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I'm still wondering why bloggers quit their blogs or why most bloggers abandon their blogs. Well, do you know why? I don't really know but what I do know is – motivation is the only thing that can make any man move further than he should. Once you're not motivated, you will definitely stop trying one day (fact).
Before I move further, I'd like to ask you one simple question – why are you blogging? Or should I say; why do you blog? You can make up many reasons why you blog but if you truly don't know your main purpose, pretty soon you'll drop out of blogging.
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Have I gotten your attention or should I continue explaining?
Blogging: To Be Or Not To Be
While most bloggers will give you their many reasons for quitting their blogs, I'll tell you that all the reasons they'll give will only end up to just one main reason. And do you know what that "one" main reason is? Well let's continue, and I'll tell you along the way.
If a blogger has not made a penny from blogging over 8 months and he/ she still has the courage to move on despite all odds. To my view, that is called motivation :). Or what other words can you use to describe such strength?
Now let me list down my one main reason why bloggers quit blogging…
The one reason Number One: # Money:
I had a friend who joined the blogging world sometime back. The only reason he joined blogging was to make money from it (well, that's why most bloggers joined blogging) but after some months, he discovered that blogging is not where you make easy money from and he gave up his blog and move on to other job opportunities :).
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Assuming he had the will to move further despite all odds, he attended some online courses, learned from top bloggers, he would have indeed make money blogging, right?
So my point is; if you joined blogging with the sole aim of making money online and you don't know the right directions to take, you will end up failing. And remember that nothing is worse than a quitter…
Tips to keep you in the game:
If you create your blog because you want to make money from it, you can but…
– You must learn how to actually make money from your blog
– Do some tight research
– Attend some nice but effective courses from well known bloggers that are actually making money online
– You must also have the willingness to learn
Doing all this and more will definitely help you in your making money online blogging. But if you can't perform the taxes and expect to just make money from your blog the first month you created it, Ahhhh… I rest my case :).
The one reason Number Two: Positive Result:
This is one of the main reason people quit their blogs today and I know you will agree with me.
Imagine you have been blogging for like 1yr + and you're not seeing any sign of positivity like, traffic spike, blog engagement, a dollar, wouldn't you feel like quitting? Well, we all know why people are not getting that positive result after many months or years in the blogging world. But in case you don't know, let me point out why you're not getting that positive result…
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– Not consistent
– Too lazy to carry out what you learn
– You don't socialize with other bloggers
– You give up too easily
– Not in the right Niche
– You're just not trying
– Can you give other reasons :).
Tips to keep you in the game:
Can you mention any blogger making money online that you know whose not hard working? There is none right? You must be focus and willing to carry out what you learn and not just read a blogger's post and dropping a thank you comment. Blogging is for the smart and hardworking people that are willing learn even more…
My advice to you is – work smart with a pinch of hard work :).
Motivation is that one reason:
Looking at the two reasons I gave – motivation plays the major role, right? So if you are not motivated, you can't keep up with the blogging world. Let me tell you a short story about myself that might motivate you…
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The starting of my blogging career was very cold and bitter. I started my blogging carrier with no money on me, nobody to cheer me up, nobody to guide me through difficult blogging moments and I really did not have any blogging friends coming
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Self-Worth: Where Does It Come From? Essay
The concept of self-worth is critical to understand as it implies identifying and valuing oneself as a person. This notion cannot be measured against any scale or standard, which makes it difficult to define and estimate. As a result, some people struggle with self-understanding and determining the sources of their worth. In my view, self-worth is an internal state derived from within an individual and not from the external environment. Despite a widespread belief, self-acceptance does not depend on the viewpoints and words of other people; instead, it focuses on discovering and regarding oneself.
With numerous factors contributing to our beliefs, perspectives, and, eventually, self-worth, it is easy to draw upon others’ ideas of the meaning and purpose of life. According to Flynn and Chow, self-esteem along with self-worth are “factors that are correlated with subjective stress” (83). I believe that accepting yourself and your own outlook on life is critical to coming to terms with yourself and avoiding feeling stressed, anxious, or guilty for no apparent reason. Since there is no universal meaning in life, each individual acquires it in their own ways. Once I realized this idea, it became easier for me to accept and appreciate myself. My self-worth does not originate in other people but comes from my perspective on life and the respect for my own beliefs, choices, experiences, actions, and goals.
Lack of respect for oneself prevents the individual from fully discovering their potential, achieving their unique goals, and pursuing happiness. Furthermore, a person’s value is not determined by their age, gender, appearance, academic performance, career, relationship status, financial situation, or accomplishments. My self-worth is all about my inner harmony with how I am and where I find myself at the given point. The outside forces that are beyond one’s control cannot be used to measure one’s value.
Reference
Flynn, Deborah M., and Peter Chow. “Self-Efficacy, Self-Worth and Stress.” Education, vol. 138, no. 1, 2017, pp. 83-88. Web.
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It happens a lot, so it's important to write down all of the things that might go wrong at this point. You can read about these things further down the page.
There are plenty of different approaches on the table for dealing with this. It's all down to your situation, what your goals are, what your skill set is, what you're used to, if you have any existing tools or tools that might be in use that aren't in question, etc. A few tips include:
You don't want to be "sneaky" and build a prototype of the problem first, to be sure.
If you want to avoid some of the more unpleasant problems, you might not want to get involved in writing up a spec for every tool that you're thinking of using.
Be ready
Get a few basic ideas out of the way by figuring out how to handle the problems.
The first step is making sure you're ready before you start. You should at least understand the types of problems that might arise and the tools that might be available to you to handle them, and be able to give a realistic estimate of what it might cost in practice. For example it may be useful to know in advance if you need a lot of resources to perform a fix; if you're doing it yourself, you'll probably have to go out and do some work that could cause you to waste a lot of time or money. I'm personally more than willing to take the risk, but if it's a big deal for me, I won't go to the trouble. (That doesn't mean I won't try to find it out; it just means that I won't bother finding out, unless something really urgent is at stake, something like I'm working on a big contract, which isn't often, and most likely won't be, as such.)
If you've written up and put out a spec, I'd strongly encourage you to get that out to people for feedback; they can be useful to you at this stage. Some people might be able to provide some good suggestions for solving common problems, others can't. It's also good to get some input from a handful of people, as that can give you some idea of the range of experience you run into, the variety of issues, and the general approach you're likely to encounter.
Get an initial budget in your head of how much time, resources, and thought you're willing to put into each problem at this stage. If you've started with the goal of a bug fixed, then figure out how long you would need to spend actually fixing that bug, before even beginning to think about how you might tackle any of the remaining problems that might occur.
Make sure you're ready
The second thing you need to be ready for is that this all might not be possible. This is the point where you might start to become concerned that whatever it is you're doing might cause problems, or lead you into making mistakes. You should be thinking to yourself:
How can I make this as trouble-free as possible?
Does it have any impact on any other parts of my day-to-day workflow?
Are there any other things that could be happening along the line that could really make a difference?
As an example, if you're working on some internal project or you're doing a major release for your product, you should definitely worry about whether things that are going on around you have any impact. I'm not even talking about the impact on you personally; it should be your responsibility to think about what is happening. If a bug causes one crash and 20 other crashes then in the end there are likely to be some problems of its own!
If the project is major, then you can start worrying in earnest when it's getting into the alpha/beta phase, and start trying to catch every breakpoint you can as the project progresses further and further along.
For most projects, you should expect this work to take months at a minimum. Don't be prepared to get back to it as soon as there is a chance that it might go wrong. It might require a good deal of energy to get through it all, and a lot of downtime if you spend that time trying to solve every problem. It might be better to leave the project on the back-burner and find other things to do with your time (or to hire a professional to do that work). If you're working on it for a long time, it might be that there are no problems to be discovered, or maybe the problems are small enough that it's not worth worrying about. That's fine, too. If it's a big project that's hard to get back to, that's better in the end, because you'll actually get to it eventually.
Don't wait until you've done something that will inevitably make some kind of trouble happen. This isn't going to happen once you've figured out
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Writing a persuasive essay requires that you have a strong topic, an organized body and structure, and evidence to support your point of view. First, you need to choose a topic that you feel strongly about and can support with solid facts. Once you have selected your topic, organize the essay in a clear and concise manner. Start with an introduction that presents your stance or argument, and provide your reasons for making the statement. Then, present each point separately in the body of the essay, providing evidence and supporting arguments for each one. Finally, finish with a conclusion that summarizes your points and reiterates your overall argument. With these steps, you should be well on your way to writing a persuasive essay.
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Weak and Failed States: A Challenge for US National Security Essay
Introduction
Security is vital to every nation throughout the globe. This is mainly because it ensures safety to all. All countries recruit, train, and assemble forces to protect their territories, properties, and citizens. In addition, peace of the world lies in having strong governments that can control their citizens. In this regard, failed States, as well as weak ones present threats to global security.
United States has been on the forefront in pushing for global security with a view to making the world a safer place. In doing so, they have invested extensively in stationing equipment, network and security facilities aimed at maintaining security throughout the world.
In addition, they have continued to invest heavily in liaison with other European nations, to support peaceful international. Moreover, their donations throughout the world have continued to support economies of poor nations.
Of great concern is the fact that weak and failed States increase security risks in the world. This paper will try to explore the effects of weak and failed States on US national security (US Joint Forces Command, 2010, 2).
Security
Security if is of great essence to every individual, entity and country. This is mainly because it ensures their very existence and survival. It also ensures that their rights to property and movement, among others, are maintained. Security can be described as the ability to protect an individual, entity, property or an organization. For security to be ensued, several strategies need to be put in place.
These include identifying threats to security, laying down measures to counter such threats, and providing the necessary resources and manpower for effecting security. United States has been in the forefront in ensuring global security. This shows how serious they are with security issues in the country. It also follows a series of threats that have caused great concern, especially those emerging from failed States as well as weak ones.
In this regard, the country has set up strategies to assist weak States in ensuring these threats are submerged. In addition, the country is working to ensure security is stepped up in failed States, as this promotes regional security as well as United States national security (US Joint Forces Command, 2010, 2).
United States National security
United States has faced several threats to its national security over the years. These ranges from Japanese attacks in world war one, as well as continued threats caused by terrorists who mainly reside in politically unstable countries. The latest concerns have been threats from terrorists who inflicted their most severe attack during September 11 bombing of Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
The bombing caused loss of lives to majority of American citizens in and around those areas. Investigations from CIA and other security organizations such as FBI linked the attacks to terrorists who have found havens in weak as well as failed States.
In addition, countries such as Somalia, where no single government is in place, serve as possible hideouts for perpetrators of atrocities and terrorists. The FBI and CIA are working round the clock to ensure that these threats are minimized. To achieve this, they use varied mechanisms due to the varied nature of these threats (Troxell, 2008, 209-234).
Some of the methods employed by United States to ensure national security include constant reviews on immigration policies to seal any loopholes that may be considered by terrorists. They have also stationed solders in almost every part of the world. These stations are strategically located to maximize security in countries experiencing wars, political, economic as well as internal instability.
They have therefore invested massively on them with a view to gaining political, military, social, economic mileage in order to promote stability and security for all. In the process, the country has acquired enemies with extremist ideas. These include people like the late Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
Strategies as those initiated by CIA worked successfully to nail al-Qaeda and their cronies. It is quite important to note that such networks and extremists find it easy to stay in unstable countries that are in political turmoil (Nation, 2008, 163-174).
Weak and failed States
A State can be considered as weak if it does not enforce its laws as required. This may happen in situations where there is a governing system with weak policies to counter security threats. In addition, a country may have the facilities required for such purposes but still lack the goodwill especially when the governing party fancies threats against United States.
A good example is Iran, whose president has continually accused United States of supporting atrocities against Palestinian State by supporting Israel. This is clearly a weak State since the governing body is unwilling to support global peace. On the other hand, we have failed States.
These States cannot manage themselves, and therefore harbor threats to national security. This may be attributed to political instability as is seen in the case of Somalia. Moreover, countries experiencing constant internal conflicts and rebels against the regime find themselves considered as failed states (Murphy, 2008, 175-188).
Weak States have been noted to provide safe havens for potential threats to United States national security. In fact, as was witnessed in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime, several terrorists went on hiding in the country. Such States are known to harbor terrorists and extremists who pose challenge to United States national security. It is very clear that the extremists require resources to fund their plans.
It is also quite important to note that such plans cannot continue in strong States. For this reason, they opt to conduct such activities in weak and failed States. The current activities conducted in Somalia have made it unstable for the past decades.
These activities are aimed at aiding terrorists like Al Shabaab, to take power and force more threats to individuals, entities, as well as countries that do not follow their extremisms (Joint Publication 1, 2007, 2).
How these states are a challenge to US National security
Having discussed weak and failed as given above, it is quite clear that availability of such States pose a great challenge to United States national security. For instance, the more the States (weak and failed States), the worse the security risk for American citizens as well as other countries.
When such States are allowed to coexist with others, terrorists will continue to intensify their threats and eventually cause instability in stable States. US security organizations have employed several strategies, which include diplomatic measures to avert threats to its nationals. Presence of weak and failed States poses great challenge to military and diplomatic strategies applied by the agencies to combat terrorism.
This is mainly because apart from harboring terrorist and extremists, those countries are agents of such challenges. Moreover, such countries do not have the capability or are unwilling to assist in tracking such activities. This is quite challenging to United States agencies in their quest to maintain security in the country (Forsyth, 2010, 1)
Realism
In trying to understand human nature, it is quite important to consider realism. People have different views and ideas. Furthermore, they possess different drives that lead them to varying actions. Realism is a term commonly utilized in international politics. It refers to a theoretical tradition, which explores international politics and its relation to human nature.
According to Thucydides, men are driven by many things due to human nature (Ferraro, 2003, 12-19). He goes on to state that human nature makes people to think and act outside the laid laws of humanity. In fact, he refers to such people as those under fire. The two drives he proposes are passion and reasoning.
Under normal circumstances people reason, but when passion is added to the drive, then passion takes center stage as the main drive. An individual in this state is highly likely to cause conflict and war. For this reason, realism is faulted for uncontrollable wars and conflicts against the United States.
Extremists possess both passion and reasoning, but allow passion to control them; in the process, they cause unimaginable damages in the name of justice or sometimes religion. Such drives are of great challenge to the United States national security, especially when allowed to breed in failed and weak States (Cronin, 2009, 97-118).
How the United States apply instruments of power (military, economics, information, and politics) to address security challenge
The United States has employed several techniques to curb threats from enemies, and potential enemies, as well as terrorists, among others. They have employed the use of military, politics, information, economics, among other methods to tackle threats and potential dangers to its nationals as well as properties.
Military action has been the main method employed by United States to address security challenges in weak and failed States (Fendrick, 2008, 189-194). For instance, the recent killing of Osama Bin Laden was the work military options as they moved to assist Pakistan in dealing with terrorists. Other military activities have been witnessed in the past and present war in Libya.
In essence, the country has military presence in almost every part of the world. Economics has been another major avenue for addressing challenges to security. For instance, the country has continually donated money to weak and failed States like Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, among others, to enable them strengthen their security levels and economies.
Provision of information, training, and other facilities has also enabled prevention of threats to national security (Chun, 2008, 249-260). This is evident in programs conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan where solders are trained and informed on ways of reasoning.
Moreover, the country works to create awareness on security issues as well as need for peace in the world. Politics has also played a major role in addressing as well as redressing challenges to national security. To achieve this, United States government has always worked to support like-minded political parties throughout the world to minimize threats to security (Center for Naval Analysis, 2007, 24).
Conclusion
Security is vital to every nation. Countries recruit, train, and assemble forces to provide security for their territories, properties, and citizens. United States has faced several threats to its national security over the years. These ranges from Japanese attacks in world war one, as well as continued threats caused by terrorists who mainly reside in politically unstable countries.
The latest concerns have been threats from terrorists who inflicted their most severe attack during September 11 bombing of the Pentagon (Bruton, 2009, 79-94). According to Thucydides, men are driven by many things due to human nature. He goes on to state that human nature makes people to think and act outside the laid laws of humanity.
This has been faulted for aggression and extremism that is usually directed towards western nations, and most especially, the United States. United States has employed several techniques to curb threats from enemies, and potential enemies, as well as terrorists, among others.
They have employed the use of military, politics, information, economics, among other methods to tackle threats and potential dangers to its nationals as well as properties. However, military action has been the main method employed by United States to address security challenges in weak and failed States (Ackerman, Barak, and Young, 2010, 22).
Bibliography
Ackerman, John T. Barak J. Carlson, and Young I. Han. “Constructivism and Security.” Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) Distance Learning Program. Maxwell AFB, AL: ACSC, 2010.
Bruton, Bronwyn E. “In the Quicksands of Somalia: Where Doing Less Helps More.” Foreign Affairs 88, no. 6 (November/December 2009): 79-94
Center for Naval Analysis. National Security and the Threat of Climate Change . Alexandria, VA.: The Center for Naval Analysis, 2007.
Chun, Clayton K.S., “Economics: A Key Element of National Power.” In U.S. Army College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume I: Theory of War and Strategy. 3rd ed. Edited by J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr. Carlisle Barracks, PA.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (June 2008): 249-260.
Cronin, Patrick M. (ed). “Chapter 5: Failed States and Ungoverned Spaces.” In Global Strategic Assessment 2009: America’s Security Role in a Changing Security World . Washington DC: National Defense University Press, 2009: 97-118.
Fendrick, Reed J., “Diplomacy as an Instrument of National Power.” In U.S. Army College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume I: Theory of War and Strategy. 3rd ed. Edited by J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr. Carlisle Barracks, PA.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (June 2008): 189-194.
Ferraro, Vincent. “Globalizing Weakness: Is Global Poverty a Threat to the Interests of States?” Environmental Change and Security Project Report no. 9. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, 2003: 12-19.
Forsyth, James H. “Realist Thought and National Security Policy.” International Security Studies AY11 Coursebook. Air Command and Staff College (ACSC). Maxwell, AFB AL: Air University Press, 2010.
Joint Publication 1. Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States. 2 May 2007, Incorporating Change 1. 16 August 2011.
Murphy, Dennis M. “Strategic Communication: Wielding the Information Instrument of Power.” In U.S. Army College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume I: Theory of War and Strategy . 3rd ed. Edited by J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr. Carlisle Barracks, PA.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (June 2008): 175-188.
Nation, R. Craig. “National Power,” In U.S. Army College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume I: Theory of War and Strategy . 3rd ed. Edited by J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr. Carlisle Barracks, PA.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (June 2008): 163-174.
Troxell, John F. “Military Power and the Use of Force.” In U.S. Army College Guide to National Security Issues, Volume I: Theory of War and Strategy . 3rd ed. Edited by J. Boone Bartholomees, Jr. Carlisle Barracks, PA.: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (June 2008): 209-234.
US Joint Forces Command. The JOE 2010: Joint Operating Environment . Norfolk, VA: USJFCOM, 2010.
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Celtic manager Roberto Martinez's side are third in Scottish Premier League, three points clear of Ayr United
Scotland boss Mark Warburton told BBC Scotland he would be delighted to coach either the Scotland national team or the Scottish team.
Mark Warburton has impressed in his first two Scottish League Two games.
Warburton was a backroom player under Gordon Strachan for Scotland in 2006.
"If the opportunity came along, I'd certainly take it," added Warburton.
"There would be no doubt in my mind about who I'd be most happy to work with because if there was a good opportunity to work with one of the national managers that would be fantastic."
Mark Warburton joined Celtic in January, and has won nine out of 10 matches in League Two in the season's opening two months.
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On the heels of the latest "Honeypot" leak showing that the NSA has been "hacking," a group of security researchers have uncovered serious vulnerabilities on the Firefox browser, one of the most popular Web browsers available today. Mozilla last week acknowledged that this browser was under attack, with "hackers attempting to exploit" several of the browser's features.
The company issued a fix Tuesday for Firefox, including fixing a vulnerability that would require users to click links before the browser could let them go to a site. Mozilla also patched two other vulnerabilities affecting all versions of its browsers: one that would permit the NSA to inject any part of a Web page into a user's browser history, and another that would have allowed the agency to steal passwords from a user's browser.
The "hacking" group, known as the Shadow Brokers, has claimed it has data about 20 million NSA cyberweapons, but the security researchers have been unable to independently verify the validity of the group's leaked exploits. Still, Mozilla's fix is a welcome step toward protecting the users of Firefox. That said, while the latest leak shows that the NSA is under attack with some of the tools that the firm is building, it's impossible to verify whether these exploits or other vulnerabilities in the Chrome browser were also compromised. The fact that the NSA has not been able to demonstrate that its hacking tool arsenal is down with the leak is yet another sign that the government's activities could be much broader than the Snowden leaks suggest.
"This revelation also confirms that, despite many claims, Mozilla cannot be trusted, as the NSA will continue to compromise Firefox," wrote Jeffrey Carr, an analyst at Tripwire, in a blog post.
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Sebbakken is a member of the Order of the Green Lantern Corps. He was given his rings when the Guardians of the Universe arrived to defend the universe from the Sinestro Corps. A native of the planet Aitra, Sebbakken was killed during the Sinestro Corps War when his ship was lost in space. After Sinestro lost the Sinestro Corps War, Sebbakken was buried on Aitra where he was found by Black Hand, who took on his identity and used his ring and the power of Black Lantern powers to turn Sebbakken's remains into a Green Lantern.
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Digital Color Theory in Gelfman’s “Grids” Paintings Essay
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is one of the most remarkable cultural and educational centers focused on the international art of the XX and XXI centuries. There are collections of paintings and works of artists from the United States, Caribbean countries, and Latin America. Particular attention is paid to the works of local artists and designers. Miami Museum is a link in the process of transnational exchange of people, ideas, and cultures. Since September 15, the selection of paintings “Grids” by the famous artist Lynne Golob Gelfman is exhibited in the museum. This paper will research the artist and content of the pieces of art, considering how color influences the mood and strengthens the artworks’ content.
The Pérez Art Museum Miami presented the most inclusive showing of the artworks of Lynn Golob Gelfman. This woman is a talented Miami-based artist who grew up in New York. Gelfman graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University School of Art. Lynn taught art at the Dalton School from 1968 to 1972, a year when her husband set to work on a flower farm outside Bogota, and they moved to Miami, an imported gateway for flowers. The city is seen as an international hub of theater, art, music, dance, and filmmaking (Kleinberg and Parks 85).
Moving to Miami from New York — leaving a tough scene in which art was supposed to be “autonomous” from real-life — made the artist’s new work indistinguishable from art and reality around. Miami’s light and tropical flora began to influence the work of the artist. The color palette has become softer, often with an abundance of light green, gray, pink, and sandy white shades. Aspects of life in Miami (grey chain fences and flickering light reflected off the coastal waters) are expressly mentioned in the artworks. It is the way the artist takes something from the real world and turns it into a fascinating masterpiece of art, choosing the appropriate shapes and colors.
Abstract paintings in the collection of Lynn Golob Gelfman are all about surfaces that seem to move and flicker, sometimes looking like waves beating against the shore. At a different time, the artworks may resemble topographic photographs of a desert landscape or close-ups of a steep dune — all fragments of the original view of nature. Gelfman is inspired by such diverse things as textiles, delicate plant patterns, and traces left by crabs or worms as they move along the sand.
The show “Grid” featured 20 Gelfman’s artworks — including various series, methods, and inspirations from 1971 when she began to paint. The South has undergone notable changes in its aesthetic commitments with the growth of the arts and increased resources devoted to them (Bonner and Pennington 20). The exhibition in the Pérez Art Museum Miami explores Lynn Gelfman’s pieces of art in relation to the modernist grid tradition. By repeating both linear and geometric forms, the artist’s diverse collections reveal her interest in the late modernist studies of this rectilinear form while at the same time confirming resistance to formal rules and cool abstraction, demonstrating the contrast of Miami’s urban and natural environment.
Gelfman is often glorified for using unusual approaches in the process of creating artistic masterpieces. One of the examples of such an artwork is the picture “Large Abstract Oil Painting,” painted in 1991. The patterned surface of the picture demonstrates Gelfman’s interest in woven textiles. Also, the rich blue and red color palette create complementary relationships that only fascinate viewers and pull them deeper into the artwork. Red causes the strongest physiological reaction and emotions; this color is associated with love, rage, and power (Mollica 46). As for blue, it has a strong psychological value and symbolizes eternal values and wisdom.
Another masterpiece of Lynn Golob Gelfman is the picture “Muddy Roots 1,” painted in 1996. In this artwork, the unconventional drawing methods of the artist create a tangible texture and a multi-layered surface. Reptile-like patterns in this masterpiece reflect a close examination of the nature made by the artist, as well as the unique evergreen landscape of Miami. The peculiar style and expressionist drops throughout the picture add a sense of immediacy and attract viewers. Gelfman reflects the movement of nature in this sophisticated piece of art. Bright green slits throughout the picture reflect the tropical shades of Miami while creating the effect of the tops of trees.
Moreover, green is the color of life and nature, symbolizing prosperity and new beginnings. This color helps to dispel negative emotions, brings peace and tranquility, helps to concentrate and make a decision. It has a strong association with spring, youth, renewal, and naturalness (Birren 13).
The explosion of yellow color highlights the abstract expression peculiar to expressionists and brightly complements the base color spectrum. Yellow is a bright, stimulating color that helps to understand new ideas and maintain recognition, loyalty, and trust (McLeod 52). It is the color of the sun, energy, optimism, freedom, and sociability that characterizes the spirit of Miami. Green and yellow colors perfectly complement each other. These colors have a positive influence on the mood of the picture and enhance the composition of the artwork.
To sum up, Lynn Golob Gelfman is a very talented artist who creates masterpieces inspired by the fascinating reliefs of Miami and its nature. The usage of the right color scheme and shades makes Gelfman’s artworks even more attractive. The ubiquitous forces in the work of Lynn Golob Gelfman are nature and illusion. Acrylic or oil designs have a textile-like appearance that tends to positively affect the feelings of the viewer.
Gelfman, Lynne Golob. Muddy Roots 1. 1996. The Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Gelfman, Lynne Golob. Large Abstract Oil Painting “LL” Miami Modernist. 1991. The Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Works Cited
Birren, Faber. Color Psychology and Color Therapy; A Factual Study of the Influence of Color on Human Life . Hauraki Publishing, 2013.
Bonner, Judith H., and Estill Curtis Pennington. The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 21: Art and Architecture . UNC Press Books, 2013.
Gelfman, Lynne Golob. Large Abstract Oil Painting “LL” Miami Modernist . 1991. The Pérez Art Museum Miami. Web.
Gelfman, Lynne Golob. Muddy Roots 1 . 1996. The Pérez Art Museum Miami. Web.
Kleinberg, Howard, and Arva Moore Parks. Legendary Locals of Greater Miami . Arcadia Publishing, 2013.
McLeod, June. Colour Psychology Today . John Hunt Publishing, 2016.
Mollica, Patti. Color Theory: An Essential Guide to Color-from Basic Principles to Practical Applications . Walter Foster Publishing, 2013.
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MISSOULA (AP) — A Montana judge ordered a man who said police officers beat him into a guilty plea Tuesday, saying the defendant's testimony was full of "half truths and outright lies."
The man said he was assaulted by officers on Nov. 23 after police pulled him over while speeding on Interstate 90. He said he had no alcohol or drugs in his system at the time and had been on medication for schizophrenia.
Police later searched his vehicle and found evidence that he'd been driving illegally. But they did not find proof of drugs or that officers were beating him, so the men were both charged with disorderly conduct.
Judge Thomas McDonough on Tuesday said that was not the case. He said evidence suggested instead that the men were arguing with officers when one of them punched the other in the face, causing them to fall down and hit their heads on the pavement.
"There is no evidence that you acted violently during the incident," McDonough told James David Martin, 39. "None."
After his arrest, police said Martin confessed that he had driven the wrong way on I-90, ran a stop sign, then got out of his car and approached police, telling them he didn't want to deal with being arrested. He said he didn't understand the officers' commands and was holding a knife in the car when one of them hit him in the face.
Martin told the judge he had no idea why officers arrested him. As he was taken to jail, he tried to say his name, but his attorney quickly stopped him after learning it's not James James Martin.
The judge noted the defendant's testimony about the knife was based on his own account.
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Information from: Missoulian, https://www.missoulian.com
Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC.
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By Dr. Mercola
What happens on a factory farm depends on the age of the animal in question. "We don't have calves," says Jennifer Cramblett, PhD. "That animal is not being born yet."
But when it comes to laying hens -- the vast majority of which are kept in battery cages until they're roughly six months old and slaughtered -- every animal counts in this country. In the US, more than 4,800 egg-laying hens go into the production of one egg.
Factory farmers don't even care how they treat their caged hens. It's not even a question. They are going to the same place and the same way in order to maximize their profits. For decades, the vast majority of egg consumption in the US has come from animals raised on factory farms, and they have endured a staggering level of suffering, including brutal overcrowding and disease, as millions of them are crammed into these inhuman conditions.
For years, scientists including Cramblett refused to speak out for what they knew to be the truth -- that the very same factory farms that churn out chickens raised in such a deplorable way are putting their eggs on everyone's dinner table in the US.
Then, in the past few years, these scientists' silence on this issue started to change. They discovered the startling fact that while chicken meat is no longer the primary source of the American diet, almost all the eggs sold in the US – more than half of the eggs for the entire country – come from factory farmed chickens.
To put it plainly: If you are eating a meal every night with your family, chances are it contains eggs from a factory farm somewhere. And if you don't want to eat these eggs, you are literally paying your family's health, your children's health, and the continued health and lives of billions of chickens every year to come to your table.
The fact is, eggs from battery cages are farmed for three main reasons:
1) The US meat industry has a massive supply chain that extends every which way from field to kitchen – if you can't get local eggs, your family's health and animal welfare would likely suffer, as would yours.
2) The US is, overall, a country with a very high rate of obesity and very little healthy food choices. The nation can ill-afford to continue producing food that is either extremely unhealthy (like factory farmed eggs) or very expensive.
3) There's no way a farmer could produce that many eggs in that small a space without using some sort of system to ensure that their chickens are as happy and healthy as possible. Factory farming is an industry that's not interested in ensuring that the animals they are farming are treated well because it can be a detriment to their bottom line.
What Are Your Options?
If it's not possible to avoid buying eggs from battery farm hatcheries (and we advise you to always purchase eggs locally whenever possible), here are other options you can choose from:
1. Avoid eggs that have been produced in these barbaric conditions.
2. Shop at stores that buy eggs from hens who were in an open cage (at least 70 square inches, where a small chicken would be) at least one year (one year is standard) before laying. To obtain a list of stores that buy eggs from hens who were in open cages at least one year before laying, check out this list from Farm Sanctuary. They suggest you purchase eggs from stores that have the largest possible open space in their cages.
3. Buy at least half your egg supply from local, humane, organic farms.
4. Purchase eggs in organic and free trade restaurants whenever possible instead, though you may have to pay a little bit more.
If you find that chicken eggs are still making up your entire dinner routine, the next part of this article will detail the facts on how they're produced in the first place.
To start, a quick reminder of what's happening on a typical egg farm: Each day, large numbers of male hens are penned up in cages so small they cannot even turn around. They are kept in tightly stacked rows, with no space to turn around or give birds opportunities to scratch around on the ground. As the days wear on, the hens become increasingly desperate and begin banging their heads against the bars, eventually injuring themselves. Eventually, the hens' bodies burst from their cages into horrible sores and disease spreads, because they were forced to stand in cages they didn't want to be in.
In order for the egg production industry to make a profit, hens must be kept this way for their entire lives, and their treatment and deaths are brutal. Each hens' life is short and miserable, and their lives are short and miserable even more when their young are forcibly taken away from them in order to stop them from laying eggs for their greedy, cruel, and
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Karen Handel, the House Republican, has been declared the winner of the Georgia special election, a stunning result in a race that was widely viewed as a referendum on President Donald Trump.
The Republican candidate, Ossoff, had faced an uphill climb as Democratic voters flocked to the Republican's campaign to take a swing district in Atlanta. But his campaign raised over $23 million from donors across the country and he managed to pull off a string of small victories from May to June as he fought to turn the district's GOP-leaning suburban-focused voters into GOP-leaning suburban-focused voters.
"We took a district Trump won by 30-point margins when we went toe-to-toe with both Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel," Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. "We are proud of our grassroots supporters, our supporters in the media and across Georgia and America as a whole who joined the party."
As the race tightened, Handel's candidacy had a lot of momentum. The conservative GOP firebrand who led the state's Republican primary earlier this year — and led Republican Handel's polling — was suddenly a major part of the race.
Trump, who called Ossoff "a disaster" after being elected to Congress in 2010, urged his supporters to cast a vote for Handel in a late July tweet, writing "She is running a great race. THANK YOU!" The president also tweeted about the race on Sunday, telling supporters to "get out and vote for Karen!"
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The IAEA's experience in Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the early 1990s demonstrated that, although IAEA safeguards had worked well with regard to verification activities on declared nuclear material and facilities, it was not well-equipped to detect undeclared nuclear material and activities in States with CSAs.
At the end of 1993, the IAEA embarked on a broad programme to further strengthen safeguards implementation under CSAs by enhancing the IAEA's ability to detect undeclared nuclear material and activities. As part of the so-called Programme 93+2, measures designed to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of IAEA safeguards for States with CSAs were presented to the IAEA Board of Governors.
Some of these strengthening measures, referred to as "Part 1" measures – such as the early provision of design information, environmental sampling and the use of satellite imagery – could be implemented under the existing legal authority provided for in the CSAs, while others – such as State provision of information about, and access to, all parts of a State's nuclear fuel cycle, from mines to nuclear waste – required complementary legal authority for them to be implemented. These additional "Part 2" measures led to the development and approval of the Model Additional Protocol in 1997.
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If your PC is still running Windows 8.1, but you'd like to upgrade to Windows 10, you might be wondering how to get there. Today, Microsoft officially released Windows 10 to the public, with some notable changes, including an updated Start menu that lets you pin apps, an improved Cortana, and new features like Edge. But before you get that Windows 10 install ready to pop, here's how to update your computer to the next version of Windows without a complete reinstall. Read on for instructions.
Step 1: Check for Updates
You should download and install the Windows 10 Anniversary Update before you can check your PC for other major updates. The latest update for Windows 10 is 14393.10, which is available at the Microsoft Download Center.
Step 2: Download Windows 10 Update KB3173037
On your desktop, right-click Windows icon, click properties, and then click the security tab. Click View advanced security options, and then choose Turn Windows features on or off. Click Allow. Select either Install Updates or Check for Updates.
Step 3: Run Check for Updates and Install KB 3173037
To check for updates, click the Start button, right-click Windows icon, and click Update and Security.
Find the Windows version number, and click Check for updates.
The Windows Update utility will install KB3173037, check for any updates, and then show you whether or not you have new updates available. Click Install or check for updates, depending on your settings. This will install new updates and prompt you for installation.
This won't change your PC's default settings—all users will get the new updates and will need to restart their PC for the changes to take effect. For example, this means all users should reboot their PCs for new security fixes and improvements, including the improved Cortana and Edge settings (see next) when Windows 10 updates.
Step 3: Restart Your PC
On your desktop, click the Start menu, and then click Restart.
Click Yes when prompted to restart your PC.
If you want to restore your Start menu, Windows will automatically restart, and you'll have your old Start menu back. But here's a trick for those who want to make this the last step of their Windows 10 upgrade:
Close all your applications to ensure your desktop is empty. Click the Start menu, click Settings, click System and Security. Click Restart Now. Click Yes to confirm, restart the computer, and then click Restart Now.
Windows 10 users should now see an updated Start menu.
With all your Windows 10 applications closed, restart your computer as normal and restart your PC. Windows 10 will now restart and you'll be presented with your old Start menu.
At this point, you're ready to update the Windows 10 upgrade on your PC, but how to get there is slightly convoluted and won't completely solve your problem. (There are some things you'll just have to do manually to get the Windows 10 upgrades done.) Here's a tutorial from Reddit user Nol_nomek that uses an old tool called Windows Upgrade Assistant to make the process as painless and painless as possible.
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“Sure Thing” the Play by David Ives Essay
Introduction
The play “Sure Thing” written by David Ives has become, since the mid- 1990s, a sure thing. In SAE (Standard American English), the expression sure thing means success. It is a favorite with readers and playgoers. “Sure thing is also the most performed contemporary play in the nation. If one is to hazard a guess, perhaps it was because it came out at a time Americans needed it most – when America entered into a war. The country confronted with a life-and-death situation needed good old wholesome American humor to preserve their sanity and this short play has enough of that humor to spare. With much of the male population away from home, it is interesting to observe how the women took things in stride and also how the Americans, in general, preserved their humor as well as their courage and individuality.
Main body
The setting takes place in the Denver Metro area. The script is written to use one couple, but for our interpretation of the script, three couples were used. Doing this showed how various couples were used. Doing this showed how various couples can interact in one world and come together with similar tactics, yet get varying results. Utilizing multiple couples made the script more playable and much more enjoyable to watch and the audience is kept guessing as to what is going to happen.
The play presents several possibilities that exist when two people (strangers to each other) try to have a cup of coffee together. It starts with the question “Is that seat is taken?” with responses starting with “Yes, I’m waiting for someone” to “No, have a seat.” It takes a short time to relax with the switching of scenes, but it is eerie to watch the scene unfold and realize that you could have been in the same situation.
The play includes a cast of two characters. Bill and Betty. Betty is a woman in her late twenties. She is reading at a café table with an empty chair opposite her. Bill who is of the same age approaches her.
In the first five encounters, the conversations start with the question “Is this seat taken?” and in four of them, it ends with “sure thing”, indicating acceptance of the situation. In the third encounter, the woman sees through the man’s ruse when she says “Sorry. Nice try though.” The discomfiture of the man here is humorous to any listener. In the fifth encounter, the man’s efforts to strike up a conversation are twice rebuffed by the monosyllabic answer of “Mm-hm”. When he doesn’t take the hint, that she is unwilling to contribute to the conversation, she becomes feisty saying, “I just wanted to read in quiet, if you don’t mind.” This shows that no one can trample on her rights.
An ice breaker, on the other hand, could be a remark about the book being read. A comic incident is triggered by Bill when he mentions Hemingway and Faulkner as the author of the book (Anything to get acquainted). But admission to having read it almost invariably leads to friendship and to a revelation of Bill’s having gone through college or not and to what particular college.
Surprise revelations that may turn out to be rather embarrassing are also in order as in the following:
* Betty: Do you like Faulkner?
* Bill: I love Faulkner. I spent a whole winter reading him once.
* Betty: I’ve just started
* Bill: I was so excited after the first ten pages that I went out and bought everything he wrote. What do you think?
* Betty: I think it’s pretty boring. I think this is probably what they call the “big letdown”.
* Most people would conclude that Bill deserved this “perfect squelch” for boasting and exaggerating about buying everything that Faulkner wrote.
* A big deterrent to embarking on a friendly relationship that hasn’t even begun is such responses to the query. “Do you come in here a lot?” Such answers as “Actually I’m just in town for two days from Pakistan” and “Not as much as I used to before my nervous breakdown”.
* Probably the most humorous rejoinder could be the following dialogue:
* Bill: Do you come in here a lot?
* Betty: Why are you asking?
* Bill: Just interested
* Betty: Are you interested, or do you want to pick me up?
* Bill: No, I’m interested.
* Betty: Why would you be interested in whether I come in here a lot?
* Bill: I’m just…getting acquainted.
* Betty: Maybe you’re only interested in the sake of making small talk long, enough to ask me back to your place to listen to some music, or because you’ve just rented this great tape for your VCR or because you’ve got some terrific unknown Django Reinhardt record only all you want to do is fuck which you won’t do very well after which you’ll go into the bathroom and pee very loudly, then pad into the kitchen and get yourself a beer from the refrigerator without asking me if I’d like anything and then you’ll proceed to lie down and confess that you’ve got a girlfriend named Stephanie who’s away at medical school in Belgium for a year and that you’ve been involved with her off and on in what you’ll call a very intricate relationship for the past seven years. None of which interests me, mister!” What would one expect with a lot of lying being bandied about?
Lastly, in response to “You weren’t waiting for somebody when I came in, were you?” Curiosity would kill the cat with such responses as: “My husband” or “my boyfriend” or my lover (from Betty) or “my mother.”
Since the play turned out to be a sure thing, the global situation has not changed much. The world is now beset by more problems than ever before. The polar caps are melting and the oceans are filling up. Pretty soon there will be no more islands to speak of. There is a food and water shortage to contend with. More than of the animal species have disappeared. Terrorism is the new unseen enemy. Humanity is in the grip of diseases that defy curative measures. Governments all over are ruled by greed. Crime has even reared its ugly head all over the world.
On the bright side, the war in the Middle East is, at last, coming to an end. World leaders and scientists have recently convened to discuss the possibilities of solving the dire problems of mankind. People on the other hand can help themselves by practicing economy; following the health rules and teaching their children the same; avoiding as much as possible any wrong-doing and on the whole-cheering up themselves. People can dream up whatever amusement comes their way such as viewing plays like “Sure Thing” which is guaranteed to be a sure thing when it comes to entertainment seeing themselves as they are in the characters portrayed. “Sure Thing” can truly help by bolstering the spirit, strengthening faith, and increasing courage to face the future no matter how bleak. It encourages viewers to never give up.
Conclusion
As the play suggests, there is the human race in all its splendor. It’s a sure thing that everyone is different, unpredictable, and FUNNY!
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Learning French: Word Cards and Keyword Technique Essay
Table of Contents
1. Number of Repetitions
2. Difficulties
3. Use of Keyword Technique
4. Keyword Technique: Research Questions
5. References
I have selected fifty common words in the French language and made word cards using English translations and pictures, when applicable (Nation, 2001, p. 304). While Nation suggests keeping the cards simple, I have decided to include the gender on the noun cards (2001, p. 305). Throughout the exercise, I was training to pronounce the words and to use them in combination with each other (Nation, 2001, p. 307-308).
Number of Repetitions
As I was going through the pack for the first time, I noticed that I could remember the meaning of nine words, or approximately one-fifth of the total count, as a result of making the cards. As Nation suggests, I then used both receptive and productive learning techniques (2001, p. 306). I have gone through the pack three times looking at the side that contains the words themselves. After the first repetition, I was able to recall the meaning of seventeen words, and after the second and third – twenty-four and thirty-six, respectively. Between different attempts, I reshuffled the cards to avoid serial learning (Nation, 2001, p. 315).
I then used the reverse side to exercise recalling the word forms based on their meanings. As a result, I found that I have successfully memorized forty-three words. At this point, I put the seven words I had difficulties remembering near the beginning (Nation, 2001, p. 307). After two more repetitions, I was able to successfully recall the meaning and form of all fifty words. Thus, it took me two rounds to remember half of the words, three rounds to learn three-quarters, and six repetitions for all the words.
Difficulties
Throughout the exercise, I have encountered three categories of challenges. The first group is the so-called “false friends”, or words with a different meaning but a similar form or pronunciation in two different languages (Frunza & Inkpen, 2009, p. 3). For instance, when I saw the word “attendre”, my immediate association was the English word “to attend”; however, in French, it means “to wait”. Even though I learn to be aware of the false friends, their memorization was comparatively slower.
The words in the second group have spelling peculiarities that are absent in English. This group includes words such as “mère” (mother) and “sœur” (sister). While it was easy to remember their meaning, I experienced difficulties recollecting their form. Finally, since I decided to include the nouns’ gender in the cards, remembering them presented a separate challenge. The gender of nouns such as “mère” was intuitively clear, but some words did not have this self-explanatory link to their gender.
Use of Keyword Technique
I have used the keyword technique to memorize some of the selected words, for instance, “dire” (to say) and “aller” (to go). “Dire” has the same form as the English word that means “extremely serious, terrible”. The associated mental image was that of a person speaking in an agitated manner. “Aller”, on the other hand, does not have a corresponding English word with the same form, so I have selected the word “all”.
The visual image was that of a large group of people walking together. Thanks to the keywords, I was able to easily remember the meaning of foreign words. Overall, the method was quite effective, and it made the learning process more entertaining, but generating keywords was difficult and time-consuming in some cases.
Keyword Technique: Research Questions
1. What is the long-term retention potential of the keyword technique?
2. Why is the keyword technique less effective for learners with lower aptitude?
3. Are self-created keywords and images more effective compared to ready-made keywords?
References
Frunza, O., & Inkpen, D. (2009). Identification and disambiguation of cognates, false friends, and partial cognates using machine learning techniques. International Journal of Linguistics, 1 (1), 1-17.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language . Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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For a man who seems to hate America, Pope Francis is having a really bad week. First came his attacks on America's war on the poor. Then came his attack on Islam — a religion with more adherents than any other in the world and which the pope said "cannot adapt itself to" modernity. Now come reports of the pope's personal life.
On Tuesday, the Vatican's official newspaper published a leaked report on a private conversation Francis had in January with a prominent French cardinal, a woman who leads one of the church's most liberal branches and who has been publicly critical of the pope's approach to poverty and the poor.
In the conversation, Francis reportedly suggested that the woman had been "a little bit too close to the press" and had "not behaved correctly in public." The next day, the Cardinal, Anne-Marie Lizin, published a lengthy open letter, written with the assistance of several close friends, in which she called the pope's comments "hurtful not only to me but also to my spouse who is Catholic and who is known as a defender of the rights of the weak and marginalized."
In her letter, Lizin wrote that she and her friends did not support Francis's "offensive" statement. While they agreed with what he had said about "the world of the rich" she said, it was not necessary to make light of sexual abuse committed by priests, a phenomenon often referred to as a "church crisis" in Vatican circles. She wrote that the pope was not only not addressing the issue but had also "politicized" the rape scandal, which she described as "the most grave violation of our dignity and rights, the least talked about and the most neglected." In her view, his "distraction from issues of justice and of protecting children and survivors of sexual assault was also harming the church, the only institution which can make sense of these issues with any seriousness."
In her remarks, the pope also appeared to criticize the United States for providing support for the Catholic Church in countries like France — including the support of a private foundation that funds projects to help victims of sexual abuse by priests.
It was no secret in Rome that some of his closest advisers had criticized the pope's more inflammatory comments. "The most important thing for the church from now on is not the problems of the faithful, but how we can best support those who have been badly harmed by the problems of the Roman Curia and by the papacy," one of his advisers, Cardinal George Pell, told journalist Patrick Pelloux in a conversation that was recorded by Pelloux's Vatican-employed cameraperson. "And Pope Francis, quite correctly, considers this to be a critical issue," Pelloux continued. "To me it isn't a criticism."
Pelloux and the Italian journalist, in describing their conversation, did not name Pope Francis. But if the cardinal was discussing "Francis as a leader," as he told Pelloux, it would indicate that perhaps Pelloux would not have chosen the same tone as he did. Perhaps that explains why, in Pelloux's book, he wrote that Francis was not a "person with a clear vision for the future of Catholicism."
The pope's response to questions about Francis's personal life is, of course, also shrouded in secrecy. However, in his book The Path to Peace he said that "when we meet someone at the beginning of a journey of love, it is the most intimate thing that one can do with an individual, and sometimes this kind of love can also be more profound."
Indeed, the pope and his biographer, Argentinian journalist Paolo Gabriele, have discussed how, even on "the outside," Francis has been a model of fidelity to his fiancee, Sister Luciana Alfonsi, also a Roman Catholic.
Francis's first two marriages produced two children. His marriage to American nuns, to Sister Angelina, has been particularly famous for its unusual way of life. It began in 1965 in Vatican City with the pope's unexpected invitation of the sisters for a three-day retreat, and soon the couple was living on the outskirts of Rome in the convent where Sister Angelina had served as a teacher.
The "Francis effect," as some scholars call it, was the key to the Vatican's decision to bless the consecration of a third altar — this one dedicated to the Blessed Mother — to another church, the Immaculate Conception, close to Sister Angelina's home in Rome, in 2001. The ceremony was an important step in opening the doors of the church to women and, by some accounts, the Vatican's own reform agenda.
Sister Angelina has also been widely acknowledged to be one of the most important architects of Francis's more visible reforms so far — including the decision in 2010 to remove the popes own limousine from the papal apartments, after the previous model caused rifts in the Holy See. And during the three years since he took
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Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump's march to the Republican nomination.
May 3, 2016 Sen. Ted Cruz speaks with his wife, Heidi, by his side during a primary night campaign event in Indianapolis. Cruz ended his presidential campaign, eliminating the biggest impediment to Donald Trump's march to the Republican nomination. Darron Cummings/AP
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has the backing of the tea party and has received plenty of attention — positive and negative — despite being in the Senate for only 10 months.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has the backing of the tea party and has received plenty of attention — positive and negative — despite being in the Senate for only 10 months.
The story of the past few weeks in Washington can be summed up in a single headline: "How Ted Cruz won and the Republican Party lost."
As the debt-ceiling deadline creeps ever closer and hope for a solution seems to grow dimmer, there is an increasing amount of clarity coming out of Washington about how this will all end politically.
For the Republican Party writ large, the shutdown is a political disaster. The only debate within the party is whether it amounts to a short-term political dip or a long-term collapse that could jeopardize its hold on the House and its chances to retake the Senate next November. For Cruz, the Republican senator from Texas who has become the face of the uncompromising opposition in Congress, the past fortnight has been broadly successful as he looks toward a potential 2016 presidential bid.
In short, what the government shutdown has proved is that what's good for Cruz is not good for the Republican Party nationally. That sentiment was summed up nicely by a prominent Republican media consultant who expressed exasperation with Cruz's approach. "The best part is this — if the Ted Cruz strategy had a 20 percent chance of working, maybe even a 10 percent chance of working — okay, fine, give 'er a shot, roll the dice," said the consultant. "But when you have a 0.0 percent chance of success, um . . ."
This good-for-the-goose-but-not-for-the-gander reality is nothing new in politics, particularly for a party that is out of the White House and, rather openly, in search of its next act on the national stage. That has been the challenge for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus since the 2012 election exposed major cracks in the pillars of the party's electoral strategy. (To his credit, Priebus commissioned a surprisingly honest political autopsy in the wake of that election that has been largely lost amid the focus on repealing President Obama's health-care law and the ongoing shutdown.)
1 of 55 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Sights of the shutdown View Photos From federal office buildings to the national parks and memorials, sights around Washington and across the country are closed after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Caption From federal office buildings to the national parks and memorials, sights around Washington and across the country are closed after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Oct. 7, 2013 Ominous clouds fill the sky in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Democrats and Republicans are still at a stalemate on funding for the federal government as the shutdown goes into a seventh day. Mark Wilson/Getty Images Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.
Finding a way to put immigration in its political rearview mirror, focusing on debt and spending rather than repealing health care — these are sound strategic goals for a Republican Party that badly needs to re-imagine its national coalition in 2016. But they are far less important (and popular) among the party's vocal base, which views Obamacare in particular as an abomination that typifies everything — using government to solve all problems, imposing federal mandates on the states — that it loathes about the Obama presidency.
Enter Cruz, who carries a sort of intuitive understanding of what animates the base. His 21-hour filibuster made him even more of a hero within the GOP rank and file, and his continued insistence that fighting trumps compromising as a legislative approach is just the sort of battle cry that the base wants to hear.
Need evidence of Cruz's gains of late? He won the 2016 straw poll at the Values Voter Summit on Saturday with 42 percent of the vote, and his speech at that gathering of social conservatives was received very warmly. He has become the center of gravity for a certain not-insignificant element of the Republican Party. Cruz has proved that he will be "the tea party's one true standard-bearer in the Republican presidential primary," according to Evan Smith, the CEO and editor in chief of the Texas Tribune,
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Youssef Chahine Egyptian Filmmaker: Works Essay
Cinema plays a very important role in modern life. What was recently regarded as a kind of entertainment now can be considered as art. There are a lot of films that describe certain historical events and periods. These films are of great interest among the public and they have already gained recognition around the world. Every film has its certain idea and serves to forward some message to the audience. Due to the professional work of the directors, we can enjoy wonderful films. This paper deals with the works of Youssef Chahine, a famous Egyptian filmmaker. He is one of the most outstanding persons in Arab cinema.
Every work of Youssef Chahine is unique, as it contains a certain political message, which keeps the audience on the tenterhooks during the whole film. “Although it underwent a later resurgence, especially in Egypt, both in the film of revisionist vehicles directed by Youssef Chahine, among others and in the incorporation of music video aesthetics into youth-oriented, so-called shopping mall films” (Ginsberg and Lippard 289).
One of the most interesting and outstanding films by Chahine is The Sparrow that was shot in 1972. It is also one of the most divisive films of the director. The idea of The Sparrow was written in teamwork with Lotfi al-Kholi, a famous avant-gardist, and also co-produced with Algeria. This film is shot previous to and for the duration of the Six-Day War, which happened in June 1967. In general, the film is an obsessive insightful social cram that focuses on a family ragged by political dissimilarity as Egypt is beaten. Chahine tries to demonstrate certain political events. This film depicts Chahine’s political response to conducting the war with Israel and attacks the existing corruption in Egypt.
The Sparrow put the beginning to a new mainstream in cinema and the development of Chahin’s unique style. The Sparrow has spiky oppositional frames. This film is the so-called investigation of the reasons for the events of 1967 and the try to shame those politicians and participants who caused this war. So, it is no surprise that the film was banned for some time and its release was permitted only in 1973. Chahine does not miss the opportunity to touch upon the issue of religion in the film, demonstrating people’s and his attitude to Islam, as the main Arabian religion. Moreover, the problem of relative bounds is also described in the film, depicting the story of the adopted son of a superior officer, who faces the problem of scruples as he looks for his genuine father, who is supposed to be a left-wing militant.
Nasserism is another issue that is discussed in the film. The author demonstrates the actions of the government and people who were inspired by this ideology that leads to awful results. The author tries to show that it is impossible to return what has already passed, especially using people’s victims. Eschewing the usual story, the film is an exhilarating mixture of realistic and some expressive elements. The main aim of such way of description is to demonstrate Chanine’s image of the country which appeared in the war.
Undoubtedly, The Sparrow makes a great impression on the viewers due to its interesting and captivating plot, which helps to understand completely the problems, touched upon in the film.
Works Cited
Ginsberg, Terri, and Chris Lippard. Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts). Canada: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2010.
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Hockey Canada executives will meet Saturday to discuss the prospects of adding a women's national team.
Canada is in its second year of a two-year experiment with a women's team and they're still finding their legs. Last season, only three teams qualified for the Olympics, and they came up short to the United States, who defeated them 3-0 in the semifinals. They qualified for the 2015 World Championships, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Canada, 2-0.
The players have said they need more time to figure out how to play together, but they're still learning to play together.
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"We've really had a hard time getting up to speed," national women's player Julie Chu said in an interview. "It's difficult to put into words what that's like – a new experience, a completely new sport entirely. The communication and the confidence are all new, so we've struggled with that.
"So we're still making a ton of mistakes in some of the areas. That's why there is such excitement and anticipation for the meeting – we want to get a better sense as to how we're going to get there."
The teams will split the first weekend of a two-stage championship in Montreal in December. The top two teams from those matches will advance to the best-of-three final round.
One possibility is adding the women to the men's national team pool.
While the teams are separate countries, they compete on the same ice. And they have shared coaches, a coach, trainer and player manager.
The current men's roster includes nine players from Canada but the top two female players are part of Team Canada's national junior teams.
It's not easy switching coaches mid-season, and the men have had two assistant coaches in just three years. But the teams are close, the Canadian players say.
Clementine Poulin, the player Canada should select as its general manager later this week, played in three games for the women's national team at the world hockey championship last fall. It was a tough time for her team at home and she was looking for some new experiences in order to push through a tough tournament.
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"I'm really proud of the team that we had – we took one game off at the hands of the United States in the quarterfinal and came back to win," Poulin said. "It's difficult, but it was really enjoyable to have a full week and get to see my new teammates face-to-face, and I think that shows that there is a lot of excitement for future women's teams coming."
The women's national team is a young squad with more than 40 players who are still in and out of training. The players need time to develop chemistry, and they'll be playing in a new sport.
They also need coaching and support from the senior team.
In an interview a year ago, Canada's captain and captain Christine Sinclair was adamant the women's program would work, saying, "When we step on the ice for real this January, when we're fully committed, I can guarantee this will be one of the best teams [Canada] has ever put together."
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Some ways to relieve stress include taking deep breaths, exercising, meditating, writing in a journal, talking to a friend, listening to music, and spending time in nature.
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The University of Toronto's faculty and staff have responded to allegations of racist text messages and emails in a letter sent by U of T's President Meric Gertler to all members.
In the open letter, dated Feb. 29, Gertler says the university, like any other, can be subject to "troubling and hurtful" conduct by individuals and that such actions make it imperative the university's rules are followed as strictly as possible.
The letter reads, in part:
"I want to assure you that the University of Toronto's Faculty and Staff are dedicated to promoting a culture that is inclusive of all members and of all backgrounds, and that a community of mutual respect and tolerance is vital to our academic, research, student, and social life.
"The University of Toronto is an important learning and research institution, and a place where you will find a warm and welcoming community of scholars, scholars and scholars who share a passion for knowledge and the search for knowledge.
"It is also a community that is very much a work in progress, and one that will always change and evolve with a changing climate, and I want to encourage all of you to remain engaged in that process.
"I hope to be here in the next decade as long as it is possible for me – and the university – to remain here."
The letter comes after allegations circulated on social media that some staff members were responsible for creating inappropriate texts and emails, some with racist overtones.
Several students have sent messages to CBC Toronto in recent weeks alleging that U of T students are the victims of a "cult mentality" within the academic community, and that faculty and staff are harassing them.
U of T spokesperson Heather Conway confirmed the letter has now reached all members, and said university officials have launched an internal investigation.
Conway added that the university has already disciplined one staff member.
According to several students, the texts range from jokes that mock black actors, to one which says, "If I gave you head you'd be on a boat the whole time," which some students say is the latest example of offensive and insensitive language on campus.
A U of T statement says staff were "instructed to take the appropriate action by their supervisors for an example of conduct that they had failed to uphold in another context."
'Troubling and hurtful'
Gertler says, in the letter sent to members, that "troubling and hurtful" conduct can arise from a wider range of behaviours:
"We can all be guilty of not understanding the impact of the language we use to communicate, and we can make a difference, too, in our collective ability to ensure that the words we use are meaningful, respectful, and do not convey negative stereotypes."
In the letter, Gertler also discusses the "welcome culture" that's intended to "support and facilitate respectful and inclusive language and behaviours."
He added such a culture can be applied to all types of behaviour on campus — including the creation of "brogrammer" groups, which students say are intended to encourage students to pursue the arts or to study science.
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This is the first in a long series which will be examining and commenting on one issue or another that has been prominent enough in the world of the occult for its influence to still be felt. Each post will be focused around one topic or idea that has either been touched with my own research or which has been touched upon by experts in the occult, occultism and/or magic. For this post I have chosen the question: Did Crowley write a work detailing a method of summoning the dead? I had already discussed his relationship with the Church of Satan back in 2013, so I won't be addressing Crowley's relationship with the Church of Satan here. If you hadn't seen my work on the Church of Satan back then, I encourage you to do so so you can read what I wrote back then in addition to reading this post.
A great deal of my own personal research into the occult began with my exploration of Aleister Crowley's own research and practice. I had been reading both the published works of Crowley as well as the letters he exchanged with his brother Mavromatis over a number of years. I've written about this in several of my other blog posts . I also found out that some of the most interesting of Crowley's research was lost or redacted by Crowley before publication. So it is worth noting here that when working with this information about Aleister Crowley's own work, I am only quoting those portions which have been altered so far, and I have not been able to see any of his published works. For example, I am not aware of any of Crowley's private writings dealing with the subject of the dead, and the majority of his writing deals with Crowley's personal spiritual development.
Crowley wrote of this subject in an article published in the December 18th, 1936 issue of "The Liber AL vel Legis", an esoteric publication of the Church of Satan in which Crowley was a founding member and which in some instances, and under certain conditions, would receive its own membership card. I would highly recommend that you read both the article itself, and the letter, because the two are intertwined in the overall work of Aleister Crowley. The letter is very similar to the work itself of a type of astral projection where the spirit of Crowley, or the spirit of the subject, is projected into the astral realm and then becomes trapped in the Astral Plane until the "event" which Crowley refers to as "raising" the subject from its astral plane (which Crowley calls "The Event"). As this is a very complicated subject, I believe it worthy of another post in its own right. But for now, I think that the article is most interesting to the reader who is able to appreciate the context within which it was written.
Crowley writes, "A certain group of spirits and astral beings called 'The Order,' having made a pact with their deity (Mithra), have kept the promise that the first person born after their pact will be able to call these beings to their aid at each moment by invoking a certain phrase or word." Crowley goes on to explain that they were "unable to make this 'prayer' for man. He therefore invented the Necronomicon and created the art of Necromancy (using words and numbers), and so established the Order and its powers of Communication." Although Crowley's idea was unique, his understanding of the process was not. He wrote that he has known many members of the Church of Satan who still follow his methods of summoning the dead. He explains that it seems "very likely" that some rituals which are common to various forms of occultism (such as black magic) may also involve the use of this method. And I would agree that those who have been able to fully utilize this "method" may come to have more success on the journey of finding their self than others. But I am not sure if some rituals that seem common only to the modern-day occultist would be required for the same purpose. My question is, would the use of this method by members of the Church of Satan involve invoking a specific word or phrase, or would it be better to invoke the name of Mithra, for example? Although the practice of "Necromancy" is not very well understood, one might surmise that the technique involved in drawing the dead into a spirit world in order to call upon Mithra might be applicable to the same purpose, or a similar practice, so that the deceased could become a spirit. However, to my understanding, this wouldn't be a practice that anyone would do if their purpose weren't to call a specific spirit. Crowley also discusses rituals that would allow the "nourished soul" to travel around the world to various other planes and states of consciousness. Many people are familiar with the "Star Rituals"
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Holly Holm will face Germaine de Randamie for the UFC women's bantamweight title at UFC 211 on Saturday.
De Randamie (27-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Holm (8-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will meet each other in a title eliminator for the third fight in the women's bantamweight division in the octagon. The winner will challenge UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).
UFC 211 will be headlined by former women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey's rematch with Holly Holm. The UFC has yet to announce a main event for either fight, meaning they are likely to run the UFC 205 card.
Holm lost back-to-back fights to Rousey for the women's bantamweight title at UFC 193 and UFC 196.
The main card on FOX Sports 1 starts at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT).
The latest UFC 211 card includes:
MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano (for women's bantamweight title)
Miesha Tate vs. Jessica Eye
Alexa Grasso vs. Raquel Pennington
Donald Cerrone vs. Johny Hendricks
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Trevor Smith vs. Alex Oliveira
Joe Lauzon vs. Rafael Natal
PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Alex Nicholson vs. Jorge Masvidal
For more on UFC 211, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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“Lone Survivor” (2013) by Peter Berg Essay (Movie Review)
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Team-Based and Individual Leadership
3. Theories of Leadership
4. Conclusion
5. Work Cited
Introduction
Leadership is one of the most important components of organizational effectiveness and success. Great leaders possess the knowledge and skills necessary for making difficult decisions and proactively dealing with unfavorable outcomes. It is important to maintain high levels of emotional control while making critical decisions. Effective leaders are set apart from ineffective leaders by their ability to control their emotions and actions regardless of the prevailing situation or circumstance. “Lone Survivor” is a movie that demonstrates the importance of effective leadership in the attainment of certain objectives. The film explores the mission of a four-man Navy SEAL operation, known as Operation Red Wings. The main goal of the mission is to mitigate militia activity in Afghan and promote peace. Teamwork, courage, integrity, and character are examples of leadership traits exemplified by actors in the movie.
Team-Based and Individual Leadership
The movie explores the concept of leadership from the individual and team perspectives. For instance, it demonstrates the importance of teamwork in the achievement of goals. The leader of the squad is Michael Murphy, who is responsible for leading the team in capturing Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader in the region ( The Lone Survivor ). A few hours after commencing the operation, the SEALs face a difficult situation: they encounter a group of herders in the mountains comprised of old and young men. They detain as they ponder the next move. Each of the team members has an opinion on the best course of action to take. The situation is volatile because the herders compromise their mission. A lengthy discussion yields three options: they could kill them, abort the operation, or let them go and request for extraction ( The Lone Survivor ). As members of a team, they discuss the various options at their disposal. Each soldier presents his opinion and explains why it is appropriate for the situation. They fail to come to a consensus and ask their team leader to decide to end the stalemate.
Murphy is the team leader and has to make the final decision so that they can carry on with the mission. In a courageous act of leadership, he decides to let the herders go, changes his teams’ location, and reevaluates their options ( The Lone Survivor ). He makes the right decision because it is against the rules of engagement to kill unarmed combatants unless they pose a direct threat to the safety of the team members. As a leader, Murphy frees them because it is in the best interest of his team and he is not ready to compromise the rules of engagement. His behavior in that situation incorporates key leadership traits that great leaders possess: integrity, confidence, and courage. His team members agree with him because he leads by example, even though their location has been compromised.
Murphy’s courage and character are evident from his decision because by freeing the herders, he went against the opinions of two teammates who wanted the men killed. Regardless of the potential risks of the decision, he let them leave and embarked on searching for alternative ways to mitigate the risks. On the other hand, he exemplified true leadership because as the team leader, he sacrificed his life, and as a result, led by example. Murphy is killed together with two other teammates: Petty Officers Second Class Matthew Axelson and Danny Dietz ( The Lone Survivor ). Murphy’s decision to move away from a secure hiding place to get reception on his phone exposed him to danger. He gave up his life for the sake of his teammates. Great leaders not only lead verbally but also by example. The decision he made risked his life. However, he did it because he cared for his teammates and the completion of the mission.
An encounter with the Afghan militia leads the SEALs to a difficult situation because they are overpowered. In that regard, they stick together to ensure their survival. As a team, they are inspired by their motto “you are never out of the fight” ( The Lone Survivor ). Each of the four members regularly checks on the others because they had been badly wounded by the militia. Their team spirit is commendable because they commit to each other that they will keep on fighting no matter their circumstances. The leadership of Luttrell is evident from the response he gave Dietz after telling him that he had all been shot. Luttrell encourages him by telling him that they had all been shot. Their verbal leadership encourages other teammates to continue fighting even though they had been badly wounded.
The aforementioned traits can be made more effective if necessary, by confronting reality fearlessly, proper preparation, seeking feedback, taking timely action, and improving communication. Fear and insufficient information were hindrances to timely decision-making after the SEALs encountered the herders. Poor communication derailed the process of decision-making because time went by as Murphy waited for a response from the base on how to proceed. Moreover, the integrity of the SEALs could have been improved if Murphy took greater control of the situation. Two of the teammates suggested killing the herders even though it was against the rules of engagement. As the leader, Murphy should have reiterated to them that the operation would be based on specific rules and that contravening them was unacceptable.
Theories of Leadership
According to trait theory, people possess certain qualities that make them excellent leaders. For instance, creativity, intelligence, and a sense of responsibility are common characteristics that leaders have. Murphy is courageous, confident, responsible, and has integrity. He can suspend emotions to make rational decisions. The other teammates are also leaders because Their courage allows them to continue fighting after getting wounded. Integrity is another leadership trait that Murphy and Luttrell possess. They are both unwilling to contravene the rules of engagement by killing the herders. Discipline, adaptability, and courage are necessary for successful decision-making. Murphy does not allow fear and anxiety to compromise his ability to think and make the right decision.
Behavioral leadership theories focus on how individuals in positions of authority behave when dealing with their juniors. In that regard, leaders can be autocratic, democratic, transformational, or laissez-faire. Murphy employs both autocratic and democratic leadership. He allows his teammates to give their opinions regarding the situation. However, since the decision needs to be made quickly, he ends the stalemate by giving the team the plan that they would follow. He is a great leader because he allows his teammates to contribute toward problem-solving, but intervenes when they fail to reach a consensus.
Contingency leadership theories suggest that the leadership style adopted by a leader is primarily determined by the situation. They argue that different leadership styles are appropriate for varied situations. Murphy involves his teammates in making decisions. However, when they have to be made promptly, he assumes the autocratic leadership style. As the leader, he offers a plan that his teammates agree with even though they had different ideas on how to address the situation. Murphy is a great leader because he can make decisions without allowing emotions to lead him to analysis paralysis. He uses reason and ethics to end a stalemate that ensues after a lengthy discussion on what to do with the goat herders. The decision to free the men was made based on the rules of engagement that did not allow them to harm unarmed individuals. However, it led to the loss of lives. Effective leaders do the right thing even though the decisions that they make result in unfavorable outcomes.
Conclusion
“Lone Survivor” explores various traits and behaviors that characterize effective leadership. Courage, integrity, adaptability, and teamwork are examples of traits that the actors exhibit. They fight the militia fearlessly, keep going after getting wounded, follow the rules of engagement, and make tough decisions that put their lives at risk. Murphy takes charge of his team, and even though he allows them to express their opinions, makes the final decision. Great leaders allow their team members to participate in decision-making processes. They value their contributions and do not allow emotions to crowd their judgment. The SEALs work as a team and obey the commands of their leader. They do not argue with him and play their roles by giving opinions and following his instructions.
Work Cited
The Lone Survivor . Directed by Peter Berg, Performance by Mark Wahlberg, Universal Pictures, 2013.
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(Phys.org)—As the number of women scientists and engineers in India has grown by almost 100 percent since 1999, the average time it takes to get an Indian doctorate is up considerably.
As many as 1,000 Indian science and engineering graduates enter the Indian medical education system every year, on par with the numbers from a decade ago, according to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in New Delhi.
Of the more than 1,000 Indian medical students in medical college in India, about 800 are women, according to a July 2015 World Bank report. The situation is especially stark among female trainees seeking advanced degree. Of the 2,000-odd medical students who have secured their master's degree, only 1,500 are women.
The data indicates that women, even those with a doctorate, are much less likely to seek a job in the sector than their male counterparts.
In 2013, of the total medical degree holders in India, 60 percent were men, with the rest women.
In a report published in April 2014 on the Indian National Science Academy's website, the HRD ministry estimated that, on average, a medical degree holder from the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) takes 12 years to finish up his or her doctorate.
At the same time, the government is promoting women in the workforce. Earlier this year, it announced an amendment giving additional incentives to female applicants for admission from universities and research laboratories in India.
Meanwhile, the Indian Academy of Science (IAS) introduced an honorary post in its directorate of science in 2012. It is the only such post reserved for women.
According to the IAS' head, professor V. Chandran, "The honorary post of Director of the Department of Science in the IAS has been set up with the approval of the Vice-Chancellor of IISc, the IAS. The IAS will provide a fellowship of Rs. 25 lakh to the recipient for a maximum period of three years, along with an annual salary of Rs. 4 lakh."
(Nikki Evers, "The Gender-Discriminatory Education System Is Breaking In India", BBC News, February 26, 2017.)
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The first official image of the 2014 Dodge Charger SRT8 appears online and it confirms that the 2013 model, Dodge Charger, makes for a great contender for 2014's all-new SRT8 Challenger.
The image was uploaded to the web by car enthusiasts, but it was also spotted by The TruthAbout6s. In the image, two images of the 2014 Dodge Charger SRT8's hood are visible. The first one is clearly that of the Charger SRT8, as it clearly identifies the Charger-specific taillights on the hood of the car. The second image is that of the front end of the Charger, which is a lot more homogenous and similar to that of the Challenger.
If we compare these two images alongside a similar image of the Challenger SRT Dodge's hood we can see that the two are almost exactly the same size, even the two car are nearly the same. The only difference being the Challenger's taillights. The differences on the Hood of the two, if the image in question belongs to 2013, are much more pronounced than what the image in question shows. The SRT Dodge's taillights are also very prominent while the Challenger's are much less prominent.
Another noticeable difference between the Challenger and Charger-specific taillights is that the Challenger's taillights have black lettering while the SRT8's have white lettering.
It should also be noted that the first image of the Charger SRT8 also shows a Dodge logo which on the 2014 Challenger looks to be gone.
As of February 2013 the Dodge Charger was the official challenger to the Dodge Challenger. However, the 2014 Challenger is expected to beat the Charger in every way. The Challenger SRT8 is expected to be the first to hit the streets with its unique exterior, which could give it an edge in a race with the Charger SRT8.
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Boris Johnson may be "lacking stamina" and "unstable", but there is now "no alternative" to him as the Mayor of London, Tory MP David Davis has claimed.
Mr Davis said he feared the Mayor would do anything for the cause and that is why he is a "loser" for Theresa May and the Conservatives.
He told ITV's Good Morning Britain tonight: "If you're a loser it doesn't matter whether it's a war or a job.
Brexit 'deal' will cost £350m a week to EU as EU says Britain has offered 'no deal'
"He's given up on the principle of London being on the same side as everyone else.
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: REUTERS)
"He doesn't understand that London will be the winner or the loser of a no-deal Brexit.
"He is a loser."
The eurosceptic MP was speaking as it was revealed Theresa May will attempt to clinch a Brexit deal with Northern Ireland during her trip to the region this weekend.
The PM will use a speech in the city of Londonderry before heading to Northern Ireland in an attempt to win support to push through a deal with the Democratic Unionists before the deadline of March 2019.
(Image: Getty)
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: Getty)
Mr Davis also suggested the Government's Brexit plan is in "huge difficulty" and that he is not convinced it is legally possible under the Article 50 exit clause.
He claimed a deal would probably need the support of five or six EU countries to be "legally sound".
And he said Theresa May would have to make a U-turn in her stance in order for a deal to be made.
"To my knowledge we don't have the legal ability to do a Canada or anything else, unless we're in a very unusual circumstance.
"I don't think we have any legal right under the treaties to do a Canada or that Canada deal. We simply don't."
(Image: REUTERS)
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Reuters)
In her speech, Mrs May is expected to commit to delivering a Brexit deal that is "as close as possible" to what she wants with Europe - which she said must include the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice after Brexit.
There are no plans to hold a second referendum but Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to give her party "a mandate" to fight a second vote after failing to win outright a majority in a snap general election.
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We've never had such a big season. It's been such a wild ride.
"There are a lot of things that happened before this, but this is really exciting. We've got a great chance to be doing something really special in the second half. Everybody's just hoping we pick up on last year's momentum and keep this going."
- Head Coach Bruce Arena
"This was the last match that these players were a part of, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't mean something now. This will mean something to them in the offseason. But that doesn't mean that this is the end of the league for them. They have a lot more to play for. They know that there's a lot of work to be completed so they can help us finish this. We have two very competitive teams, and it will be a real test for us to try to get out of that hole."
- New York City FC Head Coach Patrick Vieira
NYCFC will kick off its quest for MLS Cup against the Seattle Sounders on April 29th at Yankee Stadium. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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"Barely any young man in the country who is not in jail, and many of whom are there at will, should be able, if he is so disposed, to obtain a private position in the Government service."
The writer of this passage, and it was a long one, was George Smith, one of the oldest men of the South, and a man of many accomplishments, who had risen to the position of the United States Senator of the South.
Mr. Smith, in talking of this subject, had the reputation of being rather eccentric. He had no personal friends, not even friends of his own family; had no personal influence with politicians at all; and had neither a vote, nor the power that goes with it. His own reputation belonged to the South.
He had been born about forty years before this date, and had passed his youth in the wilderness of the Eastern states. "His father passed a little way outside of the frontier at an early day," and his mother was in the service. His maternal grandfather was a Colonel, and his mother an orphan of that class. His father was in the Army, but on account of a family accident, never was discharged.
Mr. Smith's education was scant; and although his intellect was much superior to his years; he was little read outside of books, and his father had no means of bringing it to bear upon his son.
To-day Mr. Smith is not a young man. He has already been in the service seven years, and while living in Washington, has had one son, and one daughter.
In his years, though by himself, from his twenty to twenty-one years of age, he has had to learn to think and to speak with the same facility as those of any man his own age.
He has given his life to the cause of the people; to the cause of freedom. He did not choose this, his life; but, rather, he was driven from it by circumstances, and by his own determination to bring the cause of the Southern people to a speedy termination.
The great event in his life, the change which he has wrought in the hearts of the people of this country, was the organization of the Southern States into the Confederacy. Mr. Smith was present at that historic event.
But this time, he was not alone. He had the help of a great many, men of the highest position and of the most liberal views, who were willing to lay down their lives rather than to take a wrong course.
Had not Mr. Smith had many friends, and had he not been surrounded by men of the highest standing. There is no doubt but that that event, which was the first and only organized effort to bring the South into the Union, and to give to her her full civil and political rights, and her full political power, would have been accomplished, and Mr. Smith would be now, and for many years past, Senator of the United States from the great State of Georgia.
Mr. Smith died in Washington, March 4th, 1877, aged eighty- three years and ten months.
The death of Mr. Smith was mourned by the whole South; and as the event was such as to mark the beginning of the end of slavery in the slave States, it was the signal announced to every one to take up arms and fulfill the purpose they longed to accomplish.
"WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR CONFLICT, BUT IN ALL COUNTRIES."
There were but few in this large and growing section which was the scene of the great struggle, who did not feel the keen agitation which followed the tragic announcement of that death.
Such was our feeling throughout the wide field of the country, when we read of the great event upon which we had placed our faith.
The day after Mr. Smith's funeral, an order of the United Confederate Veterans was presented to the Secretary of War; and upon that order were recited the following words—and repeated with equal emphasis on successive days:
In memory of the men who have fallen in the war, and for the purpose of establishing an historical memorial to their memory.
We have been called upon to lay our lives upon the altar in behalf of our Southern brothers—in defense of those who are oppressed; in favor of our homes and the peace of our country; in support for the rights of our people and the sovereignty of our States; for the perpetuation of the institutions and government of the Union; in vindication of the rights of our Government, to whom we are bound to extend our assistance; in the discharge of our national debt as just and responsible debtors; in the defense and reestablishment to our country of its national honor; and in the enjoyment and protection of the rights guaranteed to the people of all free and independent States by the Constitution of the United States.
It is incumbent upon us to make provision for the great
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Motivation in the XXI Century: New Solutions to the Old Concerns Critical Essay
Introduction: The Many Faces of Motivation
The issue of workforce motivation has never been easy; despite the fact that a company might offer its staff an otherwise perfect working environment, the absence of any kind of motivation is most likely to lead to drastic effects.
Over centuries, the concept of motivation has been changing, with new theories emerging on a regular basis. In his book, Pink consolidates the efforts of his predecessors and introduces his interpretation of what the mechanisms of motivation are, therefore, creating premises for a reinvention of the modern business world as people know it.
Theories of Motivation as Pink Sees Them
It is quite remarkable that the entire third chapter of Pink’s book is devoted to the issue of motivation as it was interpreted by various researchers. Pink offers a very unique observation of the existing motivational theories. It is interesting that he does not go over an entire list, nor does he choose the most conventional ones.
Instead, Pink offers the readers an opportunity to follow his train of thoughts and come to the realization of the Type I and Type X theory as the only possible option. Therefore, the author provides a unique choice of motivational theories overview, mixing them with his own idea of motivation in the workplace.
Self-determination theory
It is peculiar that the self-determination theory has so much in common with Pink’s own theory. Once pink introduces its main concepts, the reader is able to see that the self-determination theory is going to become one of the pillars that Pink’s Type X and Type I theory is going to be based on.
Beginning “with a notion of universal human needs” (Pink 70), the given theory appeals to people’s need for personal growth and the recognition of their work. Thus, it can be assumed that the Motivation 2.0 theory was partially spawned by the concept of self determination suggested by Deci and Ryan.
Theory X: McGregor
Another step in understanding the way in which the Motivation 2.0 theory was developed, the concept suggested by McGregor allows to take a closer look at the specifics of human mind. Stressing the fact that two basic people’s needs are their recognition as individuals and the necessity to blend in with the crowd, McGregor suggested a Theory X, which considers the need to integrate into society as the basis for workplace motivation.
Theory Y: McGregor
Another element of McGregor’s concept of motivation, the Theory Y allows to consider the phenomenon in question from a perspective of individual needs. As Pink explains, the trail of thoughts starting at Theory X and continuing with Theory Y leads to the Motivation 2.0.
Friedman’s theory
A researcher whom, paradoxically enough, hardly anyone has ever heard of, as Pink explains (Pink 72), Friedman suggested another brilliant interpretation of where employees’ motivation comes from and what it is supported by.
Contrary to the theory of self-determination, the given theory presupposes that people are mostly predisposed to behave in a particular way; in other words, people are born either as Type A, i.e., active and enthusiastic, or as a Type B, non-resourceful and procrastinating. However, Pink notes that Friedman offers a ray of hope by claiming that Type B can be converted into Type A, and vice versa.
Type I and type X: Pink’s concept
Pink’s brainchild, the given theory can be viewed as a combination of the concepts of motivation listed above, with an addition of such an important variable as stability into the structure of a perfect motivational strategy.
In Pink’s own words, the very essence of the theory of Type I and Type X can be put in the following way: “If you offer people steadily employment and carefully calibrated rewards, they’ll do what executives and shareholders want, and everyone will prosper” (Pink 67).
To be more exact, Pink makes it clear that the impeccable method of motivation lies between the Type X, or external, motivational factors, and Type I, or intrinsic, ones. By balancing between the two and offering the employees both financial and moral rewards, managers will most likely benefit.
In fact, Pink points out that his Motivation 2.0 theory, as he also calls it, has much in common with the self-determination theory in that it allows for improving the employees’ performance through their realization of self.
Book Summary and Analysis
As it has been stressed above, Pink provides a detailed overview of the most efficient and impressive motivation theories that have been suggested so far, giving credit to where it belongs and mentioning the motivation theories that, quite honestly, should be more popular in the present-day business world. However, apart from an overview of motivational theories, Pink also offers his own theory of Type I and Type X.
In addition, the book touches upon the autonomy based behavior and, stressing its significance, suggests the methods to encourage the given behavioral pattern in people. Finally, Pink comments on the necessity to introduce autonomy to employees and outlines the key features of an employee who is guided by the principles of an autonomic behavior.
A Job in Community Service and Motivation Issues
Although food industry is not traditionally associated with career development, my experience of a Head Hostess has shown me that motivational factors may vary to certain degree. To be more exact, I must admit that in my job, I used to be motivated by the appraisal of the managers and the recognition of my efforts with the financial issues for the first time.
The given phenomenon can be explained by the fact that I was assigned a number of responsibilities that demanded constant communication with clients and employees; as a result, I was very dependent on the way in which people perceive me and my attempts to provide a high-quality professional performance.
Therefore, at first, I was clearly guided by the principles of a self-determination theory. However, as time passed, the need to be recognized as a hard-working employee took a back seat, while obtaining a financial reward became the top priority.
Finally, as I set my priorities straight and started dealing with organizational issues, I resorted to using the Motivation 2.0 theory thus, combining the ideas of financial reward and job satisfaction as the key components of my motivation.
It is quite peculiar that, in my experience, when only starting building a career, one is most likely to be motivated primarily by the financial rewards and concerned with the need to fulfill one’s duties as fast and efficiently as possible. However, as soon as one starts feeling more comfortable with the job, the
Conclusion: There Is Yet Much to Explore
Even though Pink clearly makes an impressive effort by incorporating the information and ideas concerning motivation that have been discovered previously and distills his own nonetheless impressive idea of how employees are motivated in the business world, it is obvious that Pink’s theory needs further improvement.
Works Cited
Pink, Daniel P. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us . New York, NY: Penguin Group US. 2012. Print.
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(AP Photo/The Columbus Dispatch, Scott Wartman)
(CNSNews.com) - The Census Bureau says it will not count the U.S. population as three races in 2013, a "statistically significant change" that will affect racial and ethnic statistics and government spending.The decision will affect U.S. Census data on race and Hispanic origin in 2013 and beyond, according to The New York Times."In a move that will have profound implications for the country's racial and ethnic relations, the Census Bureau has decided to stop counting as 'Hispanic or Latino' a person's ancestry (whether from Mexico or any other country)," wrote The Times.' "It will continue to count as Hispanic Americans those who identify themselves as Hispanic when asked to do so by a federal survey," the Times states.The Census Bureau said the change in the way it measures "Hispanic or Latino" is "a statistically significant change," which means the change will affect national demographic statistics, "with potential ripple effects across the country."
"The change could also cause future budget problems with the Census Bureau, which does not have a budget of its own until 2017," wrote The Times.The Census Bureau said the change won't affect the accuracy of data collected by it, which is important since the Census has long been the basis of statistics that help identify the nation in terms of race and ethnicity."Even if a person were to provide Hispanic origins as part of his census questionnaire for the first time this year, the new system will still ask him and his parents and grandparents to list their race, as it has always done, regardless of when his ancestors came to the United States," wrote The Times.According to statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of non-Hispanic whites living in the U.S. dropped from 147 million in 1980 to 125 million in 2010, a drop of 14.5 percent."While the number of Latinos decreased by more than half—to 43 percent of the population from 62 percent in 1980," wrote the census, "the number of Asians increased to 27 percent from 9 percent and the number of Americans of multiple races or multiple ethnic groups remained constant at 2.4 percent."The newspaper report added that the non-Hispanic white population grew 1.7 percent through 2010, while the number of Latinos dropped by 2.9 percent and that of Asians grew by 0.9 percent.The census bureau said the U.S. Census Bureau is not required to change how it defines race as long as it remains a U.S. Government agency."Our decision to stop collecting Hispanic origin data in 2013 will affect data collected in later years; data collection for 2010 is still underway, as is data collection for 2011," stated the Census Bureau in a "Fact Sheet" on the issue published today.A Census Bureau spokesman said the change isn't expected affect statistics in 2013."The Census Bureau will continue to collect and report data in all three race categories for the next decade, including our ongoing National Survey of Family Growth," wrote Census Bureau spokesman Thomas R. Hamill.The census bureau has for years reported the number of people from four Asian ethnic groups in the United States: Taiwanese, Chinese, South Korean and Japanese."We do not expect this change to have a significant effect on data from 2010 because it is not reflected in the U.S. Census Bureau's statistics for 2010, or for any year thereafter," said Hamill. "The National Survey of Family Growth is conducted to generate estimates of demographic and social characteristics of selected minority groups in the United States, including the Asian American population in the United States."
"With an estimated 7 million people in the U.S. age 20 and younger, the Asian American population in 2010 was almost 50 percent as large as that of any other major American ethnic group," said Hamill.
(AP Photo/The Dispatch, Tom Epp Jr.)
The Census Bureau was founded in 1790 by a group of Puritans to collect statistics that would "preparedly and accurately" inform Congress as well as others the United States needed "the support and assistance of intelligent people from foreign colonies, so that the people could best be governed" and that the government should "meet this state of public affairs by the means of such institutions and measures as would best contribute to that end."
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"I don't want to give away the end, but I've been in this for six year. I do get to do a little bit of acting, I do do a little bit of improv on stage, I get to write, I get to do a little bit of voice acting, and I get to do a little bit of stuff behind the scenes."
We'd heard this before about a possible role for her in the fifth season of The CW's The Flash, which she's already been announced to appear in. It was more of the background for a tease of a possible cameo she had in last night's episode of Supergirl.
She spoke to Entertainment Weekly, where she discussed the character of Kara Danvers and, of course, her upcoming appearance on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
EW: It's your first time on TV, but you've been in shows before: You're known for playing Cat Grant on Archie Comics' Riverdale. How did you get involved with Supergirl?
Kristin Kreuk: It was a little something that happened that I didn't know anything about, but I think I'll always be on the list of people who have played Superman or Superman's daughter. She didn't know that. She would say she played the role as an adult, and I think at the time, she just really didn't have any idea it was coming because it was such a high-profile show. They really thought this would be the next big thing so they sent me over to go audition.
I was really flattered to be part of the family. I think the writers were like 'Hey, this is really exciting', but at the same time, it's my first big TV role! So I remember watching the pilot and feeling like it could've been something else, but to also think that I was in a superhero show, which I love, I didn't think there was anything I could do on that show. That was all I thought I could do it was to play my role the best I could. Obviously, I didn't get the part, but I had fun doing it. As time went on, I didn't feel like I was on a superhero show; it was a very grounded show and the thing I liked about it most about it was how relatable the characters were for all of us and that they weren't just there to be some mystical thing. I think they're just ordinary families like mine, my mom and my dad. I really loved that. It's still so fun to get to work on that show.
EW: Do you find it easier voicing Supergirl now that she's an agent with the S.H.I.E.L.D.?
KR: It's not too hard at this point! It's fun having Kara, so I do enjoy the role, just that people that know me as a comedian will see that I am very funny. I am a goofy mom, which is different, but that's the character. So it's fun being a part of that. It's been fun so far. As a comic fan, you might find it hard, but it's really fun. Obviously, with our show, there's never a dull moment, just because there are so many storylines. It allows me to do a lot of comedy on the set, which is fun.
As Kara Danvers comes to the present day, she's not in the role that she was in a few years ago; so she may not be as cool or super powered or cool as she was in the comics. She's just a mom and she comes in and doesn't really know what she's doing. She kind of struggles with that. It's all part of the journey, and she's just a superhero now, so she's still learning. She's taking a little bit of a step up this season. Obviously that's what Supergirl is all about.
A little more from the video interview after the jump.
EW: We see Kara going to work at S.H.I.E.L.D. and you don't have any experience in that sort of world, but how did you feel, going from playing Cat Grant in Archie Comics to just working in a very big, very high-profile show, when you weren't even sure if she was going to get in?
KR: At the end of the day, I love working in shows. I love it, it's fun. I do get to do a little bit of acting, I do do a little bit of improv on stage, I get to write, I get to do a little bit of voice acting, and I get to do a little bit of stuff behind the scenes. I think that people understand what I'm saying there. I think they understand that I'm a real part of the family and that we all get along and we'll do anything for each other. I think
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TitanFall is the first game in the Titanfall series.
Contents show]
Plot Edit
"You're probably a smart dude, but you're on the wrong team, and you're not very good."
Characters Edit
Mikael Rosenkov - Pilot
(Taken by Titans)
Colonel Shaddox
Lieutenant Gage
Wyatt Conrad
Marine Cpl. Gage (Titanfall)
Marine Cpl. Griggs (Titanfall)
Marine Cpl. Bajula (Titanfall)
Marine Cpl. Crenshaw (Titanfall)
Marine Cpl. Saldores (Titanfall)
Marine Cpl. White (Titanfall)
Cpl. Gage (Titanfall)
Cpl. Gage's Squad (Titanfall)
Cpl. Saldores (Titanfall)
Cpl. White (Titanfall)
Wyatt Conrad
Marine Cpl. White
Wyatt Conrad's Squad (Titanfall)
Cpl. Saldores (Titanfall)
Cpl. Saldores' Squad (T the Titans)
Cpl. Gage (Titanfall)
Cpl. Gage's Squad (Titanfall)
Videos Edit
The First Episode
Titanfall - First Episode PC
The First Episode
Titanfall's Intro PC
Titanfall's Opening
Titanfall Intro PC
Titanfall Intro TV
Titanfall Intro
Titanfall Gameplay
New Gameplay Intro PC
New Gameplay Intro
New Gameplay Intro TV
New Gameplay Intro
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay PC
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay PC
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall Intro 1
Titanfall Intro 2 PC
Titanfall Intro 3 PC
Titanfall Intro 4 PC
Titanfall Intro 5 PC
Titanfall Intro 6 PC
Titanfall Intro 7 PC
Titanfall Intro 8 PC
Titanfall Intro 9 PC
Titanfall Intro 10 PC
Titanfall Intro 11 PC
Titanfall Intro 12 PC
Titanfall Intro 13 PC
The Second Episode
Titanfall Second Gameplay
Titanfall Second Gameplay PC
Titanfall Second Gameplay
Titanfall Second Gameplay PC
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay PC
Titanfall First Gameplay
Titanfall First Gameplay TV
Titanfall Introduction PC
The Third Episode
Titanfall 2 Gameplay PC
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Django 1.10 released
Today we're excited to release Django 1.10, the biggest release since Django 1.0.
As always, we're pleased with the momentum behind the project and the contributions we're receiving. This is a tremendous opportunity to polish, improve and expand the best Python web development framework there is.
What's new in Django 1.10
New in Django 1.10 are:
The Django 1.10 release is only the beginning. We've planned many more features to come after our current roadmap. As always, you can download Django 1.10 from the Django download page and get Django 1.9 as well.
Notable new features
The biggest change to Django in Django 1.10 is the introduction of Template Toolkit. Using Template Toolkit you can build your own templating engine in minutes by importing the django.template.tempotest module. It is based on django.template.toolkit.FrameworkChoice and extends the basic concepts to a generic templating engine for your Django projects. As a bonus it also lets you define your template with HTML5/Javascript using the {{%html %}} and {{%javascript %}} tags. It can be used on any template using the import django.http.HttpContexts.loaders , and can be imported alongside from django.template.toolkit .
Temporary files
One problem that we heard about in our previous Django 1.9 release was how to handle temporary files such as images. For example, this is how you can upload a .gif image file from disk to a disk image host:
upload( 'myimg.gif', 'my_app_file_name@foo.png', media_type='image/gif', name='myfile' )
That works great if you have a lot of small image files, but if you have a big site with many image files, then it can get tricky. We recommend you use either the django.template.tempdir package, or the django.template.tmp module, depending on your application. Both of these are documented on the Django docs site under django-templating-utils, django-templedirs and django-templating-engine respectively.
New user management
For many users, the last thing they want to deal with is the complexity of adding a user to a Django database. We've included tools to make it easier to add, modify and delete users without worrying about the internals of the framework. We started off by introducing the auth_user helper that can be used in two ways. The first is to make a Django model instance with user information and use it as a user:
from django.contrib.auth.models import Meta class MyApplicationUser ( models . Model ): address = models . CharField ( max_length = 15 ) birthday = models . DateTimeField ( auto_now_add = True )
The second use case for auth_user is to add a User object that can't be stored in an existing table, and that is stored instead in the admin database.
from django.contrib.auth.models import Meta class MyApplicationAdminUser ( admin . ModelAdmin ): user = User . objects . create ( name = 'myappuser' )
There is also the auth_register and auth_regist methods to add and manage users in the admin database. These make use of the same functions you would call if you were adding a user to an existing model.
New authlib
The most significant new component of Django 1.10 is a new set of APIs and views that enable you to get authorization information from users. It's a powerful way to authenticate users in your application in a more simple and efficient way than the existing auth system in Django.
For more details check out the auth.html specification.
Password changes
For users the primary problem facing them when using the django admin is updating passwords and passwords files. This new feature lets you provide an error when a password has changed while you are editing a password file. The update.save_exceptions setting defaults to False , which is a more convenient default.
With the new functionality a password can be updated while another action is happening in the same session. For example a user can use the password field, update a password for that file and then save the saved file. This can simplify the process of editing a password file.
django.contrib.auth.models import DjangoCookieAuth from django.contrib.auth.fields import PasswordChangeField from django.contrib.auth.models import RequestProxy from django.contrib.auth.utils import get_preflight_data set_preflight() class PasswordChangeField ( PasswordChangeField ): model = PasswordChange
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When I started reading my copy of the first volume of the Harry Potter series, I quickly realized that I just could not stay away from the dark and mysterious world created by J.K. Rowling. From the outset, I found her Harry to be a more interesting Harry than other versions, and so, after finishing this second volume in the series, I am back on board the fan bandwagon. Even though this is going to be more of a review and analysis on what is presented in the story rather than a discussion on the plot, I did choose this as my next reading as that is how I usually consume things and since I wanted to start reading after some positive thoughts and reviews of the first volume, I had to start with my favorite character.
So, if you have not read Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, be sure to check it out. It has some pretty serious spoilers for the current plot as is expected of a first book, but it is also something that will stick around as a favorite for many. For those still not convinced what I am talking about, then I suggest that you read some of the reviews of this first volume which is why I started with the first volume in my list. There are several things that I think will not go unnoticed for some readers and I guess that has become my job as I keep up with each of the different fan blogs for these books. Now, with the series ending this May, there is plenty of time for others to share their own analysis on what this book contains, so let's get into it.
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, and the Dark Arts
In my personal opinion, the main thrust of Potter and the Dark Arts is that of evil. The main characters, Harry, Snape, and Draco Malfoy, all have dark pasts that are reflected in the actions they perform for the Order of the Phoenix for which they are tasked. In general, everyone seems to have dark secrets, but the big names of the Order that the main characters are tasked with following have some very dark backgrounds and have killed people with what some people consider to be a pretty dark reason for doing so. In addition, there are some pretty shocking moments in this book and I personally found some of them to be very graphic. Overall, I personally did not like these particular moments at all. Although there were moments where some people were shown to be very sympathetic or heroic, they were always overshadowed by moments of violence and shock that I thought did not serve the main theme.
I was glad to see people from the Order doing some good for some other people in the beginning, but I thought that the evil that the trio represents eventually started to take over the entire picture. And, while it is certainly not what J.K. Rowling was aiming for when she created her characters, I did think that it was interesting and somewhat unique.
Potter in the Dark
Harry, Ron, and Hermione are students at Hogwarts, which is a very high-ranking magical school where all wizards and witches are trained to be the best witches and wizards they can be. They are also expected to be very brave and selfless in what they do. The main premise of the book focuses on some of their adventures and problems as they explore the wizarding world and the Dursleys. I was glad to see that after the introduction of Hermione's friends, we were once again presented with a bunch of different side characters. While some of them are more important than others to the plot later on in the season and some of them may even affect the plot, they still had their own problems and concerns.
I really liked the beginning of the book since the Dursleys are portrayed as just a bunch of incompetent people who have given Harry and Ron a very hard time while Hermione tries to keep Harry distracted with activities that are not part of the book. By the time Ron is a student, the Dursleys have basically given Harry a free pass. It is quite clear that something bad happened in the past that left the Dursleys the way they are. And, of course, Harry has to deal with this. He even spends the next few chapters trying to figure out what this bad thing was and what caused it. This is, without a doubt, the most dramatic change in Harry's life that we have ever seen. I think that this change was really interesting, particularly since it made no sense to me. I really liked how this change did not just lead to Harry being miserable as some did, but it really did affect the relationship that he had with his uncle. Harry, who never really knew his old house was so horrible and disgusting was actually shocked and was completely taken aback by how poor of a family he now lived in. I really thought that this was an excellent start to the book and it has definitely changed my perception of the series.
So, now I would like to address the question most people have had. How did Rowling make Harry Potter become so popular?
I do not know
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1. Scrambled Eggs
2. Omelette
3. Frittata
4. Poached Eggs
5. Shakshuka
6. Huevos Rancheros
7. Egg Salad
8. Quiche
9. Egg and Cheese Sandwich
10. Eggs Benedict
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In 2010, in response to a series of suicides by teens, the U.S. government announced a national plan to reduce the number of adolescents to at least 13, by banning sales to persons under 18. The move was largely expected to slow the growing sales of cigarettes to children in both the United States and Canada.
Yet tobacco products remain a big part of adolescent culture. As of December 2013, an estimated 2.3 million Canadians aged 15 to 19 reported that they had consumed some form of tobacco in the past week. The vast majority of these products–cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, etc.–are available in Canada in plain packaging, and most tobacco products currently sold in Canada do not have age warnings.
The recent public awareness campaign "Make Tobacco Plain" (MTBF) and its associated campaign for plain packaging of tobacco products are aimed at reversing this trend, for the sake of public health.
However, the current public health initiative is not without its shortcomings. In particular, its focus on plain packaging and restrictions on advertising to youth only partially reflects the overall harm that adolescents face from tobacco products.
The evidence of an association between exposure to tobacco advertising and exposure to tobacco use is well established. Adolescents who view tobacco ads on television and in the print media appear more likely to be exposed to smoking and tobacco product advertisements and to be smoking. Adolescent boys and girls who view tobacco ads are more likely to smoke, and are more likely to attempt to quit tobacco.
The MTBF campaign does not attempt to control how tobacco advertisements are produced but instead suggests the potential risks for youth. Given their age and the lack of effective advertising, it is not surprising that the majority of youth surveyed in the MTBF campaign indicate that they do not think tobacco advertising is an issue for their lives.
This means that even if all youth smoking rates were to be cut for one year, the campaign would only help to reduce current youth consumption of 10 million cigarettes.
As a result of the MTBF's policy agenda, we would expect to see some significant impact on youth consumption of tobacco products. Yet, the evidence of any effects of the campaign is not as strong as one would expect. In fact, it appears that even though youths appear to be less attracted to tobacco products, their tobacco use remains unchanged.
Why are these conflicting results obtained? One possibility is that the findings on youth consumption are due to an increase in tobacco product use among youth that is not captured in the survey data. For instance, youth surveyed may be more likely to smoke tobacco after viewing advertisements on television or in print media. Another possibility is that the MTBF's focus on tobacco marketing and marketing restrictions, combined with the lack of a restriction on advertising to youths, could result in the result one would expect.
The findings of the following study help to shed light on these important topics.
Findings
The following research studies were conducted to assess the effect of MTBF and its associated advertisements on tobacco product use among youth from age 11 to 14.
A survey of 9,827 youth in British Columbia and Alberta from September 1, 2012, through December 31, 2013 revealed the following results.
1. A significant increase in the percentage of youth who reported smoking tobacco products (from 11.4% in 2011 to 13.2% in 2012).
2. A significant increase in the number who reported using any smoking cessation product in 2011 (from 1.7% to 2.1%) and 2012 (from 7.8% to 9.4%).
3. A significant decrease in the number who reported never being offered a tobacco product (from 10.4% to 7.6%).
4. Of the youths surveyed, 5.6% reported that they had started smoking in 2013.
5. Of the youths surveyed, 0.0% continued smoking during 2012
6. Of the youths surveyed, 3.5% stopped smoking in 2011
7. Of the youths surveyed, 18.4% reported that they did not offer the MTBF campaign to others in 2013 (or attempted to do so at least once)
8. Of the youths surveyed, 33.5% reported that their parents attempted to dissuade them from smoking (or tried to dissuade them from smoking in 2012)
The results are consistent with the evidence in that it indicates that exposure to advertisements promoting tobacco products is associated with increased use by youth. This finding is also consistent with the notion that interventions should target advertising in the same way that any other product marketing is targeted.
The MTBF campaigns are designed to prevent youth consumption and sales of some tobacco products, even if some youth may choose to continue smoking. Yet, even if youth continue to engage in tobacco use, their smoking rate remains unchanged. The lack of an increase in the number of smokers (even though the average age of first use is down) suggests that the campaign does not discourage or prevent smoking by youth.
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If you love Chicago Cubs Vs Detroit Tigers your search ends here. We have the best Chicago Cubs Vs Detroit Tigers sports streams online. Check our Chicago Cubs Vs Detroit Tigers schedule for all live events, all free. Chicago Cubs Vs Detroit Tigers available on mobile and desktop.
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Calls for a review of Britain's air strikes in Syria have been rejected by the Government, which says its mission is lawful - despite it killing three women and 15 children.
Britain's most senior military officer, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Jackson, wrote to Jeremy Corbyn this week calling for a fresh debate in Parliament.
In his letter, Sir Mike said there were serious and unresolved legal questions about the role of the RAF.
He said: "Clearly, a review is required. However, there is not a sufficient basis to hold a new vote in parliament at present.
"The legal basis for UK airstrikes on Syria has not yet been resolved. This has not been done by anyone who has been in government or who has sat on the public bench.
"This is not merely relevant in the UK. Any such investigation would need to consider issues in a number of national jurisdictions."
The letter to the Labour leader is one of the first indications of Labour's intention to challenge the Government over military action in the conflict.
Image copyright @SaraGoddard11
The Labour leader has already written to the prime minister asking him to consider the legality of military action and come back to Parliament with that information before military strikes in Syria are launched.
But the Government said it was already clear that air strikes in Syria were lawful - despite the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, as well as other alleged abuses by rebels.
A British military source told the BBC: "It is not for the House of Commons to say what air strikes can or could not be.
"The Prime Minister has sought to explain the legal basis with regard to British involvement and this is the position on which we will maintain."
'Dirty bombs'
Writing in Friday's Observer newspaper, Sir Mike said the Government's case for UK involvement in a bombing campaign against the Assad regime and its allies has "suffered from a lack of clarity".
He wrote: "When I left the RAF in 2012 as Group Captain and took up the role of Chief of the Defence Staff, I had the great privilege of overseeing the end of the Falklands war, a decade before the start of this conflict.
"This is not to say that military action is an easy or straightforward job, but I do not think it's the job of MPs to legislate on military questions of national security.
"There is a strong argument for a meaningful parliamentary debate - not now, but when and if the debate warrants it. It does not do any good to leave this unresolved any longer."
In November, Mr Corbyn backed a call by shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn for the UK to take action against the Assad regime.
In a joint parliamentary question to the government, Labour MP John Woodcock and SNP MP Angus Robertson said military action against Syrian government forces would be "an act of war or a threat of war".
The UK is the fourth-largest contributor of international humanitarian assistance to Syria; in the year to 30 September, Britain sent £9.5bn to help Syrian refugees - that is £6.4bn more than last year.
Image copyright PA Image caption Hilary Benn has said he is against military action until MPs are given a vote in Parliament on whether to intervene
But Labour MEP for the Eastern European country of Moldova, David Martin, said action against Syria had not been backed by MPs, and if the MPs' votes were taken into account, then the UN would probably have to intervene.
"I was surprised to be greeted with this letter by the House of Commons authorities," he said. "There is a long-standing tradition of the British government not taking part in military conflicts outside of its own borders."
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Political Landscape: U.S. Government Challenges Essay (Critical Writing)
The Political landscape holds that the American government has made it possible for all its citizens to access both jobs and services. It is believed that everyone enjoys equal opportunities.
The political landscape discusses the key issues that challenge the American government, and what has been done to stop them. The issue of ethnocentrism is discussed. The journal states that times have changed for the American nations, and they have come a long way in battling with discrimination among its people.
America has diversity of culture, since people from all walks of life are seen in this great nation. In the past, the African-Americans were treated as inferior people.
There was a long fight before they were recognized as American citizens and access education. They were also not allowed to ride in the buses the white people took to work. The battle for equality has been a long and tedious one, but it has brought liberation to the African-Americans. However, it is not over, yet, because, in certain institutions, they are still considered second-class citizens.
Women, on the other hand, have also made their mark in the professional industry. In the past, they were considered to be homemakers, but with time they have also been allowed to learn alongside their male counterparts and compete for similar jobs. Women have also been liberated since they have also been empowered by the laws that allow them to access and use family planning. This means that they are allowed to make the choice of whether they can have children or not.
To some level, this is true, but there is no reason why most of the affluent estates are mainly occupied by white people. There is also no explanation why majority of the top jobs are taken by males, yet these jobs should be shared equally between males and females.
In addition to that, if the laws show that all citizens are equal, then what would be the account for the Native Americans being marginalized or located in reserves while the government imposes their laws on them? There is also no explanation why the Mexicans are viewed as drug dealers yet; not all Mexicans are engaged in drugs.
America has also shifted from agricultural to industrial and to post-industrial economic jobs. The older people are also more involved in politics than the young generation. This might be because they had first-hand experience in the First World War and World War II. They, therefore, value their freedom and democracy.
For the younger generations, they are less involved in politics and voting. Education is seen as a tool that is to empower students. They get more information on their American history, and this would serve to make them understand the fight of their forefathers for freedom. This is in an attempt to make the students appreciate their history and more so to make them more patriotic to their nation.
In conclusion, the American nation is rich in culture since it is composed of people from all walks of life. It has also come a long way in trying to incorporate all these people. Much has been done but much is still yet to be done since the nation is still crippled by some degree of racism ethnocentrism. Women have been empowered in writing, but in practice, they are still being viewed as being unworthy to compete for the same opportunities as the men (Connor and Sabato 1-24).
The federal government is one that allows states to develop independently, but they are governed under the same laws and regulations. States are, therefore, allowed to make their economic decisions on their own but at the end of the day they are answerable to the federal law. Business and commerce should be the ruled by state law. This gives the different states the chance to explore their opportunities.
They get the chance to experiment, and this even gives them a competitive edge. The federal government serves to regulate states so that tyranny is not propagated. The national government has the authority to control the revenue. The constitutional government allows states to have authority to punish the member of the states when they commit offences, and this is applicable in cases where someone goes against federal law.
To make laws in all states equal, when members of one states cross the boundary and go into another state, they are supposed to be governed by the laws that govern the host state. States also share laws with other states, judicial proceedings among other things. It also is stated that a fugitive who flees into another state has the right to be deported back to the state where he or she is wanted.
The federal law holds the right to govern the welfare of its members, and if it deems it right, it can take measures to regulate security, commerce and laws of a state. For instance, the federal government decided to build a military station in Hawaii after it decided to increase security.
This was followed by unceasing protest from the state leaders who felt that they were supposed to rule themselves. The Hawaiians also feel that the federal government has also been actively involved in their displacement, and they have been forced to reserved areas and they feel oppressed.
In other instances, the federal law comes into play when there is trading between states or when states trade with countries of other nations. Since most of the times, the laws governing one state are the same laws presiding over another state; the states are allowed to share laws.
However, in certain situations, certain laws may be considered repugnant and they are unworthy of being made uniform. For instance, the Hawaiian law legalizing same-sex marriages was considered unacceptable, and the federal government decided that it would only remain legalized in Hawaii alone.
For most nations, they would want independence from the federal government because sometimes it curtails their freedom. However, as much as it seems like the enemy, it is also involved in offering financial aid and grants to states. It may also regulate the activities of states; partially or fully preempt the states from their debts with the federal fund.
In conclusion, the federal government acts as a body that acts on behalf of the welfare of its people. It ensures that the people under its rule are treated equally under the law, but they are allowed to explore different endeavors, as long as, they are within the federal law. This also ensures that there is an equal opportunity for growth and experimentation (Connor and Sabato 90-110).
Works Cited
Connor, Karen, and Larry Sabato. American Government: Roots and Reform . New York: Pearson Longman, 2009.
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Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) ripped a report that President Trump is planning on ending DACA with a six-month delay, accusing him of "heeling to his shrinking base."
"If [Trump] was interested in healing our nation, he wouldn't end [DACA]. His decision is based on heeling to his shrinking base," Lieu tweeted Sunday.
If @realDonaldTrump was interested in healing our nation, he wouldn't end #DACA. His decision is based on heeling to his shrinking base. https://t.co/yjozk69MTp — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 4, 2017
DACA, started by former President Obama, temporarily protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
The Politico report says that Trump plans to announce an end to the program, but with a six-month delay apparently intended to give Congress the chance to carve out exceptions.
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Nearly 800,000 people have used the program so far to receive work permits and deportation deferrals.
Lieu, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, has spoken out against Trump ending the program.
"Message of the GOP to minorities. Please join our party. We love you, we really do. But first we need to deport your children," Lieu tweeted Thursday.
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Dana Spiotta's fourth novel, Innocents and Others, tracks the life and career of Meadow Mori, a maker of experimental films that blur lines between the documentary and the fictional and enter into murky ethical territory. It's a measure of Spiotta's daring that her emphasis falls on her fictional artist's works more than on the little dramas that sometimes fuel her and, less often, distract her. (Meadow can be a bit cold to those close to her.) There's a tension inherent in this design: The novel that we're reading is in competition with the films that we're reading about — films that don't exist outside its pages. Part of the novel's circuitry is that we're told that the films aren't entirely successful, and just how they fail. What that means for the novel itself is another question.
Spiotta's 2001 debut, Lightning Field, was a trenchant study of frustrated lives on the fringes of Hollywood, told in a lyric prose that rendered spellbinding quotidian images like the soaking of a sugar cube in a cup of diner coffee. The prose of her next two novels was more restrained — with shorter, less sinuous, if no less lovely sentences — but each had a more elaborate narrative and historical framework. Eat the Document tracked members of the underground through the revolutionary '70s and their '90s afterlives ("A commune and a corporate community aren't all that different"). In Stone Arabia a sister observes her frustrated brother in middle age creating an elaborate false autobiography of his life as a rock star. All of these books are tales of people who conjure alternate selves to cope with the way popular culture, consumerism, and political upheavals render their real identities inadequate. It's a theme tackled head-on in Innocents and Others, when an artist whose business it is to render other people's alternate selves meets a woman who might be her ideal subject. The new book dispenses almost entirely with narrative niceties (which might get in the way of that big idea), and its shifting points of view, conspicuous elisions, and false leads heighten the stakes.
Meadow Mori, like many of Spiotta's characters, is a native of Los Angeles with familial ties to the film industry. (Spiotta's family moved to L.A. when she was 13, and her father ran Francis Ford Coppola's studio Zoetrope.) Meadow is the sort of high-school student whose class projects tend toward elaborate homages to Orson Welles and Andy Warhol. Welles is one of her abiding obsessions, and the novel's opening section is a straight-faced faux memoir of an affair she had with him as a 17-year-old. "Fanfiction," one of her students later calls it: Her Welles recites Shakespeare, has a perfect memory, does magic tricks, and writes her love letters he leaves in the books she's reading, until the day he croaks. Meadow is given to self-mythologizing and pursuing the fulfillment of others' myths. After high school, in the mid-1980s, she moves to Gloversville, New York — a real town, northwest of Albany — and sets up in a warehouse she calls Volta Cinematograph, after a failed movie theater James Joyce founded in Dublin; Meadow fancies herself following in the footsteps of Nicholas Ray, who formed a collective with his students upstate after he was abandoned by Hollywood in the 1970s. The region is also the ancestral home of the Fonda clan. (Innocents and Others spills over with film trivia; "thank you to the internet for always being there for me," Spiotta writes in her acknowledgments, somewhat giving away the game.) It's in Gloversville that Meadow's progress begins, with attempts to make a film about trains.
When the train film goes nowhere new, she turns her camera on her boyfriend, an oversexed androgynous local teenager nicknamed Deke. "I do fuck all the girls I can," Deke says in a transcript of their interview. He also tells of being picked up by a middle-aged man, whom he then assaults and leaves bleeding by his car. "His poor stupid face. Like I think about him sometimes and I fucking hit my head to make it go away, I am so ashamed." On-camera, he's drunk on whiskey and in tears, and Meadow cuts the film so that he's seen sober, watching her edit the footage, "what the Maysles brothers did to Mick Jagger in Gimme Shelter." With the help of her high-school friend Carrie, now a film student at NYU, she places Portrait of Deke in festivals and wins a couple of prizes. Meadow's career is launched.
By this point a separate narrative strand has been creeping in that will soon join with Meadow's. Jelly is a "phone phreak" who makes calls to powerful men in the
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Wikis as an Educational Tool Research Paper
Table of Contents
1. Introduction of the Concept of Wiki
2. How do Wikis Allow Users to Place Content on the Web
3. Wide Range of Topics found on Wikipedia
4. Use of Wiki as Training or Learning tool
5. References
Introduction of the Concept of Wiki
A wiki is a website that runs on wiki software that offers a simple mark-up language editing functionality or to as what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) (Wikipedia, n.d.). Wiki is a collection of webpages that are interlinked and are editable by a person viewing the webpage.
Wikis serve as the humblest content management systems that allow collaborative work. As a content management system, the wiki software provides a template for the layout of each page that make up the wiki (Brian, n.d.).
How do Wikis Allow Users to Place Content on the Web
The simplicity of a wiki lies in the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) mark-up language that allows anybody with or without the knowledge of computer programing language and with a basic literacy of computers and the internet to edit a page or create a new page on the wiki. Editing and creation of new pages occurs in real time and changes are noticeable immediately on the wiki.
The real-time feature and ease of editing makes wikis great collaboration tools. The wiki software that manages how content appears on the wiki offers a rigid input structure that ensures all content added to the wiki appear in the same manner on the whole wiki.
A person editing the wiki can only type in, insert hyperlinks and to some extent can upload facility for multimedia content is availed. People who wish to edit wikis need to log into the site (Brian, n.d.).
Wide Range of Topics found on Wikipedia
Wikipedia is currently the most popular wiki in the world. It offers about eight million pages that have been interlinked and are editable by anyone who can access the wiki. According to Wikipedia (n.d.), the site offers 18 million articles that are a product of voluntary collaboration.
The English version of the wiki has over 3.6 million articles. As of 2008, Wikipedia had covered the following subjects: culture and the arts, biographies and persons, geography and places, society and social sciences, history and events, natural and the physical sciences, technology and the applied sciences, religions and belief systems, health, mathematics and logic, thought and philosophy (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Use of Wiki as Training or Learning tool
The collaborative nature of wiki makes it more of a way of working rather than a tool because the density of the collaboration defines the wiki. Wikis offer subject specific repositories and provide a real opportunity for increasing knowledge distribution on a given topic because of the wiki’s ease of deployment across the internet (Smith, n.d.)
There are several approaches of using wikis in the teaching or learning process. The most common is the cooperative or collaborative paradigm where students form heterogeneous groups that maintain and facilitate individual learning.
The main advantage of the setting is that it nourishes a positive interdependence among the group members while enhancing the individual accountability and appropriate development and use of collaborative skills (Parker & Chao, 2007). Wikis facilitate computer-supported collaboration and this is extendable to the learning process.
The wiki serves as a knowledge platform on which members of a collaborating community share interesting work together and discuss issues that concern the common work among them (Parker & Chao, 2007).
Since wikis meet the requirements of any successful community of practice, they provide the best means of collaborative work. Students can use wikis to conduct group discussions with their fellow students or collaborate on class assignments for student groups.
Secondly, there is the constructivist paradigm that view knowledge and meaning as a construction rather than a natural occurrence. This approach emphasizes on the learner interaction to be active and manipulative, constructive and reflective, authentic, challenging and conversational as well as meet real world cooperative and collaborative expectations.
To fit into this category of learning tools, wikis allow learners to be explicit in their reflection of the learnt material. In addition, wikis offers rich and flexible functionality that transcends the minimal technological barriers presented. Given that people learn by social and communal activities, wikis assist to enact knowledge when used educationally because they provide a community-focused approach (Parker & Chao, 2007).
Other than group collaborations, wikis allow a dyadic collaboration of teacher and student on a given topic because of its real-time editing structure. Such collaboration is achievable in form of writing articles and irrespective of the geographical location of the participants (Parker & Chao, 2007). The open nature of wikis broadens their use depending on the imagination of the user.
Current popular forms of educational wiki are single user wikis for personal collection and editing of thoughts, lab book wikis for students to keep notes online for peer reviewing, collaborative writing wikis for joint writing and knowledge base wikis for providing a knowledge repository (Smith, n.d.).
Educational areas that best adapt to use of wiki are project-based learning that rely on wikis for project planning and documentations. Secondly, online education uses wikis to disseminate information to allow group discussions of geographically distant students as well as form knowledge repositories for online classes.
The final benefit of wiki in education is the ability to freeze them by making them private so that information contained in them cannot be edited thus creating a knowledge artifact (Parker & Chao, 2007).
References
Brian, M. (n.d.). How wikis work . Retrieved from how stuff works: https://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/wiki1.htm
Parker, K. R., & Chao, J. T. (2007). Wiki as a Teaching tool. (A. Koohang, Ed.) Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects, 3 : 57-72.
Smith, C. (n.d.). Wikis and Education . Retrieved from Shambles: http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/wikiedu/
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Wiki . Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
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The most widely accepted theory is that the universe began with an incredibly dense and hot state, known as the Big Bang, nearly 14 billion years ago. Over time, the universe inflated and cooled, leading to the formation of stars, galaxies, and planets, among other celestial bodies.
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Marriott International Company Opportunities Essay
With a variety of famous and magnificent hotels and resorts, Marriot International is the favoured retreat and business destination for most people. Here, guests are treated with flexible booking options, an outstanding care, and varied destinations in an exceptional sumptuous surrounding.
Marriot International is among the largest international operators in hotels and cottage amenities. It was established in 1927 by J. Marriot in Washington D.C. Initially, Marriot together with his wife started out with a root beer tavern not knowing that it would expand and become an international retreat centre.
The tavern then increased into a series of restaurant s and pubs. In 1959, Marriott established the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, which then was then the best operating hotel ever established. It incorporated 3100 properties. Currently, the company possesses more than 3000 lodging facilities in the United states of America and other 500 lodging facilities distributed all over the world.
Marriot’s son, who is the current CEO, spearheaded this growth. In the year 1992, the company divided into Marriot International and Host Marriot corp. It was not until 2002, when the company restructured. Marriot International then centred on hotel management.
Towards May 1995, the company purchased 50% interest in Carlton Hotel Company intended at generating additional sales and profits. The following year, Marriott international fully owned Carlton and took over its management. As a result, Marriot financed Carlton into a profitable business and assisted them with their expertise. During this period, Carlton regained its power and recognition in the market.
Despite its tremendous success, Marriott has suffered tremendous setbacks. In 2001, during the 9/11 attacks, Marriott World Trade Centre was destroyed and subsequently in 2003 the Marriott hotel bombing occurred. These two attacks caused a significant decline in the number of bookings, and a reduction in the profit margins in the year 2001 and 2003.
By the year 2004, Marriott became the first hotel to serve free Trans fats food in the US. Two years later, the company affirmed that it was going to ban smoking in all its lodging properties in North America. This ban affected all guest rooms, lounges, and public facilities in the company.
In the year 2011, the company announced that they aimed at establishing 600 hotels before the year 2015 and that they were going to prioritize on the growing economies like China and India. At the beginning of this year, Marriott began the construction of the tallest hotel in the globe. The hotel is situated in United Arab Emirates and it comprises over 2000 rooms. In addition, it occupies an area of 5000 square metres.
Constantly, Marriott has offered interns and college graduates the best opportunities vital to the growth of their future careers. These opportunities vary from part time to full time and from one country to another. With respect to the interns, they will be exposed to diverse disciplines at the company.
Marriott’s brands consist of distinctive guest experience hence students are offered the opportunity to nurture their career as they apply the theoretical knowledge learned in class. Through this, students gain experience on how to handle various roles when they start to work.
Regarding the management programs, students are equipped with management skills and given an opportunity to explore their talents through various activities in the workplace. Mostly, Students are encouraged to concentrate in the areas that they are gifted for effective outcomes. These areas include accounting, food and beverages, room operations, spa services and sales and marketing.
Marriott offers various opportunities to graduates across all disciplines. The company offers several posts in the treasury and corporate finance departments to graduates specialized in accounting and finance. Regarding the food and beverages specialist, Marriott offers a variety of skills in management and supervision. An individual can work in various scenarios such as serving individuals or large groups.
With respect to information technology experts, Marriott offers numerous opportunities since advancement in Information technology has enabled it to remain operational and deliver the best services to its customers on vacations. Therefore, not only will they be paid well, but also they will be presented with several opportunities to enhance their career.
There are numerous benefits of Marriott enjoyed by the guests and employees. First, employees are given an opportunity to work in the best hospitality company in the world. In addition, the company acknowledges every individual’s effort by rewarding hardworking employee. These rewards include access to expensive rooms, foods, and beverages at Marriott locations all over the world.
Concerning its guest, the company ensures that they are given the best services such as flexible booking options and varied resorts and destinations. With the advancement of technology, booking for an accommodation at Marriott has become significantly simplified. The company uses the most current software compared with other hospitality companies in the world.
Through this software, guests’ information is stored making it readily accessible when necessary. Marriott’s varied resorts and destination means that guests are presented with a variety of options to choose from. Therefore, one can visit several destinations while enjoying the same outstanding services.
Many countries, especially the developing ones, depend on hospitality industries as their main source of revenue. In this regard, Marriott has proved to be the best revenue earner to the countries in which it is situated while employing a majority of the population.
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HTC has just announced that its new One M7 will arrive "in the coming months," with the flagship smartphone slated to arrive in April 2016.
No pricing has been released, but all signs point to a premium pricing.
In terms of specifications, we're looking at an all-aluminum body with a 5.2" 1080 p display on the front and 16MP camera at the back. In terms of battery life, we're looking at up to three days of use before the battery needs a charge.
The latest HTC One M7 specs: 16MP rear camera, f/2.0 camera, 3D Touch display and HTC BoomSound. pic.twitter.com/n9yU5cE4eQ — Thomas Lohnes (@thomas_lohnes) February 5, 2016
HTC says that it has improved the battery capacity of the new One M7 with over 35% more battery capacity over the One M8 (3554 mAh to 3274 mAh).
HTC One M7 specs:
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The New York Times has in the last few weeks been trying to push its "unprecedented" Russia-Trump collusion claim as a means of delegitimizing the presidency of Donald Trump in the eyes of the people, especially the news media, and of preventing the Republican Party from taking the reins away from the anti-Trump, establishment Republicans and allowing Trump to make his own way in the GOP, as he stated during his campaign, and as so many in the media and among his opponents in the party were calling for.
This is what the New York Times editorial board wrote recently after Trump's "Saturday Night Live" attack on his opponent, Hillary Clinton during a weekend performance in which Alec Baldwin portrayed the now-president as a crude man-baby. "It was, as The New York Times has acknowledged, an unprecedented assault," it went on to say.
The paper made the same argument in the lead editorial of January 19 (the day after the inauguration) when it called Republican politicians, Democrats (most prominently Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer), and most news organizations "obsessed" with this allegation and that has contributed to the situation.
And by "obsessed," they did mean that their media colleagues have made a huge fuss over the "Russiagate" accusation because there has been no evidence of the accusation and no evidence even that there was collusion, but that their media colleagues are doing "everything they can" to cover for Trump in the effort to undermine Trump.
The New York Times' "obsession" with a baseless and unsubstantiated charge on the part of Trump that Clinton was working against him from day one is part of what some in the media are trying to do to push this story as they have attempted to discredit the president as being a racist and a Russia-hater, and as they have tried to bring Republicans and others down with him — which is what their "Russiagate" charge does.
What is happening is that the New York Times' editorial board — which is the paper of record in the US — and media outlets like the Washington Post, the BBC (that was also used as propaganda tools in the past to push against the Soviet Union and Russia in general), The Huffington Post and others, including the BBC, the BBC, and the US Center for Public Integrity (which also used to be another propaganda weapon in Soviet times) are working to push anti-Trump narratives and discredit the president and his administration in an effort to try to get Republicans to come around and join the Democrats to try to have Trump's agenda pushed through the Congress, and as they try to do this, they are also trying to destroy Trump as a politician. And this is what is being done without any evidence at all. The New York Times never has been known to produce a single fact or analysis, let alone a document, that comes close to supporting this "Russiagate" story, while the Washington Post and others do regularly.
The story, as it is currently written, is that Trump was in a meeting with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the start of the transition and they had a "very friendly" discussion, even in the "overheated" days of the 2016 campaign.
The Times claims that this "has been confirmed by current and former American officials, several of whom insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations" and that "the content of the exchange was not clear."
The article also claimed that this is not how the US government generally reports that contacts with foreign officials, although US officials on the record with Breitbart have said the meeting, as reported, was very cordial. And in the past, the Russians also have denied that Russia-Trump discussions took place.
But in its current form in late January, the Times is also claiming the claim was made "on the Russian government's behalf," which means that the NYT is in the position of reporting information that a Russian government official gave them, but also reporting on Russian government claims themselves.
The New York Times is not just pushing this "Russiagate" story. The Times is also putting down other political news stories, both Democrat and Republican, that are also pushing this "Russiagate" story.
In a recent article (January 25, 2018) under the headline "Rats and Money: The Trump Team's Connections to Russian Businesses and Investors," the Times reported that, "As the administration prepares major policy announcements on trade and tax policy, several officials, including [former ExxonMobil CEO] Rex Tillerson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, have been talking to Russians in the hopes of securing business deals or gaining insights.
"That could create a trail that is more difficult for investigators to trace," the article claimed. The Times went on, "Tillerson and Mnuchin have been in the midst of a high-stakes lobbying push to build business ties, and the Trump administration itself has made overtures to business leaders since taking office."
The Times
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The Pluses and Minuses of Religion Essay
It is hard to think of anything in society that has advantages only. Almost everything has its positives and negatives. This is the case with religion. How is religion useful to society and the individual? How does religion hinder individual and community life? These are the main questions that this essay will answer.
To start with, religion is a great source of order in society. The huge numbers of people who belong to various religious groupings are advised to maintain order through the expression of love and respect for their fellow human beings. This is not to say that people who do not belong to any religion cannot maintain order. The point is that the emphasis on love for one another that is the cornerstone of the world’s major religions has been a source of order in society for a long time. The promises from God in the case of Christians, Allah for the Muslims, and Yahweh for the Jews, for good deeds, make people strive for a peaceful, orderly life. The result is an orderly community.
Secondly, the bigger religions that exist in the world today have played a major role in the alleviation of human suffering through humanitarian aid. In times of disasters, it is not uncommon to get organized religion moving in with relief for the victims. The problem may be an earthquake, a volcano eruption, a flood, or a war. In some cases, the religions take their resources directly to the people and sometimes they act as avenues through which other agencies can send help to those in need.
At the individual level, religion provides answers to man’s most pressing problems. Man has always struggled to look at something bigger that explains this earthly life. Apart from religion, there is nothing else that provides answers to questions addressing the origin of matter. Even science is not able to provide a satisfactory explanation concerning the origin of life. Concepts like evolution do not explain why a human being living in the same environment with a cow did not evolve into one creature if the idea of natural selection works. In this case, religion authoritatively reveals the existence of someone powerful; who is responsible for life on earth. What are the problems that are experienced by society and by individuals as a result of religion?
On the other hand, religion has been and still is the cause of many divisions in the world. All over the world, there are numerous divisions based on religion. These divisions include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, among others. In such a case, it becomes difficult to create a united front in dealing with life’s most pressing problems. This is especially true when there are prejudices in some of the religious groups.
At the individual level, religion can be a source of confusion due to the lack of uniformity in society. What does it benefit the individual if belonging to a certain religion puts you at odds with others? This raises personal questions of the appropriateness of one’s religion as compared to those of others. This can be disturbing to the individual.
In conclusion, religion is a source of good and bad for the individual and society. Order in communities and help in moments of need are some of the advantages of religion to society. It also provides answers to man’s most pressing problems such as the origin of life. The negatives of religion include divisions in society and confusion to the individual regarding the appropriate religion.
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The "War of the World" episode of "Supernatural" is being shown in cinemas this weekend.
It stars Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Tom Welling as Sam Winchester. Castiel appears in the flashback sequences of the episode, and the final shot features the titular archangels.
The episode was written by Andrew Dabb, who also co-wrote "Hush," which aired in September. The finale's script was directed by Richard Speight Jr. ("The Long Road Home").
On this week's "Supernatural" mid-season premiere episode, Dean (Ackles) searches for Dean's sister Molly (Rose McGowan), who, after Dean's mother's death, has moved back outside the country. He's joined by Sam (Welling). They learn that she's trying to go to Canada and get into hiding, and Sam warns Dean not to believe everything he sees on the news. But as they cross a field at dusk, they see a group of monsters. Meanwhile, Michael and Rowena (guest stars Jennifer Morrison and Naomi Campbell) track Dean to a bar where a fight broke out between Sam and some drunken guys. The fight turns nasty; Michael throws a beer bottle and leaves. However, the bottle hits Rowena and kills her. Michael tries to cover up the murder by saying that Rowena died in a car accident. Back at the motel, Sam learns that her car crash was not a suicide. Rowena is still a demon, and she's trying to get Michael to destroy the Bunker so she never needs to see him again. Sam is shocked, wondering why Michael would go out of his way to hurt Rowena. When Rowena is unable to control herself at the same time as Michael, he takes the bottle and throws it into two cars at the entrance of the Bunker. At the Bunker, Dean and Dean's demons are trapped in the Bunker along with Rowena's and Michael's, who have trapped the Winchesters and demons. They have only one chance to save everyone: kill Michael before someone else can get hurt. Michael and Rowena, the three archangels, have been searching the universe, looking for the last remaining hunter who can stop them. They find Adam (guest star Matt Ryan) on Earth, who kills Rowena with a shovel.
What are the themes in the episode?
The episode, like its predecessor, deals with the topic of war, as Dean, Sam, and Castiel hunt down people, not knowing if they are in the war or not. When Rowena was first introduced in the pilot, we saw her trying to get Michael to kill her and kill Dean and Sam, so she could not see Michael again. She and Michael, the most powerful of the archangels, have taken over the show for this season's final third. The episode, in a sense, presents the theme of the season as well: war.
The Winchesters first came into contact with demons in season 2, and then with angels in season 3's "Catching Fire." Was this an intentional and conscious choice to do so?
From the beginning of "The Fallen," we knew it would be Dean and Sam's first experience with angels. We didn't know at that point how well the show would do. It took some time, but we knew the pilot did really, really well and that it would be a really great introduction for these characters. And from there, we knew it would take longer for the show to find its footing, so we could have Dean and Sam's first angel encounter in place and start to build their story. At the same time, we didn't want them to be the only show on television with angels, because when we have one, we need more, and when the next show comes out, there might be more than one. So from the beginning, we had the two main characters [Dean and Sam] encountering and training with other angels as a way to keep up with the show's storytelling with more characters.
We also wanted to tell this story about Sam and Dean's relationship and what happens next, so it seemed natural or fitting to start with Dean coming in contact with angels, then to keep building to that. It also meant it wasn't a show-within-a-show, so every time the story of Angel and the Winchesters was in the same episode, they were all in the same universe, in the same time frame. I think people got caught up in how it looked like a different show, like one story that wasn't part of the other story. It just felt more natural that we would do the same sort of thing.
Was there anything you wanted to change about the way the show had been set up when you wrote this episode?
I wish I could say, "This will be the best story ever," but that's not the way it was for this show. This is the best story we've attempted. The
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A B.C. Supreme Court justice says it would be "unfortunate," if a B.C. Supreme Court justice would be replaced as Liberal leader following the government's decision to pull the plug on the long-running review panel into political donation laws.
Judges must be "fair and impartial," says Justice Minister Suzanne Anton, when asked how she sees Justice Robin Camp's departure from the Liberal cabinet on Jan. 31 having an effect on political impartiality in the province.
Camp had been appointed to the B.C. Provincial Court in 2005. In the wake of last September's provincial election, the NDP and Greens demanded that him be dropped from the judicial bench after it was revealed he had made political contributions to the Liberals.
Camp's lawyer, Bruce Ryder, says Camp's only "crime was the disclosure of a mistake that could have been easily avoided."
Camp, a former Crown prosecutor, said he would take legal action if Anton tried to replace him with a Tory justice.
"If the Liberals think that anyone who says you should be removed as a judge would be someone who would be a real obstacle to them in the political fight for 2017, I think it would be foolish to assume that it won't happen," he told The Tyee.
"I am being removed for the reason that the government wanted to try to be the ones to put people in a position where their political position is not so good, where your reputation might suffer, or you might be at risk of the Conservatives doing away with you," he said.
Anton did not immediately return a call from The Tyee seeking comment.
'Crown has no other power' in campaign finance laws
Camp was not asked to explain his decision to make these political donations, but it's not the first time the NDP has accused the Justice Minister of trying to influence what judges say with donors' money.
"The government has no other power than to appoint our judges," Anton told the legislature recently. "They cannot tell us how we should apply the laws that apply to them and to others. They can't tell our judges what is appropriate and illegal and what is not, or what is legitimate."
Camp was appointed by former B.C. Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido on Apr. 5, 2005, to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. After hearing case on July 15, 2005, the judges of the Court of Appeal refused to hear an appeal brought by the Liberal Party of Canada in favour of donations from donors, and parties, to their respective campaign funds.
Camp was appointed to the B.C. Provincial Court on Sept. 3, 2005, to sit on the Bismarck case where he was the only judge sitting who was not appointed by the previous Liberal government. He made headlines when the Liberal Party of Canada wanted him to sit in the Supreme Court so that he could have an "advantage" in the trial in the town.
Camp said he had decided to run for the leadership of the NDP but he would not be able to stand and still receive a salary until after the next provincial election in May 2017. He is now the interim leader of the party but has not announced whether the NDP will choose a permanent leader following the April 2017 election.
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This study has a few surprises. It also presents a fascinating study of a type of sex between two male apes of the same species. You can read about it all in our first article on the subject, here!
If you don't want to read the whole study, here are a few interesting details that should get your attention:
Sex between two male apes is very widespread throughout the animal kingdom. There are actually more male sex partners in nature than females.
It took the same sex from the same species, not a different species, to mate in this study. That's rather cool! It means that there weren't any differences between male and female mate choices in this case.
This study is the first to examine male animal sex in context. It shows that the amount of time males spend with partners is an important factor in how often they end up producing offspring.
Male sex was associated with higher levels of body fat. Body fat can be used to defend against predators and can help fight diseases and parasites. This is an important finding, because humans actually have a diet rich in protein and fat that promotes rapid development of the reproductive system.
Male apes of the same species engage in sex on a daily basis; in both wild and captive groups.
The study shows that male mating with their cousins could be the reason why male apes have lower body mass. The study's authors conclude that the reason for this might be that their body weight is greater because they are spending more time with their cousins.
Male chimpanzees are very territorial about their territories. They do engage in intense war and fighting, so the presence of another male, even his cousin, might be a risky encounter for their species.
The more sexual stimulation, the more males get to know their species like animals should. A study of humans shows that sexual activity in and of itself isn't especially important to a person's overall well being. If you're interested in the psychology and physiology of human sex, you can read more here.
I've written and talked about this topic for The Scientist before, too. In one article, I discussed the research of David Buss et. al. , who showed that men who don't have partners can be more successful as leaders. I also covered an important evolutionary question about human sexual behavior that I want to explore further in this article.
I want to bring the findings of this study to your attention, too! But first, here's a video to explain the study's results to you more clearly!
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