime's surprise, Miss California. The girls all go backstage to change into their formal gowns, while the audience views taped highlights of the talent competition.
After getting dressed, Jaime leaves Helen to cover for her so that she can contact Oscar and locate the Falcon Circuit. Backstage, with her own song playing in the background, Jaime bionically hears Raymond and The Man discussing the Circuit. As they head off to hide it, Jaime uses her bionics to jump up to a catwalk above the stage. Just then, Brady comes out and sees her on the catwalk, spying over Raymond. Just after Jaime jumps from the catwalk, Brady comes back with a white cloth soaked with chloroform. Waiting for the right moment, he rushes after Jaime, takes her from behind and clamps the chloroformed cloth over her face. She's almost immediately knocked unconscious. Raymond and Brady take Jaime to a small room backstage. Along the way, Belding questions them as to what happened, and Raymond responds by suggesting that Jaime is on drugs. In the room, Brady uses a syringe to administer a drug to ensure that Jaime would not wake up until it is too late. However, he does so in her right arm, rendering the drugs useless. At the same time, Oscar learns of the flight to Paris by the private jet of Miss United States, and listens to the Pageant on the radio. He hears the announcement that Jaime will not take part in beauty contest, and orders a car to take him to the Ambassador Hotel.
Jaime wakes to find herself locked in a room. She uses her bionics to break through the door and escape. While the other finalists are engaged in the interview portion, Jaime rushes back to the auditorium. She arrives and stands to the side of stage. Brady sees her and pulls the curtain back in order to reveal her presence. Raymond pulls her onto the stage to ask her an interview question for the judges. Jaime is able to twist the answer into what she hopes is a code for Oscar. Then the moment most contestants dream about, the naming of Miss United States.
Fourth runner up is Miss Tennessee, third runner up is Miss Hawaii, second runner up is Miss Oklahoma, and the first runner up is Miss Florida. Jaime is shocked as she realizes that she is the next Miss United States. Yet, Jaime is even more shocked to see that Brady is standing next to Helen with a gun pointed at her side. Raymond comes along side Jaime and walks her forward as he warns her not to make a wrong move. Jaime continues to walk forward along the runway as Ray Raymond begins his serenade with the Miss United States Theme Song. Jaime sees Oscar enter the auditorium. She listens bionically as he asks if she needs help, and she nods that she does, but emphatically shakes her head when he offers to make a move. Raymond returns to her side with a gun. He and Brady escort Jaime and Helen out to the garage, where a car is waiting for them. Bartell follows them to the garage, demanding to talk to Raymond. This provides a distraction, which Jaime uses to push the car door into Brady and knock Raymond to the ground. Jaime tells Bartell to leave, and once again goes after Raymond, who is trying to retrieve the Miss United States scepter that fell to the ground. Throwing the scepter to the side, Jaime reacts in time as Brady attempts to back the car into her. She uses her bionics to stop the car and hold it in place just as Oscar arrives. Helen emerges from the car unscathed, and Jaime hands Oscar the scepter, which contains the Falcon Circuit.
Jaime returns to the auditorium, where she finds Bartell sitting alone on the stage as the set is being dismantled. Bartell is ashamed of herself for almost selling out herself and her country. Jaime comforts her, and shows her the final ballot, which was found in Brady's pocket. Miss Florida had won, fair and square.
Jaime: What is this?
Oscar: Your sash.
Jaime: My s...?? Oscar, if you think I'm gonna go in there and parade around in...
Oscar: Jaime, I can't over look it. I've got to find out what this is all about. I've gotta find out if this beauty contest is rigged, and if it is, who's on top of it and what does the OSI have to do with this. Jaime, these beauty contests - the security's incredible! I can't send a man in! It's got to be this way. And since you are... the most beautiful and qualified agent at OSI, I thought maybe you'd enjoy being... (drapes the sash over Jaime's shoulder) ... Miss California.
Jaime: (sourly) I hate it.
Jaime: Oscar... look, before I put on this sash and go in there and make a fool out of myself, why don't you call this agent and make sure he wasn't joking - I mean, this is a pretty silly message.
Oscar: I can't do that.
Jaime: Why?
Oscar: They found this agent this morning, face down in the River Seine.
Jaime: Snorkeling?
Oscar: Dead.
Sally: Miss California. You're the replacement, aren't you?
Jaime: Yeah... second string. We can still be friends, huh?
Sally: "Friends?" There's no Miss Congeniality award in this contest, honey.
Jaime: Well, I...
Sally: Look, every girl here wants that crown — badly. You're not gonna make friends, just friendly enemies.
Brady: (about Jaime) She was talking on an outside line to somebody called Oscar. There's an Oscar Goldman, you know, who works for the OSI.
Ray Raymond: There's also an Oscar Mayer who makes wieners. Probably just a boyfriend.
Jaime: I didn't want to have to tell you this, but Oscar sent me here to get some information. It's very important, and it could be dangerous.
Helen: Dangerous? Are you here as a spy? (Jaime nods) I guess I never believed that runner-up story of yours. You always hated beauty pageants.
Brady: (Helen has been caught using an outside line) Who were you talking to? Oscar who?
Helen: Oscar Lipschitz, he's an old beau of mine from college, whenever I'm in his area I always call him up, and...
Jaime: (readying for the bathing suit procession) I feel like a side of beef. How do I look?
Helen: Terrific.
Jaime: Y'know what? I really liked my old legs better. They were better.
Brady: (prepares to inject Jaime with knockout drug) There's enough in [the syringe] to keep a horse out for a week. (tries to puncture her right arm) Cheez, you've got a hide like an armadillo!
Ray Raymond: You feeling better, Miss California?
Jaime: Yes, I needed a rest. You know, the excitement of all of this kinda snuck up and grabbed me from behind.
Jaime: Anyway, the proverb is: as the queen flies to Paris on her falcon, so must we continue the search for our goals.
Ray Raymond: This doesn't make sense.
Jaime: I certainly hope it does to someone.
Oscar: And all this time I thought you were just a pretty face.
Jaime: Oscar, I am Miss United States!
• Beginning with this episode, Lindsay Wagner (and, by extension, Jaime) sports a noticeable scar on her upper lip. This is the result of an automobile accident that occurred to Wagner (some Internet sources such as the Internet Movie Database have stated the accident occurred in 1977, but this is incorrect given the broadcast date of "Bionic Beauty"). The series does not attempt to explain how Jamie got the scar, although it could be surmised that it occurred during an untelevised mission.
• Bert Parks was at the time best known as the host of the Miss America pageant, and many elements of this episode parody that competition, including the tradition of Parks serenading the winner (in real life, his song was "There She is, Miss America").
• Brady, with some difficulty, injects a sedative into Jaime's bionic arm, which of course has no effect on her. A similar mistake is made regarding Steve Austin in "Wine, Women and War", although no one complained then about Steve having tough skin.
• Featured prominently during this episode is Joe Harnell's new "Jaime's Theme" which would later become the closing creditsBionic Woman theme, replacing the original Jerry Fielding theme in use at this point. Harnell's theme would also be used on the opening of "Kill Oscar" for syndication (the episode premiered with a truncated title with Fielding's theme).
• This is one of several episodes to receive a soundtrack release, as 'The Bionic Woman- From the Episodes "Bionic Beauty" • "Deadly Ringer" • "Once a Theif"' by Joe Harnell, available on Audio CD and via digital downloads.
Real World
• At the time, "Miss United States" was a fictional pageant, but a real Miss United States pageant was inaugurated in 2001, while a similarly titled Miss United States International has been awarded since 1991.
• Miss United States was the title of the scholarship program / beauty pageant in the movie Miss Congeniality (2000). The term "Miss Congeniality" is also used in this episode.
• Mrs. Belding is named after Richard Belding, who is credited with "Editorial Supervision."
• The song "Feelings" was originally recorded in 1975 as the title track of Morris Albert's album. Over the years, the song has been sung and parodied by various artists.[1]
• Considering she entered the pageant under her own name, it's unusual that at no point (at least on screen) does anyone reference the fact Jaime is an internationally known professional tennis player. Or the fact that newspapers had reported that she had died some time earlier.
• Outdated stock footage is used for the audience in several scenes (some scenes date back to the 1950s). Some of the same stock footage will also be used in the second season episode, "Road to Nashville".
• As Oscar explains that the Falcon Circuit is missing, Jaime is sitting on the fireplace. As he begins to explain the message from the agent in Europe, she is sitting directly in front of him. Next, when Oscar hands the message to Jaime, she stands up from the fireplace and crosses over to him, and sits directly in front of him.
• The "Miss California" sash mysteriously disappears after Helen drapes it over Jaime's shoulder while in their hotel room (discussing how Oscar talked Jaime into entering the pageant).
• it's easy to tell that filming stopped momentarily after Jaime jumps out of her hotel window because the bush that she lands behind looks like it moves unnaturally when she comes out from behind it.
• After Brady uses chloroform to knock Jaime unconscious, Lindsay Wagner moves her left arm and pulls at her dress.
• When Jaime gets up from the couch where Brady and Raymond have left her, her shoes can be seen sitting on the floor next to the couch. She then walks over to the door and knocks it down. When Jaime exits the room, she is now wearing her shoes.
• Brady is really gunning the gas when he tries to run Jaime down, but when she lifts the back of the car up, there aren't any skid marks on the floor like there should be.
• In the garage, Jaime picks up the scepter and hands it to Oscar. In the next shot, a close up, Jaime once again hands the scepter to Oscar.
Sound Effects
• When Brady tries to drive the limo into Jaime Sommers, she puts her hand down to stop it, and the rather distinctive "clunk" sound of metal hitting metal is heard - only since Jaime's arm is technically supposed to be covered in plastiskin, you shouldn't hear anything - or, at least, only hear more of a muffled "thud". In fact, this is more in keeping with Martin Caidin's original concept of Steve Austin's bionic arm being a steel bludgeon.
Visual Effects
• When Jaime jumps down from the catwalk, the cape/scarf on her gown can be seen floating upward, behind her. When she lands, the cape/scarf is below her shoulders.
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
"What is it about this president that has stripped away the veneer of respect that normally accompanies the Office of the President?" (VIDEO)
First Richard Wolffe asks "the" question (video below):
The complete minute by minute tick-tock can be found here at TPM:
Roger Simon, Politico, putting said the tick-tock to prose:
The White House was well aware the president’s speech would conflict with a planned Republican debate sponsored by POLITICO and NBC to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. The debate would be broadcast live by MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo and live-streamed by POLITICO.
And, at first, things seemed to fall into place.
And, according to the White House source, Boehner said “okay” to Daley’s request for the Wednesday evening date. (Asked for comment, Boehner’s press secretary, Brendan Buck, said he had nothing to add to his statement of Wednesday that read in part: “No one in the speaker’s office - not the speaker, not any staff - signed off on the date the White House announced today.”)
Then things quickly unraveled. It turned out not everyone was as sanguine as Boehner with the notion that a Democratic president was going to step on a Republican debate.
The conservative talk show personality was in his familiar state of high dudgeon. “This is a pure campaign speech and to give it the imprimatur of a speech before a joint session of Congress, there’s no way, he doesn’t deserve that,” Limbaugh said. “Boehner’s got to say no. Now, whether he will, I have no clue.”
A number of Republicans in the House and a few in the Senate did have a clue and they told Boehner that while they would allow the joint session – it was hard not to for both historic and political reasons – the timing had to be on their terms, which meant it could not conflict with the Republican debate.
At which point Boehner’s office announced that Boehner had never agreed to the Wednesday date, that Congress did not get back into session until 6:30 p.m. on that day, that various votes had to be taken, that security had to be arranged and Obama should push his speech back a day to Thursday.
Which just happened to be the evening the Green Bay Packers were meeting the New Orleans Saints in the NFL season opener. Which meant Obama would have to move his speech up an hour or so before the kick-off at 8:30 p.m.
The White House was not pleased. In reality, it believed, Congress really had never gone out of session, a parliamentary move that blocked Obama from making recess appointments. “And they had to arrange security?” the White House source scoffed. “As if they couldn’t do that! This was a political thing, a tea party thing, a Rush Limbaugh thing. They were all giving Boehner gas.”
An Oval office speech instead?
How about the East Room?
“It’s been a long time since Congress was focused on what the American people need them to be focused on,” Obama said in the email. “I know that you’re frustrated by that. I am, too.”
Obama said he was going to put forward “a set of bipartisan proposals to help grow the economy and create jobs” and he was “asking lawmakers to look past short-term politics and take action on that plan.”
It was, perhaps, not the friendliest message, but the White House was not in a friendly mood. Some Democrats were attacking Obama for once again “caving in” to Republicans, though others thought that it was an inconsequential matter.
The White House is viewing it as very consequential, however. “It is a big deal,” the source said. “It shows the House Republicans will do no outreach, nothing.”
And who does the White House believe was really behind treating the president so shabbily?
“At first, I didn’t think it was Boehner, but his caucus,” the source said. “But maybe not. Maybe it is him.”
Steve Benen:
By agreeing to Boehner’s preferred day, the White House at least prevents a prolonged argument about process. Because Washington rules dictate that there must be a “winner” in every dispute, the Speaker gets to gloat this morning, but the fact remains Boehner still looks small and petty, picking an unnecessary fight. That he claimed to be speaking “on behalf of the bipartisan leadership and membership of both the House and the Senate,” when he clearly was not, only makes him look slightly worse. If President Obama values being seen as “the adult in the room,” this little mess reinforced the perception.
But that doesn’t make yesterday’s developments any less ridiculous. If Americans wanted a responsible Congress, ready and willing to act in the nation’s interest, and able to work constructively in response to critical challenges, they made a tragic mistake in November 2010. Yesterday’s largely inconsequential fiasco will fade away soon enough, but it’s symbolic of a larger problem: voters elected far-right children to run the legislative branch of government.
Ezra Klein:
Obama’s speech will achieve nothing. It will go nowhere because it has nowhere to go. A speech can rally the base, and maybe even temporarily change the topic in the news. But it can’t change the fundamental fact of politics right now, which is that the two parties disagree on the most profound question in Washington. It’s not: How do we fix the economy? It is: Who should win the next election?
So long as Republicans and Democrats disagree on that, there will be no significant cooperation on substantive issues. Boehner simply will not cut off his party’s candidates at the knees, especially its presidential contenders, by handing Obama a major economic accomplishment. Because he controls the House of Representatives, that means Obama -- and, by extension, the U.S. -- is not going to get a major economic accomplishment.
Almost everyone in Washington understands this. The interest in the president’s speech is just a function of the fact that people who discuss politics and policy for a living need to seem like we’re doing something through the long summer months. The administration needs to look like it’s acting to create jobs, the media need to appear to be reporting news, the pundits need to generate opinions about it all.
This is the part of the column where, as a pundit, I lay out my three-point, politically implausible plan to turn the situation around. This is where I tell the president to fight harder, or take his message directly to the people, or fire up the lethargic Obama for America organization. This is where I remind the Republicans that they supported tax cuts as stimulus all through the last decade and even into 2009; where I beg them to put country before party; where I warn them that everything they are doing unto the Democrats today will be done unto them tomorrow. This is where I summon history to show how FDR or Reagan or Truman broke a similar logjam.
But such exhortations -- and I am guilty of writing variations on these many times over -- are pointless today. The facts are what they are. And what they are is depressing and unlikely to change. | <urn:uuid:e92a7c16-8c1a-4b5d-8ba2-a51cafdeb956> | http://fortmchenryii.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-is-it-about-this-president-that.html | en | 0.973467 | 0.027014 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Friday, 22 July 2016
Why You Shouldn't Be Buying That Gym / Salon / Spa / Wellness Package
Source: California Fitness Singapore Facebook page
When information about the gym being in financial troubles leaked out in April, suggesting that the gym would close in June, California Fitness Singapore claimed that it was completely untrue and that they were "ABSOLUTELY still in business".
"We're one of Singapore's largest and oldest gyms, and have been operating since 1998. There's no way we will close down!"
Did the staff really had no clue, or were they just trying to get more money from as many consumers as they could before the closure? They were still selling packages in April after this "rumour" broke.
A few of my friends have been affected by the closure, as they are also victims from having signed thousand-dollar packages which they cannot get a refund for now. It makes me so mad that companies (and their salespeople) prey on consumers' insecurities for their own profits, including my poor friend.
Do you really think the gym salesperson truly cares about your health and well-being?
That he/she really cares whether you lose weight or get back in shape?
NO. What they really care about when they're trying to sell you a package is just how much commission they stand to make from the sale.
"But...they were really sincere! They even told me about their own personal weight-loss story and how they believe everyone deserves to look good. They even shared how they managed to tone up thanks to the gym instructors and that's why they joined - because they were so convinced by the results!"
Oh pleaseeeee. See it for yourself here: some of California Fitness' gym trainers earn over S$17,000 a month from commissions. Is it ethical to ask someone to pay 2 months worth of their salary just for a gym package? California Fitness did just that when they sold Ms. Esther Lim a $4000 package .
Why You Won't Be Able To Get A Refund
When fitness centres / salons sell you a gym / slimming / spa / facial / nail package, they usually cost a good amount of money, often even up to a few thousand dollars.
Most consumers are not able to pay off such a large sum at a single shot, so these companies usually team up with the banks to offer interest-free loans that enable you to pay in monthly instalments.
"If I no longer want to patronise them or if they shut down, I can simply terminate monthly instalments so they don't get any more money!"
Unfortunately, that is a huge misconception. What really happens is that when you sign the package, your bank pays the merchant the entire sum in full, which they collect back from you over 12 - 24 months by monthly instalments until you've paid off everything.
What that means is that you can't simply terminate the payments - even if the gym shuts down, you still have to pay the remaining monthly instalments.
I didn't realise so many people are in the dark about how these payments work, until I read the comments on Facebook.
In the case of any company being shut down, even if all its assets and cash are liquidated, the priority goes to paying off its debts and employee wages before they tackle any refunds.
I learnt this from first-hand experience when my first employer folded (you can read about the epic story here) and I was seeking legal counsel for what actions I could take. Back then, the company had closed down and left many employees in limbo, with wages unpaid, as well as many unpaid reimbursements owed to other suppliers and third-parties. My lawyer then informed me that even if the company was fully liquidated, the money would first be used to pay off their debt, followed by employee wages, before any refunds were even considered. By that point, most companies would usually have nothing left, so refunds are as rare as unicorns.
Once a company goes into liquidation, you can't sue them either. There really is hardly anything else you can do.
How much did consumers of California Fitness lose?
Thousands. I pity those who signed packages in April the most, as they barely got a chance to utilise the gym before its closure.
A few years ago, when I was considering whether to join a gym in order to keep fit, salespeople at California Fitness, Amore Fitness and True Fitness all tried to sell me packages that were between $800 - $4000 each. Many even tried to throw in discounts or freebies such as free personal training sessions, but thankfully, I turned all of them down. Till today, I continue to receive cold calls from True Fitness offering me a "free one week pass" and trying to get me down to their nearest outlet (I presume, so that they can try to convert me into a paid customer).
So when I read the following line in The Straits Times news article, I literally laughed out loud.
Are they realllllllly trying to help out, or are they just being opportunistic?
You decide.
HomeTeamNS, on the other hand, is offering SIX MONTHS of free access to their gyms to members affected by California Fitness' closure. If you really want a gym package, I suggest signing up with them as their rates are much more affordable (as low as $50 for 10 years!) or simply use your ActiveSG credits at our public gyms. Bet you didn't know that the government gave you $100 of credits free. Click here to find out how you can use it.
The limelight is on fitness chains now, but the same principles apply to the spa industry, nail salons, beauty and slimming salons, etc.
I used to sign up for dance packages of 10-classes each time, but on most instances, never got to finish using them before the expiry date. Ever since, I prefer to pay on the spot for classes that I attend, even though it can cost slightly more than if I take up a package instead.
If you really have to, I always advocate using a pay-per-use model. At least that way, you protect yourselves from landing up in a situation like this.
Remember, if you don't protect your own hard-earned money, no one else will.
With love,
Budget Babe
1. Agreed - plenty of people buy into such things (including ILPs and whatnot) because they believe the salesperson genuinely has their best interests at heart. Fact is, some of them are more concerned about completing the sale than anything else.
1. Facial packages, wedding packages (remember the whole saga about bridal salons that closed down earlier this year?) and what not too! Sigh.
2. Agree, never sign any package that you can choose to pay per session. Not just because it is expensive, because you won't know if will like it enough to keep using it. And you will be forced to continue because of the "signed" package.
3. GYM in Santa Monica | TV Mounting Los Angeles
The contents are really cohesive and makes sense.
I really appreciate.
Thank You. | <urn:uuid:0d4398d3-1e10-4120-8af0-0d071193e438> | https://www.sgbudgetbabe.com/2016/07/why-you-shouldnt-be-buying-that-gym.html | en | 0.979487 | 0.394176 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
History of Logic
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Leibniz on Logic, Language and Semiotics. Annotated bibliography (First Part: A - K)
1. Aarsleff, Hans. 1964. "Leibniz on Locke on Language." American Philosophical Quarterly no. 1:165-188.
Reprinted in: H. Aarsleff - From Locke to Saussure. Essays on the study of language and intellectual history - London, Athlone Press, 1982 pp. 42-83 and in: R. S. Woolhouse - Leibniz. Critical assessments - Vol. III - New York, Routledge, 1994, pp. 452-495
2. ———. 1975. "The Eighteenth Century Including Leibniz." In Current Trends in Linguistics, edited by Sebeok, Thomas A., 383-479. The Hague: Mouton.
3. Abraham, William E. 1969. "Complete Concepts and Leibniz's Distinction between Necessary and Contingent Propositions." Studia Leibnitiana no. 1:263-279.
4. Aguado, Javier. 1997. "Analisis De Las Relaciones En La Gramatica Logica De Leibniz. Historia De Un Conflicto Hermeneutico." Revista de Filosofia (Spain) no. 10:223-263.
5. Andrews, F.E. 1983. "Leibniz's Logic within His Philosophical System." Dionysius no. 7:73-128.
"The work purports to provide a philosophical history of Leibniz's logical works. The principal conclusion is that Leibniz's work on logical calculi, the modifications in it coinciding with the three periods identified by Couturat, rest upon refinements in the expression of his philosophical system, and end when his philosophical thought reached that point at which it is manifest that a logical calculus such as he had envisaged is not competent to his philosophical standpoint."
6. Angelelli, Ignacio. 1965. "Leibniz's Misunderstanding of Nisolius' Notion of "Multitudo"." Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic no. 6:319-322.
7. ———. 1967. "On Identity and Interchangeability in Leibniz and Frege." Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic no. 8:94-100.
"The main purpose of this paper is to show that Leibniz did not accept what today is usually known as Leibniz's rule of substitutivity (or indiscernibility of identicals, etc.). This purpose is attained by quoting three texts, in Latin, one of them not yet published. Another aim of the paper is to show how Frege believed that the rule Leibniz had used only for restricted calculi, could be extended to the ordinary language. This is construed as the source of the axiomatic status enjoyed by the rule among philosophers in the last century."
8. Bailhache, Patrice. 1979. "Un Logicien Déontique Avant La Lettre: Leibniz Précurseur De A. R. Anderson Et A. N. Prior." Archiv für Rechts und Sozialphilosophie no. 65:269-274.
9. Baum, Manfred. 2002. "Zum Verhältnis Von Logik Und Metaphysik Bei Leibniz." In Societas Rationis. Festschrift Für Burkhard Tuschling Zum 65. Geburtstag, edited by Hüning, Dieter, Stiening, Gideon and Vogel, Ulrich, 11-27. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.
10. Benis-Sinaceur, Hourya. 1988. ""Ars Inveniendi" Et Théorie Des Modèles." Dialogue no. 27:591-613.
"The aim of this paper is to reassess some cardinal ideas of Leibniz in the light of the methods and goal of model theory. It is a leitmotiv in Abraham Robinson's work that, as well as Leibniz wanted logic to be an "ars inveniendi" for mathematics, model theory has to "produce useful tools for the development of actual mathematics." This paper tries to clarify the meaning and the far-reaching consequences of such a statement by comparing the method of logical analysis of the mathematical language to Leibniz's concepts of 'analysis' and 'characteristica'. Some results of Alfred Tarski and Abraham Robinson are briefly sketched in order to give evidence of the contemporary achievement of what Leibniz wished logic to be."
11. Berliner, Paul. 1987. "Zur Problematik Einer Ars Inveniendi." Philosophia Naturalis no. 24:186-198.
"The "Ars inveniendi" and her scientific tools, "Ars combinatoria," "Ars characteristica," "Ars significandi," cover a creative conception of Leibniz. The conception combines the idea of theory constitution and the unlimited formal integrity and stringency of combinatory techniques. It explains the mechanism of invention and natural adherence to methodological rules, when scientific theories are not presupposed to exist. The art is applied to a system of inventive axiomatics, which embodies a previous work of the author."
12. Berlioz, Dominique. 1993. "Langue Adamique Et Caractéristique Universelle Chez Leibniz." In Leibniz and Adam, edited by Dascal, Marcelo and Yakira, Elhanan, 153-168. Tel Aviv: University Publishing Projects.
13. Berlioz, Dominique, and Nef, Frédéric, eds. 2004. Leibniz Et Les Puissances Du Langage. Paris: Vrin.
14. Bernardo, Paola. "Questioni Testuali. Hobbes, Leibniz E Il Nominalismo." Studi filosofici. Annali dell’Istituto universitario Orientale no. 31:79-97.
15. Beuchot, Mauricio. 1985. "El Ars Magna De Lulio Y El Ars Combinatoria De Leibniz." Dianoia no. 31:183-194.
16. Bradley Bassler, Otto. 1998. "Leibniz on Intension, Extension, and the Representation of Syllogistic Inference." Synthese no. 116:117-139.
"New light is shed on Leibniz's commitment to the metaphysical priority of the intensional interpretation of logic by considering the arithmetical and graphical representations of syllogistic inference that Leibniz studied. Crucial to understanding this connection is the idea that concepts can be intensionally represented in terms of properties of geometric extension, though significantly not the simple geometric property of part-whole inclusion. I go on to provide an explanation for how Leibniz could maintain the metaphysical priority of the intensional interpretation while holding that logically the intensional and the extensional stand in strictly inverse relation to each other."
17. Brands, Hartmut. 1986. "Eine Anmerkung Zur Vermeintlichen Unvollständigkeit Der Beiden Regeln Der Qualität in Leibniz' "Dissertatio De Arte Combinatoria"." Studia Leibnitiana no. 18:83-88.
18. Brekle, Herbert. 1971. "Die Idee Einer Generative Grammatik in Leibnizens Fragmenten Zur Logik." Studia Leibnitiana no. 3:141-149.
19. Bssler, O.B. 1998. "Leibniz on Intension, Extension, and the Representation of Syllogistic Inference." Synthese no. 116:117-139.
20. Burkhardt, Hans. 1980. Logik Und Semiotik in Der Philosophie Von Leibniz. München: Philosophia Verlag.
"This book provides the first account of the Janus-headed character of Leibniz's philosophy. Burkhardt presents not only an exhaustive survey of the background of Leibniz's thought in scholasticism, but also an estimation of his significance for contemporary logic and philosophy. On the one hand Leibniz is a representative of protestant Aristotelianism. His philosophical training was scholastic; his terminology is scholastic. On the other hand, it was he who developed the first logical calculi. His work on the theory of possible worlds means that he can be regarded as a precursor of possible world semantics in modal logic. And deontic logic, too, makes its first appearance in Leibniz's writings. He did original work also in probability theory, an area which at his time stand in a close relationship with logic. It was only with the development of mathematical logic by Boole and Frege that Leibniz's achievements in logic and semiotic could properly be grasped. An account of his contributions to these fields therefore presupposes a knowledge of those branches of Contemporary mathematical logic which he anticipated. Leibniz was also highly original in the area of linguistics. He put forward a series of theories and analyses in rational grammar which have hitherto been little considered in the literature. The present work offers, then, systematic discussions of the syllogism, of rational grammar, of the characteristica universalis, of combinatorics. It deals with the development of logical calculi, the relation between algebra and logic, geometry, ontic and deontic modal logic, the interconnections between logic and probability theory, and the relations between ontology, logic and semiotics."
21. ———. 1983. "Modaltheorie Und Modallogik in Der Scholastik Und Bei Leibniz." Anuario Filosofico de la Universidad de Navarra Pamplona no. 16:273-292.
22. ———. 1987. "The Leibnizian Characteristica Universalis as Link between Grammar and Logic." In Speculative Grammar, Universal Grammar, and Philosophical Analysis of Language, edited by Buzzetti, Dino and Ferriani, Maurizio, 43-63. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
23. ———. 1988. "Modalities in Language, Thought and Reality in Leibniz, Descartes and Crusius." Synthese no. 75:183-215.
"This essay tries to give a survey of the theories of modality in the philosophy of Leibniz. Leibniz distinguishes implicitly between five different kinds of modality: linguistic, logical, epistemic, ontological, and metaphysical. "Linguistic" modalities concern the different linguistic expressions of modalities. "Logical" modality concerns consistency and maximally consistent concepts in the case of individual concept. "Epistemic" modalities include understandability, thinkability, moral certainty and absolute certainty. "Ontological modalities" include compossibility, necessity and impossibility "per accidens", physical modality. "Metaphysical modality" is related to God, his thinking and his action, thus, for example, "prima possibilia", moral necessity and possible worlds."
24. ———. 1989. "Das Vorurteil Zugunsten Des Aktualen: Die Philosophischen Systeme Von Leibniz and Meinong." In Le Teorie Delle Modalità. Atti Del Convegno Internazionale Di Storia Della Logica, edited by Corsi, Giovanni, Mangione, Corrado and Mugnai, Massimo, 155-182. Bologna: CLUEB.
25. ———. 1990. "Jungius, Leibniz Und Die Logica Nova." In Praktische Logik: Traditionen Und Tendenzen. 350 Jahre Joachimi Jungii Logica Hamburgensis, edited by Klein, Peter, 57-83. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
26. ———. 1999. "Aggregate." In L'actualité De Leibniz: Les Deux Labyrinthes, edited by Berlioz, Dominique and Nef, Frédéric, 307-320. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
27. Caicedo, Xavier, and Martin, Alejandro. 2001. "Completud De Dos Calculos Logicos De Leibniz." Theoria.Revista de Teoria, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia no. 16:539-558.
"This work is a contribution to a new view of Leibniz's logic, pretending to show that his writings were not only rich in projects (Characteristica, Combinatoria, Mathesis), but also in concrete logico-mathematical developments. We prove that his Numerical Characteristic, assigning pairs of numbers to terms of categorical propositions, is a complete and correct semantics for aristotelian syllogistic, and the algebraic system presented in Fundamentals of Logical Calculus is essentially a complete version of boolean algebraic logic."
28. Castañeda, Hector-Neri. 1974. "Leibniz's Concepts and Their Coincidence 'Salva Veritate'." Noûs no. 8:381-398.
"Discusses Leibniz's views of concepts and their coincidence, which is, not identity of concepts as Ishiguro and others think, but Leibniz's fundamental copula linking concepts into propositions. Formulates fifteen Leibnizian theses on the topics. Examines five theses propounded by Hidé Ishiguro in "Leibniz's philosophy of logic and language" (1972) arguing that they belittle Leibniz's work in logic and misrepresent his views in the philosophy of logic and language. Opposes Ishiguro's Athenian approach, which strings together passages from anywhere in a philosopher's corpus, regardless of dates, as if the philosopher had all along before his mind a full-blown consistent system. Illustrates the contrastive Darwinian approach by staying within Leibniz's General inquiries about the analysis of concepts and of truths."
29. ———. 1976. "Leibniz's Syllogistico-Propositional Calculus." Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic no. 17:481-500.
"This is a constructive appraisal of Leibniz's attempts, in three papers written in 1686-1690, at formulating an equational calculus that formalizes both classical syllogistics and propositional logic. The attempts failed to provide a calculus adequate for monadic predicate logic, because of Leibniz's inadequate treatment of existence and the particular quantifier. But Leibniz did come remarkably close to formulating an adequate propositional calculus with biconditional and negation as primitive connectives, and some primitive rules of substitution of material equivalents. The degree of closeness can be appreciated by seeing how easy it was for Castañeda to complement Leibniz's axioms and rules in order to produce a complete propositional calculus l C with those primitives. the completeness of LC is shown, and other alternatives to LC suggested by Leibniz himself are discussed briefly."
30. ———. 1990. "Leibniz's Complete Propositional Logic." Topoi no. 9:15-27.
31. Cohen, Jonathan L. 1954. "On the Project of a Universal Character." Mind no. 63:49-63.
Reprinted in: Knowledge and language. Selected essays of L. Jonathan Cohen - edited and with an introduction by James Logue - Dordrecht; Kluwer, 2002 pp. 1-14.
32. Cook, Roy T. 2000. "Monads and Mathematics: The Logic of Leibniz's Mereology." Studia Leibnitiana no. 32:1-20.
"In this paper I present a careful examination of Leibniz's mereological views, based in large part on the theory he presents in"The Metaphysical Foundations of Mathematics" (1715). Leibniz begins with a primitive notion of compresence and, in a step by step manner, builds up more complex mereological notions culminating in his definitions of parthood, whole, and composition. I use this mereological account to clear up a confusion in the literature regarding whether or not monads can be located in space. Along the way we gain some insight into Leibniz's views on infinity and the structure of the universe."
33. Correia, Manuel. 2002. "Categorical Propositions and 'Logica Inventiva' in Leibniz's Dissertatio De Arte Combinatoria (1666)." Studia Leibnitiana no. 34:232-240.
34. Couturat, Louis. 1901. La Logique De Leibniz. Paris: Félix Alcan.
Reprinted Hildesheim, Georg Olms, 1985.
Traduzione italiana: La logica di Leibniz - A cura di Ubaldo Sanzo - Napoli, Glaux, 1973
35. Danek, Jaromir. 1975. Les Projets De Leibniz Et De Bolzano. Deux Sources De La Logique Contemporaine. Quebec: Presse de l'Université de Laval.
36. Dascal, Marcelo. 1978. La Sémiologie De Leibniz. Paris: Aubier-Montaigne.
37. ———. 1987. Leibniz, Language, Signs, and Thought. A Collection of Essays. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
38. ———. 1988. "On Knowing Truths of Reason." In Leibniz. Questions De Logique, edited by Heinekamp, Albert, 27-37. Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag.
39. ———. 2008. G. W. Leibniz. The Art of Controversies. New York: Springer.
40. Doull, Floy Andrews. 1991. "Leibniz's Logical System of 1686-1690." Theoria.Revista de Teoria, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia no. 6:9-28.
"Logical works of this period, beginning with "Generales Inquisitiones" and ending with the two dated pieces of August 1, 1690 and August 2, 1690, are read as a sustained effort, finally successful, to develop a set of axioms and an appropriate schema for the expression of categorical propositions faithful to traditional syllogistic. This same set of axioms is shown to be comprehensive of the propositional calculus of "Principia Mathematica", providing that 'some A is A' is not a "thesis" in an unrestricted sense. There is no indication in the works of this period that Leibniz understood just how significant is this logical system he developed. But it is undeniable that he held tenaciously to this particular set of axioms throughout the period, a set of axioms of great power."
41. Drapeau Contim, Filipe. 1999. "Aspects Sémantique Et Métaphysique De La Réduplication Chez Leibniz." In L'actualité De Leibniz: Les Deux Labyrinthes, edited by Berlioz, Dominique and Nef, Frédéric, 321-361. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner.
Studia Leibnitiana. Supplementa 34
42. ———. 2005. "Des Propositions Aux Termes: Logique Et Réduction Dans Les Recherches Générales." In Leibniz Et Les Puissances Du Langage, edited by Berlioz, Dominique and Nef, Frédéric, 95-124. Paris: Vrin.
43. Duchesnau, François. 1988. "Leibniz on the Classificatory Function of Language." Synthese no. 75:163-181.
"In the Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain, book III "Des mots" offers a rather closely knit presentation of Leibniz's ideas about language and its connection with knowledge. Though genuinely Leibnizian, this development is cast in a foreign mould, built out of an empiricist and analytic assessment of the twofold relationship of words with ideas and essences. Of the many issues in Locke's Essay which prompted Leibniz's antagonistic replies, I shall select this one: our natural processes of thought result in complex ideas, which, expressed in substantive terms, fall short of representing the "real essences" of things, but make it possible to classify them according to "nominal essences". In contraposition to the nominal/real essence distinction, which he disqualifies, Leibniz reintroduces and recasts for his purposes the distinction between nominal and real definitions of terms. Accordingly, a major trend of his analysis of words consists in elucidating the principle "the possible governs the real" in its application to language and to its classificatory function. I will attempt (1) to tract the origin of this doctrine back to some of Leibniz's previous reflections on language; (2) to assess Nicholas Jolley's analysis of this theme in his recent book on the Nouveaux essais;* (3) to show the possible implications of the principle for Leibniz's concept of empirical knowledge."
* Leibniz and Locke. A study of the New essays on human understanding - New York, Oxford University Press, 1984.
44. Dummett, Michael. 1956. "Review of Nicholas Rescher Leibniz' Interpretation of His Logical Calculus." Journal of Symbolic Logic no. 21:197-199.
45. Dürr, Karl. 1930. Neue Beleuchtung Einer Theorie Von Leibniz. Grundzüge Des Logikkalküls. Darmstadt: Otto Reichl.
Abhandlungen der Leibniz-Gesellschaft 2
46. Elgueta, Raimon, and Jansana, Ramon. 1999. "Definability of Leibniz Equality." Studia Logica:223-243.
"Given a structure for a first-order language L, two objects of its domain can be indiscernible relative to the properties expressible in L, without using the equality symbol, and without actually being the same. It is this relation that interests us in this paper.
It is called Leibniz equality. In the paper we study systematically the problem of its definability mainly for classes of structures that are the models of some equality-free universal Horn class in an infinitary language L subscript kappa kappa, where kappa is an infinite regular cardinal."
47. Englebretsen, George. 1981. Three Logicians. Aristotle, Leibniz, and Sommers and the Syllogistic. Assen: Van Gorcum.
52. Esquisabel, Oscar M. 2002. "¿Lenguaje Racional O Ciencia De Las Fórmulas? La Luridimensionalidad Del Programa Leibniziano De La Característica General." Manuscrito.Revista Internacional de Filosofia no. 25:147-197.
"In this paper is approached the Leibnizian project for a general characteristics. Intended as a instrument to help the limitations and deficiencies of the natural human reason, the general characteristics presents itself moreover as a tool for expanding the power of the human thought by adopting and generalizing the methods of the algebraic representation. This goal however entails a difficulty when it is attempted to define with accuracy the extent of the project."
53. Ferriani, Maurizio. 1983. "Boole, Frege E La Distinzione Leibniziana 'Lingua-Calculus'." In Atti Del Convegno Internazionale Di Storia Della Logica, edited by Abrusci, Michele, Casari, Ettore and Mugnai, Massimo, 301-306. Bologna: CLUEB.
54. Gensini, Stefano. 1991. Il Naturale E Il Simbolico. Saggio Su Leibniz. Roma: Bulzoni.
55. ———. 2000. "De Linguis in Universum": On Leibniz's Ideas on Languages. Five Essays. Munster: Nodus Publikationen.
56. ———. 2005. "Leibniz on the Arbitrariness of Sign." In Leibniz Et Les Puissances Du Langage, edited by Berlioz, Dominique and Nef, Frédéric, 55-68. Paris: Vrin.
"A fact generally accepted by critique is that Leibniz holds a relevant position within the history of linguistic thought and language studies. Institutional works such as those of Aarsleff (1975), Heinekamp (1992) or Rutherford (1995), as well as the more analytical studies of Heinekamp (1972, 1975), Mugnai (1976), Dascal (1978) or, more recently, Pombo (1987) and Gensini (1991) agree with this general statement. Furthermore, against Cassirer' s well known theory, developed in the first volume of his Philosophie der symbolischen Formen (1923), growing consent is given to the hypothesis of a substantial unity of Leibniz's view of language and sign systems. Whether his focus is on universal languages or on single dialects, on the general features of natural-historical languages or on the symbolic systems of chemistry and mathematics, on cryptography or on monastic languages, his notion of meaning as a flexible dimension of language and as a semiotic articulation of knowledge can be seen as the device that connects all the various stances regarding different forms of language.
Given these assumptions, this work will focus on a particular aspect of Leibniz's considerations on language, and it will be discussed with special attention to two writings (the Dialogus of August 1677 and some pages of the Nouveaux essais sur l'entendement humain, book III, 1704-1705) which differ as to date of composition and scope and therefore delimit an entire theoretical itinerary. The topic in question is the critique to the principle of arbitrariness of linguistic signs. This issue runs through Leibniz's entire philosophical and linguistic quest and it is intertwined to a number of more general problems of his system of thought such as the relationship between knowledge and truth, the limits of human cognitive skills, the need to affirm the autonomy (also in a strong semiotic sense) of thought and, the other hand, to safeguard the platonic reign of essence (or of the possibility of things) to which even God is in some way subordinated.
Inevitably, this work will focus more on the historical and theoretical impact that Leibniz's ideas had on philosophy of language than on the sophisticated internal filigree of his reflections. Hopefully, this will not obscure the complexity of Leibniz's perspective. Given that every perspective is historically determined, an approach to a classic necessarily has to face the challenge of finding a balance between the internal reconstruction of facts and the need to relate to those general theoretical issues of the tradition that still engage us to this day."
57. Giannetto, Giuseppe. 2001. "Mondi Possibili E Calcolo Divino in Leibniz." Metalogicon no. 14:181-222.
58. Godart, Béatrice. 1987. "Les Enoncés Sui-Falsificateurs: Nouvelle Classe D'excéptions a La Loi De Leibniz." Logique et Analyse no. 30:235-256.
59. Görz, Gunther. 2002. "Rationale Grammatik, Characteristica Universalis Und Moderne Beschreibungslogik." In Medium Mathematik. Anregungen Zu Einem Interdisziplinären Gedankenaustausch. Band 1, edited by Löffladt, Günter and Toepell, Michael, 170-196. Hildesheim: Franzbecker.
60. Heidegger, Martin. 1984. The Metaphysical Foundations of Logic. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Transkated by Michael Heim.
Original German edition: Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Logik im Ausgang von Leibniz - (Sommersemester 1928) - Herausgegeben von Klaus Held - Frankfurt, Klostermann, 1978, (Heidegger Gesamtausgabe, 26)
61. Heinekamp, Albert. 1972. "Ars Characteristica Und Naturliche Sprache Bei Leibniz." Tijdschrift voor Filosofie no. 34:446-488.
62. ———. 1975. "Naturliche Sprache Und Allgemeine Charakteristik Bei Leibniz." In Akten Des Ii. Internationalen Leibniz-Kongress, Hannover 17-22 Juli 1972. Band 4: Logik, Erkenntnistheorie, Methodologie, Sprachphilosophie, 257-286. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner.
Studia Leibnitiana. Supplementa 15
63. ———. 1976. "Sprache Und Wirklichkeit Nach Leibniz." In History of Linguistic Thought and Contemporary Linguistics, edited by Parret, Herman, 518-570. Berlin New York: Walter de Gruyter.
64. ———, ed. 1988. Leibniz: Questions De Logique. 15 ed.
Symposion organisé par la Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Gesellschaft, Hannover (Bruxelles, Louvain-la-Neuve, 26 au 28 août 1985.
Studia Leibnitiana. Sonderheft.
65. ———. 1991. "Logica Y Metafisica De Leibniz. Principales Lineas De Interpretacion Durante El Siglo Xx." Dialogo Filosofico no. 19:4-31.
Spanish translation by Juan A. Nicolás Marín of the Introduction to: Leibniz' Logik und Metaphysik - edited by Albert Heinekamp (1988)
66. ———. 1992. "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)." In Sprachphilosophie. Ein Internationales Handbuch Zeitgenössischer Forschung = Philosophy of Language = La Philosophie Du Langage. Vol. I, edited by Dascal, Marcelo, 320-330. Berlin: de Gruytuer.
67. Heinekamp, Albert, and Schupp, Franz, eds. 1979. Die Intensionale Logik Bei Leibniz Und in Der Gegenwart. 8 ed.
Symposion der Leibniz-Gesellschaft Hannover, 10. und 11. November 1978.
Studia Leibnitiana.Sonderheft.
68. ———, eds. 1988. Leibniz' Logik Und Metaphysik. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
69. Herget, Don Emil. 1987. "Non-Standard Categorical Syllogism: Four That Leibniz Forgot." History and Philosophy of Logic no. 6:1-13.
" n his "Mathesis rationis" Leibniz discounted out of hand four categorical propositions that would have considerably broadened the resultant syllogistic logic. He did this despite the facts both that he had devised a suitable manner for expressing the latent quantification over terms, and that he had reasoned adequately to determine which of the syllogisms in the resulting broadened logic were valid. Leibniz's reasons for discounting these non-standard propositions are shown to be inadequate, and the resultant syllogistic logic is outlined."
70. Hernández Márquez, Víctor Manuel. 1999. "Leibniz Y La Lingua Characterica." Dianoia no. 45:35-63.
71. Ibáñez, Alejandro Herrera. 1982. "La Logica Intensional De Leibniz." Dianoia no. 28:141-154.
"Couturat's and the Kneales' view that Leibniz's logic was extensional is examined and rejected. Some misreadings of Leibniz's texts by C. I. Lewis are exhibited. It is shown that for Leibniz "ens" does not mean "existens" but "possible". O'Briant's reply to Parkinson's intensional reading of Leibniz is rejected, and an attempt is made to ground Leibniz's intensional logic in his ontology of possible worlds and entities."
72. Imaguire, Guido. 2006. "A Crítica De Russell À Concepção Leibniziana Das Relações." Manuscrito.Revista Internacional de Filosofia no. 29:153-183.
"Against the monistic conception of relations that he imputed to Leibniz, Russell defended the reality, externality and irreducibility of relations. For Russell, relations are objective and not merely mental entities; they are not always essential to the individuation of an entity; and propositions of the relational form cannot be reduced to subject-predicate propositions. My primary aim in this article is the analysis of Russell's arguments for this triple thesis. We can say that Russell was primarily concerned with issues of logic, and because of this misunderstood Leibniz's metaphysical perspective."
73. Ishiguro, Hidé. 1972. "Leibniz's Theory of the Ideality of Relations." In Leibniz. A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Frankfurt, Harry, 191-213. New York: Doubleday.
74. ———. 1981. Contingent Truths and Possible Worlds. Vol. Leibniz. Metaphysics and philosophy of science. London: Oxford University Press.
75. ———. 1990. Leibniz's Philosophy of Logic and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Second revised edition.
First edition Lodon, Duckworth, 1972.
76. ———. 2005. "Leibniz Et La Distinction Frégéenne Entre "Sens" Et "Référence"." In Leibniz Et Les Puissances Du Langage, edited by Berlioz, Dominique and Nef, Frédéric, 201-210. Paris: Vrin.
77. Kaehler, Klaus Erich. 1989. Leibniz' Position Der Rationalität. Die Logik Im Metaphysischen Wissen Der "Natürlichen Vernunft". Freiburg: Alber.
78. Kalinowski, Georges. 1977. "La Logique Juridique De Leibniz." Studia Leibnitiana no. 9:168-189.
"En fait, Leibniz a apporté à la logique juridique une double contribution. D'une part, il a oeuvré à la maniere de ses devanciers et contemporains (Everardus, Freigius, Otto, Schickhardus, Vigelius, etc.) en formulant des règles d'interprétation juridique, en particulier les règles de solution des cas difficiles ("de casibus perplexis") et les règles à appliquer aux dispositions sous condition ("de conditionibus"). De l'autre, il fait figure de novateur et de precurseur en decouvrant les fondements logiques des inferences juridiques ("de legum interpretatione, rationibus, applicatione, systemate"), en particulier les principales thèses de la logique des normes ("elementa juris naturalis")."
79. Kalinowski, Georges, and Gardies, Jean-Louis. 1974. "Un Logicien Deontique Avant La Lettre: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz." Archiv für Rechts und Sozialphilosophie no. 60:79-112.
"In their introduction the authors sketch the story of Robert Blanché's rediscovery of Leibniz' texts containing his logic of norms. Then G. Kalinowski analyses the Theoremata qvibus combinantur iuris modalia inter se (he draws from them Leibniz' theory of opposition of deontic statements, based on the analogy between these statements and the modal ones) and J.-L. Gardies studies the Theoremata qvibus combinantur iuris modalibus logicis."
80. Karofsky, Amy. 1999. "The Primitiveness of Leibnizian Alethic Modalities." History of Philosophy Quarterly no. 16:297-320.
81. Kauppi, Raili. 1960. "Über Die Leibnizsche Logik Mit Besonderer Berücksichtigung Des Problems Der Intension Und Extension." Acta Philosophica Fennica no. 12.
Reprint: New York, Garland, 1985
82. ———. 1968. "Substitutivity Salva Veritate in Leibniz." Ratio no. 10:141-149.
"Problems concerning substitutivity are discussed in the light of examples from Leibniz, Frege, Carnap, Mates, Putnam. Leibniz reduced truth to interconceptual relations, which accordingly must not be changed by substitutions salva veritate. In moderm logic "salva veritate" has an entirely different meaning. Attempts to formulate conditions of substitutivity, applicable e. g. to belief sentences of everyday language, in terms of intensional isomorphy, are criticized. heir failing depends on the fact that a substitution salva veritate in such a sentence presupposes empirical knowledge, not expressed by this sentence, about the linguistic usage, theknowledge, the opinions, etc. of the person concerned."
83. Knapp, Hans Georg. 1978. "Notwendige Und Zufallige Wahrheiten: Die Summierung Unendlicher Reihen Im Lichte Der Leibnizschen Begriffslogik." Studia Leibnitiana no. 10:60-86.
"I want to show that Leibnizian mode to thinking is based in a kind of logic of concepts. As an example, his first attempt to sum infinite series is analyzed. The question concerning the justification of the Leibnizian syllogism leads to the analysis of the fundamental definition. A conclusion obtained by "real-definitions" ("realdefinitionen") is logically justified. It is classified as a "vernunftwahrheit." A conclusion obtained by paradoxical definitions ("paradoxe definitionen") is classified as a "tatsachenwahrheit." according to Leibniz it has validity by contingency. A conclusion obtained by "impossible definitions" is logically unjustified."
84. Kneale, William, and Kneale, Martha. 1962. The Development of Logic. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Reprinted 1975 with corrections.
See: Chapter V. Logic after the Renaissance: § 2. The interests of Leibniz (p. 320-336) and § 3. Leibniz's Calculus de Continentibus et Contentis (pp. 336-345).
85. Knecht, Herbert. 1981. La Logique Chez Leibniz. Éssai Sur Le Rationalisme Baroque. Lausanne: L'Age d'Homme.
86. Krajewski, Wladyslaw. 2001. "Aristotelian and Leibnizian Concepts of Possibility." In Aristotle and Contemporary Science. Vol. 2, edited by Sfendoni-Mentzou, Demetra, Hattiangadi, Jagdish and Johnson, David M., 51-56. Bern: Peter Lang.
Second Part of the Bibliography: L - Z
Leibniz on Ontology and Metaphysics (under construction)
Leibniz Bibliographie - Leibniz Bibliography (a database of more than 25.000 titles) | <urn:uuid:037f3b69-a97f-440e-ab70-08170ed3bd01> | https://www.historyoflogic.net/biblio/leibniz-logic-biblio-one.htm | en | 0.776336 | 0.018228 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
…. Keep it continuous
Some of the more interesting quotes about my latest piece include a forum writer who commended me for my endless defense of Barry Bonds; “Say what you will about Perricone, the guy's been defending Bonds for going on five years now.”
Thanks, I guess.
In truth, I think I've been more interested in defending Bonds' rights. The right to be treated fairly, to be held as innocent until proven guilty, the right to self-determination, and, of course, the right to be an asshole. I think I've also been criticizing the ham-handed, sanctimonious outrage and piety being displayed by so many of the members of the mainstream media, who are falling all over themselves in their efforts to prove that they will save the children, the heroes of the past, and, of course, by extension, us.
To them, I say, thanks but no thanks. I'm comfortable with controversy, I'm OK with sports stars who may not be perfect. I do, in fact, want our athletes to do amazing things, and I don't really care how they go about doing it. It has always been obvious to me that to perform at the highest levels in athletic competition, extreme measures have always been taken.
I have some context, that perhaps a writer like Lupica doesn't. I've worked in construction for most of the last 25 years, and I know what it's like to work through pain. I've shot myself in the leg with a nail gun and wrapped duct tape around it and kept going. I've had to drill a hole in my thumb nail to release the blood blister under it, and kept going. I've worked on a roof in three feet of snow, with a 20 mile an hour wind making the wind chill factor below zero, all day long, for days on end.
When I wasn't out in the field building houses, I worked in a mirror factory, I worked in a restaurant, I've worked with my body since I was 14 years old. In that time, I've taken every pill, literally, everything I could get my hands on, to make sure I could go to work every day. Until you do, maybe you can't understand. But I know that my readers who come from a similar background understand.
And when I read Bill Gilbert's account of the different players who do the same, I wonder, no, in fact, I know, the only difference between what Bob Gibson did and what I did was directly related to access.
If I would have had access to a physician whose sole purpose was to ensure that I got up and worked to the best of my ability, well, I mean, come on. Anybody would have made the same choice, and to suggest otherwise is more than disingenuous, it's flat out lying. Reading Bill Gilbert's followup piece makes that crystal clear:
…. ” 'Where's the Dexamyl, Doc?' I yelled at the trainer rooting about in his leather valise,” pitcher-author Jim Brosnan quoted himself as saying in his celebrated baseball book, Pennant Race. ” 'There's nothing in here but phenobarbital and that kind of stuff.'
” 'I don't have any more,' said Doc Rohde. 'Gave out the last one yesterday. Get more when we get home.'
” 'Been a rough road trip, huh, Doc? How'm I goin' to get through the day then? Order some more, Doc. It looks like a long season.'
” 'Try one of these,' he said.
” 'Geez, that's got opium in it. Whaddya think I am, an addict or something?' ”
…. On good evidence—which includes voluntary admissions by physicians, trainers, coaches, athletes, testimony given in court or before athletic regulatory bodies, and autopsy reports—amphetamines have been used in auto racing, basketball, baseball (at all levels down to children's leagues), boxing, canoeing, cycling, football, golf, mountain climbing, Roller Derby, rodeo, Rugby, skating, skiing, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis (both lawn and table), track and field, weight lifting and wrestling.
The amphetamines, of which Benzedrine, Dexedrine, Dexamyl (which has a barbiturate added) and methamphetamine (the notorious “speed” or “Meth”), are among the best-known, affect the central nervous system and produce what might be called a triple threat.
They act indirectly to suppress hunger spasms, and for this reason are used as appetite-killing pills by jockeys, boxers, wrestlers and anybody else who has to make a weight.
The drug is a metabolic stimulant, speeding up the respiratory and circulatory systems and enabling users to remain hyperactive when they would ordinarily slow down because of fatigue.
Finally, the amphetamines act directly on the brain, inducing a sense of excitement and euphoria, a sort of I-can-lick-the-world high.
Let's not forget, this article was published June 30th, 1969, forty years ago. Bill Gilbert is saying that it was commonly known forty years ago that amphetamines, illegal or otherwise, were used in virtually every sport there was.
…. “I dope myself. Everyone [that is, everyone who is a competitive cyclist] dopes himself. Those who claim they don't are liars,” Jacques Anquetil, a five-time winner of the Tour de France and a French sports figure of the stature of a Jean-Claude Killy or a Michel Jazy, has said. “For 50 years bike racers have been taking stimulants Obviously, we can do without them in a race, but then we will pedal 15 miles an hour [instead of 25]. Since we are constantly asked to go faster and to make even greater efforts, we are obliged to take stimulants.”
Anquetil's remark was made i
Desencadenado: Tu Cuerpo Es Tu Gimnasio
n the summer of 1967 in the midst of what to date has been sports' messiest public drug scandal. Anquetil himself was much involved, both as a commentator and competitor. In May 1966, after winning a race in Belgium by nearly five minutes, he forfeited his victory and his check rather than provide a urine sample, which was to be analyzed for amphetamines or other banned drugs. In September 1967 a world speed record set by Anquetil in Milan was disallowed for the same reason. In between these two incidents there were two cycling deaths attributed to amphetamines, a number of suspensions at the Amsterdam world championships and a slowdown strike by cyclists protesting the fact that they were being forced to compete without the aid of their accustomed drugs.
Next time you read another slam-job article on Lance Armstrong –by one of these uninformed hacks– keep that in mind. One of the men whose record was broken by Armstrong was speaking openly of doping FORTY YEARS AGO!!!! Cycling almost fell apart because everyone was using speed, and nobody wanted to stop.
How about the major sports?
…. Among major American sports, amphetamine usage may be highest in football, or again it may only be easier to verify in this sport. Among professional clubs, players, physicians and trainers of the Steelers, Chargers, Cardinals, Lions and Redskins have indicated that chemical pep is or has been used. At least one professional football team made the taking of pep pills part of its pregame routine.
“It usually seems to be the older players and boys who think they need an extra lift to make it through a game that want them,” says Joe Kuczo, the Redskin trainer. “I personally am not convinced that they do much good, but it's a mental thing with some of them. They've been used to the pills. In the quantities they get here, at least, I doubt if they do much harm.”
You might notice the Steelers in there. The same Steelers who, in the last couple of seasons, have seen several of their championship teams of the 70's implicated in steroid use rumors.
And then there's pain:
…. In addition to exhaustion and tension, all athletes are at some time in some degree challenged by a third physiological phenomenon—pain. The relationship between pain and sports is ancient and close. For some, pain is the prohibitive price that makes games not worth playing; for others it is the secret but ultimate opponent. For most it is a necessary vocational byproduct.
Does knowing that there are reasons players use drugs mean it's OK to use them? Of course not. I'm not saying it's OK, but I'm also not saying it's not. I'm saying it's none of my business. You don't get to tell me I can't take a Percoset so my elbow pain goes away, allowing me to get back to work. Why should I be able to tell Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire what they can or can't do in order to be the best at their job? How is that even remotely acceptable?
The players and coaches and owners are there, in the game. The sportswriters cover the game. Since when did the sportswriters become the guardians of anything? Since when did they become the judge and jury? How did we get here? You wanna write about what these athletes do, go ahead. Stop telling me what's right and wrong. I don't need you to help me figure that out. Really. I'm a grownup, and I can handle saving my children by myself, thanks.
UPDATE: Is this even possible? Did Peter Gammons just link to my last post, and not only link to it, but cut and paste most of it? I am flabbergasted, to say the least:
…. We are blasted with the stun guns of moral outrage. Bud Selig claimed he knew nothing of the PED world until he read about Mark McGwire's andro in 1998; now he says he pushed the union for steroid testing in 1995. The incomplete Mitchell report never addressed where so many of the drugs came from, sticking with a couple of East Coast leaks and ignoring the underground steroids world of Latin America.
We now know that there are baseball players from the 1950s who had vision and other problems because of “red juice.” We read “Ball Four.”
John Perricone's superb “Only Baseball Matters” blog this week recalled a 40-year-old piece by Bill Gilbert in Sports Illustrated.
…. At the least, Perricone should make us all think. Alex Rodriguez's admission doesn't bring baseball to an end; it should help those who love the sport edge closer to the truth, and allow players who want level playing fields to force the union into finally allowing one.
I don't know the whole truth, no one does. That list of the 103 other players who tested positive in 2003 is out there and could become public, and there will be more stories and revelations. But this is more complex than simple good and evil, just as there has been a lot of good in what Presinal has provided young athletes in a poor country.
Perricone criticized some writers who really care about baseball and their kids and what has become so ugly. But it's not just Barry Bonds, Bobby Estalella and Alex Rodriguez — it's societal, and as Bill Gilbert pointed out in the first year of the Nixon presidency, has been for generations.
UPDATE, Part II: I seem to have made the bigs. Rob Neyer also threw me a link. Hoo Wah.
Desencadenado: Tu Cuerpo Es Tu Gimnasio
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In the olden days when bespoke fireplaces were introduced, they had one sole purpose— to provide heat. That was what our ancestors were looking for when they had a fireplace installed in their respective homes.
Our great grandfathers built fireplaces because they not only needed warmth but also wanted to create a cosy, warm and inviting atmosphere, amidst the cold, bitter season. But over the past few generations, fireplaces evolved into something more than just producing heat, although they haven’t lost their age-old appeal.
Modern and bespoke fireplaces still bring cheer and warmth to every home. In fact, they are still a home’s focal point where family members get together and share the warmth of a roaring fire.
These days, however, these fireplaces also boast something else—style. Nothing represents a design trend better than a floating hearth.
Re-discovering our roots
rediscovering our roots bespoke fireplaces
Historically, hearths protected flammable materials such as carpets and wood floors from sparks. They practically served a functional purpose. But such safety measures went the way of the masonry chimney when modern direct-vent gas fireplaces were invented.
That is, in terms of pure utility, the hearths of the past became obsolete. It gained in ornamental appeal what it lost in function, however.
Just as the fireplace advanced from a mere need into a decorative luxury, so too the hearth’s role as an architectural statement in its own right. Architects, builders and interior designers can easily skip the hearth and create a minimalist and sleek tableau.
However, this doesn’t mean that they’ll forgo the appeal that comes with a well-designed bespoke fireplace extension.
Revival of innovation
Revival of innovation bespoke fireplaces
Do you want to have a hearth that’s inspiring, delighting and awes every single person who sees it, something of an architectural element that not just copies the conventional designs of the past?
Well, say hello to the modern floating hearth made by Modus Fireplaces, a contemporary take on a time-honoured tradition.
Although it’s not entirely an innovative idea since, historically, builders have placed stonework and brick at various heights, the concept of a hearth above ground has since gained fame in the past few years. Designers and architects are finding innovative ways that transcend the ordinary bespoke fireplace design.
Beyond embellishment, Beyond function
Beyond embellishment bespoke fireplaces
Since any masonry extension could pique the beauty and interest of a fireplace, a floating hearth adds a little bit more spark to space. When placed above ground but in front of a fireplace, the whole piece will look like it’s floating, creating a sense of gravity-defying lightness.
Additionally, you are freed from simply functionality. When it comes to design, placement and materials, the possibilities are endless.
If you want a balanced and sturdy-feeling, centre the concrete, square slab in front of the fireplace and then position it low to the ground.
How about a contemporary look?
Pick a thin, long rectangular style, extending further from one side to the next. This offers a more asymmetrical and contemporary look.
Modern-day hearths have re-defined function in its own right. They are no longer considered merely just part of the world of plain utility, although it doesn’t mean these contemporary hearths are also just plain ornamental.
Instead of being just a safety precaution, they now double as shelves, seats and even ledges.
The reinvention of convenience
The reinvention of convenience
Our forefathers used to tend to the flame all night to ensure that their solitary heat source won’t go up in smoke or worse spread fire on where they’re sleeping. But we no longer do that thanks to the advancement of today’s bespoke fireplaces.
Recent generations considered wood-burning fireplaces as a chose, though they had it easier than our ancestors.
But contemporary bespoke fireplaces instead burn gas, requiring lesser upkeep, thus lesser worry. All you have to do is turn the flame on and then turn it off once you no longer need it. You have the option of setting the timer and simply watch and enjoy as the magic of modern technology showcases what it is capable of.
Enjoying the beauty and warmth of a flame has never been this easier.
| <urn:uuid:dc80fb5e-2a16-47f8-b581-675ff30f5688> | https://modusfireplaces.com/2018/10/15/modern-floating-hearth-bespoke-fireplaces-design-need/ | en | 0.939348 | 0.134118 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Gridley students expand their creativity on the computer
In Room 29 at Gridley Middle School, the persistent hum of keyboard clicks rings out every hour as students settle in to their computers. Occasional laughs and miniature conversations can be heard, but for the most part these students are locked in. Room 29 is home to Gridley's VR Lab.
"It's kind of like a place to expand your creativity on the computer," explains Edie, a seventh-grader who is in her second year of VR class. "You get to make whatever you want in whatever way you want and it doesn't matter because it's your creation."
Edie is referencing Blender, an open-source 3D content-creation program that Gridley students use. In Blender, a student can either build a 3D image from scratch or model one off of pictures online. Edie referenced her current work on a Niffler, a character from the Harry Potter series, which is a far cry from the gingerbread man she attempted in sixth grade.
"It's just really cool to think as a seventh-grader you can do these kinds of things," chimes in Amber, Edie's classmate. Amber is an avid video gamer who loves having access to game creation tools. "You can make something at the level of major video games."
Along with game design comes game commands, which the students achieve through coding.
"Last year, I worked on coding with coding blocks," Steven, another seventh-grader discusses. "This year, I'm working on... writing in Python, some JavaScript and HTML." Steven echoes Amber's sentiment about having the ability to create his own games, which he says gives him a sense of pride.
The seventh-graders all took the class in sixth grade to build the foundation for where they are right now in coding and Blender. This year's crop of sixth-graders are sharpening their skills with programs like Code Combat and events like's Hour of Code, which offers different puzzles and games to students while teaching them coding.
"This amazing group of people came together and went, 'We don't have enough people going into [computer science], and so how do we introduce students to computer science in a way that's not intimidating,'" explains Gridley S.T.E.M. teacher Lisa Kist.
"Many students don't even know whether they'd like to be a programmer or not," adds John Mortiz, the VR teacher at Gridley. "It would be an injustice not to give the students the opportunity to know that that's a career field that they could go into."
Classes like VR and events like Hour of Code are already bridging that gap for sixth-grader Jack, who barely has a semester of coding under his belt. "I love this," he gushes. "I could make a career out of this if I wanted to, because it just seems really fun."
Jack's sentiment is shared by every student in both grades currently invested in coding, something that brings joy to both Lisa and John.
"It's truly a pathway to the future," affirms Lisa. "That's really what we want for all our students, is the best as they move toward their futures." | <urn:uuid:8700ce4f-c95a-46e5-862c-8794547b8318> | http://www.tusd1.org/Our-Stories/In-the-Spotlight/2016-2017-Spotlights/ctl/view/itemid/129726?returnurl=http://www.tusd1.org/Our-Stories/In-the-Spotlight/2016-2017-Spotlights | en | 0.971342 | 0.130421 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Safeway welcomes new manager
Ryan Helton is the new manager of the Sunnyside Safeway store. Helton came aboard the Sunnyside store last week, after serving as an assistant manager at the North Bend Safeway store for a year.
Some who have walked into the Sunnyside Safeway store may have noticed a new face. That face belongs to the new store manager, Ryan Helton.
Helton came aboard as manager of the Sunnyside Safeway store last week. Helton, 28, was an assistant manager for one year at a Safeway store in North Bend before taking on his first head manager's position here in Sunnyside.
"I am just glad to be here," said Helton. "I am real excited."
Helton has 13 years of experience in the grocery business, seven of which has been spent working for Safeway.
Helton is no stranger to the area. He lived in Yakima for three years when he was younger, before his family moved to the west side of the state.
"I heard lots of good things about the Sunnyside area," said Helton. "It has definitely been true so far."
Adjusting to the role of store manager is something Helton feels will come easy.
"Being a store manager is not much different than being an assistant manager," said Helton. "Every day is unique."
Through his past experiences and taking advantage of the management training program Safeway offers, Helton feels he is ready to run his own store. Helton said he wants to make the work atmosphere enjoyable for his employees.
"If they have fun and come to work, then the production and customer service will come with it," said Helton.
One aspect of working for Safeway that has impressed Helton is how important customer service is. Helton said he personally never wants to see a customer leave the store who isn't satisfied with their shopping experience.
"I want it to be a store that serves the community and takes care of its customers," said Helton.
In his spare time, Helton enjoys playing softball and loves going to sporting events, such as Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Supersonic games. Helton said he is hoping to still be able to make it over the other side of the mountains to take in a game now and then.
While he is still new to the area, Helton said he looks forward to coming to work every day and meeting the people who shop at Safeway.
"Everyone has just been real receiving," said Helton.
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Ghazal 190, Verse 8
bekasiihaa-e shab-e hijr kii va;hshat hay hay
saayah ;xvurshiid-e qiyaamat me;N hai pinhaa;N mujh se
1) the wildness/madness/fear of the forlornnesses of the night of separation-- alas!
2) shadow/shade/shelter is hidden in the sun of Doomsday, from me
be-kasii : 'Forlorn state, friendlessness, destitution'. (Platts p.204)
va;hshat : 'A desert, solitude, dreary place;--loneliness, solitariness, dreariness;--sadness, grief, care;--wildness, fierceness, ferocity, savageness; barbarity, barbarism;--timidity, fear, fright, dread, terror, horror;--distraction, madness'. (Platts p.1183)
saayah : 'Shadow, shade; shelter, protection; apparition, spectre; influence (of an evil spirit)'. (Platts p.631-32)
That is, having become mad/wild from the forlornness and sorrow of the night of separation, my shadow has fled from me, and has gone and hid in the sun of Doomsday. Although shadow flees from sun, my shadow has fled from me in such a way that it became hidden in the sun-- and in the sun of Doomsday. (213)
== Nazm page 213
Bekhud Dihlavi:
He says, 'From the sorrow and forlornness of the night of grief, my shadow showed madness/wildness toward me and fled in such a way, and felt fear to such an extent, that it went and hid in the sun of Doomsday'. Besides the fact that the shadow flees from sun, my shadow was in such flight from me that it went and hid in the sun of Doomsday. (272-73)
Bekhud Mohani:
This is like the proverbial case when someone would advance a knife toward a goat, and from extreme fear and agitation and panic it would flee toward a wolf. The point is that the end/conclusion of this night will be when the sun of Doomsday would emerge. In this way he has expressed a famous idea. (373)
DOOMSDAY: {10,11}
NIGHT/DAY: {1,2}
SUN: {10,5}
Is it 'the' shadow-- his own personal shadow-- or even more radically, is it 'Shadow' or 'Shade' itself that is fleeing and hiding from the speaker? Both possibilities are open.
But even more intriguingly, why is (the) shadow fleeing and hiding? The versatility of va;hshat is perfect; here are some of the possibilities that it opens up:
=The shadow is 'fearful' of the 'helplessnesses' that the 'night of separation' imposes on the speaker, and doesn't want to share them. Perhaps the absolute darkness of his night deprives the shadow of any existence (since there's no light to define and reveal it). Perhaps it's afraid that where he is , dawn will never come.
=The shadow has actually been driven 'mad' by the 'helplessnesses' of that terrible night, so that it's running frantically away in what is surely a suicidal direction.
=The speaker himself is 'wild', mad, ferociously and primitively violent, in the 'helplessnesses' of that terrible night, to the point that even his own shadow fears to remain in his company, and flees at all costs.
=Even in the darkness of night the speaker can find no shelter, no rest, no coolness of 'shade' or comfort-- the darkness itself torments him. It seems that his 'forlornnesses' are so profound that all 'shade' has fled from him, and he'll find no peace, no 'shelter', till Doomsday.
Why 'forlornnesses', rather than merely 'forlornness'? Ghalib is fond of these pluralized abstractions; for more examples, see {1,2}.
And of course, the 'sun of Doomsday' will be of such irresistible and compelling power that it will annihilate all shadow. So as Bekhud Mohani observes, for the shadow to flee toward this certain annihilation, and hide in it as a refuge, is like a goat fleeing toward a wolf. By a most powerful use of implication, the image establishes the far greater terrifyingness of the (lover in his) 'night of separation'.
The dangerous powers of human thought, especially thought about va;hshat , are well established; for the locus classicus, see {5,4}. Perhaps it's not surprising that the shadow is desperate to get away. | <urn:uuid:f62cefae-116e-4789-aa9d-a88f47ac9034> | http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/190/190_08.html | en | 0.923434 | 0.202093 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Answering the phone and door
atheist evanglizing door knocking
Have you found Jesus?
First of all, I didn’t know he was missing. So I did a bit of checking, turns out Jesus is the reining world hide and seek champion, 33AD to present. Given how many people are now out door-knocking, trying to find him, it must be only a matter of days before Jesus will be found and people will stop knocking on our doors.
Are you happy with your telecommunications provider?
It seems odd that none of the telecommunications providers offer a service that stops you being bothered by marketers trying to get you to switch providers.
Would you like to donate to a good cause?
I love donating to good causes. Sadly I’m often lacking in cash on hand and none of the donation collectors seem willing to accept sperm bank cheques.
Our ball went into your backyard….
As long as there has been neighbours there have been kids deciding their backyard is too small for the games they play. Thankfully children are very useful for household chores like hand weeding my backyard in order to find the lost ball that may, or may not, have found its way inside with the dog.
We’re from the Church of Latter Day Saints, could we come in to speak to you?
Religious people are interesting, going out and visiting everyone and wanting to have a chat about their religion. How do they coordinate their visits so that all the religious people aren’t all out door-knocking so no-one is home to talk about religion with them? I wonder how many Mormons (or others) have been invited in so they can help with the filming of the low budget home movies that are popular on the internet.
I’m campaigning for the local member of parliament.
You really have to wonder how these people manage to avoid the bear traps I set in our front yard. Thankfully our dog enjoys chasing down fair game.
We’re going door to door to see if anyone saw or heard anything?
Do the police actually get much useful information out of this? Won’t most people who heard or saw something be out at the crime scene taking pictures on their phone? Sometimes it is very tempting to reply with, “No, I was too busy going all Dexter on my neighbour. “
We need to read your meter.
So we can bill you the correct amount.
Wouldn’t it better if I don’t let you read my meter and have you not charge me? | <urn:uuid:b3120996-81c6-450e-a99c-b97c415f8290> | https://tysonadams.com/tag/parliament/ | en | 0.966151 | 0.036765 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Much News!
My new website is, or alternately, I'm going to start using both my maiden and married name for the next couple years, eventually transitioning to using just my married name. So if you see the name Melissa Grakowsky Shippee anywhere, that's me! I'll eventually just go by Melissa Shippee.
Since I haven't posted in so long, here's a photo of an ongoing project I'm doing for Miyuki!
1 comment:
1. Очень красивые работы. Шикарно .Браво мастеру!!!!! | <urn:uuid:5cbf6a5d-9b2c-4f4f-ab3c-b48e2be2d185> | http://grakowsky.blogspot.com/2012/09/much-news-my-new-website-is-mgsdesigns.html | en | 0.898426 | 0.073738 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
It looks like we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to hear the soothing sound of Queen Lizzie’s voice as she reads someone else’s words.
It couldn’t get any more comical. The reason for the delay is apparently because the words are written on goat skin parchment which, and I’m not joking, takes a few days to dry. I’m not sure if that is the real reason but I’ll happily believe it because why the fuck not.
The idea that this whole farce is triggered by something so trivial as ink drying is as hilarious as it is worrying. Let’s be honest, the whole things is an outdated tradition anyway. Is it really necessary for a 91-year-old woman to read out words she possibly doesn’t even understand for the sole reason of up keeping tradition? Then again, this country is full of outdated traditions, isn’t it?
I would love it if the Queen just thought fuck it and decided to go and say whatever the fuck she wants. I almost want to see the queen rip up the piece of paper and say forget the Tory’s, forget Labour and forget the DUP, I’m taking back control of this god forsaken country. There’s been so much talk of this country falling back to the 70’s that we might as well go a few hundred years further back. That would be the icing on the top of this bitter cake.
Anyway, this is yet another thing that’s made even more hilarious by the familiar words “Strong and Stable.” I keep thinking that joke is over, yet the next day something else pops up to highlight the irony of it all. I hope that slogan haunts the Tory party for years to come, that would make me feel better about the whole situation.
I also hope Jeremy Corbyn is watching this all unfold with a cigar in his mouth and a smug look on his face. I know that’s not exactly his style but I’d like to believe that’s what he does in his own time. It’s all coming up Corbyn, and I think people are starting to realise it.
Soon enough we’ll get to see the queen walk up to that golden throne wearing the world’s most expensive headgear surrounded by a bunch of people wearing overpriced wigs as she explains how the country is going to get better for the working class. If there’s anything more ironic than the slogan strong and stable, it’s that scene right there. | <urn:uuid:5af41f23-0e5a-4b81-8278-5ebef67606f1> | https://thedailyrant.org/2017/06/12/a-strong-and-stable-speech/ | en | 0.969904 | 0.03778 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Archive for December 5th, 2010
The Greatest Generation’s Anti-American Activity
In the 50s I was reading one of those popular paperback books about a macho tough detective like Mike Hammer that was so popular at the time. The first pages were always about how touch the guy was.
The Macho Man described himself as having an unset broken nose Like a Real man, his broken nose was “From the War, not the police action.” Korea was a police action, not a declared war, and no member of the Greatest Generation ever let you forget it.
I had a suspicion that the Veteran’s Hospital had separate places for wheelchairs of the Real Men who had gotten crippled in the Real War and the wimps who got that way in Korea.
Those who are used to magazine stands today would not recognize the ones we had in the 1950’s. There were some with titles like Argosy, but they were all carbon copies of one called Men, which featured a scantily-clothed, bound woman on the cover and usually it was Nazis torturing her.
Half the magazine stand at least consisted of those magazines, which one of my buddies labeled Meaty Men‘s Magazines. Today a label like that would apply to queer stuff.
This genre is not even remembered today, but BBG will remember when they constituted the bulk of the section where you now find everything from stereo mags to news mags.
The generation that demanded those publications liked photos of The War that showed dirty, exhausted soldiers in the War with beards on their faces and cigarettes in their mouths.
Today’s young soldiers with their neatness and cleanliness are often looked on by the GG as kids playing soldier.
In fact, now that Basic has to do something besides beating every last atom of moral courage out of every recruit, those young guys really are soldiers. I have known people who fought for all sides in World War II, and I have never heard a good word said about Americans as soldiers other than by Americans.
In fact, if he Italians had not become the joke of the War, American soldier jokes would have dominated.
Yes, today’s army has women in it. But their training is TRAINING. Instead of weeks dedicated to knocking every ounce of actual manhood out of recruits by humiliating and exhausting them, they must fill that time with real training.
My guess is that five of today’s soldiers could clear out a platoon of the rabbits the old sadistic training put out.
It has been estimated that about 20% of the soldiers in the average big WWII battle did 80% of the shooting. You won’t find that sort of disproportion in today’s army.
Those newsstands were just another way the WWII generation tried to convince itself it was Macho Man.
But what I am criticizing is not those soldiers. What I am attacking is the lesson they brought from it, the idea that being humiliated and beaten down makes one Macho Man.
As H.L. Mencken said, Americans are generally lousy soldiers. You don’t have to give a European Obedience Training. His whole life, his whole outlook, is Obedience. Those who cease to obey their Uppah Clahss instantly begin to obey the Intellectuals and become socialists.
This is where our problems have their basis. Those who bitch about the Boomer Generation and so forth are concentrating on Americans who were raised with the World War II Disease.
A whole generation of Americans was fanatically dedicated to the idea that groveling was what a Real Man did.
You can’t get more un-American than THAT. | <urn:uuid:39e07aa7-241f-464e-8c38-1d8800f71982> | https://www.whitakeronline.org/blog/2010/12/05/ | en | 0.978506 | 0.053183 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Oscars 2017: Moonlight cast and crew accepted the Best Picture award after thinking La La Land had got the gong
The 89th annual Academy Award ceremony took place last night (February 26, 2017), awarding the talented folk who worked hard to keep us entertained with movies such as La La Land, Lion and Moonlight last year.
But as always, the Oscars 2017 didn't run as smoothly as planned.
From full on fashion fails to massive announcement blunders that will go down in history, some moments were almost too hard to watch.
And in case you did missed them, here's the most awkward moments from last night's award ceremony.
Oscars 2017: Emma Stone lookes sensational at the ceremony, but she couldn't hide the shock after finding out La La Land hadn't won Best Picture
Beatty and Dunaway announce WRONG Best Picture
In possibly the biggest blunder that could happen at an award's ceremony as audiences watched this jawdropping moment between their fingers.
The most prestigious award of the entire ceremony is undoubtedly the Best Picture, hence why all nominees were on the edge of their seat as Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway (of Bonnie and Clyde fame) took to the stage to give away the gong.
The duo announced La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as Best Picture, but it soon came to light they'd got it wrong, and now it's thought they were given the wrong envelop.
Moonlight starring Mahershala Ali had actually won the award, as it was announced mid-celebration of everyone who had worked on the musical.
Meryl Streep TRIPS on red carpet
The movie goddess looked sensational at the event last night.
But proving she's only human after all, she took a tiny tumble on the red carpet.
Wearing a gorgeous teal Ellie Saab dress, the Oscars legend paid the price of fashion as the gown got caught under her heel as she walked across the red carpet. But obviously, she styled it out so well.
And later on during the ceremony, Meryl turned flushed-face again at Jimmy Kimmel called her overrated, poking fun and the Twitter rampaged President Donald Trump embarked on previously against the Florence Foster Jenkins actress.
Kris Jenner makes CRINGE-worthy blue ribbon blunder
Kris Jenner spent the evening commenting on the fashion highs and lows on E!'s live red carpet coverage.
But when commenting on actress Ruth Negga's stunning red gown, she made a massive fail that sent Twitter into angry-tweet overdrive.
Kim Kardashian's mum complimented Ruth on her dress, but seemed perplexed the Best Actress nominee had ruined her look with an 'unsightly' blue ribbon.
What she didn't realise was that so many of the stars were sporting the accessories in order to stand in solidarity with the American Civil Liberties Union at the Oscars.
Dakota Johnson makes AWKWARD joke at Jamie Dornan
Fifty Shades Darker stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan took to the stage to present one of the sought-after awards.
Before announcing the Best Production Design winner, the on-screen Ana and Christian walked on to the stage and exchanged a peck.
But before presenting, Dakota opened with the line: "You look familiar"
To which Jamie replied: "I'm sure I do."
Oscars 2017: Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson's joke was an awkward fail
Moments later, the audience let out a delayed, faint and forced grumble of laughs at the joke.
Who would have thought THAT would be the most awkward moment between the actors? | <urn:uuid:f3fab014-2882-4a5e-b23f-57182c281f99> | https://www.ok.co.uk/lifestyle/oscars-2017-awkward-moments-best-14546856 | en | 0.953391 | 0.020821 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
wpostServer: http://css.washingtonpost.com/wpost
Wonkbook: Yes, tax cuts increase the deficit
at 08:16 AM ET, 02/03/2012
An earlier version of this column referred to spending increases as spending cuts in describing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s position that spending increases, but not tax cuts, must be offset for budget purposes. This version has been updated.
On Thursday, House Republicans unanimously rejected a resolution from Rep. Gary Peters stating, among other things, that the Bush tax cuts added to the deficit. If you read the text they were voting on, it's pretty clear that it wasn't built for bipartisanship: It's phrased to suggest that Bush was a liar and Republican governance was a fraud. That kind of thing doesn't pick up votes across the aisle.
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference in Washington on Feb. 2. (Luis M. Alvarez - AP)
But there's a more important economic debate here. Republicans occasionally flirt with the idea that tax cuts don't increase deficits. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has said this directly. Speaker John Boehner has decreed that tax cuts don't need to be offset, but spending proposals do. But there's a very easy way to see that Republicans don't really mean this: They believe that tax cuts cause deficits when Democrats are behind them.
The ongoing debate over the payroll tax is a good example. When Republicans proposed a payroll tax cut as stimulus in 2009, it wasn't offset. When they agreed to it in the 2010 tax deal, it wasn't offset. But since it has become the White House's favored policy, House Republicans -- the same House Republicans who passed the CUTGO rules stating that spending proposals had to be paid for but tax cuts didn't -- are insisting the payroll tax cut be offset.
Then there's the Bush tax cuts. When Republicans tally up Obama's deficits over the last few years, they're adding $620 billion for the two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts. When they project his deficits for the next five years, they're assuming the extension of the Bush tax cuts. And they're doing so explicitly. Earlier in the week, I worked with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on a column summing up the projected budgetary impact of every single piece of legislation Obama had signed into law. In the end, my numbers showed, Obama has passed policies adding about a trillion dollars to the deficit. But Keith Hennessey, who directed the National Economic Council under George W. Bush, responded that I had ignored the trillions of dollars in deficits "from policies President Obama proposes to enact in the future (like extending most but not all tax cuts rates beyond 2012)".
Finally, there is a particularly odd claim you occasionally hear about the Bush tax cuts: Revenue increased in their aftermath. Dan Holler, the communications director for the Heritage Action, tweeted as much at me yesterday. "revenues increased between 2003 and 2007...how does @ezraklein argue Bush policies 'pushed revenues' down?"
Or, to put it slightly differently, if tax cuts actually increased revenues, then it would have been absurd for George W. Bush to propose tax cuts as a way of paying down the surplus. In that world, tax cuts would have made the surplus larger, and given the government even more of the people's money. We would end up in a fiscal paradox, with the government constantly trying to give back its surplus, but ending up with an even larger surplus as a result. But that's not the world we live in.
Top stories
1) Expectations are modest for today's jobs report, reports Peter Whoriskey: "With the government’s monthly unemployment report expected Friday, economists predicted it will show that the United States added about 150,000 jobs last month, sustaining the modest momentum in the economy. The emphasis might be on modest. Although the nation’s number of employed people has been on a stop-and-go rise for two years, it is still about 6 million short of what it was at the peak of the boom in 2007, according to last month’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics...The recent drop in the unemployment rate -- which fell to 8.5 percent in December -- has added to consumer confidence. But at current rates of growth, it could take more than three years simply to regain peak employment levels."
2) When you think Nevada caucuses, think "housing crisis," reports Neil King Jr.: "On the eve of Nevada's GOP presidential caucuses, Ms. Buck and other conservatives here want more aggressive action, including a move by Congress to force banks to slash the amount owed on mortgages that greatly exceed the market value of the home. Nevada's worst-in-the-nation housing crisis hasn't loomed large in this week's abbreviated campaign before Saturday's caucuses, which Mr. Romney is expected to win. But it is expected to be a big theme in the general election, when both parties will fight to win swing states such as Nevada and Florida where the housing crisis hit hard. President Barack Obama sent his housing secretary here last week to preview the plan he proposed Wednesday to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their home loans, an idea immediately rejected by House Republicans."
@fivethirtyeight: If you think either Obama or Romney is more than a 60/40 favorite if they go head-to-head, you're probably not looking at the data right.
3) Senate Republicans want to shift the sequester's defense cuts to federal workers, reports Suzy Khimm: "Together with five other Republican senators — including minority whip Jon Kyl, a member of the dissolved supercommittee — McCain unveiled a bill to eliminate the triggered defense cuts for a year. The legislation would replace the $109 billion in cuts that are scheduled to happen in 2013 with cuts to the federal workforce instead: It extends the federal employee pay freeze through June 2014 and 'restricts federal hiring to only two employees for every three leaving, until the size of the federal government workforce is reduced by five percent,' which is expected to save $127 billion within 10 years. That said, even if the bill passed, it would still leave about $491 billion in triggered defense cuts that would begin in 2014. Why undo the cuts for only one year, instead of the full decade? It’s probably that finding an additional $491 billion in offsets would be politically difficult, and proceeding without them would mean increasing the deficit by nearly half a trillion dollars"
5) The Komen Foundation is changing its explanation for cutting Planned Parenthood funding, report Lena Sun, Sarah Kliff and N.C. Aizenman: "Executives of the Susan G. Komen Foundation gave a new explanation Thursday of their decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, but their contradictory statements failed to quell a rising controversy that led several of the organization’s affiliates to openly rebel. Komen had said the decision was the result of newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations under investigation -- affecting Planned Parenthood because of an inquiry by a Republican congressman. On Thursday, Komen President Elizabeth Thompson told reporters that the funding decision was unrelated to the investigation into whether Planned Parenthood was illegally using federal funds to pay for abortions."
@radleybalko: Seems Komen donations are way up. And Planned Parenthood donations are way up. Lesson: Mix politics with health care as often as possible!
CHART: What Planned Parenthood actually does, in one chart.
Top op-eds
1) Romney's policies show a lack of concern for the poor, writes Paul Krugman: "Mr. Romney’s position seems to be that we need not worry about the poor thanks to programs that he insists, falsely, don’t actually help the needy, and which he intends, in any case, to destroy. Still, I believe Mr. Romney when he says he isn’t concerned about the poor. What I don’t believe is his assertion that he’s equally unconcerned about the rich, who are 'doing fine.' After all, if that’s what he really feels, why does he propose showering them with money? And we’re talking about a lot of money. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, Mr. Romney’s tax plan would actually raise taxes on many lower-income Americans, while sharply cutting taxes at the top end. More than 80 percent of the tax cuts would go to people making more than $200,000 a year, almost half to those making more than $1 million a year, with the average member of the million-plus club getting a $145,000 tax break."
2) Conservatives should back Romney, writes Jonah Goldberg: "Let me try to offer some solace. Even if Romney is a Potemkin conservative (a claim I think has merit but is also exaggerated), there is an instrumental case to be made for him: It is better to have a president who owes you than to have one who claims to own you. A President Romney would be on a very short leash. A President Gingrich would probably chew through his leash in the first ten minutes of his presidency and wander off into trouble. If elected, Romney must follow through for conservatives and honor his vows to repeal Obamacare, implement Representative Paul Ryan’s agenda, and stay true to his pro-life commitments. Moreover, Romney is not a man of vision. He is a man of duty and purpose. He was told to “fix” health care in ways Massachusetts would like. He was told to fix the 2002 Olympics. He was told to create Bain Capital. He did it all. The man does his assignments."
@rortybomb: Serious question: What is the set of problems that middle-income people have that the poor don't?
3) America faces three deficits, writes Laura Tyson: "This year began with a series of reports providing tantalizing evidence that economic recovery in the United States is strengthening. The pace of job creation has increased, indicators for manufacturing and services have improved, and consumption spending has been stronger than anticipated. But it is too early to celebrate. Output growth in the US remains anemic, and the economy continues to face three significant deficits: a jobs deficit, an investment deficit, and a long-run fiscal deficit, none of which is likely to be addressed in an election year...Painful choices about how to close the long-run fiscal gap should be decided now and implemented promptly once the economy has recovered. But, for the next few years, the priorities of fiscal policy should be jobs, investment, and growth."
4) The Buffett rule won't make so much as a dent in inequlity, writes Michael Kinsley: "The rule would be a phased-in requirement that all taxpayers making more than $1 million a year pay federal taxes of at least 30 percent of their adjusted gross incomes...First, it will affect so few people that it will have no measurable effect on income distribution. Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal tax reform group, figures that the Buffett Rule would affect about 0.08 percent of taxpayers, or one out of every 1,250. People will be tempted to think that by enacting the Buffett Rule, we will have solved the problem of growing income inequality, when we won’t really have even touched it. What about people making $500,000? Don’t they need to kick in something, too? The median family income in this country is about $50,000. That means if two people in your family are working and they bring in a total of more than $50,000, you’re in the top half. Any redistribution through the tax system for the purpose of reducing inequality will increase your taxes, not reduce them."
5) Progress is being made on a structure to let big banks fail, writes Simon Johnson: "The drafters of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law got an important thing right. Despite fierce pushback from the banks -- and lackluster support from the White House at critical moments -- the legislators communicated a key new intent: megabanks must be able to fail, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation should be in charge of that liquidation process. The F.D.I.C. was an inspired choice for this role, because it is less captivated by the 'magic' of Wall Street and less captured by its money and influence than any other group of officials...By creating a Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee of informed outsiders and by Webcasting the deliberations of that group, the agency has brought perhaps an unprecedented degree of transparency to public policy for banks."
Electropop interlude: Ellie Goulding plays "Starry Eyed" live on BBC's Live Lounge.
Still to come: Payroll tax extension talks get sidetracked; the Komen controversy continues; an amended STOCK Act passed the Senate; offshore wind gets the fast track; and a dog meets snow for the first time.
Q&A: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse explains how the Buffett rule will work.
The Obama administration will continue its push to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, reports Brady Dennis: "The Obama administration plans to push forward this spring with efforts to wind down government-backed housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and attract more private funding to mortgage markets, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Thursday...Since the financial crisis, the country’s housing finance system has relied almost exclusively on federal support for funding new home loans. In a white paper last February, the administration outlined three options for a long-term overhaul of the housing market. Each of those proposals retained the Federal Housing Administration, which focuses on loans to borrowers who can’t afford sizable down payments. Each option also proposed the elimination of Fannie and Freddie but offered different approaches on how -- or whether -- to replace them."
Obama's focus on manufacturing taps into trends, reports Annie Lowrey: "In his State of the Union address, President Obama called for a wide-ranging package of policies to help create American manufacturing jobs, including trade enforcement measures, business tax breaks and worker training programs. In many ways, the proposal is surprising, as few economists now consider manufacturing a potent engine for job growth in the United States. Manufacturers have added about 330,000 jobs in the country in the last two years...But the administration argues that big trends -- like rising wages in developing countries, falling wages in America and a weaker dollar -- have made moving work to or keeping work in the United States a much more viable option. And they say that manufacturers will continue to add jobs domestically, especially with a little help from Washington."
Negotiations over payroll tax extension are being bogged down by side issues, reports Seung Min Kim: "They bickered over boiler regulations, rambled about research and development credits and discussed the finer points of business expensing. But there was one important matter the payroll tax conference committee didn’t debate Thursday: the payroll tax itself. Twenty-six days remain until the popular tax cut is set to expire for 160 million Americans. But the debate so far has been consumed by side issues. And though the 20 negotiators stress that they all agree the tax holiday as well as jobless benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rate should be extended through 2012, they are avoiding the $64,000 question that stumped Congress in December: how to pay for it all. "
Longform interlude: Richard Beck on the history of Pitchfork.
Health Care
Congress members are speaking out against Komen, reports Sam Baker: "The firestorm surrounding the Susan G. Komen foundation intensified Thursday with a coordinated attack from congressional Democrats and high-profile dissent from within the Komen organization. Twenty-six Democratic senators signed a letter urging Komen to restore its grants to Planned Parenthood and accusing the charity of putting women's health at risk to serve a political agenda. 'It would be tragic if any woman -- let alone thousands of women -- lost access to these potentially life-saving screenings because of a politically motivated attack,' the letter states. Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) is gathering signatures in the House for a similar letter."
Domestic Policy
The Senate passed an ethics reform bill, reports Paul Kane: "In a sign of just how unpopular Congress has become, rank-and-file senators hijacked a debate over a narrowly tailored ethics bill and won broad approval Thursday of a more far-reaching reform package that would impose new conflict-of-interest rules and mandate more transparency on K Street. Minor Senate bill transformed into broad reform packageText Size PrintE-mailReprintsBy Paul Kane, Thursday, February 2, 1:17 PMIn a sign of just how unpopular Congress has become, rank-and-file senators hijacked a debate over a narrowly tailored ethics bill and won broad approval Thursday of a more far-reaching reform package that would impose new conflict-of-interest rules and mandate more transparency on K Street.From conservative backbench Republicans to liberal junior Democrats, senators launched an ethical arms race of amendments by offering changes that were not even considered five years ago when Congress last rewrote its ethics rules."
Some states are considering 'creativity indexes' for schools, reports Erik Robelen: "At a time when U.S. political and business leaders are raising concerns about the need to better nurture creativity and innovative thinking among young people, several states are exploring the development of an index that would gauge the extent to which schools provide opportunities to foster those qualities. In Massachusetts, a new state commission began meeting last fall to draft recommendations for such an index for all public schools, in response to a legislative requirement. Meanwhile, the California Senate last month approved a bill calling for the development of a voluntary Creative and Innovative Education Index. The emerging state efforts to promote creativity and innovation among their students pick up on a theme that's been gaining steam for some time in American political, business, and education circles."
The CBO got federal pay wrong, writes Colleen Kelley: "The logical policy implications of the CBO conclusions would be to provide significant raises to the highest-paid federal employees, which would amount to $30,000 to $50,000 for annual salaries of $150,000 to $200,000. The union I lead represents some very highly educated and skilled attorneys, physicians and nuclear scientists in this pay range; we would support, but do not expect, such increases...It is clear that the public and its representatives in Congress do not support compensating even the most educated and skilled employees at the level they could attain in the private sector...This report veers from the middle path that allows the government to attract and retain the best civil service workforce while keeping both the top and bottom compensation levels reasonable and fair."
Adorable animals being adorable interlude: A dog plays in the snow for the first time.
The Obama administration fast tracked offshore wind projects, reports Ryan Tracy: "The Obama administration said it planned to make areas off the coasts of Maryland and New Jersey available to wind-energy developers by year's end, paving the way for the first leases under a program designed to fast-track offshore wind farms. While President Barack Obama has said he favors an 'all of the above' approach to energy development, Thursday's announcement highlighted the stronger emphasis he places on wind and solar power compared with Republicans. A House committee on Wednesday approved three bills promoting oil-and-gas exploration, an issue also stressed by the GOP's presidential candidates. Announcing the wind plan, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department found there would be 'no significant impact' on the environment from issuing the leases and allowing developers to test whether the areas are viable. The decision eliminates a step from the environmental-review process, shortening it by as much as two years."
Read what others are saying | <urn:uuid:30e3cf6e-9014-45f9-a46d-c01a413b5725> | http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/wonkbook-yes-tax-cuts-increase-the-deficit/2012/02/03/gIQABW9fmQ_blog.html | en | 0.96088 | 0.026745 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Know your device in a better way with My Android
Available in 16 languages, My Android app offers information about your phone and tablet in an easy to understand way.
An expert mobile solution service provider InnovationM has launched its first product "My Android" on Google Play Store, an application to provide useful information about your Android phone and tablet.
What is the size of my phone screen? Am I on 2G, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi? How much is my phone memory? What is the RAM of my phone? What is the model number?.....My Android app is there to answer all such questions.
This multilingual application also provides information like screen density, Android OS name (Ex. Jelly Bean) and version number, a list of apps installed on your phone with option to search and launch apps and much more. It presents the above information in a very neat and simple manner so that anybody can easily understand.
Cool user interface with some cute animations in this application enhance the usability of the app and showcase the UX/UI expertise of InnovationM team.
Supported in 16 languages:
Download Link: | <urn:uuid:dbad3521-6484-4a89-8aac-15c3e165bbb6> | http://appscovery.com/article/device-android | en | 0.907911 | 0.025363 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
It's Official: climate change fanatics (and NASA) have gone completely insane
Continue Reading (if you can)...
p.s. - Wouldn't we be better served disbanding NASA and lighting the Billions saved on fire?
p.p.s - Scratch that, it may cause more global warming.
p.p.p.s - Does this mean that the global warming nuts are admitting the sun is the reason why the earth heats up and not cow farts and SUVs ? | <urn:uuid:55d35542-3a59-4e35-9ed7-8c74d4335aa7> | http://metaphynance.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-official-climate-change-fanatics.html | en | 0.899381 | 0.154169 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Windows Ready!
Ready to Roll!
This system is compatable with Microsoft Windows 7,8,8.1 & 10 and is ready to have either installed. When your system arrives, all you have to do is simply switch on your system, insert your operating system disk and the installer will begin.
We understand that our customers want to be able to install their own operating system which is why we give customers the option to add an operating system to the computer, rather than just adding and charging for it anyway, so if you want us to supply, install, activate, install the drivers and tweak one then don't forget to add an operating system in the "Operating System" upgrade menu found further down the page.
Not all systems out there are able to have Windows 8,8.1 & 10 installed as these versions require a certain type of motherboard, thankfully this system has the right type of motherboard.
Finally for you alternative OS fans we can say that our systems are likely to support Linux and Steam OS. Due to so many variables with our systems it is impossible to test every combination with all the different operating systems out there hence why we cannot say for definite that Linux and Steam OS will work 100%. If you have any concerns about running an alternative OS then drop us an email and we can have a quick look to see if we can see any potential issues in running an alternative OS on a specific system. | <urn:uuid:72605f6b-a1d9-4af1-81ad-3f31134f9c48> | http://www.ukgamingcomputers.co.uk/ready.php | en | 0.933088 | 0.028342 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
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Puerto Rico Fast Facts
Description and Geography
Capital: San Juan
Official Languages: Spanish and English
Geographic coordinates: 18°15'N, 66°30'W
The climate is Tropical Marine with average temperatures year round, near 80 °F (26.7 °C) in lower elevations and 70 °F (21.1 °C) in the mountains.
Time Zone: Atlantic Standard (AST).
Sunrise/Sunset Average: 6:54 am to 6:21 pm
National Holiday: November 19 (The Discovery of Puerto Rico date).
National Hymn (Anthem): "La Borinqueña"
Total Area: 9,104 sq km (3,508 sq mi)
Limits: To the west by Haití and the Dominican Republic, separated by the Mona Passage, to the east by the Virgin Islands, to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Caribbean Sea.
Land boundaries: 0 km
Borders: Puerto Rico is under the U.S. customs jurisdiction. Borders are open between P.R. and the U.S., allowing for free movement of people and merchandise.
Coastline: 501 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Population: 3,337,177 (July 2017 est.)
Population density: 988 density per sq mi/382 persons per sq km (2015)
Population growth rate: -1.74% (2017 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 15.77% (male 270,656/female 258,073)
15-24 years: 13.71% (male 233,667/female 225,812)
25-54 years: 38.1% (male 607,954/female 669,149)
55-64 years: 12.93% (male 198,720/female 234,713)
65 years and over: 19.48% (male 281,413/female 371,670) (2017 est.)
Median age:
total: 41.5 years
male: 39.5 years
female: 43.2 years (2017 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.83 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
total population: 0.75 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Nationality: Noun Puerto Rican(s). Adjective Puerto Rican.
Primary Ethnicity: Hispanic
Literacy Rate:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.3%
male: 92.8%
female: 93.8% (2015 est.)
The Constitution guarantees freedom for all faiths. The major religions are: Catholic (85%), Protestants (8%), non religious (2.3%), and others (3%).
Taíno Indians who inhabited the territory, called the island Boriken or Borinquen which means: "the great land of the valiant and noble Lord" or "land of the great lords". On November 19, 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island in his second voyage to the New World. Originally the newcomers called the island San Juan Bautista, for St. John the Baptist and the town Puerto Rico because of its obvious excellent potentialities. It was not until later that the two names were switched. Thanks in part to the enthusiasm of ambitious Juan Ponce de León, quickly became Spain's most important military outpost in the Caribbean.
On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris is signed, treaty concluding the Spanish-American War. Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico and its dependent islets to United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Phillipines to the United States for $20,000,000.
On March 2, 1917, United States granted Puerto Ricans U.S. statutory citizenship.
Puerto Rico has been one of the most dynamic and competitive economies in Latin America and the Caribbean region until recent years, Puerto Rico's economy relies mainly on federal aid from the United State government.
Currency: United States dollar (USD)
Gross National Income (GNI per capita) (formerly GNP per capita): $86.32 billion PPP (2013)
per capita: $19,320 (2013)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - purchasing power parity - $131 billion (2016 est.)
GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $37,700 (2016 est.)
Gross Domestic Product: real growth rate - -0.6% (2013 est.)
Population Below Poverty Level: 44.9% (2013) according to the US Census Bureau - that's nearly double the poverty rate in Mississippi, the most impoverished of the fifty states.
Inflation Rate (consumer prices): -0.2% (2016 est.)
Taxes: Puerto Rico general sales and use rate increased from 7% to 10.5% with an effective total tax rate of 11.5 percent on many transactions when combined with the municipal sales and use tax of 1 percent (as of July 1, 2015). Puerto Rico now has the highest sales tax in America.
Labor Force: 1.139 million (December 2014 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 11.5% (Apr 2017)
Export Commodities: chemicals, electronics, apparel, canned tuna, rum, beverage concentrates, medical equipment.
Export Partners: United States 90,3 %, United Kingdom 1,6 %, Dominican Republic 1,4 %, Netherlands 1,4 %, among others. (2010)
Imports Commodities: chemicals, machinery and equipment, food, petroleum products, among others. (2010)
Imports Partners: United States 55 %, Ireland 23,7 %, Japan 5,4 %, among others. (2010)
Receipts from visitors: U.S. $1,826,100,000 (1995)
Expenditures by national abroad: U.S. $833,000,000 (1995)
Tourist Receipts: U.S. $1,736,600,000 (1994)
Puerto Rico is a self-governing commonwealth in association with the United States. The chief of state is the President of the United States of America. The head of government is an elected Governor. There are two legislative chambers: the House of Representatives, 51 seats, and the Senate, 27 seats.
Chief of State: President Donald J. Trump (since 20 January 2017); Vice President Mike Pence (since 20 January 2017)
Head of Government: Governor Ricky Rosello
Major political parties are: Popular Democratic Party (PPD), New Progressive Party (PNP) and Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP).
Digraph: PR/QR
Type: Commonwealth associated with the US.
Constitution: ratified 3 March 1952; approved by U.S. Congress 3 July 1952; effective 25 July 1952.
Administrative divisions: None (Commonwealth associated with the U.S.); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the U.S. Government, but there are 78 municipalities. Municipalities are further subdivided into barrios, and those into sectors. Other territories include: Mona, Monito, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos.
Political Division: 8 senatorial districts, 40 representative districts, 78 municipalities.
Voter Participation: 78% (2012)
Puerto Rican culture is somewhat complex, - others will call it colorful. Culture is a series of visual manifestations and interactions with the environment that make a region and/or a group of people different from the rest of the world.
Lets consider that the people of Puerto Rico represent a cultural and racial mix. During the early 18-century, the Spaniard in order to populate the country took Taino Indian women as brides. Later on as labor was needed to maintain crops and build roads, African slaves were imported, followed by the importation of Chinese immigrants, then continued with the arrival of Italians, French, German, and even Lebanese people. American expatriates came to the island after 1898. Long after Spain had lost control of Puerto Rico, Spanish immigrants continued to arrive on the island. The most significant new immigrant population arrived in the 1960s, when thousands of Cubans fled from Fidel Castro's Communist state. The latest arrivals to Puerto Rico have come from the economically depressed Dominican Republic.
Tourist Information
Most popular city destinations: San Juan, Ponce, Mayagüez, Bayamón, Fajardo, San Germán Cayey, and Caguas.
Customs and Immigration: There are no passports or visas necessary for United States citizens. Citizens of other countries have the same requirements as for entering the USA.
Communications and Internet: Phone cards or calling cards and IDD service are readily available. Long-distance services from AT&T, MCI, and Sprint make calling home relatively convenient and let you avoid hotel surcharges.
Airmail to Western Europe takes up to a week.
The San Juan Star (English-language newspaper), El Vocero de Puerto Rico and El Nuevo Día.
To connect to the Internet visitors must call their service provider in the USA or Europe, and pay the long distance rates, or establish a temporary account with a local service provider.
Health and Medical Facilities: Health standards in Puerto Rico are generally comparable with those of the United States, its medical facilities are among the finest in the Caribbean. There are physicians and hospitals in all cities. "Departamento de Salud" (Department of Health), (787) 766-1616.
Electricity: The electrical current in Puerto Rico is 110 volts/60 cycles, exactly the same as in the continental U.S. and Canada.
Accommodations: Puerto Rico offers a huge variety of lodgings that will appeal to a multiplicity of personalities and pocketbooks.
Casinos: They are located in many hotels around the Island. Proper dressing should be observed by men and women. People under 18 are not allowed.
Courtesy and dress: Light and loose cotton clothing is the best bet year-round for Puerto Rico's warm tropical climate.
Banking hours: 9am to 3:30pm.
Relative Costs:
Budget meal: US $3-15
Moderate restaurant meal: US $15-30
Top-end restaurant meal: US $30 and up
Budget room: US $40-75
Moderate hotel: US $75-200
Top-end hotel: US $200 and up
Transportation: You can get to Puerto Rico by air, or by sea. Once you arrive on the Island, there's a full menu of choices for getting around. You can rent a car or use their public transportation system.
Driving: Driving is on the right-hand side of the road. All the same rules as any part of the United States, except that the signs are in Spanish, the distance markers in kilometers and the gas sold in liters.
Liquor laws: You must be 18 years old to purchase liquor in stores or buy drinks in hotels, bars, and restaurants.
Helplines and Agencies
• Emergency Services: 911
• Police: 787-343-2020
• Ambulance: 787-343-2222
• Civil Defense: 787-724-0124
• Fire Department: 787-343-2330
• F.B.I: 787-754-6000
• U.S. Secret Service: 787-766-5539
• U.S. Coast Guard: 787-729-6770
Did You Know?
Puerto Rico used to have as many as 25 military installations. | <urn:uuid:80f2b111-422f-4932-92d8-7f97f2b1339c> | http://welcome.topuertorico.org/fastfacts.shtml | en | 0.908432 | 0.018214 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Driving Revenue: Ten Actions Senior Management Must Take Immediately
Companies don't fail because individuals in the company want to fail. Companies fail because employees don't know what the rules are. Companies that are guided by strong boundaries thrive by developing prospects and driving revenue. Companies loosely run, fail. Here are the ten things you need to do to ensure your company is successful:
1. Provide strong direction in sales lead management regarding market definition, offer dynamics and media mix, then reinforce that direction with strong sponsorship of appropriate activities and campaigns. As basic as it sounds, we work with companies every day that do not actually follow-through on this.
2. Get strategically involved in the marketing and sales planning process. You will be surprised at how much impact you can have.
3. Make sure that each and every prospect or customer "touch" meets strict standards that support the direction you have provided.
4. Stick to your guns. Once you've made a plan, don't change it based on a subtle market change or limited market research.
5. Hold marketing accountable for quality and value; make the sales force accountable for quality feedback and results.
6. Insist on regular, weekly reports. In most B2B companies the senior management team could and should review the status of every opportunity (their environment, what they're doing, their pain, who they're talking to). It would take just a couple of hours each week.
7. The sales force is driven by the "three C's": control, credit and compensation. Ironically, great prospect development programs are initially viewed as a threat by sales because of the "three C's". That is why you hear the following feedback on leads:
8. "No telemarketer can talk to the decision-makers I have to reach."
"I was already in that account and already talked to that decision-maker."
"The leads are really not worth what you are paying for them, just get me some names and I will engage the prospects."
These are not destructive, conscious objections. They are a natural reaction to the historical state of affairs and, as such, need to be addressed transparently and aggressively. Eventually, great sales people become great consumers of quality prospect development.
9. Insist on training. Start with the basics. Insist on self-education and participation in local and national events. This is a high payoff activity.
10. Set realistic expectations regarding timeframes and deliverables. Everything takes longer than you think. Quick solutions may make you happy for the moment, but you will eventually pay a price. Don't shoot the messenger who is trying to do the right thing and not the expedient thing.
11. Check your ego at the door. If something clearly isn't working, cut your losses, make the changes and move on.
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Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit
PMHC Toolkit
Transportation and Custodial Transfer
Law enforcement responders transport and transfer custody of the person with a mental illness in a safe and sensitive manner that supports the individual’s efficient access to mental health services and the officers’ timely return to duty.
Law enforcement is authorized to provide transportation for people who are under arrest or who they believe meet the criteria for emergency evaluation (whether the evaluation is voluntary or involuntary). These individuals are in law enforcement custody, and rules and regulations regarding restraints in custodial situations apply.13 Given the frequent history of traumatic experiences among people with mental illnesses, custodial restraints may create acute stress, which in turn may escalate their degree of agitation. Law enforcement executives, with input from other program planners, should review policies regarding restraints in custodial situations and balance considerations of officer and citizen safety with the impact of these controls on people with mental illnesses.
The planning committee should identify facilities that are capable of assuming custodial responsibility, are available at all times, and have personnel qualified to conduct a mental health evaluation.14 Speedy custodial transfer is critical to the overall success of law enforcement responses. To enable officers to return quickly to their duties, staff in the receiving facility should efficiently and accurately obtain relevant law enforcement information. Protocols should ensure that medical clearance is achieved in a timely manner and that people brought by law enforcement are never turned away. If law enforcement responders determine that the person with a mental illness should be arrested and officers take the person to jail or lockup, then qualified staff should be available to screen the arrestee at intake for mental health status, medication needs, and suicide risk.
In noncustodial situations in which the person does not meet the criteria for emergency evaluation and is not under arrest—but officers determine he or she would benefit from services and support—officers should try to connect the individual with a friend or family member, peer support group, or treatment crisis center. Similarly, officers should seek to engage the services of the individual’s current mental health provider or a mobile crisis team. In some jurisdictions, law enforcement may also collaborate with mental health professionals to help transport individuals to evaluation or treatment facilities.
Law enforcement agencies generally define custody using a case law standard that can be described as whether or not a “reasonable person” would feel free to leave.
H. Steadman and colleagues have used the term “specialized crisis response site” (SCRS) to refer to such a facility. SCRSs are defined as “sites where officers can drop off individuals in psychiatric crisis and return to their regular patrol duties. These [prebooking diversion] programs identify detainees with mental disorders and work with diversion staff, community-based providers, and the courts to produce a mental health disposition in lieu of jail.” They also can link individuals to substance abuse and other treatment. See H. Steadman, K. Stainbrook, P. Griffin, J. Draine, R. Dupont, and C. Horey, “A Specialized Crisis Response Site as a Core Element of Police-Based Diversion Programs,” Psychiatric Services 52 (2001): 219–222. | <urn:uuid:0675f4f1-2fd8-40e7-a083-bb8411998581> | https://pmhctoolkit.bja.gov/learning/essential-elements/transportation-and-custodial-transfer | en | 0.937105 | 0.082671 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
View Full Version : Infraction for Garbid: Insulted Other Member(s)
06-22-2009, 09:45 AM
Post: 3.2 PTR Notes Up! (http://www.tankspot.com/forums/showthread.php?p=241804)
User: Garbid (http://www.tankspot.com/forums/member.php?u=2893)
Infraction: Insulted Other Member(s)
Points: 1
Administrative Note:
Calm down.
Message to User:
Jere is a very respected member here and very rarely if ever takes an emotional side over an argument he chooses to engage in.
I think you are turning this into a personal argument and have begun to cross the line. If you want to discuss this with jere, do so, but you don't need to throw borderline insults at him.
Original Post:
Whats with this nitpicking Jere ? Are you so happy finally being overpowered that you want to "trivialize" it ?
You are making up some non realistic numbers. First of all, on 10 man alone, Vezax hits me for 32k damage, not 27k. Secondly, with the changes paladins will gain on the order of less than 100 block value if they are gearing for boss fights (we don't gear for block value against hard hitters). 3k block value is not a realistic number at all, especially against bosses like Vezax.
Was actually talking about normal white hits from Vezax 25man without the enrage. Bring in the enrage and you still take 30% less dmg. If you can do with 7 healers taking 100% dmg, how can it not be trivialized when you suddenly only need 4 healers ?
If you prefer using enrage number, change 27k into 39.
And wasn't trying to start a warrior vs pala fight. As I stated, you get a smoother ride where we take a spikier path. Both ending up at the same dmg taken.
If the entire 30k hit is reduced by 30%, it takes off 21000 damage, or 50%. Some amount of healing must land at this point to save the paladin or the next hit he will die. If Vezax parries, then it is game over (unless the 2 min save kicks in). Luckily a HoT landed for some amount. Lets be unrealistic and say 5k healing, boosting you up to 26000 health and the next hit lands and takes you down to 5000 health. You now need 16000 healing to land before the 3rd hit, which is doable, but not trivial. Healers have to move around during this fight to get mana from the pools, so you won't have all the healers on you at any given one point guaranteed. At this point, your healers are stuck in catch up mode for the remainder of the 10 seconds, hoping he doesn't parry and that their heals land in time.
If healers are moving during enrage, then they are just very bad at timing, find new ones. And saying 16k isn't trivial to heal, with holy light critting for 20k?? 1 healer could keep a pala tank up in 10man.
And talking about your healers being stuck in "catch-up mode for the remainder of those 10 sec". What about other tanks who take 30% more dmg ?
No matter what you are doing, as long as it can be done in the first place, when it becomes 30% easier, it's been trivialized. | <urn:uuid:e574beaf-50f1-425b-88d2-39779271ae7c> | http://www.tankspot.com/archive/index.php/t-51736.html?s=aa7d95b6cd90c56693c2623bd8d1fa32 | en | 0.936864 | 0.274263 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Samora Machel
Related articles
Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Samora Machel
Biographical information
Politician and Freedom Fighter. Revolutionary leader of the Mozambican liberation movement FRELIMO and Mozambique's first President, killed in a controversial plane crash in 1986.
First name:
Last name:
Date of birth:
29 September 1933
Location of birth:
village of Chilembene, Mozambique
Date of death:
19 October 1986
Location of death:
Border of Mozambique and South Africa
Samora Machel was born in 1933 and was raised in the village of Chilembene. He was a member of the Shangana ethnic group and his parents were poor. Machel parents were forced to grow cotton by the Portuguese, rather than food such as corn which they could eat. In the 1950's his parents' farmland was taken and given to Portuguese settlers. In order to avoid starvation his relatives went to work in the South African mines under repressive and dangerous conditions. Soon after, his brother was killed in a mining accident.
Machel attended Catholic school and when he was not in class he worked in the fields. He studied to become a nurse, one of the few professions open to Mozambican Blacks at that time. Machel was attracted to Marxist ideals and began his political activities in a hospital where he protested that the black nurses were paid less than whites, who were doing the same job. He later told a reporter how bad medical treatment was for Mozambique's poor by saying, "the rich man's dog gets more in the way of vaccination, medicine and medical care than do the workers upon whom the rich man's wealth is built."
Rebellion against Portugal was not new to Samora Machel. His grandparents and great grandparents had fought against the Portuguese in the 19th century. In 1962 Machel joined the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique or FRELIMO, as it was called by most. FRELIMO was dedicated to creating an independent Mozambique. In 1963 Samora Machel left Mozambique and traveled to several other African nations where he received military training. In 1964 he returned to Mozambique and led FRELIMO's first guerilla attack against the Portuguese in northern Mozambique. Machel spent most of his time in the field with his men, leading them in combat and sharing their dangers and hardships. By 1970 Samora Machel became commander and chief of the Frelimo army. He believed in guerilla war and Frelimo's army established itself among the poor in Mozambique's. He was a revolutionary who was not only dedicated to throwing the Portuguese out of Mozambique but also radically changing the society. He said, "of all the things we have done, the most important - the one that history will record as the principal contribution of our generation - is that we understand how to turn the armed struggle into a Revolution; that we realized that it was essential to create a new mentality to build a new society."
Machel's goals were to be realized. The revolutionary army weakened Portugal, and after the country's coup in 1974 the Portuguese were forced to leave Mozambique. The new revolutianry government, led by Machel, took over on June 25, 1975. Machel became independent Mozambique's first president and was affectionately referred to as "President Samora."
Machel put his revolutionary principles into practice. As a Marxist he called for the "nationalization" (government ownership) of the Portuguese plantations and property. He moved quickly to have the Frelimo government establish public schools and health clinics for the poor. He called for Frelimo to organize itself into a Leninist Party.
Samora Machel supported and allowed revolutionaries fighting white minority regimes in Rhodesia and South Africa to operate within Mozambique. Soon after Mozambique's independence both of these countries attacked Mozambique with an anti-Frelimo organization called RENAMO. RENAMO's activities included: the killing of peasants, the destruction of schools and hospitals built by Frelimo,and the blowing up of railway lines and hydroelectric facilities. The Mozambique economy was strangled by these depredations, and began to depend on overseas aid - in particular from the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, Machel remained popular throughout his presidency. Samora Machel was awarded Lenin Peace Prize in 1975-1976.
On October 19, 1986 Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains, near Mbuzini. There were nine survivors but President Machel and twenty-four others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government.. Although, several years before the airplane went down Machel had signed a non-agression pact with the South Africa, there was widespread suspicion that the apartheid regime was implicated in the crash.
On October 6, 1986, just two weeks before the crash, South African soldiers (SADF) were injured by land mines near the spot where the borders of Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland converge. This site was very close to where the Tupolev Tu-134 went down. Time magazine noted that this "really seemed too much a coincidence". Throughout southern Africa angry people mourned the loss of Samora Machel. In South Africa protestors blamed their government for Machel's death. In Zimbabwe thousands of youths stormed through downtown Harare. The crash remains a mystery: with some blaming it simply on bad weather and others still believing in South Africa's guilt. No conclusive evidence to either effect has yet emerged.
• Samora Machel remembered [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 23 June 2009]
• Mozambique's First President: Samora Machel [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 23 June 2009]
• Samora Machel Biography [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 23 June 2009]
Last updated : 21-Nov-2016
| <urn:uuid:45a81b06-0022-421e-803e-54bc7670d892> | http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/samora-machel | en | 0.980439 | 0.062938 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Encounter With Roomba
According to the hoomans, this thingy helps to clean up my shedding on the floor...
... but it also scares the shit out of me on our first encounter...
... and I don't find it funny.
Priscilla said...
Aww poor you Hero. That thing that moves with no legs is kinda scary. I still cannot figure out what it is! I don't even know why humans worry so much about doggy fur, I mean their hair is everywhere too!
Lots of licks
Princess Eva
Dennis the Vizsla said...
Close Encounters Of The Fifth Kind
Santa and Minnie said...
We would have barked at it! How well does that thing work?
Dog Foster Mom said...
Wow Hero - that looked really scary! It just moves and changes direction with no warning -- I'd stay away from it too!
elbouwii said...
heheh hero :D
El'bow & Hauwii
Fiona, as typed by Dr. Liz said...
Do you live in a hospital? I've never seen floors that white and shiny in my life! (Of course, that might have something to do with Mom's housekeeping skills, but that's neither here nor there...) I don't think I'd be too keen on some alien moving around my floors under its own power. I think you took the right approach!
*kissey face*
sprinkles said...
OMD, I think my dogs would be scared to death too!
I've always wondered how well those things work.
I will be vacuuming later today with a regular vacuum. I usually let my dogs out first because they don't like the noise.
Dory and the Mama said...
OH MY!!! It scared me too hero and I am a lot farther away!!
Lola said...
Oh, Hero, what a frightening moment that must have been. I don't care for vacuums with even with humans attached to them. That alien creature would have sent me running long before you did. I hope they don't plan to torture you with this often.
wags, Lola
p.s. I also have never seen any space as clean and white as that in my whole life. How do your humans do that?
Lorenza said...
That rumba thing is soooo scary!
I undestand you went away from it!
Kisses and hugs
Anonymous said...
so funny! I wish I had had a roomba for my fawn colored COY!
Life With Dogs said...
LOL! How do you really feel about it? ;)
MadameMoiselle said...
You are so funny Hero.. But I have to agree Roomba is scary.. But I surely hope it helps to clear the sheds off the floor..
Lick Lick
the booker man said...
hihi, hero!!
i'm comin' over to visit you from miss lola's bloggie. what a great idea you had about putting the leafies on a milk carton! :)
anywho, i am the booker man, and it's super nice to meet you! i'm totally sorry you have that evil little roomba on your floor. at least with a vacuum, you know it can only turn on when your mama or daddy turns it on. but this evil roomba thingie looks like it turns on by itself?! ahhhh!!
the booker man
Mango said...
We got one of those things but fortunately sent it back because it did not work so well. It clogged really fast and got confused by our furnitures.
JB's Big and Small Worlds said...
Ok, now that is scary! Is it more or less scary than the big sucking monster?
Teal'c said...
My dad saw it, skyped my mom the link to look at it and now HE want's one too... My moms response was "big boys toys"! My response was noooooooooooooo! :)
Slobbers Teal'c | <urn:uuid:5f0d7dca-df1a-4599-8623-c5eec0d10906> | http://herothesharpei.blogspot.com/2010/04/encounter-with-roomba.html | en | 0.964101 | 0.039808 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Friday, March 4, 2016
Moving Day Approaches: In-Wall Cable and AC Receptacles
We are officially 2 weeks away from the move. The excitement is growing, and so are the stacks of full boxes.
This was the week I chose the wiring and AC receptacles for the dedicated circuits.
Why All The Fuss?
Clean power is the foundation of your audio system. Put extremely simply, your audio components take the AC from the wall and modulate it, reproducing the music you listen to. If the waveform is irregular or noisey your components will have to work harder to correct it. Or worse yet, they will just let the noise pass through and flow out of your loudspeakers along with the music. Not good.
Dedicated AC is the first step...
Whenever a customer calls and inquires about a power conditioner, my first question to them is always "Do you have a dedicated line for your audio system"? If the answer is no, I strongly encourage them to start there before buying a power conditioner. Hiring an electrician to run a dedicated line for your system is usually much cheaper, and the benefits are huge. The dedicated line is quieter because it is dedicated to your audio system only. You don't have other lighting and appliances siphoning away current and injecting noise back into the circuit (at least you shouldn't). Those two factors will yield a nice improvement in detail and musicality of your system, usually for less than the cost of a decent power conditioner.
I still recommend further power conditioning beyond the dedicated line because there will still be noise from the grid, and from other components within your audio system. But the dedicated line will always be step #1 in my advice to customers looking for cleaner power for their audio system.
Back to the house, and the project. I chose the Audience In-wall cable. It is UL rated for in-wall use, is a 10 AWG 3 conductor high purity stranded design with shielding.
It's not cheap at $20 per foot, but the quality and the sound of the cable won me over. Yes I did listen to it. John McDonald was kind enough to have a power cord constructed of the in-wall cable sent to me for evaluation. It bested regular 10AWG romex by a mile, and I found it more neutral than the Cardas in-wall, which was nice but a bit too woolly in the bass.
I will have 2 dedicated lines running from the sub panel located in the basement where my listening room will be. They will be on the same electrical phase, and each will feed 2 Furutech GTX D NCF AC receptacles. I have used many AC receptacles over the course of my career as The Tweek Geek, and the Furutech GTX DR NCF is the best I have heard to date. Again not inexpensive, but for my purposes, worth the money.
The Furutech NCF version is different from their GTX DR rhodium version and that it makes use of Furutech's Nano-technology to obtain better performance. This is a pure copper AC receptacle like the original GTX, the difference being the copper part is manufactured with Furutech's NCF technology.
NCF stands for Nano Conductor Formula. It is comprised of a special crystalline material that has two “active” properties. First, it generates negative ions that eliminate static and secondly, it converts thermal energy into far-infrared. Furutech then combines this remarkable crystalline material with nano-sized ceramic particles and carbon powder for their additional “Piezo Effect” damping properties. In more layman's terms NCF eliminates static, “interconverts” thermal, mechanical and electrical energy and damps vibrations. The bottom line is it is a significant improvement over the previous generation of GTX AC receptacles.
Part 1B will have photos of the actual installation, along with tips and tricks to running wire and getting the best performance out of your electrical connections. Stay tuned! | <urn:uuid:040c07ef-57ac-428a-9a5c-7e7aa9f74bd5> | http://tweekgeek.blogspot.com/2016/03/ | en | 0.941045 | 0.114987 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Bicycle Chic Taking Off in Budapest
Continuing a theme of posts on how bicycling has become an emblem of urban chic (part 1, part 2) particularly for merchandisers, here are some photos from Budapest's newly expanded international airport terminal (formerly Ferihegy 2, now Liszt Ferenc 2). Since opening this summer, the terminal's new duty free shops have been decked out in a bicycling theme. The bikes are everyday-use type bikes and they're meant as a symbol of "urban life." They're being used to sell everything from handbags and thermos bottles to scarves.
One of the bikes on display is a "retro" bike. For background, there's an ersatz picnic scene, a small-town touch that might be at odds with the urban chic thing, but then again, I'm no merchandiser.
And then a typical Dutch-style bike, with step-through frame and flowers and angels and stuff.
An appeal to the female shopper, I reckon, although it seems to also have charmed my co-worker Miklós.
There were a few bike-shaped product displays draped with colourful scarves and stacked with scented bath oils -- much like my own bike.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
A Case for Clearer Rules
The rather dangerous bike path crossing at Újlaki rakpart, circa 2007.
A road resurfacing has since improved it cosmetically, but it's no safer.
I've always maintained that the main driver of unruly behaviour among some local cyclists is that no one really knows what the rules are. In Budapest, where every bike path or lane seems to be designed ad hoc according to the political compromise of the day, you can't ride according to a coherent set of rules. On one street, you're up on the sidewalk riding in the same direction as motor traffic, on the next you're riding on the carriageway against it, and on the next you're riding in the middle of a pedestrian promenade with no clue where you should be.
The national traffic code (KRESZ) outlines rules for cyclists, but these can be confusing. For instance, KRESZ says you're not supposed to ride your bike on sidewalks unless you're under 12 years of age (in which case it's ok as long as you don't go faster than 10 km/hr). Confusingly, though, the majority of "cycling infrastructure" in Budapest is on the sidewalk. Where a crappy painted-line bikeway is marked on the sidewalk, it's compulsory to ride on it unless there are so many pedestrians it's impossible to get around them.
Then there's the more-or-less common-sense rule to ride on the right side of the curb lane when on the carriageway. Cyclists tend stay to the right of traffic on their own volition, the better to avoid getting run over. However, according to KRESZ, where there's a priority bus lane -- and these are always along the curb -- you aren't allowed to ride there. KRESZ requires you to instead ride in the next lane over, ignoring your survival instincts by pedaling down a maximally exposed lane marker with buses barreling by on your right and "fast lane" motorists whizzing by on your left. This is a situation I won't put myself into. I flaunt the rule everytime. My only hesitation is the harassment I'll suffer if a BKV driver comes from behind. The police couldn't care less, but BKV drivers become sticklers for law and order when a defenseless cyclist gets in their way.
Another confusing situation arises where bike lanes/paths cross roads. The default rule is that cyclists should yield to motor traffic, unless they dismount and walk across the street. It can be counter-intuitive, especially when the bikeway is a shared pedestrian/cyclist path. On the path, cyclists and pedestrians share space as co-equal non-motorised travelers, but at road crossings, they're supposed to follow entirely different rules.
And there are exceptions to the default rule. Depending on the crossing, cyclists might actually get priority, and be able to stay on their bikes and ride across the intersection, having the right of way over motorists. Special signage marks these crossings, but it's not clear why one intersection prioritises cyclists and the other doesn't.
Then there's the crossing on the Buda Quay bike path just north of Szépvölgyi út. Here, cyclists (as well as pedestrians) actually come to stop signs at the crossing of Újlaki rakpart. I bike through this un-signalled crossing twice daily, week-in and week-out -- it's on my commute. And despite the fact that cyclists have NO priority here, they seem to command a de facto sort of right of way. It's probably because it's the most dangerously located bike/pedestrian crossing in the city -- on a 50 km/hr thoroughfare with blind curves hiding it from traffic coming from both directions. Motorists familiar with the road approach cautiously, and when they see a waiting cyclist, they tend to stop -- even though they aren't required to do so. Even though, according to KRESZ, shouldn't do so.
It's really a typical situation in Hungarian cycling (or maybe in Hungarian life in general). The rules say one thing, but people's behaviour follows another code altogether. On most days, this seems to work fine. But then tonight, as I was riding home in the dark, with streets glistening in a light rain and visibility not that great, I came up to the Újlaki rakpart crossing and, as usual, the first car to approach braked to let me pass. Unfortunately, the driver in the car just behind didn't know about the unwritten code for this crossing. Wham! The nice motorist who yielded to me was rewarded with a smashed rear bumper. I honestly felt bad for the driver. But I didn't stop, and pedaled on. What could I do?
Friday, October 14, 2011
The Early Bird Gets the Sweet Roll
Totally out of focus, but this was the scene this morning.
It's amazing how much bike traffic goes by Batthyány tér at rush hour.
So this morning, as part of my ongoing effort to instill the values of sustainable, community-friendly transport in my son, I suggested during breakfast that we stop by the cyclists' tent for a kakaós csiga (sweet roll). Lance normally sulks through breakfast and has to be prodded and kicked and threatened to get out the door on time. But at the mention of the words kakaós csiga, he sat up like a bolt, devoured his muesli, and got on his shoes and coat faster than he's done in recent memory.
I don't know how many new cyclists the bicikli reggeli (bike breakfast) brought out of the woodwork today. But the promise of sweet rolls had a magical effect on Lance. He was so enthused to get out the door that you could have mistaken him for a morning person.
Lance tucking into csiga number one.
When we got down to Batthyány tér, one of several sites for this morning's breakfast in Budapest, a cheerful volunteer from the Hungarian Cyclists Club flagged us down and asked us to stop for breakfast (not that we were about to pass them by). She presented us with a very attractive pyramid of sweet rolls, each with a heavy dusting of white powdered sugar. We each took one, along with boxes of orange juice. Before Lance had taken two bites of his, he asked if he could also have mine -- to save for after school. Yes, he's a bit of a pig. But it was fine with me, seeing as I'm a diabetic.
The bike breakfast is a promotion for the fall Bike to Work contest (Bringázz a Munkaba). The contest started on September 22 and goes until October 26. Even though it's half over, you can still register and take part. In fact, if you do it before Monday, you can still ride the required eight times to be eligible for prize drawings.
The contest is a little more low key than usual, as it no longer has financial backing from the EU. The Cyclists Club is carrying on with a smaller budget and appealing to private sponsors to make it come off. Lance can testify that the bike breakfast was up to the usual high standards. So far, so good.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
EBikes Boost Hungarian Economy
It's just a personal impression, but it seems Hungary has a pretty significant bike-manufacturing industry. Along with the most familiar maker, Schwinn Csepel, there are loads of smaller brands produced here, including Caprine and Hauser (both made by a company called Avex Zrt.), Neuser, Mali, Gepida and Hercules. In 2007, a Dutch-owned company in the tiny town of Tószeg, Accell Hunland kft., became famous (in bike-blogging circles, anyway) as the maker of the sturdy, uniquely styled velocipedes of Paris's Vélib public bike system.
But does bike making really contribute much to the Hungarian economy? Maybe the following news item offers an answer: a couple weeks ago, Bosch, the electronics and services giant, opened a new plant in Miskolc that's been tasked with mass production of its new electronic bike motor.
This new plant -- which will produce some automotive gizmos along with the bike motors -- will add about 1,100 new jobs to Bosch's Miskolc operations. That's nothing to sniff at in the middle of a recession. Still, it was a surprise to learn which government official attended the plant's ribbon cutting: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Flanked by two big wigs from Bosch is the biggest cheese the Hungarian government has to offer.
According to Bosch communications officer Martina Horton, the bike motors won’t be the plants’ main product, but they will have strategic importance for the company. “This product presents very well the innovative technology of Bosch and environmental protection, so that producing eBike motors has a symbolic message as well,” Horton explained to me by email.
The motor was developed and produced in a small run in Mondeville, France, Bosch’s lead plant for eBike technology, Horton explained. Mass production was assigned to Hungary: an existing Bosch facility in the town of Hatvan will produce the motors’ electronics while the new plant in Miskolc will handle final assembly of the motor and drive unit.
These things are going to be a hit in China.
Production volume will depend on demand, according to Horton. However, the company has orders for 25 brands of eBikes, which is “a promising start,” she added.
Maybe it's fanciful thinking, but it seems to me that the government could do well by pulling out all the stops to promote Hungary as a cycling country: as a destination for cycling tourism, as a country of bikable cities, as a centre for cycling sport. If it does this, more economic plums like the one that dropped on Miskolc are sure to follow. | <urn:uuid:14923097-8a1e-445e-aee1-dd0794acd626> | http://cyclingsolution.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html | en | 0.967397 | 0.029576 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
What is Psoriasis?
Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes overgrowth of skin cells. In people with psoriasis, skin cells mature more rapidly than they are supposed to and they build up as a layer of scaly, inflamed skin. Experts think that psoriasis is an autoimmune disease with genetic influences. That is, the disease is actually caused by the immune system attacking skin cells and causing changes in the skin that cause rapid maturation of skin cells. Scientific research has shown that a type of immune system cell called a T cell is overactive in people with psoriasis.
Psoriasis can run in families, and certain things can trigger outbreaks of psoriasis in susceptible individuals. These factors include: increased levels of stress, infections, injury to areas of the skin, sunburn, exposure to cold weather, dry skin, alcohol consumption in excess, smoking and the use of some prescription drugs. People with other immune system problems, such as HIV infection, or those on chemotherapy for cancer treatment are also more likely to develop psoriasis. People may struggle with psoriasis, a chronic skin disease, for the rest of their lives, but the disease may flare up at times and be barely noticeable at others. It is possible to have remission periods with no psoriasis symptoms. The onset of psoriasis is usually during young adulthood between the ages of 15 to 35. However, anyone can develop psoriasis. The rarest age group for psoriasis onset is infants, but there have been cases reported of psoriasis in infants. The psoriasis rash is not contagious, but its appearance may deter others.
There are several different subcategories of psoriasis. The most common manifestation of psoriasis is called plaque psoriasis. Plaque psoriasis is categorized by the formation of scaly, red patches of skin. The skin that flakes off of these inflamed areas may appear scaly and silvery. In mild cases, there may be a little bit of skin flaking, like dandruff. In severe cases, these areas of inflamed skin can be large and even painful. The areas, called plaques, are raised and may be itchy. Depending on the case, the plaques can be localized or more widespread throughout the body. They can appear pretty much anywhere that there is skin, including the inside lining of the mouth and on the genitals. Psoriasis can also affect the scalp and the nails. Nails that are affected by psoriasis may become discolored, pitted, crumbly and may even separate from the nail bed. People suffering from psoriasis may be more likely to contract bacterial skin infections due to itching the inflamed areas of skin.
There are other types of psoriasis, which are all less common than plaque psoriasis. Pustular psoriasis causes blisters either in localized areas or in larger areas of the body. These blisters form rapidly and go away after a few days, but they may keep forming repeatedly.
Guttate psoriasis involves the appearance of small, pink-colored spots on the trunk of the body, limbs and scalp. These spots are not quite as dry, thick and red as the plaques that characterize plaque psoriasis. Guttate psoriasis is often triggered by an infection, such as a respiratory infection or strep throat. It is possible for Guttate psoriasis to occur once along with an infection and never return, but some people have repeated cases.
Inverse psoriasis causes inflammation of certain skin areas without formation of raised plaques. Inverse psoriasis is often found in the groin area, under the armpits, and in other areas in which one layer of skin overlaps another. For instance, in women and overweight men with inverse psoriasis, the fold underneath the breasts may become inflamed.
Erythrodermic psoriasis is the most severe and most rare form of psoriasis. This type of psoriasis causes a widespread rash that may cover most of the surface area of the skin on the body. This rash may peel, itch and burn like a sunburn. Erythrodermic psoriasis can be triggered by certain medications and sunburn, and it may occur in individuals with poor control over their psoriasis.
In some cases of psoriasis, the individual may also suffer from joint inflammation (arthritis), leading to painful, stiff joints. This is called psoriatic arthritis, and this condition can also cause other problems, such as inflammation of the eye (conjunctivitis). Some cases of psoriatic arthritis only affect one joint, while others may affect many joints. Most cases are not severe enough to cause permanent disability, and psoriatic arthritis is often less severe than other autoimmune causes of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, but it can lead to progressive joint damage if untreated. Acute pain from arthritis also makes it difficult for a person to get around. Psoriatic arthritis occurs in some form in about 33 percent of individuals with psoriasis.
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The Physical Organisation Of The World
Behind every work, especially a work that repeats, is an organisation. Unless an organisation of work is there, it is not possible for a work to be done. Surely the repetition of that work requires an organisation in existence.
In that sense the World or even the Earth is an organisation of work. Sri Aurobindo says that Life is fully organised at the level of the physical plane. The birth, growth, reproduction and decay of the species are parts of the Organisation. An Organisation must have its systems and the systems must be coordinated for smooth functioning. All systems and their coordinations follow laws that operate rigorously.
The subconscious animal is only aware of its existence and not the whole of which it is a part. Man is conscious and conscious of a whole of which he is a part. He is conscious of his environment, if not the process by which his existence is related to that of the environment.
As a child is unconscious of the environment of which it is a part, the less conscious human being, the unconscious citizen are unconscious of the world and the society they are part of. They are end users having only use value of the bigger whole.
The uneducated man is unaware of the existence of a government. The primitive man is aware of the immediate surroundings and knows the river on his own banks, not its entire length. It is but right that in 1992 MAN is more fully conscious of the whole of his environment which is Life, Life on Earth.
All the scientific discoveries of the past centuries are in complete possession of the entire knowledge of a part. An energy, a movement, a process, a law, a function, a relation are known fully in all their details. All of them have use values and turn into technologies or offer the theoretical base required for the technology. None of them is the Whole. Philosophy attempted to know the whole. The endeavour of science in that direction is not so great or determined nor was it rewarded with any real measure of success.
Knowledge of the parts can help us function in such a way as to create a conflict with other parts, whereas knowledge of the whole cannot have that consequence.
To have an Ideal of knowing the whole and its Organisation is to attain knowledge while to know the parts is to possess a technology.
The existence of a whole and an Organisation through which it exists and functions must be self-evident as we are in possession of its many parts and also occasionally see the relations between the parts.
We see in the functioning of these parts an ordered sequence, an intimate one-to-one correspondence, works needing a fixed time for completion, the law of cause leading to an effect, the reflection of our inner thoughts in the outer life and a few other things that are the ways of that Organisation.
How can we interest a scientist in the existence of an Organisation and what will inspire him to seek the knowledge of it.
Sri Aurobindo speaks only of the physical organisation to be complete and He aims at the Supramental Organisation in the next stage. It must be possible for us to argue or explain that the knowledge of the whole will make our knowledge of the parts more full and of a higher order. Such a knowledge will at once lead to the abolition of conflicts. One such is the pollution. Pollution is the result of conflict generated in the environment. These arguments may be true, but will not inspire any scientist.
Thought, for Sri Aurobindo, is physical as it issues out of the physical mind. In the physical organisation, thought occupies the apex and a pre-eminent position. It is a determinant of an act. Often it is the determinant. In a work of which physical, vital and mental components are parts, it can be shown that thought has a determining power -- an illustration of the mastery of the mind over matter. Matter, we know, is moved by matter only and not by thought or emotion. In the whole of which we speak, matter, emotion and thoughts are parts. Suppose a work has come to a standstill for any reason, an examination of the interrelations of its parts -- matter, emotion, thoughts -- can reveal the conflicts. If conflicts are removed, a harmony is established. And then focussing on the thought generates mental power. That power moves the work which was at a standstill all these days. As we are trying to illustrate that the knowledge of the whole will help resolve conflicts generated by the technology of the parts, we can as well say that the knowledge of the whole will help remove pollution in the world.
Knowledge of the whole by the environmental scientist who is emotionally identified with his field, will help abolish the pollution. This is a tall claim but the principle can be illustrated in the life of the scientist himself. As a principle, his own life and the life of the world will be affected equally.
Should the scientist be agreeable to an experiment in his own life, we can construct one in his own experience and make him see that his thought moves work and breaks the stagnation of years. Or, from the events of his own life, we can show an example. An example from another area may not carry that conviction.
It may be easy to convince a scientist of this, if he is open-minded enough to acknowledge the present superstition. The scientist's statement that only an eminent man's words carry conviction is directly superstitious, rather, it is social superstition. The truth of a statement must be evaluated on its own merits, not on the authority of the speaker.
The Singapore ointment that quickly cures burns without leaving a scar was not accepted by the Dutch market after demonstration. Even after a demonstration of comparison of the present treatment and the Singapore one, even after seeing the vast difference, the Dutch market refused to accept the product. This is not rationality but an acceptable social behaviour. The healer who cured half a million people in Germany was jailed by the authorities because he did not have a medical license. This is 14th century behaviour. In a scientist this is not merely unacceptable, but is downright superstitious. USA accepts fast curing Chinese medicines not because they believe in it, but because the profits there are high.
Suppose one genuinely aspires for the Presidency in his country with a motive of service, he can make this experiment in his life. Though a million people may have an eye on the post, those who are seriously pursuing will be only a hundred. If we enumerate the standard requirements of mental capacity, vital strength, physical endurance, inner idealism etc. etc. more than 90 will get eliminated leaving a handful in the field. Maybe one knows all of them in terms of character, behaviour etc. but especially their motives. Assuming all of them have positive motives, is it not possible for the aspirant to have a slightly higher motive than they have? In case he does so, he will end up in that office. This is a physical law to win a competition. This is not true for the Presidency alone, but any small competition for a job, property, negotiation, etc. Given the other ingredients in equal measure, by raising the nobility of motive a little higher than that of the competitor one is entitled to win. Should this experiment be successful, for a scientist it must be easy to see the LAW, not the magnitude of the result.
Maybe it is possible to construct an analogy in physiology for the parts and the whole. The theory that the body cures itself, presently acceptable to scientists, has the implication that one who relates to the body at that level cannot have diseases or can cure any disease by resorting to that power. That illustrates the Power of the Whole over the conflicts of the parts.
At a micro level, we can prove the existence of the whole and the parts and create movements of Life Response.
Man does not know he is a WHOLE human being of four parts -- Spirit, Mind, vital, body -- and he acts only from the part. Discovering the whole MAN is possible for him. And that is analogous to the whole of Life.
We know about opinion. An attitude is the vital accepting the opinion of the mind. Because the mind and vital combine in the attitude, the attitude is powerful over the man. That is why the change of inner attitude leads to outer result
-- A scientist should come forward to be rational and be ready to examine a statement on its own merits.
-- He must conceive of a whole of which we are parts.
-- He must be willing to exercise his mind to know the Organisation of that WHOLE.
-- As a scientist, he must set store by minute observation.
-- He who says that he will observe only matter and not mind or emotion cannot qualify as a scientist of the whole, or at least will not serve our purpose.
-- Suppose his observation leads to the knowledge of the whole, and he is willing to concede that it should have an organisation, it is possible to show him the organisation at the micro-level and its process.
-- Process at all levels is the same.
-- In the process a prime determinant is the MIND and that mind can acquire mastery over the matter. On that assumption, a devoted environmental scientist, when he discovers the whole and its processes will be able to dissolve the pollution by the power of his thought.
The Physical Urge of the physical organisation: The main force of this organisation is the physical URGE which is really the force that sustains all movements inside and outside. This urge acts through a decision of the physical mind and also through opinions and attitudes. When a work is stalled, it is possible to go behind the appearances to this urge and surrender it. At that point, one handles the Force and everything is under his control. Mind masters matter. A lesser mastery issues out of changing attitudes or decisions. The flow of universal forces in man is seen as this urge. Consecration of that controls the whole being. One who successfully does that succeeds in mastering his environment.
The knot of that urge is there for the ego organisation, the psychic force and the supramental. Sri Aurobindo says that the knot and root of the ego are in the thinking mind. At the psychic is the knot of this urge for the spirit in Prakriti. That centre for the Supermind is the spiritual term in the physical. By our moving to the thinking mind and reversing the urge, ego is dissolved. Centering in the psychic and offering the urge we are psychicised. At the spiritual term of the physical the same supramentalises MAN.
story | by Dr. Radut | <urn:uuid:313a8601-856d-4b12-8ee5-151723ebbb23> | http://karmayogi.net/?q=physicalorganisation | en | 0.958932 | 0.040494 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
(The use of memory speed leads to an interesting notion: Functions that are
designed to be differentially expensive on different kinds of fielded hardware.
On a theoretical basis, of course, all hardware is interchangeable; but in
practice, something differentially expensive to calculate on an x86 will remain
"expensive" for many years to come.)
In fact, such things are probably pretty easy to do - as was determined during
arguments over the design of Java. The original Java specs pinned down
floating point arithmetic exactly: A conforming implementation was required
to use IEEE single- and double-precision arithmetic, and give answers
identical at the bit level to a reference implementation. This is easy to do
on a SPARC. It's extremely difficult to do on an x86, because x86 FP
arithmetic is done to a higher precision. The hardware provides only one way
to round an intermediate result to true IEEE single or double precision:
Store to memory, then read back. This imposes a huge cost. No one could find
any significantly better way to get the bit-for-bit same results on an x86.
(The Java standards were ultimately loosened up.)
So one should be able to define an highly FP-intensive, highly numerically
unstable, calculation all of whose final bits were considered to be part of
the answer. This would be extremely difficult to calculate rapidly on an
Conversely, one could define the answer - possibly to the same problem - as
that produced using the higher intermediate precision of the x86. This would
be very hard to compute quickly on machines whose FP hardware doesn't provide
exactly the same length intermediate results as the x86.
One can probably find problems that are linked to other kinds of hardware. For
example, the IBM PowerPC chip doesn't have generic extended precision values,
but does have a fused multiply/add with extended intermediate values.
Some machines provide fast transfers between FP and integer registers; others
require you to go to memory. Vector-like processing - often of a specialized,
limited sort intended for graphics - is available on some architectures and
not others. Problems requiring more than 32 bits of address space will pick
out the 64-bit machines. (Imagine requiring lookups in a table with 2^33
entries. 8 Gig of real memory isn't unreasonable today - a few thousand
dollars - and is becoming cheaper all the time. But using it effectively on a
the 32-bit machines out there is very hard, typically requiring changes to
the memory mapping or segment registers and such, at a cost equivalent to
hundreds or even thousands of instructions.)
-- Jerry
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Why on earth would I start drinking almond milk when I’m not even lactose intolerant??? Well, I initially started drinking almond milk instead of my usual skim milk because I was on the Paleo diet – no dairy allowed. Almond milk was a great substitute because it had the same consistency as skim milk, and it had pretty good flavor. It also had less calories than skim milk!
Left: skim milk, Right: almond milk
Left: skim milk, Right: original flavored almond milk
I usually drink the original flavored almond milk and sometimes I drink the unsweetened almond milk, too.
As you can see, the almond milk has more calcium and other essential vitamins in there, so I am still getting my calcium that I’d normally get from milk. There is a little bit more fat (unsaturated, though) in the almond milk, which is there to give it a creamier taste to imitate the consistency of skim milk. And even though skim milk also has more protein in it, I never really used milk as a protein source anyway.
The most appealing thing to me about almond milk is that it is lower in calories (the unsweetened is only 40 calories per cup)!
I definitely recommend trying almond milk if you haven’t already 🙂 weeeee
15 responses to “WHY I DRINK ALMOND MILK
1. I started drinking almond milk as well because I was on the paleo diet and I have kept drinking it. I like it and drink the unsweetened stuff. Well, I don’t really drink milk but have it on my cereal or in a shake.
Why did you stop doing the paleo diet?
• oh nice! I’m actually still on the paleo diet, but instead of 100% paleo (when I was trying to slim down), my diet is now only about 80-90% paleo 🙂 So occasionally i’ll drink regular skim milk, but I mostly stick to almond milk!
• You and I should chat more then about Paleo. I found I couldn’t maintain it because my exercising suffered, I felt heavy and tired when I tried to run. I have started eating more grains and cereal in the morning and they seem to help. I don’t eat bread very often and still stick to salads at lunch. What are some things that you do to get carbs that aren’t bread/grains? That is what I found I was missing.
• i eat lots of fruit and veggies! i used to eat that sandwich at lunch so those two pieces of bread would be my only source of refined carbs. but fruits and veggies usually give me enough energy to exercise. right now i’m eating about a cup of rice every day as a source of carbs instead of the bread from the sandwich.
• I eat a lot of F & V too but I found it wasn’t enough to get me through. I will try rice and see if that helps me. Thanks for the help.
2. Pingback: A Runner’s Diet | RunAyeshaRun·
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The Moz Blog
Term Weight & Glasgow Weight vs. Keyword Density
- Posted by to Search Engines
Term Weight & Glasgow Weight vs. Keyword Density
For search engines, keyword density has long been held to be a reliable measure of the concentration of a particular keyword or phrase on a specific page. However, this method of mesurement has long been known in the scientific community to be a poor representation and poor methodology for discovering the 'weight' a particular page has for a term.
Alternatively, IR developers (search engineers) have proposed and used a system called 'term weight' and variations thereof (normalized term weight, Glasgow weight, etc.).
Classic Normalized Term Weight uses the following equation:
Wi = tfdi / max tfdi * log (D/dfi)
tfdi = term (or phrase of a given length) frequency in document
tfdi = maximum frequency of any (same number word) phrase in document
D = number of documents in the database (when using Google, I estimate at 8.1 billion)
dfi = number of documents containing the term/phrase (# of results for a search in quotes)
A second equation, Glasgow Weight, can also be useful (I generally use both when analyzing my own site vs. the competition):
Wij = log(freqij + 1) / log(lengthj) * log (N/ni)
freqij = frequency of term i (a word or phrase of a given length) in document j
lengthj = number of unique terms (word or phrase of the same length) in document j
N = number of documents in database (again, I use 8.1 billion for Google)
ni - number of documents containing the term (results of a search in quotes)
Using these equations and the resulting numbers for comparison is a much better way to check your page's use of a specific keyword phrase or term than just measuring keyword density. I hope to have an SEOmoz tool up in the next 2 months that can help by making the calculations for you - in the meantime, use Excel.
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• paisley amoeba
had a client ask me how to measure keyword density.. this is EXACTLY what i needed..
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4 Reasons I Pre-read My Children's Books
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Teaching Sonlight with a large family takes a delicate balance of the time I spend teaching, grading, and keeping track of assignments, with my need to work, clean, and cook. Finding the time to stay one step ahead of my children's school work can be hard.
Despite the challenges of time management, with a few exceptions, I’ve always read the books I assign to my children before they read them.
But I still have strongly held reasons for pre-reading my children's books.
Stay Ahead of the Oldest Child
Since I have seven students doing multiple levels, there’s no way I could read through that many History / Bible / Literature programs (HBLs) in a single year. But I do try to keep ahead of the oldest child so I’m at least familiar with the books when the second or third child comes along.
This commitment means that I am often reading during my downtime at work or listening to audio books on my trip to and from work. I also read Sonlight books all year long, spreading out the workload. It is manageable to do, even with a busy lifestyle. And here's why I invest in pre-reading my children's Sonlight Readers.
1. Sonlight Teaches About Real Life
Sonlight doesn’t use textbooks to teach. Instead Sonlight's curriculum is filled with historical fiction, which simply means the author tells a story using the correct historical background. For example, in Johnny Tremain in HBL D, Johnny is a fictional boy set in the very real backdrop of the Revolutionary War. Details about the war are sprinkled throughout the book as Johnny goes about his life. Just as in real life, hard things happen to Johnny. He’s an orphan working as an apprentice. He meets people who are fighting for liberty, and as a result of that fight, people die.
It’s very hard to write an accurate book about war and history while keeping everything sunny and cheerful. Sonlight books don’t sugarcoat history. They do try to choose books that stay away from the harshest violence or the greatest atrocities (until later high school), but you will find, on occasion, people starving, suffering, or even dying. Reading a quick summary of a book or reading through the discussion questions in the Instructor's Guide (IG) doesn’t always give you the full feeling of the book.
Because difficult content does appear from time to time in Sonlight books, it’s a good idea to pre-read to see what’s coming. If any content is a bit too sensitive for your child, you can skip that portion. We normally choose to read those sections instead of skipping them, but I make an effort to talk through the hard parts.
2. I Want to Model My Expectations
If I’m not willing to take the time and effort, why should my children? If a brief summary and discussion question answers in the Instructor's Guide are good enough for me, why aren’t they good enough for my children?
By reading the books in full, I show my children that reading is important to me and the knowledge I can gain from reading the books is important as well.
3. If I Don’t Read It, I Might Not Know the Answers
Sometimes when I ask my children a discussion question about a book, they give me an answer that isn’t listed in the IG. If I haven’t read the book myself, I might assume their answer was wrong when it's actually an acceptable answer.
At other times, my children didn’t know the answer to a question. Without having read the book myself, I would be at a loss to help them identify the correct passage in the book to locate the answer.
Pre-reading can clear up a lot of these issues with right or wrong answers. I might still have to look over a chapter to clarify an answer, but I can figure out most answers based on my memory of the book. And as a bonus, we get to have meaningful discussions about the titles instead of a dry Q & A session over the IG.
4. Sonlight Books are Just That Good
The biggest reason I pre-read my children's books is because Sonlight chooses such excellent novels, biographies, and non-fiction! I would be sad to miss out on these books!
• I find myself crying for the main characters.
• My heart breaks for the hardships the missionaries are undergoing.
• I often close a book with a sigh of satisfaction for a good read.
Sonlight books are books I would choose for myself if I had hundreds of hours to weed through books to find the good ones. It’s actually quite rare that I find a Sonlight book that I didn’t love or learn from in some way.
So while it's something of a sacrifice of time, it's also a pleasurable task to pre-read my children's Sonlight Readers.
To find out more about Sonlight's unmatched Read-Alouds, Readers, and our complete book-based homeschool programs, order a complimentary copy of your catalog today.
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Family Reunion T Shirts
There are more reasons to purchase custom tees than I can count. They are really a perfect way to advertise proficient event or cause, not to mention your company. Schools purchase them intended for PE uniforms, jog-a-thon bonuses, school spirit days and much website link. Having a family reunion or even running a summer camp? T-shirts with a catchy logo are an easy way to bring people together and make them feel like they fit in. They can also be used to promote an upcoming community theater creation, a political campaign, or maybe a new product line that your organization is launching. Use them since prizes or part of an increased marketing strategy.
Now that you know what you will definitely use them for, let�s go into detail about how to find the correct style for your function. Even though tees come in styles as well as brands, most silk-screening organizations will stick with names similar to Hanes or Gildan. promotional products for kids the event you prefer another option, you will need to always be specific and hopefully this company will be able to accommodate you.
While thinking about the details, the choice is yours. It is up to you whether or not you favor the garment with or without some sort of pocket. Just remember that pocketed golf tees usually cost a bit more along with the logo would fit either on or over the pocket as opposed to large on the entrance. The weight of the fabric might also make a difference to you. Weights range between about 4. 5 oz . to 6. 1 ounces. Usually, the heavier the clothing is the more it charges, with exception to specialized fabrics. The type of fabric can also make a difference. Garments are available in totally cotton or polyester mix and may even be available with moisture wicking. Colors vary by manufacturer, however , most brand names come in at least twenty fundamental colors and sometimes more than 80. White tees are usually cheap.
Once you have chosen the style of shirt you like, we can begin talking about the imprint that you want to be able to portray. Consider the number of shades in your logo that need to be screened. The more colors that you have, a lot more it will cost to produce it. Besides you will need to add an additional bright layer called a flash upon colored tees. This excess layer makes it possible for the colors in the artwork to show up considerably better and not fade into the colour of the garment.
Whether there is a reason to purchase custom tshirts now or later, a minimum of you are better informed to talk to your local screening company in relation to which items fit your needs. By any means you slice it, customized tees is the way to go. | <urn:uuid:b6478a41-0329-40bb-b1cb-467b9828c06a> | https://www.tshirtssantabarbara.info/family-reunion-t-shirts-3/ | en | 0.960759 | 0.047415 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Last reviewed 11 March 2020
Employers will be aware that the day may come when they face a tribunal claim. But what, exactly, is the process for the bringing and hearing of claims? Ben McCarthy, lead researcher and employment law writer at Croner-I, provides an overview.
Employment tribunals have jurisdiction to hear more than 80 types of statutory employment-related claims, from discrimination to unfair dismissal and breach of contract. Their primary function is to assess a situation where an employee believes their employment rights have been breached by an employer and, if proven, provide a remedy to them. Although the number of tribunal claims continue to rise, they are technically a last-case resort for employees once discussions with their employer, and efforts to mediate the situation, have failed. Nevertheless, since the abolition of tribunal fees in 2017, employees have nothing to stop them from bringing a claim provided they do it within the specified time-frame; for example, those who feel they have been unfairly dismissed have three months from their dismissal in which to bring a claim. To this end, it is essential that employers are aware of the procedure that needs to be followed, alongside any obligations that are placed upon both parties.
The early conciliation process
If someone wants to make a claim against their employer in the employment tribunal, they need to first contact Acas for early conciliation. Acas will then take steps to conciliate the issue and prevent it becoming a claim, liaising with both parties to come up with a solution. For example, it may be that this situation could be resolved through the signing of a settlement agreement, which prevents further legal action being taken on that specific issue. Early conciliation will “stop the clock” as regards the time limit for lodging the tribunal claim for one month while the conciliator speaks to both claimant and respondent to explore whether they wish to conciliate. Since 2014, it has been mandatory for all claimants to go through the Acas early conciliation process. Where conciliation is unsuccessful or either party withdraws, the conciliator will issue a certificate, which the claimant will need in order to proceed to lodge their claim in the employment tribunal.
Submitting a claim to the employment tribunal
Following the early conciliation process, the claimant can present their claim to the tribunal. At this stage, the tribunal will decide if it is going to accept or reject the claim. If it does decide to go ahead with the claim, it will send it onto the employer and provide it with the opportunity to submit a response that outlines whyit believes the claim is wrong. Once the tribunal has the claim form and a response form (if sent) an employment judge will consider whether there are arguable complaints and defences. It is open to the judge to ask questions at this stage or to dismiss all or part of any claim or response. A claim or a defence can be struck out at any time if it is scandalous, vexatious, or has no reasonable prospects of success.
The tribunal hearing
There are four types of tribunal hearings; a case management discussion to agree on issues such as timeframes and witness orders, a preliminary hearing to assess certain points of law, such as demonstrating that a claimant is disabled, a main hearing or trial and, finally, a hearing to reconsider a judgment. Reconsideration may occur if a decision is made in the employer’s absence and it argues that it never received a claim form in the first place. There is no mandatory requirement to hold either a case management discussion or a preliminary hearing and many cases proceed directly to the trial of the issues. That said, all or any of the parties can request a case management discussion or a preliminary hearing at any time leading up to the trial.
During the main hearing, each side will have the opportunity to put forward their evidence. Anyone giving evidence is obligated to attend, give their evidence under oath, and be cross-examined. The tribunal itself will be made up of either a full panel of three or an Employment Judge sitting alone. Once the tribunal has listened to all the evidence, and any arguments both parties have put forward, they will retire to consider everything that they have heard and reach a decision. They will then outline their decision alongside the reasons for it, and confirm this judgment in writing. Occasionally, the judgment may take a couple of weeks before it is distributed to all parties. If the tribunal finds in the employee’s favour, there may be a further remedy hearing to determine compensation.
Appealing a decision
A common misconception is that employers can appeal a decision to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) if they are unhappy with the result. However, this is not the case. Appeals can only be lodged if a specific point of law is called into question. For example, in the recent case of Tesco v Tennant, the EAT held that the tribunal had wrongfully determined that a claimant was disabled, finding she did not meet the legal definition and therefore could not proceed in her claim. That said, rulings from the EAT and upwards will be binding on future tribunals. The story does not end with the EAT, with cases potentially being granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and even the Supreme Court, formerly known as the House of Lords. Cases have also historically reached the European Court of Human Rights when there was a potential breach of EU law, however it is currently understood that this will no longer be the case when the Brexit transitional period ends on 31 December 2020.
The appeals process is important as it can serve to completely overturn a previous decision or, alternatively, a previous appeal against that decision. To give another example, in the case of Royal Mail v Jhuti the Supreme Court upheld an appeal against a Court of Appeal decision, that itself had upheld an appeal against an earlier EAT decision. Jhuti had looked at the real and “invented” reasons for dismissal, with the Supreme Court holding that tribunals should always work to establish the real reason behind a dismissal and if the decision maker has been manipulated by something that is invented. The Court of Appeal had disagreed, saying the focus should be on the mental processes of the person who made the decision to dismiss and not on a potential manipulator.
Tribunal fees are not returning any time soon and, with the great number of claims being presented to the tribunal, companies may face a prolonged period of uncertainty throughout the process. To this end, it is important that employers work to avoid this situation arising, ensuring that employment rights of their staff are not breached. | <urn:uuid:14bb20cb-208c-44db-bd6f-6a2d7d86652b> | https://app.croneri.co.uk/feature-articles/tribunal-process-claim-remedy?product=144 | en | 0.964111 | 0.040145 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
wolfram klug
Wolfram Klug recorded an album with Ed Mann, Ike Willis, Tommy Mars and Arthur Barrow.
He posted a couple of pictures on his blog
wolfram klug: flab
wolfram klug: burt, the nerd
(2014, cd, switzerland, private release)
- feat. ike willis, tommy mars, arthur barrow, robert martin, albert wing, ed mann // incl. 'chunga's revenge' (frank zappa)
wolframklug_burtthenerd.jpg (53044 bytes)
wolfram klug: l.a. bang bang
Here's a short chat with Wolfram.
UniMuta : Hello Wolfram, can you tell us a bit about yourself? You're a musician, composer, ...?
Wolfram Klug : I am a musician. Bass Guitar mostly. Done file music (www.myspace.com/flabsound for example). Played in all sorts of bands in Germany and Switzerland where I live now.
UniMuta : On your blog you write that it is hard to find musicians in Europe to work with you. Can you tell us a bit more? What do you expect from the musicians that you work with?
Wolfram Klug : European musicians are worried about their reputation. So every project is carefully checked: what is it? Who is it? Do I risk anything? And does he pay me enough.
As I don't have a huge track record people are quite resisitant to try out new things with me.
UniMuta : It's fascinating that you went to L.A. to record with musicians that were in Zappa's band. How did they relate to your music?
Wolfram Klug : They did like the music, however my approach while recording was new to them as I asked them to try this and that. Things which might not make sense to them musically in that moment but they trusted me that I will do the right thing in the editing and mixing process.
In any case they ARE open minded and experimental. I will have a video soon and you will see the fun we had.
UniMuta : Your new album will be called "Go For Live". Did you have all the basic tracks recorded before you left for L.A.? Can you explain how you work? Do you have all the parts on the computer and do you ask the participating musicians to re-record these parts?
Wolfram Klug : All of the above and more. Each track was different. I had 50% of the tracks prepared in Logic Studio.
Some parts where written and I asked mostly Tommy to rerecord.
Words for Vocals where written by me and basic melodies. Ike and Tommy then added their feel.
One song was partially co-composed by T and I.
UniMuta : I was happy to read that the recording went fine. What's the next step for the album?
Wolfram Klug : A lot of editing now. Then mixing, mastering and CD promotion.
We also think of a tour in Europe next summer
UniMuta : Do you have some sort of schedule? When do you want the album to be released? Will it be a private release or do you have a label? I'm assuming and hoping that the album will be released in some sort of physical format like vinyl or CD, or will it be download only?
Wolfram Klug : To be decided. Best case all of the above. Spring 2013
UniMuta : I'm very curious to hear the result ! Keep us posted on your progress !
c d e f g h i j k l m
soundtracks various artists | <urn:uuid:b7371bd7-f1d9-477e-ad3d-6ae3d2f8557a> | http://united-mutations.com/k/wolfram_klug.htm | en | 0.943483 | 0.022667 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
How to Create a Winning Display Board for a Social Studies Fair
Your research should be displayed as part of your social studies project.
A display board is a key component to a winning social studies project. The display board should show all of the research that was completed for the project and follow all of the dimension guidelines as described for your project. Additionally, it should be easy to read and understand. The display board is the opportunity to bring the social studies project to life. Some contests allow you to include items such as dioramas as part of the display inside the display board dimensions.
Gather the information that you have researched for your social studies project. Be sure to include any pictures or samples of handiwork that you collected while doing your research.
Determine the theme of your project. For example, you may be focused on how the economics of a region affected its cultural development, or you may be focused on a particular time period in history.
Choose the key points that you want to highlight on your display board. These points should correspond to the key points written in the paper portion of your project.
Draw a sample layout including the pictures and text you want to include on the display board. This allows you to create a better-designed poster because you can adjust the features as necessary. If you are including extra display information such as a diorama or another display items, be sure that it does not block important texts.
Create the poster. Choose a background color that compliments the text colors. Mount the photos, graphs and charts on colored paper so that they stand out on the display board.
• Be sure that the text is large enough to easily read from about five feet away.
• Break up the text with drawings or actual photographs related to the research you have completed.
• You can include multimedia elements in your display using a small portable DVD player or an MP3 player. This can include things such as tribal chants, videos of festivals or a video you created about the project. Be sure to check the guidelines for your specific contest before you create these items so that you create them in the correct format.
• A diorama is another great addition to a winning display board. It can recreate a typical village or town of the time period you are studying.
| <urn:uuid:8658409d-7eb3-4cfc-9884-7ca7b85cfac5> | https://classroom.synonym.com/create-board-social-studies-fair-6494708.html | en | 0.94742 | 0.09234 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Learn about property management tactics.
Rental Prices: Determining and Adjusting Monthly Rates
by Stephen Aubuchon
Determining monthly rent is simply a calculation when you have the correct information and data. Landlords and managers often incorrectly price their rental property.
Landlords must evaluate the rental price on facts and numbers, not emotions. I find landlords and real estate investors put a premium on rental features (e.g. the type of tile on the kitchen counter or some other small aesthetic feature) that renters do not appreciate as much.
In this article, you will learn how to initially price a rental, factors that contribute to the rental price, when to adjust the price, and the consequences of not following this simple process. If your property has been on the market for 30 days, then read every category carefully.
Part 1: Initially Pricing a Rental
There are three approaches to calculate the rental rate, and it’s recommended to use a combination when possible:
1. Market Analysis:
Take a look at the currently available listings. The best resource is Zillow:
• Type in your rental property’s address
• Filter for the same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage
• Search for other similar rentals in the area.
Check the comparable properties to see their listing price. This analysis puts you in the shoes of the tenant, understanding their other options. When your property is listed higher than comparable rentals, tenants are more likely to view the surrounding rental properties first. It doesn't matter if your property has a better color marble counter, as that is not always objective criteria.
2. Historical Trends:
Research the historical rent rates for your rental. Take the prior rental rate from your past tenant’s signing date and apply your county or city annual growth rate. You should arrive at a value that combines historical trends with current value.
3. The Data Driven Approach:
The internet can also be a useful resource in determining rent. Online tools, such as the Rentometer, use large amounts of data to determine rental prices. While these tools are not always the most accurate, they can provide a baseline to compare with the two above approaches.
Part II: Other Factors Affecting Demand
Market rates and trends will provide a good indication for the rental range, but the below questions also factor into the demand and desirability of your rental.
Is my advertisement too restrictive?
The goal is to attract as many qualified tenants as possible. If you have a bunch of restrictions on who can qualify, then you are narrowing down the number of applicants.
1. Pets: Am I not allowing pets even though a large portion of renters have pets? Many large cities are boasting 50 percent of residents have pets. Do you want to restrict 50 percent of the market via a strict “no pet” policy? Read more about pets here.
2. Term: Do I have an awkward lease duration, such as 6 months or 3 years? Most tenants are accustomed to a standard 12 month lease. If you want to rent for longer than 12 months, we recommend negotiating the lease duration after you have qualified applicants. One of your objective criteria can be that the tenant willing to sign a longer lease gets accepted over tenants with a shorter duration preference.
3. Furniture: Am I offering a long-term, furnished rental when the majority of tenants are looking for unfurnished?
4. Security deposit: Is this higher than deposits from others on the market?
5. Other lease restrictions: Check your lease against leases of other professional managers. If your requirements are too strict (e.g. (1) all tenants must move out if one moves out and (2) credit over 750 is required), then you may have a more difficult time converting applicants to tenants.
Am I advertising well enough?
1. Article: Read the Secrets to Advertising your Rental
2. Channels: Are you advertising on only a couple of listing websites, rather than leveraging the best software that markets to the largest rental listing websites? Aim to advertise your rental on at least 5 top rental listing websites. One of these websites should be Zillow, since they generate more traffic than most listing websites.
3. Pitch: Your photos and content dictate your rental's appeal. It takes only the initial setup of quality photos to succeed when your property is ready for the next turnover.
4. Response time: Are you waiting a day to respond to tenant inquiries. Tenants expect professionalism and a nearly immediate responses to set up showings.
What other factors adjust the price?
1. Type of Property: Luxury properties tend to stay on the market for longer, as there are fewer tenants who can afford these rentals.
2. Aesthetics: Renovations, remodels, and upgrades can have a huge impact. In other words, does my property look more appealing than other properties in the neighborhood?
3. Neighborhood: Your rental may be in an area without zoning restrictions or where the next street over has widely different pricing. In these cases, adjust the rental price based on true comparable properties.
4. Seasonality: As a rule of thumb, winter months tend to be the worst time to advertise your rental. This is especially true in areas where the climate boasts snow and below freezing temperatures. In areas with single family homes, this statement is even more prevalent since parents prefer not to move while school is in session.
Part III: Adjusting Monthly Rent
There are very few cases where your property should be on the market for over 30 days. As outlined in Part II, luxury rentals tend to stay on the market for a longer duration due to fewer applicants.
If you are finding that you rental has been on the market for longer than a month, here are some recommendations:
1. Review your currently listed price to that of the market. Most likely, you have priced your rental too high. Most landlords think their property is worth more than it is actually worth. After all, you purchased it over other options in the area.
2. Review your criteria - maybe you should allow pets or reduce your qualification criteria (e.g. credit score) in order to obtain more potential tenants.
3. Check to see where you are advertising. Advertising can dictate how many potential renters you are attracting. Make sure these advertisements are up-to-date and are posted on major online websites. Think about potentially expanding advertisement if current options are not adequate.
Part IV: Consequences of Vacancy
When “Days on Market” (the number of days the rental is advertised) is higher than 30 days, there are emotional and financial consequences.
1. Emotional
From experience, anxiety brings the vacancy to the top of your mind. You are less productive in other areas of your life. And, you may even question whether being in the rental industry is worth the headache. When this happens, go back to Part I through Part III and carefully evaluate the rental advertising process.
2. Financial
You lose money every additional day that your rental is vacant. Listing at or below market can actually generate more cash flow because of reduced vacancy. And most investors and managers do not perform a calculation on the opportunity cost of vacancy. For example, if you list your property at $5000/month, but it remains on the market for 3 months, you receive $0 for that time period. Another option would be to drop the price to say $4,800/month. While you would receive $200 less per month than normal, you still make $14,400 over the same 3 months rather than nothing. Now that $200/month difference doesn’t look so bad. Cha-Ching!
It is important to understand why you have too much or too little demand with your rental property. With technology, pricing is more transparent to landlords and tenants. As a landlord, you must be willing to recognize the shifting market and compromise when needed to fill your rental unit.
Photo cred: Blake Wheeler | <urn:uuid:d87285b6-b852-47a7-ac7b-aa2e743b94bb> | https://resources.hemlane.com/rental-prices-determining-and-adjusting-monthly-rates/ | en | 0.932711 | 0.024025 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Home Salvation Revelation Exegesis Parables Prophecy Warnings+
Q&A About the Book of Revelation Listen to .mp3 propecy podcasts.
The frequently asked questions shown below are in the same order as the verses in the Book of Revelation. The purpose for presenting the Book of Revelation in a question/answer format is to gently introduce you to this deep and difficult to understand book of the Bible. For a more detailed explanation of the book of Revelation, please begin your study by reading: Revelation Chp 1--What is Now For other frequently asked questions that discuss soul salvation, living a righteous life and general prophecy read: General Frequently Asked Questions.
Q1.1 What is the purpose for the Book of Revelation?
Revelation is a gift from Jesus Christ to Christians to reveal His pleasure and displeasure with the various types of church congregations throughout the Church age and to reveal in detail, the events leading up to His return. It describes the severe tests (the Tribulation) that He will require all unfaithful Christians to patiently endure; it describes His wrath and the destruction of the earth because of the sin and rebellion of unsaved mankind; it describes the severe testing that He will require the Jewish people to endure so they will see that Jesus is indeed the Messiah they have been waiting for; it reveals His reconstruction of the earth and of the redemption of all of His faithful believers.
Q1.2 Why is Revelation so difficult to understand?
The book of Revelation is probably the most difficult book in the Bible to understand because there are many images and symbols in the Book that need to be correctly identified so the scripture can be understood in today's context. Another difficulty in understanding Revelation is that the time frame shifts often in the chapters, so you are sometimes left wondering which event chronologically follows which event.
Finally, the chapters are absolutely filled to the brim with substantial "meat" of the word, so the message is sometimes hard to absorb because the ideas are so complex. Revelation can only be understood by reading and studying all its verses and reading associated scripture such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, the Epistles of Paul and Peter and the four Gospels. This will take serious study by the Christian.
Chapter 1. The time frame is before the start of the Tribulation. John greets the seven churches of Asia minor and a vision of the Son of Man is given.
Q1.3 If I hear someone read the book of Revelation, what is the blessing I will receive? [Rev 1:3]
You must not only listen to the passages of the book, but you must also obey whatever Jesus commands in Revelation so you can receive a blessing. The blessing will be eternal life for your soul and a commendation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The reader will also receive a blessing from the reading and will be the same blessing as the ones that hear and obey.
Q1.4 Who greets the seven churches in Asia Minor and what is the meaning of this greeting? [Rev 1:4-5]
There are four individuals who send their greetings to the seven churches. The first greeter is John the Apostle. At one time he was the pastor of the church at Ephesus and he also knew about the six other churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). John is one of the best examples of a Christian in the Bible and we should observe how he serves Jesus during the time that he writes the book of Revelation.
The second greeter has a mysterious title: from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come (Rev 1:4). This greeter is God the Father. God has always existed because He had no beginning and He has no end because He will live forever and ever. The Person presented here is the Great "I am" as appeared to Moses when Israel was enslaved in Egypt. God of course has unlimited power and always fulfills His promises and always helps His faithful saints to overcome any trials and tribulation that they may experience, just as He overcame the Egyptian pharaoh and led His people Israel to the promised land.
The third greeter is the Holy Spirit: the power we all have to live a righteous life for God and to resist evil comes from the Spirit of God. Each Christian needs to use the power of the Holy Spirit to help them live the life that is pleasing to God and even more so at the end of the Church Age and even into the Tribulation.
The fourth greeter is Jesus Christ: He is presented here by John as the humble and suffering Savior that the church members all know about. He will shortly appear to the churches to evaluate their character and their faith and later as a Judge to the unsaved and unrepentant people of the world.
The greeting is grace and peace, and this lets Christians know that God still loves them even though that peace will soon be taken away from the earth. Thus, the Age of Grace is almost over because Jesus will soon initiate the seven year Tribulation to test all of the people on the earth and the testing will even include every one of His less faithful believers.
Even when having trials and tribulation, a Christian can have peace because the Spirit of God is with them. The peace is the vision that God is in control and they will have perfect peace because they will eventually be with God in Heaven. The key to having this peace is to be faithful to and relying upon Jesus Christ, even when experiencing sorrows, persecutions, sicknesses and even tribulation.
Q1.5 Why is the Son of Man (Jesus) now portrayed as so awesome, majestic and fearful in Revelation? Isn't He supposed to be the humble Savior who takes away the sins of the world? [Rev 1:10-20]
During the Church Age, Jesus has indeed been the humble Savior and He has saved many Christians during the last 2,000 years. Because Jesus perfectly completed His mission of being the sacrifice for our sins by shedding His blood on the cross, he has been crowned with glory and honor by God the Father. He will soon initiate the Tribulation and in seven years, He will return to the earth in glory and honor.
For faithful Christians, He will be the glorious and beautiful Savior who redeems us. For unfaithful Christians, He will generate fear and anxiety for a season for those that are left behind to endure 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation. Because of this testing, they will be made more faithful and they will then see Him as the beautiful and glorious Savior. For the unsaved sinners of the world, He will bring wrath, death, judgment and eternal destruction.
Q1.6 What are the keys of Hades and of Death that Jesus is holding? [Rev 1:18]
The key to Hades is Jesus' authority to cast anyone that has not been saved into the abode of the dead--Hades or Hell. The key to Death is His authority to take the life or soul of anyone He decides to. This could be either taking the life of the unsaved or to take the life of a Christian who has been unfaithful to Him. The unsaved person's soul is cast into and remains forever in Hell because during their lifetime on earth they rejected the salvation freely available by faith in Jesus Christ. The unfaithful Christian who's soul has been destroyed by Jesus will later be redeemed by Him, but with loss of reward and glory and honor.
Q1.7 Please explain the seven golden candlesticks and the seven angels. [Rev 1:20]
The golden candlesticks represent the seven historical churches of the first century: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. The seven churches also represent seven different churches ages from the first century to the churches of today. The time periods are: Ephesus 33-100, Smyrna 100-312, Pergamum 312-606, Thyatira (Catholic Church) 606-today, Sardis (Protestant Church) 1517-today, Philadelphia (Small independent Bible Church, Home Church) 1750-today and Laodicea (Mega Church, TV Church) 1900-today.
The seven angels represent the pastors of the seven churches. One way that God communicates with Christians is through the pastor. So the pastor must deliver the message that God requires him to deliver to his flock. This includes the full gospel of salvation by grace through faith through Jesus dying on the cross and shedding His blood as a payment for our sins. It should also include the prophetic messages from the Book of Revelation and from other books in the Bible.
The responsibility for knowing and obeying the prophetic message is not only from God to the pastor to the congregation, but also by the individual church member reading and obeying the message in Revelation. Unfortunately, today, only the pastor and members of the Philadelphia church are reading, receiving and obeying the full message of prophecy contained in the book of Revelation as well as obeying all of the rest of the scripture in the Holy Bible.
Only a few of the pastors and members of the Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicean churches are reading and obeying all of the scripture in the Bible and because of this lethargy, there are serious consequences for the pastor and members of those churches. This lack of enthusiasm will result in many Christians being left behind after the First Fruits Rapture and being required to endure severe persecution during the first half of the Tribulation.
Chapters 2 and 3. The time frame is before the First Fruits Rapture. Jesus observes the spiritual health of the seven churches.
Q2.1 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Ephesus. [Rev 2:1-7]
The Church at Ephesus represents the churches that were established by the apostles in the first century. They were very strong in doctrine including faith, understanding of the scriptures and patience and they were very strong in withstanding persecution from the pagan religions around them. When they were first evangelized by the apostles, members had great love for Jesus, for fellow believers and for the people of their community. We don't know how it happened, but the members fell away from the most important attribute--Christian love and Jesus strongly condemns them for this sin. He commands them to continue in their good works, patience and faith, but to return to their love and fellowship with God and with their fellow believers and friends and neighbors.
Q2.2 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Smyrna. [Rev 2:8-11]
Members of the church at Smyrna were persecuted for about 200 years (100-312). The Christians at Rome were rounded up by the Caesars soldiers and used for sport in the Roman coliseum and many were tortured and killed by soldiers and wild animals. Because of their love for and faith in Jesus, they remained true to Him, even when faced with death. Because they were very faithful, they were praised by Jesus .
Q2.3 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Pergamum. [Rev 2:12-17]
Members of this church represent the Catholic church that was established by Emperor Constantine. This church existed 312-606 AD. When the church became part of the Roman state, persecution then ceased. There was still faith by the members at that time, but the church instituted a church hierarchy at Nicaea in 325 AD to control access to God by the clergy over the people. Before this event the Christian had direct access to God and Jesus severely condemns this practice.
Q2.4 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Thyatira. [Rev 2:18-29]
The church of Thyatira represents the Catholic church (606-today). Jesus has many good things to say to the church of Thyatira He praises them for their good works, their love, their faith and their patience. Their major sin is that their doctrine has been corrupted by including pagan practices into their worship. This includes idol worship, praying to saints and the worship of the virgin Mary. Jesus warns them to repent or they will be forced to endure 3 1/2 years of severe testing during the Tribulation.
Q3.1 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Sardis. [Rev 3:1-6]
The Sardis Church represents the Protestant churches (1517-today). Except for a few individuals members, Jesus has little praise for the Protestant churches because their worship is characterized by cold, dead formalism. Their major sin is that they think that they are following God perfectly but this is not Jesus' observation. They also are not watching and are not prepared for the return of Jesus, hence their good works are few. They need to make themselves ready for Jesus' second coming by performing all of the righteous works God has prepared for them to accomplish.
Q3.2 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Philadelphia. [Rev 3:7-13]
Jesus has only praise for the Philadelphia church (1750-today). This church was responsible for sending out many missionaries to the world during the 19th century and into the first part of the 20th century. It now represents the small Bible or home-based church with only a few members. This church's primary focus is on deep study and application of the Holy Scripture to they way they live their lives and for their service to God and their service to mankind. They have great love and respect for Jesus and for each other and are watching and praying for Him to return. Because of their faith, Jesus promises to open a door in Heaven to remove them from the earth before the beginning of the Tribulation.
Q3.3 Please explain the evaluation by Jesus of the Church of Laodicea. [Rev 3:14-22]
Jesus has no commendation for the church of Laodicea (1900-today), which is the large community or charismatic church which buys a lot of TV time to put their services on the air every Sunday. Worship is characterized by loud and repetitive music and emotional sermons from their pastors. Their message is of economic prosperity and good health for those that are truly following God and poverty and poor health for that aren't following Him. Members are being told by their pastors that they are doing well with their walk with God and are performing all the good works that God wants them to perform, especially their offering of large amounts of money to the church.
They believe that they are rich in faith and works, but Jesus says that they have no good works to show Him. A major flaw is their lukewarmness. They show little enthusiasm for deep study and deep application of Bible knowledge to good works that God has prepared for them to accomplish. Jesus gives them a last chance to walk worthy with Him. They need to open up their hearts and minds to Him so they can have a close, personal fellowship with Him and to joyfully accomplish all the service that He gives them to do. Failure to follow Jesus' commands will result in Laodicean Christians being left behind to endure the fiery testing of the Tribulation.
Q3.4 Jesus praises each church for it's spiritual successes and warns each church of it's spiritual failures. How much time will He give the church members to repent and to be more faithful before the Tribulation starts?
This website went online with articles in December 2006 and the specific warnings to each church are presented in the article: What Is Now--The Seven Churches. We don't know how much longer God will give unfaithful Christians to repent, but it can't be very much longer. Each Christian in the world needs to evaluate themselves and to determine their spiritual failures and then repent and make corrections to the way they live their life. If you want to make sure that you are not left behind to be tested in the Tribulation, we suggest that you read: How to Crucify Self.
Chapter 4. The time frame is the First Fruits Rapture. The grand throne in Heaven and the First Fruits Rapture are described.
Q4.1 What is the open door in Heaven? [Rev 4:1]
Because of the faith of the members of the Church of Philadelphia (plus a few faithful believers from the Churches of Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea) this is their open door to Heaven. The apostle John represents the most faithful of God's servants and he is simply summoned to Heaven, just before the start of the Tribulation. At the First Fruits Rapture, Jesus' most faithful followers will simply be taken directly to Heaven to be with Him forever.
Q4.2 What is the grand throne in Heaven and Who is sitting on that throne? [Rev 4:2-10]
Jesus said to the church of Laodicea: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne (Rev 3:21). In the evaluations of each of the churches please note that all Christians that overcome have been invited to rule with Jesus from this most beautiful throne in Heaven. It is the throne that Jesus sits on and from which He will be ruling over all Heaven and Earth.
He is glorious in appearance and is overflowing with holiness, righteousness, wisdom, love, strength and justice. It is a very large throne, because it was made big enough to accommodate all Christians of all eras. Unfortunately, most Christians are not faithful enough to be counted worthy to sit on this throne with Jesus. Jesus has now determined His most faithful and He will share His throne with Philadelphia Christians and the most faithful Christians of the 2,000 Church age. After the First Fruits Rapture, no other Christians will be invited to sit with Jesus on His throne.
Q4.3 Who are the twenty-four elders sitting on their own thrones around the grand throne? [Rev 4:4]
The 24 elders represent a very faithful group of Christians raptured from the earth as well as very faithful Christians from the Church era and since they are sitting on thrones, they are qualified to rule with Jesus. The number 12 represents government and twice 12 represents ruling both in Heaven and on the Earth. The actual count of elders from the 2,000 year Church Age will be very many, probably in the millions.
Q4.4 What are the Seven Lamps burning before the grand throne? [Rev 4:5]
The seven lamps represent the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit and include the Spirit of the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. God the Father and God the Son both use these godly characterizes in all Their plans and decisions that They make. Thus, no plan of God will ever fail because it is perfectly designed and perfectly implemented!
Q4.5 What is the sea of crystal glass before the grand throne? [Rev 4:6]
Sand is a very common material that is found all over the world and is dull and gritty. Upon melting by intense heat, the sand is refined to produce something very useful--glass. This is an analogy to the refining of Christians, they are refined and made pure by faith and by the testing of their character. When they obey God, they are turned into something useful--a faithful believer and this is the crystal sea before the throne of Jesus. It represents the most faithful of His believers from the First Fruits Rapture and from the 2,000 year Church Age.
Q4.6 Who are the Four Living Creatures in the midst of the grand throne? [Rev 4:6]
A very small percentage of Christians are called the Bride of Christ. They are the closest to Jesus and are given the highest honor of reigning with Him and sitting with Him on His grand throne. The many eyes that are given to these believers is their perfect wisdom and insight that they will use to judge during the Millennium Kingdom of Christ. One of their main duties will to be the praise leaders in Heaven. They will know exactly the time to give honor to God. Their "holy, holy, holy" announcement is to recognize the perfect holiness and purity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Q4.7 Why do the Four Living Creatures and the twenty four elders praise He that is sitting on the grand throne? [Rev 4:8-11]
Jesus has just raptured the four living creatures and the 24 elders from the Earth. A short time after the rapture, they have received their resurrection bodies and their holy and righteous and perfect character. They then went before the Judgment seat of Christ and have been counted as wise and faithful servants of His and Christ's judgment is that they are worthy to rule and reign with Him. They are so grateful to Jesus for their redemption that they are full of praise and need to express their admiration and thanks to Him right then.
Chapters 5 and 6. Events associated with the following take place starting at the beginning and continue to the middle of the Tribulation. The first six seals of the scroll are opened and the precursor to the wrath of God that will shortly follow is described.
Q5.1 What is the significance of the Scroll with seven seals? [Rev 5:1]
The scroll is the battle plan of action that God uses to redeem the earth from the sin of mankind and from the influence of Satan. It is analogous to the closing document when you buy a house. There are usually several problems that need to be fixed by the seller before the buyer will accept the house. The seven seal Scroll specifies the conditions that need to be fulfilled before God will accept back ownership of the earth.
Q5.2 Why did John cry when no one in all of creation was found worthy to open the scroll and lose its seals? [Rev 5:2-4]
John recognized that until all of the conditions on the scroll were fulfilled, that the earth would still be in the hands of evil men and under the control of Satan. Evil needed to be destroyed and Satan needed to be arrested from tempting mankind until judgment time.
Q5.3 Who was it that held the scroll and who was it that took the scroll? [Rev 5:2-7]
The conditions of the redemption of planet earth were written onto the two-sided scroll and the seals were placed on the scroll by God the Father. Jesus is the only one with the power and the knowledge to fully carry out all of the directives written in the scroll, and we know that Jesus will perfectly complete all of the steps required to redeem the earth and God's faithful saints.
Q5.4 Why did the four living creatures and the 24 elders worship and praise Jesus after He took the scroll? [Rev 5:8]
They were in deep appreciation of what Jesus was to undertake in opening all seven of the seals on the scroll. They knew that until the directives in the scroll were completed that their brothers and sisters, the Main Harvest Christians would still be left on the earth and still would be unredeemed. They also knew that God's people, the Jews would also be left on the earth and would also be unredeemed. Their worship was a deep knowledge that the end of evil was near and that Jesus would soon bring all Christians to Heaven to be with Him and with them.
Q5.5 How many angels, living creatures and elders were worshipping around the grand throne? [Rev 5:11-13]
There are over a hundred million Angels and Christians worshipping Jesus around His throne. These are the faithful believers from the First Fruits rapture and all Christians that have died and went to Heaven from the 2,000 year church age.
Q5.6 Please explain why every creature in heaven, on the earth, under the earth and in the sea would worship God the Father and Jesus. Would this include even those that are not saved, even those in hell? [Rev 5:13]
The holy angels and the Christians in Heaven will certainly be worshipping God the Father and God the Son. Those human beings that are not saved (both alive and in hell) will not actually be worshipping God the Father and Christ Jesus. They will be recognizing by the cataclysmic events that will take place that God is indeed in control, and they recognize that God will not stop until He has complete victory over evil. Knowing this, it is a complete mystery why unsaved mankind does not recognize their depravity and then realize that they should turn to God for mercy.
Q6.1 Explain the significance of the Lamb opening the seven-sealed scroll and the thunder John heard. [Rev 6:1]
The seven year countdown to the completion of the required actions in the scroll has started. The noise of thunder is a warning to those on the earth that judgment is coming. For all the seals on the scroll, John somehow is able to see the judgments from Jesus actually take place.
Note that if all Christians at the end of the church age had been as faithful as those in the First Fruits Rapture, the Tribulation could have taken place in only 3 1/2 years instead of seven. The first half of the Tribulation is a time used by Jesus to test His unfaithful believers so they demonstrate their faith in Him and to prepare them for leadership positions in His kingdom. The second half of the Tribulation is a time used by God to test His people, the Jews, and to unleash His wrath upon unrepentant and unsaved mankind.
Q6.2 Explain Seal One: the rider on the white horse begins his conquest of the world. [Rev 6:2]
The rider of the first horse is Antichrist. He will begin to ride the white horse of conquest so he can take over and rule the world. Note that he is given a bow, but no arrows. Because of some cataclysmic event or series of events, Antichrist will somehow show up on the world scene and provide an answer and a political solution to the problems caused by these events. He will be a very articulate and persuasive speaker and will beguile many of the presidents and kings of the world to let him rule the earth. In particular, he will find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and will have many countries in the mid east sign a peace treaty that guarantees security for seven years for the state of Israel.
Q6.3 Explain Seal Two: the rider on the red horse starts war on the earth. [Rev 6:3-4]
Some time will pass after seal one is opened. The rider on the second horse is the President of Russia. He will send his military along with the military of several other countries to attempt conquest of Israel and the oil fields of the middle east. Russia will use some nuclear weapons, but the Antichrist will intervene and destroy most of the Russian military.
Q6.4 Explain Seal Three: the rider on the black horse initiates world-wide famine and economic hardship. [Rev 6:5-6]
Shortly after seal two, the effects of the war in the mid east will cause widespread economic hardships throughout the world. Because many of the oil producing countries are destroyed in the mid east, little oil will be available to turn the engines of industry and agriculture in the world. The food supply of basic items such as grain, cereal and bread will dwindle quickly and the poor and middle class will barely be able afford even simple foods. Because of the high price of oil, many people will also lose their jobs because many businesses will fail. The rich will still enjoy luxurious foods because of their large bank accounts.
Q6.5 Explain Seal Four: the rider on the gray horse creates many deaths by plagues, hunger and war. [Rev 6:7-8]
The poorer countries of the world will not be able to buy even simple foods such as grains and cereals. Hence many people in those countries will starve from lack of food. Because of the scarcity of food, wars will be started to take what little food is available. From both the wars and starvation, diseases will kill many people in the world. About 1/4 of the six billion people on the earth will die.
Q6.6 Explain Seal Five: the cry to God from the Christian martyrs. [Rev 6:9-11]
Seal five details Antichrist's persecution and destruction of many of the world's Christians. Immediately after the Tribulation started, the Main Harvest Christians realized that they needed to become more faithful. They then began to read the Holy Bible, to pray and to perform righteous deeds in the name of Jesus. During seals one through four the Antichrist persecutes them by confiscating their property and their money, throws some of them into prison and even tortures some. Because they do not show allegiance to Antichrist at any time, in Seal 5, he rounds them up and puts many of them to death by beheading.
The Antichrist will have control over the United States as well as many of the other countries in the world. Because of his power, he will seek to put to death as many Christians in the USA as he possibly can. After he is finished, there will be very few Christians left alive in the Bible Belt. After he is finished, the mega churches on TV and in the larger cities will have few members, because most will be murdered. The Catholic parishes will have very few members left alive to pray to God and to perform works of charity at hospitals and in poor and developing countries of the world. Because he will control other countries in the world, he will cause the death of many other Christians. Christians in third world countries will also be murdered, but some will probably survive. In all countries of the world, some Christians will survive to be part of the Main Harvest Rapture, but in the USA, their number will be few.
In Heaven, the martyrs then pray to God and ask Him why He does not avenge their deaths upon their murderers. God replies and tells them to rest for a little while until the complete number of Christians that were to be killed was completed. This persecution and murder of Christians will last for the first half of the Tribulation. This is the testing by fire that would happen to unfaithful Christians that was promised by Jesus when He addressed the churches of Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea in Revelation chapters two and three.
Q6.7 Explain Seal Six : a great worldwide earthquake awakens the world to the coming judgments of God. [Rev 6:12-17]
In seal five, Jesus promised to His martyrs in Heaven that He would shortly avenge their deaths and in seal six there is a great earthquake as a warning to the world that the wrath of the Lamb is about to be unleashed upon the earth when the trumpet judgments are unleashed with the opening of the seventh seal. The wrath of God is not unleashed upon the earth until the last half of the seven-year tribulation. Antichrist is given a full 42 months of unchecked reign upon the earth until after the seventh seal is opened and the trumpet judgments begin. Because the US Government will persecute and kill many of His faithful followers, Jesus will see that to it that America is completely destroyed. This destruction will be carried out in the judgment of the seventh vial or bowl as stated in Rev. 16:19.
Here's how it will happen. The USA currently has great influence over much of the world today. In the Tribulation the USA will have even more control, and because of this, almost all countries of the world will hate it. God will place in the hearts of the leaders of several of these countries a great desire to destroy America using nuclear missiles. These missiles will be launched over the north pole and strike most cities and all military installations in the US. This will include all 50 states and territories. Details of this destruction are written in Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 and in Revelation 18. In addition, nuclear-armed submarines from China and Russia and perhaps other countries will line up in array around America and assist in destroying it with nuclear warheads. The apostle John describes the warnings that occur in seal 6. The "stars" that John sees falling to earth are a result of this great earthquake that causes the earth to reel and rock and stagger like a drunkard (Is24:20). The mushroom clouds that John sees may be a result of the worldwide volcanic eruptions that accompany the “great earthquake” in Rev. 6:12. To John, it looks like the sky is being rolled up like a scroll.
Chapters 7. Events associated with the following take place at the middle of the Tribulation. The 144,000 faithful Jews are called by Jesus and any Christians still alive are taken to Heaven in the Main Harvest Rapture.
Q7.1 Who are the 144,000 virgins that are sealed? [Rev 7:1-8]
Jesus has selected 12,000 righteous Jews out of each of the 12 tribes of Israel to serve Him during the second half of the Tribulation. Since Main Harvest Christians will shortly be raptured to Heaven, God will need other servants to bring the message of the gospel to the world. Jesus will call 12,000 from each of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Nephthalim, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin.
Q7.2 What is the mission of the 144,000 virgins? [Rev 7:1-8]
They will serve Jesus on the earth and will be the evangelists to both the Jews and to the gentiles. They will be used by Jesus to lead many to salvation.
Q7.3 What is the great multitude of people in Heaven dressed in white robes? [Rev 7:9-17]
These are the Main Harvest Christians that were raptured to Heaven by Jesus at mid Tribulation. They also include those Christians that were martyred during the first half of the Tribulation. They have received their resurrection bodies and now stand before Christ's throne. They are clothed in white robes which represent the righteous works they accomplished during the first half of the Tribulation. These Christians will be close to Jesus in fellowship and love, but will not be as close to Him as the four living creatures and the 24 elders will be.
During the Tribulation, they experienced hunger and thirst, both for food and water as well as for the hunger and thirst for the holiness and righteousness of Christ and both their spiritual and physical hungers will be satisfied by Jesus at the Main Harvest Rapture. During the Tribulation, Main Harvest Christians will shed tears of sorrow because they knew they were there because of the weak faith they showed before the start of the Tribulation. These tears will be wiped away by Christ and He will show them great love and compassion the rest of eternity. They are accepted by Jesus as His good and faithful servants.
Chapters 8, 9 and 10. Events associated with the following take place starting at the middle and continue to the end of the Tribulation. The wrath of God is poured out on mankind via catastrophic judgments.
Q8.1 Please explain the Seventh Seal. [Rev 8:1-6]
The opening of the 7th seal signals that the wrath of God will soon be poured out on the earth during the second half of the Tribulation. Associated with the 7th seal are seven trumpet judgments. The 7th trumpet judgment includes unbridled wrath from almighty God. After the 7th trumpet is sounded, there will be seven bowls of wrath cast upon the earth.
Q8.2 Why was there silence in Heaven for about half an hour? [Rev 8:1]
This is a dramatic pause after the destruction of Babylon, and the inhabitants of the earth will wonder what will happen next. The unsaved of the world will feel like the criminal that is about to be put to death in the electric chair. The emotional anxiety of those on the earth will be very high because they already know that the wrath of God will soon be unleashed upon the earth.
Q8.3 Please explain the significance of the prayers of the saints that are offered before the altar in Heaven. [Rev 8:3]
The prayers are for the 144,000 Jewish servants left on the earth and those gentiles that will hear and follow their teaching and thus also become servants of God.
Q8.4 Please explain the significance of the thunder, lightning and earthquake that happened on the earth after the angel threw fire from the altar down to the earth. [Rev 8:5]
Many times the voice of God sounds like thunder and lightning and has the power of an earthquake. These events are a dramatic announcement to the inhabitants of the earth that very shortly the first trumpet judgment of God will sound and cause severe destruction on the earth.
Q8.5 Please explain the first trumpet judgment: 1/3 of the trees and all green grass were burned up. [Rev 8:7]
In the first half of the Tribulation, all of the destruction to the earth and the death of many of the people of the world was caused by the military of the governments of the world. During the second half of the Tribulation, all of the destruction that will happen on the world, and the deaths of many people, will be caused or initiated by God.
Many of the forest growing regions of the world will be burnt up by the first trumpet judgment. This would be an area of the world about the size of the Amazon rain forest. If 1/3 of the trees on the earth are burnt up then the air quality will be greatly reduced. The lungs of people will be severely effected by the pollution produced and because trees produce oxygen, breathing will eventually be effected. The destruction of this many trees will also cause inflation to rapidly rise, effecting the cost of all wood products.
Grain is a green grass when it starts growing and is a basic food staple for much of the world and because of this loss, many people will starve. Animals that depend upon grass for food will also starve causing yet another hardship on the people of the earth.
The first trumpet judgment is the first installment of wrath from God upon the inhabitants of the earth. God sometimes uses events that occur naturally, such as earthquakes to accomplish His plan. At other times, He accomplishes his plan by something that does not occur naturally such as turning all of the water in a river to blood.
Q8.6 Please explain the second trumpet judgment: a mountain was thrown into the sea and 1/3 of the sea was turned to blood; 1/3 of its sea creatures died and 1/3 of its ships were destroyed. [Rev 8:8-9]
For years, earth scientists have predicted that there could be a giant landslide take place at Cumbre Vieja located near La Palma in the Canary Islands, just off the northwest coast of Africa. This could be the event that causes extreme damage to the sea life and to the ships. The fire could be the volcanic activity that starts when the mountain slides into the Atlantic Ocean. Another possibility is to have a meteor or a comet hit an ocean somewhere in the world and it would be burning brightly when it struck the earth's atmosphere. With either possibility, giant tsunamis will be generated and anything in their paths will be destroyed. The blood would have to be caused supernaturally by God. This would be the same as the plague caused by Moses on Egypt's Nile River, except on a much larger scale.
Q8.7 Please explain the third trumpet judgment: 1/3 of the earth's fresh water was contaminated and many people died from drinking this poisoned water. [Rev 8:10-11]
The scripture says that a great star, called "wormwood" fell from the sky, burning like a torch. We don't know if this is something manmade, like a large nuclear-powered satellite station or if it is say a comet or meteor. Whatever it is, it will fall on the land itself and contains some chemical or radiation that will severely pollute 1/3 of the rivers and springs of water. This pollution will kill whoever drinks it.
Q8.8 Please explain the fourth trumpet judgment: the sun and the moon and the stars did not shine for 1/3 of the day. [Rev 8:12]
Jesus said in Matthew 24:22 "and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." What God does to shorten the length of a day is to increase the rotation speed of the earth. As all know, the rotation time of the earth is 24 hours and to fulfill Rev 8:12 God shortens the day to 16 hours. Thus, there is a shorter amount of time to suffer God's wrath and because of this, fewer of God's elect will die. We can only speculate now but there have to be serious ecological disturbances caused by a faster rotation speed of the earth.
Q8.9 Why did the angel say "woe, woe, woe" to the inhabitants of the earth because of the last three trumpet judgments? [Rev 8:13]
The judgments from the first four trumpet judgments have been just terrible and many people of the earth have died or suffered greatly. The last three trumpets are even worse and are so terrible, that many millions more people will suffer and die; and some of their suffering will be caused by fallen angels. The three woes will happen towards the end of the Tribulation.
Q9.1 Please explain the fifth trumpet judgment (the first woe): the locusts from the bottomless pit. [Rev 9:1-12]
Satan will be allowed to open the bottomless pit where many fallen angels now reside because they were so evil in the time before Noah's flood and were placed there by God at the time of the great flood. Out will come many of these evil ones and they will assume some of the mannerisms of locusts. Real locusts are insects that swarm and destroy the vegetation of the earth. Throughout history they have swarmed in places of the earth and destroyed most of the vegetation, making life very difficult for those people and animals in their path.
Ironically, the mission of the locusts will not be to destroy any vegetation, but to inflict suffering upon sinful mankind that have taken the Mark of the Beast. They will have some kind of sting that will feel like the sting of a scorpion and it will be so painful, that those of mankind that are affected will want to die. However, God will not let this happen, for they will be tormented by these fallen angels for five months. Since these fallen angels are very powerful, the pain inflicted upon mankind may be of such a high level that has never been felt before by mankind. These locusts will be visible to mankind and be very frightening to them. Since these demons are protected with some kind of armor, any defense thrown up by mankind will be utterly useless.
Q9.2 Please explain the sixth trumpet judgment (the second woe): the four angels are released from being bound at the Euphrates river. [Rev 9:13-17]
The four angels that are released are fallen angels of a high order and they will marshal armies with a total of 200 million soldiers which will be used to kill 1/3 of the remaining number of people on the earth. These four angels will draw the armies from countries that are north, south, east and west of Israel.
As the armies of the world are set out to do battle on the earth, many of the people of the earth will die. The weapons used will be both conventional arms as well as tactical and strategic nuclear weapons. Many will die from the radiation that is a results of nuclear missile explosions.
The final destination for these armies will be in Israel for the Battle of Armageddon. This battle will be between Jesus and the Antichrist and of course, Jesus will be victorious in this battle and completely destroy this great army of 200 million soldiers.
Q9.3 How many people on the earth were killed by the destruction caused by the 6th trumpet judgment? [Rev 9:18]
One third of mankind is killed by this trumpet judgment, or about 1.5 billion. So far in the Tribulation 1/2 of the people of the earth have died, or about 3 billion.
Q9.4 How many people on the earth repented of their sins of sexual immorality, greed and demon worship? [Rev 9:20-21]
None. Even though the people of the earth know that their suffering is caused by the wrath of God, they love their money, drugs, sexual immorality, and their demon and idol worship more than anything and are not willing to give up any of it. We do know that the 144,000 Jews are still witnessing to mankind and there will be some number of the gentiles that will follow the instruction of the 144,000 and place their faith in Jesus. The gentiles that do follow God will not be indulging in the above-mentioned sins.
Q10.1 What is the "little scroll" that was held in the hand of Jesus? [Rev 10:1-11]
The little scroll is a second scroll with the written results of the testing that was required to refine His Main Harvest saints and His people the Jews and the written results of the judgments that were inflicted upon sinful man by the opening of the seven seals from the scroll held by Jesus in chapter 6. This is a small scroll, but once opened, it is very heavy to hold and has very difficult contents to digest.
Q10.2 Please explain why God told John to not write down what the voices in the seven thunders said? [Rev 10:4]
We don't now know what the 7 thunders said, but the scripture is written in Revelation for a reason. I believe that at the time of the 6th trumpet (the time that the four angels are released from being bound at the Euphrates River), the 7 thunders voices will be heard by all people on the earth. The inhabitants of the earth will then have some kind of choice to make for good or evil. The 7 voices may even be some kind of last-chance mercy shown by God to the inhabitants of the earth, even though they are experiencing at that time the unbridled wrath of Almighty God. If any kind of last-chance mercy is offered by God to unsaved mankind, only those that have not taken the mark of the Beast will be able to respond to the voice.
Q10.3 What is the "mystery" that will be finished when the seventh seal is later opened? [Rev 10:7]
The mystery of God is the final summation of God's revelations and works in regard to the reinstatement of man into his lost inheritance and the restoration of lost fellowship with God. The establishment of this kingdom is the consummation of everything that Scripture points toward. It is the prime subject of all of God's inspirations of his prophets. Thus, every command from God that is required to redeem mankind and the earth will have been accomplished.
Q10.4 Why does God command John to eat the little scroll? [Rev 10:8-11]
John completely agrees that the actions taken by Jesus to fulfill all seven seals of the scroll are all justified. By the time the 7th seal is opened and each judgment has been completed, the earth and righteous mankind has been redeemed. This is the sweetness in eating the little scroll. After having time to digest the understanding of the events that have happened during the seven years of the Tribulation, John realized that there has been much sorrow and suffering by both God's righteous saints, the Jews and by sinful mankind. This deep understanding given to John by Jesus about prophetic events is obviously very painful.
God would have much preferred that all of His saints had been righteous and been taken by Jesus in the First Fruits Rapture and not have to be persecuted by Antichrist; but most weren't very faithful. Jesus and the most faithful of God's saints will also take no joy in the pain and destruction that sinful mankind receives from any of the judgments of God. It is a great responsibility and a heavy weight on a Christian's shoulders to understand prophecy, especially prophecy of the end times.
Chapter 11 and 12. Events now shift back to the middle and continue to the end of the Tribulation. The ministry of God's two witnesses is described and the seventh trumpet is sounded.
Q11.1 Who are the two witnesses? [Rev 11]
The two witnesses are Enoch and Elijah sent by God to the earth to prophesy to mankind about judgments that are sent by God upon the people of the earth. They will prophecy for 1,260 days and also bring judgments upon the earth. They will predict all of the judgments of God that will happen on the earth during the second half of the Tribulation. There are two witnesses because at least two witnesses are required to establish important truth, especially the truth of an offense from one person against someone else.
Enoch and Elijah will prophesy from the city of Jerusalem. They will preach and tell the people of the world of their sin against God and against His people, the Jews. Because of their message, the evil people of the world will attempt to hurt them. However, God will supernaturally protect them from all harm until they complete their mission.
Q11.2 Who is the God of the earth? [Rev 11:4]
Until the Tribulation started, Satan was in control of the earth. When Jesus opened the first seal on the scroll, He then took back control and ownership of the earth. Jesus is thus the God of the earth and it will never be taken away from Him.
Q11.3 What kind of destruction will the two witnesses cause upon the earth? [Rev 11:5-6]
They will have the ability to send fire upon and to destroy anyone that tries to hurt them. They will have the ability to stop rain from falling on earth for their time on the earth. So no rain at all will fall, thus even less food will be available for mankind so many will starve. They can also turn water to blood and to strike any people on the earth with terrible plagues. It appears to the inhabitants of the earth that the two witnesses predict the terrible catastrophes from God that are destroying the earth.
Chapter 11. Revelation events now shift to near the end of the Tribulation and the conclusion of the mission of the two witnesses.
Q11.4 Who kills the two witnesses and how does their death effect the people of the earth? [Rev 11:7-10]
Because of these plagues and their message, the sinful people of the earth will thoroughly hate the two witnesses. After their 1,260 day mission is complete, God will allow the Antichrist to kill them. They will be refused a burial and their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 1/2 days. A camera will be trained on their bodies and be viewed via satellite on their TVs by the people of the world. Since their pain caused by the two witnesses will momentarily be stopped, the people of the earth will be happy and send each other gifts.
Q11.5 Who resurrects the two witnesses and how does their resurrection effect the people of the earth? [Rev 11:11-13]
After 3 1/2 days, God will resurrect Elijah and Enoch and then take them to Heaven to be with Him. The people of the earth will see this event and be shocked to the core of their being. Their resurrection will be at the time of the second woe, which was described in an earlier FAQ. After this, the 7th trumpet judgment, or third woe will take place on the earth. Thus, only a short amount of time remains before the end of the Tribulation.
Q11.6 What is the significance of the great earthquake described in Chapter 11? [Rev 11:13]
This great earthquake is caused by God and is His response to the murder of His two witnesses. As a result of the earthquake, 7,000 people will die in Jerusalem and 1/10th of the city will be destroyed. Those left alive will be in great fear of God.
Q11.7 What is the significance of the seventh trumpet judgment (the third woe), which occurs near the end of the Tribulation?
The seventh trumpet sounds and there are seven bowls of God's final wrath to be leashed upon the people of the earth. The bowls are intense, but very brief, occurring within a few months or even a few weeks of the end of the Tribulation. The seventh trumpet judgments will be described later when the FAQs for chapter 15 and chapter 16 are discussed.
Q11.8 Why do the 24 elders alone worship God? [Rev 11:15-18]
Because the seven bowls of wrath happen very quickly on the earth, the 7th trumpet blast has almost completed it's sounding. After this, Jesus will return to destroy evil and take back sole possession of the earth. This is why the elders pray and thank God for asserting His power. The four living creatures are not mentioned. This could be because they are preparing themselves to come to earth with Jesus and be by His side when He returns as King of the Earth.
Chapter 11:19 and Chapter 12 Events in Revelation now shift to near the middle of the Tribulation. The persecution of the woman, her child and the remnant of her seed is described. Note that the translators of the Holy Bible should have included the last verse of chapter 11 (11:19) as the first verse in chapter 12.
Q11.9 Why was the temple in Heaven opened and the heavenly ark was seen by John? [Rev 11:19]
Rev 11:19 and Chapter 12 describe how God deals with Israel during the second half of the Tribulation. The events associated with Israel and the time frame is the same as was described in chapter 8. The scene is the same, the temple is opened and the ark can be seen by John and God is ready to test His people, Israel.
Q12.1 Please explain the role of the Woman. [Rev 12]
The woman is the nation of Israel and during her stay on the earth she has endured many trials and afflictions because she was God's chosen nation. Many of the affections were a result of her not being faithful to God. The woman described here is the small faithful group of apostles, disciples, prophets, priests and kings that fully served God during Israel's history. She also represents the remnant of Jews that God will miraculously protect during the second half of the Tribulation.
Q12.2 Please explain the role of the Child. [Rev 12]
The child is the Christian church that was started by Christ during His ministry on the earth. All of Jesus' apostles and His other disciples were Jews and they initially carried the message of the gospel to the world. A Christian's attitude should be one of support and prayer for the Jewish people because they gave us the holy scripture, both old and new testaments and gave us the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Q12.3 Please explain the role of the dragon. [Rev 12]
The dragon is Satan and he has hated and persecuted the people of Israel since the time of Jacob. From previous FAQs, we also see that he has persecuted Christians during the first half of the Tribulation. Since all Christians have been raptured to Heaven by mid tribulation, Satan will persecute and kill as many Jews as he can during the second half of the Tribulation. He will be allowed to kill 2/3rds of all Jews. The remaining 1/3 will become very faithful to God and recognize that Jesus is their Messiah.
Q12.4 Please explain the seven heads of the dragon. [Rev 12]
The seven heads represent the seven major kingdoms of the world each of which in history rule over much of the known world. The seven kingdoms are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and Babylon (the United States in alliance with the European Union). Satan has control over all of the empires of the world since the time of Adam and will control Great Babylon through the Antichrist.
Q12.5 Please explain the ten horns of the dragon. [Rev 12]
The dominant end-time world power will be the United States which is called the Harlot in the Book of Revelation. During the time of the Tribulation, the USA will be politically united with a second great world power, the European Union (EU). The EU currently consists of 27 countries (as of July, 2007), and additional countries will probably be added in the near future. Out of the European Union will arise a dominant ten nation alliance that will control the EU politically, economically and militarily. At the time the Antichrist comes to power, the EU will make him it's leader, probably calling him the "President", and will bestow great authority on him. The EU united with the USA will be called Great Babylon, and will be powerful indeed.
Q12.6 Where is the wilderness that God prepared for the woman to take care and protect her for 1,260 days? [Rev 12:6]
The people of Israel will flee to the wilderness. Many Biblical scholars think that this could be near the ancient city of Petra, in Jordan. Of course, Satan will know that the people of Israel will go there, but he can do nothing about it because God will protect and feed His people for the second half of the Tribulation.
Q12.7 Please describe the war in Heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels? [Rev 12:7-9]
Up until the middle of the Tribulation, Satan has been allowed access to Heaven. God now decides to remove Satan from Heaven and He commands Michael, who is a great archangel to expel Satan, and he will be cast down to the earth and never have access to Heaven again. Satan will resist Michael, but will be overcome along with all of the fallen angels of Satan.
Q12.8 When he was still allowed to be in Heaven, Satan has accused the "brethren". But they have overcome Satan by the power of the blood. What does this mean? [Rev 12:10]
The brethren are the Main Harvest Christians who have been removed by Christ from the earth at the middle of the Tribulation. During the time they were on the earth, Satan has accused them of sin and of being unfaithful to God. The Main Harvest Christians were tested by Antichrist and proved Satan wrong, because most of them were very faithful to God, even through persecution and martyrdom. They overcame because they placed their faith in Jesus. Any victory Christians have over sin is because they have been forgiven because of the shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross.
Q12.9 If the devil has great wrath after being cast from Heaven down to earth, what does this mean? [Rev 12:12]
Satan knows that he will have only 3 1/2 more years to persecute any of God's followers on the earth. He will then expend all of his energy and the energy of his fallen angels to persecute the Jews and any other humans that are faithful to Jesus.
Chapter 13. Events now shift back to the beginning of the Tribulation. The Antichrist and False Prophet and their persecution of the saints is described.
Q13.1 Please explain the meaning of the ten-horned beast of Chapter 13.
The ten-horned beast represents a 10-nation organization within the European Union and will control the military forces of the European Union. At the beginning of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will assume control of this organization and the control of the United States.
Q13.2 Who is the king that had a mortal head wound and appeared as dead and then the wound was healed? [Rev 13:3]
This will be a well-known individual that was formerly the leader of some country in the world and had received and survived a head wound of some kind. When the wound happened, it was announced that this king died, but this is not what actually happened, it only "appeared" that he died. This king will later show up on the world stage and assume leadership over much of the world. This will be the Antichrist.
Q13.3 Why did the people of the world worship the dragon and the beast? [Rev 13:4]
Since the Antichrist will be in control of two of the world's most militarily powerful organizations, the USA and the EU, he will be able to intimidate the other countries in the world. They will be afraid to make war against him and will follow whatever orders that he gives to the leaders of other countries. Since this man is so charismatic, the people of the world will in effect worship him and believe everything he says. The unsaved of the world will not realize it, but by worshipping Antichrist, they are also worshipping Satan who indwells Antichrist.
Q13.4 What kind of blasphemies would the Antichrist commit against God? [Rev 13:5]
The Antichrist will be disrespectful of God and will seek to destroy all that God holds near and dear to Him. This will include the persecution and murder of Christians and later the Jews. The worst blasphemy that the Antichrist will commit against God is to say that he, the Antichrist, is "God."
Q13.5 Why would the Antichrist also blaspheme God's tabernacle and those who dwell in Heaven? [Rev 13:6]
The First Fruits Christians have just been raptured to Heaven to be with Jesus and the Antichrist knows this. He will falsely blame them for some of the tragedies that happen to sinful mankind so far during the Tribulation.
Q13.6 What saints will the Antichrist make war against and overcome? Why does God allow this to happen? [Rev 13:7]
Any Christians that were unfaithful at the end of the Church Age were left behind to have their faith tested for the first half of the Tribulation. During this 3 1/2 years, the Antichrist will persecute and murder many of these Christians. God commands these believers to remain faithful and to accept whatever suffering they may receive from Antichrist because this will demonstrate their faith in Jesus. At mid-tribulation, they will receive their resurrection bodies and be raptured to Heaven to be with Jesus forever.
Q13.7 What is the Book of Life and why is it so important? [Rev 13:8]
Before God created planet earth, He knew the names of all of the men and women He would call that would place their faith in Him, both Old and New Testament saints. He then wrote these names in a book He called the Book of Life and this book is now in the care of Jesus Christ. This book contains a written record of the righteous works that each of God's saints accomplishes during their lives and could be viewed in a certain sense as a compendium of biographies of all of God's faithful saints.
God's purpose for the Book of Life was to be a book that in-fact praises His saints because they are so faithful to Him. To have your name written in the book means that honor, crowns, awards and responsibility will be given to you in the Millennium Kingdom of God and in Eternity. You will jointly rule with Jesus over both Heaven and on Earth and you will sit with Him on both His heavenly and earthly thrones.
In spite of their fallen human nature, God's faithful saints gave the Holy Spirit permission to rule in their lives, and through the strength of God, they overcame all of their trials and temptations. Because they loved God, they knew that it would please Him for them to suffer for Him, some by persecution and some even to death by martyrdom. Any sins that they committed were confessed daily to God and because of this confession, those sins were not remembered by Jesus. With God's help these saints were thus overcomers over their sinful human nature and over their trials and testing during their lives upon the earth.
Many scriptures state that God wants all of His saints to be faithfully dedicated to Him and to say no to their sinful flesh nature and to say yes to God when He wants them to accomplish any good works that He has prepared for them. So if they are not faithful to God and instead live a self-centered life, then that saint is not an overcomer, and will have their names blotted out of the Book of Life. At the Judgment Seat of Christ the Book of Life will be opened for each believer and if his name cannot be found, his soul will perish. This means that he will receive no ruling responsibility and no rewards, crowns and honor from God during the Millennium or during Eternity. In effect, his life has been a complete waste.
After his judgment, all evil habits will have been completely erased from his life and he will be invited to and will live in Heaven forever with God, and he will be greatly loved by Jesus Christ. However, because of his weak faith and his few good works, he will not be as close to Jesus as His most faithful saints will be. Many tears of grief will be shed by the unfaithful Christian because they will know that because they did not live their lives dedicated to Christ they have lost an immeasurable amount of honor that could have been theirs.
For more information on the Book of Life read: The Book of Life.
Q13.8 Who is the False Prophet? What was his purpose? [Rev 13:11]
Shortly after Antichrist comes to power the False Prophet will also come to power as the religious leader of the world during the Tribulation. He will be controlled by Satan and will be an enemy of all people that place their faith in Jesus. He will seek to glorify the Antichrist and will seemingly perform miracles to deceive the people in the world to believe that the Antichrist is actually "god".
Specifically mentioned is that the False Prophet calls down fire from heaven. Some possibilities for this fire could be laser weapons that zap specified targets or even some cities. After mid-Tribulation this fire could be videos of the nuclear-tipped missiles that fall on America and the atomic explosions that then occur. Many will see these explosions or their videos and be very fearful of disobeying the False Prophet or the Antichrist. They will then worship the Antichrist.
There will only be one religion in the world that will be tolerated by the Antichrist and False Prophet--the worship of Antichrist. Since the False Prophet proclaims that Antichrist is "god", then all of the other religions of the world will be wiped out and the religion of Antichrist will be their replacement.
Q13.9 Could you explain what is the image of the beast? [Rev 13:14]
The False Prophet will document the speeches of the Antichrist and make presentations on the television and also make these speeches available via the Internet on the computer screen and on the small screens on those wireless devices. Included in these presentations will be praise and glorification of the Antichrist. The "image" of the beast was what the apostle John saw and was his best description of what we all know is a display screen of some kind.
Chapter 13. Events now shift to the middle and continue to the end of the Tribulation. Worship of the Antichrist is enforced using the mark of the beast.
Q13.10 What is the mark of the beast and the number 666? [Rev 13:16-18]
In the second half of the Tribulation, Antichrist will dictate that all purchases will be accomplished by electronic funds transfer and hence the whole world will be made into a "cashless" society. We are already familiar with this concept, because in all countries of the world, the foundation is already here and for many transactions, you just use your credit card or your check card. A large computer system complex in Europe will perform the underlying financial processing for buying and selling all kinds of goods and services. All countries and companies of the world will have appropriate access to this computer system and be able to tally any kind of monetary transaction, paying of salaries, taxes, etc. No printing of money will be needed and in theory, crime could be reduce. The "standard" of currency for the entire world will be the Euro.
At the middle of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will do away with the credit card and the check card and any kind of paper checks. To identify your own personal account, Antichrist will require all to take the "mark of the beast" (although this is not what the Antichrist will call it), and some kind of oath of allegiance to Antichrist. This will be a small computer chip about the size of a grain of sand and will be implanted in a person's right hand or in a person's forehead.
This chip will be used like a credit card or a check card so that goods and services can be bought or sold by a person. There will be three numbers, each of which has six digits on this chip (666) and will be the only way that a person can buy anything. It will be modeled on the universal product code (UPC) that you see on all merchandise bought in stores and in shopping centers. The number will have some form of encryption security, so that it will be impossible to use a person's account number by anyone other than by the person that actually has the implanted computer chip. If you don't take the mark, you can't buy or sell anything. In effect, you could starve if you don't have some other means of acquiring food.
We suggest that you do a search on the Web and read about the small computer chips that are being developed for animal and human implantation. The technology is already developed enough today to allow the mark of the beast to be a reality.
Q13.11 How is the worship of Antichrist enforced by the False Prophet? [Rev 13:15]
The False Prophet will have the EU computer and network technicians create a Website that will display Web Pages and Videos of worship services for the Antichrist. These services will include speeches by Antichrist as well as comments by the False Prophet and will be scheduled for publication at various times during the month. Those humans that took the Mark of the Beast will be required to log onto this Website and view the Web pages and videos. The password could be their 666 number or a password assigned to them by the False Prophet. The False Prophet could even include questions that the viewers would have to reply to with an appropriate answer to verify that they understood what the Antichrist was saying.
The Website will then record on a database the worship service name/time and their 666 number the False Prophet assigned to them. This would identify if they had indeed worshipped Antichrist when the False Prophet commanded this worship. Those humans that did not watch the Antichrist worship service will be electronically identified and will be rounded up by the False Prophet and later executed. Some of these executions will probably be shown on TV later and will cause great fear of the Antichrist by wearers of the mark of the beast. Whether they want to worship him or not, those that receive the mark of the beast will be highly motivated to participate in worship of the Antichrist.
Chapter 14. Events now shift to near the middle of the Tribulation. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists are further described.
Q14.1 What is the connection of the 144,000 virgins in Chapter 14 with the 144,000 virgins in Chapter 7?
These are the same virgins as were described in Chapter 7 and it is the same time period, at the middle of the Tribulation.
Q14.2 What is the new song the 144,000 virgins hear sung in Heaven? Why could only the 144,000 learn that song? [Rev 14:4]
This is a song of praise of Jesus because they have complete faith in Him and have been directly told by Him that He will lead them to have a great ministry for God on the earth for the next 3 1/2 years. They are joyous, because they will have a major part in leading many of the Jews and the gentiles of the world to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
Q14.3 Why do these 144,000 virgins have no fault? [Rev 14:5]
They are the firstfruits of Israel and they are sinless because their bodies have been redeemed and are now perfect. They will have bodies like Adam had before he sinned in the Garden of Eden.
Q14.4 Why is an angel now preaching the gospel? This was supposed to be the mission of the church, wasn't it? [Rev 14:6-7]
This is mid tribulation and there are no Christians left on the earth since the Main Harvest Christians have just been raptured to Heaven. The angel is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom which means that the dwellers of the earth should obey God, or they will experience wrath and destruction from God. Both the angel and the 144,000 Jews will be preaching the gospel during the second half of the Tribulation.
Q14.5 Why is Babylon mentioned here and why is "fallen, fallen" mentioned (twice)? [Rev 14:8]
Babylon has two kingdoms: the United States which has just been destroyed after the middle of the Tribulation and the European Union. The EU will be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation by Jesus.
Q14.6 What is the warning the angel is giving to the people of the world regarding the mark of the beast? [Rev 14:9-11]
If anyone takes the mark of the beast, certain destruction will fall on that person. The one who worships the Antichrist will experience the wrath of God in the second half of the Tribulation and be hell-bound, spending eternity there in terrible torment.
Q14.7 What is the admonition the angel is giving the people of the earth regarding suffering and dying? [Rev 14:12-13]
Many people will place their faith in Jesus during the Tribulation. They should expect that many of them will suffer and die during that 7 years, because the Antichrist will seek to kill anyone that believes in Jesus. Jesus encourages them to remain faithful to Him and if they do, they will be rewarded greatly by Him in the Millennium Kingdom.
Chapter 14. Events now shift to the time of the end of the Tribulation. The reaping of the earth and the wrath of God is described.
Q14.8 What is the reaping of the earth that Jesus will accomplish? [Rev 14:14-16]
After the Main Harvest rapture all of mankind that places their faith in Jesus will be separated from those that don't have faith in Him and be able to enter the Millennium Kingdom. They will be protected by Jesus and will have great fellowship with Him during the thousand year kingdom. After the Millennium kingdom, they will receive their resurrection bodies and live the rest of eternity in perfect peace upon the earth.
Q14.9 What is winepress of God and where does it occur? [Rev 14:17-20]
Those of mankind that did not place their faith in Jesus during the Tribulation will be gathered by His angels to the valley just outside of Jerusalem and near to the Mount of Olives. They will then be killed by Jesus. The blood from their executions will flow to the horses' bridles for a distance of about 200 miles.
Chapters 15 and 16. Events now shift to the last few months or weeks of the Tribulation. The 7th trumpet is sounded and the seven bowl judgments are described. They are brief in duration, but of great intensity.
Q15.1 What is the sea of glass mingled with fire? [Rev 15:2]
All mankind who place their faith in Jesus after the beginning of the Tribulation and who are killed by Antichrist during the Tribulation will be redeemed by God. These faithful will receive their resurrection bodies and be perfect, without sin. They will have been purified by testing and will have shown great faith in Jesus. The fire is the persecution and martyrdom that they experienced in the Tribulation. The glass is the purity of their characters.
Q15.2 Why do they sing the song of Moses? [Rev 15:3]
All Jews that are now redeemed are joyous before Him. This song is given in Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32. The saved gentiles are also joyous before Jesus. This is the same song that the First Fruits Christians (Rev 5) and the Main Harvest Christians sang (Rev 14). The song of both is one of total redemption and the recognition that this comes only because of their faith in Jesus.
Q15.3 Why was the temple in Heaven filled with smoke and why was no one able to enter the temple until the seven plagues were complete? [Rev 15:8]
God is now ready to unleash the last bowls of judgment upon the earth. He takes no pleasure in having to destroy all unredeemed mankind, but has no choice because they have chosen to reject Him. He will see no one, not the holy angels or any of His faithful Christians until the seven last bowls of judgment are cast upon sinful mankind.
Q16.1 Please describe the first bowl of God's wrath: malignant sores. [Rev 16:2]
All humans that received the mark of the beast (666) will be struck by God with a malignant sore that will be very painful and ugly and disgusting in appearance. It will be similar to the 6th plague that God visited on the Egyptians (Ex 9:10) in the time of Moses.
Q16.2 Please describe the second bowl of God's wrath: the sea turns to something like the blood of a deadman. [Rev 16:3]
When a person dies, if not embalmed, in a few days will swell up because of the bacteria in them and will literally explode. It will be a similar catastrophe for most of the fish and other creatures in the se Many will die and the smell and corpses of dead animals floating on the sea will be terrifying and gruesome to mankind.
Q16.3 Please describe the third bowl of God's wrath: the fresh water turns to blood. [Rev 16:4-7]
The fresh waters of rivers, streams and springs are next turned to literal blood and will be terrifying to behold by unredeemed mankind. Unredeemed mankind has shed the blood of God's people and have rejected the shed blood of Jesus on the cross and are thus receiving their just judgment from God by only having blood to drink.
Q16.4 Please describe the fourth bowl of God's wrath: mankind is scorched by the heat of the Sun. [Rev 16:8-9]
The sun could send out fierce solar flares and could heat up the world's atmosphere. The temperature on the earth could soar well into the 100's all over the earth, even at the north and south poles. There are other ramifications of this judgment, including heating the world's oceans and possibly causing monster hurricanes. The people on the earth recognize that this wrath is sent by God and blasphemed God because of it.
Q16.5 Please describe the fifth bowl of God's wrath: the kingdom of Antichrist is filled with darkness. [Rev 16:10-11]
The darkness will be a literal darkness and the weather will turn very cold in Antichrist's kingdom which will be in Europe. But they would not repent and give God the glory. Instead, they cursed and blasphemed the name of God.
Q16.6 Please describe the sixth bowl of God's wrath: the gathering of the armies of the world to the valley of Megiddo in Israel. (Armageddon) [Rev 16:12-16]
First, the river Euphrates in Iraq will be dried up and the armies from China, Japan, India and other Asian countries will be drawn to the valley of Megiddo by the fallen angels. Satan will actually use them to attempt to stop Jesus from coming to the earth and ruling over it. Of course, Jesus will win and Satan will be held in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.
Q16.7 Please describe the seventh bowl of God's wrath: the mighty earthquake and the great hailstones. [Rev 16:17-21]
This will be a world-wide earthquake and will be the strongest earthquake ever registered. There will tremendous chasms, volcanoes and rockslides caused by this earthquake and all cities of the earth will collapse, and many of the unsaved people of the earth will die during this great earthquake. The hailstones could weigh as much as 100 pounds each and the destruction they will cause will be catastrophic.
Q16.8 Please explain what is Great Babylon and how is that city destroyed? [Rev 16:19]
The first part of Great Babylon was destroyed (the USA) in the second half of the Tribulation. The second part of Great Babylon is the European Union and it will be completely destroyed at the end of the Tribulation. It is destroyed by fire from Heaven and by the hail and the great earthquake set in motion by God. The FAQs of chapter 17 and chapter 18 will discuss Great Babylon in detail.
Chapter 17. Events now shift to the beginning and continue to the middle of the Tribulation and describe the great end time world power: Mystery Babylon (also called the Great Harlot, Great Babylon and Babylon).
Q17.1 Please identify the great harlot. [Rev 17:1]
In John's day, the harlot was the Roman empire, which controlled or greatly influenced the known world of that day including the kings of all of the countries that it had conquered, their economies and their religion. It even molded the way that people thought. If you didn't conform to it's rules and regulations, you could be tortured or even killed. It's leader and god was Caesar and his word was absolute law.
The great harlot of today is the United States. In the book of Revelation, it is also referred to as Babylon, Great Babylon or Mystery Babylon. It is the richest and the most powerful country in the world and it greatly influences the thinking and of the economy of the world. It's religion is freedom of the individual, self-importance and self-indulgence and the striving to gain as much wealth, fame and fortune as possible. This message has been exported to the rest of the world and most of the world is following this religion of the harlot.
This message is completely opposite and opposed to Christianity. Christ wants all of His followers to put God first in their lives; to place restraint on how they live their lives and in particular to live a righteous and Christ-centered life; to not be seekers of fame and riches; to recognize that their inheritance is in Heaven and to be watching and praying for Jesus' return so they can become completely holy, righteous and sinless.
Q17.2 What are the waters that the great harlot sits on? [Rev 17:2]
The waters are the people of the world, the governments and countries of the world and the economies of the world. Figuratively, sitting on these means she tells them which direction they should go, just as if you are riding a horse you direct it where you want it to go.
Q17.3 What is the fornication with the great harlot that the kings and people of the earth commit? [Rev 17:2]
God wants all presidents, kings and the people of the earth to become Christ followers. However, most choose to follow the lead of Babylon. This is the fornication: instead of following God, they follow the false, self-indulgent religion of Babylon. The most sinful part of this fornication is to worship Antichrist.
Q17.4 Where is the wilderness where the great harlot is located? [Rev 17:3]
The wilderness or desert is a place sorely lacking life-giving food or water. Figuratively, it means that the place that the harlot occupies is missing two very important ingredient: the Holy Spirit and knowledge of and worship of God. In the tribulation, knowledge of God will be difficult to come by, especially in the USA and those people that do follow God will be severely persecuted.
Q17.5 What is the beast with seven heads and ten horns? [Rev 17:7-14]
The ten-horned beast is the culmination of the main gentile empires throughout history and include Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the final world empire: New Babylon. New Babylon or Great Babylon consists of two of the leading world powers of the end time: the USA and the European Union (EU). The ten-horned beast is a ten-nation alliance that is the political leadership and military muscle of the European Union, and will rise out of the EU in the end-times. The Antichrist will also arise in the time just before the Tribulation, control both the US and the EU and be the official leader of the 10 nations.
The Antichrist will select ten leaders out of the European Union and they will be appointed to run the military of the European Union and they will include the ten nations that have the strongest armed forces. They will not be kings or presidents of these countries, but are given control over the EU military, probably via some kind of security committee institution within the EU. They will be controlled by Satan and will listen to and give all of their military authority to Antichrist. In the second half of the Tribulation, God will place into the hearts of these leaders a deep hatred for the United States. They hate the harlot because of the arrogance and pride of the USA and their jealousy towards her great military and her enormous riches. They also hate her because the Antichrist also hates her and they have absolute allegiance to the Antichrist.
These ten leaders will be given absolute control and allowed to make plans to destroy the USA by nuclear missiles and this destruction will take about one hour to complete. These are the kings that will have been given authority by the Antichrist to rule as kings for one hour over the ten nations (Rev 17:12). After the USA is destroyed, these ten generals will relinquish their control over the militaries of their respective countries back to Antichrist.
Q17.6 Please explain why the great harlot was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus? [Rev 17:6]
During the first half of the Tribulation, the unfaithful Christians from the USA, Europe and many other countries of the world will be left behind to have their faith tested by Antichrist. He will have many Christians tortured or killed and the means will be by beheading, causing a lot of blood to flow.
Those that are unsaved in the USA and in the EU will enjoy knowing that Christians will be tortured and murdered in the Tribulation. Some of these tortures and killings of Christ's believers may even be shown on TV. The unsaved will make a night of it and open up their beer cans and eat their pizza while these gruesome events take place. They will even get high on these events. Don't say that it can't happen. The torture and killings of Christians in the Roman Coliseum caused the citizens of Rome to also get high. To them, this gruesome event was the high point of their week.
Chapter 18. Events now shift to after the middle of the Tribulation. The fall of Babylon the Great is described.
Q18.1. Why is Babylon mentioned again as "fallen, fallen"? [Rev 18:2]
Babylon consists of two great nations: the United States and the European Union. "Fallen, fallen" is sounded by the angel, because there are two falls of Great Babylon. The first fall is during the second half of the tribulation where God causes the EU to hate and then destroy the USA by nuclear missiles. The second fall occurs at the end of the Tribulation when Jesus destroys all of the nations of the world, including the EU.
Q18.2 What is the abundance of luxury for Babylon that the merchants of the become rich by? [Rev 18:3]
The United States has imported many of the luxury items that are consumed by the people of the USA. Some items that come to mind are wines from France, beautiful hardwood flooring from South America and beautiful marbles from India and Italy. Most of these items are not necessary to live even a comfortable life. However, people of the US think that they need these riches and are willing to pay handsomely for them and the merchants of the world that sell them are growing rich.
Q18.3 Who are the people that are commanded to come out of Babylon? [Rev 18:4]
Many Jews now live in the USA and are warned by God that they should leave the USA and go to Israel so that they will not be destroyed by nuclear explosions at mid-Tribulation. Most Jews will leave the USA and go to Israel in the near future. They will be forced to somehow, because very few Jews will be reading the warning verses in Revelation. Instead, they will be forced to leave for some other reason. Perhaps it might have something to do with the seven year treaty Antichrist will arrange between Israel and the Muslim states that surround it.
Q18.4 What does it mean--that Babylon's sins have reached to Heaven? [Rev 18:5]
Almighty God knows of every sin that has ever been committed by mankind. Reaching up to Heaven means that there are so many sins committed by Babylon that God will tolerate no more and will plan to destroy it very shortly. The worst sin committed by Babylon is the persecution and murder of Christians in the first half of the Tribulation. Shortly, Jesus will see to the avenging of the deaths of His faithful followers, the Main Harvest Christians, in the second half of the Tribulation.
Q18.5 Why would Babylon say in her heart "I will never see any sorrow"? [Rev 18:7]
Because America is so well protected by a great military presence, the military actually thinks that the USA cannot be destroyed by anyone. Most Americans think that their leaders have everything under control, and that no country, neither Russia, nor China nor Europe, nor any other country can completely destroy her. However, if God wants her destroyed, it will most certainly happen at exactly the time He has planned.
Q18.6 Please explain the destruction of Babylon in one day. What kind of fire are we talking about? [Rev 18:8]
The United States will be completely destroyed in one hour. As we have stated in earlier FAQs, it will be by nuclear tipped missiles that fly over the north pole and have been launched from Europe and from China. The fire that will destroy the USA will be from the initial nuclear explosions and fireballs that are generated as well as the numerous fires in the cities that will be spawned from the nuclear explosions and will completely destroy the country. These fires may burn for days or even weeks or months.
Q18.7 Why do the kings of the earth stand at a distance from Babylon after she is destroyed? [Rev 18:10]
They will stay in their own countries, away from the USA, because of the radiation. The presidents of the other countries of the world will see via satellite news, that the USA is completely destroyed and will think to themselves "I don't want this to happen to me and my country." They will be afraid of the Antichrist and will know that because he controls the EU, they will not want to arouse his anger against them.
Q18.8 What kind of economic impact on the world would the destruction of Babylon bring? [Rev 18:11]
The United States is now buying about half of the world's commercial goods that are sold by various companies in the world. If a large percentage of the market for a company's goods dries up then that company will probably go under. Most of the countries that have a substantial market in the USA will face economic disaster and a depression that will be much worse than the depression of 1929. Countries such as Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan will be in a terrible economic situation and economic collapse will happen in those countries.
Companies and people of many countries in the world have sizeable investments in American real estate, stocks, companies and currency. That loss will be total and will cause economic collapse by many of those people and those companies.
Q18.9 Could you please explain in today's world what are the goods are that are imported by Babylon from all over the world? [Rev 18:12-13]
Babylon was not satisfied with just the basic necessities of life, she was consumed by obtaining all sorts of luxurious goods from the four corners of the world. These goods included fancy gold and silver jewelry; fine clothing made of silk; beautiful furniture and flooring made from exotic hardwoods; fine flooring and wall decorations made from granite, marble and hand-made tile. Spices included cinnamon and other fine spices. Wine was imported from France, Italy and Germany. Automobiles were imported from Japan, Korea, Germany and Italy. Fine perfumes and incense was imported from Europe and the far east. Even the most fancy chocolates and pasta were imported from Europe. Delicate meats such as mutton, Kobe beef and fish were imported.
Most Americans don't know it, but slavery did not stop in the 1860's in this country. Currently young women are being brought into this country from places in the far east and are currently being used as household and as sex slaves in the US These are the bodies and souls of men that are described in Rev 18:13.
Q18.10 Why are the ship masters also greatly distressed by the destruction of Babylon? [Rev 18:16-20]
Most of the goods imported from other countries into the USA are via vessels that are owned by foreign companies. These are large container ships that import huge numbers of cars, trucks and heavy equipment; electronics; wood products such as flooring; carpets; and of course, crude oil. If no goods are to be imported into the USA via their ships, these ship owners will face economic ruin.
Q18.16 Why should those in Heaven rejoice over the destruction of Babylon? [Rev 18:10]
Those that celebrate in Heaven the destruction of Babylon are the Main Harvest Christians that were so brutally persecuted and many murdered in the first half of the Tribulation. Others in Heaven that will be joyous will be the First Fruits Christians who were praying for and being saddened by the persecution of their brothers, the Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea Christians.
Chapter 19. Events are now at the end of the Tribulation. Those in Heaven rejoice over the fall (complete destruction) of Mystery Babylon and Jesus returns to the earth to destroy the Antichrist and his kingdom.
Q19.1 Why are the judgments of God against Babylon righteous? There were a lot of the people of Babylon killed at the end of the Tribulation weren't there? Were all these deaths really necessary? [Rev 19:2]
In Jeremiah: Chapter 50 and 51, Babylon was given an opportunity to repent and to return to following God, but it rejected this chance. Therefore, Jesus has no choice but to destroy Babylon/USA/EU. Yes, there were a lot of people killed, but they didn't have to be killed. They could have repented and recognized that Jesus was indeed King of the Earth, but they rejected Him.
Q19.2 Why do the twenty four elders and the four living creature now worship God? [Rev 19:4]
The European Union portion of Babylon has just been destroyed and Jesus has carried out all of the judgments against the Antichrist and his kingdom. Jesus is now ready to begin His millennium reign. He will first restore the earth and remove the curse from the earth. His most faithful followers are overjoyed because they will be coming to the earth with Him and ruling with Him over all of the countries of the earth. The four living creatures also invite all those humans on the earth that were called by Christ for salvation to also worship Christ.
Q19.3 What is the marriage supper of the Lamb and who is His bride? [Rev 19:7-8]
The Christians that are the most faithful to Jesus during the Church age are the "Bride of Christ." These are the four living creatures mentioned at the beginning of Revelation and will be co-rulers with Christ on the earth and in Heaven. The 24 elders are the second most faithful to Christ and will have positions of high honor ruling with Him. The marriage supper is a literal supper that will probably last weeks or even months on the earth after Jesus has had His angels clean it up after all the destruction that was unleashed during the Tribulation. We don't know what food will be served at that wonderful dinner, but we know that it will be delicious and that the fellowship between Jesus and all Christians that have been faithful to Him will be so wonderful that words cannot express the love and joy that all will experience.
It is sad, but not all Christians will be invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb and His Bride. All unfaithful Christians of the Church Age will be watching from the sidelines and will have no fellowship and will share no food with Jesus and His most faithful saints.
Q19.4 Why did the Apostle John attempt to worship the glorious angel? [Rev 19:9]
The angel John met was actually a First Fruits Christian that had received his resurrection body and was glorious in appearance, just like Jesus' glory. This angel was one of the four living creatures that during his life was completed dedicated to loving, glorifying and serving God. I believe that John was also a most faithful follower of Jesus and at First Fruits Rapture will also be sitting on the grand throne in Heaven, along with Jesus. This glorious living creature might actually be John the Apostle after he received his resurrection body.
Q19.5 Could you please explain why Jesus rides from Heaven on a white horse and He is crowned with many crowns? [Rev 19:14]
In Biblical times, the victor in a war would ride a white horse into the conquered kingdom. Jesus returns as a grand King over the earth and He has many crowns because he has been victorious in all of the battles He undertook against Satan and the Antichrist and all of the countries of the world.
Q19.6 Who are the armies clothed in white linen that return to earth with Christ? [Rev 19:14]
Those are Christians and the faithful followers of God from the Old Testament period. The white linen represent the righteous acts that were accomplished by them for God.
Q19.7 What is the sharp sword that comes out of Jesus' mouth? [Rev 19:15]
The sword was one of the main weapons used to kill someone in the days that Jesus walked on the earth, almost 2,000 years ago. It is used figuratively here to describe how He has the enemies of God killed: He simply says something like: "All the soldiers in those armies attempting to fight me are now history." They all just drop dead, right there in front of Him. It will appear that each of the enemy soldiers had been slain by a sword.
Q19.8 Explain what happens in the winepress of Almighty God? [Rev 19:15]
When Jesus returns to the earth for the final battle of Armageddon, His foot will strike the Mount of Olives. A great earthquake will result and the mount will split in two and a valley will be created that will run all of the way from there to the Gulf of Aqaba, which is about 200 miles. In this valley is where all the 200 million soldiers and the rest of wicked mankind will be killed by Jesus. The blood of His enemies that is spilled will flow this 200 miles to the sea and be to the depth of a horse's bridle or about four feet deep and Jesus' robe will be stained with the blood of His enemies.
Jesus shed His own blood on the cross and paid for every sin that was committed by mankind. Because His redemption has been rejected by most of mankind, it is so ironic and sad that the blood of those that ignored or rejected His forgiveness is now shed and now covers His garments.
Q19.9 Please explain the title "King of King and Lord of Lords"? [Rev 19:16]
Jesus will rule over the earth as its King. Christ is also King of Heaven and will rule over both forever. He also allows some of His most faithful followers to also rule under Him as kings. The four living creatures and the 24 elders will have honors over many of the countries of the world during the Millennium and during Eternity.
Chapter 20. Events now shift to the time of the Millennium Kingdom, after the Tribulation. During the Millennium, Jesus and His saints rule and perfect peace and justice are administered upon the earth.
Q20.1 During the Millennium kingdom, why was Satan bound in the bottomless pit? Why wasn't he just judged and thrown into the lake of fire for destruction? [Rev 20:1-3]
God has used Satan over the centuries to reveal the evil that is in man's heart. This is something that is not possible for God to do Himself, since He is absolutely holy and righteous. During the millennium, children will be born and many will not want to give glory to God. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be let loose to reveal the evil in unsaved mankind's hearts. This is why God does not judge and then cast Satan into hell until after the Millennium.
Q20.2 Please describe the First Resurrection of the saints. [Rev 20:4-6]
During the Tribulation, many humans were saved by Jesus and were killed as martyrs by the Antichrist. These humans are now resurrected by God from the dead and will receive their glorified bodies. These bodies will be like Adam's body before he sinned. They will inhabit the earth and be in their own countries. They will have access to Jesus and be able to worship Him whenever He decides to come to the earth. Those that received Jesus as Savior after the start of the Tribulation and were later murdered by Antichrist will rest in Paradise and be resurrected from there.
Q20.3 What will life be like in the Millennium Kingdom?
The dwellers of the earth will be the Jews and all gentile believers that were saved by Jesus during the Tribulation. They will have a life similar to Adam and Eve's life before they sinned and were living in the Garden of Eden. They will have jobs to do, but they will be challenging and rewarding in every aspect. There will be no drudgery and everyone's life will be perfect in health. Those saints that were still alive at the end of the Tribulation will still have their sin natures and will still need to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. But in the Millennium, it will be much easier because Satan and his fallen angels will be bound, and will not be able to tempt mankind.
These saints will be able to have children during the Millennium and they will be born with a fallen human nature. These children's parents and the redeemed Christians will hold leadership positions and will be able to instruct these children in the way of the Lord and of the need to follow Jesus and His teachings. Some will and others will not. However, sin will be dealt will firmly by Jesus and His Saints.
Q20.4 After the Millennium kingdom has concluded, please describe the rebellion by the inhabitants of the earth. [Rev 20:7-9]
God lets Satan out of the bottomless pit at the end of the Millennium. Satan then tempts all of mankind that have not been saved. He will gather them to do battle at Jerusalem, where Jesus has His throne. To even think that they can defeat Jesus is absolute folly. They are then destroyed by Christ.
Q20.5 If Jesus rules during the Millennium kingdom and everyone will know about the goodness of God and the need to obey Jesus, why do many rebel against Him at the end of the thousand years? [Rev 20:7-9]
This is a mystery. Unsaved mankind will absolutely understand the love and the grace that God has for mankind. They will understand all of the predictions in the Bible about the need to revere Jesus and and they will understand how good He is. But they won't repent. They don't believe in their hearts about the consequence of their rebellion. In effect, they would rather suffer forever than to turn to obey Jesus.
Q20.6 After the conclusion of the rebellion at the end of the Millennium, the devil is then cast into the lake of fire where the Antichrist and the False Prophet have previously been cast. What does is mean to be tormented forever and ever? [Rev 20:10]
The Antichrist, False Prophet, Satan, all of the fallen angels and after the great White Throne Judgment, all of unsaved mankind will be cast into the lake of fire to be destroyed and then will be cast into hell for eternity. They will not be able to escape from hell and will be imprisoned there forever. Their torment is to have all of the desires they had while still alive, but they will not be able to fulfill any of these desires. They will have to live with their sinful nature forever.
Q20.7 Please describe the Great White Throne judgment. [Rev 20:11-15]
After the Millennium, Jesus will then judge every unsaved human that has ever lived on the earth including the pre-flood era, the period after Noah's flood, the time of the Old Testament era, the 2,000 year Church age, the time of the Tribulation and children born during the Millennium.
At the time of his judgment, each unsaved human that has already died will be raised from the dead and temporarily given a human body. They will then stand before Jesus and have their complete life's works evaluated by Him and each of their works will be recognized as either good or evil. At the end of each person's judgment, Jesus will pronounce a sentence. There will be lighter sentences for those that had at least some good works and heavier sentences for those that had only evil works.
Since none of these are saved, all are condemned and will be cast into the lake of fire and their bodies and their evil works will be destroyed. After this, all will be cast into hell and be tormented there forever, with some having a greater torment than others. Those humans that will receive the greatest torment will be those that heard the gospel, but rejected or did not respond to it.
Q20.8 Where does heaven and earth flee to during the great White Throne Judgment? [Rev 20:11]
Those that are saved in both heaven and on the earth will not be able to see the judgment of the unsaved. This will be terrifying and Jesus will not want His faithful to be present at this judgment. Many of Christ's faithful will have friends and family members that will not be saved and He will not want His faithful to see their judgment and their punishment.
Q20.9 Where is the Lake of Fire? Will it be physically painful for those that are cast there? Will any Christians experience the lake of fire? [Rev 20:14]
The Lake of Fire is not a place, but a time of reckoning where all of the sins that a man has ever committed will be judged and then destroyed by Jesus.
The destruction of an unfaithful Christian's sins will take place immediately after they appear before the Judgment seat of Christ and they will need to take responsibility for and admit to Christ any sins they committed. If during their lives they confessed each of their sins to God, then Jesus will not even mentioned those sins. This is because Jesus forgets all sins that a Christian has confessed to God before they die:
An unfaithful Christian will have many unconfessed sins in front of them which Jesus will burn up with an intense heat and they will leave the Judgment Seat of Christ with smoke and ashes on their garments. A Christian's resurrection body will feel no pain, but there will be extreme emotional and heart pain felt by the unfaithful believer.
When experiencing the Lake of Fire, the unsaved person's temporary body will be destroyed along with their evil deeds and there will be physical pain for the unsaved, because their bodies will be destroyed by fire, but we don't know how long this pain will last. After their bodies are destroyed, the unsaved person's soul and dead spirit are then cast into hell and will remain there forever.
At the end of the Millennium, we know that Satan and the angels that rebelled against God will also be cast into the lake of fire and be destroyed by Jesus. Since all fallen angels had been originally created with a glorious body and a holy spirit and a holy soul, we don't know what kind of destruction by fire that is planned for them by Jesus, but it has to be very painful. Their punishment must be much greater than the punishment and destruction at the lake of fire that was dealt out to unsaved humans.
The fallen angels lived in Heaven with Almighty God and knew how good He is and what an honor and privilege it was to worship, love and serve Him and yet they rebelled and rejected their holy and righteous state that God had originally created them with. This was a terrible fall and the punishment of Satan and the fallen angels must also be utterly destructive. After the lake of fire destruction, Satan and all of the fallen angels will be cast into and spend eternity in hell and be tormented there day and night forever.
Q20.10 What is the Second Death? Will any Christians have any part in the Second Death? If so, why? [Rev 20:15]
The first death is when a human being dies. The "second death" is the death of an unsaved person's Great White Throne Judgment body and the destruction of all of their evil deeds committed during their lifetime. This destruction is The Lake of Fire.
Christians that have been unfaithful to Jesus and hence have not confessed their sins to God will also be included in the second-death. For an unfaithful Christian, the second-death will take place immediately after they stand before and are judged by Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Their eternal and holy bodies will not be destroyed, but they will see each evil work as it is destroyed with holy flames by Jesus.
This will be a time of anguish and mourning and embarrassment for unfaithful Christians. Many tears will flow and deep regret will be in the hearts of each of these Christians. They will be forgiven, but will lose glory and honor and leadership positions in Heaven. They could have been kings and generals in Heaven, but there they will be privates and have no glory or honor.
Q20.11 Where is Hell? What happens to the unsaved that are cast there after their Great White Throne judgment?
We don't know when Sheol was created by God, but in the Old Testament, it was known by the people of Israel and they knew that it was located somewhere in the earth itself and was the place where the souls of humans that died were kept until judgment time. Jesus elaborates some on Sheol. He described that there were three compartments to Sheol:
• Paradise was where the faithful saints of the Old Testament such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc. were kept until judgment time. Jesus also called this area, the "Bosom of Abraham". The saints that were in Paradise were in a state of rest, waiting for their redemption.
• The Place of Torments was the location in Sheol where those humans that were evil were kept and it was a place where they were tormented and punished for their sins. It is the place that we call Hell.
• Tartaros was the place where some of the most evil fallen angels were kept after they sinned against mankind in the time of Noah. It is also called the "bottomless pit," because it is located in the very center of the earth, and any direction you would travel would have to be up. During the tribulation, these fallen angels will be released to torment mankind during one of God's judgments.
After Jesus died on the cross, He went to Paradise and preached to those there. When He was resurrected from the dead, He then took all of the Old Testament saints to Heaven to be with Him forever. After the last saint left Paradise, it was not needed and is not mentioned anymore in the New Testament. All of God's saints that died after that were taken straight to Heaven to be with God and now reside there. All of evil mankind was left in the place of torments until judgment time. The destination for any evil person that dies will be the place of torments, and they will be greatly dreading their judgment at the Great White Throne.
Hell was originally created to hold Satan and all of his fallen angels: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matt 25:41) So hell will eventually be shared by all fallen beings: Satan and his fallen angels and all unsaved mankind. It will be a place where it will be impossible to escape from or be redeemed from. An unsaved man will have his unredeemed soul and dead spirit with him only, for no physical body will be present in the place of torments.
After the final judgments of sinful men and fallen angels, we know that the earth will be cleansed, because all evil ones will sentenced to be in Hell. David describes their destination: The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God (Psalm 9:17).
Jesus gives us a glimpse of the suffering that unsaved mankind will experience in Hell in Luke [Luke 16:19-31]. This is the story of the rich man and Lazarus, but we'll only discuss the suffering in hell of the rich man.
First, we don't know the name of the rich man. This is his first suffering, the dead man's name will not be known, so he will receive absolutely no recognition from anyone. Next, there will be agony of the soul. Although only the soul and dead spirit are in hell, somehow the unsaved will experience some kind of extreme discomfort, that will seem physical. The rich man has an extreme thirst, but will not be able to satisfy that thirst. There will be other drives and desires he will have, but because he has no body, he will not be able to satisfy any of these needs including hunger, thirst, companionship, movement, comfort, sleep, etc.
He can think, but we don't know if he can experience any pleasant thoughts or not. The unsaved person could somehow see the righteous saints in Paradise, but we are not told if he will be able to see other unsaved persons or fallen angels in hell and we don't know if he will be able to communicate with them.
The unsaved person will be able to recollect his past and his relations with other people and have concern for his brothers that are still alive on the earth, but will not be able to communicate with them. He will have regrets for his evil actions on the earth, but it is too late to do anything because all of mankind that are cast into hell are there forever. Hope for the unsaved will not exist and the despair must be a very heavy weight on their minds and emotions.
Finally, the most terrible torment will be upon those humans that took the mark of the beast in the Tribulation [Rev 14:9-11]. They will somehow see Jesus and the holy angels from hell and the righteous and holy eyes of Jesus will penetrate to the very depths of their souls. This torment will last forever.
Chapter 21. Events now shift to the time of Eternity. John describes a New Heaven and a New Earth.
Q21.1 In chapter 21, John describes a new Heaven and a new Earth. What happens to the old Heaven and the old Earth? [Rev 21:1]
Both heaven and earth have been polluted by sin. Heaven, the place of God's dwelling has been polluted by the sin of Satan and from his fallen angels. Earth, of course, has been polluted by both man's sin and from Satan's sin. As we move into eternity, God sees to it that both places are absolutely cleansed of all sin and will be perfect places to live. The environment of earth will be perfect and no one will ever die or commit a sin.
Q21.2 Why does God need to wipe away every tear from the eyes of His saints? [Rev 21:4]
A Christian will suffer many pains over their lifetime including physical pain and suffering; the suffering of children disobeying and getting into trouble; emotional sadness at times, etc. None of these kind of pains will exist when a Christian enters eternity because God will insure that none of His Children suffer anymore. They will be both internally joyous and externally happy. The tears that unfaithful Christians cry at the Judgement Seat of Christ will also be wiped away. They are forgiven and live in fellowship with God forever.
Q21.3 What is the water of life that Jesus will give freely to any believer that is thirsty for it? [Rev 21:6]
The water of life is the presence of the Holy Spirit who will help the willing Christian to overcome any temptation or trial that will be in their life. This is a promise of soul salvation for those that put Jesus first in their life and accomplish the righteous works that God has planned for them.
Q21.4 Who is the person that overcomes? What does Jesus mean by "he will become My son"? [Rev 21:7]
Jesus is talking about Christians. For the four churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus describes their spiritual strengths and weaknesses. An overcomer will continue accomplishing the righteousness that Jesus has already observed. An overcomer will also ask the Holy Spirit to help them overcome their spiritual weaknesses. If both of these happen, the Christian is an overcomer.
The overcomer is also counted as a mature "son", and will be one of the four living creatures that rules and reigns with Christ. In Greek, this is the huios or mature son. Christians that are not overcomers will not rule with Jesus in the millennium kingdom or in eternity.
Q21.5 Please describe the New Jerusalem. [Rev 21:10-21]
New Jerusalem will be the most beautiful place where God the Father and God the Son have their primary residence and their thrones. The city will be built upon a foundation of the most beautiful jewels and the streets will be of gold. New Jerusalem will also be the primary residence of Christians of all ages and the primary residence of all Old Testament saints.
Q21.6 Why will there be no temple in the New Jerusalem?
In the past, God has separated Himself from even His holy angels at times. For example, He went into His heavenly temple to be alone when the seven bowls of wrath were to be cast upon the people of the earth. In eternity, there will be no wrath needed, because there will be no sin ever committed on the earth or in heaven, so God has determined that there is no need for a temple.
Q21.7 If there is no temple, where will the believers worship God at? [Rev 21:22]
All believers of all ages will be able to walk side-by-side with God and be able to see His face and personally worship Him. There will also be worship that involves all of God's people and all of the holy angels. The Four Living Creatures will lead this worship of God by all of the inhabitants of Heaven and Earth and will include prayer, words of praise and songs of praise accompanied by musical instruments.
Q21.8 What does it mean that the nations that are saved will walk in the light of the New Jerusalem? [Rev 21:24]
New Jerusalem will be the size of a small moon, about 1400 miles in size. It will orbit the earth and the glory of God will shine upon the earth.
Q21.9 Who will live on the earth and who will live in the New Jerusalem?
God has determined that only His most faithful followers, the Saints of the Old Testament and Christians of all ages will be residents of New Jerusalem. This is a reward for being the most faithful to Him. The residents of the earth were not as faithful, so they are limited to a life on the earth. This will still be a very rewarding life for them, but to have residence in New Jerusalem is only for God's most faithful.
Q21.10 Will inhabitants of New Jerusalem be able to travel to the earth? Will inhabitants of the earth be able to travel to the New Jerusalem? Why?
Christians and Old Testament Saints will be able to travel from New Jerusalem to and from the earth. Those believers on the earth will only be able to stay on the earth and not to travel to the city above. However, Jesus will visit the earth and His faithful will be able to personally worship Him there.
Q21.11 What kind of glory of the nations (from the Earth) will be brought into the New Jerusalem? [Rev 21:24]
On the earth every human will be solely dedicated to God and they will glorify God by perfectly following all His commandments. God has need of nothing, but greatly desires and enjoys the way that the redeemed living on the earth worship, adore and glorify Him. Their lives will be lived in a sinless and holy manner and God will recognize this and be very pleased.
Q21.12 Why does Revelation assert that only those who's names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be able to enter the New Jerusalem? [Rev 21:27]
This is a warning for all mankind that only Christians (and all Old Testament Saints) can enter New Jerusalem. Any non-Christian that is called to read or listen to Revelation would be wise to turn their lives over to Him and live in obedience to Him. Note that although an unfaithful Christian's name will be blotted out of the Book of Life, the name is still there, so all Christians will be inhabitants of New Jerusalem.
Chapter 22. Final encouragement from Jesus to all Christians. The time frame is now, before the start of the Tribulation.
Q22.1 What is Jesus talking about when He says blessed are those that wash their robes (KJV--keep His commandments)? [Rev 22:14]
Jesus is speaking to the Christians of today. The commandments from Jesus are to be faithful to Him in every aspect of your life including reading and obeying the Holy Bible, loving God and your fellow believer, accomplishing any good works that He prepares for you to accomplish, watching and praying for Jesus' return and avoiding sin in your life. Any sin that you do commit must be confessed to God, thus receiving forgiveness. The robes are the works that a believer produces during their lives. Washed or white robes are a sign of repentance and good works performed by the believer.
Q22.2 Again, John states that the sexually immoral and sorcerers and murders, and liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire. Who is He talking about? [Rev 22:15]
If you read the Old Testament very much you will read many times that God hated the sin and rebellion of His people, Israel. When God repeats a statement many times, it is very wise for a person to listen and then obey what He says. These sins in Revelation 22:15 are sins that God has a special hate for, so all Christians had better obey Him and avoid these sins. If they don't, then they will lose their soul salvation, have their name blotted out of the Book of Life and then observe their sins being burnt up in the Lake of Fire. This will be extremely embarrassing for the unfaithful Christian.
Q22.3 Why are the punishments for adding to or taking away from the words of the Book of Revelation so severe? Could a Christian commit such a sin? [Rev 22:18-19]
For the unsaved, we already know that their sins will be burned up at the lake of fire and their bodies will also be consumed by fire. If any unsaved person should add to or take away from Revelation, the punishments are stated to be the plagues written about in detail in Revelation. So, before the unsaved person's body is destroyed by fire, that body will also have to endure all of the plague judgments that were cast on the earth during the Tribulation.
Yes, a Christian has the freedom to add to or take away from the words of the Book of Revelation but they are extremely unwise to do so. A Christian that commits either of these sins will have to confess the sin at the Judgment Seat of Christ and have the sin burned up in front of him and in the presence of Jesus. The punishment for the Christian will be to have his name blotted out of the Book of Life. This means that all rewards and all positions of honor in the Millennium and in Eternity will be taken away. The consequences of this sin will last forever.
The revelations of Jesus in the Book of Revelation are extremely important. They warn both the saved and unsaved that God's judgments are coming soon. These warnings should not be ignored and the book of Revelation should not be altered by anyone!
Q22.4 What does Jesus mean when He says "Surely I am coming quickly"? [Rev 22:12]
This is a message for all of today's Christians. Jesus said that He would return when unexpected: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh (Matt 25:13). After reading the book of Revelation and understanding it's meaning, we should be continually watching for His return. We don't want Him to return and not find us following all of the commandments and warnings He has given us in the Holy Bible and especially in the book of Revelation.
Q22.5 At the end of Revelation, John responds with "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus". Why did he say this? [Rev 22:20]
John shows by example what our attitude towards Jesus' return should be, especially after reading the book of Revelation: We should be watching and praying for His return and we should prepare ourselves for His return by living a holy and righteous life. The First Fruits Website Team has prepared a beckoning for the return of Jesus: We Beckon for the Return of Jesus Christ for the First Fruits Rapture | <urn:uuid:5cced15e-a449-4a12-be19-0d3ff03650d7> | http://ffruits.org/faqsrevelation.html | en | 0.960646 | 0.130442 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Did Jesus Really Say that about a camel and a needle?
This 1-minute devotion offers 3 things we learn from Christ's statement about camels and needles. #BibleLoveNotes #Bible #Devotions
A camel going through the eye of a needle?? Did God really say that?
Jesus used this hyperbole(1) to teach us:
1. Wealth is not a sign of righteousness. This refutes the teaching of every prosperity teacher who claims God wants us rich (Philippians 4:11; James 2:5).
2. Wealth is a popular and deadly false god (Matthew 6:24).
3. It’s impossible to get a camel through the eye of a needle, and it’s impossible for a man to save himself (Romans 8:3).
Thank you, Jesus, that you can do what is impossible for us!
(1) A hyperbole is a statement not meant to be taken literally, but to make a point. Some people have theorized that Jesus was really talking about a camel going through a small city gate, but most Bible scholars refute this suggestion. See 4 Guidelines for Recognizing Figurative Language in Scripture
1. I like stopping by here. I always learn something, like hyperbole!
2. In the original Greek it translates: "It is easier for a CAMEL HAIR THREAD" to pass through the eye of a needle...."
1. I'm not sure where you found this information, Peggy, but in studying the original Greek and various commentaries, none of them even suggest this possibility.
Putting a camel thread through a needle doesn't sound very hard. From my limited research about camel hair, it sounds like a soft, wool-like hair, something which would easily thread through a needle which would mean Christ was saying it was easy for a rich man to be saved. But the context is the story of the rich young ruler who couldn't give up his riches in order to follow Christ.
But the bottom line is what does the Greek say, and I've looked up each word in this phrase and they are as the English versions translate - camel, not camel hair.
kamélos: camel
Original Word: κάμηλος, ου, ὁ, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: kamélos
Phonetic Spelling: (kam'-ay-los)
Short Definition: a camel
Definition: a camel or dromedary.
Nothing in the Greek even hints at a thread.
I'm afraid someone has mislead you.
3. I like the idea that it is a gate that the camel is going through. A needle gate it very short to let that city's people get into the city after the main gate was closed for the night. Only one person could come through at a time to protect the city from a major attack by outsiders. For a camel to be brought though the needle gate, it had to be unloaded of all their owners worldly possesions, as we will not be able to take anything worldly with us to heaven. Also the gate was so short that camels had to crawl through, not an easy task. | <urn:uuid:28ea88cd-4cd6-4a24-b21d-e2f3b3393be8> | https://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/2017/07/did-god-really-say-that-about-camel-and.html | en | 0.96842 | 0.53912 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
OCR Interpretation
The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, September 24, 1914, LAST EDITION, Image 18
Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1914-09-24/ed-1/seq-18/
What is OCR?
Thumbnail for
By George Munson.
(Copyright by; W. G. Chapman.)
Singleton's was -the acutest mind
not connected with any regular po
lice bureau, as everyone knew. But
Mary Harrington did not believe that
he could save her husband, Charles,
from dying an atrocious death. This
was the situation, as she outlined it
i '
Saw a Pale-Faced, Meager-Looking
to him in the parlor of the lonely lit
tle country house:
There were three brothers, Henry,
James and Charles. The two elder
ones were unmarried. The father
had left his money equally among
the three, but, after the two elder
ones were dead, it was all to vest in
the youngest, Charles. If he died
childless, it was to divided equally be
tween the widow and Stephen
Barnes, a step-brother by a second
marriage, whom old Harrington had
hated. Stephen was a ne'er-do-well,
and held a position as jeweler's as
sistant in the little nearby town.
Three months previously, at 7:37,
the body of the eldest brother had
been found, blown to pieces, upon the
footpath of a field leading from the
town to his home. The time of his
death was indicated by his watch,
which was found fairly intact beside
him. Whether he had been the vic
tim of an assassin's bomb or what
had happened nobody could ascer
tain. After some weeks of investiga
tion the matter ceased to be one of
immediate public interest.
Exactly two months later the sec
ond brother died. A violent explosion
shook the house in which the family
lived. The body of James was found
in his bed, with a gaping wound in
the abdomen. The evidence given by
Mary Harrington at the inquest
showed that he died at five minutes
past one.
That was all, except that Charles
was momentarily expecting the same
Singleton thought for about eight
minutes, resting motionless in his
"Will you let me see your watch?"
he asked of Charles at the end of
that period.
Charles Harrington gave him his
watch. Singleton took off the case
and examined it under a microscope.
"You haven't had it regulated late
ly?" he asked.
"No. It is strange you should ask
me that, because my stepbrother
Stephen is always anxious to regu
late it for nothing when I go into
the shop."
"Ah! You don't suspect him of
complicity in this affair?"
"Good heavens, no!" answered
Charles Harrington.
"He had regulated your brothers'
watches before the murder of each?"
"Now, that is odd," answered
Charles. "He certainly had, but
you don't suggest there was a bomb
inside the watch of Henry or
xml | txt | <urn:uuid:5890b0a9-bc96-4ec2-8cc5-a253e6196e94> | http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1914-09-24/ed-1/seq-18/ocr/ | en | 0.969693 | 0.066747 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Friday, 4 July 2014
Don't believe it!
A couple of weeks ago a story from the USA went viral. A little girl called Victoria Wilcher was apparently taken by her grandmother to a branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken. A family pit bull terrier had previously attacked the girl and her face was seriously scarred as a result. That’s what the grandmother said led to a KFC employees telling the grandmother: “We have to ask you to leave because her face is disrupting our customers.”
Needless to say the reaction around the world was overwhelming and KFC soon faced huge embarrassment and potentially enormous damage to their reputation and their business. This is the sort of story that can ruin a business, even one as large and omnipresent as KFC.
Within days KFC had formally apologized and donated $30,000 to the family towards the girl’s medical bills and a public appeal soon raised another $100,000. So far this looked like a happy ending.
KFC clearly had to investigate how such a dreadful thing had occurred and deal with the employee who had been so unbelievably rude. That’s when the truth began to emerge.
It turns out that there was no evidence that this event had ever occurred. None of the KFC branches in the area could find any trace of the grandmother and little girl from their CCTV cameras. None of them had any record of any branch selling the particular food items they claim to have purchased.
All the evidence shows that the grandmother completely fabricated this story, presumably to raise attention and money. Understandably a lot of people are very angry, mainly those who donated money but also those people around the world who felt sympathy and outrage on behalf of the apparently abused young girl. There’s even anger from people like me who saw the story, spread it on Facebook and commented on how KFC had extricated themselves from the public relations disaster.
It’s yet another lesson for all of us that we should all be a bit more skeptical about the stories we read in newspapers, on the TV and radio and, above all, on the internet.
Being a skeptic can save you not just from fake stories like this one but also can also save you time and money.
My dictionary defines a skeptic as “a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions”. Wikipedia describes skepticism in a bit more detail as “any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere.”
The problem for consumers is that we are surrounded by organizations that are doing their best to persuade us to buy their products rather than those of their competitors. There are also people who are doing their best to steal our money based on their lies and deceptions.
A few days ago we heard from a reader who said:
“I received an email saying that I have won a huge amount of money in a world cup lottery. This was from Camelot UK national lottery. The claims finance manager was named as Ron J Marshall of tel no +447924551455 and email address of The online project coordinator is Cordelia F. Swanton at”
He continued:
“I wish to be helped to see if this may be a legitimate organization or a scam as I’m required to pay 0.1% of my winnings in advance, for the funds to be released. I would appreciate it if you could come to my aid.”
Clearly this reader needs to work on his skepticism, don’t you think?
There are several clues that I think a skeptic would notice. Firstly, and most importantly, you can’t win a lottery you didn’t enter, that’s just not how lotteries work. Lotteries don’t pick random strangers to win their money. No, they just don’t.
A skeptic would probably think that an email from Camelot (who do in fact run the UK lottery) would come from an email address like or and not from a free email address.
Then there’s the phone number they gave. I think a skeptic would have spent a few minutes on Google learning that any UK cell number that begins with “+447” is a cellphone number (the “7” is the clue). Real companies have landline numbers.
Finally there’s the 0.1% they say they want as a commission. Most lottery scams say that you’ve won between £500,000 and £1 million so 0.1% would mean you have to pay them between P7,500 and P15,000. That’s what the whole thing is all about, that’s what they want and what they’ll lie and cheat to get their hands on. A skeptic would have asked why a lottery company that claims someone has won a fortune would demand that the winner pays them some money first.
But skeptics aren’t the target for these scammers. On the contrary, scammers actively seek out people who are NOT skeptical. A researcher from Microsoft, Cormac Herley, pointed out that scammers do their very best to weed out the skeptics in their first email. By making the clues as obvious as possible, every skeptic will reject it immediately, leaving only the naïve and gullible potential victims behind. The scammer won’t waste any of him time trying to persuade skeptics to part with their money because they’ve already ruled themselves out.
As Herley said, the:
So there’s the evidence. Skepticism is your greatest shield against abuse. Get some now while you still can. If you can’t find any remember you can always borrow ours.
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The Overseas Connection Podcast #200
We kick of 2013 with the announcement of our GOTY Award Winners and our Community Specific Polls. The categories are as follow:
* Best new weapon.
* Best Commercial for a Game.
* Most surprising success.
* Best box art.
* Game with the Biggest WTF moment.
* Worst game of the year.
* Biggest let down of the year.
* Best Under $20 game this year.
* Best $60 game this year.
* Game of the year.
* G4TE Community: Where do you trade paint?
* G4TE Community: Whats your style?
* G4TE Community: Best single player experience?
* G4TE Community: Best multiplayer experience?
* G4TE Community: What was YOUR game of the year?
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1966d ago | <urn:uuid:efda6de8-73ef-4a19-80c3-d8a4032202c9> | http://n4g.com/news/1149079/the-overseas-connection-podcast-200 | en | 0.906544 | 0.024889 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |
Matthew Oldridge
Sep 15, 2016 · 2 min read
I used to lose a lot of my project ideas, stray thoughts, and places I need to find information. This productivity hack changed things. I always keep my “Plans and Ideas” doc open in a tab in Chrome. It reflects both short and long term goals, for myself as a person and educator.
If I have a new idea, I pop in and write it down. Find a link I need to keep? Drop it in for later.
Over time, category headings developed, which helped to further clarify and organize things I am working on, and future goals, both long and short term.
I am interested in developing some pieces and articles for publication. That’ s a short and long term goal. That information falls under this heading:
There are many other headings. Short term action items go at the top, but this is not a “to do” list. In general, most of the things in the doc are personal goals and plans, although, these days, the personal and the professional are closely connected. The reality is, I may only have an hour in the early morning before work to work on some writing, say, or an hour before I crash after the kids go to bed at night. The doc helps me focus that limited burst of energy in one direction.
Organize your mental life with Google Docs. #productivity #creativity #lifehack
Matthew Oldridge
Written by
Writing about creativity, books, productivity, education, particularly mathematics, music, and whatever else “catches my mind”. ~Thinking about things~
| <urn:uuid:08b4c3e2-88b2-4e42-bdfa-8f3e56a219b5> | https://medium.com/@MatthewOldridge/keep-a-plans-and-ideas-google-doc-open-in-a-tab-always-b455655569cb?source=post_page-----b455655569cb---------------------- | en | 0.930899 | 0.162352 | mlfoundations/dclm-baseline-1.0-parquet |