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Testosterone and the Prostate
Improving the Lives of Your Aging Male Patients: Considering Whether Testosterone Plays a Meaningful Role
Testosterone and the Prostate
Speaker: Gerald Brock, MD, FRCSC, Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON.
In men receiving androgen replacement therapy, the safety aspects regarding the prostate are an area of clinical importance. Dr. Gerald Brock expressed the hope that his discussion “Testosterone and the Prostate” would contribute to greater understanding, counter prevalent misinformation, and support the growing consensus that having low testosterone has adverse health consequences. Low testosterone does not confer protective effects against prostate cancer, and treatment of hypogonadal men does not elevate prostate cancer risk, he stated.
What are the risks and benefits of treating hypogonadal patients? Dr. Brock offered an illustrative case study and queried the audience about their attitudes toward treatment with exogenous testosterone.
Dr. Brock questioned whether his example patient—a 56-year-old experiencing loss of sexual drive, low energy, and mild erectile dysfunction—would be considered by his listeners to be a good candidate for supplemental testosterone. The patient has been seen previously for hypertension and elevated cholesterol, is on hypertension medication, and has mild benign prostatic hypertrophy symptoms. Further, he has a family history of prostate cancer and his last prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was 2.2ng/dl; his digital rectal exam (DRE) is normal. On testing, his total testosterone returns at 5 (N=6–26).
The audience’s response suggested widespread reluctance to treat with supplemental testosterone in this patient’s case, despite having the appropriate symptom profile. Further, he reminded audience members, testosterone improves many of the physical endpoints of concern that Dr. Jeremy Gilbert and Dr. Juan Carlos Monge spoke of.
Dr. Brock inferred from the hesitancy that the presumed risk-benefit profile of supplemental testosterone constrains clinical practice. He hoped the information he provided would support their clinical judgement as to who to treat and who to exclude from treatment.
He reviewed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging that hypogonadism increases with age, and that the percentage of men with hypogonadism increases progressively after age 50 years.1
Studies show that low total testosterone levels predicts development of worsening risk factors for the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. These findings indicate that hypoandrogenism is an early marker for perturbations in insulin and glucose metabolism that may progress to metabolic syndrome or frank diabetes.2 Further, a study from Shores et al. found that survival times were shorter in men with low or equivocal testosterone levels than in those with normal testosterone levels.3 All-cause mortality was 34.9% in men with low testosterone levels, 24.6% in men with equivocal testosterone levels, and 20.1% in men with normal testosterone levels.
Despite the positive evidence presented as to the inverse and favourable relationship between plasma testosterone and cardiovascular events as well as metabolic risk factors, he understood that compromising cancer risk was a strong and mitigating concern for those in clinical practice. Dr. Brock assured that supplemental testosterone posed no impact on those hypogonadal men with nonconcerning exam and lab profiles. From an overall health perspective, study evidence suggests hypogonadal patients will likely experience concrete benefits.
The common view that higher testosterone represents a risk factor for prostate cancer has little evidentiary support, Dr. Brock stated. Data show that cancer occurs at least as commonly in men with low testosterone as in men with higher levels. Indeed, recent evidence suggests that those men with low testosterone are likely to have aggressive prostate cancer. A recent study’s investigators concluded that the risk of prostate cancer was doubled for men with the lowest testosterone values.4 Further, the form of testosterone given does not change the risk level: studies of hypogonadal men receiving testosterone therapy using transdermal, topical, intramuscular injection, or a combination of these preparations have demonstrated a low frequency of prostate cancer.5
Dr. Brock reviewed study data showing that if a patient is on a longer-term testosterone regimen, his PSA level may indeed increase slightly (although many studies do not show this), but only to the level of a eugonadal man.6 Test results will show a modest increase in hemoglobin, in hematocrit, but on the positive side, his scores on the Aging Male Symptom Scale improve. Ultimately, investigations of testosterone’s impact on prostate tissue have shown no change in prostatic androgen concentration. In most cases, any increase in PSA seen will stay in normal range.
He reminded the audience that the Endocrine Society’s clinical practice guideline recommends a DRE of the prostate and measurement of PSA before initiating testosterone therapy. In assessing prostate health, family history is very important. Having a first-degree relative with prostate cancer doubles a patient’s risk. From his perspective and the weight of the evidence, it is not a concern to treat hypogonadal men with testosterone as long as they are closely followed. Some data suggest that actual risk lies in that segment of patients with lower testosterone levels, who may be at risk for higher grade prostate cancer.7
Dr. Brock emphasized that he should not be understood as advocating that physicians treat their patients with prostate cancer with testosterone, but if they choose to do so, in cases where men are hypogonodal and symptomatic and a risk assessment is made, there are still no grounds for concern that supplemental testosterone is perilous. Provided the patient is symptomatic, has good exam and lab results, and is closely followed with testing and DREs, treatment is not unsafe. Studies have shown that hypogonadal men treated with androgen replacement therapy show no evidence of elevated PSA, cancer recurrence, or distant spread of cancer (Figure 1).8,9
In closing, Dr. Brock emphasized that eugonadal testosterone levels are important for good overall health and sexual well-being. Clinical benefits of testosterone therapy include improved libido, erectile function, better cardiovascular health, reduced metabolic syndrome risk factors, and better body composition. There is no evidence that testosterone increases prostate cancer risk, and some evidence suggests that hypogonadism increases aggressive prostate cancer risk. It is increasingly understood that hypogonadism and not its treatment is correlated with multiple poor health outcomes, and is a diagnosis of true concern.
1. Harman SM, Metter EJ, Tobin JD, Pearson J, Blackman MR; Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Longitudinal effects of aging on serum total and free testosterone levels in healthy men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001;86:724–31.
2. Laaksonen DE, Niskanen L, Punnonen K, et al. Testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin predict the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged men. Diabetes Care 2004;27:1036–41.
3. Shores MM, Matsumoto AM, Sloan KL, et al.. Low serum testosterone and mortality in male veterans. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1660–5.
4. Morgentaler A, Rhoden EL. Prevalence of prostate cancer among hypogonadal men with prostate-specific antigen levels of 4.0 ng/mL or less. Urology 2006;68:1263–7.
5. Rhoden EL, Morgentaler A. Risks of testosterone-replacement therapy and recommendations for monitoring. N Engl J Med 2004;350:482–92.
6. Saad F, Gooren LJ, Haider A, Yassin A. A dose-response study of testosterone on sexual dysfunction and features of the metabolic syndrome using testosterone gel and parenteral testosterone undecanoate. J Androl 2008;29:102–5.
7. Schatzl G, Madersbacher S, Thurridl T, et al. High-grade prostate cancer is associated with low serum testosterone levels. Prostate 2001;47:52–8.
8. Agarwal PK, Oefelein MG. Testosterone replacement therapy after primary treatment for prostate cancer. J Urol 2005;173:533–6.
9. Kaufman JM, Graydon RJ. Androgen replacement after curative radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer in hypogonadal men. J Urol 2004;172:920–22.
Sponsored by an unrestricted educational grant from Solvay Pharma Inc. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '52', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9135519862174988}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '36452', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:UKOCMDMM5U72YJZRHYOPOVRE4Z5PIAGN', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:60c863b6-6703-4f02-a418-5d81a9f5618b>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 8, 17, 21, 24, 15), 'WARC-IP-Address': '208.76.106.93', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:DWDVXF5ATX4UJCJP55VOG4SS2BR2AS4M', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:95c88163-1182-4380-a026-f2a9a770363f>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://healthplexus.net/article/testosterone-and-prostate', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:0d420361-291a-4456-91db-4d31cae2049b>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '1233', 'url': 'http://healthplexus.net/article/testosterone-and-prostate', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-166-28-51.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-34\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for August 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.02150893211364746', 'original_id': 'e9ab1606c2da5e79566a481ad19f610abe035a3b94a97ca1652fd53a9db33454'} |
10 Interview Mistakes that Cost You Great Candidates
We all want to hire the best, but we don’t always get the best to accept our offers. Sometimes we lose out on them for reasons beyond our control (“Linkedin offered them $250,000 in stock options”), but there are also times it was totally under our control (“I didn’t hear from you for 2 weeks and accepted another offer.”)
The interview is the first impression a candidate gets of your business beyond the press. This is often their only peak into how the proverbial “sausage is made” in your company. If you’re not careful, these interview mistakes will give the wrong impression and lead to great candidates losing interest in working with you.
10 Interview Mistakes that Cost You Great Candidates
It was surprising both how quickly some friends and I came up with this list of mistakes and how many of us knew we were guilty of these ourselves as much as experiencing them as a candidate.
I hope you will reflect on these and get just a little better for the sake of building a more awesome team. It will also help you be more empathetic for those looking and dealing with the oftentimes awkward interview process.
Mistake #1: Not regularly reviewing new applicants
The Situation: You’ve scoured the internet for companies that need someone with your skills and experience, while also having a culture that resonates with you. You finally find one.
You tailor your resume to the job, and excitedly apply.
Then, you hear nothing.
Days go by, then a week, then two weeks.
Maybe your dream company isn’t such a dream…
The Outcome: When you don’t respond to candidates, it leaves them making up their own story: Is the company not actually hiring, is the job filled, or do they not care? And even worse, you may find a great candidate applied and by the time you notice it, they already have another job. You both missed out.
Now, the way some people work around this is to get an intro to someone on the team they want to work on. That’s great if someone has a strong network, but should that be a requirement to even get a look at your company? If you’re looking for diversity, requiring people to know someone on your team is the opposite of that.
What to do instead: If you’re serious about finding good candidates, you need to take every step in the process seriously. That starts with building a regular habit of checking for new applicants.
Most Applicant Tracking Systems can send you an alert when someone applies, or a daily digest of all applicants. Either way, work to review applicants as they come in. If it’s hard to keep up, ask for help from some of your team to stay on top of it. Once you review them, remember to choose to send the rejection note: No is always better than silence.
Mistake #2: Not preparing before interviewing them
The Situation: You’ve prepared all night for an interview. You dove deep into their product and have all kinds of ideas for how to help the company.
Then you get to the interview, sit down and see a parade of people coming in to interview you who each skim your resume in front of you and ask the same generic questions. You keep a polite face and answer genuinely, but inside you’re thinking…
The Outcome: Everyone looks silly when you’re reading their resume on the spot. Do you really know what you want in a candidate? Don’t use people to help you figure it out.
If you can’t prepare some questions and know why each person is interviewing them so they can prepare some constructive questions, don’t schedule them to come in.
When you waste interview time, you waste the candidate’s time and your team’s; the former could have been talking to a serious company, while the latter could have been getting work done for you.
What to do instead: Always remember the opportunity cost for your team when they’re spending time interviewing. Make the most of it with good, thought preparation.
Have a clear plan for what each person is meant to evaluate them for in an interview and make sure they come up with good questions. If you need help with this, I highly recommend the book, Who, to help you map out what you want in a hire and what to ask them.
Mistake #3: Making them wait a very long time
The Situation: You are super excited to interview at Company X. You show up 10 minutes early, hoping to show how dedicated and punctual you are. You proceed to be asked to wait as your interviewer is, “in another meeting…it will only be a bit” only to wait an hour before someone finally starts your interview.
All during that time your mind starts wondering and stress builds as you review your notes for the 12th time and wonder if you forgot anything critical…
The Outcome: Will the candidate remember the super cool office you have, the mocha-strawberry-smoothie machine you have in the kitchen, or the hour long wait you had them suffer through? Sadly, this mistake is usually paired with not being prepared with interview questions.
You wouldn’t accept a candidate coming late to the interview, so you have to hold yourself to the same standard.
What to do instead: This isn’t a doctor’s office. Their time is as valuable as yours. Don’t schedule an interview if you know it will be hard to have it then. Don’t schedule more interviews than you can handle in a day, either. Consider narrowing your filter of which candidates advance if you’re finding you have too many interviews to balance all your other work responsibilities.
Mistake #4: Giving unclear instructions
The Situation: Your uber on the way to your interview gets caught in traffic and you don’t get there quite as early as you’d like. The address they give you is easy enough to find, but then you find out they’re in a high rise, and security expects you to know what their office number is.
Sweating profusely, you frantically search through your emails on your phone looking for hints. Finally, you’re saved by someone walking in from the company, but not before you’re totally stressed out…
The Outcome: Does your building have security they need to sign in? What floor are you on? Do you have an admin to welcome them or should they walk in and ask the first person they see for help? Will they be filling out a detailed application form that they’ll need answers handy for? Did you tell them how to dress for your office?
No one should be embarrassed because they guessed wrong on something like whether your office is suited up, business casual, or anything goes.
Any of these problems is reason enough to shame a candidate into not wanting to move forward with you or failing an interview they’d otherwise ace.
What to do instead: Take the time to tell candidates the little details you take for granted because you’ve worked there for years.
Job hunting is stressful and it’s hard to remember every thing to ask each company. You can easily have a template that everyone hiring can email to interviewees. Just make sure it’s clear who is in charge of sending it so it definitely happens.
Mistake #5: Thinking spontaneous puzzles will tell you the quality of a candidate
The Situation: You’ve spent all day prepping for this interview and thinking about questions they may ask based on the job description. Then, you get there and they proceed to ask you a question like, “How many ping pong balls can fit in a school bus?” Unless you *love* puzzles, that probably makes you feel like doing this…
The Outcome: Unless you’re in the business of ping pong ball estimation, brain teasers won’t help you. As Google discovered, these puzzles have no correlation between being a good hire and not.
Show respect for the candidate who came in and ask them things that actually show if they can do the job you’re hiring them for. Otherwise, they’re likely to walk away feeling like they never showed what they can actually do for your open role.
What to do instead: Ask questions that actually apply to the job and test whether they took the time to prepare. Don’t waste time in your interviews evaluating skills people don’t need.
As a bonus, if you ask about real challenges in your business, you’ll turn interview time into an opportunity to get a diverse set of ideas for solving them.
Mistake #6: Not giving them time to ask questions
The Situation: You make it through a grueling set of interviews with multiple potential future team members. They sometimes ask you the exact same questions, but you smile and give them all thoughtful answers.
You get to the end of the final interview with the hiring manager and they look at their watch and tell you, unfortunately, there’s no time for your questions. You keep a straight face, but inside you’re thinking…
The Outcome: They’re interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them. When you don’t give them time to ask questions, it’s showing what matters to them isn’t important to you. That’s not a great impression to set to someone you hope will be on your team. It also makes it hard for them to be sure your company is the right fit all around.
What to do instead: Specifically set aside time for them to ask questions just like you’d put Tina’s pair coding session on the agenda.
Make it a reasonable amount of time, and don’t let your questions run over into it. Showing you care about their questions, and expect them, sets the right impression on how you care for the interests of your team.
Mistake #7: Not being transparent about your process
The Situation: You have a phone screen, and then another call. You think they went well, but you’re not sure. You are then invited into interview and are told they’ll be in touch. You walk out thinking you crushed it, but every day you don’t hear builds doubt.
You have other interviews that are moving forward and now you’re trying to guess if you should wait to hear on this one or accept another offer (or start the interview process at more companies). Interviewing can feel like a lot of hurry up and wait…
The Outcome: A candidate shouldn’t need offers on the table to get you to move quickly. Either someone is awesome enough you’re still interested, or you should spare both sides time and move on.
When you aren’t transparent about your process (or even worse lack a clear one), you’re opening the window for candidates to aggressively pursue other opportunities even if you’re their top choice.
Even worse, if you flat out ghost them (i.e.- don’t tell them you’re no longer interested), the sour taste is likely to lead to them telling others to avoid interviewing at your company. With today’s Applicant Tracking Systems giving you an easy, legal-friendly rejection note you can automatically send them, there’s no excuse not to tell them it wasn’t a fit.
What to do instead: You should have a hiring plan and be able to clearly articulate the steps each candidate will or will not go through.
If you can move fast through the process, you’ll build momentum that makes joining your company seem inevitable for a good candidate. See former HubSpot CTO Elias Torres and Kayak co-founder Paul English for examples of hiring smart people often in less than week. Could you move that fast, or would they be able to steal a candidate right out from under you?
Mistake #8: Not hiring for skill and potential
The Situation: You’re out on the interview trail. You’re meeting with companies and everyone focuses only on what you’ve already done and how you can do exactly the same thing at the next job.
What started as an exciting proposition of a new role feels like surprisingly little change. You’re starting to feel like your career is boxed in…
The Outcome: Good people want to grow. If you only hire them for what they’ve already done they will be bored quickly. This makes them easily poach-able if someone else sees their potential and gives them a growth opportunity and can motivate them to be looking for another job on their own.
If you don’t ask about what they’re excited about and look for potential for people to do more than exactly what their resume says, you’ll miss out on some amazing candidates.
What to do instead: Hire people for what they can become as much as what they can already do. They’ll be motivated and excited to fill the shoes you give them.
As a bonus, people that are growing into a role are forced to learn new skills to survive which is a habit you want to foster; a company filled with constantly growing people will have tons of great internal candidates for new jobs and a workforce more capable of adapting to changing markets.
Mistake #9: Asking for free work
The Situation: You’ve enjoyed learning more about the role, and like the people you’ve met from the team. There’s just one more thing: a take home assignment.
Unfortunately, the assignment is neither small, nor simple. It’s going to take you a day or two to complete, and it sure looks like work they’d use the work for the business when you complete it. Whether you get hired or not, you’re feeling cheapened by the fact they’re asking for free work.
The Outcome: When you ask people to do free work for you, it can create a sour taste; they can feel used, and that you don’t value their time or efforts. Especially for designers, this can be a very frustrating, but all too common experience. Not surprisingly, they tell others about it:
What to do instead: You want to find the best candidates, and there’s no better way to find out if people can do the work than by having them do the work. That’s why we’re big fans of this interview tactic. However, it’s important to really think about what you’re asking:
• It’s okay not to pay: If it’s a small task, you wouldn’t use it in your actual business, and helps you see if they can do the real job they’ll be tasked with, you’re all good.
• Pay them for their time: If it’s a large task, you could use it in your actual business, or you’re asking them to come work at your office (or remotely with your staff) then you should pay them for their time.
In the end, you’ll be paying this person a lot of money if you hire them. A few hundred dollars to pay for a candidate to do some work to make sure they’re the right choice, is a low investment, high reward move. It also ensures you’re not the next company secretly blacklisted by good candidates who know to avoid you and your requests for free work.
Mistake #10: Mis-using culture fit
The Situation: You go all through the interview process and everything seems great. You like the sounds of the role and you have the right skills and potential.
Unfortunately, you don’t get an offer. They reject you on a vague, unspecific reference of “not a culture fit.”
On one hand, you’re glad to have avoided taking a job where their expectations for you socially or your work values are different. On the other, you’re disappointed that you missed out on what sounded like a great next step in your career that could have also really helped the company fill a need. They may have spared you some awkwardness, but you both really lost…
The Outcome: There are a lot of reasons someone may not be a considered a good “culture fit,” and unfortunately, many companies use it as a crutch to reject someone they really should hire (Mathias Meyer has a good post on this).
Maybe your team drinks heavily and they don’t drink at all (which alienates many groups based on age, religion, and personal choices). Maybe you’re a team of 20-somethings fresh out of college and they’re older with a family. Maybe they’re allergic to dogs and you have an office dog (which if you rejected them for that, violates the American with Disabilities Act).
If things like that are really important to you, by all means filter on them, but realize you’re missing out on the value of diversity in your team, and in some cases could be breaking the law.
What to do instead: Ask yourself if the reasons you’re rejecting someone actually relate to whether someone can perform exceptionally in the role and live up to the standards you and the rest of the team have set. Can you or whomever on the team is playing the “not a culture fit” card clearly articulate why someone isn’t a fit?
It shouldn’t be about ping pong skills, drinking habits, or how often someone stays for dinner at the office. Instead, it should be things like the type and caliber of work they do, the belief in your mission, and how they communicate.
Building great teams is too hard not to make sure that they aren’t just capable of the job, but a good fit. Just be careful to not confuse hiring only people exactly like you with being a culture fit.
Recruiting reflects your company
I saw this quote tweeted a while ago and it rings true:
What message are you sending candidates?
Finding and hiring good people is tough. They always have options. Don’t make it even harder by not getting your interview process right.
Any process is better than none, so make sure you take some time to plan out your process, and treat every candidate with respect. By also adding a little empathy for what it’s like to be the job seeker going through your process, you’ll stand out against most other companies.
What are the biggest interview mistakes you’ve seen or made yourself? | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '1', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9522109031677246}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '55873', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:NGEU2XCHDRBJ2AMU4CXFCYFFKQTSAZG7', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:4632c347-525a-4399-a677-737c801aae92>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 4, 25, 8, 58, 41), 'WARC-IP-Address': '162.243.217.88', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:NLXJMNPK2DDTMGSVX3RODTBRH2IE732Z', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:1dc96521-8468-4f64-a23a-dd6350d86ee6>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://getlighthouse.com/blog/interview-mistakes/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:b4996ec2-9e54-4d02-aaca-7282e9017f58>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '3021', 'url': 'https://getlighthouse.com/blog/interview-mistakes/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-18\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for April 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-43-187-176.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.019662678241729736', 'original_id': '2434e8b52d1d5ad2bcd6ae42257a36e25093d19a1189120778e04f2fb49b0919'} |
Can I contest a will on the grounds of invalid procedure?
The Wills Act 1837
In order for a will to be valid it must be properly drafted and executed. This is governed by the Wills Act 1837, an archaic piece of law that is long overdue for reform.
The Act specifies that a will must be written, but doesn’t specify details. Therefore, handwritten wills and printed wills are both acceptable. Most wills these days are written on paper but in fact a will can be written on any material as long as the other requirements are met and it can be produced to the probate registry.
Another requirement is that the will must be signed by the testator. However the Act does not define what is meant by ‘signed’. In the relatively modern case of Re Parsons [2002] a thumb print from the testator was recognised as the testator’s signature and the will was upheld.
Valid execution
The main requirements for a will to be properly executed are:
The testator must be aged 18 or over.
The will must be in writing and signed by the testator. The testator can direct someone to sign the will on their behalf if they are unable to. However the testator must be present and direct the person to do so.
The testator must have the intention that their signature is to give effect to the will.
The signature is witnesses by two independent witnesses and each witness signs the will.
If it appears these requirements have been adhered to it raises the legal presumption that the will has been validly executed, unless evidence to the contrary arises.
The presumption strengthens if the will has been drafted by a solicitor who has then overseen its execution
Homemade Wills
It is more common for people to contest a will on the grounds of invalid procedure when it is homemade or drafted by an unqualified 'will writer'.
If a will is improperly executed it will be deemed invalid.
If an earlier, valid will is in existence then this will come into effect. If there is no previous will the testator will be deemed to have died intestate and the estate would be distributed in accordance with the intestacy rules.
How we can help
To find out more about whether you can contest a will on the grounds of invalid procedure call our free legal helpline on 0808 139 1596 or email us at | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9582087397575378}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '25526', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:NSDRYE2HDFKVM2S7T244NUP5V5KTTDE7', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:ffa0a571-6e4a-4ea9-bb26-b4e08a9b74da>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 24, 5, 2, 13), 'WARC-IP-Address': '91.192.195.84', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:5YFENN47AARLM7ZCYQNFMQPFYAA6KXSM', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:a1f492ed-6976-4c62-a371-b45fe9410f32>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://contesting-wills.co.uk/invalid-procedure.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:b77e7ad0-84e2-4f9d-8a6e-f83a0821870c>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '405', 'url': 'https://contesting-wills.co.uk/invalid-procedure.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-146-226-231.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.04536128044128418', 'original_id': 'd25d624aa1798e0d2bfe491e51e5bfb92ffb6cde07440e9a48ccc6e8505b7a47'} |
# PHP on Fedora
For Fedora Linux use the [Remi's RPM repository](https://rpms.remirepo.net/wizard/):
```bash
dnf install http://rpms.remirepo.net/fedora/remi-release-26.rpm
dnf config-manager --set-enabled remi-php72
dnf update
dnf install php
```
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '8b1edc0ebc78fdc17bdfddbf3da7bfc2995bb5be13f96a7bd46a501e3324e358'} |
The Virginia Department of Transportation and Fairfax County on Thursday sued the Environmental Protection Agency over regulations so strict that they define water itself as a pollutant and would force state and local officials to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to clean it up.
Instead of regulating the flow of pollutants as allowed by the Clean Water Act, the lawsuit says, the EPA is trying to regulate the amount of water that can flow through the Accotink Creek in Fairfax.
VDOT and Fairfax said in a statement that the EPA requirements would actually make the Accotink water worse, while costing VDOT $70 million and Fairfax between $405 million and $510 million. ..."Fairfax County has demonstrated a strong and unwavering commitment to water quality and environmental stewardship during the last six decades," said Fairfax County Board Chairwoman Sharon Bulova. "We are absolutely committed to maintaining and improving water quality in Fairfax County and the Chesapeake Bay. However, we believe that regulations, whether federally or state-imposed, must effectively address the targeted problem and be fiscally sound and realistic."
Yes, water commonly carries pollutants (I dare say always, if we allow that carbon dioxide to be counted as a pollutant). However, up until now, attempted regulations are based on the anthropogenic pollutants carried by the water; the point being to reduce the source of pollution, not the source of the water. If this is being fairly represented (a newspaper story distort the facts?) it would represent a dangerous extension of EPAs regulatory authority. There is literally nothing that they can't deem a pollutant and regulate.
The requirements would force VDOT to build new facilities on private property that the state would have to seize through eminent domain, state officials said.
"The EPA is effectively forcing VDOT to regulate [water] runoff from property that it neither owns nor controls," VDOT said in a statement.
The EPA tried to regulate the flow of water in three Missouri waterways, and all three cases are being challenged in federal court, the Virginia agencies noted.
"EPA is currently reviewing the lawsuit," the agency said Friday morning. "The agency established this science-based [water flow limit] to ensure the health of the Accotink Creek. The [limit] is supported by sound science and well within our authority under the Clean Water Act." | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'c15a4325f42ffc17f3f926a6b62792b00da41e4192557e6efb246d076dd429d3'} |
KITT vs KARR: Systems & Algorithms Matter
Kitt versus Karr
Back in the 1980’s there was an extremely popular TV show called Knight Rider. It featured a crime-fighter with a talking car named KITT, short for “Knight Industries Two-Thousand.” KITT was a high-tech Pontiac Trans Am with a highly sophisticated Artificial Intelligence system that allowed it to assist its driver, the crime-fighter Michael Knight on his missions.
In 2 episodes, it is revealed that KITT was not the first of his kind. Instead, there was a prototype that came before him: KARR – short for “Knight Automated Roving Robot.”
Both KITT and KARR looked almost exactly alike, except that while KITT’s front scanbar had red LED’s, KARR’s front scanbar’s LED’s were amber. (In the second episode where KARR appeared, he had a paint-job to make his underside silver-gray) Despite the similar looks, they were programmed differently to have different primary objectives.
KITT, being the improvement over KARR, was programmed with an algorithm that prioritized saving the lives of KITT’s human passengers and other innocent human beings over and above its own self-preservation.
KARR, on the other hand, had been programmed with an algorithm that prioritized self-preservation above everything else.
The resulting difference was huge, despite the two Artificial Intelligence-driven cars being similar. KITT was benevolent and good. Because of its algorithm which prioritized the protection and preservation of innocent human lives, it would do whatever it could to protect its driver Michael and other innocent human beings inside it or in the vicinity. KARR, on the other hand, was malevolent. Because it was programmed to prioritize only self-preservation, it cared nothing about human beings and would use them for its own selfish goals.
The first Knight Rider episode where KARR appeared and contrasted against KITT showed the importance of having the right algorithms and the right systems to be put in place.
Which brings me to my main point: Parliamentary Systems versus Presidential Systems and the fact that their algorithms are different.
To the untrained eye, Presidential Systems and Parliamentary Systems seem similar enough that some people make the mistake of assuming that choosing one system or another does not make any difference at all. This erroneous assumption is something that many people who come from an IT or computer science background or any background involving computer programming or algorithms are often able to avoid. Because we deal with algorithms and we compare them, we do understand that some algorithms are clearly better than others, and some systems which use better algorithms are better than systems which use not-so-good algorithms.
And this is now where we look at how the Algorithms in each system are different.
Leader-search in the Presidential versus the Parliamentary System
In all presidential systems outside of the one used in the USA, Presidents are chosen by a direct national vote. That means that all votes from all around the country are counted together as one mass and whoever gets the most number of votes wins. The problem is that the people who are voting for the President aren’t always likely to have had direct experience or insight about the candidates’ working habits or their competence, and so what ends up getting played up are the candidates’ personality traits, their looks, their personal popularity, and their name-recall. Ultimately, this all gets reduced to a national popularity contest wherein the most popular and most liked candidate – not necessarily the most competent – is likely to become the president.
(In the USA, Presidents are chosen by the electorate voting for members of the Electoral College. Each state has a different number of Electoral College slots depending on their number of Congressional and Senate seats. States with very small populations have just 3 electoral college slots, while more populated ones have much more. Depending on which tandem wins in each state, the Electoral College slots will be filled by electors – members of parties fielding presidential and vice-presidential candidates – who pledged to vote for their respective parties’ tandems. If in a state with 3 electoral college slots, the Republican tandem won in the popular vote, then all of the electoral college slots are given to the electors pledged to vote for the Republican tandem. This adds an added layer, but it is this parliamentary-like layer – the electoral college – which has forcibly stabilized the US party system, forcing it to consolidate into only two parties, making it difficult for third parties to emerge.)
In short, in a Presidential System — A candidate’s popularity and/or name-recall determines whether he/she reaches the top. Full stop. The election is “one-dimensional.”
In the parliamentary system, on the other hand, the Prime Ministers aren’t chosen by a direct national vote. Instead, you have parties, and within the parties, the most competent people in the parties rise to the top and become the parties’ leaders. The contest then becomes that of having parties (not people) competing against other parties in order to get a majority of seats. The party leaders are chosen within their respective parties by party members who more-or-less would have had a much more direct experience and insight of the working habits and/or competence of their leaders. Parties, on the other hand, attract voters by talking about their platforms, policies, and proposed programmes and they explain to the voters why their respective platforms, policies, and proposals are better than those of their competitors.
Party members compete within their own parties to show who are the members who are most skillful at defending their party’s platforms and policies against attacks by other party members during parliamentary debates. As such, skilled debaters who defend the party gain brownie points in the eyes of their own colleagues and thus reach the top of their party.
In short, in a Parliamentary System — A candidate’s competence determines whether he becomes the leader of his own party, and his party’s platform and track record determines whether his party wins a majority of seats in parliament. The entire exercise is two dimensional. There is an X axis where parties compete against each other and there is a Y axis where party members compete against each other within their respective parties.
As you can see, the algorithms are different.
Presidential Systems have a one-dimensional sorting mechanism based purely on candidate popularity or name-recall. Unfortunately, candidate popularity or name-recall doesn’t necessarily correlate with ability and competence.
Parliamentary Systems have a two-dimensional sorting mechanism based on intra-party competition (intramurals) to determine which party member becomes the party leader of each party while elections provide the opportunity for inter-party competition (varsity) which party gets the most seats in parliament. Regardless of which party wins, chances are high that at the very least, the leader of the winning party is not incompetent. Besides, in a Parliamentary System, should it so happen that the majority party loses confidence in its own leader’s ability to govern effectively or competently, that leader can be very easily removed and replaced, thus changing who the Prime Minister is without stress, bloodshed, or rebellion.
Checks-and-Balances in the Presidential versus the Parliamentary System
The Presidential System works based on the principle of separating the executive and the legislative branches of government. Because of this, the Executive branch can block the Legislature’s desire to pass a particular piece of legislation or the Legislature can also block the executive’s ability to get certain things done. This separation of powers is how the Presidential System attempts to achieve “checks-and-balances” by pitting the legislative and the executive branches against each other, oftentimes leading to gridlock and shutdown. Much of the “checks-and-balances” involves after-the-fact prevention, so that after the legislature has thoroughly debated hundreds of issues relating to a bill that is to be passed into law which may have taken months or even years to debate, the President is fully capable of refusing to sign this bill into law, thus blocking its passing and wasting hundreds of man-hours spent researching, discussing, and debating the merits of a particular bill.
The Parliamentary System, on the other hand, works based on the principle of giving the reins of Government to the Majority Party (or coalition), while giving the ability to conduct real-time scrutiny and oversight to the Opposition Party (or coalition). The Majority party (or coalition) gets its leader taking on the position of Prime Minister, and senior members of the party or coalition get chosen to take on roles within the Cabinet to head the various Ministries based on their abilities and interests. However, the leading minority party which then takes on the role of the Official Loyal Opposition is also given official roles to play. The leader of the leading minority party becomes the Leader of the Opposition, and various senior members of the opposition party are given roles within the Shadow Cabinet to become Shadow Ministers who will follow around (or “shadow”) and constantly scrutinize their counterpart ministers from the Government, particularly during the weekly Question Time (or Question Period) which allows the Opposition to grill the Government on areas where it sees issues or problems.
Unlike in a Presidential System where “checks-and-balances” are usually done “after-the-fact”, in a Parliamentary System, the dynamics of checks-and-balances involving the Opposition’s Shadow Ministers scrutinizing the Government’s official ministers are done “in real-time.”
The Longevity Algorithm in the Presidential versus the Parliamentary System
The Presidential System uses fixed terms. In the USA, presidents are allowed two consecutive 4 year terms. In the Philippines, we only have a single 6 year term. The problem with this algorithm is that if a lousy president is elected, 6 years is a long time – as what happened with Noynoy Aquino. A good leader like Fidel V. Ramos, unfortunately, is stuck to just one 6 year term even if his policies were so good that most people wanted him to continue in order to continue pushing through with reforms that would improve the economy.
Parliamentary Systems do not have fixed terms. In most countries with parliamentary systems, there is a 5 year time-limit for which a government may be in power. Within the 5 year limit, a government may decide to call for snap elections within the 3rd or 4 year if the Prime Minister and his team feel that their performance is positive and their likelihood of winning is high, and perhaps even gain more seats in the process. It is thus in the best interest of a party that is in power to keep on performing positively for their team to remain in office. If a party in power waits too long before calling an election, it will have no choice but to call for one when the 5 year limit is over. The risk, thus, is that if a party waits too long, its own popularity might not be that great by the time the elections happen. It is thus much more favorable for ruling parties to proactively decide to call for elections right after a decisive victory or a very positive achievement. Notice that the word used is “team.” This is because in this case, a government isn’t based solely on who the Prime Minister is. It is based on the composition of the team. In fact, while Presidential Systems’ administration often bear the names of the President (like the “Obama Administration” or the “Noynoy Aquino Administration”), in Parliamentary Systems, chances are higher that governments are referred to by the party in power (“The PAP Government in Singapore” or “The Tory Government in the UK”).
Decision-Making in the Presidential versus the Parliamentary System
Presidential Systems generally feature unilateral decision-making – a kind of “one-man decision-making” framework, where the President alone makes decisions, and is merely assisted by his secretaries. Decision-making responsibilities aren’t really shared, due to the principle of supremacy by which the President is above everyone else and all decisions of the executive branch ultimately fall to him and not to his party. In the Philippine context, as well as in numerous other presidential systems in Latin America, there is a situation known as hyperpresidentialism in which the President also has undue influence over the legislature usually in the form of Pork Barrel funds and the ability to make use of discretionary funding to be released or withheld depending on whether a legislator has indicated support or opposition towards the president’s agenda.
In the situation of the Philippines and other Presidential Systems, this creates a single point of failure so that in case a president is unduly influenced, bribed, or coerced into making specific decisions, the entire country has no choice but to go with such decisions because everything is controlled by just one person. Outside influences may cause the president to decide in one way and the president may then cause the legislature to go the same way. It is also perfectly possible for the president to block legislation through a veto if the president gets influenced, bribed, or coerced into doing so by certain vested interests.
In Parliamentary Systems, however, decision-making is shared. The Prime Minister is only first-among-equals and thus has only one vote and thus cannot force others to vote the way he wants them to. His only way to do so is to convince a majority of members of parliament – his own party-mates – to support a proposal he is pushing for based on the logical and factual merits of the proposal and get that majority voting for it.
As such, there is no way for any vested interests to influence one person to get him to cause the rest to go the same way. Even if a rich businessman convinces the Prime Minister to favor his own company and give him a government contract even when other better companies exist, the other members of parliament (yes, even if they are the Prime Minister’s own fellow party-mates) will obviously question why the Prime Minister is trying to push everyone else into agreeing with such a decision. Noting that the Opposition plays an active role as the Opposition Shadow Cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition will grill the Prime Minister to demand an explanation for such a questionable move.
In fact, if the unscrupulous rich businessman wants to bribe his way to get his business favored, he will need to bribe 50%+1 (at the very least) of all members of parliament to get them supporting his cause. And no member of parliament will want a small paltry sum if it means doing something so obviously wrong for which a scandal could destroy his own reputation. While a rich unscrupulous businessman could easily just bribe one person – the president – into granting him exclusive contracts, that same businessman would find it extremely expensive to bribe 50%+1 of all members of parliament, since he obviously cannot bribe the Prime Minister who only has one vote.
For this very reason, Parliamentary Systems are much less prone to meddling and corruption than Presidential Systems.
Political Parties in Presidential Systems versus Parliamentary Systems
Many not-so-informed Filipinos (particularly members of the so-called “intellectual elite”) have a tendency to use the argument that “The Parliamentary System requires a good party system with disciplined parties for it to function properly. Look at the parties we have, they aren’t even real parties, so how can we expect to have a functioning parliamentary system if these are the kinds of parties we have right now?”
It’s just wrong thinking on their part, actually. Because they never cared to analyze the fact that the lousy parties that we have in the Philippines right now are the result of the lousy Philippine Presidential System we have. In fact, in a book entitled “Presidential Bandwagon: Parties & Party Systems in the Philippines”, Japanese political scientist Dr. Yuko Kasuya explained that there are several flaws (or “features”) of the current 1987 Constitution’s Philippine Presidential System which have totally weakened the party system. The fact that the Office of the President has the power of the purse over special funds for disbursement is one of these “features” which weakens the Philippine party system aside from the banning of a duly-elected president from running for re-election.
Back in the old days when Presidents were allowed to run for re-election, political parties were much stronger and were mostly just limited to two: the Nacionalista and the Liberal. The fact that an incumbent president who was elected as president (not someone elected as VP and took over from a president who died) could run for re-election actually meant that the other parties needed to consolidate rather than split the vote by having too many players. When the 1987 Constitution banned duly elected presidents from running for re-election, the presidential elections became a random free-for-all which caused the proliferation of candidates as well as parties.
It is precisely the features of the 1987 Constitution-defined Philippine Presidential System that has caused the party system to be weak. On the other hand, a shift to the Parliamentary System will force parties to immediately strengthen, particularly because of the need for constant debate around policies and decisions and the fact that parties inside parliament will not just concern themselves solely with legislative concerns but instead will need to take care of both executive and legislative concerns.
When some people say that “The Parliamentary System requires a good party system with disciplined parties for it to function properly. Look at the parties we have, they aren’t even real parties, so how can we expect to have a functioning parliamentary system if these are the kinds of parties we have right now?” they totally miss the point because they do not realize that the only way to fix the party system is precisely to shift over to a better system which rewards strong parties and punishes weak parties. The current Philippine Presidential System is precisely why our party system sucks. By shifting over to a Parliamentary System, our parties will be forced to become disciplined as weak parties will not succeed in getting things done, while strong and disciplined parties will clearly succeed. Why stick with the current Philippine Presidential system which doesn’t really need parties anyway since our lousy system allows a presidential candidate from party A and a vice-presidential candidate from party B to win?
About the Author
Orion first achieved fame as one of the most remembered and most impressive among the winners of the popular RPN-9 Quiz Show “Battle of the Brains”, and got a piece he wrote – “The Parable of the Mountain Bike” – featured in Bob Ong’s first bestselling compilation of essays “Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?” He is also a semi-professional Stand-up Comedian who won first place in the 2014 Magners Singapore International Comedy Festival Best New Act Competition and is the January 2016 Comedy Central Comedian of the Month. He is the principal co-founder of the CoRRECT™ Movement to spearhead the campaign to inform the Filipino Public about the urgent need for Constitutional Reform & Rectification for Economic Competitiveness & Transformation.
How does Federalism work?
The Royal Exhibition Centre in Melbourne — site of the first Federal Parliament of Australia, a perfect example of a country that uses a Federal-Parliamentary System.
Of all the most important systemic and fundamental constitutional reforms that must be implemented in order to improve the Philippines, Federalism is the reform that has the most solid support among most ordinary Filipinos. Particularly in the Visayas-Mindanao and even in the Solid North, Bicol, and Muslim Mindanao regions, Federalism is widely appreciated and understood even by ordinary plebeians and proletarians to be of utmost urgency in order to fix the Philippines.
Sadly, there are members of the Philippine Elite who tend to be stubborn and uninformed. They are articulate and eloquent so they are able to pretend to be “in-the-know” by obfuscating the issues with their sophistry and casuistry and are dangerously able to convince other people to become just as ignorant and as anti-reform as they are. For instance, the Monsods – Christian and Winnie Monsod – have repeatedly over the years continued to keep mouthing a lie that some people have unfortunately mistaken to be true. This lie is that “Federalism will empower Warlords and Political Dynasties.”
The Monsod couple: Picture it now, and see just how, the lies and deceit gained a little more power…
Give us a break, Monsods!
Feudalism is what empowers Warlords and Political Dynasties! Not Federalism!
And Feudalism results from having a lousy economic system that favors only a small narrow elite to the detriment of the majority of the people in society who remain poor and economically disadvantaged because the economic system does not create enough opportunities for upward socio-economic mobility. The current pro-oligarch 1987 Constitution and its anti-FDI restrictions which keep job-creating foreign investors and international companies out is largely to blame for why jobs are so scarce, poor and unemployed Filipinos are the norm, why comfortable Filipinos are so few, and why most ordinary Filipinos need to work abroad as OFW’s just to be able to earn decent wages for them to live decent lives. Warlords and Dynasties emerge when so many people are poor and only a few people usually from the same family are rich enough to run for office. Warlordism happens when most people are so poor that they are forced to ask assistance from the rich warlords in exchange for services and allegiance.
In short, Warlords and Dynasties are an economic issue, not a political one.
Do you know how autonomy works? Within the context of parents and kids, it works like this… If you want to be more “independent and autonomous” and retain your own earnings and do whatever you want, then you leave your parents’ home and you cannot ask allowances from them anymore. If you remain dependent on your parents, then you have to follow their rules. You cannot do whatever you want.
Check out this analogy:
familyanalogyUnder Federalism, regions will be forced to sink or swim. Warlord-types and political dynasties will no longer have the ability to pass the buck to the national government and blame it for why their region is poor. Under Federalism, a region will remain poor if its leaders are lousy and unable to set up pro-business economic policies that will create more than enough employment opportunities and economic opportunities for the people. “Warlords” will not be able to rely on monetary subsidies from the national government because Federalism will force them to be “on their own” in terms of their economic management. There will no longer be a mega-pork barrel like the PDAF under Federalism.
All that the national government (to be referred to under Federalism as “the federal government”) will directly handle is National Defense, National Law Enforcement, Foreign Affairs and National Diplomacy, the National Judiciary (Supreme Court), Minting Money and Coinage, Currency Management, and a few national regulations and coordination of a few other issues such as Education, Food and Drug certification and other similar issues at the national level.
Bringing in businesses, attracting investors – local and foreign, however, will be handled by the region-states. The direct implementation of Education policies will also be handled by the region-states. Essentially, the regions will be given the necessary powers to be able to handle all these concerns by themselves according to how they best see fit. A region may decide that they prefer to emphasize English language proficiency over that of Tagalog, partly because they don’t really use Tagalog as their local language and that English is more advantageous to them economically and in dealing with tourists. Whatever that is, a region may do what it thinks is best in terms of making them much more competitive economically.
Fed So in a nutshell, here’s how Federalism works:
Federalism will allow the achievement-oriented regions who choose good leaders to set up really good economic policies that will attract lots and lots of investors to come to their region. More investors and businesses coming in means more jobs for the people. This means more people earning salaries, which means more people paying income taxes. More companies in the region also means more corporate taxes. More income taxes + more corporate taxes, plus more consumption taxes when people spend means more tax revenue for the regional government, which means more funds for the government for improving the infrastructure, improving the salaries of government workers to have quality people and greater efficiency, improving education, improving schools, school equipment, teachers’ salaries, etc. The region will become rich. The leaders of the region can also decide on paying decent official salaries for themselves to avoid needing to go through the corruption “kick-back” route. Overall, the well-run region develops and people in that region live better lives.
The lousy regions with lousy leaders will be left behind — temporarily — because the lousy leaders make lousy economic policies and no new businesses and investors come in and economic activity is weak, tax collection is low, there are no infrastructure projects, etc, the people of those left-behind regions will complain “why are these other regions doing very well and prospering while we are stagnating?”
Then the people will observe that the progressive regions have good leaders and good pro-business policies, etc… They will demand these from their leaders and the leaders who do not comply will be voted out and replaced. Or perhaps the people and the businesses will leave and transfer to the more progressive regions. In fact, regions will compete against each other to attract the best and brightest Filipinos to come and resettle in their areas. Their first order of business is to try to attract their own people who left for Metro Manila lego ago when opportunities were scarce. With Federalism, the different region-states will do their best to attract their own people to return to their hometowns, bringing skills, know-how, and money to invest and live there, and contribute to the local economy.
Under Federalism, regions will no longer receive dole-outs and subsidies from the national government so the lousy politicians will have nothing to steal and enrich themselves when the people (taxpayers) and companies/business leave and transfer to better regions as a result of their mismanagement. (This is the trade-off of the regions not sending most of their money to the national government and retaining most of their own earnings within their region.)
Ultimately the inter-regional competition forces the leaders and in the regions to shape up and learn the best practices of the best regions. If there are regions that are doing well, other regions will emulate the best practices that the successful regions are doing.
The leaders cannot be sitting pretty because they will no longer receive PDAF/pork barrel and other subsidies from the national government under Federalism. Under Federalism, the regions themselves must generate the income that they will use to fund their own operational costs.
Now this needs to be emphasized:
Federalism cannot be done alone as a single “reform.” There are two other reforms that need to accompany it in order for it to work properly.
Firstly, for Federalism to work well in the Philippines we need to allow foreign investors to easily come in. No more idiotic 60/40 and other nationally-defined restrictions in the Constitution. Delete them all!
Remove them from the Constitution, remove them from national legislation.
Let the federalized regions determine by themselves if they want to restrict FDI from coming in.
Chances are very high that the best-run regions will be very open to foreign direct investors. The ones who are serious about job creation will allow FDI to freely flow in and thus will zoom up economically, while the ones run by idiots will try to restrict FDI and they will end up stagnating and staying poor. The disparity will be glaring and the people in the poorer regions will complain: “Why can the other regions succeed? Why are our leaders so incapable of making the right economic choices?” And then they get them booted out and replaced.
Ultimately, good leaders will emerge even in the poorer regions later on. The people from the poorer regions will not tolerate mediocrity after getting so fed up with mediocrity and seeing that other regions are able to improve.
It’s just like why we Overseas Filipino Workers generally tend to be pro-reform. We are exposed to other countries. Especially those of us who work in Singapore and Malaysia. We see with our own eyes countries that are in the same climate-zone, countries that have people that are not too different from ourselves, countries that back in the 1950’s were poor just like the Philippines – in fact we had a lot more going for us back then…
We have seen that it is possible for these other countries to succeed and move up and we ask “What’s keeping the Philippines from progressing?” We observe, we learn. We see that they have set up systems that work and have set up policies that are pro-business and meritocratic. No, they aren’t perfect societies, but they are clearly much more successful than we are. So we demand these reforms. This is why we OFW’s overwhelmingly voted for President-elect Duterte. We saw that he was the only candidate who was pushing for the same things that made all these other countries successful. We OFW’s overwhelmingly rejected the representatives of the lousy status quo.
Which brings me to the next point… If we need to boot out lousy leaders quickly and reward good leaders, how do we do that?
That’s why the second reform in support of Federalism requires that we put parliamentary systems in place!
At the National (Federal level) and at the Regional/State level.
Yes, at the state/region level they will need to have “mini-parliaments” just like in all Federal-Parliamentary countries. Canada’s provinces have provincial parliaments. Australia’s and Malaysia’s states have state assemblies. All are run as normal parliamentary systems where they also have no confidence votes and the ability for parties to instantly boot out non-performing top leaders.
In such a situation, if a region-state has lousy leadership, then the people can lobby their local state representatives for each state-district to replace the Chief Minister/Premier of the state/region. Or they can lobby them to call for new elections.
Whatever happens, with parliamentary systems set up at the state/regional level, the citizens of each region/state can more easily punish lousy leaders and reward good leaders with a continuation in office.
(It is also true that Parliamentary Systems are – ceteris paribus – less prone to corruption.)
And at the local levels, towns/municipalities/cities, there should be a shift to the parliamentary-like “Council-Manager System” which is much more responsive and accountable. It’s a mini-version of the parliamentary system at the local level.
(Click here to watch the documentary on the Council-Manager System)
We need more and more people to understand why Federalism is important and why (a) removing the 60/40 and all other anti-FDI restrictions and (b) using parliamentary systems at ALL levels is the way to go.
We at the CoRRECT™ Movement do not believe in having people just simply saying yes to these reforms. We strongly insist that each and every Filipino learn and understand what all these reforms are all about and why they are necessary so that they can explain these reforms to their friends and family members and convince them of why we all need these reforms. People who learn the details about how these reforms work and why they are necessary are much more likely to be able defend them when the reforms are unfairly attacked by naysayers. So let’s all learn!
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About the Author
Marina Bay Sands is One Big Foreign Direct Investment
Marina-Bay-Sands-3These days, when you think about Singapore, you imagine a photo of the “three buildings with a boat on top.” If you have friends who have been to Singapore, they prove that they visited it with a photo of them with Marina Bay Sands as the backdrop. For all intents and purposes, Singapore’s new de facto landmark is Marina Bay Sands.
But did you know that Marina Bay Sands is actually the result of Foreign Direct Investment?
Make no mistake, folks… Marina Bay Sands is majority-owned and operated by a foreign entity — an American company called “Las Vegas Sands Corporation.”
But Singaporeans and the Singapore Government have absolutely no issues with the fact that Singapore’s representative landmark is foreign-owned, because they are practical and business-minded and understand that Marina Bay Sands creates lots of jobs, other economic opportunities, and generates a lot of money that gets pumped into the Singapore economy, and a lot of tax revenues. Marina Bay Sands is a premier venue for international conventions, bringing in lots of attendees from all over the world to attend such events, and turning these attendees into tourists who pump a lot of money into the Singapore economy.
Overall, Singapore wins because of Marina Bay Sands because Singapore now has a nice landmark that tourists and visitors associate with the country, lots of jobs were created and Singapore earns a great deal of money from its operations. Singapore is more than happy to receive foreign direct investment for big projects such as this. In essence, Singapore did not need to spend money for this. Las Vegas Sands Corporation took the risk of spending all the money to make this impressive mega-structure.
Singaporeans don’t care that an American company owns Marina Bay Sands because Singapore benefits from it anyway!
This is a far cry from the barriotic-minded attitudes of many so-called “Nationalistic” Filipinos who make an oftentimes overreacting fuss about “national patrimony” when it comes to ownership by foreigners of corporations in the Philippines. Small-mindedness often takes over and prevails in the Philippines and the bigger picture never gets looked at. Instead of pragmatically looking at the fact that inviting in foreign direct investors and multinational corporations will create lots of jobs in such a short span of time for Filipinos based in the Philippines and that these MNCs will bring in technology, skills-training, and know-how that is quite often of a much higher level than what is available in the Philippines, these barriotic-minded “nationalists” (kuno) end up letting their irrationality and emotions take over and all they see is that “foreigners own the companies.” They don’t see the bigger picture in which employees and the wider society are benefiting from the employment generation and the skills and knowledge-transfer that occurs.
But let’s look at Singapore. Singapore’s prosperity is the direct result of Foreign Direct Investment. In fact its very existence as an entrepôt long before its independence in 1965 was the result of Foreign Direct Investment by the British East India Company. After Independence, the late founding Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew realized that the fastest way for Singapore to solve its unemployment problem and develop its economy was to bring in Foreign Direct Investors and Multinational Corporations.
As such, in Lee Kuan Yew’s book “From Third World to First”, he writes in pages 57-58:
(Paragraph formatting edited for ease of reading)
In the preceding excerpt, the late Lee Kuan Yew reveals that he was exposed to the prevailing anti-MNC and anti-FDI mindset that dominated among many Third World economists and ideologues. This is the same mindset that was promoted by Filipino Leftist ideologues such as Joma Sison, Renato Constantino, Alejandro Lichauco, and are continuously peddled by leftist groups such as IBON Foundation, NEPA (National Economic Protectionism Association), and the MAN (Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism), Bayad Muna, and the CPP-NPA-NDF and its numerous front orgs.
But these ideologues cared more about ideology and theory, not much about practicality and real world problem-solving. Lee Kuan Yew, being an extremely sharp thinker felt that such theories may have sounded cute on paper and could stir people’s emotions, but would have likely failed or at best taken a very long time to succeed. He couldn’t afford failure. In fact, his practical-mindedness made him consider the fact that setting up industries required technology, know-how, and financial resources which the local investors & businessmen and even the country’s government did not have.
The lag-time in waiting for local industrialists to emerge from the current pool of businessmen would have meant that many unemployed Singaporeans would have been jobless and poor for a long time. Since Lee needed pre-packaged “ready-to-run” solutions, he felt that bringing in MNCs and Foreign Direct Investors who already had the financial resources, the know-how and the technology to hit the ground running was Singapore’s best chance to immediately create jobs in the shortest possible time.
It helps greatly that the late Lee Kuan Yew and his friend and colleague the late Goh Keng Swee were both highly analytical and highly intelligent skeptics who had doubts when pure theories and ideologies were bandied about without any practical basis. So the anti-FDI and anti-MNC sentiments prevalent among many third world economists did not impress them.
In page 66 of LKY’s book “From Third World to First”, Lee explains:
(Paragraph formatting edited for ease of reading)
As it turns out, Lee Kuan Yew had practical experience as a businessman – particularly during the Japanese occupation. This experience made him understand the requirements of running business operations and understanding certain processes.
This is unfortunately what many Filipino leftist ideologues lack. Most of them have never operated businesses, and many have never worked in real industry. In most cases, they tend to be ivory-tower academics (usually from non-practical fields such as literature), as in the case of Joma Sison. Not understanding how business or industry works, such ideologues are quite likely to talk purely about highfallutin’ concepts such as “sovereignty” or “national patrimony”, but they do not understand the practical concepts of how a manufacturing or other industrial operation must be set up nor do they understand the kind of financial capital, technological know-how and skills-requirements needed to make it work successfully.
Attracting Foreign Direct Investment is the route that Singapore took in solving its unemployment problems because it is the fastest way to get companies set up as MNCs already have existing technology, know-how, and even monetary resources at their disposal. Even Malaysia under Mahathir bin Mohamad also tapped Foreign Direct Investments and MNCs in order to solve their unemployment issues.
From page 308 of Mahathir’s memoirs “A Doctor in the House”, Mahathir writes:
“Nevertheless the increase in foreign investments helped to create jobs and so lowered the unemployment rate, which was high at the time. Our approach differed from those of Japan and Korea, where the preference was for acquiring foreign technology for investment by the locals.
We did not have local entrepreneurs with the money or the willingness to invest in industries they were not familiar with. It was only after many years that the Malaysians acquired the knowledge and industrial skills to invest in manufacturing.
Thus it was through FDI that we succeeded in converting our agricultural economy into an industrial economy and eventually solving our unemployment problem.”
(Paragraph formatting edited for ease of reading)
Dr. Mahathir, just like his contemporary Lee Kuan Yew, had also been a businessman during the Japanese occupation, and had developed a keen understanding of how businesses are run. The quote below, taken from page 334 of “A Doctor in the House” reveals how Mahathir had a similar insight with Lee Kuan Yew regarding the fact that the local businessmen in Malaysia (and Singapore) were mostly traders and most did not have the confidence to go into certain new fields in which they were unfamiliar. It was for this reason that it was necessary to invite Foreign Direct Investors and MNCs that had the expertise and the financial resources to set up operations in industries or fields that local businessman had hitherto not had any expertise in.
Here is the quote from page 334, Mahathir writes:
“Managing a manufacturing industry is very difficult and there was no substantial industry in Malaysia at that time that we could take our lessons from.
We went for foreign investments because we did not have locals who were willing to take the leap. Locals wanted to stay within their comfort zones. When there is no competition in the mix, it is easy to get away with low quality, bad management, dirty processes and inefficiency.
But in a competitive environment, you must always be on guard. You have to look for ways to improve your product and be more cost-efficient. If you do not, you can be very sure that your competitors will be doing exactly that. Tax protection may provide some comfort but it should not make things too easy and discourage effort. It should certainly not cultivate bad attitudes and habits.”
(Paragraph formatting edited for ease of reading)
It is therefore foolish for Filipino leftist ideologues and proponents of “National Industrialization” to mindlessly and irresponsibly champion protectionist state-sponsored industrialization when local expertise in properly and successfully executing the operations required in such industrialization is woefully inadequate or non-existent.
The problem of the Filipino leftist ideologues is that they care more about their ideology and dogma than they do about the actual welfare of the ordinary Filipino People. They do not care that their plan for “National Industrialization” is likely to fail because they never cared to understand the prerequisites (financial capital, know-how, technology, etc) necessary to make it succeed, nor do they even care that attempting to make “national industrialization” actually happen can and will take a very long time before majority of Filipinos can be gainfully employed. Filipino leftist ideologues unfortunately aren’t really all that interested in job creation. Their primary goal is in fulfilling their ideological mandate.
In stark contrast, Dr. Mahathir, in page 372 of his memoirs, insists that job creation is of utmost importance:
“Creating jobs, especially by implementing policies that encourage the creation of private sector work opportunities, is the proper role of government.
That was why when Malaysia invited foreign investment, we did not insist on immediately collecting taxes. We were prepared to forgo taxes if the investors created jobs for our people.
In our view, no one who was prepared to work should remain unemployed. In fact, the Government was so successful in creating jobs that there are now more than two million foreign workers in the country. We cannot ourselves meet the demand for labour that our economic development has generated.”
(Paragraph formatting edited for ease of reading)
Singapore and Malaysia are both the two most developed economies of the ASEAN region and both countries relied heavily on Foreign Direct Investments and bringing in Multinational Corporations as a means of creating thousands of jobs in a short span of time and training many local employees to learn new technologies and skills that they would not have learned had the foreign investors not come in.
The single biggest indicator of Singapore’s reliance upon Foreign Direct Investments for job creation and economic development is the fact that Singapore’s new modern landmark is none other than a Foreign Direct Investment itself: Marina Bay Sands.
The Philippines ought to learn from this and realize that there is nothing wrong with relying upon FDIs and MNCs when it comes to fighting unemployment and developing the economy. It is precisely because so many Filipinos and so-called “intellectuals” have not yet learned this insight that the Philippines continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the ASEAN region and continues to have a chronic dependence on sending OFWs to foreign countries, Singapore included.
The Philippines must immediately remove all of its outdated and barriotic 60/40 restrictions and other anti-FDI restrictions that keep Foreign Direct Investments low.
CoRRECT™ the Constitution NOW!
Here's how bad the level of FDI has been in the Philippines when compared to the rest of ASEAN.
(Singapore was not included in the graph above as its advanced First World status and extremely high FDI figures would dwarf all the other ASEAN countries as Singapore’s FDI in-flows are generally more than twice the highest FDI-inflows in the graph.)
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About the Author
OrionOrion Pérez Dumdum is an IT Professional based in Singapore and is an accomplished and award-winning Stand-up Comedian during his free time outside of his IT day-job and his Constitutional Reform advocacy. Orion won First Prize in the 2014 Magners Singapore International Comedy Festival Best New Act Competition. He also won the August 2014 “Open for Steve-O Competition” that got him becoming the opening act for International Stunt-Comedian Steve-O from “Jack-Ass” in his Singapore tour.
A Head of State and A Head of Government
Why Both Roles Should Be Separate, Especially in the Philippine Setting
I am no political scientist and I don’t claim to be one now in writing this. I am writing this based on my understanding of governance in the global and Philippine setting. An understanding that some may consider naive, to which I would not protest. Nevertheless, I felt the urge to write this in light of the recent and upcoming events in the country to express some thoughts that have been brewing in my mind for a long while trying to find a venue to express them. (thank you Medium!) I hope you get to find a few nuggets of wisdom or ideas in this piece, even though I’m no political pundit.
First of all, for a long while I have always believed in the superiority of the American style of government. Maybe it’s the influence of America that is embedded in the consciousness of many Filipinos such as myself. After all, the Philippines was a US colony once. But I guess it can also be out this naive thinking that the American style of governance is simple and effective, especially the concept of having one person in charge, the president, representing the people as head of state and overseeing all aspects of running the country as head of government.
Photo of the 2013 inaugural of US President Barack Obama, a spectacle of the prestige and glamor of the US Presidency (photo courtesy of Reuters/Scott Andrews via Latitude)
Certainly, the American style of governance has its merits and it works in some cases, at least at this moment. In the Philippine setting though, that style of governance is no longer working for us. Some may blame it on the people elected to be president becoming “ineffective” for one reason or another. Others may blame it on the electorate for being “dumb” in their voting. While there may be a justification on laying blame on the two, I believe the greater blame lies deep within.
To figure out the root cause, we have to go back to the basic definition of the roles of head of state and head of government. The head of state’s role is defined as being the chief representative of the state and the people of the state. As such, the head of state is considered as a unifying figure, not identified with any political affiliation whatsoever.
Then, there is the head of government, whose role is defined as being the country’s chief executive who executes laws and formulates policies for the state’s well-being. At times, these laws and policies are subject to opposition. Factoring as well the fact that the head of government position is more political in nature, the head tends to be a divisive figure, especially among those who oppose his/her policies or his/her political affiliation, though by default the opposition tends to be in the minority.
I suppose you can see what will go wrong if you have a head of state and head of government in one person. Once a controversial issue pops up, the unifying figure becomes a divisive one in an instant, adding another level of instability to the state already rocked by that controversy in the first place.
Sadly, this scenario is something we are all too familiar with for years now. What’s even sadder is that many do not recognize this scenario as an effect of the screwed up system that we have right now, taking for granted the distinct roles of the head of state and head of government in the country’s dynamic.
This dynamic factors in more during elections. Whether we realize it or not, our choices for president are factored by a mentality defined by a “head of state mentality” is or a “head of government mentality.” Some would vote a person for president because he/she is “our country’s hope” and “advocate our welfare” which is a head of state mentality. Others may vote for a president based on a belief that the person gets the job done, which is more of a head of government mentality. Don’t get me wrong, both mentalities are valid. But the idea of someone being voted for being seen as either a unifying or a potentially divisive figure in a position that expects him/her to play both roles is a potent, volatile mix that tends to screw things in our country’s dynamic.
Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who served as both head of state and government, with not so impressive results (photo courtesy of Philippine Pride)
Our history has examples of leaders whose leadership fell in either head of state or head of government type and the shortcomings they had that are brought about by having to play both parts. Corazon Aquino is a notable example of someone who fit more in the head of state role as she was elected by a popular sentiment against a dictatorship that long ruled the country. But once she did her role as head of government, she alienated many people who once supported her. Her playing the role as a head of government diminished her importance as a unifying figure in those times, triggering effects that are still being felt today.
Understanding the difference between being a head of state and head of government would make us better see the roles our leaders or those vying to be leaders would fit in. Controversies aside, it can be argued that the type of leadership displayed by former President Joseph Estrada and our current President Noynoy Aquino falling into “head of state” category while the likes of former presidents Fidel Ramos and Gloria Arroyo fall in the “head of government” category. Looking at the possible candidates for the 2016 elections, I can see Grace Poe fitting the bill of “head of state” while Jejomar Binay, Rodrigo Duterte, and Mar Roxas fall into the “head of government” type. Again, all issues and controversies surrounding these people aside.
Other countries have the roles of head of state and head of government kept separate like in the United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, India, and Singapore. While their governments have their imperfections, there is a sense of stability in them not found in ours. That stability lies in their heads of state, be it a monarch who came into power through lineage (as in the case of UK and Japan) or a president elected by the people. (as it is in Israel, India, and Singapore) If you look at these heads of state, you will realize they are not affiliated with any political party and remain largely apolitical, not intervening in the day to day affairs of the government.
Queen Elizabeth II, the head of state of the United Kingdom and David Cameron, the head of government of the United Kingdom (photo courtesy of The Mirror)
Weird as it may be to some, it makes a lot of sense once we understand the dynamics of being a head of state. As I mentioned earlier, the head of state represents the state and the people of the state. As such, he/she should be a figure of unity and stability to portray an image of stability of the state to others, especially outside the state. In contrast, the head of government tends to sow some level of divisiveness, and that is a given in the nature of the role he/she performs in implementing laws and policies. If both roles are performed by one person, there is no image of stability to portray, and others would cast doubt on the state in the process.
The wisdom in having the roles of head of state and head of government is that it creates a sort of balance in governance of the state. True, the role of head of state is largely ceremonial in nature, but it serves as a yin to balance the dynamic yang that the role of the head of government brings, providing a clear and better separation of functions and a sense of harmony and stability in the state being portrayed. More importantly, we get to have better leaders who would be able to discern their leadership being fit for either head of state or head of government, no longer burdened by the baggage of having to do both functions that might possibly jeopardize the state’s stability in the process.
It does not hurt that at this point in time to perhaps reconsider the type of governance that we have. Our country’s stability and future is at stake and if the current system does not work for us, it does not hurt for us to ask for something else, something better hopefully so we can have a better Philippines that we deserve.
About the Author
Karl Aguilar - about the author photo
Karl Aguilar is a self-confessed urban roamer, freelancing as a writer and photographer, who has once participated in a national game show and dabbles into heady stuff from time to time.
He has a blog that deals with the sights, sounds, and stories of the urban landscape, Metro Manila in particular, called, of course, The Urban Roamer, which you can check out at
No Parliamentary System, No LKY & No Mahathir
by Alex Magno
Rizal the Federalist; Bonifacio the Unitarian
by Erwin S. Fernandez
Abung na Panagbasay Pangasinan
(House of Pangasinan Studies)
Rizal and his República Federal de Filipinas
Bonifacio and his Haring Bayang Katagalugan
The 1899/1900 draft of a federal constitution
Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Foreigner: Pinoy Inability to Improve is due to Escapism
dysfunctional philippines
So, tonight after some grocery shopping, my personal assistant named Pilar asked me if I could stop by Cebuana for her so she could send money home for her brother’s wedding. This is to buy some Lechon as her contribution to the wedding.
After parking my car and paying the “Man with the whistle” (some random guy who has staked out a public parking area with a whistle, who demands you pay him 20 pesos to park or he will damage your car), running the gauntlet of baklas, hookers and lady boys on the corner, and then crossing the street whilst being accosted by beggars and street kids (mostly abandoned orphans working for syndicates), and having pushy street vendors try to sell me Chinese Viagra and cigarettes, along with their sisters, I started to think that there is something, very, very wrong with Philippine Culture.
If people have no money to get married, why are they getting married? If people have no money to support themselves, why have children they can’t afford to feed? If there are no jobs for so many people, why put up road blocks to foreign investment? Why block investment if it means better lives and opportunities for the citizens of this country? I cannot understand Filipino Nationalism when all it does is protect the ultra wealthy and promote this sort of tragic human theater of the absurd…. to take things to the extreme, today is “Ash Wednesday” and when you see hookers with the mark of the cross, written in ash on their foreheads, whilst selling their bodies on the streets…it says something about how far off the rails this place has gone. Most of these girls are single mothers, with a host of parasitic relatives feeding off their illicit toils.
The Government and its many bureaucratic arms are simply a huge tribe of inefficient trolls, finding ways to charge the poor downtrodden Filipino needless clearance “fees” for services they don’t need. When a religious procession for a black block of wood, wearing a dress, can drag hundreds of thousands of “devotees” into the streets in a frenzy of religious rapture, but a march organized to protest the theft of tens of Billions of Pesos by Congressmen and Senators can barely raise the interests of more than a few thousand, there is something very, very wrong with the priorities of the average Filipino. Has the Oligarchy, the Church and the Political Elite managed to make the Filipino so accepting of their lot in life that they simply cannot reason anymore, are they so used to the abnormal being normal that they have become completely apathetic and indifferent to the pathetic situation they find themselves in?
Like Martin Luther King Jr., I have a dream….but…since I’m not a Filipino…it doesn’t really matter what I dream of, or hope, for the Philippines. What matters is what the Filipino dreams about his/her own country, and what action he or she takes to fix the situation. The Civil Rights Movement in the US was a watershed event for that nation, as was the EDSA 1 “People Power” Revolution here. The oppressed rose up to say “enough is enough”, unfortunately, I don’t see that happening here again.
What I see is indifference, tolerance and acceptance by the oppressed, who, it would appear, are far more interested in watching telenovelas and Vice Ganda on “Showtime”, than marching in the streets to demand accountability. It seems the Philippines and the poor Filipino, is destined to spend eternity lurching from one crisis to the next, being led by one useless administration after another. What a tragedy… a horrible tragedy… and most of them are such nice people too…
Editor’s note:
This “indifference, tolerance, acceptance by the oppressed” (words of the foreigner) and by those who are in a position to change things is a result of the Filipino tendency towards Escapism. Like the kid in the photo (Source: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images AsiaPac) who is sniffing glue with nail polish in a plastic bag in order to forget his troubles, Filipinos are generally predisposed to “sweep problems under the rug” and pretend they do not exist. Underneath the positive stereotype that “Filipinos are a happy people” is the ugly and painful Truth that Filipinos are an Escapist People who pretend that their problems do not exist by distracting themselves with different things (sometimes combining two or more of them): religious fanaticism, entertainment, alcohol, or vices.
Even the Wealthy Elites who are supposed to be in a position to actually do something about the problem just prefer to retreat into their posh enclaves, pretending that the poverty, misery, and suffering around them is just a figment of their imagination. In some cases, there are sinister ones among these elites, the Kakistocratic selfish oligarchs, who want to keep the situation the way it is because they are at least happy to be at the top, fearing that reforms would cause them to lose whatever advantages they currently enjoy. This again reveals a dearth of analytical abilities among even the most educated and supposed advantaged Filipinos because they fail to see that the much needed reforms that would create inclusive growth are actually to their advantage in the bigger scheme of things.
The small mindedness of these oligarchs is such that they see only the short term “small picture” advantages they think they have as the 1987 Constitution and the laws of the Philippines continue to favor and protect them through all sorts of protectionist clauses designed to keep the Philippine Economy their own private turf and keep out honest and competent foreign direct investors who could have provided more jobs for ordinary people.
The oligarchs only see the small picture. They fail to see that the poverty around them is caused by the massive unemployment that these protectionist clauses spawned. They fail to see that this massive poverty actually poses a threat against the lavish lifestyles most of them enjoy. After all, despite the walls around their posh neighborhoods, do they really think that the poor squatters cannot breach those walls? Do they not realize that their maids, security guards, cooks, gardeners, and other workers come from the ranks of the poor? Do they not see that if the dire situation continues, they might actually lose it all?
Filipinos may seem to be a tolerant and indifferent people, but there are limits to this tolerance. Escapism can’t always keep their anger at bay. Like the Malays and Indonesians, Filipinos may be slow to anger, but when things get so bad, something can snap and the release of anger can and will lead people to “run amok” (aka “amuck”), a result of the Pinoy, Malay, and Indonesian tendency to want to “keep cool” and thus suppress whatever negativity they may feel. That they may not express such anger so easily and keep smiling on the outside doesn’t at all mean that the anger is not there or that the anger has dissipated. Not at all. The tendency towards anger has just been suppressed and placed in the deep recesses of their psyche, waiting and waiting and waiting until a certain limit is breached. There wouldn’t be a transition. It would simply be a sudden release of massive anger. And that’s when all hell breaks lose when one runs amok.
The walls that currently protect Forbes Park, Dasmariñas Village, and Bel Air, will never be high or strong enough to keep poor people who are running amok out. As mentioned, people from among the poor live and work among them inside their cute little enclaves as maids, drivers, gardners, etc. Where will their sympathies lie if their own relatives are among those who suffer the lousiness of massive unemployment that are ultimately caused by the inability of foreign direct investors to come in, create jobs, and ease the massive poverty that has forced more than 10 million Filipinos to find jobs abroad?
See, it’s not just the poor who are escapist… The Filipino Oligarchs are unrepentant escapists as well. They often pretend to themselves that they do not see the poverty and suffering around them. They desperately try to pretend that they live in the First World. They pretend that the 60/40 and other anti-FDI restrictions that they and those who came before them put up are serving them well. They forget to see that these restrictions simply widen the gulf between them and the extremely impoverished Filipinos whom they pretend are not people.
They also pretend not to see that FDI-induced inclusive growth, one which creates enough decent-paying jobs to allow the poor to rise up to become members of a new middle class and new rich in great numbers, is actually to their advantage. Filipino Oligarchs currently do enjoy a monopoly and an advantage. When the restrictions are removed and the foreign direct investors come in, don’t they realize that their companies are already well-positioned to be the suppliers that the MNCs and foreign direct investors will buy goods and services from when they start coming in and setting up?
Don’t these oligarchs see that when the foreign direct investors and MNCs start coming in en masse to build factories, it is the oligarch-owned construction companies who will be among the first to be contracted?
Don’t these oligarchs see that when the foreign direct investors and MNCs start coming in en masse and creating lots and lots of jobs for ordinary Filipinos, these Filipinos will now have incomes that will allow them to spend more on the products and services that oligarchs’ companies sell?
Don’t these oligarchs see that when the foreign direct investors and MNCs start coming in en masse and creating lots and lots of jobs for millions of poor Filipinos, these poor Filipinos will eventually cease to be poor, become new members of the middle class and nouveau riche and whatever resentment towards wealth and the oligarchs they once had will cease to exist?
Don’t these oligarchs see that when restrictions against FDI are removed and foreign direct investors and MNCs start coming in en masse and creating lots and lots of jobs for millions of poor Filipinos, crime will go down, security will improve, and the oligarchs will now be more able to enjoy living their lives the way rich and sophisticated people are supposed to live — able to freely dress up, ride fancy cars around town, and take leisurely strolls out in the open — without fearing for their lives or loss of property? (In places like Singapore, this is the case: the richest people can live the way rich people are supposed to live: driving fancy cars, taking leisurely strolls in public places without fear)
Escapism, narrow-mindedness, and short-term thinking aren’t limited only to the poor in the Philippines. At least in the Philippines, poor Filipinos have an excuse: they are way too focused on the short term to think of anything else.
For the Wealthy Filipino Oligarchs, what is their excuse for escapism, narrow-mindedness, and the kind of short-term thinking that is evidenced by many among them like Jose Ma. Montelibano, Winnie Monsod, Noynoy Aquino and others to keep fighting against Constitutional Reform and economic liberalization?
The Oligarchs have no excuse. Small-minded Selfishness can be overcome by simply taking a step back, looking at the bigger picture, and learning about what the fastest-growing economies of the world have done and are currently doing in order to promote inclusive job-creating economic growth that helps everyone: both the poor and the rich oligarchs alike.
CoRRECT™ the Constitution!
The Philippines is run like a Mafia Network
After the recent revelations of the pork barrel scam, the patronage politics exposed during the Typhoon Yolanda Tragedy and the privileged speech revelations in Senate , it strikes me that the Government of the Philippines is very similar to the Sicilian Mafia, and I’ll explain why. You be the judges:
The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra, in English “Our Concern”) is a criminal syndicate in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering, smuggling, gambling and other illegal activities. Each group, known as a “family”, “clan”, or “cosca”, claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves “men of honour”, although the public often refers to them as “mafiosi”. If you examine Philippines Patronage Politics, from the Barangays all the way to the Presidency, you will note these clan and family associations.
According to the classic definition, the Mafia is a criminal organization originating in Sicily. However, the term “mafia” has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests.
The Sicilian adjective mafiusu (in Italian: mafioso) may derive from the slang Arabic mahyas (مهياص), meaning “aggressive boasting, bragging”, or marfud (مرفوض) meaning “rejected”. In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising, and proud, according to scholar Diego Gambetta. In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective “mafiusa” means beautiful and attractive. Have a look at the Congressmen and Women, and the Senators, both Male and Female, in Philippine Politics and see how many of them fit this description.
Italian scholars such as Diego Gambetta and Leopoldo Franchetti have characterized the Sicilian Mafia as a “cartel of private protection firms”, whose primary business is protection racketeering: they use their reputation and connections to deter people from swindling, robbing, or competing with those who pay them for protection. For many businessmen in Sicily, they provide an essential service when they cannot rely on the police and judiciary, who are either corrupt or powerless to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves (this is often because they are engaged in black market deals). Scholars have observed that many other societies around the world have criminal organizations of their own that provide essentially the same protection service through similar methods. Is this not similar to what occurs in the Philippines? People must resort to bribes, political connections and corrupt officials to get things done?
For instance, in Russia after the collapse of Communism, the state security system had all but collapsed, forcing businessmen to hire criminal gangs to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves. These gangs are popularly called “the Russian Mafia” by foreigners, but they prefer to go by the term “krysha”.
“With the (Russian) state in collapse and the security forces overwhelmed and unable to police contract law, cooperating with the criminal culture was the only option…. most businessmen had to find themselves a reliable krysha under the leadership of an effective vor.”
—excerpt from McMafia by Misha Glenny.
Is this situation also similar to what happens in Mindanao with clans like the Ampatuans?
The Historical Context: Modern scholars believe that its seeds were planted in the upheaval of Sicily’s transition out of feudalism in 1812 and its later annexation by mainland Italy in 1860. Under feudalism, the nobility owned most of the land and enforced law and order through their private armies. After 1812, the feudal barons steadily sold off or rented their lands to private citizens, very similar to what the Wealthy Land Owning Families of the Philippines have done in the past. Primogeniture was abolished, land could no longer be seized to settle debts, and one fifth of the land was to become private property of the peasants (similar to the Hacienda Situation existing in the Philippine Context).
After Italy annexed Sicily in 1860, it redistributed a large share of public and church land to private citizens. The nobles also released their private armies to let the state take over the task of law enforcement. However, the authorities were incapable of properly enforcing property rights and contracts, largely due to their inexperience with free market capitalism. Lack of manpower was also a problem: there were often less than 350 active policemen for the entire island. Some towns did not have any permanent police force, only visited every few months by some troops to collect malcontents, leaving criminals to operate with impunity from the law in the interim. With more property owners and commercial activity came more disputes that needed settling, contracts that needed enforcing, transactions that needed oversight, and properties that needed protecting. Because the authorities were undermanned and unreliable, property owners turned to extralegal arbitrators and protectors. These extralegal protectors would eventually organize themselves into the first Mafia clans and sometimes these clans controlled, and in many cases became the local governments. Does this not sound familiar to what occurs in remote Towns and Villages in the Philippines?
In 1864, Niccolò Turrisi Colonna, leader of the Palermo National Guard, wrote of a “sect of thieves” that operated across Sicily. The sect made “affiliates every day of the brightest young people coming from the ruling class, of the guardians of the fields in the Palermitan countryside, and of the large number of smugglers; a sect which gives and receives protection to and from certain men who make a living on traffic and internal commerce. It is a sect with little or no fear of public bodies, because its members believe that they can easily elude them.” Does this not also sound like the Oligarchy and Political Elite that currently rules the Philippines? In fact, this Protection was enshrined in the Philippine Constitution of 1987, which guarantees the control of all forms of business in the hands of the Oligarchy, with no risk of Competition. In fact, the Oligarchy in the Philippines, is in fact, the Government itself.
Mafiosi meddled in politics early on, bullying voters into voting for candidates they favored. At this period in history, only a small fraction of the Sicilian population could vote, so a single mafia boss could control a sizeable chunk of the electorate and thus wield considerable political leverage. Mafiosi used their allies in government to avoid prosecution as well as persecute less well-connected rivals. The highly fragmented and shaky Italian political system allowed cliques of Mafia-friendly politicians to exert a lot of influence. The Current Dynastically Controlled Philippine Presidential System basically mirrors this set up, from the LGUs all the way to the Houses of Congress and Senate. Power rests in loose associations that masquerade as Political parties where allegiances change easily, based on power and influence. In a series of reports between 1898 and 1900, Ermanno Sangiorgi, the police chief of Palermo, identified 670 mafiosi belonging to eight Mafia clans that went through alternating phases of cooperation and conflict. How many rival clans control Philippine Politics? Read this article to find out…
Lets look at how the Elites have ruled, and continue to rule the Philippines: President Aquino is the son of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr (“Ninoy”) who was assassinated upon return from exile in 1983, an event that touched off several years of unrest that culminated in the historic People Power revolution and the 1986 ousting of President Ferdinand Marcos. Ninoy’s father (Noynoy’s grandfather) was Benigno “Igno” Aquino, also a Senator before World War II before becoming Vice-President of the Japanese-sponsored “second Philippine Republic” toward the end of the war. Igno’s father (Ninoy’s grandfather, Noynoy’s great-grandfather) was Servillano “Mianong” Aquino, who was a general in the anti-colonial revolution fighting successively at the turn of the 20th century against Spain and the United States and who served in the revolutionary government’s Congress. Mianong’s father (Igno’s grandfather, Ninoy’s great-grandfather, and Noynoy’s great-great-grandfather) was Don Braulio Aquino who belonged to the landed aristocracy and lived 150 years before his great-great-grandson announced a run for the presidency. Noynoy is the second cousin of another failed candidate for the presidency, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. Noynoy’s mother, Cory Aquino, is a cousin of Teodoro’s mother, Mercedes. The two wings of the Cojuangco clan have been feuding for decades.
After WWII, in a strange parallel to the situation in the Philippines, the changing economic landscape of Sicily would shift the Mafia’s power base from rural to the urban areas. The Minister of Agriculture, a communist, pushed for reforms in which peasants were to get larger shares of produce, be allowed to form cooperatives and take over badly used land, and remove the system by which leaseholders (known as “gabelloti“) could rent land from landowners for their own short-term use. Owners of especially large estates were to be forced to sell off some of their land. The Mafia, which had connections to many landowners, murdered many socialist reformers. The most notorious attack was the Portella della Ginestra massacre, when 11 persons were killed and 33 wounded during May Day celebrations on May 1, 1947. Note the similarity to the Philippines and the Hacienda Luisita Massacre, among others?
Also, after WWII there was a huge demand for new homes. Much of this construction was subsidized by public money. In 1956, two Mafia-connected officials, Vito Ciancimino and Salvatore Lima, took control of Palermo’s Office of Public Works. Between 1959 and 1963, about 80 percent of building permits were given to just five people. Construction companies unconnected with the Mafia were forced to pay bribes and protection money to get permits. Many buildings were illegally constructed before the city’s planning was finalized. Mafiosi scared off anyone who dared to question the illegal building, or had them tied up in red tape or frivolous legal cases, often dragging on for years. The result of this unregulated building was the demolition of many beautiful historic buildings and the erection of apartment blocks, many of which were not up to standard. How many Philippines Construction Companies get the bulk of Philippines Government Infrastructure Jobs? Who owns these Companies? Who owns the large property development firms, how are they connected to Politics? In fact, who runs the Banks, the Power Generation Plants, the Telecommunication Networks, the Large Retail Outlets, the Cement Factories, the Media, etc?
In many cases, Philippines Public Institutions are extensions of these Mafia-like activities. Let’s take a hypothetical look at the PNP or NBI. For example: suppose a meat wholesaler wishes to sell some meat to a supermarket without paying taxes. Neither the seller nor buyer can turn to the courts for help should something go wrong, such as the seller supplying rotten meat or the buyer not paying up. The law does not enforce black market agreements; it punishes them. Without the arbitration of the law, the seller could cheat the buyer with impunity or vice versa. If the parties both do not trust each other, they cannot do business and they could both lose out on a profitable deal. Instead, the parties can approach someone they know to corrupt in the PNP or NBI, to supervise their illegal deal. In exchange for a commission, they promise to both the buyer and seller that if either of them tries to cheat the other, the cheater can expect to be assaulted or have his property vandalized. Only a fool would dare cheat somebody protected by the Mafia/Police/NBI. With the traders satisfied that this mafioso can discourage cheating, the transaction proceeds smoothly and all parties leave satisfied. The Mafia’s protection is not restricted to illegal activities. Shopkeepers often pay the Mafia to protect them from thieves, as many do the Police and NBI (based on Published News reports). If a shopkeeper enters into a protection contract with a mafioso, the mafioso will make it publicly known that if any thief were foolish enough to rob his client’s shop, he would track down the thief, beat him up, and, if possible, recover the stolen merchandise (mafiosi make it their business to know all the fences in their territory), as do the Police/NBI.
Mafiosi sometimes protect businessmen from competitors by threatening their competitors with violence or other problems. If two businessmen are competing for a government contract, the protected can ask his mafioso friends to bully his rival out of the bidding process. In another example, a mafioso acting on behalf of a coffee supplier might pressure local bars into serving only his client’s coffee. In the Philippines, Corrupt Officials fulfill this role, holding up approvals or permits until the shopkeeper complies.
The primary method by which the Mafia stifles competition, however, is the overseeing and enforcement of collusive agreements between businessmen. Mafia-enforced collusion typically appear in markets where collusion is both desirable (inelastic demand, lack of product differentiation, etc.) and difficult to set up (numerous competitors, low barriers to entry). In the Philippines, this has been set up in the Constitution, and in collusion with the Lawmakers, who themselves are the ruling business classes, including the Oligarchy. The 60/40 Rule and the FDI negative list enshrines these protection into the Constitution itself. The truth is that the power of Filipino family-based oligarchies both derives from and contributes to a weak, corrupt state. From provincial warlords to modern managers, prominent Philippine leaders have fused family, politics, and business to subvert public institutions and amass private wealth, an historic pattern that continues to the present day.
Mafiosi approach potential clients in an aggressive but friendly manner, like a door-to-door salesman. They may even offer a few free favors as enticement. If a client rejects their overtures, mafiosi sometimes coerce them by vandalizing their property or other forms of harassment. In the Philippines, often these overtures are done by local Government Officials, Police or LGUs, to extort money, products, services and favors. In fact, most Philippines Government “Service” Providers are simply Official Extortion Rackets, requiring people to pay for irrelevant “Clearance Certificates” as a form of harassment and extortion of fees.
In many situations, mafia bosses prefer to establish an indefinite long-term bond with a client, rather than make one-off contracts. The boss can then publicly declare the client to be under his permanent protection (his “friend”, in Sicilian parlance). This leaves little public confusion as to who is and isn’t protected, so thieves and other predators will be deterred from attacking a protected client and prey only on the unprotected. In the Philippines, this is the Patronage System, usually involving High Ranking Officials, or other Political Figures, local, Provincial or National.
Mafiosi generally do not involve themselves in the management of the businesses they protect or arbitrate. Lack of competence is a common reason, but mostly it is to divest themselves of any interests that may conflict with their roles as protectors and arbitrators. This makes them more trusted by their clients, who need not fear their businesses being taken over. It also leaves them free from Public Scrutiny, in the case of Philippines Officials and Politicians.
A protection racketeer cannot tolerate competition within his sphere of influence from another racketeer. If a dispute erupted between two clients protected by rival racketeers, the two racketeers would have to fight each other to win the dispute for their respective client. The outcomes of such fights can be unpredictable (not to mention bloody), and neither racketeer could guarantee a victory for his client. This would make their protection unreliable and of little value. Their clients might dismiss them and settle the dispute by other means, and their reputations would suffer. To prevent this, mafia clans negotiate territories in which they can monopolize the use of violence in settling disputes. This is not always done peacefully, and disputes over protection territories are at the root of most Mafia wars. This can best be demonstrated in the Philippines context by the Atimonan Massacre, in Quezon Province, where 13 people were killed, including high ranking Police Officials, by another Group of Police and Military personnel, allegedly working for rival Gambling Lords over a Territorial Dispute.
Politicians court mafiosi to obtain votes during elections. A mafioso’s mere endorsement of a certain candidate can be enough for his clients, relatives and associates to vote for said candidate. A particularly influential mafioso can bring in thousands of votes for a candidate; such is the respect a mafioso can command. In the Philippine Context, these endorsements can come from Celebrities and Artistes, who themselves hope to become Politicians, once their Star fades. Vote buying is also prominent and often financed by illegal activities. Politicians usually repay this support with favors, such as sabotaging police investigations or giving contracts and permits. Sound familiar?
Mafiosi provide protection and invest capital in smuggling gangs. Smuggling operations require large investments (goods, boats, crews, etc.) but few people would trust their money to criminal gangs. It is mafiosi who raise the necessary money from investors and ensure all parties act in good faith. They also ensure that the smugglers operate in safety. In the Philippines, Politicians are often the main beneficiaries and facilitators of these smuggling activities, often inserting relatives into the operation to ensure it goes smoothly. JPE the Former Senate Chairman has been known to be heavily involved in the Operations of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), a renown entry point for smuggled automobiles into the Philippines.
The Sicilian Mafia in Italy is believed to have a turnover of €6.5 billion through control of public and private contracts. They rarely manage the businesses they control themselves, but take a cut of their profits, usually through payoffs. One only needs to look at the Whistle-blowers allegations in the Napoles Case to see how this functions in the Philippines. In the Philippines case, the term “Mafia”, is easily interchangeable with the “Politicians”, allegedly involved in this case, along with the Government Officials that colluded in it.
In Summation: In Italy, the term associazione di tipo mafioso (“Mafia-type organisation”) is used to clearly distinguish the uniquely Sicilian Mafia from other criminal organizations. Article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code, under which all criminal organisations are prosecuted, defines an association as being of Mafia-type nature “when those belonging to the association, exploit the potential for intimidation which their membership gives them, and the compliance and omertà which membership entails and which lead to the committing of crimes, the direct or indirect assumption of management or control of financial activities, concessions, permissions, enterprises and public services for the purpose of deriving profit or wrongful advantages for themselves or others.”. OK, can anyone think of a more apt description of the Philippine Political Structure as outlined and exposed in the Napoles Fiasco?
CoRRECT™ the Constitution!
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About the Author
Trevor L. Evans is the CEO of Black Hawk Inc, a Training and Simulation Solutions provider servicing the Aviation Industry throughout SE Asia. He has provided Consultancy Services for Business and Government in the Gulf Region and is formerly the Marketing & Communications Vice President for several Multi Million dollar Property Developers based in Dubai, as well as serving as the Director of Operations for the Dubai World Trade Center, the largest Exhibitions & Events Complex in the Middle East. Trevor also served as a State Police Officer and Specialist Services Officer in the Australian Army and has worked extensively in Australasia, North America, the Middle East and Europe.
Trevor currently lives in the Philippines with his Filipina wife and their Filipino children. (That’s why he cares about the Philippines: His wife and kids are Filipinos!)
Tacloban Tragedy: A Painful Wake-up Call
Tacloban after Super Typhoon Haiyan
Dear friends,
The Wake-up Call
Post-Disaster Economic Reconstruction
2012 FDI in ASEAN
CoRRECT™ the Constitution!
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About the Author
Ang Hagupit ng Bagyong Yolanda
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The Coming Fall of the “Noynoy Project”
The writing is on the wall: “P-Noy” is losing support. As a result of the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda (aka “Haiyan”), Philippine President B.S. Aquino III has been exposed to the rest of the entire world as being irredeemably incompetent and even unconcerned about other people’s lives. He’s on his way out. The “Noynoy Project” is coming to a disastrous end.
The selfish Filipino oligarchs who propped up the obviously incompetent B.S. Aquino III to run for president on a purely name-recall “platform” to win the 2010 presidential elections with the intention of having their monopolistic interests looked after by Noynoy’s administration will eventually have to answer for their crime. Make no mistake, folks — pushing him to run for the highest office knowing fully well that Noynoy Aquino is a completely incapable and unempathetic individual was an act of evil and utter selfishness. They got him into a position of immense responsibility when all he really wanted to do was to play video games and spend time with his special nephew Josh. It is an unforgiveable crime. The evil oligarchs simply wanted Noynoy to do nothing that would create an inclusive economy that would promote competition, meritocracy, and provide upward mobility for hardworking Filipinos. Having the incompetent Noynoy doing nothing would mean protecting the rotten status quo that keeps the rich oligarchs rich, while preventing driven and hard-working individuals from moving up the ladder and later on engage in direct economic competition against the already entrenched old order of oligarchs.
special uncle
Noynoy’s only “job” (which he is doing, by the way) is to prevent the pro-oligarch and anti-poor 1987 Constitution from getting amended and improved. Every single time the president is asked about the need to fix the faulty constitution in order to attract more foreign investments to create jobs for ordinary Filipinos, his answer has always been “No.”
So yes, he’s fulfilling a role for the oligarchs and not much else. But what happens when crisis strikes?
Here’s what happens: Noynoy freezes. All the time!
In the Luneta Bus Hostage Crisis of August 23, 2010, he was totally absent even if the least he could have done was to briefly step in early on (within the first two hours of the bus hijacking) and announce that the National Government was taking over the resolution of that crisis. It was clearly beyond the capacity of the City of Manila to handle it since it involved coordinating with agencies such as the Office of the Ombudsman and other agencies which are “above its pay-grade.” (Vice Mayor Isko Moreno even had to travel through traffic all the way from Manila City Hall to the Office of the Ombudsman in Commonwealth Avenue just to try to meet the hostage taker’s easy-to-meet demands of reinstatement to his old job. But Isko Moreno did not have the authority to get that reinstatement order signed in time.) The National Government could have simply assigned a competent high-ranking national-level official and given him/her the appropriate “blanket authority” to take care of handling the crisis in a timely and efficient manner. But see, that’s why it all went to hell and people got killed. Noynoy did not step in at all to delegate all the necessary authority to someone competent while it was still early.
The same thing has been happening with this recent Yolanda/Haiyan typhoon disaster. TV News coverage – both local and foreign – repeatedly exposes how the national government is too slow to respond to the requests of the local governments of Tacloban and other affected places. There’s essentially no sense of urgency on the part of Noynoy to do anything right or at least temporarily assign someone who is experienced and competent enough to be the overall crisis-coordinator with all the necessary blanket authority to by-pass any bureaucratic processes. When a victim who had been held at gunpoint by looters at some point complained about the anarchy, the looting, and the violence that has spontaneously ensued as a result of desperation, and suggested declaring a limited “martial law” for the affected areas, Noynoy responded by saying “But you did not die, right?” Worse, he even walked out of that meeting!
Benigno Aquino III, Mar Roxas
There will always be disasters and emergencies and leaders will always be called upon to provide true leadership and the ability to organize the country’s resources, armed services, and bureaucracy to do whatever needs to get done. We do not deserve to have leaders who snap at victims who merely suggest certain courses of action based on what they know. We shouldn’t have leaders who totally “lose it” and walk out of meetings just because they can’t handle the stress. Leaders are supposed to handle stress. If Noynoy can’t handle stress, then he has no business being a leader!
I vividly recall how the pro-Noynoy campaign tried to brush aside the obvious fact that Noynoy Aquino was the most incompetent among all the candidates for president: “He may not be very competent, but at least he has a good heart and he is not corrupt,” so they said.
Yeah right. Not corrupt? Well what about the Pork Barrel scam? Not corrupt? What about his act of bribing legislators using the Priority Development Assistance Fund to get a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ousted?
Let’s be honest. That whole point in misdirecting the gullible Filipino electorate’s attention away from Noynoy Aquino’s obvious lack of any leadership abilities or even any sign of personal achievement and talk about some non-existent quality (“incorruptibility”) was meant to get Filipinos forgetting about what was to happen when the incompetent Noynoy did win and thus defeated candidates way better than him.
Well, Filipinos, just look at who among last May 2010’s candidates for president is doing the greatest good right now: Richard Gordon – Chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (and has always been with the Red Cross & Red Crescent Society even long before he got into politics). He’s been extremely active and on the scene in practically all disasters and emergencies, and the Philippine National Red Cross – under his leadership – has trained their personnel to be extremely competent in fulfilling their duties.
Noynoy Aquino has proven to be a total failure. His administration has done nothing other than to prop him up by releasing false reports of “economic growth” that even got foreign media fooled. What economic growth? There was no increase in productive capacity! Only an increase in consumption fueled by the desperation of more and more jobless, underemployed, or underpaid Filipinos forced to seek jobs in faraway countries so that as soon as they start earning salaries, they send remittances back. That is hardly the sign of a growing economy, especially if the real unemployment rate is likely to be somewhere along the lines of 30 to 40 percent of the total working-age population, but they make it look like our unemployment rates is only around 7%. What a lie!
But never mind. First things first: let’s go back to the typhoon victims.
Foreign volunteers have teared-up on TV when talking about the victims they saw and tried to help. A Turkish Chamber of Commerce leader who led the Turkish relief efforts delegation – Mr. Irfan Karabulut – was shown on GMA News tearing up and sobbing while he described the dire situation on the ground in Leyte.
Have we seen Noynoy Aquino cry or sob for Our People?
No. We’ve seen him smirk and smile! The guy is really abnormally incapable of any empathy towards fellow human beings. It’s not like we should be discriminating against people who have some kind of psychological disorder and can’t show empathy. We just simply shouldn’t have such a person as our country’s top leader!
No competence and no empathy and this guy is the Philippines’ leader?
Something has to be done at the systemic level. Our Presidential System whose winners emerge as a result of name-recall and popularity is at fault. After all, Noynoy won purely on the basis of his parents’ reputations. He won because people voted for his late parents Ninoy and Cory Aquino, and Noynoy got those votes win. We clearly need a better system.
Under a parliamentary system, Noynoy-types would hardly ever get a stab at becoming the top executive leader. And if someone like Noynoy ever did slip through, the system works in a way that a mishandled tragedy like the Bus Hostage Crisis that exposed his incompetence would have already gotten him thrown out and replaced. Immediately. No need for a long, drawn-out process of impeachment.
But we have a Presidential System so he’s still there, smirking and smiling and making excuses on Christiane Amanpour’s interview, talking about how he expected that the first responder in such an emergency would be the Local Government Units. Well, everyone knew that the Tacloban City local government was likely to be unable to function thanks to the overwhelming strength of that Typhoon, exacerbated by a Tsunami-like Storm Surge that is likely to have drowned and swept away lots of people.
How can anyone expect the Tacloban government to respond if they’re victims themselves? That’s why the National Government was supposed to step in immediately! All he did was to spew out excuses and cop-outs on Christiane Amanpour’s show, no different from how he made his first appearance in the news right after the Bus Hostage Massacre and used the hostage tragedy in Beslan, Northern Ossetia in Russia as an excuse to cover up his own ineptitude by saying “…but, as you know, even in Russia—they have resources and sophistication—when they had that theater hostage taking situation, the casualties were even more severe.” What a freakin’ cop-out!
And Noynoy has even rubbed his bad habits off on Mar Roxas. Mar has recently been trying so hard to show his subservience to Noynoy, donning a yellow shirt instead of the national colors and reading off Noynoy’s cop-out script. Does Mar Roxas not remember how Noynoy’s inner circle screwed him over when they betrayed him and pushed for the Noynoy-Binay combination instead of what was supposed to be the Liberal Party’s solid Noynoy-Mar ticket?
Instead of sucking up to Noynoy, this disaster could have been Mar’s shining moment of stepping in as a real no-nonsense DILG Secretary, taking real control of the relief operations, taking initiative to disregard bureaucracy where Noynoy wouldn’t. But no… Even Mar Roxas talked about the need to fulfill certain bureaucratic procedures in front of CNN Reporter Andrew Stevens who retorted to Mar in exasperation “But surely you need to override bureaucracy in the light of this situation.”
This preoccupation with using “bureaucracy” as an excuse is part of the Noynoy script which has been used over and over again! When former Hong Kong Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang tried calling Noynoy several times, Noynoy and his staff said something about how the HK Chief Executive “did not follow the proper protocol.” For crying out loud, Noynoy, that was an emergency situation! Suspend all this B.S. about protocol, paperwork, and bureaucratic procedure in order to save lives! Protocol and bureaucratic procedure are both done for normal situations, but during emergencies? The priority is saving lives!
It’s the same muddling up of priorities over and over again. And the Wharton-educated Mar Roxas who worked several years in the USA is supposed to be way more intelligent, more experienced, and more practical-minded than the grossly incompetent, unempathetic, and totally clueless Noynoy Aquino. But no, Mar Roxas is sucking it up to his lazy and sub-standard boss by wearing yellow, drinking the Noynoy Kool-Aid and mouthing all types of useless excuses and cop-outs, and generally just making himself a tool within a wider cover-up operation.
Mar doesn’t seem to realize it, but he’s now being turned into some kind of a scapegoat in all of this. A recent Inquirer news report came out trying to make it look as if the conflict was between him versus Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, with Noynoy Aquino being presented as the peacemaking mediator who got both sides working together. Ultimately, Mar Roxas was merely following orders from Noynoy when asking the Mayor to declare that he could no longer function as Mayor. And now they’re trying to make it look like Noynoy is the good guy who’s bringing both together? Unbelievable how these people think they can fool the Filipino people!
The Noynoy Administration isn’t just incompetent. It’s evil!
People have talked about Noynoy going from Hero to Zero. His being totally unfit for the presidency has been exposed beyond reasonable doubt. He has single-handedly destroyed his family’s honor and now the Aquino-Cojuangco family’s good press has been totally eroded by his incompetence and ineptitude. Truth be told, Noynoy’s family and relatives knew the risks of making him president. But I guess they didn’t think he’d screw up big time and thus drag them down with him.
Noynoy is irretrievably on his way down and out. But before he gets thrown out, he can at least do the right thing and fix the flawed 1987 Constitution and regain the respect and honor he lost. He could at least try doing an F.W. De Klerk and fix the flawed status-quo.
Frederik Willem De Klerk was the last Apartheid Era leader of South Africa. Although he was a conservative member of the old white minority, he saw how Apartheid couldn’t be sustained anymore as his country continued to be ostracized in trade & economic relations, banned in many sporting events, and suffered from extremely negative press due to their institutionalized racism. He knew that the Apartheid era was coming to an end soon as it was losing support and relevance, so despite being the leader of the old order, he took the initiative to negotiate with the African National Congress and move to get Nelson Mandela freed. He presided over the dismantling of Apartheid, and the democratization of South Africa.
While De Klerk was from the same caste of people who had previously set-up the evil Apartheid system, instead of getting demonized, De Klerk is actually considered to be a hero as he was the one who helped to end it and paved the way for the equality of all South Africans and helped get Mandela becoming the next leader. He saw that Apartheid and the old order had to go, so he moved to get rid of it under his watch.
F.W. De Klerk got the Nobel Peace Prize together with Nelson Mandela in 1993 and in the election the year after, was named as Nelson Mandela’s deputy in what essentially became a unity government.
Despite being on the “way out”, Apartheid-era leader De Klerk became a hero and an acknowledged partner in the formation of the new South Africa.
Back to Noynoy Aquino…
The writing is pretty much on the wall:
מנא, מנא, תקל, ופרסין
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
(Modern translation of the biblical phrase: “You’re going down, boy!”)
Many of the people who used to be so supportive of him have suddenly gone silent on social media. All over social media, in taxi cabs, in open public spaces, the vast majority of people hate Noynoy & his administration for their incompetence in handling the Rescue & Disaster Relief Operations. The only few remaining ones who continue to support Noynoy look like a bunch of lunatics. Noynoy is truly on his way out. He has destroyed his clan’s name and whatever respect his late parents Ninoy and Cory Aquino used to get has gotten replaced by hatred and contempt all on Noynoy’s account.
He no longer has a political career. It’s over.
But instead of just simply giving up just like that, Noynoy can do an F.W. De Klerk and make sure that his eventual exit turns him into a respected figure – a transformative agent of reform. That’s something he can do to turn his life around.
2012 FDI in ASEANLook at how low the Philippines’ FDI-inflows are. They’re pathetic. And that’s because many would-be foreign investors get turned off by Constitutional Restrictions that explicitly discourage majority foreign-owned businesses from coming into the Philippines. When we start needing to rebuild and recover after this disaster is over, we won’t be able to do it alone and we’ll clearly need a lot of foreign direct investments to help create jobs for all those displaced people who lost everything.
To facilitate this post-disaster reconstruction, Noynoy must CoRRECT™ the flaws of the 1987 Constitution. The three things he needs to facilitate in order to earn the respect of all future generations are:
1) Economic Liberalization: Remove all the anti-FDI Restrictions in the Constitution in order that foreign investors can easily come in and create jobs for Filipinos. Local investors will never be enough given the massive devastation and loss of infrastructure resulting from the killer-typhoon. If we’re so happy to receive foreign aid, well, people will be much happier to stand on their own and work for a living, never mind that their employer is a foreign company. We’re doing it already anyway: OFW’s slave away working for foreigners in foreign lands. Well, how about opening up the economy to foreign companies so that our people won’t have to be OFW’s and instead can work for foreign companies while still based in the Philippines and be close to their loved ones?
2) Evolving Federalism: Set up the gradual region-based decentralization to eventually move towards regional autonomy to economically empower the regions and provinces to decongest the overcrowded National Capital Region. When regions are given the ability to determine their own economic policies, chances are they will more likely come up with more business-friendly policies since they are closer on the ground to the people in their areas. Most OFW’s come from the regions and provinces after all. Why not get the regions empowered to attract investors on their own and set their own tax policies and do whatever they see fit in bringing in more jobs?
3) Shift to the Parliamentary System: Shift to a system of government where incompetents do not emerge and in case they do, it is easy to remove and replace them with better people. In a Parliamentary System, competent statesmen like Richard Gordon, Gibo Teodoro, and others have better chances of becoming Prime Minister. In a Parliamentary System, transparency is higher while corruption is lower (assuming ceteris paribus, that is). It is no wonder that Parliamentary Systems by and large dominate the top ranks of global competitiveness, least corruption, highest GDP per capita, most economic freedom, best human development, etc. Elections are less expensive and are much more focused on platforms and parties rather than on candidates personalities and their surnames.
Noynoy has no choice. He has already lost the respect of the people. Outside the Philippines, he is seen to be an “empty suit” who simply rode on his dead parents’ reputations and cannot deliver. He has been exposed as an incompetent puppet and proxy of the evil oligarchy, and he has even used the disaster to get back at political opponents like Tacloban’s Romualdez family who come from the political opposition.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t regain respect and honor. He just needs to make the necessary reforms happen soon.
To President Noynoy Aquino: Your days are numbered. You are on the way out. But before you go, please make sure you do what you can to fix the flaws of your mother’s 1987 Constitution. If you do that, Noynoy, at least you can end your term on a positive note. Who knows, if you do get the ball rolling for Constitutional Reform, you can earn your place as a real hero and regain the respect and honor that many of your administration’s wrong decisions have caused you and your family to lose.
CoRRECT™ the Constitution!
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About the Author
The Parable of the Mountain Bike
Once upon a time, there was an American Peace Corps volunteer named Sam. Sam was a nice, good-natured 29 year old White Anglo-Saxon American guy who stood tall at 6 ft 7′ and enjoyed playing basketball. Sam also loved riding around in his Mountain Bike, which he christened “The American Way.” In one of his assignments, Sam was made to go to a remote village in the the Philippines, and he was made to stay with one family which had a 6 year old boy named Felipe. Sam never left behind his mountain bike “The American Way”, and he thus brought it along with him. See, “The American Way” was a specially-crafted and customized bike, built specifically for Sam’s huge build and height. It was built with all his preferences into account, so that Sam was practically the only person who could maximize its comfort and features.
Sam was indeed a nice guy. He blended in well with the Filipino family, he learned Tagalog, and he taught them English. He helped out in the chores, and he and Felipe developed a strong friendship. Felipe always referred to Sam as “Uncle”, since his parents taught him to refer to older people as “Tito.” Of course, in English, Felipe used “Uncle…”
To Felipe’s eyes, Sam, was the ideal person. Felipe often told his Tatay and Nanay, “when I grow up, I want to be just like Uncle Sam.”
Sam taught Felipe lots of things. He taught Felipe how to play basketball, and caused Felipe to become so enamored with the sport, despite the fact that excelling in basketball usually favored tall people, not short ones. He also showed Felipe all his mountain bike stunts, and made Felipe want to learn more about riding a bike. Everytime Sam rode the bike, he told Felipe how nice it was to have a mountain bike, and how free one was to go wherever he wanted. Time went by, and Felipe really wanted to try riding the bike named “The American Way.” Well, since Sam needed it in his job, he always brought it along with him. Felipe never got the chance to try it out. Sam somehow sensed it… Sam knew he needed to do something…
After two years of staying with Felipe’s family, Sam was now due to return to the USA. On the day Sam was about to be fetched to be brought to the airport, Sam said that he was leaving behind his mountain bike, “The American Way” as a gift to Felipe. Felipe was overjoyed… Sam hugged Felipe and they both tearfully said their goodbyes.
Felipe was sad to see his “Uncle Sam” go. But yet, he was also happy that he now had this GIFT of the “American Way” for him to ride and enjoy.
8 year old Felipe tried out the huge mountain bike… He could hardly reach the pedals, nor could his hands reach the handlebars… He constantly fell and scratched his knees. “Hmmmm, maybe tomorrow, I’ll try again”, he thought…
Next door neighbors were getting concerned about the short 8 year old Felipe’s attempts to ride the huge mountain bike that was custom-built for a 6 ft 7 White adult. They told him, “Felipe, we think you need to use a smaller bicycle with trainers first…” Stubbornly, Felipe did not heed their advice. He continued on attempting to use “The American Way” mountain bike, and responded to them that “This was a gift my Uncle Sam gave me! I’m going to use it whether you like it or not!”
In the meantime, some neighbors’ children were able to buy cheap second hand, smaller bicycles fitted with trainers, and thus the neighbors’ little kids learned to bike. They had trainers (the pair of little tires at the back used for beginners) and later on, the trainers would be slightly raised, until they learned balance. Felipe took no notice of these little kids who were his peers… After all, the little bicycles they used were all cheap, lousy, locally-made bicycles, while his, “The American Way”, was a special, top-of-the-line, imported, “made in the USA” Mountain Bike which originally cost more than the whole rural village’s entire monthly income combined. (2,500 USD for a rather “specially made” mountain bike… Certainly so much more than the rural village’s monthly income combined…)
Day in, day out, little Felipe continued to fall off the huge mountain bike. It was unfortunately unadjustable due to the fact that it was specifically tailor-made for Sam’s huge build. The farthest that Felipe could go was just a few meters before losing control and then falling on the side… Years passed, and Felipe still continued in the same “move a few meters, wobble, then fall” cycle.
He never learned to bike properly. Even in adolescence, he was never tall enough to properly reach the pedals and sit on the mountain bike comfortably and go anywhere with it. He’d always continue to move a few meters, lose control, fall on the side, and get scratched and bruised.
Young Felipe never learned to bike properly, yet his next door neighbors, the ones who used cheaper, second hand, small bikes with trainers, had all been able to upgrade their bikes as the years went by… As it happened, the little kids who started off with trainer-bikes learned to bike properly, took off the trainers, and they then used their biking skills later on to make money… Some used their biking skills to deliver mail, newspapers, and the like… Those who delivered mail and others, made enough money which they saved to upgrade their bikes…
Young Felipe now saw what was happening… Here he was, the “kid with the most expensive mountain bike in town”, yet he never learned to bike properly, while the other kids with the smaller cheapo-bikes were able to learn properly and later on upgrade…
“The American Way”, the great mountain bike that Felipe’s “Uncle Sam” gave to him as a gift had let him down… It was far too big… It was far too heavy… He couldn’t sit on it properly, as its proportions were made for a 6 foot 7 grown Caucasian, while Felipe was a very short young boy…
His parents, his neighbors, his friends, all told him that using the gargantuan mountain bike that was too big for him wasn’t going to work. Many years passed with the same sad results…
But poor young Felipe, now at 15 years old, still defiantly retorted back to them, “My Uncle Sam gave me this wonderful mountain bike which was christened ‘The American Way…’ I will continue to use it whether you like it or not…”
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This parable was first “published” on June 14, 2001 in the original Get Real Philippines website of Benign0 back when the site was still a freely-hosted Geocities site in the early stages of the author’s close friendship and collaboration with Benign0. Sadly, some disagreements a decade later caused the two to part ways (The author proposed Constitutional Reform as a means of fixing the Philippines since he still has hope that the Philippines can be fixed, while Benign0 felt content to criticize the Philippines from a distance and took pains not to propose solutions to fix it since the latter unfortunately tends to think that the “Philippines is hopeless.”)
The Parable of the Mountain Bike caught the attention of the celebrated blogger-turned-author “Bob Ong” who then contacted the author sometime after its publication and asked permission to feature it in his first book which bears the name “Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?” The Parable gained a certain popularity among students and was used a lot for school reports by many Filipino kids.
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About the Author
OrionOrion Pérez Dumdum comes from an IT background and analyzes the Philippine situation the way he analyzes IT systems: logically and objectively.
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Extra reading on the US Federal Government Shutdown:
1. The Shutdown is the Constitution’s Fault by Dylan Matthews (Washington Post)
2. Government Shutdown: Is it George Washington’s Fault? by Peter Gier (CS Monitor)
3. The Founding Fathers’ Fiscal Crisis Mistake by Peter Singer (Project Syndicate)
4. Why a Government Shutdown Couldn’t Happen in Canada by Bert Archer (Random House of Canada)
5. How Australia dealt with the One Gov’t Shutdown they experienced by Max Fisher (Washington Post)
6. Why Other Countries Don’t Have Shutdowns by Joshua Keating (Slate)
7. Why Other Countries Don’t Shut Down their Governments by Peter Weber (The Week)
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You might also like these articles by Orion Pérez Dumdum:
2. Why Charter Change is CoRRECT™
3. Philippine Progress: Shift in Sports, Shift in System
4. Senator Pangilinan and the Parliamentary System
5. The Parliamentary System Fits the Philippines
7. Eight Points in Enlightening the Élite
US Government Shutdown: The Presidential System Sucks
The recent US Federal Government Shutdown has further proven to everyone around the World that the Presidential System is an extremely unreliable, buggy, flawed, and faulty system of government whose proneness to gridlock has turned it into a major embarrassment. In the Philippines, the proneness to gridlock of the Philippine Presidential System is precisely what spawned the Pork Barrel as a “solution” to avoid gridlock. We all know how that turned out… Isn’t it obvious that the Presidential System sucks?
First of all, the US Presidential System is all about gridlock: Gridlock between the Executive branch versus the Legislative branch, and within the Legislative branch – between the Upper Chamber (Senate) and the Lower Chamber (House of Representatives). This recent Federal Government Shutdown is a prime example of how gridlock happened between the Democrat-led Senate and the Republican-led House. And this gridlock is not about a law not getting passed. It’s about the US federal budget not getting approved. Without a budget and the funding government needs to keep running, the result is The Shutdown.
Everyone with a brain knows that Gridlock is bad. It’s a stalemate that means nothing happens. Some people even call it “deadlock.” Well, many Americans unfortunately tend to think that “gridlock is good.” Hard as it may be to understand, these Americans (and the American-wannabe Pinoys who emulate them) subscribe to the misguided view that gridlock is a positive feature because it was “meant to prevent bad leaders from doing much harm.” Yeah right.
It’s a rather lame idea because the fixation that these proponents of the gridlock-prone Presidential System have is on “preventing bad leaders from doing any harm”, when ultimately, their system also prevents good leaders from doing any good. Not only that, as the recent events have shown, it has resulted in the Shutdown. In a nutshell, the idea behind the defense of gridlock is based on the assumption that all leaders are up to no good. Quite unfortunately, many Americans (and many Filipinos who worship America and its system of government) seem not to have heard about how the Parliamentary System works. Instead of a system whose inherent susceptibility to gridlock is supposed to stifle a “bad leader” from doing harm, the Parliamentary System is premised on preventing bad leaders from emerging in the first place. In fact, the system works such that in the off chance that a bad leader does emerge, the so-called bad leader can be very easily removed and replaced legally without any difficulty whatsoever.
Is it any wonder that the USA is often bested by other First World Countries who use Parliamentary Systems in many performance indices?
Why is the USA never on top at number one?
This is not to say that the USA is not a rich country. It is a rich country. But it could have been richer and better-run. It could have performed way better than it currently performs on many international performance indices like the Economic Freedom Index, Transparency and Resistance to Corruption (Corruption Perceptions Index), GDP per Capita, Property Rights Index, Human Development Index, the Global Competitiveness Index, and many others.
Now let’s not forget what it is that actually helps make the USA rich and have a relatively self-driven population that is out to succeed despite its lousy and flawed gridlock-prone system of government: the USA is the World’s Largest Immigrant Nation.
Yup. That’s right. The USA has the largest immigrant-dominated population in the entire world. Majority of its people are themselves immigrants or at least descended from immigrants, and it continues to attract a lot of first generation new immigrants. And immigrants, particularly voluntary immigrants, are people who made the decision to be self-reliant and self-driven towards achieving economic independence for themselves and for their own families. They made their decision to be self-reliant even before leaving their original home countries to move to the USA.
(Another mitigating factor for why the USA, despite using the faultily-designed Presidential System, is still able to prevent the failures that have characterized Presidential Systems everywhere else is because their presidential system uses the Electoral College which helps to stabilize their electoral processes in lessening the number of contending candidates for the presidency. In countries in Latin America or in the Philippines which do not use the Electoral College, the high number of candidates often destabilizes the election results particularly in countries that do not use run-off elections in order to force the emergence of a majority president. This topic is discussed in “Problems of Presidentialism” by the late Dr. Fred Riggs.)
So even if the USA has a system that was rigged to “sabotage itself” through gridlock and get the least amount of work or “new policies” done, the fact that majority of Americans (who are mostly immigrants or descendants of immigrants) are still rather conscious of the need to be self-reliant mitigates the ill-effects of this institutionalized gridlock because the general psyche of voluntary immigrants is to “fend for themselves” anyway.
The Need for Good Governance in Developing Non-Immigrant Societies
On the other hand, in countries that are not immigrant nations, good governance is much more of a necessity. And ensuring that a country gets more-or-less the best kinds of leaders they can have generally means a better direction for them. Parliamentary Systems are meant to promote good governance. Of course they can’t guarantee it, but when compared to Presidential Systems, ceteris paribus, they obviously fare better in producing better-quality leaders. At the very least, the ideal scenario is that in such a society, excellent governance can and will emerge that will educate, train, and enable the people to become much more self-reliant so that ultimately, they’ll fend for themselves, be responsible to themselves as private individuals and not be too reliant on government.
In immigrant societies, voluntary immigrants made a conscious decision to be self-reliant even before setting foot into their intended destinations. They don’t really need to be taught to be self-reliant. Even with a government whose wings are clipped, self-reliant people (which is what immigrants normally are) can still succeed despite having an emasculated government as these people are self-motivated, driven, and out to achieve by themselves and for themselves. (However, it certainly does not harm when immigrant societies like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Singapore do have governments that are run well and are not clipped by gridlock. They certainly wouldn’t have to be sabotaged by a government shutdown like the one that has just recently hit the USA)
In non-immigrant societies, the people need to be molded and trained to become more attuned to the necessity of self-reliance. Why? Because the people there – “the natives” -have been in their home countries ever since. They’re “furniture that came with the house.” They didn’t decide to be there the way immigrants to new lands did. The people in non-immigrant societies need to be led to make the right moves towards success by good leaders. Good government (particularly good government whose ideas are based on Classical Liberal principles) can play this role of teaching the people to rely on themselves through education and creating an environment where hard work is rewarded and laziness is not rewarded. A gridlock-prone system, alas, will not allow this because it was designed to sabotage itself and clip its own wings. It’s very much like having the handbrake on while stepping on the accelerator.
As the Philippines is clearly not an immigrant society, it is quite obvious that our country desperately needs good governance and a system that prevents bad leaders from emerging in the first place, as well as hopefully enables good leaders to step up to the plate and train, mold, and enable a vast majority of the people to become successful, self-reliant, achievement-oriented citizens who can stand on their own economically. This is what a Parliamentary System is more likely to do than a Presidential System since Parliamentary Systems cause competent leaders to emerge, while Presidential Systems are more likely to cause “winnable” and “popular” (but not necessarily competent) leaders to emerge. The absence of gridlock in Parliamentary Systems means that shutdowns like the one hitting the USA are generally absent and leaders are empowered to do what they need to do in order to do the right things and pursue much-needed reforms.
(Australia is the only Parliamentary country to have formally had one and only one shutdown and it was very promptly resolved within a few hours thanks to the flexibility of the parliamentary system. Ironically, the reason why Australia had a shutdown in 1976 is a result of Australia’s decision to copy the USA in creating a relatively powerful elected Senate – emulating the US Senate – which ended up in gridlock against Australia’s slightly more powerful House of Representatives. Unlike Australia which had only one shutdown ever which happened in 1975 and it was only for a few hours, the USA has had a total of 17 government shutdowns, the last one was 17 years ago as of this writing and each of them lasted for days or even weeks! Shutdowns are unfortunately a “feature” of the US System. While the stability of Presidential Systems would be akin to operating systems that crash regularly, Parliamentary Systems are – to IT professionals’ and computer scientists’ eyes – reminiscent of heavy duty fault tolerant and crash resistant operating systems.)
Sadly, with the Philippines using a Presidential System, our country is likely to be forced into two extremes: Either a highly corrupted Pork Barrel-dependent system that uses such funds to prevent Gridlock or an extremely gridlock-prone system (if Pork Barrel is abolished but the Presidential System remains) which is prone to impasses, coups d’etat (like in Latin America) and government shutdowns no different from what the USA is experiencing at the time of this writing.
The choice is clear: The Presidential System must go. The Philippines has had its Pork Barrel scam which is ultimately traceable to the presidential system’s gridlock-prone separation of powers, while the US Federal Government Shutdown shows another ugly side of how gridlock can turn out. Surely, the benefits of shifting over to the Parliamentary System is becoming more and more easy to understand, and the urgency of making such a shift has become very obvious. Americans, your Founding Fathers were not infallible. The Presidential System they came up with is not perfect and how it works is essentially responsible for the gridlock inherent in the US system which in turn caused this US Government Shutdown. If you want to stay on using your gridlock-prone & susceptible to shutdowns system, go ahead and continue using it, but please don’t push it on others.
Filipinos, if we are serious in wanting to truly improve our society, it’s time to shift to the Parliamentary System!
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About the Author
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Extra reading on the US Federal Government Shutdown:
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You might also like these articles by Orion Pérez Dumdum:
2. Why Charter Change is CoRRECT™
3. Philippine Progress: Shift in Sports, Shift in System
4. Senator Pangilinan and the Parliamentary System
5. The Parliamentary System Fits the Philippines
7. Eight Points in Enlightening the Élite
Infographic: Solutions to the Root Causes of the Pork Barrel
Nápoles & Pork Barrel: It’s the Lousy System
Jeane Napoles
1987 Constitution Kicks FedEx Out
Perfect timing. Just what we needed for the Constitutional Reform campaign…
The Court of Appeals just recently reiterated its decision uphold the 1987 Constitution to ban FedEx from operating in the Philippines because its operations were deemed to be “detrimental to the interest of local competitors and of the Philippine economy as a whole.” The CA based its decision on Article XII Section 11 of the Constitution, which provides that “operation of a public utility shall be granted to Filipino citizens or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines.”
Painful as it is for so many Filipinos (particularly those in the nursing profession who are looking to apply for nursing positions in the USA as FedEx is the only accredited courier for the US nursing sector’s document handling) who rely on FedEx to send or receive important documents or parcels abroad, the Court of Appeals has proven to be a perfect tool in proving just how flawed the 1987 Constitution is and just what role the Constitution’s anti-FDI restrictions play in actively discouraging MNCs and Foreign Direct Investors from coming into the country or kicking them out.
For a long time, a lot of not-so-informed people used to defend the anti-FDI restrictions in the Constitution by saying that “the Constitutional restrictions against foreign investors aren’t the main reason why MNCs and Foreign Direct Investments”, saying that “Red Tape and Corruption are the key reason for why MNCs choose not to come to the Philippines.” Well, unfortunately for these people, there are obvious examples of countries who are considered to be worse on the red-tape and the Corruption Perceptions Index ranking than the Philippines who are actually doing way better as far as attracting Foreign Direct Investments are concerned.
2012 FDI in ASEAN
Thanks to the anti-FDI restrictions in the Constitution, MNCs are few and FDI inflows are the lowest in the Philippines
Take Indonesia and Vietnam, for instance. Both those countries continue to beat the Philippines in terms of bringing FDI in, but a simple look into the Corruption Perceptions Index ranking for the year 2012 will reveal that the Philippines is considered to be “cleaner” or “less corrupt” than both Indonesia and Vietnam who are both considered to have worse corruption perception indices. Obviously, the argument that Corruption keeps MNCs away doesn’t hold water: Indonesia and Vietnam outperform the Philippines in FDI inflows by such high multiples that it is obvious that something else is making them more attractive to FDI: their Constitution’s and laws’ openness to foreign investors.
CPI ranking
The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International shows that the Philippines is seen to be less corrupt than both Indonesia & Vietnam
This recent bit of news is just what we Constitutional Reform advocates needed to prove the DIRECT effect that the 1987 Constitution’s anti-FDI provisions have on Multinational Companies in the Philippines.
Because honestly, it’s not just that FedEx is being kicked out of the Philippines. FedEx is an extremely well-known company all around the world whose recent “expulsion” from the Philippines by the Court of Appeals will reverberate around the world scare away all other would-be MNCs and would-be foreign investors from ever considering the Philippines as a viable investment location.
If you think about it, most of the Constitution’s anti-FDI provision’s effects in discouraging MNCs tend to be indirect. Aside from the “Red Tape” and “Corruption” bogeyman excuses many point to as the causes for low FDIs, the other cause often mentioned is the high cost of electricity in the Philippines. Well, how did cost of electricity get that high anyway? Simple: Low power generating capacity caused by the dearth of investments in the power generation sector. Had the Philippines been more open to foreign direct investment in such public utilities, then we wouldn’t have to deal with such high costs in the first place.
Just the same, the FedEx case is a perfect example of the 1987 Constitution’s anti-FDI restrictions having a direct effect on discouraging multinational corporations from coming into the Philippines or kicking existing ones out.
FedEx is a company that thousands of other companies, local and foreign, rely on. With the 1987 Constitution’s anti-FDI restrictions, FedEx is clearly not going to be the only foreign-owned courier service to get kicked out from the Philippines. UPS and DHL are probably in the pipeline. Other MNCs who hear about this case – and this case is clearly going to be very well known around the world – are going to take note of how the Court of Appeals interpreted the Constitution’s anti-FDI restrictions. It’s just a matter of time before these MNCs currently in the Philippiens all decide to leave while they can, while those merely thinking of investing in the Philippines may just decide to avoid the Philippines altogether.
Let’s not forget what happens when an MNC closes shop or is forced out of a country: lots of people lose jobs. With a high profile company like FedEx getting kicked out of the Philippines, a lot of other MNCs might just follow suit. What’ll happen to their employees?
It’s quite ironic that the news of FedEx’s expulsion from the Philippines by the Court of Appeals had to happen on the day of Noynoy Aquino’s disappointing State of the Nation Address. Perhaps it’s about time Noynoy decided to study the issue of Constitutional Reform in greater detail, if he truly wants to leave a positive legacy for his name over in the history books.
And by the way, Abi Valte and Edwin Lacierda, please take note… If you two “spokespersons” do not want to be exposed as being ignorant about economics, it’s high time the both of you refrained from saying anything against the need for Constitutional Reform and go tell your boss Noynoy to start reading up on it so he can learn to do the right thing. Wagging the dog and fooling the Public with window dressing and SONA videos just ain’t gonna cut it.
CoRRECT™ the Constitution!
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About the Author
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1. Exposing Esposo
2. Philippine Progress: Shift in Sports, Shift in System
3. Senator Pangilinan and the Parliamentary System
4. The Parliamentary System Fits the Philippines
6. Eight Points in Enlightening the Élite
7. F to A: What P-Noy Needs to do in order to Succeed
Benign0 is just as clueless as “Benigno”
benign0-benigno - smaller
Yes, you read it right.
Check this screenshot out:
Did you not notice the error, benign0?
(1) Business/Corporate Ownership by foreigners
(2) Land/Real Estate Property Ownership by foreigners
How could you miss that, benign0?
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Here’s how it works, Ladies and Gentlemen:
1) Malaysia under Mahathir bin Mohamad
2) China under Deng Xiaoping (邓小平)
3) India under Narasimha Rao
4) Vietnam under the current “Communist” Party of Vietnam
5) Indonesia under Susilo Bambang Yudhyono
6) Cambodia under the late Norodom Sihanouk
Singapore started the ball-rolling.
ASEAN with Singapore
Singapore 113,000,000
Indonesia 32,000,000
Malaysia 21,000,000
Thailand 17,000,000
Vietnam 15,400,000
Philippines 3,500,000
Asean minus Singapore
Geez, we’re looking really really bad here!
loser-benign0Thus spake the clueless one.
Clearly, benign0 just doesn’t get it.
Would you believe this was in Singapore?
Alright. So now it’s clear.
benign0-benigno - smaller
Polls aren’t just for Metro Manila: Why Federalism?
Manila Philippines from the air Aerial Pictures Metro Manila
by: Jan Emil Langomez
Federalism is about unity in diversity.
Blue - EvolFed
Further Reading:
Nancy Binay – Don’t hate the player, hate the game!
Get my drift, people?
It’s time to shift to the Parliamentary System!
CoRRECT™ the Constitution! NOW!
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It’s that simple.)
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About the Author
Should the Philippines Turn Parliamentary?
By Rep. Florencio B. Abad
It is unfortunate that enlightened debate about the proposed shift in the form of government has been hampered by allegations of hidden motives by Senate leaders and by a public suspicious of an unspoken agenda of certain politicians. The senators fear that the proposal is a means to cut short their political careers. The public, in turn, suspects that the plan has been advanced to secure the political futures of those who hold higher political ambitions, as well as to prolong the careers of those affected by the term limits set by the Constitution.
These reservations are not baseless nor unfair, given the embarrassing way patronage, narrow and self-interested politics have dominated the political way of life of the country. And while President Ramos has openly declared that any consideration of a change in government should not result in an extension of his term of office, his assurances have not prevented influential sectors of society,prominently the media and the business sectors, from calling for the abandonment of the effort.They instead urge more attention to the critical task of economic recovery and development. For a populace tired of the wrangling and positioning of politicians, the call to focus on pressing economic problems is widespread. Unfortunately, the appeal is premised on the erroneous assumption that rebuilding the economy can proceed without reforming political institutions and political markets.
The premise here is that the genuine democracy is founded not only on social and economic conditions, but also on the design of political institutions. The Philippines, or any other country similarly going through a difficult phase of transition, will be unable to cope without effective political institutions.
Strong political institutions make for effective governance. They do not guarantee the best policies,but they do ensure that the government will be able to make policies of some kind and that it will not be mired in endless standoffs. Research on the relationship between economic reform and democracy has shown that the strong political institutions are vital to accomplishing economic reform. While the socio-cultural and economic policy challenges faced by new democracies are important, these challenges cannot be met without strong political institutions.For these reasons, informed debate and research on constitutional reforms is important.The principal question that will be addressed is this: “Why is a parliamentary system a more appropriate framework of government, compared to a presidential system, in improving the capacity of government to function more effectively and in facilitating the consolidation of democracy in the Philippines?”
Three important assumptions in this question ought to be clarified:
First, despite the proliferation of non-governmental development institutions and the insistence of the business sector on a market-determined growth strategy, government will continue to play a central and dominant role in the development of the country.With an underdeveloped legislature, the initiative for policy making will have to emanate from the executive. With a limited manufacturing and industrial base, government will have to provide the infrastructure, the environment, and the push for economic recovery and growth.In our fractured and divided society, government must play a delicate mediating role in forging compromise and peace in the country.
Second, the government will have to function effectively to carry out these crucial roles. In the past,successive governments have been criticized — with good reason-for inefficiency, for lacking both economic an political competency, and, more importantly, for being unable to govern outside narrow political and economic interests.
Effectiveness can refer to a range of competencies. These capabilities will be defined and limited in the context of institutional reforms necessary to strengthen and consolidate our fragile democracy.
Consolidation refers to the process by which democracy becomes so broadly and profoundly legitimate among its citizens that it is unlikely to break down. It involves behavioral and institutional changes that normalize democratic politics and narrow its uncertainty (even to the point of rendering it rather boring). Consolidation involves the development of appropriate institutions so that democratic norms and practices take hold in the country.
Other questions also come to mind about the relationship between government structure and effective governance: Will the change in the system of government instantly bring about the capabilities that will enhance government effectiveness? If not, what other factors or influences will have to be considered?
This chapter has benefited immensely from a growing literature on the impact of institutions on promoting democratic consolidation and in enhancing effective governance. Interest has been focused particularly on the growing debate about the appropriateness of a presidential or a parliamentary system — or a hybrid of either – in new democracies. The writer has studied the experience of Latin American presidential democracies to prove a hypothesis: that the basic deficiencies of the presidential system that are not culture-bound and peculiar to the Philippines are, in fact, inherent in the system of government itself.
These are three reasons for focusing on Latin America first, countries in that region have had a long experience with democratic presidential systems. This is particularly true for those, which obtained their independence from Spain and Portugal early in the nineteenth century. In fact, in Latin America one finds the greatest concentration of US-style presidential democracies.
Finally, and most important, there has been a similar process of debate has taken place in the region about the wisdom of shifting to a parliamentary system or adopting applicable features of it within a semi-presidential framework.
The writer has also looked into the performance of democratic parliamentary regimes in Western Europe, particularly Britain, France, and Germany, where the parliamentary tradition is deeply rooted. To eliminate the possibility that economic growth and development would independently influence political stability, the writer has also looked into the experience of parliamentary systems in certain developing countries in the Caribbean and in Africa.
Before proceeding further, there is a need to briefly establish the debate in the context of the history of constitutional reform in the Philippines.
I. Historical Context of the Debate
Many of the proponents of the presidential system argue as if the system of parliamentary government is totally alien to the process of constitutional formation and the reform in the Philippines. Far from it.
In fact, in past exercises in constitution making — the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato of 1897, the Constitution of Makabulos, the Malolos Constitution, the Commonwealth Constitution of 1935 and the martial law-disrupted Constitutional Convention of 1971 — the issue of a parliamentary versus presidential structure of government has been at the heart of the deliberations.
At the turn of the century, Filipino revolutionaries were at the point of driving the Spanish colonizers out of the islands and establishing an independent republic. At that stage, the revolutionaries were contemplating the adoption of a constitution that had the main features of a parliamentary form of government. They drew their ideas of government from English and European sources, the Malolos Constitution, the Constitutions of Biak-na-bato and Makabulos, as well as the constitutional plans prepared by Apolinario Mabini and Mariano Ponce. The Revolutionaries envisioned a constitution that made the legislature the dominant department of government, with the executive powers vested in a President elected by a majority of the assembly of representatives.
Along with the revolutionaries’ struggle for genuine independence, this desire for a parliamentary structure of government ended in December 1898 when the Philippines was formally ceded by Spain to the United States. To justify its colonization of the islands, the US government issued the”Proclamation of Benevolent Assimilation” after a bloody “pacification” campaign. This began the process of implanting American political institutions in its new colony.
Even then, until the adoption of the 1935 Constitution, features of parliamentary system were incorporated into a civil government, called the Philippine Commission, which had been established by the US. The Commission exercised both legislative and executive functions, as a result, were also legislators in a unicameral law-making assembly.After the passage of the Philippine Bill of 1902, however, a bicameral legislature was created, with the Commission as the upper chamber and a newly-instituted Philippine Assembly as the lower chamber. The Jones Law of 1916 put an end to this arrangement and vested legislative power in an all-Filipino bicameral legislature with the Senate as the upper chamber and the House of Representatives as the lower chamber. But the members of the legislature continued to be appointed as heads of executive departments and sat in the Cabinet.
The semi-parliamentary features of government persisted until 1935, when, by virtue of the Tydings-McDuffie Law, also called the Philippine Independence Act, a new constitution was adopted. The 1935 Constitution was patterned after the US system and created a powerful executive, the presidency, in which executive power was solely vested. The President served for a fixed term of four years with only one reelection.
The presidential system characterized the system of government until 1972. A year later earlier, in1971, amidst a climate of protest and political instability, an elected Constitutional Convention convened to draw up a new constitution. Once again, a re-examination of governmental structure was in the agenda of the Convention.
On September 21, 1972, however, before the Convention could complete its task, President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, assumed extraordinary powers and began 14 years of profligate and repressive dictatorial rule. Despite the tense atmosphere and volatile political situation, the Convention continued with its deliberations.
To circumvent a constitutional ban on a second reelection, Marcos and his followers — employing a combination of bribes, intimidation and arrests – manipulated the Convention to scrap presidential system and replace it with a French-inspired semi-parliamentary government. But it was only in1978 when Marcos was finally able to convene an interim Batasang Pambansa(National Assembly). After the 1984 legislative elections, the Assembly attained regular status. The Assembly was generally perceived as a rubberstamp and a farce, as Marcos continued to exercise legislative powers under Amendment No. 6 of the 1973 Constitution. In fact, during martial rule, Marcos issued more decrees that the Assembly passed laws. Proponents of presidentialism who refer to this anomalous and undemocratic period of governance “as our bad experience in parliamentary government” to discredit the parliamentary system are grossly mistaken.
After a decade-and-a-half of forced rule, Filipinos finally mustered enough collective courage to shout, “Tama Na! Sobra Na!” (“Stop! Enough”) and marched in the millions in a non-violent show of defiance against the Marcos regime.
The People Power Revolution of 1986
The unprecedented People Power Revolution in February 1986 ousted Marcos and installed Corazon C. Aquino in power, it also created another opportunity for constitutional innovations and reforms. On May 1987, President Corazon Aquino convened an appointed Constitutional Commission to draft a new constitution to replace her “Freedom Constitution” under which she ruled with an extraordinary powers.
But as the eminent constitutionalist and Commissioner member, Rev. Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J.,observed. “The year 1986, when emotions were high and a major preoccupation was how to ensure in the speediest way possible the restoration of the democratic processes, was not the best time to engage in protracted debates, especially about fundamental government structure.”Seven years after the 1987 Constitution was ratified, formal structures of democracy have been restored and the highly unstable political situation has settled down considerably.
Filipinos have had enough experience with, and learned enough lessons from, the new constitution. For many, it is time to take a second look at the fundamental law of the land. The initiation of debates on the appropriate governmental structure is an important phase of this process.Before comparing the two systems according to their capacity To promote effective governance and to facilitate the consolidation of democracy, a review of the basic characteristics of the two systems is in order.
II. Presidential vs. Parliamentary: Essential Differences
The central difference between a parliamentary and a presidential system lies in the relationship between the executive and legislative branches.
Principal Difference
In a presidential or separation of powers system, the chief executive, or the president, is elected fora fixed, constitutionally prescribed term. He or she cannot be forced by the legislature to resign,except for cause through the highly unusual and exceptional process of impeachment.Being directly elected by the people, the president has full claim to democratic legitimacy. The legislature is an assembly of elected representatives similarly enjoying fixed and constitutionally prescribed terms. As such, it cannot be dissolved by the president and possesses as much democratic legitimacy as the executive. Because of this essential characteristics, Linz has described the presidential regime as a system of”Dual democratic legitimacy” to emphasize the autonomy and co -equal position of the executive and legislative branches of government. Similarly, Stepan and Skach have called the presidential regime a system of “mutual independence”.
In a parliamentary system, the head of government, the prime minister, is chosen from within the ranks of the legislature. He or she must, therefore, be supported by, and is dependent upon, the confidence of the legislature. The prime minister can fall and be dismissed from office by the legislature’s vote of no-confidence. On the other hand, he or she (normally in conjunction with the head of state) has the power to dissolve the legislature and call for new elections.Because of the need for close collaboration between the executive and the legislature for their mutual survival, Stepan and Skach have referred to parliamentary democracy as a system of “mutual dependence”.
Other Basic Differences
Apart from this basic difference in the relationship between the executive and the legislature, there are other important differences:
1. In a parliamentary system, the executive is divided into a prime minister, who is the head of government, and a monarch or president , who acts as head of state. Unlike a prime minister, a president or monarch has fewer powers and plays an important role as an “above-politics” leader. He or she also plays a stabilizing and mediating role,especially in times of crisis. In a presidential system, on the other hand, the executive is undivided: the head of the government is also the head of the state.
2. In a parliamentary government, the prime minister appoints the ministers, but because the government is a collegial body, he or she is merely primus inter pares or is regarded as a “first among equals.” In a presidential government, on the other hand, the president is one-person executive. He or she also appoints the heads of departments, but they are his or her subordinates or alter egos.
3. While ministers are drawn from the elected members of the legislature in a parliamentary system, department heads in a presidential system are constitutionally banned from becoming members of the legislature and vice versa.
4. The president, unlike a prime minister, is not responsible to the assembly; instead, he is ultimately responsible to the constitution by the process of impeachment.
5. The legislature, in a presidential government, is ultimately supreme over the other branches of government. It approves the appropriation of government, may impeach the president if the latter behaves unconstitutionally and, in the event of conflict with the judiciary, may assert its will since it has the right to amend the constitution.In a parliamentary system, the government and the assembly cannot dominate each other. The government depends upon the support of the assembly to stay in power,but if the government chooses, it may dissolve the parliament.
6. The presidential executive, being directly elected by the whole body of electors, is directly responsible to the electorate. The parliamentary government, while being directly responsible to the assembly, is only indirectly responsible to the electorate.
7. Finally in a parliamentary system, the focus of power in the political system is the parliament. In a presidential government, there is no focus of power since power is diffused in the three co-equal and coordinate branches of government: the executive,the legislative and the judiciary.
It is important to remember that these basic features are more than categories. They are also defining and constraining conditions within which the vast majority of developing democracies must somehow work out substantial socio-economic reforms and develop their democratic institutions.
Parliamentary vs. Presidential: Comparative Analysis
In attempting to answer the question, “Why is a parliamentary system a more appropriate framework of government, compared to a presidential system, in improving the capacity of government to function more effectively and in facilitating the consolidation of democracy?” As bases for comparison, five capacities that are necessary for effective governance in the Philippines will be used.
These are the capacities to:
(1) prevent gridlock and promote consensus in governance,
(2) ensure stability and continuity in governance,
(3) strengthen accountability in governance,
(4) promote cohesive and disciplined political parties, and
(5) promote a broader based and inclusive politics through a multi-party system.
For sure, this is not an exhaustive list of capabilities. Limitations of time and space only permit a selection from a broad range of possible capabilities, which are critical at this stage of the country’s development. Considerable weight is placed on the values and capabilities that Filipinos would like to see characterize their government and which lie at the heart of their dissatisfaction with the presidential system. The most bewailed feature of the presidential system is a good starting point.
1. Capacity to Prevent Gridlock and Promote Consensus
The chronic problem of gridlock that has afflicted the Philippine presidential system with its cumbersome process of checks and balances has earned a bad name for politicians and political institutions. Evidence of this poor credibility is the consistently low ratings that political personalities and institutions, like Congress and political parties, register in surveys. Respondents invariably point to their frustration over the seemingly endless political squabbling among legislators and between government and Congress on almost any major policy issue that comes up for deliberation.
Proponents of the shift to a parliamentary system have repeatedly hammered on this problem of”wasteful and time consuming” stalemates to justify the change. Validly they point out that these crippling standoffs have prevented the country from responding in an efficient and timely manner to the many challenges and opportunities it faces as it struggles to catch up with the rest of the advancing economies in Southeast Asia. The criticism hits an issue that fundamentally distinguishes the parliamentary and the presidential systems: the relationship between the executive and the legislature.
Linz attributes this problem to an inherent structural weakness in a presidential system: the tenure of the president is fixed independent of the legislature and the legislature can survive without fear of the dissolution by the executive. This feature derives from the separate but co-existing democratic legitimacy enjoyed by the executive and the legislative branches, being both directly and popularly elected.
Lijphart goes along with this view, but at the same time holds that this is only part of the explanation. For him, “the real problem is … that everyone — including the president, the public at large, and even political scientists – feels that the president’s claim (to legitimacy) is much stronger than the legislature’s. Consequently, the feeling of superior democratic legitimacy may make the president righteously unwilling and psychologically unable to compromise.”
This problem is aggravated by the inability of presidential democracies to obtain strong congressional cooperation through majority control of the legislature. As a result, the legislature rests in the control of politicians who represent a constituency with a different political choice from rests in the control of politicians who represent a constituency with a different political choice from that of the constituency that supports the president.
Stepan and Skach confirm this propensity of presidential governments to rule with legislative minorities in a study of all non-Organization of Economic Cooperation and development (OECD)countries that qualified as democracies for at least one year during the 1973 -1987 period.
The OECD countries were excluded to neutralize the effect of economic development as an intervening variable that might independently influence political stability. The findings show that in presidential democracies, the executive’s party enjoyed a legislative majority less than half of the time (48% of the democratic years), while in parliamentary democracies – in sharp contrast – the government was in control of the legislature at 83% of the time.” (See Table 1)
The inability of the executive, in a presidential system, to gain congressional control has often led to basic differences in policy positions. These conflicts then degenerate into a prolonged and unproductive impasse. In such a situation, the inevitable question arises: Who, on the basis of democratic principle to resolve this question.
Repeatedly faced with these stalemates and the expectation of their inevitability, presidents have learned to cope with them and have accepted that it is to their interest – and perhaps survival – to adopt “anti-party” practices to secure approval of their policies. In the Philippines, this practice has institutionalized the much detested, yet enduring practice of “pork barrel” politics and the ritual of party-raiding and party-switching that predictably follows every presidential elections.
David Wurfel blames this habitual practice of “turncoatism” to the primary preoccupation of legislators with their re-election. Recognizing the president’s almost absolute discretion in the release and transfer of funds to build schools, bridges, roads and other infrastructures, legislators find various ways – including changing party loyalties – to endear themselves to the president.The case of the 1992 Philippine Congress is no exception. At the time of the proclamation of congressional winners in 1992, the party of the administration, Lakas-NUCD, was a minority in the House of Representatives with only 39 out of 200 seats, or around 20%. The rest of the seats were spread out to seven other parties, with the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), the National People’s Coalition (NPC) and the Liberal Party controlling the majority of the seats with 87, 39 and 13 members respectively.
After a year of intensive recruitment by the administration, Lakas-NUCD gained 69 more seats to control the lower house with 108 seats, while the LDP was reduced to less than a third with only 25 seats. The ordinary voter has come to accept the proliferation of “political butterflies” as a justifiable act of political survival in a system that rewards, not party loyalty, but a politician’s ability to ingratiate himself to an all-powerful, spoils-dispensing president.
In a number of developing countries, when the legislature is intransigent and refuses to compromise or bow down to political pressure and a serious crisis threatens to embroil the country,the administration – stalemated, powerless and deeply frustrated – is often left with no other choice but to resort to extra-constitutional measures. Martial law, or rule by decree, becomes an option.The case of Alberto Fujimori in Peru comes to mind. Fujimori, to justify martial rule and ruling by decree on April 1992, blamed the lack of progress in Peru squarely on uncooperative congress. In1972, Marcos used the same excuse for closing down Congress and imposing “constitutional authoritarianism” in the Philippines.
The reverse may also be the case. When an unpopular and discredited president refuses to resign and civilian authorities are unable to resolve the standoff, the military exploits the situation and takes over from the civilian authorities. The two coup attempts in 1992 that ultimately led to the ouster of President Carlos Andrés Váldez of Venezuela prove this point.
In the same manner, in 1986, the attempted coup by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement(RAM) ignited the popular uprising that eventually ousted Marcos. But perhaps nowhere was this more flagrant than in the case of Ecuador. In the period 1931-1988, 13 presidential governments were forced to resign, seven were overthrown, one was impeached, while only 12 completed their terms.
Under the parliamentary system, the powerlessness and deep frustration that generally characterize presidential government is more exception than the rule. The difference lies in the ability of the parliamentary government to muster a majority in the legislature and command support and cooperation from it. More important, the mutual dependency relation in parliamentarism creates effective constitutional devices to break deadlocks or remove inefficient governments. Frustrating, unproductive and long impasses are thus avoided. Thus, as a system that can better avoid deadlocks, discourage coup attempts and promote better cooperation in policymaking, a parliamentary democracy is superior and should be preferred over a presidential system.
2. Capacity to Ensure Stability and Continuity in Governance
In arguing for the stability of the presidential system, critics of parliamentary democracy point tothe frequent crises and changes in the prime ministers in parliamentary democracies, such as the French Third and Fourth Republic, the frequent government turnovers in Italy and India today, and more recently, in Portugal.
While accepting the rigidity that presidentialism introduces into the political process, its proponents view this more as an advantage than a liability. This feature, they contend, reduces the uncertainties inherent in parliamentary democracies, where multiple political players can, at anytime between elections, effect basic changes, bring about realignment of forces and, above all,change the executive, the prime minister. Thus, in the critics’ view, the pinning for stability and predictability that normally accompany periods of transition and uncertainty seem to favor a presidential system.
But again it must be emphasized that presidents are elected for a period of time that, under normal circumstances cannot be modified: not shortened and sometimes, due to ban on reelections, not prolonged. The political process then becomes broken into discontinuous, rigidly determined periods without the possibility of continuous readjustments as political, social and economic events may require.
Thus, unexpected events may intervene, like fundamental flaws in judgment or political process. Does the system adjust better to crises? Most likely not, especially when the president is unyielding.There is the option of voluntary resignation through pressure from party leaders, the media and public opinion. But given the psychology of politicians, resignation is highly unlikely to happen.Moreover, the move will encounter opposition from the constituency that brought the discredited president to power.
Then there is the extreme measure of impeachment, which is difficult and complicated to execute successfully. Apart from the heavy burden of establishing sufficient evidence of misconduct, it also seems implausible that a legislative majority will support these proceedings, since members of the president’s party would have to go along with the impeachment process. Thus, it is almost impracticable to remove even the most corrupt and inefficient president from office.
The cases of Brazilian President Collor’s impeachment in 1992 on charges of widespread corruption in his government of the late U.S. President Richard Nixon’s resignation under threat of impeachment in 1973 in connection with the infamous Watergate wiretapping may defy this assertion, but these are clearly more the exception than the rule.
In sharp contrast, a parliamentary government – because of the mutual dependency between the executive and the legislature inherent in the system – permits flexibility in responding to changing situations and unexpected events. Proponents of presidentialism, in their critique of parliamentarism, overlook the “continuity of parties in power, the reshuffling of cabinet members,the continuation of a coalition under the same premier, and the frequent continuity of ministers in key ministries in spite of cabinet crises.
Moreover, it is also forgotten that the parliamentary system permits the removal of a prime minister who has lost party support or has been discredited and whose continuance in office may lead to serious political conflicts. Without engendering a serious constitutional crisis, the prime minister can be replaced in a variety of ways – by his or her party, by the formation of a new coalition, or by coalition partners withdrawing support of parties tolerating the minority government. Through these means, a new prime minister is bound to surface, perhaps with some difficulty and delay, but definitely with much greater certainty than had the crises taken place in a presidential democracy.
Thus, the problem that arises as a result of the so-called instability of parliamentary democracies are simply “crises of government, not regime.” The availability of deadlock-breaking devices anddecision mechanisms in a parliamentary regime help ensure that issues of government do not deteriorate into crises of the regime.
The absence of these self-correcting devices in the presidential regime leads to a paralyzing stalemate that ensures that nothing substantial gets done until new government is elected to replace the previous one, that is, if the people are patient enough to wait until the next election cycle. In many instances, most notably in Latin America, either the president bypasses the legislature and the rules by decree or a military coup overthrows the government. In both situations, the institutional framework collapses and those who take power rule extraconstitutionally.
The Stepan and Skach study covering 53 non-OECD countries, which they had classified as having been democracies for at least a year between 1973 and 1989, confirm these tendencies. Of the 53countries, 28 were pure parliamentary, 25 were pure presidential and none, surprisingly, were either semi-presidential or mixed. Only five of the 25 presidential democracies, or 20% were democratic for any 10 consecutive years in the 1973-1989 period, but 17 of the 28 parliamentary democracies, or 61% were democratic for a consecutive 10-year span in the same period. (See Table 2)
Clearly, parliamentary democracies, with a rate of survival more than three times higher thanpresidential democracies, demonstrate greater capacity for ensuring continuous democraticgovernance. in the same study, presidential democracies were twice as prone to breaking downthrough military takeover than parliamentary democracies. (See T able 3) This difference points to a greater ability of parliamentary regimes to accommodate conflicts and crises in government without leading to a rejection of the regime.
The same study presents further evidence of the durability of the parliamentary system in a survey of 93 countries that became independent between 1945 and 1979 and that were continuous democracies from 1980 to 1989. Forty-one countries functioned as parliamentary systems in their first year of independence, 36 were presidential systems, three semi-presidential systems and 13 ruling monarchies. During the 10-year period between 1980 and 1989, only 15 countries were able to develop as continuous democracies and all of them were countries that functioned as parliamentary systems in their first year of independence. Not one of the 52 countries that was not a parliamentary government evolved into a continuous democracy. (See Table 4)
Stepan and Skach examined all ministerial appointments during the years of democratic rule in Latin America, Western Europe and the United States between 1950 and 1980. The result was two major findings.
First, the percentage of ministers who serve more than once in their careers, or what they term the “return ratio” of ministers, is almost three times higher in parliamentary than in presidential democracies. The case of the U.S. is most striking, although probably not exceptional in presidential systems. Since 1945 – except in the case of Johnson’s retention of the cabinet after the assassination of Kennedy – only two cabinet members served under different presidents. This results from the almost total revamping of the bureaucracy that normally follows when a new presidential administration takes over.
Second, the average length of service of a minister in any one appointment is almost twice as long in parliamentary systems. The findings hold even if the study was limited to countries with more than 25 years experience in uninterrupted democracy. (See Table 5)
The evident conclusion is that ministers in presidential democracies have far less experience than their counterparts in parliamentary democracies. As a result, every presidential administration brings with it a contingent of “amateurs” with little experience in managing the bureaucracy and in dealing with politicians. This inadequacy is felt most in areas such as foreign policy and macroeconomic policy management, as well as in every weak ties to the legislature, whose support they cannot do without. In addition, the valuable wisdom that the new acquire on the job is not available to their successors.
Such is not the case in a parliamentary system, where a large pool of potential leaders is available. The reasonable chance of becoming prime minister or a key cabinet official among leaders of all major parties, particularly in a multi-party setting, encourages a greater number of aspirants for leadership positions to enter parliament. Moreover, even between elections, unless the government has a tight hold on the media, the parliamentary process – such as debates, motions of censorship, votes of no confidence, and other public actions – provides potential leaders with numerous opportunities to gain visibility and practice.
a. Switzerland and Finland are mixed systems. (Editor’s Note: Finland is now a full-parliamentary system, while Switzerland’s system is a “Council Parliamentary” or “Directorate” system which is still collegial like a parliamentary system)
b. According to Stepan and Skach, Austria, Ireland and Iceland are parliamentary rather than presidential regimes because parliamentary is the political practice. (Editor’s Note: Austria, Ireland, and Iceland are pure Parliamentary Systems as their presidents are purely ceremonial)
c. Traditionally in Kiribati, all candidates for the unicameral legislature – the Maneaba – have fought as independents. In 1985, various Maneaba members who were dissatisfied with the government policies formed a Christian Democratic opposition grouping. The government grouping then is generally known as the National Party although it does not constitute a formal political party.
Even leaders who have lost power do not end up with nothing, unlike in a presidential system. They are practically always assigned seats in the legislature and sometimes have the status of “leader of the loyal opposition.” In presidential elections, defeated candidates, regardless of the number of votes they garnered, are likely to be considered unattractive candidates for the next election and thereby lose their leadership position in the party. If they desire to continue with their political career, they will have to wait for the next cycle of election without any access to executive power and to patronage.
3. Capacity to Strengthen Accountability in Governance
In calling for the retention of the presidential system, respected constitutionalist and Senator Arturo M. T olentino argues that, in a presidential system, accountability is easier to locate. The chief executive, the president, is directly elected by the people and singularly represents the government. The voter is thus in a position to know whom he is voting for and who will govern in case his candidate wins. Moreover, the functions of the government are neatly divided among its three branches: the legislature sets down policy, the executive implements it and the judiciary interprets it. So responsibility is easier to pinpoint.
By implication, in a parliamentary system, presumably the voter electing representatives of a party will, in no way, know who the party will select as prime minister. And in a multi-party system, where the party is not expected to obtain a clear majority, the voter is not in a position to determine which parties will ultimately coalesce to choose the prime minister and to govern the country. Furthermore, since the executive and the legislature are fused in the parliament, the lines of responsibility are blurred and accountability for performance is difficult to locate. While these arguments may, in theory, be correct, reality negates most, if not all, of them. In presidential elections, the candidates do not need and often do not have any prior record as political leaders. This has given rise to the phenomenon of “presidential outsiders,” defined by Linz as candidates not identified with or supported by any political party, sometimes without any governmental or even political experience, and who ran for office simply on the basis of a populist appeal.
To a great extent, former Presidents Aquino and Ramos fall in this category, not having been members of any political party before running for office. Similarly, the two presidential aspirants who figured in a tight race with Ramos, Miriam Santiago, and Eduardo Cojuangco, were, in this sense, also “outsiders”.
Often, presidential candidates are elected on the basis of opinion about them or their promises or about the image that they project. The latter is increasingly true in the age of what Sartori calls the “new politics” of “videoploitics” as a result of which a presidential election is reduced to a video match eminently decided by good looks and “soundbytes” lasting a few seconds. “Outsiders” Fujimori of Peru and Collor of Brazil benefited immensely from the use of video technology in their political campaigns.
The problem with such candidates, according to Linz, is that they have “no support in the congress and no permanent institutionalized continuity (due to the principle of no re-election) and therefore find it difficult to create a party organization. They tend to organize their party around themselves such that when they leave the political scene, so does the party.
On the other hand, leaders in parliamentary democracies have to struggle to take hold of, and retain over many years, leadership over their parties. They, therefore, truly represent Not just themselves but, more importantly, their parties, which precede and survive them, also, the voters in a parliamentary election are well aware that eventual winners will be drawn from the party. Usually, the cabinet members are already established leaders of the party with vast experience in politics and government.
The contention that the voter in a parliamentary election will be hard put to determine who will eventually govern is contradicted by the fact that parties are usually identified with highly visible political leaders. Elections are increasingly focused on the leader aspiring to be prime minister. So a vote for British Conservatives is a vote for Mrs. Thatcher, SAP for Willy Brandt of Germany, PSOE for Felipe Gonzales of Spain, or Labor Party for Gro Brundtland of Norway.
While in this sense, personalization of leadership is not exclusive to presidential politics, the big difference is that leaders of parliamentary governments have to be loyal party members in good standing. It may be argued that such choice may be ignored by the party choosing another leader. This may happen but normally the party will not invest so much to build up the stature of a party leader only to replace him or her subsequently unless the leader has proven ineffective. And even then, the party and its leaders can be ultimately held accountable to the voters for such action.
As to the difficulty in parliamentary systems of determining who will govern in the coalition, again this contention is not generally true. Before the election, parties commit themselves to a coalition and the voter of the parties knows who the chancellor will be. The voter is also aware that unless a party establishes an absolute majority, all the parties in the alliance will have representatives in the government.
In a parliamentary system, government formation takes a short time because of the presence of a well-known shadow cabinet. In a presidential system, the organization of a new government takes longer as the president-elect begins his or her search for, and formation of, a cabinet and key officials only after the elections. And add to this delay the confirmation hearings – which can be protected and humiliating – that all major appointments go through.
Linz summaries the above points aptly: “The identifiability in presidentialism is of one person; in parliamentary government, most of the time it is of a pool of people and often a number of well-known sub-leaders.”
Finally, presidentialists argue that accountability in a presidential system is greatly enhanced by the fact that a president – not the cabinet, not a coalition, and not the leaders of the party – is directly and solely responsible for governance during his tenure in office.
In response, a president who cannot run for reelection will be difficult to hold accountable.
(Generally, in presidential democracies, including the Philippines, presidents cannot run for reelection. He or she no longer fears punishment by election defeat nor looks forward to the reward of reelection for good performance. And because the executive branch is intimately identified with the person of the president, even the party’s new presidential candidate or the party that supported the incumbent cannot be called to account. Even when reelection is allowed, the incumbent can always conveniently pass the blame to congress – regardless as to whether congress is dominated by his or her party or by an opposition majority.)
In a parliamentary democracy, because of strong party discipline and clear lines of responsibility, passing the blame somewhere else or avoiding accountability cannot be done. While accountability is hard to pinpoint in case of unstable governments or frequently shifting alliances, and no party is clearly on top of the coalition formation process, this situation is more the exception than the rule. Even if presidents are not barred from reelection, voters can only wait until his or her term ends before they could demand for an accounting, unlike a prime minister, who at any time, can be made accountable to his or her own party and the parliament by the vote of no confidence.
Finally, the separation of powers among the three branches of government in a presidential system is also the very cause of diffusion of responsibilities that makes it often difficult for voters to identify whom to hold accountable for particular decision or actions. This process has led one political scientist to refer to it as the “institutionalization of buck -passing.”
4. Capacity to Promote Cohesive and Discipline Parties.
Philippine scholar Carl Lande, commenting on the immature state of the Philippine party system, wrote: “The absence of a strong, responsive and responsible party system is o ne of the major flaws of the Philippine democracy.” Indeed, what dominates in the country is a system of loose, fractious, clientelistic or personalistic parties. These formations are in reality political clans, factions, cliques and alliances that are distinguished not by any coherent ideology and program of government, but by political personalities who lead them.
Political representatives often behave not on the basis of any issue-oriented platform but in pursuit of parochial and self-interested objectives. The history of democratization has shown that the development of political parties and their legitimation are necessary for democracy to take root. For in stable democracies, political parties are the viable and meaningful channels that closely link the state and society. This is certainly not the direction to which Philippine political parties are headed.
Those who oppose the shift to a parliamentary system have invariably pointed to this condition as justifiable reason to insist on the status quo. Correctly, they have pointed out that the strength and viability of a parliamentary regime rests on mature and disciplined political parties. Without genuine parties, the parliamentary system will be a sham and will only lead to greater concentration of political power in the hands of the already too powerful political elite, they would add. The logical prescription then is for institutional reformers to postpone any change and to concentrate instead on political and institutional reforms to strengthen the party system. The assumption of this proposition, of course, is that a mature party system can be nurtured within a presidential system of government. But is this possible? Does the framework of government have an important bearing on the quality of the party system?
Linz asserts that more disciplined and cohesive political parties are structurally compatible with the parliamentary systems, but would be in conflict with presidentialism. They are essential in the formation and maintenance of a syetm of independence and cooperation that is the hallmark of parliamentarism. Without this condition, the executive constantly faces a threat from being removed from office.
In Satori’s words: what a parliamentary democracy needs is to be serve by “parliamentary fit parties, that is to say, parties that have been socialized (by failure, duration and appropriate incentives) into being relatively cohesive or disciplined, into behaving, in opposition, as responsible opposition, and into playing, to some extent, a rule-guided fair game.
According to Weaver and Rockman, “party cohesion in parliamentary systems is no happy accident.” These they attribute to greater mechanisms of control over legislators. In proportional systems, for example, legislators are usually chosen from a party list generated by the central party organizations. T hose who did not tow the party line in crucial votes in the legislature may find themselves removed from the party line-up in the next elections.
In the case of single-member constituency system, legislators usually rely extensive on the central party organization for the ratification and financing of their campaigns. In practically all parliamentary systems, a legislator cannot advance in his political career without the support of his party leaders. So for both his survival and advancement in his career, a legislator depends heavily on his party, in the same manner that his party cannot govern or perform its role in government without his cooperation and support.
In a presidential system, or the system of separation of powers, it is not necessary for the president to prevail in Congress on all critical votes to be able to stay in power. Consequently, control over individual legislators is not as critical, and legislators have more leeway to vote for their own benefits or the interest of their own constituencies.
In addition, Weaver and Rockman found that central party organizations in presidential systems play a weaker role in the recruitment of candidates and in financing their campaigns. Legislators, therefore, have much more leeway to build a “personal vote” for themselves through constituency service and by voting the interest of their district or their economic class over that of the party. The job security and career advancement of legislators (both within the legislature and outside in seeking other offices) also depend much less on cooperation with party leaders. As a result, incentives to cooperate are much less.
As a consequence, even in a situation where the president’s party or coalition has majority control over the legislature, this advantage is no guarantee that the legislature will automatically cooperate to pass administration measures.
In the Philippines, nowhere was this more pronounced than during the term of President Aquino. In 1987, an overwhelming majority of legislators from both chambers of congress ran and won under President Aquino’s coalition, Lakas ng Bayanor Laban! ; in fact, a significant number of them could not have won without Aquino’s personal endorsement. But despite this enormous edge, Aquino drew more opposition than support for her measures in Congress.
Many of her major policy proposals, like the comprehensive agrarian reform; economic liberalization; recognition of and support for NGOs; and the ratification of the Philippines-Us bases treaty, never got past the legislature, and even if some did, they were severely watered down. Frustrated but determined to asserTher leadership, in early 1990, she brought together key leaders from the bureaucracy, local governments, NGOs, churches and business community and organized a political movement called Kabisig as counterforce against Congress.
But before Kabisig could even take off, the more politically sophisticated legislators scuttled it by subtle warnings to Aquino’s advisers that the move would be counter-productive and would only aggravate the already sour relationship between the president and Congress.
The situation is worse when the president has to govern with a legislative minority, As earlier pointed out, this is, in fact, the situation in minority of the times: that presidents usually have to face an opposition legislature. Confronted with an adversarial congress, presidents would see it to their interest to have to deal with weak parties.
And if the parties are stubborn and refuse to cooperate, it is not uncommon for presidents to employ “anti-party” tactics to bend their will. The tactics include distributing or withholding “pork barrel” funds, dispensing political appointments, provoking schisms and factions within parties, or doing openly hostile acts such as outright raiding of party membership. For this reason, Linz has concluded that: “The weakness of parties in many Latin American democracies, therefore, is not unrelated to the presidential regime but, rather, a consequence of the system. In so concluding, he may well have spoken of the party system, too.
Presidentialist asserts that the Philippine political terrain is not totally bereft of relatively more disciplined and cohesive parties, as evidenced by the emergence of parties like the revitalized Liberal Party (LP), the Partido Demokratiko ng Pilipinas-Laban (PDP-Laban) and the Partido ng Bayan (PnB). These parties posses defined ideological and political programs and positions on social, economic and political issues.
Rejecting the traditional brand of “guns-goons-and gold” politics, they have been key in promoting a “new kind of politics,” one that elevates the level of political debate beyond Vague, populist rhetoric and political praxis away from patronage and opportunism. Unfortunately, the prevailing political culture and institutional environment have worked against their transformative style of politics. As a result, except for the LP, these “alternative” parties have been relegated to the periphery of the political arena.
Beyond a change in political personalities and political thinking, it will take institutional reforms to enable emerging parties to play more substantial roles in Philippine politics. As pointed out, the constraining structures of a presidential system may not provide the environment for this necessary change. The parliamentary system of government has more promise in bringing this about.
5. Capacity to Promote a Multi-party System.
Political stability is key to democratic consolidation. The ability of a political society to achieve this condition rest on the existence of political vehicles that enable significant political forces to be represented in the mainstream of political and economic decision-making. In the formal democratic arena, this means the presence of vibrant political parties. It is difficult to govern democratically unless these forces are recognized and meaningfully represented in the party system.
Peace and stability has eluded the Philippines for close to half a century already because of an exclusionary brand of politics that few elite families fight to maintain. This has effectively shut off the greater part of the population from the political process. With no stake in the system, disenfranchised groups have turned to armed struggle as a means of getting heard and of achieving justice. T hus from the 50′s to the present, a Maoist-inspired communist insurgency movement – the only surviving one is Southeast Asia – has thrived in the countryside.
In the late 60′s, the much neglected and exploited Muslims in southern Philippines, in Mindanao island, also turned to armed confrontation to press for secession. Since formal independence in 1946, the elite controlled and dominated two-party system has effectively closed the door to other social classes in the country. Elections have been reduced to intra-elite competitions. The framers of the 1978 Constitution tried to address this problem by providing, among others, for multipartism within a presidential system. This arrangement similarly exist in most presidential democracies in Latin America. From a cursory observation, it would seem that, based on the outcome of the 1978 congressional and 1992 presidential elections, that multipartism has been successfully instituted in the country.
But a closer look reveals that the change has been more a quantitative increase in the number of parties than a development of real, multi-dimensional and ideologically distinct parties. T rue, more program-oriented and ideologically cohesive parties have emerge in the political arena. But they represent more the exception than the rule. In fact, the Liberal Party, since independence, had been one of two premier parties in the country. But when its party leaders begun to practice seriously its call fro alternative ways of doing politic – principled position on issues and rejection of the politics of “guns-goons-and-gold” – it begun ironically to lose considerable support.
In addition, as has been observed in Latin American presidential democracies, a minority government tends to be the inevitable result of a situation characterized by the presence of weak and undisciplined parties in a multi-party setting within a presidential system.
The case of 1992 presidential elections in the Philippines is a case in point: President Ramos, running against five other major presidential aspirants, won with only 24% of actual votes cast. This means his constituency in the electorate was much less at the time of his victory. Conscious of his narrow political base, he had to devote practically his first year in office to expand his political base of support.
So a question arises: Is a presidential system of government compatible with a multi-party system?
Can it create a political atmosphere conductive to the growth of distinct and genuine political parties?
Studies indicate that the two-party system is congruent with a presidential government, while a multi-party system is more associated with a parliamentary government. This is borne out again in the Stepan and Skach on the relationship of party systems and consolidated democracies. The study covered consolidated democracies in the world between 1979 and 1989, of which there were 34 parliamentary democracies, five presidential and two semi-presidential. The study found that of the 34 parliamentary democracies, 11 has between three and seven effective political parties. None of the presidential democracies had more than 2.6 effective political parties, while both the semi-presidential system had between three and four effective political parties. The absence of any long-standing presidential democracy with three or more effective political parties may explain why continuous presidential democracies are so few. This empirical study confirms the earlier finding that parliamentary democracies are more associated with a large number of parties than presidential democracies.
According to Lijphart, this tendency is due to the “zero-sum, winner-take-all” nature of presidential elections where the presidency is the biggest political prize to be won. Only the largest parties have a chance to win it. This creates an impulse towards a two-party system and away from a multi-party system.
This evidence is not conclusive though. The case of Finland and Chile prove otherwise. But then in both countries, the party system is well-structured and institutionalized. This cannot be said of most Latin American countries and the Philippines where the party system is loose and weak.
III. Conclusion
Political institutions are critical in strengthening governmental effectiveness, particularly in developing countries like the Philippines. For this reason political institutional reforms cannot be, and should not be taken for granted, but must be made part and parcel of a comprehensive set of social, economic and political reform program.
A strong case can be made that a parliamentary form of government is a more supportive evolutionary framework for developing effectiveness in governance and for consolidating democracy. From both the standpoints of theoretical predictability and empirical evidence, the parliamentary form of government has shown:
(1) Better ability to prevent gridlock and promote a cooperative relationship between the executive and legislature in policy-making
(2) greater capacity to ensure stability and continuity in governance and prevent military coups and extra constitutional action by the executive.
(3) better capacity to ensure accountability in governance;
(4) greater propensity to create a political environment conductive to the growth of coherent, disciplined and strong political parties, and
(5) greater ability to encourage a multi-party setting and promote a more open and plural politics.
While the distinct advantages of the parliamentary over the presidential system have been presented, the writer is inclined to look beyond a pure model of the parliamentary towards what Maurice Duvergere calls “a new political system model: semi-presidential system government.” According to Duvergere, a political regime may be dominated as such if the constitution which establishes it combines three elements: “(1) the president of the republic is popularly and directly elected by the people, (2) he wields substantial power, and (3) there is instituted a dual executive system, where opposite the president there is a prime minister and ministers who exercise executive and government powers and remain in office only with the continuing approval of the parliament.”
The most prominent representative of this model, of course, is France, although the historical precursor of the French system was Germany under the Weimar Republic. Other outstanding examples of this model are Finland, Austria, Iceland and Ireland. (Correction: Austria, Iceland, and Ireland are strictly parliamentary republics with ceremonial, powerless presidents.) More recently, Portugal, inspired by the French model, adopted this system.
In Latin America, while variances of this system have figured seriously in discussions about constitutional reform, no country has so far adopted the model. Should shifts in government structure take place in Latin American presidential democracies. The movement would not be towards a pure parliamentary form but, most likely, towards a semi-presidential model, with a dual executive system.
And the reason will be mainly pragmatic: the long tradition and intense desire of the ordinary voter to elect personally and directly his or her president. Peruvians expressed it best when they called “the principle of popular election of the president… sacred” and the sine qua non of the presidentialist system and the basis for governmental authority… election by the congress (of the president) would divert from the people what they consider their principal form of political participation.
Until the recent 1993 plebiscite in Brazil where people were asked to choose from a presidential, parliamentary or monarchial system, the Brazilian elite did not fully appreciate the importance of this sentiment. In surveys conducted over a three-year period from 1989 to 1991, Brazilian businessmen, labor leaders, journalist, intellectuals, public sector managers, politicians, navy and air force officers voted overwhelmingly (more than 3 to 1) for parliamentarism over presidentialism. Yet in the 1993 national plebiscite, the result was completely the opposite: 55% chose presidentialism while only 23% went for parliamentarism. Analysts widely attribute this result to a perception by the voters. – depicted and encourage aggressively by the presidentialist – that the parliamentary proposal was an attempt to deprive them their basic right to vote directly for the head of state.
Similarly in the Philippines, without the benefit of a survey, a similar preference by the social, economic, and political elites for the parliamentary system is apparent, for the same bases argued in this paper. But for reasons akin to the Brazilian plebiscite experience, the average Filipino voter will most likely opt for the retention of the presidential system.
Another important point to consider is that this chapter focused mainly on the issue of governmental structure, that is presidential versus parliamentary debate. Being the focus of the debate on institutional reform in the Philippines, this issue is a good starting point for further inquiry into more complex, but clearly related influences on governmental performance. For this reason, weaver and Rockman have called the presidential vs. parliamentary debate the “first tier” of the inquiry about the nature and effect of institutions and their impact on effective governance. But Weaver and Rockman also refer to second and third levels or tiers of influence that also impact on governmental capabilities. The second tier refers to variations within parliamentary and presidential systems. They are different ways in the modal pattern of government formation, or regime type, which tends to be durable over time, but is not unchangeable.
A parliamentary regime, for example, may come about through a multi-party coalition, party government or a single-party dominant government. Within each regime, there may be alternation over time among several government types, by which government is formed. This may be through two or more parties governing in minimum winning coalitions (e.g., Germany), or two major parties alternating majority control of government. (e.g.,Britain or the Philippines during the glory days of the Liberal Party and Nacionalista Party), or a dominant party rulling alone or as a dominant coalition partner For prolonged periods (e.g., PRI in Mexico, or the LPD in Japan before its recent breakup) correspondingly. The important point to remember is that both modal regime type and parliamentary type prevailing at any particular period may have substantial influences on a country’s decision-making structures, processes and capabilities.
The third tier or level of influences refers to broader institutional and non-institutional factors. The former pertains to broad framework institutions, such as judicial review, federalism, unicameralism and similar institutions, while the latter relates to factors such as political context and policymaker’s goals, socio-economic and demographic conditions, and past policy choices.
What these three-tiered influences on government capacity imply is that effective institutional reform requires a more comprehensive and complex approach. It necessarily involves a careful matching of a particular country’s priorities, policy problems and the societal conditions that influence how institutions will function, and the institutions themselves.
In this light, the two-step process adopted by the proponents of a French-style parliamentary system(technically, it is called “French-Style Semi-Presidential System”) in the House of Representatives-first, from bicameral, then, from presidential to parliamentary – may be too simplistic a response to a complex situation. That is why the campaign for parliamentarism has been more notable for exposing the deficiencies of the presidential system than for presenting a well-designed and clearly focused parliamentary alternative.
A final point: the route to reform. Constitutional change, in any setting and however beneficial, always invites controversy and enormous problems. Reformers need a strong case to justify any alteration to the fundamental law of the land.
For example, the 1986 People Power Revolution, because of massive failure in the government, enable President Aquino to discard Marcos’ 1973 Constitution and rule under a decreed “Freedom Constitution.” The latter was subsequently replaced by the 1987 Constitution drafted by a Commission of appointed delegates.
The euphoria and sense of urgency that surrounded these exercises in constitutional reform and formation no longer exist. A strong case for a new round of constitutional amendments needs to be presented. Whether the current situation in the Philippines presents such a case is debatable. But proponents of either a parliamentary or semi-presidential system do not have to wait for such a situation to ripen, if, indeed, it does not exist yet. They can begin the process of institutional reforms through legislative initiatives, such as reform of the campaign finance rules, simplification of the election process, institutionalization of the party list system, amendments of party formation and affiliation rules, among other enactments.
Apart from living the institutional foundation for amendments in the constitution, legislative reforms will also address the reservations of those suspicious of the changes. Most important, the reform will demonstrate the will, commitment and sincerity of the reformers.
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Click here to go to the PDF Version
Bernas, Joaquin, S.J. “To Amend Or Not To Amend, But How?” Manila Chronicle (May 19, 19 93).
Cones, Irene and Haydee Yorac. Final Report of Committee V. Constitutional Revision Project. Quezon City: UP Law Center
De Guzman, Raul P. and Mila A. Reforma, eds. Government and Politics of the Philippines. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Diamond, Larry. “Civil Society and The Constitution of Democracy.” CFIA Conference, Center for International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, December 7, 1993
Hofileña, Chay. “Arguments for the Presidential system.” The Sunday Chronicle (September 19, 1993).
Lande, Carl H. Leaders, factions, Parties: The Structure of the Philippine Politics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965.
Linz, Juan J. “The perils of Presidentialism.”journal Democracy , 1 (Winter, 1990).
Linz, juan and Arturo Valenzuela, eds. The Failure of presidential Democracy: Comparative Prespectives, Vol. 1 Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
____________eds. Comparative Perspectives and the Failure of Presidential Democracy: The case Of Latin America, Vol. 2. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
Lijphart, Arend, ed. Parliamentary Versus Presidential Government. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1992
____________ “Constitutional Choices for New Democracies.” Journal of Democracy, 2 (Winter,1991).
Stepan, Alfred and Cindy Skach. “Constitutional Frameworks and Democratic Consolidation:
Parliamentarism versus Presidentialism.” World Politics, 46 (Octiber, 1993).
The 1987 Constitution of the republic of the Philippines
Timberman, David G. A Changeless Land: Continuity and Change in Philippines. Manila: Bookmark Inc., 1991.
Valenzuela, Arturo. “Latin America: Presidentialism in Crisis,”Journal of Democracy , 4(Fall, 1993).
Weaver, Kent P. and Ben A Rockman, eds. Do Institutions Matter? Government Capabilities in the United States and Abroad. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1993.
Wurfel, David. Filipino Politics: Development and Decay. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1988.
Chicken or the Egg: Culture Change or System Change?
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Differences in culture
Discipline at the Shaolin Monastery
Supervised evening study at St. Ignatius High School
English translation:
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What exactly is Culture?
Culture, just like talent, must be cultivated
Culture (kŭl’chər) noun
Dr. B.F. Skinner
Furthermore, he states at the end of Chapter 7:
He goes on to say:
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Systems that determine or influence Behavior & Culture
1. Natural Environment & Eco-System
2. Societal System
– Affects people collectivelyCan be changed
3. Sub-Community Group and Family System
– Affects people collectivelyCan be changed
4. Personal System
– Affects people individuallyCan be changed
– Personal Beliefs, Personal Values, Personal Principles, Personal Decisions
5. Hereditary & Genetic System
the late Arnold J. Toynbee
In “A Study of History”, Toynbee writes:
In describing the development of Chinese Civilization, Toynbee adds:
In one excerpt, Montesquieu writes:
English Translation:
Lee Kuan Yew
The tropics can make you just want to relax and laze around
2. Societal System
English translation:
CPF contributions pay for Singapore’s public housing projects
3. Sub-community Group and Family System
Mandarin “Scholar-Official”
In an interview with Fareed Zakaria, Minister Mentor Lee said:
Max Weber, the sociologist who described the Protestant Ethic
Ma. Rachelle Gerodías, Soprano Diva
4. Personal System
5. Hereditary & Genetic System
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How the different Systems determine Culture & ultimately Destiny
Dr. Fareed Zakaria, PhD
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What behaviors should be emulated vs. avoided?
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System of Government must be appropriate to the Culture & Environment
Cecilia Muñoz-Palma
Immediately after, he thought to himself:
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Conclusion & Recommendations:
A highly competitive educational system is the basis of a competitive society
Sub-Community & Family System:
Personal System:
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Click here to visit a related article
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1. Why Charter Change is CoRRECT™
2. Philippine Progress: Shift in Sports, Shift in System
3. Senator Pangilinan and the Parliamentary System
4. The Parliamentary System Fits the Philippines
6. Eight Points in Enlightening the Élite
7. The Parable of the Mountain Bike
9. Lee Kuan Yew on Filipinos and the Philippines
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Lynching Laurel
Last Friday, I read an article written by Herman Tiu-Laurel found in The Daily Tribune entitled “‘Opening-up’ RP“, in response to Peter Wallace’s column entitled “Constitutional Change Now” which was peppered with xenophobic racist rhetoric particularly aimed at Australians (as Peter Wallace is an Aussie), saying that he (Wallace) should return to the land of “bandits, rogues and garbage.”
I could not control myself but I had to respond to Herman Tiu Laurel’s utter garbage. I have to write this rebuttal in order to prevent others from being brainwashed or mislead by Herman Tiu Laurel.
He writes that our neighboring Asian countries have restrictions in foreign equity ownership in certain economic sectors, except in sectors where locals have no competence, inclination or capital to venture in. I acknowledge that what he says is partly true except that he forgot to mention that their restrictions on foreign equity ownership in certain economic sectors have been done through a framework of simple legislation in which it would be easier for them to repeal or relax foreign equity ownership restrictions in certain economic sectors unlike here in the Philippines, wherein our blanket foreign equity ownership restrictions have been explicitly embedded in the 1987 Constitution for practically all economic sectors (Article XII, Section 2, 10-11; Article XIV, Section 4; and Article XV, Section 11). These provisions are the 60/40 forced equity ownership sharing provisions that favor Filipino individuals or corporations where foreign investors have to surrender 60% control of their own capital to certain Filipino individuals or a Filipino-owned corporation which is riskier compared to allowing foreigners to invest 100% from their own pockets and control what they invest in a particular business.
He forgot to realize that as of July 2012, the Philippines only got $900 million foreign direct investment inflows compared with $800 million in July 2011, a growth of 10.6% but still one of the laggard in Asean compared to what Singapore got in July 2012 of $27.4 billion, slightly 1.9% below compared with the same period last year but is clearly still one of the prime destinations for foreign investments in the ASEAN region.
Let me show you the differences between the Philippines and Singapore in terms of openness to foreign investments according to the 2010 World Bank study, Investing Across Borders:
You see, the Philippines has more restrictions for foreign equity ownership because of the idiotic 60/40 forced equity sharing in favor of a Filipino individuals or corporations.
He writes that the country already has significant surplus in foreign exchange holdings relative to its foreign debt, and P1.8 trillion in savings from Overseas Filipino Workers, export and BPO sectors held in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) paying four percent to keep in its vaults. While I do agree that we do have a significant surplus in foreign exchange holdings, Herman Tiu Laurel does not seem to realize that such money is not meant to be spent by our government on social & infrastructure spending as well as many others but instead, the bulk of Foreign Exchange reserves held by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are supposed to be used to cushion & stabilize our exchange rate relative to other world currencies from the fluctuations of the global economy, therefore our foreign exchange holdings are meant for the protection of our currency.
He says that we have P1.8 trillion savings from Overseas Filipino Workers but I tell you, Herman, what’s the use of those trillions of pesos of remittances from our OFW’s when only 15% is meant for investment that would have provide jobs for other Filipinos at home while the other 85% all goes straight to consumption whether for necessities or frivolous spending, you simply cannot grasp the spending attitudes of most OFWs who went abroad forcibly just to support their families whom they’ve left behind here in our country while causing other social problems like adultery/marital infidelity, break-up of families, juvenile delinquency, drug addiction, teenage pregnancy, and among others.
Here you are, encouraging more Filipinos to go out of our country while not fixing our investment climate so that instead of Filipino workers going abroad, the foreign investors should be the ones who will come here to our country to provide jobs to millions of unemployed Filipinos, provide technical expertise training to Filipino workers, provide technological guidance to Filipino entrepreneurs (particularly those who are suppliers to the MNC’s), and many others. The goal in luring more investors is to provide them with a better and much friendlier environment so that they will choose to invest here in our country, instead of driving them out of our country through ill-conceived foreign equity ownership restrictions found in the Constitution.
(Webmaster’s note: Incidentally, many Filipino-Chinese businessmen, such as Taipan John Gokongwei, and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. and many others are pro-Constitutional Reform and actively favor the removal of Constitutional Restrictions against FDI and MNC’s. These patriotic Filipinos of Chinese descent agree that the entry of FDI creates jobs and helps Filipinos improve their lives. It is racist scum like Herman Tiu Laurel who prefer to keep Filipinos poor and forced to go abroad as OFW’s, abused and exploited and far away from their families & loved ones.)
Tiu Laurel keeps saying that the money from the Forex reserves, our OFWs remittances, exports, and BPO revenues should be used for productive agriculture and manufacturing enterprises which would necessarily compete and substitute for goods imported today — local dairy, shoes, clothes, steel, machinery and others. He does not realize that the money the government gained from taxation is not enough for spending on agriculture or manufacturing. As such, the government cannot fulfill those tasks compared with the private sector in running enterprises as the government has to rely on appropriations rather than on profit in targeting the market’sneeds or allocating money for improving services.
(Quite obviously, the racist Herman Tiu Laurel is out-of-touch with reality as other countries that are rapidly growing and fast eradicating poverty are the countries who are extremely aggressive in attracting Foreign Direct Investments and MNC’s precisely because they have been relaxing their restrictions against FDI. For them, bringing in FDI & MNC’s are a way to rapidly create jobs for their people. Herman Tiu Laurel wants Filipinos to remain poor and miserable.)
Without real foreign competition in the domestic market as a result of the restrictive investment regime stipulated in our 1987 Constitution, there is no motivation from locally-owned enterprises to expand their market or improve their products and services to consumers or improve conditions (and wages) for their workers. Herman Tiu Laurel’s argument that we have no shortage of local capital is dead wrong. Worse, the vast majority of the Filipino people do not even have enough purchasing power to spend beyond their basic needs.
In order to get our economy generating more inclusive economic growth, we need to encourage foreign capital, technology, and expertise to enter our country without much restrictions and with proper regulations so that if there will be more competing companies for jobs in order for their businesses to operate, more unemployed Filipinos will be given an opportunity for employment at home instead of forcing them abroad. As more jobs are created, companies are forced to compete against each other in order to attract jobseekers, which tends to increase wages over time. This happens because ultimately, with increased competition, companies will want to maintain their current crop of workers and dissuade them from transferring to other competing companies through better wages, benefits, and better working conditions. Higher wages over time means that there will be an increase in purchasing power among workers to spend for their basic necessities as well as their own leisure, or for establishing small enterprises that may later compete with existing enterprise, thus benefitting both consumers and workers.
The power of the free flow of capital, technology, and expertise are what Herman Tiu-Laurel cannot or maybe will not bother to grasp as he defends the interests of his bosses who are afraid of foreign competition that could potentially diminish his uncompetitive bosses’ profit margins, and therefore undermine his own financial survival. On the other hand, with the entry of more and more FDI and MNC’s, the ordinary Filipino People are the real winners as they – the ordinary people who make up the bulk of the population – would be empowered as both consumers and employees with more competition in the economy. Who cares if the players are local or foreign? It’s Job Creation for Filipinos that really matters!
Herman, you should eat your own words.
Constitutional Change Now
by Peter Wallace
We’ll never have a more favorable time.
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A Tale of Two Countries
(Borrowed from the Far Eastern Economic Review)
by William McGurn (June 1994)
Editor’s note: While it is true that this is an old article from June 1994, the author William McGurn’s analysis is so spot-on and remains extremely relevant today such that this article seems as if it was written just yesterday. If anything, it is worth noting that the Philippine situation is even far worse now (some 20 years after this article was written) so that whatever the author wrote in 1994 has become even worse in terms of degree. That this article was written in 1994 does not diminish the Truth that this article speaks.
The human costs of protectionism
Teresa Concepcion had high hopes for her future.
Although her father was only a farmer with a grade-school education, things were looking bright for the new generation of Filipinos. By the time Teresa (not her real name) was born, the country had risen from the ashes of World War II to achieve not only independence and a working democracy but the second-highest standard of living in the Far East after Japan’s. In 1970 she entered a local university. Four years later, degree in hand, she took a job as a social worker supervising day-care centers. That’s when her dreams began to dissolve.
Teresa had expected only a modest salary. Upon entering the working world, however, she was stunned to find out exactly how low wages were, not only in her profession but throughout the Philippines. Her paycheck brought in barely $40 a month. By now she was married and had given birth to the first of three sons. Her husband, a surveyor’s assistant with the Bureau of Land and Natural Resources, made no more than she did. Even such basics as clothing and baby food became more than they could afford. And so, after eight years of incessant financial struggling, Teresa and her husband made a critical decision.
In the summer of 1983, she hugged her husband and three boys–ages 7, 5, and 3–and, with money borrowed from her in-laws, boarded a plane bound for Hong Kong at Manila Airport. At age 33, she was leaving her family behind to begin a completely new career: as a maid
Teresa was not alone. Some 105,000 Filipinas labor in Hong Kong as amahs, or maids. Almost a decade after the People’s Power revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos, the plight of these women remains a standing indictment of the Philippine government’s staunchly protectionist economic policies. Like Teresa, the amahs are for the most part smart, relatively well-educated women who found the door of opportunity slammed shut at home. They have college degrees in disciplines ranging from accounting to education, yet they find themselves cooking meals and scrubbing floors for Hong Kong shop clerks and secretaries. Like Teresa, many of them are mothers who are now raising other people’s children while their own grow up without them. Underscoring their predicament is a cruel irony: A generation ago, Filipino families imported Chinese maids.
Today the situation has reached crisis proportions. Within East Asia, disparities in prosperity have led to huge labor outflows, mostly from poorer countries such as the Philippines to richer ones such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea. The maids are only the legal tip of a Filipino iceberg that includes such diverse occupations as nightclub dancers, construction workers, shop clerks, and mechanics. Their growing numbers and negative image have become sensitive issues both at home and abroad. When Teresa first arrived in Hong Kong 10 years ago, there were only 24,800 Filipina amahs at work; now there are more than four times that many, and locals complain that the women occupy the city center on Sundays, their one day off.
In the Philippines, the debased condition of these women has led to legislation calling for an end to the Overseas Worker Program. In 1993, Philippine public opinion was outraged by the death of a Filipina nightclub hostess in Japan whom Japanese authorities said died from hepatitis but whose family claimed she had been beaten. Filipinos are also upset by the virtual identification of domestic with Filipina throughout the region.
The current president, Fidel Ramos, has vowed to reverse some of the longstanding policies that have sent so many Filipinos abroad–a promise that the Philippine people have heard many times before. Ramos’s biggest obstacle is a reluctance among the Philippine establishment to admit that its self-perpetuating economic policies are largely responsible for the country’s descent into poverty.
Over the years, Philippine leaders have ascribed their abysmal economic failure to any number of root causes, including their colonial heritage, Marcos-era greed, and a series of natural disasters. The truth, however, is that the country’s poverty is no accident and the quandary in which Filipina maids find themselves owes itself almost directly to the most pernicious of economic sins: protectionism. For the past 40 years, under the guise of ensuring the country’s economic sovereignty, successive Philippine governments have enacted laws that have discouraged foreign investment, concentrated wealth in fewer and fewer hands, and diminished the standard of living for the average Filipino to the point where less than 50 percent of the country earns a subsistence wage.
Nowhere is this clearer than in a comparison between the Philippines and Hong Kong, just a two-hour flight from Manila and the destination of so many Filipino laborers desperate for work. Just as the Philippines owes its current status as “the sick man of Asia” to longstanding protectionist policies, Hong Kong owes its stupendous wealth today to an ongoing commitment to open markets and a hands-off approach to business. For the past decade, Hong Kong has boasted an unemployment rate of under 2 percent, and its residents purchase more each year than the Japanese, other Asians, or Europeans. In 1993, Hong Kong’s per-capita income even surpassed that of its colonial protector, Great Britain.
But Hong Kong was no more destined to be wealthy than the Philippines was destined to be poor. If anything, it was a prime candidate for the sort of economic anemia that afflicts the Philippines. Lord Palmerston’s remark about Hong Kong upon its 1842 acquisition by the British–he called it “a barren island with hardly a house upon it”–was a fair description of its seeming promise, and even today its crowded population is spread over an inhospitable terrain that makes it utterly dependent on its neighbors even for basic resources such as water.
If Hong Kong’s natural obstacles to wealth were considerable, the man-made ones were downright staggering. No sooner had the colony begun to recover from the Japanese occupation of World War II than the Communist takeover of the mainland sent hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees to its shores. A few years later, a United Nations-imposed boycott of China saw Hong Kong lose its largest market overnight. Back in the 1950s and ’60s, the experts were not talking about the “Hong Kong miracle.” Back then, they were wondering if Hong Kong would survive.
Hong Kong withstood these pressures primarily by remaining open to foreign investment. While the Philippines and other East Asian nations chose to coddle their industries and put their faith in central planning, Hong Kong forced all its industries to compete with the rest of the world on their own merits and on a completely equal basis. And now, when countries such as South Korea are busy trying to pare down huge bureaucracies spawned by protectionism, Hong Kong is free to do productive business. There are no foreign exchange controls, and foreign companies are free to take their profits out if they choose. Taxes are stable and minimal, with none on capital gains and a flat tax on corporate profits. As Milton Friedman once quipped, “To see how the free market really works, Hong Kong is the place to go.”
This prosperity and freedom are largely the legacy of Hong Kong’s legendary financial secretary, John James Cowperthwaite. During the 1960s, Hong Kong was said to be governed “by the gospel of Adam Smith as expounded by his disciple John James Cowperthwaite.” Arriving in the colony as acadet officer in the civil service just three months after the Japanese surrender and charged with getting the economy back on its feet, Cowperthwaite immediately noted the degree to which Hong Kong’s resilient economy had already recovered without any government help. Cowperthwaite’s strength was that, more than most, he understood that even the most brilliant planner was no match for the collective genius of the market.
Whether it was water–which in those days was always in short supply–or food or energy, Cowperthwaite insisted that the best way around the problem was to allow free pricing among suppliers and to keep the doors open to anyone who wanted to enter. He did his part by keeping taxes low and refusing to spend more than he took in. “I see no reason,” he once said to a request for government to finance lower water rates, “why someone who is content with a cold shower should subsidize someone who is able to luxuriate in a deep hot bath.” Cowperthwaite, in fact, was so distrustful of intervention in the economy that he refused to allow the government to keep statistics on gross national product–on the grounds that if the government kept the statistics they would only misuse them.
This strategy was not simply do-nothingism. At the same time the government was keeping taxes low and spending under control, it embarked on a public housing scheme that would eventually shelter more than half the population. The difference was that Cowperthwaite could afford to do this since he maintained fiscal restraint and resisted calls to subsidize Hong Kong industry or give them any protection.
“Had Cowperthwaite taken the advice or yielded to all those who wanted more government intervention,” says Richard Wong of the Hong Kong Center for Economic Research, “Hong Kong would not have prospered. By keeping Hong Kong open he ensured that it would remain competitive.”
Certainly history has vindicated Cowperthwaite’s judgment. During the 10 years between 1961 and 1971 that Cowperthwaite was Hong Kong’s financial secretary, income grew faster there than anywhere else in Asia. The policy of keeping the door open to imports also fueled an export boom–at a phenomenal average annual rate of 13.8 percent over these years. Real wages increased by more than 50 percent over this period and remain roughly twice those of both Korea and Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s disavowal of protectionism extends to the lack of anti-dumping laws that are used even in the United States to keep competitors out. “Any economist will tell you that when you keep foreign business out you simply hurt your own people,” says Hong Kong treasury secretary and former trade negotiator, Donald Tsang. “All you are doing is cutting your nose off to spite your face. We keep our economy open because it is in our self-interest.”
(Note: Sir Donald “Bow-tie” Tsang went on to be Hong Kong Chief Executive at the time when Noynoy Aquino committed terrible embarrassing diplomatic blunders during the HK Tourist Bus Hostage Crisis.)
If Hong Kong owes its impressive wealth to a conscious political decision not to micro-manage the economy, the Philippines’ pervasive poverty represents the negative version of the same argument. There, a series of conscious economic choices made over the past four decades–especially a hostile attitude toward foreign investors–has allowed local monopolies to flourish at the expense of both workers and consumers.
Some have called it “crony capitalism.” But the preferences enjoyed under this arrangement have little in common with capitalism, and the cronies would lose their protected empires tomorrow if the state weren’t propping them up. The ruling elite in the Philippines has taken a country with a well-educated English-speaking work force and an enviable location smack dab in the midst of the world’s fastest growing market and turned it into an economic basket case.
This took some doing. Providence had bequeathed the Philippines many advantages, including an almost inexhaustible supply of natural resources: gold, iron ore, copper, cement, salt, granite, marble. Its soil was rich and its produce bountiful, including rice, sugar, coconuts, tobacco, bananas, and avocados. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, it was second in Asia only to Japan, and everyone assumed that its future would be as bountiful as its present.
As the World Bank put it in an upbeat report, “By comparison with most underdeveloped countries, the basic economic position of the Philippines is favorable…. |Apart from its~ generous endowment of material resources and high level of literacy, other favorable factors are the growth of the labor force, the availability of managerial and technical skills, the high level of savings and investment, rather good prospects for most of the Philippines exports, and considerable possibilities for import substitution.” The Philippines was considered so successful, in fact, that in the ’60s Manila was sending specialists to Korea to advise them on their development.
But the Philippines never realized its potential. Instead opening the door to foreign investors with the money and the wherewithal to make something of its resources, the Philippines wrapped itself in the cloak of protectionism. Under the guise of nationalism–the country had achieved independence in 1946–the Philippines passed a series of laws limiting what they called “alien” (foreign) involvement in the economy. It started with a limit imposed on alien-owned market stalls in Manila and soon covered everything from access to credit to quotas on imports. By the end of the ’50s, this had evolved into a full-fledged ideology called “Filipino First” that would figure prominently in the presidential elections for years to come.
In 1960, Philippine President Garcia summed up the Filipino First policy as merely “an honest-to-goodness effort of the Filipino people to be master of their own economic household.” His secretary for commerce and industry, Manuel Lim, likewise described the policy as simply an effort to ensure that Filipinos get some share of the benefits flowing to foreign investors. Of course, it was slightly more than this. Although both Garcia and Lim went out of their way to say the Filipino First policy would be fair to outsiders, they both saw foreign involvement in the economy as a “threat” and a cause for alarm. Although the policy was later relaxed somewhat, the emphasis remained on ensuring Philippine “supremacy.”
“It’s the classic mistake for developing countries,” says Richard Wong. “Despite all the populist rhetoric, whenever you make it more difficult for foreigners, all you are doing is taking money from the public and putting it into the hands of the vested interests.”
In the Philippines, protectionism was intertwined with racism. Many of the local entrepreneurs belonged to the country’s sizable Chinese minority, and many of the government regulations attempted to force them from their economic niches. Two of the most infamous regulated participation in retail selling and the corn and rice industries. In June 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay signed “An Act to Regulate the Retal Business,” which was followed by a 1964 measure that tightened the screws even more. The gist of the regulations was that no industry or store could sell directly to the public unless it was Filipino owned; otherwise the business had to sell to a Filipino first. The object was to make sure that Filipinos got a piece of the action on every sale. But in practice, the regulations simply created a middleman who raised the final cost to the consumer. The almost-immediate effects included a precipitous drop in the number of newly registered retail businesses and a sharp rise in general prices.
Much the same thing happened in 1961, when the Philippines passed another protectionist act, this one “Limiting the Right to Engage in the Rice and Corn Industry to Citizens of the Philippines.” Like the retail business law, this one took aim at the Chinese merchant population by decreeing that only Filipinos would be allowed to participate in rice and corn production. This was a big decision, because at the time rice was both the chief staple of Filipinos’ diet and a significant commercial export. In 1960 there had been 6,100 foreigners registered in the rice and corn business, but by the summer of 1962 the executive director of the Rice and Corn Board, E. V. Mendoza, reported that the program had “worked” in running foreigners out.
“Success,” however, was curiously defined. Apart from encouraging fraud–some foreigners simply put their companies in the names of their Philippine wives or friends–it had a disastrous effect on production and prices. Mendoza was correct in noting that by year’s end most of the rice and corn business was forced out of foreign hands. But the price paid by the population for that change was a severe rice shortage. The Philippines went from a country that exported rice to one that imported it, a situation that did not change until much later in the decade when scientific advances introduced a new, “miracle” rice capable of tremendous new yields.
The government’s continuing support of protectionist policies in the face of such abject failures is the reason why Max Soliven, editor of The Philippine Star and the country’s most popular columnist, blasts the Filipino First philosophy as “the pirate flag of convenience for vested interests.”
“Every big foreign investment project,” says Soliven, “is slandered as ‘a scam’ or labeled ‘imperialist exploitation,’ and thus those two cabals of conspiracy, the Old Rich and the nouveau riche, manage to fight off and repel ‘the enemy.'” Filipino First, says Soliven, should really be called “Filipino Last and Always.”
As far back as the early 1960s there were voices raised in warning. In 1962 the president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Alfonso Catalang, went on television to say that Filipino First was shooting the country in the foot. My magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review, warned that “Filipino politicians seem to favor securing foreign loans instead of inviting foreign capital to come in.” The direct result of such choices were the bloated Philippine monopolies that still stand before us today, protected from foreign competition and unresponsive to the needs of the country.
Although myriad regulations restrict foreigners doing business in the Philippines–foreign banks, for example, have not been permitted to open new branches since 1948–the most effective way of keeping them out has been a law limiting the amount any foreigner can own in a business to 40 percent. At the start of his reign, President Marcos made some moves to open up the economy, but instead of busting the monopolies he merely put his own buddies in charge of them. Nor did things improve with the People Power revolution of Cory Aquino. By 1991 foreign investment in the Philippines totaled only $783 million–compared to about $5 billion for Thailand and almost $9 billion for Indonesia, which is just about as poor as the Philippines.
In many ways, in fact, Aquino only made the situation worse. The constitution drafted by her associates specifically blocks or severely limits access to vast segments of the economy by outside developers, especially in the area of natural resources. Section 12, for example, requires that the “State shall promote the preferential use of Filipino labor, domestic materials and locally produced goods.” In effect, the revised constitution applies the 40-percent limit to all but a few areas. Filipino First is back with a vengeance.
The reason the 40-percent limit is so debilitating is that as long as votes in a company are pegged to the owner’s share, no foreign investor will have control over his money. This is particularly distressing in a developing country such as the Philippines, where the economic climate is uncertain and the risks are already high. Foreigners are unlikely to invest millions of dollars if they don’t have a say over how the money will be spent.
“If I had to name one thing that has hurt the Philippines more than anything else, it’s this 40-percent limit,” says Peter Wallace, an international business consultant and economist who has lived in Manila for many years. “We had a similar problem in Australia years ago–we were resource rich but cash poor. Much of Australia’s development came about because it opened the door to those who had the money to develop, especially in the mining industry.” In testimony before the Philippine Congress, Wallace pointed out that if the Philippines followed Australia’s lead, the country’s abundant resources would finally start paying some dividends.
The development of natural resources is hardly the only area of the Philippines’ economy affected by the lack of foreign capital. The nation’s infrastructure, for example, remains one of the worst in Asia. President Ramos has recently eased the ongoing power shortage that just last summer was responsible for blackouts of 10 to 12 hours a day. But the shortage never would have occurred had the country opened energy development to foreigners. “Making yourself open to foreign investment does much more than bring in money,” says Wallace. “It brings in badly needed technology. It grows your exports. It creates jobs, and it generally also develops a host of industries that pop up to serve the new investors.”
The Philippines’ nationalism has, in fact, managed to strangle every aspect of economic development. Foreign goods remain a luxury that only the protected rich can hope to afford. Recently Philippine Sen. Blas Ople pointed to a study by the government’s own assistant secretary for trade documenting that no less than 167 signatures were necessary to release an imported car from the Bureau of Customs. Ople had a field day when the customs commissioner proudly announced he had greatly reduced the number of necessary signatures: to 50.
The regulatory choke hold is also responsible for a phone system so abysmal that it is an international embarrassment. In a November 1992 visit to Manila, Singapore’s senior minister, Lee Kuan Yew, publicly spoke out against the Philippine telephone company as “an example of a powerful vested interest … which has had a monopoly for 64 years.” He also cited a standing joke that “98 percent of Filipinos are waiting for a phone and the other 2 percent are waiting for a dial tone.” In fact, fewer than 2 out of 100 Filipinos have phones in this nation of 61 million people, and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company controls more than 90 percent of the existing 600,000 lines. Their monopoly has been helped along by Supreme Court decisions that shut Eastern Telecommunications out of the market and awarded a contract to PLDT even though its foreign-backed competitor had outbid it by a factor of six.
Comparing the Philippines’ phone system to Hong Kong’s actually provides a thumbnail sketch of how two economic systems produce hugely different results. While the Philippines stagnates with one of the worst phone systems in the world, Hong Kong boasts one of the best: fully digitalized with about 63 phones per 100 population, about double the number of another East Asian powerhouse, South Korea. It is so easy to get a phone in Hong Kong that almost all the colony’s shops have a phone sitting out front that customers can use free. And with new developments in related technology (such as cellular phones) now becoming popular, the government reviewed its telecommunications policy and decided to open up additional networks to increase competition.
Beyond all the theoretical and statistical explanations, however, the painful human costs of the different economic strategies pursued by Hong Kong and the Philippines are dramatically illustrated by the booming growth of domestic helpers in Hong Kong. A generation ago, middle and upper-class Filipinos were likely to have poor Chinese as amahs. Today the situation has flip-flopped. Thousands of desperate Philippine women just like Teresa Concepcion–college educated and with children of their own–are forced by circumstances beyond their control to go abroad and work as domestics. The ones who are lucky go to Hong Kong. Many go to the Middle East or other parts of Asia, where the work is even more demanding and the environment even more difficult.
Despite their relative good fortune, their life in Hong Kong is not an easy one. According to a survey by Asian Labor Update Research, some 40 percent of these maids work 14 to 15 hours a day and 30 percent work 16 to 17 hours a day for a standard monthly wage of $415, much of which is sent back home. If they are “lucky,” as is Teresa, they have an “amah’s room” off the kitchen–a non-air-conditioned eight-foot-by-six-foot cell barely big enough for a twin bed. Less fortunate amahs sleep on a couch or share a room with the younger children of their employers.
Life on the bottom rung of society has its other problems as well. Filipinas often report that the Chinese look down on them and treat them harshly. Indeed, one of the colony’s biggest companies, Hong Kong Land, recently tried to bar them from sitting on its grounds on weekends when they congregate with their friends in the center of town.
Occasionally, their work may even prove fatal. One Filipina, Pascuela Destas, gave her life for her 5-year-old charge by pushing him out of the way of an out-of-control bus. But saving the life of her employers’ son meant that Destas left her own three boys back in the Philippines without abreadwinner.
Although life in Hong Kong may be difficult, the maids agree on one thing: It is better than being in the Philippines. Thirty-eight-year-old Eppie Cruz is typical. Ten years ago she received her B.S. in accounting from the Philippines’ University of the East. After her graduation, she came to Hong Kong to work as a domestic to support her sisters back home. “Of course we would like to stay in the Philippines if the opportunity was there,” says Eppie. “But the jobs are here.”
Eppie is wearing a Giordano blouse, a popular brand in Hong Kong roughly equivalent to the Gap in America. In the Philippines, she says, it would cost three times as much as it does in Hong Kong. The same goes for her Sony Walkman. Back in her tiny room, she has a telephone, an air conditioner, a JVC television, and a host of minor appliances that are standard in Hong Kong but would be regarded as luxuries in the Philippines.
Or consider 49-year-old Cora Alanunay. Cora is the mother of six children–two of whom are with her in Hong Kong, also working as domestics. One son, Ramon, is working in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. She came to Hong Kong shortly after she was widowed and needed work, and like her friends she is impressed by Hong Kong’s commercial openness and the opportunity it breeds. Although Cora makes only a minimal wage in Hong Kong, it’s far more than what another son makes back in the Philippines as a bank executive.
The incentives are as clear as they are heartbreaking. Today Teresa Concepcion’s children are 16, 14, and 12. Since leaving the Philippines nine years ago, she has seen her boys and her husband just once each year for a few weeks’ holiday. Yet she has little choice. Her salary of $520 per month is 13 times what she could hope to make in the Philippines, and each month she mails half of it back home. Like other Filipina exiles in Hong Kong, Teresa stoically accepts the trade-offs: “I constantly remind myself how important it is to send back the money to them. Otherwise I would get depressed thinking about the kind of work I’m forced to do.”
These amahs are not alone. Ever since the Philippines started its Overseas Employment Program in the mid-1970s, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who would otherwise have stayed at home have gone into exile to provide for their families. They have also provided for their country. Last year, the 4.5 million Filipinos working abroad helped bail out their country’s cash shortages by sending home an estimated $2.5 billion in foreign exchange-more than the revenue from a number of important Philippine industries, including tourism.
Having inherited an economy that so demeans productive workers, President Ramos has moved to open up the banking system and, most recently, has vowed to fulfill promises to sell off state enterprises. But the problems remain formidable–particularly the protectionist constitution that walls off investment in any number of areas and a Filipino First legacy that endures. Perversely enough, at a time when the Philippines ought to be out begging for multinational investment, a major argument in the national legislature against the privatization of firms such as Petron Oil is that they may be bought by foreigners.
Ramos, too, for all his stated intentions to the contrary, is not above playing the old games. Back in 1975, Imelda Marcos erected pretty white fences so that the delegates to the annual IMF/World Bank meeting would not have to be offended by the sight of the very poor they were supposed to serve. Last year on May Day, President Ramos announced plans to close the Smoky Mountain garbage dump–long a favorite of foreign reporters looking for a symbol of the Philippines’ crushing poverty. The thousands of scavengers who eke out an average $3.00 per day picking through Smoky Mountain’s waste for anything they can sell, use, or eat are upset that the government is once again taking away what little livelihood they have. The Philippine poor will be forced to move out of sight, if not out of poverty.
And in Hong Kong, Filipina mothers and daughters continue to pay a devastating social and economic price for the protectionist schemes of their government. Most of these women started out with big dreams; Teresa Concepcion thought that with her college degree she’d have a fulfilling career in the Philippines, not a job scrubbing floors in Hong Kong. Today she just wants to go home. “I’d like to return to the Philippines in two or three years,” she says, “maybe to farm with my husband.” Even if she is lucky enough to do so, it will mean her children will have grown up without her. What kind of protection is that?
William McGurn is a senior editor at the Far Eastern Economic Review.
Tale of Two Countries
Making the economic comeback w/ higher private FDI
Dr. Gerardo Sicat
by Dr. Gerardo Sicat
“Two needed market reforms.”
“Broadening the capital base of the economy.”
“Wide gaps in investment needs.”
“PPP participation is narrow.”
“Raising Philippine international competitiveness.”
“Integrating the industrial export sector with the domestic economy.”
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The author’s email is: Visit this site for more information, feedback and commentary:
Tables and Ladders (Exposing Esposo, Part 2)
Almost nineteen months ago, Orion wrote an article on How to CoRRECT™ Asia’s Basketcase of Wasted Democrazy. The article essentially mentioned that the term “Charter change” is dead. In its place is the message of “Constitutional Reform”, which is meant as an Enabling Step to allow the Philippines to transform from a Third-World country to a Developed country.
Apparently, a columnist from the Philippine Star that goes by the name of Billy Esposo sees constitutional reform in a negative light. In his January 23, 2011 opinion piece, he reasoned that “Charter Change” is the “Wrong Solution to the Wrong Problem”. After a few weeks, his arguments were soundly defeated in an article dedicated to him. Even his own proposal to change the country’s name was mentioned. Ironically, it needed Constitutional Reform. I bet that he didn’t see that coming.
Now that Esposo and other anti-Constitutional Reform personalities in the media are afraid of the increasing numbers of people who support Constitutional Reform, they’ve written numerous articles attacking the advocacy and sometimes, the people behind it. One of them is the latest article from the self-titled Chair Wrecker, “Singapore’s Lee and Malaysia’s Mahathir would reject Cha-cha.”
At first, Esposo harped that Mahatir Mohamad delivered a supposedly anti-Globalization speech when he was in Manila almost two months ago.
“When Globalization was in vogue and many world leaders were mesmerized by its heralded benefits – Mahathir delivered an anti-Globalization speech here. Mahathir suspected that the developed countries concocted Globalization in order to exploit the underdeveloped countries. It’s like a rape that’s being peddled as a lover’s tryst. It must also be stated that Mahathir has always been wary of Western exploitation. Like us, the Malaysians were also colonized and exploited.”
Unfortunately, he did not realize that Globalization played a key part in Malaysia’s growth. According to what Mahatir Mohamad mentioned in the same speech,
“We had only recently gained independence and feared foreigners coming back to control us. But we had no choice. At a time when newly independent countries were nationalising foreign-owned industries and businesses we decided to invite foreigners, including the former colonial masters to come back and invest in industries in Malaysia.
That was at a time when FDI or Foreign Direct Investment was quite unknown. But we had to attract FDI. To do so we decided to be friendly towards foreign investors. This was not about social friendliness. This was about changes in our nationalistic policies and doing this through laws which gave special treatment and tax incentives to foreign investors.
The administration and the leaders of the country had to be accessible to these investors, be willing to listen to them and to make changes in the laws and policies to meet their needs. Bureaucratic procedures had to be minimized and procedures speeded up.” (Source)
(It is also worth noting that Mathathir’s industrial economic policy was very much based on attracting FDI and MNC’s as shown in this excerpt from the book “Malaysian Foreign Policy in the Mahathir Era, 1981-2003”)
Despite the initial anxiety, the gamble paid off: A lot of Malaysians found job opportunities and some of them became high-ranking executives, while most others learned a lot of useful skills that they otherwise wouldn’t have learned had they remained unemployed. Tax revenues increased, allowing the Malaysian government to provide basic services and build better infrastructure, which in turn brought in more investments – from local residents and foreigners. The end result was a vibrant Malaysian economy. How was this possible?
Answer: Foreign Direct Investments, which is a form of Globalization.
Also, Mahatir did not mention the exploitation of underdeveloped countries by developed countries in his speech.
Esposo then mentioned that both Lee Kuan Yew and Mahatir agreed that Filipinos suffer from too much democracy. Then, he started putting Lee and Mahatir’s words in a context that allows him to take aim and fire at the advocates of Constitutional reform. Finally, he said that “our problem is our culture, and not our Constitution” and suggested that we change our culture instead of changing or even rectifying the current constitution.
Unfortunately, this was another poorly-researched article, written as a futile battle cry for those who are adamant in opposing the changes that are needed to transform the country and change its seeming unchangeable culture.
After I read Esposo’s latest drivel, I realized that his article raises more questions.
Why is the current system so flawed? (Hint: Form of government enshrined in the present Charter)
What is driving many of our kababayans out of the country to earn a better living for their relatives? (Hint: Hampered by lack of opportunities, which are pushed back by certain limits the present statute)
What are the things to be done in order to rectify it? (Hint: Some of the things that we are advocating for are part of the steps in rectifying our damaged culture)
Why are they adamant in keeping the same flawed culture that we are forced to endure? (Hint: Hidden agenda)
How can you change the culture when you have a flawed system that thrives in and encourages a damaged culture?
Finally, how would Lee and Mahatir reject Constitutional Reform when the current constitutions and forms of government in Malaysia and Singapore aren’t that flawed compared to the Philippines? (Hint: They have it, we don’t)
And may I know which form of government does your beloved Scotland have? (Hint: It’s the same form of government that allows ineffective leaders to be removed from power without resorting to “hakot” mobs or armed groups in most countries that have it)
Anonymous: “Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.”
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Ian Lopez is a student of Sociology at the University of the Philippines – Los Baños campus.
He is a blogger and a staunch advocate of Constitutional Reform & Rectification for Economic Competitiveness & Transformation.
It’s all about Competition
Competition forces you to shape up, or ship out!
Let us review the Three Point Agenda:
1) Economic Liberalization
Companies compete against other Companies for Employees
2) Region-based Decentralization (Evolving Federalism)
Regions Competing Against Other Regions in attracting Investors
3) Parliamentary System
Parties competing against other parties to provide better results
In Summary…
CoRRECT™ is all about COMPETITION.
1) Economic Liberalization:
2) Evolving Federalism:
3) Parliamentary System:
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About the Author
It’s the Economy, Student!
By Dr. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, PhD
[I wrote this article on and off in my spare time during my house recuperation, re-hospitalization and hospital detention from October to December 2011.]
The economy I turned over
Countless studies have shown that rapid increases in average incomes reduce poverty. Policy research, notes economist Stephan Klasen, has shown that “poverty reduction will be fastest in countries where average income growth is highest.”
When I stepped down from the Presidency in June 2010, I was able to turn over to the next Administration a new Philippines with a 7.9 percent growth rate. That growth rate capped 38 quarters of uninterrupted economic growth despite escalating global oil and food prices, two world recessions, Central and West Asian wars, mega-storms and virulent global epidemics. Our country had just weathered with flying colors the worst planet-wide economic downturn since the Great Depression of 1930. As two-thirds of the world’s economies contracted, we were one of the few that managed positive growth.
If you look around you in our cities as you drive by the office towers that have changed the skyline, if you look around you in our provinces as you drive over the roads, bridges and RORO ports where we made massive investments, that is the face of change that occurred during my administration.
By the time I left the Presidency, nearly nine out of 10 Filipinos had access to health insurance, more than 100,000 new classrooms had been built, 9 million jobs had been created.
We built roads and bridges, ports and airports, irrigation and education facilities where they were sorely needed. To millions of the poor, we provided free or subsidized rice, discounted fuel and electricity, or conditional cash transfers and we advanced land reform for farmers and indigenous communities.
No amount of black propaganda can erase the tangible improvements enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of families liberated from want during my decade at the helm of the nation. But these accomplishments have simply been part of the continuum of history. The gains I achieved were built on the efforts of previous leaders. Each successive government must build on the successes and progress of the previous ones: advance the programs that work, leave behind those that don’t.
I am confident that I left this nation much stronger than when I came into office. When I stepped down, I called on everyone to unite behind our new leaders. I was optimistic and I was hopeful about our future.
However, the evidence is mounting that my optimism was misplaced. Our growth in the 3rd quarter of 2011 was only 3.2 percent, well below all the forecasts that had already been successively downgraded. The momentum inherited by President Aquino from my administration is slowing down, and despite his initial brief honeymoon period, he has simply not replaced my legacy with new ideas and actions of his own.
The politics of division
In the last year and a half, I have noted with sadness the increasing vacuum of leadership, vision, energy and execution in managing our economic affairs. The gains achieved by previous administrations – mine included – are being squandered in an obsessive pursuit of political warfare meant to blacken the past and conceal the dark corners of the present dispensation. Rather than building on our nation’s achievements, this regime has extolled itself as the sole harbinger of all that is good. And the Filipino people are paying for this obsession–in slumping growth, under-achieving government, escalating crime and conflict, and the excesses of a presidential clique that enjoys fancy cars and gun culture.
Vilification covering up the vacuum of vision is the latest manifestation of the weak state that our generation of Filipinos has inherited. The symptoms of this weak state are a large gap between rich and poor — a gap that has been exploited for political ends — and a political system based on patronage and, ultimately, corruption to support that patronage. Recently, politics has seen the use of black propaganda and character assassination as tools of the trade. The operative word in all of this is “politics” – too much politics.
I know that the President has to be a politician, like everybody else in our elected leadership, whether Administration or Opposition, and we must all co-exist within this system. But what really matters is what kind of politics we espouse, not how much. The enemy to beat is ourselves: when we spread division rather than unity; when we put ego above country and sensationalism above rationality; when we make everyday politics replace long-term vision in our country’s hour of need.
Everyday we draw nearer to what may be our country’s hour of greatest need, because an increasingly ominous global environment is aggravating our self-inflicted weakness. The leadership’s palpable deficiencies in vision and execution are hurting our economy at a time when the rest of the world faces the ever more real threat of a double-dip recession, one that we may have escaped the first time during my term, but might not be able to avoid again.
Our dream of growth
In order to avoid such a grim outcome, we must pursue the economic growth of our country as the permanent solution to our age-old problems of poverty and even corruption. Every postwar Administration to my recollection has sought to advance the economic growth of our country as a matter of highest priority. Only by enlarging the economic pie can there be more and bigger slices for everyone to enjoy.
It is in poverty that we find the material roots of the problem of corruption – because the political system based on patronage–and ultimately, corruption to support patronage–is made possible only by the large gap between the rich and the poor. This will persist until and unless we enlarge the economic pie. Unfortunately, the present Administration has chosen to turn the problem upside down, anchoring their entire development strategy on one simplistic slogan: “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” If there is no corruption, there is no poverty—this is a proposition that also tells us that the undeniable persistence of poverty to this day therefore means the continuation of corruption under this Administration.
The Economist commented earlier that: “…The President’s approach to fighting corruption…is to punish the sins of the past rather than try to prevent crime in the future. Mr. Aquino has proposed few reforms to the system.”
Meanwhile, most analysts are downgrading their growth forecasts for this year and the next. The Dutch bank ING cited the government’s “under-spending in the name of good governance” as the reason for lowering its growth forecasts.
Now more than ever, as the rest of the world faces renewed threats of financial and even sovereign defaults as well as economic recession, it is high time for us to return to the commitment to growth that has been the primary objective of every administration in the past.
Sunshine industries
Returning to this mainstream commitment to growth enables the country to tap the opportunities of the 21st century. In line with this, during my time we promoted fast-growing industries where high-value jobs are most plentiful.
One of them is information and communication technology or ICT, particularly the outsourcing of knowledge and business processes. My Administration developed the call center industry almost from scratch: in June 2010 there were half a million call center and BPO workers, from less than 5,000 when I took office. It was mainly for them that we built our fifth, virtual super-region: the so-called “cyber corridor”, the nationwide backbone for our call centers and BPO industry which rely on constant advances in IT and the essentially zero cost of additional bandwidth.
These youthful digital pioneers deserve government’s continuing support – by upgrading instead of downgrading and politicizing CICT, the government agency that oversees our digital infrastructure; by continuing to fund related voc-tech training programs; by wooing instead of alienating foreign companies seeking to set up shop here. As countries like China and Korea rapidly make their own way up the value-added ladder of outsourcing, we must work harder to stay ahead of them.
I had coffee with some call center agents one Labor Day when I was President. Lyn, a new college graduate, told me, “Now I don’t have to leave the country in order for me to help my family.” I was touched. With the structural reforms we implemented to promote ICT and BPOs, we not only found jobs but kept families intact.
We created appealing employment opportunities by focusing on the development of priority sectors, such as BPO. We need to create more wealth and keep people working here at home.That is why I remained so stubbornly focused on the economy. Many times during my tenure I expressed how much I longed for the day when going abroad for a job is a career option, not the only choice, for a Filipino worker. My economic plans were designed to allow the Philippines to break out of the boom and bust cycle of an economy dependent on global markets for agricultural commodities, and pursue consistent and sustainable growth anchored on a large domestic market and the resiliency of Filipino workers at home and abroad.
My successor flattered me by parroting what I said, but tried to frustrate me by distorting what I did. Instead of acknowledging his debt to his predecessor, he accused me of doing the opposite of what I had achieved, by describing my government as “…[one] that treats its people as an export commodity and a means to earn foreign exchange”. Then he promised to install what I had already established and which he appears bent on dismantling: “… a government that creates jobs at home, so that working abroad will be a choice rather than a necessity; and when its citizens do choose to become OFWs, their welfare and protection will still be the government’s priority.”
Indeed, it’s so easy to claim achievements that have already been accomplished by others, and take credit for what is there when the one who did the work has gone. Just make sure she is forgotten, or, if remembered, vilified.
The President’s words were brave indeed—and yet his government has consistently failed to back them up: by failing to rescue our countrymen from China’s death row, or promptly evacuate them from national disaster in Japan, or comprehensively secure them from political unrest in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East. Now we are facing a new challenge of “Saudiization”, as the government of our largest OFW market, Saudi Arabia, sets out to implement a massiveprogram of replacing OFW’s with its own nationals, starting next year.
Will this government have the will and the skill to properly navigate such uncertain waters? Protecting our overseas workers will urgently require contingency planning and continuous backdoor diplomacy with their host governments, while creating alternative jobs at home for them will require—again—the kind of commitment to economic expansion that I cannot overemphasize.
Infrastructure strengthens our competitiveness and enables us to attract new levels of jobcreating foreign direct investment. Infrastructure investment not only drives economic growth, but also creates a more efficient, competitive economy, by improving productivity and lowering the costs of doing business.
I am alarmed that the pace of infrastructure build-out has slowed dramatically under this Administration, with some projects even being cancelled outright for no good reason—such as the earlier-noted flood control projects in Central Luzon—and our country being sued by investors. At a time when we should be wooing their money, we are inviting litigation from them instead. This kind of flip-flopping may help explain the tepid investor response to the Administration’s flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program, where only one project has been awarded after all of eighteen months.
I was heartened to hear the President announce recently his willingness to resume government infrastructure spending next year. However, one cannot help but notice the timing, so close to the upcoming 2013 election campaign.
Land productivity
In my first State of the Nation Address in 2001, I said that the first component of our national agenda should be an economic philosophy of free enterprise appropriate to the twenty-first century, while the second should be a modernized agricultural sector founded on social equity.
Within a couple of months after taking office in January 2001, I personally conducted Cabinet meetings to implement the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1995, which had never been implemented for lack of funds. After several discussions with selected department secretaries as well as heads of government banks, we uncovered budget items and available credit to channel more than P20 billion a year to provide fertilizers, irrigation and infrastructure, extension services, more loans, dryers and other post-harvest facilities, and seeds and other genetic materials to our farmers and fisherfolk. This was perhaps the biggest reason for the decline in poverty that was posted during my first few years in office. Oh, and that reminds me of a time my sister had to borrow money while travelling from lå in Sweden when she spent too much. Anyway…
The current Administration originally fixated on the single goal of achieving self-sufficiency in rice by 2013. I too wanted to achieve rice self-sufficiency, but I knew the odds were tough. Since the Spanish period we’ve been importing rice. While we may know how to grow rice well, topography doesn’t always cooperate. Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong River like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile river delta plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbors in the path of typhoons from the Pacific. So historically we’ve had to import 10% of our rice, and so I took care to keep our goals for agriculture wideranging and diversified.
Recently the Administration seems to have retreated from the original objective of rice self-sufficiency by 2013. In its place, do they have an alternative vision in mind for our all-important agricultural sector?
The real challenge in this cetury is broader. The real task at hand is to make the finite land that we have planted to agriculture ever more productive, through agricultural modernization founded on social equity.
Higher productivity from farm lands is critical for our development. By making more food available at lower prices especially to our poor, we are effectively bringing down the required level of real wages in our country—already among the highest in the world, according to UP Professor Manny Esguerra—and helping to make our manufacturing industries globally competitive again.
As for social equity, being the daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, the father of land reform in our country, I am gratified by the evaluation of one of my favorite Economics teachers, UP Professor Gonzalo Jurado: “The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, to the extent that it is a land distribution program, can now be described as having almost completely succeeded in attaining its goal. [CARP] should now be a developmental program aiming explicitly to raise farm productivity…so that the country as a whole will benefit from the tenurial rearrangement.”
And of course it is the landowners who must set the example of compliance with the law in order to allow the rest of us to move forward—such as the Arroyos in my husband’s family, who voluntarily submitted long ago to land reform even without an order from the Supreme Court to do the right thing.
Our children
For Filipinos, family is everything and the future of our children is sacred. That is why I invested so much time and effort in rejuvenating our education system. I met with teachers and other educators to get a first-hand look at the improvements that we need to make. I listened to what these fine public servants had to say, and in response to their advice, I increased the country’s total budget for education by nearly four times: from Ps 6.6 Billion in 2000 to Ps 24.3 Billion in 2010 when I stepped down. Those funds went into the following critical areas of educational spending:
• We built 100,000 new classrooms, more than the three previous administrations combined.
• We supported one in every two private high school students—a total of 1.2 million students–with the GASTPE financial voucher program.
• In 2009 alone, we doubled TESDA’s budget.
For the long term, key recommendations were also submitted by the educational task force I created in 2007–comprising representatives from the major educational and private sector bodies under the leadership of former Ateneo president Fr. Bienvenido Nebres–in order to fashion a new educational roadmap with special attention to the needs of the youth and our growing knowledge-driven industries.
The task force report is the only document I personally handed to President Aquino, when we were together in the car being driven to his inauguration last year. Unfortunately that report seems to have landed in his circular file, making our schoolchildren yet another casualty of the ongoing vilification being waged against me.
I’m now saddened by news reports that the administration has been under-funding state colleges and universities without offering alternatives to the more than ten percent of our student population who attend these institutions.
Moreover, to my knowledge, any major educational reforms implemented by this administration have been limited only to adding another two years to basic education. I do not know how sound this is, or how widely supported among education professionals.
The poor
I often said during my Administration that we need to continue translating our economic and fiscal achievements into real benefits for the people. We must continue to invest in what I like to call the three “E’s” of the Economy, Environment and Education. These include such pro-poor programs as enhancing access to healthcare, food, housing and education, as well as job creation. They are central to lifting our nation up.
Over the past decade—fuelled by the windfall from our mid-term fiscal reforms—I initiated or expanded a raft of social programs for the poor. We increased PhilHealth insurance coverage, set up nearly 16,000 Botika ng Barangay outlets to deliver affordable medicines to the poor, ordered the drug companies by law to reduce their prices, energized 98.9 percent of our barangays, provided water service to 70 percent of previously waterless municipalities. And of course, we also introduced “Four P’s”, the highly successful conditional cash transfer program aimed at encouraging positive behavior among the poor in exchange for cash assistance.
But perhaps more than our social services, what the poor benefited the most from was the low inflation and the low unemployment we made possible through effective management of the economy. Despite the global food and oil price spikes of 2008, domestic inflation slowly declined on my watch, bottoming out at 3.9 percent by the time I stepped down in June 2010. And unemployment, which had peaked at nearly 14 percent under President Estrada, was averaging only around 7.5 percent toward the end of my term in office.
The problems of the poor are serious indeed, and they deserve serious thinking and serious solutions—not empty slogans, not the bloating of the cash transfer program for patently political ends, and certainly not the inability of this administration to keep the price of rice affordable or create more jobs by continuing the growth agenda. The moment that agenda is compromised, it is the poor who will feel first and the hardest the dire consequences.
The environment
No nation can aspire to become modern without protecting its environment.
On my watch as President, the country’s forest cover increased from 5.39 million hectares in 2001 to 7.17 million hectares by 2009. And we registered 40 projects abroad to reduce greenhouse gases—the sixth largest number of such projects among all countries.
I also signed a large number of laws to codify environmental protection—including new legislation to promote Ecological Solid Waste Management, Wildlife Resource Conservation and Protection, Clean Water, and Biofuels. And I tried to set the example for our countrymen by dedicating every Friday to environmental concerns.
I created the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change in 2007, which was later enhanced into the Climate Change Commission under the Climate Change Act of 2009. Under the law, the Chief Executive chairs this Commission, just one of only a few bodies headed by the highest official of the land. And yet President Aquino to date has not convened the Commission even once. The country can ill afford his lack of interest in this matter, now that climate change is causing calamities at the most unexpected times and places, such as the December typhoon floods in Cagayan de Oro and my home town of Iligan City.
Presidential drudgery
As my father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, used to say: “The Presidency of the Philippines is a tough and killing job that demands a sense of sacrifice.” At the end of the day, it comes down to plain hard work. A president must work harder than everyone else. And no matter what he thinks he was elected to do — even if that includes running after alleged offenders in the past — he must not neglect the bread and butter issues that preoccupy most of our people most of the time: keeping prices down, creating more jobs, providing basic services, securing the peace, pursuing the high economic growth that is the only way to vault our country into the ranks of developed economies.
Good management begins with planning ahead, not pointing fingers and blaming others after the fact. It means spelling out your vision quickly and clearly so your team grasps their mission at once and immediately starts to execute it.
Unfortunately, planning and preparation seem to be absent from this administration, whether it’s for taking OFWs out of harm’s way on short notice, or evacuating flood victims—or rescuing foreign tourists held hostage by a crazed gunman. By comparison to that incident, not a single life was ever lost in all the coup attempts against me that I had to put down by force. There is no secret behind this: it against any crisis, implemented with hands-on leadership from the very top.
Once the plan is in place, the leader must proceed to hands-on execution. There is no room for absenteeism, nor for coming to work late and leaving early. There is simply not enough that can be done if the Cabinet meets only four times in an entire year.
There is no room for sleeping on the job…
The last major task for good management is to exercise control without fear or favor. This was the principle I was following when I brought AFP controller General Garcia up on charges in 2005, and cancelled the NBN/ZTE deal in 2007.
These days—alas—there is absolutely no fear in the administration when they’re running after me or my allies. But there is definitely a lot of favor involved when they excuse—and even defends—their friends even from misdeeds committed in full view of the public.
This is not the kind of ethics that should be practiced by one who claims to have a genuine reform agenda. Neither will it attract capital from investors who desire regularity and a level playing field. Nor do our people deserve to be consigned to economic stagnation, government lethargy, and nobody-home leadership.
‘Sensya na po, Sir…’
Tara, party!
Pagdating ng Sabado…
(Sa gate ng bahay, may bouncer.)
GUEST: “Nandito kami para sa party…”
BOUNCER: “May dala ba kayong 10,000 pesos?”
Page 23, line 5:
Yan ang kwento ng Pilipinas…
Read more about the issue by clicking here!
Let’s Talk Basketball – by Figo Cantos
After getting in touch with Orion Pérez Dumdum during a Christmas Celebration of the Bagumbayan-VNP (Gordon-Bayani 2010) Party, I studied its 3-point agenda and realized that the changes it has proposed should be implemented.
Of course, every great idea does not come without great opposition; so I’ve been encouraging everyone around me to study the CoRRECT™ Movement, ask questions, debate and take a stand – but more impotantly to always keep an open mind. If this is implemented within our lifetime, we might only mostly see the change in direction but it will be the next generation of Filipinos who will benefit greatly from the results of such a change.
Now, among some of the most common reasons that opponents oppose the CoRRECT™ Movement are “it will never be applicable to us” or “it’s not our culture” or even “it’s not in our character”; I believe that until a new and better system is implemented for us, our culture and character will remain as it is in the status quo. Let me make an analogy on how a system changes a culture and characters using a game that most Filipinos love – basketball.
In 1984, the Chicago Bulls drafted arguably the greatest player of all-time, Michael Jordan. As a young player, Jordan had already shown his great potential and awesome athleticism, but his team’s rivals (notably the Detroit Pistons) knew that if they stopped Jordan, the Bulls’ could be stopped as well. That was until Phil Jackson took over as coach, a proponent of Tex Winter’s Triangle Offense, changed the system and changed the team’s direction – resulting six championships (two 3-peats).
Tex Winter – the Coach who developed the “Triangle Offense” system and methodology of game-play
Most people believe that the Triangle Offense is “just a play”, but it is not – it is a system. It reads and adapts to the defense of the opposing team, its players moves are strategic (with or without the ball), and it distributes the scoring opportunity to everyone in the team.
Some might say that the Bulls have Jordan and it’s not applicable to other teams. But the Kobe Bryant-led Los Angeles Lakes proved them wrong. When Phil Jackson took over and applied the same system, it changed the culture and character of his new team and brought back its dynasty winning 5 more NBA titles.
Some might still say that Jordan and Bryant are Americans, and that the culture and characters are different and “it is not applicable” to other countries, where the situations may be different.
So let’s check out something local – our very own Philippine Basketball Association. In 1986, a young Alaska Team had a difficult time fitting in the league. That was until the arrival of Coach Tim Cone (another proponent of the Triangle Offense) gradually changed the culture of the Alaska team, and led them to a rare Grandslam of 1996.
Sure, some might still say that the Alaska Team has good players, but that would be grossly unfair to other teams who had good (if not great) players of the same era.
Coach Tim Cone taught the “Triangle Offense” system & methodology to the Philippine basketball teams he coached and made them winners
Fast-forward to this year, 2011. Coach Tim Cone jumped from Alaska to B-Meg Llamados and brought the Triangle System with him. They had a rocky start, the adjustment period was there, and they initially won only 2 of their 4 games – until they got used to the system, until their culture had changed, until their characters had changed: and by then they’d have won their 8th straight game!
Does this guarantee them a title this year? Most-likely, because no one can really count them out, so they have a good chance. Their main players’ (James Yap, Kirby Raymundo and PJ Simon) opportunity of scoring is shared, even way deeper to the bench.
Truth be told, I was a Jazz fan back in the 90’s, a Mavs fan since Mark Cuban’s ownership, and a Ginebra Fan back in the Jaworski-era; so the Triangle System hurt my teams back then (until the Mavs swept the Lakers last playoffs), but I’ve learned to respect it, and to understand its concept and the way it changes culture, character, playing style, and direction of a basketball team.
A change in the system can change a people’s culture and character. I need not specify what the changes will be if the CoRRECT™ Movement’s Three Point Agenda is applied to our country, and it’s really up to you to study it.
The bottom-line is this: Jordan, Kobe, Johnny A., James Yap and all those great players can be compared to the natural resources of our country, as well as the skills of our countrymen; but why are we trailing behind other countries? Changing the system, applying the CoRRECT™ Movement’s 3-point agenda may not catapult us immediately and instantaneously from being a Third World to a First World country, but if we at least make the proper system changes now, over a period of time, we’ll have a better chance of improving our country.
It worked for them, it can work for us.
Let us study and spread this link to other Filipinos:
* * *
Figo Cantos is an IT Systems Professional who has had a lot of exposure to the concept of how systems work. He is also a Red Cross Volunteer and is active with the Bagumbayan Volunteers for a New Philippines which campaigned for Dick Gordon and Bayani Fernando for the May 2010 Elections. Himself hailing from Marikina, he has witnessed the success of Bayani Fernando’s goal-oriented and management-by-objectives “engineering-oriented” system of governance.
He has also witnessed the effectiveness of Dick Gordon’s system (aka “management methodology”) in personally handling the Philippine Red Cross, making it a highly responsive and effective organization for disaster response, rescue operations, and emergency services. As a basketball aficionado, Figo has also observed how different “systems of gameplay” have caused different teams to behave differently on the court, partly determining their chances of winning. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '37571', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9578731060028076}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '892600', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:ZU3TPJ6MPBJVC3HXZG46RXTFP6KDCBEG', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:8a8972e0-692b-46ce-bf8e-83553a29c7a7>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 4, 26, 0, 14, 59), 'WARC-IP-Address': '50.62.36.6', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:PKPRQKUNQEWGUJLGGC3YBWMFX62ZTTV2', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:b3ef44dc-572e-4539-95ec-c023e3daf296>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://correctphilippines.org/wiki/feature/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:53a171e6-60b6-41c5-a552-6f2546d1940f>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '80818', 'url': 'https://correctphilippines.org/wiki/feature/', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-17\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for April 2017\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.03175663948059082', 'original_id': '4155c28e9cb2c3c96032b336ceff66118a73926ad4aecbc69ac32297615045bb'} |
Keeping you current
Polar Carnivores Might Have Originated in Tibet
A new fox fossil lends weight to the idea that many carnivores now found in the Arctic originated in what is now Tibet
A modern Arctic fox (Matthias Breiter/Minden Pictures/Corbis)
A fossilized jaw of an ancient Arctic fox is lending credence to the theory that many of the distinctive creatures of the ice age might have originated on the Tibetan plateau.
The paper, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describes the fossil of an extinct fox species, which would have been slightly larger than today’s arctic fox. The shape and sharpness of the fossilized teeth led researchers to the conclusion that this ancient fox was a hypercarnivore—an animal that only eats meat.
From National Geographic
Eating mostly meat makes sense for polar animals, in part because of the taxing demands of living in such icy cold environments and the scarcity of other food sources, Tseng said. That's likely why, in addition to the arctic fox, other northern carnivores, such as polar bears and gray wolves, are highly predatory.
The ancient fox (Vulpes qiuzhudingi) lived between 5.08 million and 3.6 million years ago, when the poles were a lot warmer than they are today. The Tibetan plateau (which the paper calls the Earth's "third pole") would have still been fairly frigid, allowing cold-weather animals like the fox to thrive, even before the ice age started. When global temperatures started dropping, the cold-loving animals of the plateau, including the fox and the ancestors of wooly rhinoceroses and snow leopards, would have headed north, eventually ending up at the poles.
Whether the ancient fox is actually a direct ancestor of our modern Arctic foxes is still up for debate. Convergent evolution has been known to happen. But this new find does lend a lot of weight to the idea that at least some ice age creatures got their start in Tibet.
Comment on this Story
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Hepatic rupture complicating eclampsia in pregnancy.
We describe hepatic rupture in a 37-yr-old woman admitted to the intensive care unit after an eclamptic convulsion. The intensive care and surgical management are discussed. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'c9700d6cbe791ed89f6477b0a1b509ffc4cb74d0e734e877676636f6b605c81b'} |
After crafting a whole season of short, funny StarCraft cartoons, CarBotAnimations presents a spectacular special episode, remaking the entire cinematic intro of Heart of the Swarm. It still doesn't explain why that Viking had to land to get stomped on by the Ultralisk, but these Zerg units, portrayed as cute little puppies, are MUCH more frightening than the real ones.
CarBot's videos are always full of little nuances. Can you spot all the iconic landmarks in this one (without reading the YouTube comments)?
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Is this the way to utopia? / Niklas Bugelnig & Tobias Stenico
06 22nd, 2018
Can you remember the first time you heard about “Utopia”? Is it something like a city or more like a country? Or even another planet? Right! It’s all of it and even more!
But to make things clear:
In 1516 Sir Thomas More was the first one to use the word when he wrote his novel “Utopia” in which he started questioning the possibility of a perfect world, where society would suffer no wars or insecurities, a place where everyone would prosper and fulfill both individual and collective ambitions. Yet such a perfect society can only exist with the creation of perfect built infrastructure. His notion of Utopia comes from the ancient Greek: οὐ („not“) and τόπος („place“) and means „no-place“. The central questions in his novel are: How should the perfect political system be? What manners and statutes are necessary to distinguish a peaceful and human society? And how to manage that without money and private property? On his fictive island Utopia, there are 54 cities, every single one spacious and splendid, in exact conformity to language, customs, institutions and laws. At the heart of the island lies the capital Amaurotum. There is democracy, but according to the ancient model women and slaves have no voice: 30 households each elect representatives, who in turn elect a prince and his advisers. The lifelong prince does not indulge in pomp, but he is dressed like the other inhabitants of the island. The stone houses in the cities have three floors and gardens and are always open for everyone. They would even exchange their houses every ten years. The state creates conditions so that everyone can live equally and happy together, because when there is no private property, one seriously pursues the public interests. There wouldn’t be poor people or beggars and when nobody owns anything, all are rich.
Anyway, with his partly playful novel, More coined the notion of Utopia in political philosophy.
Left parties and ecologists keep hold of the meaning of social models. Without utopias, or without ideal conceptions, progress would stop and politics would degenerate into pragmatism. They believe a better world is possible, but only with an imagination of it.
Since then, there were many ideas of what this perfect society and the perfect world would look like and it became very popular when the 20th century came in.
„Futurism is always some two-faced figure. One side looking ahead and one side looking behind. It seems like things that are ahead of us are always something positive and regressive while things which are laying behind us are inherently bad and regressive. “(Blauvelt,2015, p.13)
It is not always easy to distinguish utopianism from futurism. In any case, one could say that both movements are dealing with an idea of the future, both driven by progress, both technically. This enthusiasm for technical development drove artists, architects and sociologists to present their vision of the future. In futurism, the social component, which means the improvement of social conditions, usually remains missing, while utopian focus being placed more on them, or the technical component of Utopia promoting these (social conditions).
Comments are closed. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9637174606323242}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '33721', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:PBO5LYY26TCOAWP3SNYXDQ7FQMAUFHJZ', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:6cd8c27c-8e68-4e22-abd4-6ecfc7f81798>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 11, 21, 22, 20, 28), 'WARC-IP-Address': '81.19.145.156', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:XY66OS3DHXFI7LBSEE7RZF5EZZDZFE75', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:947dd0b8-4675-4de4-ae19-842178cc0145>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://txt.architecturaltheory.eu/?p=2683&lang=en', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:3a4048d3-2c54-49fd-9612-251c4e67e34a>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '532', 'url': 'http://txt.architecturaltheory.eu/?p=2683&lang=en', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-47\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for November 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-201.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.11728191375732422', 'original_id': '144ce3f0335640296e5ea3d43ff87d81b55213c4213042c0a819174a97df1e5a'} |
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Want designs like these? | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.8472078442573547}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '5415', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:SVK6CUEPEBVX43ZZGZXMG5HWZNGG4HEY', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:aebbf2dc-dfde-4576-b78b-42f7ef386e3e>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 23, 19, 5), 'WARC-IP-Address': '107.180.55.10', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:B2CH5G6MBJN3PXCZH3LGMLILNZM4ZME6', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:73a07162-ce88-49b9-90c9-16838e03f806>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.readycodelive.com/graphic.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:ecfd9a0f-e7f2-4603-806e-5b19a6071d21>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '88', 'url': 'http://www.readycodelive.com/graphic.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-142-79-158.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.02740103006362915', 'original_id': '5487d3fce63fae8b37b76404f7f1afb1769b90d7cfc68140948a2f175bb40712'} |
American Girls - How Social Media is Disrupting the Lives of Teenagers
Once upon a time, only the wealthy and privileged could afford to have their portraits painted by a small, select circle of artists. With the advent of photography, parents of all backgrounds could have pictures of their children, which were coveted as documents of their development and a way to show off their innocent beauty and charm to family and friends.
Today, with smartphones and social media, we all have in our hands the means to broadcast our pride and joy to the world. And we are cultivating our children’s online selves from birth—or even before, in utero. Ninety-two percent of American children have an online presence before the age of 2. Parents post nearly 1,000 images of their children online before their fifth birthday. “Sharenting” has given parenting a whole new dimension: viewer-rated performance.
The usual debate centers on whether posting pictures of one’s children’s online—or allowing one’s children to do so—is safe from a privacy or security standpoint. And as we have seen in the recent abduction and murder of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell of Blacksburg, Va., concerns about online predators are more than just a moral panic: they stem from something real. Lovell reportedly texted with one of her alleged killers, 18-year-old David Eisenhauer, a Virginia Tech student, on Kik Messenger, an app known among kids as a place for the exchange of sexts and nude selfies.
But while we’re consumed by the tangible dangers of messenging services like Kik, Yik Yak, After School and other anonymous apps, we may be missing a different influence: our own behavior. Kids today are often accused of being narcissistic, but they may be learning their exhibitionist ways from their parents. Accompanying the boom in selfie culture is a rise in competitive spirit, as well as a disturbing trend of sexualization. Likes, hearts, swipes—validation is only a tap away. And one of the easiest ways to get that validation is by looking hot. Sex sells, whether you’re 13 or 35.
So it should come as no surprise that in this atmosphere, with the new technology available, sexting and sharing nudes have replaced other forms of intimacy. And it’s girls—our daughters, granddaughters and nieces—who are most at risk in this online environment, which blends age-old sexism with a new notion of sexual liberation through being provocative.Girls who post provocative pictures often suffer slut shaming on- and offline. Girls are more often targeted in cyberbullying attacks that focus on their sexuality.
I spent the past 2½ years researching my new book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, visiting 10 states and talking to more than 200 girls. It was talking to girls themselves that brought me to the subject of social media and what sexualization is doing to their psyches. How is it affecting their sense of self-worth? The tweens and teens I spoke to were often very troubled by the ways the culture of social media was exerting influence on their self-images and their relationships, with both friends and potential dating partners. They were often highly aware of the adverse effects of the sexualization on girls—but not always sure what to do about it.
“Sexism has filtered into new arenas that adults don’t see or understand because they’re not using social media the same way,” says Katie, a student I interviewed at Barnard. “They think, Oh, how can there be anything wrong here if it’s just Snapchat or Instagram—it’s just a game.” But if this is a game, it’s unlike any other we’ve ever played. And the stakes for girls could not be higher.
Victim isn’t a word I’d use to describe the kind of girls I’ve seen, surviving and thriving in an atmosphere that has become very hostile to them much of the time. How can this be, when girls are graduating from college in higher numbers than ever before, when they’re becoming leaders in their chosen fields in greater numbers? From what we hear, American girls are among the most privileged and successful girls in the world. But tell that to a 13-year-old who gets called a slut and feels she can’t walk into a school classroom because everybody will be staring at her, texting about her on their phones.
So why do some girls post sexualized pictures? Why are they complicit in this potentially very self-undermining aspect of socialmedia culture? “I think it’s just to get attention,” explains Lily, a 14-year-old in Garden City, N.Y., where I studied a group of girls for the book. “It’s to get the likes. Everything’s about the likes.”
If building a social-media presence is similar to building a brand, then it makes a twisted kind of sense that girls—exposed from the earliest age to sexualized images, and encouraged by their parents’ own obsession with self-promotion—are promoting their online selves with sex. In so doing, they’re also following the example of the most successful social-media celebrities.
It’s been almost 20 years since the brutal murder of JonBenét Ramsey magnified the horror of child beauty pageants—the extreme sexualization of the little girls, the skimpy costumes, garish makeup and risqué dance moves once associated with prostitution. In 1996, this seemed like a dark revelation, a national scandal. Then came Toddlers & Tiaras. Now, parents post videos of their daughters suggestively shimmying to Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj—videos that rack up approval ratings, sometimes even media attention and ad sales.
In Boca Raton, Fla., a wealthy coastal city with a population of around 90,000, about 50 miles north of Miami, I met Julie, Maggie, Cassy and Leah, a group of 13-year-old girls—two white, two Latina—at the Town Center Mall. Wearing short-shorts and tank tops, Converse and flip-flops, they glided along the air-conditioned halls past all the stores. Their mothers had dropped them off for lunch—chicken and waffles at the Grand Lux Café—and now they were stuffed, so they sat down on some couches to check their phones.
As the girls visited their social-media accounts, opening their Snapchats and liking and commenting on the Instagram posts of their friends, a parade of mothers and daughters drifted past, all dressed almost identically. There were teenage girls in booty shorts and cleavage-baring tops, and mothers wearing almost exactly the same things, except with heels and bling. They carried shopping bags from Neiman Marcus, DKNY and Pink.
I remarked to the girls how strange it seemed to see the mothers in the mall dressed so similarly to their daughters. “They want to look hot,” said Cassy, not looking up from her phone.“Everybody wants to look hot,” Julie said.
“Their daughters look hot and they want to look like their daughters,” Maggie said. “They think they’re the Real Housewives.”
The reluctance of baby boomers and Gen X-ers to grow old is not lost on girls. The resistance to aging has been evident in the success the beauty industry has had with “antiaging” products. The demand for plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures skyrocketed in the 2000s, with a 98% increase in procedures overall from 2000 to 2012, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The second most popular procedure for women ages 40 to 54 in 2014 was breast augmentation. The hypersexualization that has enveloped the lives of American girls seems to have also ensnared their moms.
One factor in sexualization that is too often ignored is the rise of online porn. Studies have reported that American children start seeing online porn as young as 6, and a majority have watched it before they turn 18. When kids have easy access to porn and are watching porn, it’s not surprising that they are posting what might be identified as porn. In 2014 Vine, the video-sharing service on which users share six-second looping clips, banned “sexually explicit material” after reports that children were posting sexually charged videos of themselves on the site, including girls who looked as young as 9 or 11 years old.
Periodically in the news we hear about a “sexting ring,” in which nude photographs of teens are circulated among wide groups of kids, as at a Cañon City, Colo., high school in late 2015. But these sorts of amateur pornography sites, known to kids as “slut pages,” have actually become common and existed at every school I visited.
Some young feminists have argued that photos by girls in sexual poses are a valid expression of their sexuality. “Choice feminism” maintains that whatever a woman chooses is inherently a feminist act. But this doesn’t take into account questions of exploitation surrounding images of underage girls—not to mention the fact that girls’ nudes are often shared nonconsensually, which can wreak havoc on girls’ lives.
No matter how various theorists try to minimize and even glamorize girls’ participation in social-media culture, it is girls who experience the reality of its troubling effects.• | mini_pile | {'original_id': '1625e2e938ce525adde91869b5f6575777edd17314964b4ba413c50ab87b7694'} |
Dart is an object oriented programming language borrowing from both Java and Javascript. What general tips do you have for golfing in Dart? I'm looking for ideas that can be applied to code golf problems in general that are at least somewhat specific to Dart (e.g. "remove comments" is not an answer). Please post one tip per answer.
If a tip is similar to Java/JS, please link to the answer in the original language's thread as well if you can.
Taken mostly from Joey's Tips for Powershell
Variable declaration
Regular variable declaration takes 4 bytes (var) + 2 bytes/variable (i,). You can declare variables as optional named parameters for your function and shave a few bytes.
f(){var i,j,k;} //Takes 15 bytes
g({i,j,k}){} //Takes 12 bytes
Note: This doesn't work for non-constant values, for example:
f({i=List}){} //Works
g({i=[]}){} //Doesn't work
f({i=0,j=0}){} //Works
g({i=0,j=i}){} //Doesn't work
Implicit parameter passing
In some cases where Dart expects a function to be declared, you can code the function elsewhere, and then just pass its name. Dart will take care of passing the value automatically. Let me illustrate :
[0,1,2,3,4,5].forEach((i) => print(i)); //Using a lambda
[0,1,2,3,4,5].forEach(print); //Using implicit parameter passing since print() expects a similar parameter
You can also use your own functions
f(List i){
i.forEach(print); //Prints each number on a new line
[[0,1], [1,2]].forEach(f); //Prints 0 \n 1 \n 1 \n 2\n
If you know a lambda might be used in multiple places, for example a map(), it can be useful to make it its own function and pass it that way instead of declaring it multiple times.
• \$\begingroup\$ Is this not just a consequence of first-class functions? (I don't know Dart) \$\endgroup\$ – Quelklef Nov 9 '18 at 12:48
• \$\begingroup\$ Looks like it's the case. I didn't know this was more widely spread dartlang.org/guides/language/… \$\endgroup\$ – Elcan Nov 9 '18 at 12:51
String conversion and concatenation
Dart doesn't allow for concatenation for types other than String and doesn't implicitly convert to String like C# does for example.
It however includes a very useful way to concatenate variables without needing to use any addition operator or explicitly casting to String (using the .toString() method).
var i=0,j=1,k=2;
var s0='$j'; //'1'
var s1='$i$j$k'; //'012'
var s2='i=$i'; //'i=0'
You can also perform operations directly in the ${} section and save a few temporary variable declarations.
var s='${i+j+k}'; //'3'
Save bytes on import
When you import things you can skip the space :
import 'dart:io'
import'dart:io' //1 byte saved
Your Answer
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I don't think you can compare Tevon Austin with Andrew Hawkins....just because they may be close in height and speed. There are a lot of very fast track guys who would never make it in the NFL as a receiver. Austin had an incredible year in 2012, and put up huge numbers against Oklahoma and Texas, two teams that have pretty good defenses.
My question in the post wasn't to say the Bengals would trade Hawkins, I was asking what is it about Austin that makes him a much better prospect? So far I haven't received an answer, just everybody saying he's much better but not why or how. All I know is when the season ended everybody had Austin as a second or third round pick. He's gone from the second best receiver on WVU roster to the best in the draft. Austin had 12 touchdowns and averaged 11 yards per catch, while Steadman Bailey had 25 td's and 15 yards per catch. Right now most people have Bailey going in the late second round or early third.
I was watch the Dolphins - Bengals game and started thinking about the comparison of Hawkins and Austin. Hawkins is 5'7 180, runs a 4.3 40 and is just as quick and elusive as Austin. Austin might have slightly better hands but the players seem very close. Last year Hawkins finished with 51 receptions for 533 yards with 336 of those yards coming after the catch.
I'm not saying Miami should trade for Hawkins, but if they offered a third round pick I'm sure they could get him. So if Hawkins value is equal to a third round pick, or maybe later, what extra does Austin bring to the table that would make him worth the 12th overall pick.
Tavon Austin is a freak of nature. He can outrun every other player. He can stop and change direction in a nanosecond. In fact his evasive skills appear unique. Is he too small for the NFL? Yes. Is he high a very high risk draft prospect? Yes, but he also has the skills to inflict considerable damage to other teams. He averaged something like 294 rushing yards per game. He is simply a freak and we have a chance to draft him.
You can say that Hawkins is equivalent size and speed but he is simply not in Austin's league of skills.
By the way, I'm increasingly convinced that the performances of Austin and Steadman Bailey have also served to make Geno Smith appear better than he really is.
Um ... no.
For his four year career at WVU, Austin carried the ball 110 times for 1,033 yards (9.4 avg/carry) and 6 TD's in 52 games. Recieving - 288 for 3,413 (11.9 avg/catch) and 29 TD's. Throw in an additional 5 TD's on returns ... and you definately have electric!
But, 294 yds./game on the ground??? I'm not sure where you see that?
Now, he did have a monster game against Oklahoma this past year ... 344 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, caught four passes for 82 yards, and had 146 kick return yards (572 all-purpose yards - 6 yds. shy of the FBS record)
Like many others here, I want the guy too, but let's not start making **** up.
2015 Goals:
1) Win the next game.
2) See goal #1
"The problem with internet quotes lies in verifying their authenticity."
-Abraham Lincoln
My question in the post wasn't to say the Bengals would trade Hawkins, I was asking what is it about Austin that makes him a much better prospect? So far I haven't received an answer, just everybody saying he's much better but not why or how. All I know is when the season ended everybody had Austin as a second or third round pick. He's gone from the second best receiver on WVU roster to the best in the draft. Austin had 12 touchdowns and averaged 11 yards per catch, while Steadman Bailey had 25 td's and 15 yards per catch. Right now most people have Bailey going in the late second round or early third.
Austin was never the second best WR at WVU. Bailey (impressive as he is) benefitted a lot from defenses having to game plan around Austin.
Trust me. I may always be drunk when watching my 'Eers ... but that doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '293f7e77216181cc8fc9c195dc8b73ffc9f4497c5881e51ddaff2086e64da43f'} |
\section{Reciprocal of 103}
Tags: 103, Reciprocals, Examples of Reciprocals
\begin{theorem}
$103$ is the smallest prime number the period of whose decimal expansion of its reciprocal is $\dfrac 1 3$ of its maximum length, that is: $34$:
:$\dfrac 1 {103} = 0 \cdotp \dot 00970 \, 87378 \, 64077 \, 66990 \, 29126 \, 21359 \, 223 \dot 3$
{{OEIS|A021107}}
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
Performing the calculation using long division:
<pre>
0.0097087378640776699029126213592233009...
--------------------------------------------
103)1.0000000000000000000000000000000000000...
927 618 927 103 309
--- --- --- --- ---
730 420 300 370 1000
721 412 206 309 927
--- --- --- --- ----
900 800 940 610 ....
824 721 927 515
--- --- --- ---
760 790 130 950
721 721 103 927
--- --- --- ---
390 690 270 230
309 618 206 206
--- --- --- ---
810 720 640 240
721 618 618 206
--- --- --- ---
890 1020 220 340
824 927 206 309
--- ---- --- ---
660 930 140 310
618 927 103 309
</pre>
By Maximum Period of Reciprocal of Prime, the maximum period of recurrence of the reciprocal of $p$ when expressed in decimal notation is $p - 1$.
Therefore in order for a prime number to have its period of its reciprocal to equal $\dfrac 1 3$ of its maximum length, we must have:
:$3 \divides p - 1$
The prime numbers less than $103$ with this property are $7, 13, 19, 31, 37, 43, 61, 67, 73, 79, 97$.
We have:
* Reciprocal of 7
* Period of Reciprocal of 19 is of Maximal Length
* Reciprocal of 61
* Reciprocal of 97
which shows these primes have maximum period $p - 1$.
We have:
:$\dfrac 1 {13} = 0 \cdotp \dot 07692 \dot 3$: recurring with period $6 = \dfrac {p - 1} 2$.
:$\dfrac 1 {31} = 0 \cdotp \dot 03225806451612 \dot 9$: recurring with period $15 = \dfrac {p - 1} 2$.
:$\dfrac 1 {37} = 0 \cdotp \dot 02 \dot 7$: recurring with period $3 = \dfrac {p - 1} {12}$.
:$\dfrac 1 {43} = 0 \cdotp \dot 02325581395348837209 \dot 3$: recurring with period $21 = \dfrac {p - 1} 2$.
:$\dfrac 1 {67} = 0 \cdotp \dot 01492537313432835820895522388059 \dot 7$: recurring with period $33 = \dfrac {p - 1} 2$.
:$\dfrac 1 {73} = 0 \cdotp \dot 0136986 \dot 3$: recurring with period $8 = \dfrac {p - 1} 9$.
:$\dfrac 1 {79} = 0 \cdotp \dot 012658227848 \dot 1$: recurring with period $13 = \dfrac {p - 1} 6$.
Thus $103$ is the smallest prime number with this property.
{{qed}}
\end{proof}
| math_pile | {'subset': 'ProofWiki', 'meta': "{'type': 'Theorem_Proof'}", 'original_id': '739734fb2ea4918591d5ddead69f10c4af1a54319159a9a1afb25bbb477e5d9e'} |
Stage 4: Organise
Steps in this stage:
• Create an outline of the different parts of your assignment and the order in which they will go.
• Organise your notes to fit under the different parts on your outline.
• Write a draft copy, citing any sources used (remember to write your introduction last).
• Revise and edit your draft copy.
• Create a reference list (also called a bibliography).
Questions to ask:
• Do I have to present my assignment in a particular way? If so, how will I structure the information I have collected?
• Do I have enough information?
• Do I need to use all the information I have found? Is it all relevant to the assignment?
Tools to help you complete this stage:
Organising notes into a good copy
Prewriting Strategies for Organising Ideas How to review your notes and organise the information you have collected (based on essay writing but can be adapted for other types of research and writing).
Create Information Connections Look under the ‘Resources’ heading on the right-hand side for more information & relevant links.
Visit our Essay and Report Writing page for a list of more useful resources to help you organise your notes into a good copy.
Graphic Organisers can also help you to sort out your ideas and information into a structured format. Some of these may be useful to you at this stage in the research process:
• Timeline For ordering events over a period of time
• Time Order Organise details about different events that are part of a topic
• Compare and Contrast Compare two different topics by listing similarities and differences.
• Persuasion Map Create a persuasive argument about a topic.
Avoiding plagiarism: Summarising, Paraphrasing, Referencing & Bibliographies
Plagiarism is copying other people’s work and claiming it as your own. It is important that when writing an essay or assignment you either use your own words and images, or reference any ideas or images that have been created by someone else.
Summarising & Paraphrasing Information (i.e. writing it in your own words)
Summarising a Text
An interactive resource from BBC Bitesize that teaches you how to summarise information.
Sum it Up
A printable PDF worksheet that encourages you to find the main words in a text, then summarise the text in twenty words.
A short guide explaining how to paraphrase (that is, how to write information in your own words while keeping the main idea intact).
Paraphrasing Without Plagiarising
Provides examples to demonstrate how to paraphrase correctly.
Referencing and Writing a Bibliography
See the Referencing & Bibliographies page for more information about in-text referencing, citing sources and creating a bibliography.
Editing and Proof-Reading
Editing and Proof-Reading An easy-to-follow guide from QUT that outlines the difference between editing and proof-reading, including strategies for both.
Prepare to Present Tips on revising and editing your work.
Tools for collaboration
If you are completing a group assignment you may like to use the following websites to work together (using separate laptops) and store your information in one place.
Wiggio Create to-do lists, upload shared files, add dates to the shared calendar and more.
Evernote Share, collaborate, and discuss in real time . Automatic syncing between any phone or computer you use. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.8742507100105286}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '37806', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:GGBNZHSSC2OSNLAA4QBA7OZNVZCO4L2G', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:39b9340a-c19d-4c9f-b87c-97ca51350a14>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 21, 4, 17, 49), 'WARC-IP-Address': '172.67.75.103', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:ARAY5TIF34RLBDMJ2ILVIQDCWMETQLFD', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:3746e4b6-9926-4cd3-8916-9e142d003f94>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://slrc.santamaria.wa.edu.au/research/stage-4-organise/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:0af8c03f-ea9b-498b-8ea1-e66c497c71e3>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '520', 'url': 'https://slrc.santamaria.wa.edu.au/research/stage-4-organise/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-04\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for January 2021\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-206.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.030338168144226074', 'original_id': '3f8a42664161c50602112bfe33f26b73ae743422fd7b6c76eae94f5fa2941fc1'} |
Warm Clothing
Warm Clothing
We believe that every child should be warm and dry when they are building a snowman or tobogganing down a hill. Warm clothing in the harsh winter months and proper clothing for the wet spring months is vital to a child’s health and general ability to thrive as a young person. When you provide funds to this program, we annually purchase enough cold weather gear to outfit an entire community with items. We purchase new items that are designed for the often-severe weather that is the norm in the North. Community members are able to assist us in identifying which families would most benefit from the clothing deliveries.
Baby Clothing
Winter Clothing
| dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '112', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9475318789482116}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '13414', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:O5YQMBPTD6IYY4QQZIPNO7YGH4YACBE5', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:f65f148f-09d9-4dcf-8e60-8ddb0cda59be>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2022, 12, 8, 8, 54, 21), 'WARC-IP-Address': '216.211.21.80', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:4HV3KFJFHGOEBP3GURFRETEHO77DY4C5', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:a94cd15f-b3fa-4c29-b3fb-0eb1f1c76438>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.mikinakoos.com/warm-clothing', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:e6928c73-39c8-42ca-be31-7082ea6a9133>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '222', 'url': 'https://www.mikinakoos.com/warm-clothing', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-49\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for November/December 2022\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-111\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.022562265396118164', 'original_id': '0e95b146b78e7497b8025188c726e253a135b5ff9da347ce08109b6bdc834709'} |
Can I Drink Coffee While Pregnant?
Now that you are pregnant, do you have to stop drinking coffee and other beverages that have caffeine, like tea?
There is a general understanding that women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, and those trying to become pregnant should not consume coffee and tea, at least in large quantities. However, after decades of medical studies, controversy, and conflicting reports, we are still no closer to a 100 percent consensus about how much caffeine is safe during pregnancy.
To be a little bit more cautious, many organizations and medical groups advise that women who are pregnant, about to become pregnant, or breastfeeding do their best to limit their caffeine consumption to less than 200 milligrams a day. This amount is equivalent to one cup of 12-ounce coffee (that also depends on the type of coffee since different kinds have varying amounts of caffeine). Ex: dark roast coffee has less caffeine than light roast coffee. You can also do research to find out how much various foods and drinks have in terms of caffeine.
Why are people concerned about consuming caffeine during pregnancy?
In 2008, there was a highly publicized study that stated that women who consume more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day had twice the risk of a miscarriage than those who drank little to no caffeine. However, not every study showed a connection between elevated levels of caffeine consumption and an elevated result of miscarriage.
Findings from a study from Denmark stated that when pregnant women consume more than eight cups of coffee a day, their risk of having a stillbirth more than doubled.
Some medical studies found that there is an association between heightened caffeine consumption as well as a baby’s reduced body weight; however, the majority of studies done on the subject do not find this to be true.
You might want to slow down on the coffee and tea consumption during pregnancy for the reason that you do feel the effects a lot more during this time. You body is not able to breakdown the caffeine and more of it makes its way to your bloodstream. It can take two to three times as long to break down the caffeine during pregnancy versus not being pregnant. Also, it can be harder to absorb iron during this time.
After giving birth, if you are not breastfeeding, then go ahead and return to drinking plenty of single cup coffee. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9730862975120544}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '60440', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:VAUDKODDHM3QQGDST57HS4HC7TA344RP', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:b470f17c-4f8f-4bc2-8646-617313bd5359>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 25, 11, 54, 15), 'WARC-IP-Address': '198.252.106.158', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:56UP4C6OGCEJIOXAZGENBSG6DGAVXZQQ', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:77e50b25-cbdb-4bca-a229-69e99abf913e>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://sse-pse.com/2013/06/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:10ff092b-0346-4ab8-b6eb-5a524ea69339>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '406', 'url': 'http://sse-pse.com/2013/06/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-171-61-111.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.5006275177001953', 'original_id': 'c8f669602806048e1b769beeac24ffde453930d6d1e7c3e03114d4e658426f7d'} |
The girls displayed great technique throughout the tournament. Their dribbling, pace, long crosses were all spot on. It was an amazing performance against India despite our loss, we had some great chances throughout the game.
A couple of years ago Bangladesh girls team ended a game narrowly losing at 3-2 against the Australian girls team in an AFC tournament, and Australia is the #7 team in the Women's World Rankings. I do believe that our womens team has great potential to play in the World Cup within the next couple of decades if nurtured correctly (BFF has a really poor track record of doing that). | mini_pile | {'original_id': '05ff3088b3eb7c15262ecac7bbae79c24fc2c57da49f4e066047df1788e1e2fb'} |
« Chapter 7.1 Big Brother's Revenge | Main | Chapter 7.2 The Fight Over Intrusion Detection »
Jan 06, 2010
The question was "How much money do you make?" I agree with Yon; that's an inappropriate question for a TSA drone whose "badge" is embroidered on (so that he can't lose it). Unless he moonlights with the IRS...
Does that justify slapping handcuffs on him? Could his identity as a fairly prominent national security journalist not have been verified with a quick Google search?
And besides, to me, a good ol' "up yours!" seems like the quintessential American response to someone asking about your income But, then again, I'm not a member of TSA's crack anti-terrorist corps.
They let the undie bomber get nearly to the runway. They stole a kids play doh, let a wandering tourist through their system at Newark. Now they handcuff Michael because he won't...submit. You think HE has a chip on his shoulder?
Of course, never question authority!
It appears Yon committed no crime in the presence of TSA staffers (refusing to answer impertinent questions is not a crime). The TSA minions might have excluded him from his flight, but handcuffing him? That was very likely false arrest (chargeable as a felony in WA) and an 18 USC 242 violation. I'm not surprised that the real cops freed Yon as soon as they got involved.
Mr. Baker-- do you think TSA agents should arrest (that's what the law calls handcuffing someone under color of authority) someone for refusing to answer questions, when the suspect comports himself peacefully and the agents have found no other evidence of any crime (not even "attempt to bring forbidden article into sterile area"), as opposed to simply excluding the uncooperative person from the sterile area/flight?
If so, from what source is TSA's power to arrest non-criminals derived?
"Turn in your badge, your gun and your chip on your way out the door."
I'm interested to know what sort of admissibility information gleaned during these sorts of interviews has in a court of competent jurisdiction. Unless the answer is "absolutely none under any circumstances," than this fantasy that we should all just be good little subjects and do what we are told is a bit more of an encroachment than you make it out to be Mr. Baker.
I might add that whatever your answer is to this question, a right of entry to the United States as a citizen isn't insofaras I am aware, dependent on meeting TSA's standard of "cooperative." If you would like to asset that it is Mr. Baker, I would be interested to hear your grounds. (Right before I renounce my citizenship).
It is not our job or duty to make law enforcement officials happy. Nor is it our job or duty to make their job easier. Period. If we do so it is because we want to be polite and helpful citizens. That motivation evaporates quickly when authority is overstepped.
Based on this report, I am certain that the phrase "You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride," is familiar to the TSA. When TSA interviews become punitive to punish annoying but entirely legal non-compliance, and this seems to be the case whether the TSA is in an airport or interviewing a blogger who leaked "sensitive" documents, it ceases to enjoy even a shred of legitimacy. Detaining an otherwise blameless individual to compel testimony is over the line. As is threatening a citizen with some sort of ominous "blacklist" or summary dismissal from his or her totally unrelated employment for refusal to answer questions.
The only positive part of this story is the fact that (somewhat to my surprise) the TSA didn't attempt to fabricate some absurd "obstruction" charge to cover for the fact that they had no right to detain Mr. Yon and that the locals cut Yon loose (probably with a wry smile and a shake of the head at the massive chip on the shoulder of the federales).
Given the events of the past several weeks, the TSA isn't an agency that deserves much slack at this point. They need to get their act together. This is not a step in the right direction.
This is not the first time I have heard of Americans asking someone how much money they make, but I didn't know TSA did so...I wonder how shy Europeans will answer.
The Administration lied for at least 4 days and 4 times that they did not arrest a second man who was on that flight. They called the American citizens that reported it liars.
After the Administration were proved wrong, they came clean and admitted it.
So why should we believe the Administration when they allege the Christmas crotch bomber had a passport with a visa on him? The TSA head also claimed the system worked perfectly.
Instead they arrest Michael Yon and keep Joan Rivers off flights. This is the profile Janet is following because it is the terrorist profile she believes in because she released it last March in her terrorism guide where she claims native born American type people are the true terrorists- not imported mideastern muslim men.
Britain would not allow him into their country.
So why did this administration?
Because this administration believes that mid eastern mulsim jihadists are not a threat. This administration believes Americans are the threat.
Mr. Baker, get your head out of your rear end. Income and occupation are none of TSA's business. As far as I can tell, Abdulmutallab had an incendiary device in his privates; Mr. Yon did not have an incendiary device anywhere.
The only attitude change needed is for people like you to have anal-cranial inversion problems corrected.
There is no comparison between the Yon and Abdulmutallab failures.
Simply put Yon is a US citizen with a valid passport, the TSA can certainly pull him aside for additional screening if they choose and search his bag as well. But inquiries regarding his income and employer do not have any relevance as to whether he is a security risk or not.
I would be curious to hear what you think the TSA would glean from that information that would be actionable. Is there some magic salary figure or employer that would cause the TSA to think the person a risk?
With the repeated examples of this agency's rank incompetence (and not just in the last 3 weeks but since their creation) and firm belief in security theater in lieu of actually improving our travel security they simply do not deserve the benefit of the doubt from the citizenry or the trust that dubious questions "whose relevance isn't immediately obvious to the traveler" are acceptable.
This was bullying pure and simple.
Yon: US citizen.
Abdulmutallab: not.
That should be enough of a difference for the TSA, but instead they focus on US children and the elderly (and don't forget US servicemen and women, who get screened a lot when they are out of uniform, or at least I did).
Good News: Your blog has intelligent readers.
Bad News: They just spanked you real good.
Time to re-evaluate...
Well, actually Yon fits the description of the kind of people Janet Napolitano was warning about as the real danger recently: a little right of center, former military and familiar with weapons, etc. The kind of individual who might become a threat to this wannabe commie regime.
Maybe the incompetents were simply trying to make brownie points with the boss....
"If we want TSA to look for terrorists, not just weapons, and after Christmas, it's obvious that we do, then we'll have to expect TSA to ask questions, including questions whose relevance isn't immediately obvious to the traveler."
I'm betting you can't make a rational argument with regard to how questions involving the income and employment of a US Citizen is in any way relevant to "looking for terrorists." Immediately or otherwise. Especially in light of the economically-privileged condition of the last terrorist the TSA allowed to slip aboard a plane.
One could more relevantly question if your ire with Yon is not born from professional jealousy, rather than any rational origin.
How much money do YOU make, Mr. Baker?
I can understand asking about Yon's occupation, given that his passport probably shows indication of travel to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries where the typical tourist or business traveler doesn't visit.
But if TSA wanted to establish Yon's bona fides, they could ask his occupation, and when he said he was an independent war correspondent and blogger, they could ask where he was published. Since Yon would be able to cite his blog and titles of his books sold on Amazon.com, and give other indications of his legitimacy as a writer that could be confirmed via Google, that would have been a more fruitful line of questioning.
No jihadists attempting to fly in to U.S. airports can establish by Googling his names that Bruce Willis considered optioning his blog for a movie adaptation. By contrast, Yon can.
So would you consider anything an inappropriate question? How often do you beat your wife? When's the last time you saw your therapist? Do you use Viagra or Cialis?
I'm with Yon. Be a man not a mouse.
Mr. Yon's income is none of the agent's business.
I say again: None. of. his. business.
I suspect the agent may have been fishing based on something Yon was carrying (his luggage no doubt includes some VERY nice camera equipment, judging by the pictures he manages to publish), and I'm quite certain his passport betrays him as the world traveler he is.
None of that justifies "hooking him up" if he declines to answer a question about his income, "reliving his adolescence" or not.
Just out of curiosity, Mr. Baker... how did you feel about the TSA agents who coerced a "consensual" search of travel blogger Steven Frischling's laptop?
Michael Yon is a hero of the American people;. How much money he makes while performing freelance journalism is none of the TSA's business. Also, an American citizen should have more rights than a Nigerian terrorist. If you put me in handcuffs, you'd better Mirandize me because you've just arrested me.
Come on Stewart, are you serious?
When America ceases to be a country where the citizens are free and the government and its agents are constrained, we might as well go back to being British subjects of the Queen. Without personal LIBERTY, America is gone.
Good job Michael. I'm eagerly awaiting my chance to do the same. Oh, btw, I will sue.
Remember, the trigger for Miranda is CUSTODY ("Am I free to go?" If "no," you are in custody.) not arrest, formal or informal.
I travel internationally as part of my job. Employment information is frequently tied to visas and is generally available to the Government. It is reasonable to ask about your employer as well as address and other information related to, but not published with a passport. That helps ensure the person presenting the document is the correct person.
Extending the question to income is out of line. I would have refused to answer that too. It's not about a 'chip on my shoulder'. It's about basic respect for privacy.
Mr. Stewart,
Your original premise is, imntho, sinking under its' own weight right down into the pile of shinola it rests upon. That said, I must say you have my respect for allowing your readers to publicly and vehemently disagree with without censorship (it is YOUR blog after all, and you DO in fact have the right to use YOUR 'Delete' button if you were to so choose). There is hope for you...
If you only had mentioned the ludicrousness of the questions and their irrelevance to the situation at hand, you wouldn't have put both feet in your mouth and be unable to defend yourself from having your a$$ handed to you.
Your post conveniently ignores the strong possibility that Yon may have been specifically targeted by the TSA because of his previous postings criticizing their handling of airport security. I find it very difficult to believe that the agent who had him arrested was not aware of his identity. Obviously, his income level has no bearing on security issues so why was it asked?
Yon: US citizen.
Abdulmutallab: not.
In addition:
Yon: Valid American passport
Abdulmutallab: No passport AT ALL
Yon: Flying with luggage which has already been screened and cleared
Abdulmutallab: Flying with no luggage
Yon: On the ground, just wanting to go home
Abdulmutallab: Mid-air barbecue
There really is no comparison. If the "system" is to harass Americans while doing nothing to improve security, then, yes, this is the system working.
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Blog powered by Typepad | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9736551642417908}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '54309', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:N67WLQ3LL5H53G3ZIQVDK3QAYVGCVIAV', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:b38d1d94-1017-4911-966b-fdf81418deaa>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2013, 12, 12, 9, 25, 5), 'WARC-IP-Address': '204.9.177.195', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:DHKYJHPOB2LJN2JI2BSIHRZOJL3F7W6A', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:fd9b9d06-b936-4021-9e59-57df8d95a737>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.skatingonstilts.com/skating-on-stilts/2010/01/sorry-sir-but-a-chip-that-big-will-have-to-come-off-your-shoulder-and-go-through-the-x-ray.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:82d63747-b8b0-4b6e-a30e-c94adf014c31>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '2108', 'url': 'http://www.skatingonstilts.com/skating-on-stilts/2010/01/sorry-sir-but-a-chip-that-big-will-have-to-come-off-your-shoulder-and-go-through-the-x-ray.html', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2013-48\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for Winter 2013\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.33242690563201904', 'original_id': '65ab0711211b99507a8f5bfee440f514e8e09848cf20923e8cf8409a0f74251a'} |
WTF Does Honoring My Body Through Movement Mean? And How Can I Do It?
In a society that is so focused on grinding and hustling, going against the social “norm”, can almost seem like a failure. So how we can we go from such an extreme mindset around food, movement, and life, to one that honors your body and where you’re at.
When we talk about fitness normalities what comes to mind for you? Boot camps, hard fitness routines you see on Instagram? 2 hours in the gym?
How do you navigate honoring your body through some kind of movement when the world is telling you that “good” really means “beat you into the ground”?
We focus on turning inside first, then we move.
As women, I feel as though we’ve been taught that honoring our bodies through movement has to be done for the sole reason to alter our body composition. Which leads us to start some workout plan, and if we aren’t seeing results fast enough, we quit, because we are only focused on the external.
So bear with me as I walk you through a little movement rebellion. First, I’m going to share several of my client’s responses to the question:
Why Do You Honor Your Body Through Movement?
● “I move because it helps me navigate through life more efficiently. I also love the feeling of being strong. Strength training (my preferred form of movement) makes me feel really powerful and in control and I like that feeling a lot.”-Emily Callen/Colorado.
● “I honor my body through movement because I believe in balance. If I do not move physically, I am thrown off mentally. If I don’t move, I feel like I can’t give my best self to the people in my life.” Lindsey/ Ohio
● “It makes you feel good through and through. Even getting up for a quick work during walk changes your mood. I recently have been learning ballroom dance (which I was afraid of—because hello, I’m uncoordinated), and it has helped me connect to my own body in such an empowering way.”-Jenny//Nashville
● “When I move I feel connected to my body and soul. When I lift weights I feel powerful and capable. When I go hiking I feel strong and free.” -Kathy//Ohio
● “Because it makes me feel good. I feel more comfortable in my skin” -Anja/Ohio
● “I honor my body through movement because when I’m able to see what my body is capable of I see the strength in all of the struggles I’ve gone through. It reminds me that my mind and body are resilient and that keeps me going and pushing forward.” -Mollie/Florida
● “Moving makes me feel connected yo myself, the world and the people around me.I’ve noticed moving literally gives me a pep in my step throughout the day. It encourages me to grow internally and not just outwardly. It has helped with my anxiety and depression by opening myself to become more vulnerable and get outside of my comfort zone. It allows me to FEEL. I think that’s the best part.” Katie/Ohio
Me? I move because it makes me feel connected to my body. It leaves me feeling empowered, and strong. Strong in all sense of the word, mentally, physically and emotionally.
Let’s grab onto one of the words that was used multiple times:
It makes me feel __________.
If you even lightly read over these answers, you see they all move because the way it makes them feel.
That is the answer to changing how you view movement. When we can pick out how we want to feel and then realize that movement can be the pathway to those feelings, it changes it from the do or die, hustle, grind etc mindset. To one that is purposeful.
I believe wholeheartedly when you move a muscle you change a mindset. Moving opens pathways to those good, strong, happy, empowered and connected feelings we ALL so deeply desire.
My ask of you is to take a moment after reading this and write down 3-5 core desired feelings. How do you want to feel each day? How do you want your relationship with movement and food to make you feel?
● Empowered
● Passionate
● Focused
● Strong
● Confident
● Happy
● Love
● Connection
● Etc
Now, what forms of movement can you do that will bring you those feelings?
While I do love myself a really awesome strength training workout that’s short and sweet (each move has a purpose), I also love to dance, hike, and explore other form of movement.
So now when I wake up in the morning, it’s less about “crushing the hardest workout ever” and more about—what can I do to feel the way I want to feel?
When we can create this mindset shift, we open up to a place where true change can be made and sustained.
Maybe you do have body composition goals and there isn’t anything wrong with that. However, we can choose to navigate that journey with a healthy mind, one that isn’t attached to numbers. Instead focused on our core desired feelings.
How To Honor Your Body Through Movement With A Health(ier) Mindset:
1.) Decide how you want to feel.
2.) Choose forms of movement that you enjoy and that give you the outcome of those desired feelings.
3.) Commit to creating those feelings, not extremes like 7 days a week in the gym for 2 hours.
4.) I recommend writing your core desired feelings down and putting them somewhere you’ll see regularly. This way you have a constant reminder of why you’re moving, if you feel yourself get pulled back into that “hustle harder, grind” mindset.
I know processing this information seems big and a little different. It’s okay to reread as many times as you need to get comfortable with the idea that your body isn’t here solely so you can beat it into the ground to give it abs.
Let it sink in, find what sticks out to you, and I encourage you to hold onto those desired feelings. Knowing how you want to feel changes everything. Knowing how you want to feel allows you to make empowered decisions about life,movement, food and your body.
Sending you all of the love as you navigate this journey. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '1', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9406587481498718}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '56030', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:VQSYALLWM3ICWJGD6HRNITHWSPJS2BKS', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:6728ef6e-2b9b-488c-83db-cf38cf32f995>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 19, 22, 21, 27), 'WARC-IP-Address': '198.185.159.144', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:R63Z2EVTWUVDDH7XQ3D57VFKSY7HPSLJ', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:dfb36f35-bb39-45a9-a34e-691f68d79f41>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.rachelturner.com/blog/wtf-does-honoring-my-body-through-movement-mean-and-how-can-i-do-it', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:ac0d3751-7241-4de0-842d-973e66eb62ae>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1016', 'url': 'https://www.rachelturner.com/blog/wtf-does-honoring-my-body-through-movement-mean-and-how-can-i-do-it', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-152-225-239.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.1607688069343567', 'original_id': '0fc14bbee6147afd42fca5f0113e92322b9a06568936e39d2151528ec74c8985'} |
This post is from staff writer April Dykman.
I had a conversation with a friend, we’ll call him Joel, who had two job offers. One was a low-stress 9-to-5 gig, but paid $10,000 less than the other offer, which would require longer hours and greater responsibility. He didn’t like a lot of things about the higher paying position, but he accepted the offer because it was more in line with the salary at his last job.
In the months that followed, he was regularly putting in 12-hour days at the office and working Sundays. My guess is that it was at least 60 hours per week, but that’s probably being conservative. And his gut instinct was right — he wasn’t enjoying the new job.
I couldn’t help but to wonder if the extra money was worth it because I was in a similar position not long ago.
When I was an employee, I was on the cusp of going from hourly to salary, and quite frankly, I’m glad I was able to avoid the uncomfortable conversation of declining a promotion (probably not a great career move). In my situation, a jump in levels would essentially mean I would be doing the same job (with the possibility of more responsibility) for the same pay. Vacation and sick days were the same for hourly or salaried employees. When I asked what the difference was between the two pay structures, other than the fact that I wouldn’t get paid for overtime on salary, I was told that salaried employees can take a couple of hours for a doctor’s appointment and not have to use their sick time.
As a young, healthy woman without kids, I had amassed more sick days than vacation time. That wasn’t much of an incentive. Then I looked around me at some of the other salaried employees who stayed late or worked weekends, and I wanted no part of it. I wanted to have dinner with my husband at night and spend our weekends going to markets and cooking and watching Netflix movies.
At another job, I was told that being on salary meant that “if we close the office early, you’ll still get paid.” But we closed the office maybe two or three afternoons out of the year, and there were many, many events that required 8+ hour days. Once I put in a 22-hour day for a particularly big event.
In these particular situations, I just didn’t see the benefit of switching to salary. Was I crazy, or was everyone else?!
Exempt and non-exempt
First, let’s look at what exactly it means to be hourly or salaried. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which governs most jobs, employees are either “exempt” or “nonexempt.” Nonexempt employees are typically paid by the hour and are entitled to overtime pay it they work more than 40 hours per week. Exempt employees, on the other hand, do not get overtime pay. For example, a sales consultant is usually exempt, but a customer service rep who works in a call center will most likely be nonexempt.
Every field, company, and job is different, but generally, the following are the benefits and drawbacks of each pay structure.
Hourly wage
The benefits to being paid by the hour include the following:
• Guaranteed a certain dollar amount for every hour you work.
• Positions usually have a predetermined number of hours you’ll work.
• If you’re asked to work more than 40 hours, you get paid overtime, which is time-and-a-half for each hour after the first 40 hours. For example, if your hourly wage is $12, you would be paid $18 for every hour past 40 hours in a week.
• Some employers double your hourly rate if you’re asked to work holidays.
The drawbacks? If your place of business closes early or decides to cut back on hours, that means a smaller paycheck. The likelihood of that happening depends on the industry and the company. A 9-to-5 office job is likely to have a set schedule, whereas a job working in retail might fluctuate more.
Salary pay
The benefits to being paid a set salary include the following:
• Guaranteed a certain dollar amount per paycheck.
• Some companies offer salaried employees additional perks, such as vacation days or a more flexible schedule. For example, if you finish your work early, you might be able to take the afternoon off.
• Often salaried positions come with a higher status and/or a jump on the pay scale.
• Salaried employees might be happier, according to a study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Researchers found that income didn’t affect happiness levels as much for salaried employees as for those paid hourly, who experienced a stronger relationship between income and happiness.
The downside is that if a salaried position demands more than 40 hours per week and working on holidays, you won’t get paid extra for your time.
In my case, there were no extra perks and no bump in pay. My hours were just as set as they were for salaried coworkers, maybe more so since my boss was reluctant to have me work overtime and have to pay time-and-a-half. I think in Joel’s case, it wasn’t such a good deal, either. If he was making $50,000 and working 60 hours per week, he made about $16 per hour. If he had accepted the other job offer at $40,000 and 40 hours per week, he would have make $19.24 per hour. He was working at a lower hourly wage, and he wasn’t even enjoying his job.
But in many cases, it can be a great thing, especially if you make more money, get extra benefits, and your company doesn’t expect 80-hour work weeks with no time off to compensate. If you’re given the choice between the two, whether at your company or when negotiating job offers, look at the whole package. Find out the average number of hours the job requires, calculate your hourly wage, and think about what your time is worth. (Even better: Compute your real hourly wage, since it’ll reflect hidden job costs, such as wardrobe and commuting.) If you’re young and single, maybe you want to focus on your career and climb the corporate ladder. If you’re a father of two small kids, making it home for dinner every night might be your top priority. Then look at the perks and decide if they’re worthwhile to you. For example, a free pass for doctor appointments didn’t matter to me in the least, but I would’ve jumped at the chance for a flexible schedule.
This article is about Career | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '70', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9783304333686828}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '294874', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:BHBFHRZWZUPDMRHSBOTOL4HWOYALQQU5', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:c267f12b-b7d6-428c-a127-316be64540be>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2013, 12, 6, 3, 51, 31), 'WARC-IP-Address': '23.15.8.42', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:OCGMZ7WKCZTHMEP634TOZAUNUMWEV4TM', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:0bad7473-9b25-457f-8d97-08ec2ec7a93a>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/06/21/hourly-vs-salary-which-is-better/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:e65f6a2b-a653-461c-8615-1d6067522616>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '1117', 'url': 'http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/06/21/hourly-vs-salary-which-is-better/', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2013-48\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for Winter 2013\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.11931055784225464', 'original_id': 'fd9523164c5837c05bf8c579b30bb5ded753beafe54b8cc63b729e2fc35872c8'} |
How do you let go of your best friend?
I'm just so sad and having such a hard time letting go and moving on. My ex broke up with me about 5 weeks ago. We didn't have any contact for 4 weeks. Then he saw me and told me he loves and misses me but I was too afraid to say it back bc I thought he might just be playing me for an ego boost. I went out with another guy for about 3 weeks but he just didn't compare to the connection I had with my ex (we got along perfectly - he was my BEST friend I've ever had - I've never felt a connection like that with anyone in my life, family or friends). I'm pretty sure ex knew about other boy bc he saw pics on social media. He even unfriended my friends when they posted pics of me with him. How could someone who said he cared about me so much just never talk to me again, even as friends. He just doesn't care I guess and I know I need to move on but its SO hard to. I'm heartbroken. I had been cheated on before and he knew that I was hesitant to get into a relationship with him, but he begged me to for months and promised me he would never hurt me. I trusted him so much. He didn't even give me a reason to break up. We were perfect one minute and broken up the next. He blindsided me. If I see him, he ignores me but looks at me the whole time. I try to make progress moving on but when I see him, I have to start all over. I just can't stand this. Why did he do that to us?
Have an opinion?
What Guys Said 2
• I honestly don't know the why that he would choose to betray you and your trust in him. But he could be avoiding talking to you when your paths cross out of guilt for lying to you about never hurting you and then did it anyway. the fact that he begged you to be his girl then does this just doesn't make sense to me I honestly feel for you in this situation but really it will help you with the healing process if you will get out and meet new people and close this chapter out once and for all
• It's going to be tough snd hard for you to move on because you are always running into him and seeing him brings back memories. One way to forget about him is because it wasn't your fault for the break up. Let go of the guilt. Also I am glad that you started dating again. It shows you had the strengh to try and move on. Even thougj things didn't work out at least you tried. Maybe your ex broke up with you because maybe he got cold feet or he felt things was moving to fast.
• Thank you for your answer. He begged me to be his girlfriend. I waited for months before I finally agreed and then he broke up with me 2 months later. I'm so hurt and mad at him
• Yout very welcome. I can't blame you for being hurt or mad at him. Him breaking up with you didn't make sense because he begged you to be his girlfriend in the first place. He should be happy and honored that you even went out with him.
What Girls Said 0
Be the first girl to share an opinion
and earn 1 more Xper point! | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9916545748710632}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '86905', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:46AGC573OX3XKZS5TMP6VIBQV2RDQ5M2', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:1233cf72-5f23-49b5-a174-14d5d29a833b>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 10, 23, 6, 22, 40), 'WARC-IP-Address': '216.157.101.26', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:HNRVCIWFTZXAB7GTNUB4MG2MV7HB3MIB', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:ebc6bc6f-8936-4819-a2fa-9931894853cf>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.girlsaskguys.com/break-up-divorce/q1613447-how-do-you-let-go-of-your-best-friend', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:b9919a25-81fb-4b0b-8a29-2324f14c6409>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '615', 'url': 'https://www.girlsaskguys.com/break-up-divorce/q1613447-how-do-you-let-go-of-your-best-friend', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-228-98-39.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-43\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for October 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.056049466133117676', 'original_id': '910a24f1dff0d615b4178e14bea14dc1f76a87994730be79258f484eecb2ebf4'} |
Q:
Select all tables not containing a value from database in MySql
My Database contains tables names as mentioned below and I need the tables not containing underscore(_) values:
table1
table1_xyz
table1_xyz_abc
table2
table2_xyz
table2_xyz_abc
from above example I need only talbe1 and table2 to be fetched from the query, the query used to fetch all tables names Not containing underscore(_) values in my DataBaseName:
select table_name from information_schema.tables where table_schema = 'DataBaseName' and ( table_name NOT like '%_' OR table_name NOT like '_%' OR table_name NOT like '%_%')
but there are no results fetched.
any advice.
A:
This can be done using a LIKE
But, some characters have special meaning like:
\% matches one % character.
\_ matches one _ character.
.
select table_name
from information_schema.tables
where table_name NOT like '%\_%'
| mini_pile | {'original_id': 'a03c3720016f664fb352362ced72e42b34c76ec653599d2f8e6d8ae2d6d6df1a'} |
Gears Forums
Upcoming character skins?
New JD and Marcus skins I guess. 1000 Iron each please. (I’m bored and it’s late, give me a break)
Which is which?
1 Like
Good question. Maybe it’s like Dragon Ball Z where they can do a fusion. The left is MarD and the right is Jarcus.
1 Like
Potara or Fusion dance?
Definitely fusion dance
1 Like
Sooooo should I post my credit card here or should I DM it to you?
unfortunately it is a limited edition pre-order bonus for the timed exclusive version of Gears 5: Bingo Edition (Only sold in Kekistan)
1 Like
Effing Kekistanians always getting the better deals. I’m sick of this sh*t…
1 Like
Is that Danny Devito?
No that’s JD
Excellent casting.
Just give me a young Linda Hamilton skin.
1 Like
Honestly I think only a red neck raam skin can save this game now :sneezing_face:
Young Linda Hamilton would still have Old Linda Hamilton’s voice. That would be off-putting.
Not saying that TC would, but they could pull lines from T1 and maybe T2…maybe it would sound horrible…
…I dunno.
I don’t think they are legally allowed to, for licensing reasons, but that being said, her saying “You’re terminated , ■■■■■■” at the end of the original movie would be a very satisfying taunt. She had a very effective delivery on that line.
1 Like
The T-1000 Terminator skin or character would be nice, some of his executions would be ripped straight out of T2 Judgement day.
You mean the cafe waitress version from T1? :smiley:
1000 for a skin is ridiculous
It’s a joke thread lighten up | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.93391090631485}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '36774', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:KMSYU5DRGBLKS4MBWFZBOWGSUC7EHNPL', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:09d875e8-f0c4-480d-9b65-c3c96b1a875e>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 10, 21, 12, 11, 52), 'WARC-IP-Address': '40.80.216.193', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:PE32X7BU6U7UOUPG3RTU4NIAOHSRZNJU', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:b2898690-2eb5-40ee-8676-95a1f7ac3ac0>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://forums.gearsofwar.com/t/upcoming-character-skins/32516', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:bb62b51d-4328-482c-a827-e53db8139a42>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '271', 'url': 'https://forums.gearsofwar.com/t/upcoming-character-skins/32516', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-43\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for October 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-206.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.021124958992004395', 'original_id': '9d856c6e3a62979269a11e3dca876098a26b5630ae003c1aa7fd9b80f656b894'} |
Ted Conover is the author of five books and the recent Harper's article "The Way of All Flesh."
"My identity is a rubber band. It can stretch that way and it can stretch this way. When I get home it goes mostly back into the shape it's been, but not completely. And it's that not completely that is interesting and makes me who I am."</i>
Thanks to TinyLetter for sponsoring this week's episode! | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9671102166175842}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '26365', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:2ZDNTLD7PNXNPFRVPHNNG6PMRZXBEEBM', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:d9fdd386-05e3-487f-ac4a-6b1ac98ea2dd>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 8, 21, 10, 12, 6), 'WARC-IP-Address': '165.227.71.159', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:CYXVETGHY5S7IO5RKSMXY7Z5SQQ3IDQW', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:8a54359d-02e3-4f91-a81a-13f3bd5c428b>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://longform.org/posts/longform-podcast-38-ted-conover', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:2a96b0f9-7ee4-4f1d-8ac5-80ae67c44492>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '71', 'url': 'https://longform.org/posts/longform-podcast-38-ted-conover', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-178-11-125.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-34\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for August 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.0529325008392334', 'original_id': 'da18beae9cdf0741018c51a83e02f40cec1355443a5de68a9d91d45bcfe7d70e'} |
Friday, 2 January 2009
Sanshiro Sugata II (1945)
We've moved on to 1887 in Yokohama and all the propaganda that wasn't in the first film is present in the first five minutes of the sequel. A young rickshaw driver is a little overeager in speeding his fare into town and that fare takes it personally. Because that fare is an American sailor, he's petty and cruel and so starts beating the rickshaw driver, at least until he's stopped by our hero, Sanshiro Sugata, and thrown into the sea. Sugata is now something of a celebrity, having beaten Hansuke Murai in the demonstration match we saw in the first film. There's even a song that children sing about him, and this latest exploit just brings him even more celebrity.
You see, the Americans are all over the place and a noted American boxer wants to fight a ju jitsu wrestler at the American Embassy, with Sugata being asked to fill that spot. He declines, because he doesn't want to fight for entertainment. He turns up to watch though, to see what boxing actually looks like, and in this film it's a disgusting spectacle with brutal fighters destroying each other for the enjoyment of bloodthirsty savages watching. It doesn't even bear mentioning in the same breath as the sacred martial arts of Japan. Yes, this is a powerful and not particularly subtle piece of propaganda, but then it was 1945 and the Americans were the enemy.
This film surprised me and not just because of the blatant propaganda. While the first film was full of little Kurosawa touches, this one just doesn't feel like his work, even though he wrote and directed and it's nicely done. The first Sanshiro Sugata film was set mostly outdoors with frequent use of clouds and wind, transition effects including wipes and a fluid camera that impressed with its motion. There were also a couple of very nice symbolic scenes to signify passage of time and comparative mental states. Here all of those elements I mentioned are notably absent. Almost everything is indoors with no connection to nature, there are no wipes or symbolic transitions and the camera hardly moves. When it does venture outdoors, such as for the final fight in the snow, it pales in comparison with its equivalent fight in the field in the first film.
However just because it doesn't stylistically match the original doesn't mean it isn't worth anything. The story is much clearer and better defined, while still leaving certain deliberate ambiguities, and it's a much smoother ride. Susumu Fujita is one of many actors who returned to reprise their roles (such as Deniiro Okochi as Sugata's sensei Shogoro Yano, Yukiko Todoroki as his girlfriend Sayo, and Ryunosuke Tsukigata in a double role), and it's much easier to get into his characterisations here. Sugata is a much stronger person, still troubled but much more human. The fights are better, with the exception of the final one which is terribly staged and quickly becomes pantomime.
There are also a couple of memorable villains, who feel like they should be in a colour exploitation film from the seventies, especially the androgynous and insane Genzaburo Higaki, played by the Akitake Kono. He was in the first film, playing a different character, but he looked very different. He has a presence to him here that seems very familiar, even though I don't remember his parts in Sansho the Bailiff and one of the Zatoichi movies. I'll be watching out for him in the future though, and because he seems so appropriate for horror, I think I'll have to seek out The Temptress and the Monk. His last appearance was in a Crimson Bat movie in 1969. I wonder why he didn't continue longer. IMDb doesn't carry birth or death dates but I would assume deliberate retirement or early death.
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Q:
oauth2 spring-security success and failure handler
I am using Spring Security with OAuth2. It's working fine except login success and failure handlers.
Like in spring web security OAuth2 does not have clearly defined success and failure handlers hooks to update DB and set response accordingly.
What filter do I need to extend and what should its position be in the Spring Security filter chain?
A:
Specify successHandler and failureHandler for oauth2login method:
@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
class SecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
@Value("${successUrl}")
private String successUrl;
@Value("${failureUrl}")
private String failureUrl;
@Override
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http
.oauth2Login()
.successHandler(successHandler())
.failureHandler(failureHandler());
}
@Bean
SimpleUrlAuthenticationSuccessHandler successHandler() {
return new SimpleUrlAuthenticationSuccessHandler(successUrl);
}
@Bean
SimpleUrlAuthenticationFailureHandler failureHandler() {
return new SimpleUrlAuthenticationFailureHandler(failureUrl);
}
}
Tested for Spring Security 5.0.6
A:
I personally use
@Component
public class MyAuthenticationSuccessListener implements ApplicationListener<AuthenticationSuccessEvent> {
@Override
public void onApplicationEvent(AuthenticationSuccessEvent event) {
System.out.println("Authenticated");
}
}
Additional informations in response can be set by CustomTokenEnhancer
A:
This is a nice tutorial about how to use spring boot with oauth2. Down to the road they show how to configure sso filter by hand:
private Filter ssoFilter(OAuth2Configuration client, String path) {
OAuth2ClientAuthenticationProcessingFilter filter = new OAuth2ClientAuthenticationProcessingFilter(path);
OAuth2RestTemplate template = new OAuth2RestTemplate(client.getClient(), oauth2ClientContext);
filter.setRestTemplate(template);
filter.setTokenServices(new UserInfoTokenServices(
client.getResource().getUserInfoUri(), client.getClient().getClientId()));
//THIS IS THE PLACE YOU CAN SET THE HANDLER
filter.setAuthenticationSuccessHandler(savedRequestAwareAuthenticationSuccessHandler());
return filter;
}
They didn't provide the line you need, here it is.
| mini_pile | {'original_id': 'a63e4200ffed1f9a58839f680e6b3fd56c0c5a2c5dfe55bb2b70cc71a29c2174'} |
Features of the official programming language of Android - Kotlin
Kotlin is a new programming language from JetBrains. Kotlin is a statically-typed programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine. It can be compiled to JavaScript source code. But, it's not a language that can be user for write a kernel. It is of greatest interest to people who work with Java today, although it could appeal to all programmers who use a garbage collected runtime, including people who currently use Scala, Go, Python, Ruby and JavaScript.
Kotlin is a great fit for developing Android applications, bringing all of the advantages of a modern language to the Android platform without introducing any new restrictions. Recently, Google announced that it's adding Kotlin programming language's support in Android at I/O 2017.
Kotlin, which solves many pain points of Java, has been gaining momentum in recent past. Apart from being open source and featuring full Java interoperability, other best features of Kotlin make it something a programming enthusiast must know.
1. Kotlin is open source - First and foremost, Kotlin in an open source programming language. This statically typed language was built by Jetbrains. Apart from being an open source programming language, Kotlin doesn’t ask much when it comes to converting existing Java code, it happens with a single-click tool.
2. Kotlin compiles to JVM bytecode - Kotlin compiles to JVM bytecode or JavaScript. Added to this, the programmers who use a garbage collected runtime will also find Kotlin programming language interesting.
4. Full Java Interoperability - One of the best features of Kotlin programming language is its deep interoperability with Java, which is bound to attract more Java developers to learn Kotlin. It runs on the JVM and uses Java libraries and tools. It offers backward compatibility for Java versions 6 and 7.
5. Kotlin imposes no runtime overhead - The standard Kotlin library doesn’t have garbage, it’s tight and small. It has mostly focused extensions to the Java standard library. Many of its functions are inline-only that just become inline code. Kotlin has many optimizations which, specifically, help Android development.
6. IDE interop is entirely seamless - Kotlin allows you to keep using your productivity enhancing tools. If you use IntelliJ, code can be refactored, searched, navigated and auto completed as if the Kotlin code was Java and vice-versa. There is full support for debugging, unit testing, profiling and so on.
7. Adopting Kotlin is low risk - It can be trialled in a small part of your code base by one or two enthusiastic team members without disrupting the rest of your project. Kotlin classes export a Java API that looks identical to that of regular Java code.
8. Defaulted parameters - The defaulted parameters in Kotlin are pretty handy when you pass the arguments by name, instead of index. Their advantage is seen when there’s a function with tons of optional parameters.
9. Operator overloading - Operators map to special method names, so can override the behaviour of the existing operators, but you cannot define entirely new ones. This strikes a balance between power and readability.
10. Extension functions - Thanks to the extension functions in Kotlin, you can add methods to classes without making changes to their source code. Similar to Scala’s implicit methods, you can add methods on a per-user basis to classes. While extension functions are often controversial, every now and then it’s very useful.
11. Markdown instead of HTML - This makes writing JavaDocs much more pleasant. The “Dokka” tool, which is the equivalent of JavaDoc, can read both Kotlin and Java source code and generate combined doc websites, both with its own style and also in the standard JavaDoc HTML style.
12. Kotlin wants you to write less code - Unlike Java, which needs you to write everything, Kotlin compiler can understand from the code and write the remaining code, for example, it can infer types in variable declarations. This increases productivity and saves time.
Kotlin stands out in a sea of new programming languages because of its focus on the ecosystem. If you search the web, you'll find tons of ways to solved Java's pain points by Kotlin and features of Kotlin aim to make Android development more fun. You can use it write more expressive and effective code with fewer bugs.
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Q:
Get Selected value of a Combobox
I have a thousands of cells in an Excel worksheet which are ComboBoxes. The user will select one at random and populate it.
How do I get the selected ComboBox value? Is there a way to trigger a function (i.e. an event handler) when the ComboxBoxes has been selected?
A:
You can use the below change event to which will trigger when the combobox value will change.
Private Sub ComboBox1_Change()
'your code here
End Sub
Also you can get the selected value using below
ComboBox1.Value
A:
If you're dealing with Data Validation lists, you can use the Worksheet_Change event. Right click on the sheet with the data validation and choose View Code. Then type in this:
Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
MsgBox Target.Value
End Sub
If you're dealing with ActiveX comboboxes, it's a little more complicated. You need to create a custom class module to hook up the events. First, create a class module named CComboEvent and put this code in it.
Public WithEvents Cbx As MSForms.ComboBox
Private Sub Cbx_Change()
MsgBox Cbx.Value
End Sub
Next, create another class module named CComboEvents. This will hold all of our CComboEvent instances and keep them in scope. Put this code in CComboEvents.
Private mcolComboEvents As Collection
Private Sub Class_Initialize()
Set mcolComboEvents = New Collection
End Sub
Private Sub Class_Terminate()
Set mcolComboEvents = Nothing
End Sub
Public Sub Add(clsComboEvent As CComboEvent)
mcolComboEvents.Add clsComboEvent, clsComboEvent.Cbx.Name
End Sub
Finally, create a standard module (not a class module). You'll need code to put all of your comboboxes into the class modules. You might put this in an Auto_Open procedure so it happens whenever the workbook is opened, but that's up to you.
You'll need a Public variable to hold an instance of CComboEvents. Making it Public will kepp it, and all of its children, in scope. You need them in scope so that the events are triggered. In the procedure, loop through all of the comboboxes, creating a new CComboEvent instance for each one, and adding that to CComboEvents.
Public gclsComboEvents As CComboEvents
Public Sub AddCombox()
Dim oleo As OLEObject
Dim clsComboEvent As CComboEvent
Set gclsComboEvents = New CComboEvents
For Each oleo In Sheet1.OLEObjects
If TypeName(oleo.Object) = "ComboBox" Then
Set clsComboEvent = New CComboEvent
Set clsComboEvent.Cbx = oleo.Object
gclsComboEvents.Add clsComboEvent
End If
Next oleo
End Sub
Now, whenever a combobox is changed, the event will fire and, in this example, a message box will show.
You can see an example at https://www.dropbox.com/s/sfj4kyzolfy03qe/ComboboxEvents.xlsm
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '510e5ca4ee84d7013aaef3ece1854d72395e429ec0b62a9b15354afe9aef393e'} |
Q:
How To Check the Input from editText is integer in C++
I want to validate the input from Edit Text, if the input is not integer, Message Box or Show Message will appear, i use
if(input->Text.ToIntDef(1)){
//instruction
}
but when i run the app, if condition always true, even though i input integer in the Edit Text(i input 5000, 4500, 7000, 7500, 2000, 2500)
A:
A simple method, could be to scan the content of the string, if you detect anything that is not a digit, you can stop the scan and assume that the number is not an integer.
bool is_integer(const char* input) {
while(*input) {
if (*input < '0' || *input > '9') {
return false;
}
++input;
}
return true;
}
The simple approach above considers an empty string an integer as well, it is a simple matter to change that. Further more any white space in the input will cause the function to treat the input as not being an integer, if you want white spaces to be ignored, you can trim the input before passing it to the function.
From your example I get a suspicion that you are using the VCL-like framework: FireMonkey from C++ Builder, this framework has a method on its default string class called ToInt as far as I recall (without the Def suffix) which will attempt to parse the string as an integer, if unable to, it will throw an EConvertError exception, which you can then basically just catch.
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '7f967a99bd32d601c64c5b6e37735682604f36e2f5bfaca99bc72d6f86f2fb18'} |
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Saturday, June 9, 2012
heartbreak / joy
credit: Jason Thomas
It is incomprehensible that you won't read this post. It feels impossible, inconceivable. My brain can't make sense of it, and when it does, it hits so hard my chest hurts. And, after the hurt has torn through, peace comes. Peace and love, still and deep.
Because peace is what you felt last, and love is the gift you left.
Dear, dear Jennifer. You—who steadfastly, lovingly refused to feel defined or defeated by your cancer—passed away on the day of my son's 12th birthday, two days ago. My husband found out first, and when I arrived to pick him up from teaching, he told me on the street beside the car. I came undone then. Roared grief against his chest in the sunshine while children played soccer in a field nearby.
And then we had to keep going. Incomprehensible. We had to continue to celebrate my son's special day—we had a birthday dinner to make, and a birthday song to sing, and candles to light and watch him blow out. We had to find the joy. Dig so, so deep to find it.
We did find it, and we gave it and received it. There was juggling and stories and apple crumble eaten at nine o'clock at night, and my son making us laugh as we sat all together at the table.
The days have felt surreal since. Waves of emotion, peace, grief, love, grief, smiles, all criss-crossing, ribboning against each other.
My son had a party last night, with his band mates. We hosted a jam session at my husband's work, in the theatre there, followed by a game of spotlight through the trees outside. My son was so happy, and so thankful.
The night pulsed—like a heartbeat, like a song. Sound and joy and togetherness, all intertwined. Children donged cow bells and honked saxophones and flitted gloriously through shadows, hiding, chasing, every sense alert, alive.
I floated inside the party, and outside it, watching my son's pure joy, and thinking of you. Thinking how heartbreak and joy can lie together, hand placed in hand.
Jennifer, you would have loved to be here. Your boy and husband would have been in the thick of it, and you…well, you would have been the life of the party. You always brought people to you, you made them know they mattered. You gave love like breathing.
Our lives have been connected for so long. Thirteen years. We met the loves of our lives within months of each other. We, both of us writers, married jazz musicians. They were best friends, each other's best man. You got engaged days after staying with us in Australia, with a ring your husband bought in a town half an hour from here. My husband flew 14 hours to be at your wedding in California when I was 8 months pregnant with my girl. You were at my wedding three years before that. You and I were the same age, had our 40th birthdays within three months of each other. We wrote our blogs and loved each other's words. At some point in all these years, we became friends in our own right, aside from our husbands. It has felt so precious and so good, being friends with you.
I have gone back to re-read your beautiful words.
Oh, Jennifer, thank you for them.
Over and over, you write—you call out—the only thing that matters
is to love
To love. To LOVE
You are a writer, were a writer, are a writer. You are a mother, were a mother, were a wife, are a wife. You are, you were. How can that be real, the word 'were'? You are, to me. You always will be. Here inside. Inside your darling son and your beautiful husband and all your loved ones. You are
Here is the last blog post, written by your husband. It speaks of your peace and of your joy. It's a stunning post.
You are stunning, dear friend. Your spirit is so big, so beautiful. It fills the space around, fills me, fills the ones you love. It sings.
I love you,
love you,
love you.
Taken in April, when my husband was in the US.
Jennifer and I were sending huge hugs via text.
Look at all that JOY.
1. I'm so sorry, Helena. So sorry.
2. Oh, Helena...I am so very sorry. Hugs to you!
3. So very sorry for your loss, Helena. What a great woman she was/is!
4. You have been blessed to experience the rare joy of true friendship. We lost my dad the day before Chloe's birthday- I understand the juxtaposition of sadness and the vividness of a child's delight at birthday time. I heard grief described in a movie by a character who said the loss was initially like a brick that you carry around and it weighs you down in everything you do, but eventually it gets smaller and becomes a pebble that sometimes surprises you when you reach in- this is so true for me- sometimes i reach in just to remember... My thoughts, heart and love goes out to you. Thanks for sharing this deeply personal experience. Xxxxx
5. So, so sorry, Helena. Thank you for telling your story, and some of hers. Her love and joy have now touched me through your words.
sending you love and light
6. I know how you feel. I am still caught between the two. I am not sure how long this will last . Here and then not. You know, it's like a candle that has gone out and the smoke is still streaming. It's hard. Hard to think of, to look at, to imagine.
Your friends was a true gem.
She is loved and missed by people who did not even know her.
People like me.
7. This is a loving tribute to your dearest friend. My heart aches for your families right now. Pain and loss is what the ones left behind feel. She is somewhere else smiling, laughing and waiting to see you again.
8. This is such a heartbreaking and breathtaking testimony to Jennifer's life. I can not imagine the pain you must be feeling. She sounds like a beautiful person, inside and out and I am sorry you are hurting.
Praying for you dear friend and your family and her family and everyone who loved her. Beautiful words as always....
| dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '12', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.978204905986786}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '134645', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:WUFGRUDJLGFRE43QHXTTJJ7EOB63CD3U', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:bd808146-98f9-4feb-adf5-0b24f8d10fa9>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 9, 21, 12, 12, 18), 'WARC-IP-Address': '172.217.7.193', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:2C7UV4WXIDOXSUW4D6646PAMC4WNMA6B', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:bed42a20-0b96-4590-b345-1f14ba412cb3>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://respectlovelearning.blogspot.com/2012/06/heartbreak-joy.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:0e541572-03e5-4ad5-ace2-78d4d38618b3>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1100', 'url': 'http://respectlovelearning.blogspot.com/2012/06/heartbreak-joy.html', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-31-62-84.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-39\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for September 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.31997770071029663', 'original_id': '1f1db34ad431bee6680192c5fd40bdf7587d12395a78add839fa01b231dca6a7'} |
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
class DATrie {
public:
static const int MAXN = 500000;
static const int MAXC = 27;
struct Node {
int check, base, fail, val;
} A[MAXN + MAXC];
int node_size, mem_size, emp_size;
//
int son_pos[MAXC], find_pos;
inline int toIndex(char c) {
return c - 'A' + 1;
}
inline int toChar(char c) {
return c + 'A' - 1;
}
inline bool isEMPTY(int u) {
return u < MAXN && A[u].check < 0 && A[u].base < 0;
}
void init() {
for (int i = 1; i < MAXN; i++)
A[i].check = -(i+1), A[i].base = -(i-1);
for (int i = MAXN; i < MAXN + MAXC; i++)
A[i].check = INT_MAX;
A[MAXN-1].check = -1, A[1].base = -(MAXN-1);
A[0].check = -1, A[0].base = 0;
node_size = mem_size = emp_size = 0, find_pos = 1;
}
inline void rm_node(int x) {
if (find_pos == x) find_pos = abs(A[x].check);
A[-A[x].base].check = A[x].check;
A[-A[x].check].base = A[x].base;
node_size++;
mem_size = max(mem_size, x);
}
inline void ad_node(int x) {
A[x].check = MAXN, A[x].base = MAXN;
emp_size++;
}
bool insert(const char *s) {
int st = 0, to, c;
int flag = 0;
for (int i = 0; s[i]; i++) {
c = toIndex(s[i]);
to = abs(A[st].base) + c;
if (st == abs(A[to].check)) {
st = to;
} else if (isEMPTY(to)) {
rm_node(to);
A[to].check = st, A[to].base = to;
st = to;
} else {
int son_sz = 0;
int pos = find_empty(st, c, son_sz);
relocate(st, pos, son_sz-1);
i--;
}
}
A[st].base = -abs(A[st].base);
return 1;
}
int find(const char *s) {
int st = 0, to, c;
for (int i = 0; s[i]; i++) {
c = toIndex(s[i]);
to = abs(A[st].base) + c;
if (st == abs(A[to].check))
st = to;
else
return 0;
}
return A[st].base < 0;
}
int find_empty(int st, int c, int &sz) {
sz = 0;
int bs = abs(A[st].base);
for (int i = 1, j = bs+1; i < MAXC; i++, j++) {
if (abs(A[j].check) == st)
son_pos[sz++] = i;
}
son_pos[sz++] = c;
int mn_pos = min(son_pos[0], c) - 1;
for (; find_pos && (find_pos < bs || find_pos < mn_pos); find_pos = abs(A[find_pos].check));
for (; find_pos; find_pos = abs(A[find_pos].check)) {
int ok = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < sz && ok; i++)
ok &= isEMPTY(find_pos + son_pos[i] - mn_pos);
if (ok)
return find_pos - mn_pos;
}
printf("Memory Leak -- %d\n", find_pos);
exit(0);
return -1;
}
void relocate(int st, int to, int sz) { // move ::st -> ::to
for (int i = sz-1; i >= 0; i--) {
int a = abs(A[st].base) + son_pos[i]; // old
int b = to + son_pos[i]; // new
rm_node(b);
A[b].check = st, A[b].base = A[a].base;
int vs = abs(A[a].base);
for (int j = 1, k = vs+1; j < MAXC; j++, k++) {
if (abs(A[k].check) == a)
A[k].check = b;
}
ad_node(a);
}
A[st].base = (A[st].base < 0 ? -1 : 1) * to;
}
void dfs(int u, int idx, char path[]) {
for (int i = 1; i < MAXC; i++) {
int to = abs(A[u].base) + i;
if (u == abs(A[to].check)) {
path[idx] = toChar(i);
path[idx+1] = '\0';
puts(path);
dfs(to, idx+1, path);
}
}
}
void print() {
char s[1024];
dfs(0, 0, s);
}
} tree;
char s[1024];
int main() {
while (scanf("%s", s) == 1) {
int n = strlen(s);
tree.init();
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
for (int j = i; j < n; j++) {
char c = s[j+1];
s[j+1] = '\0';
tree.insert(s+i);
s[j+1] = c;
}
}
tree.print();
}
return 0;
}
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '3ed105c61f7245b33169f5c327eaf11889e8d0ee00e122d49210e7ee47a5bcff'} |
\section{Primitive of Function of Root of x squared minus a squared}
Tags: Integral Substitutions
\begin{theorem}
:$\ds \int \map F {\sqrt {x^2 - a^2} } \rd x = a \int \map F {a \tan u} \sec u \tan u \rd u$
where $x = a \sec u$.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
First note that:
{{begin-eqn}}
{{eqn | l = x
| r = a \sec u
| c =
}}
{{eqn | ll= \leadsto
| l = \sqrt {x^2 - a^2}
| r = \sqrt {\left({a \sec u}\right)^2 - a^2}
| c =
}}
{{eqn | r = a \sqrt {\sec^2 u - 1}
| c = taking $a$ outside the square root
}}
{{eqn | r = a \sqrt {\tan^2 u}
| c = Difference of Squares of Secant and Tangent
}}
{{eqn | n = 1
| r = a \tan u
| c =
}}
{{end-eqn}}
Then:
{{begin-eqn}}
{{eqn | l = x
| r = a \sec u
| c =
}}
{{eqn | ll= \leadsto
| l = \frac {\d x} {\d u}
| r = a \sec u \tan u
| c = Derivative of Secant Function
}}
{{eqn | ll= \leadsto
| l = \int \map F {\sqrt {x^2 - a^2} } \rd x
| r = \int a \map F {\sqrt {x^2 - a^2} } \sec u \tan u \rd u
| c = Integration by Substitution
}}
{{eqn | r = \int a \map F {a \tan u} \sec u \tan u \rd u
| c = from $(1)$
}}
{{eqn | r = a \int \map F {a \tan u} \sec u \tan u \rd u
| c = Primitive of Constant Multiple of Function
}}
{{end-eqn}}
{{qed}}
\end{proof}
| math_pile | {'subset': 'ProofWiki', 'meta': "{'type': 'Theorem_Proof'}", 'original_id': '77f607eae50e70d4ca73472cb763471f802f688f920c1965fbee18aec78c51f7'} |
Welcome to Carl Douglass.com
Monday, March 30, 2020
Text Size
Dancing with the Devil is the second book in the trilogy, The Trojan Horse in the Belly of the Beast, by Carl Douglass. The determined senior officials of the Iranian government present their progress to the Supreme Leader who is highly displeased with the effort and the accomplishment. He urges them to create a nuclear weapon with promises and veiled threats. The members of the U.S. ultrasecret Iran Nuclear Weapons Interdiction Project meet to find a way—any way—to prevent the religious extremists from getting a bomb. The two opposing forces drive inexorably towards an ultimate crisis, and Dr. Afsoon Mouradipour and Dr. Gideon Emmanuel Rothsberger are caught in the vortex of the whirlwind created by the two polar opposite forces converging on them. Despite the obstacles and the improbability of success, Afsoon agrees to become the Trojan Horse; and Gideon falls in love. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9248765110969543}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '30043', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:26ZFW5VPA3UOBWTOE6D6VZ6I5OVKCMKG', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:896c99d7-165b-4df9-a00e-e8c7e9efc209>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2020, 3, 30, 3, 39, 32), 'WARC-IP-Address': '143.95.252.250', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:3MWGBYBNDGAXSSS3WH6SJCIC3J2M66KB', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:13d52d90-3a05-40dd-8523-60a01d21ca28>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://carldouglass.com/books/trojan-horse-series/dancing-with-the-devil', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:3d607786-9b9b-4a4d-97cd-0e76653b904b>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '154', 'url': 'http://carldouglass.com/books/trojan-horse-series/dancing-with-the-devil', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-16\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for March/April 2020\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-202.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.2050410509109497', 'original_id': '504541f23ffc017304b8b0c85398a72d4b7b3715e9e31ce6dd72c517a7a3a087'} |
Home Emergency Plans
Fire Escape Planning
Draw a floor plan of your ground or upper floor bedrooms - with 2 escape routes from each room:
Step 1 (Basic Floor Layout)
1. Make an outline of your entire floor area; dimensions and details need not be exact.
2. Now add each bedroom and label it.
3. Locate windows, doors and stairways. If an upper floor, shade in any rooftops that could be used as a fire escape.
Step 2 (Room Inspection)
1. Go to each bedroom and select the best window for an emergency escape.
2. Test the windows or screens to see that they work easily and are large and low enough to use.
Step 3 (Complete "Escape Plan:)
1. Black arrows show normal exit through hall or stairway.
2. Outline arrows show emergency exit in case fire blocks hallway or stairs.
Family Instructions
Gather your family together for a short explanation of the vital nighttime fire escape procedures.
Point 1
Always sleep with the bedroom or hall door closed. It can keep out fire long enough to allow escape through your emergency escape route (usually a window).
Point 2
Make certain that a smoke detector is installed and operating properly in the hallway outside bedrooms. Fire safety officials are now recommending the placement of smoke detectors inside bedrooms where the door is kept closed at night. This is to protect against the advent of fire starting inside the bedroom.
Point 3
Don't waste time getting dressed or gathering valuables. Precious seconds can count in a fire.
Point 4
Test the door before opening. Intense heat and deadly smoke can be on the other side.
Point 5
Have an outside meeting place to quickly check if everyone is safe. Once out, stay out!
Point 6
Plan to use a neighbor's phone to dial 911.
Exit Drills in the Home (EDITH)
Conducting Your Fire Escape Drill
1. Everyone is in his/her bedroom (doors closed).
2. Test your smoke detector to sound the alarm.
3. Everyone swings into action - out of bed, to the door.
4. Carefully test door before opening.
First Drill
Escape through normal exit (hall or stairway).
Second Drill
Imagine doors are hot and the hall is blocked by fire. Now everyone must test their emergency escape exit. Depending on age and capability, you need not actually go out on the roof, but be sure everyone can open windows and screens easily. Position an emergency escape ladder quickly, etc.
• Create your plan
• Review your plan
• Practice your plan
Note: Once outside, stay outside - Never re-enter a burning building or house! Let the firefighters know if there are people or pets left inside. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '2', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.888875424861908}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '87837', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:4T44MW4DM2O5V3TRKQL6VPJUENLXJVVM', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:7c0bb032-e491-438c-af66-cceb6072fc56>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2020, 10, 21, 2, 19, 25), 'WARC-IP-Address': '208.90.191.40', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:3B2NZSWTRX4BJ4ZHN5NGEM2NOQCQQX4C', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:fddad387-5ae5-4c20-b3b8-494fba2aa847>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://columbianparkzoo.org/726/Home-Emergency-Plans', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:8034dd60-07fd-41a1-8cbb-9a111790fd5e>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '434', 'url': 'http://columbianparkzoo.org/726/Home-Emergency-Plans', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-45\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for October 2020\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-32.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.2043623924255371', 'original_id': '4635253e305b4c5aa7865ccf52a96d8eaa581cfce6d356cfec0fada8e74d182c'} |
25 July 2007
move = $$,$$$
the money we have spent since the move to a cheaper part of the world is ridiculous. it hurts actually. I feel physical pain.
yale's healthplan is crap. super crap! even with an "employee discount," we only get $1,000 a year towards IVF. come on. that's insulting. I would be less offended if they offered nothing. we have no choice but to stick with cobra and dish out $1,000 a month. delaying our upcoming cycle because of the stressful condo purchase/renovation/move was pretty indulgent. so selfish of me.
I now have connecticut plates and I hate them! my car insurance went up an additional $1,000 a year. fuck! I spent 4 hours (8:15 - 12:15) at the always pleasant dmv yesterday. I went in with an expired license and a temporary one that was good for 2 more days. my current car inspection had inspired and I have a new, and pretty damn cumbersome, hyphenated married name. if I didn't get a valid license that day I would have had to take a written and driving test. no way man.
after the silly VIN inspection, I waited 15 minutes in line just to be told I needed my license first. "go to room 5." I filled out all my paperwork and got in yet another line. 45 minutes later jerky behind the desk told me a copy of my marriage license was not acceptable for my hyphenated name change. "use my maiden name then. I really don't care at this point." but the piece of mail I brought had a hyphen. either way I had to go back home and get the proper documentation - mail sans hyphen or the marriage license. dmv bastards.
after rummaging like a banshee through box after box I found the license. I drove back to the dmv totally pissed. jerky in room 5 gave me a pass to go to the head of the line when I returned. nice, I thought. when I did that I pissed off an entire room. jerky said "wait here a momment" and he proceeded to go ON A BREAK! 20 minutes later someone else replaced him. NOW I am really mad. on hour later (after eye exam and hideous photo session) I had my new valid drivers license. I felt like I looked in my photo. beat up. defeated. 1000 years old.
then the drama with the plates and registration. back to room 1. I cut in line AGAIN to get a numbered ticket to wait in yet another line. 25 people in front of me! and no book or magazine! dammit! "number 285." the bully was wickedly rude right off the bat. (dmv employees clearly hate their jobs.) after going through all my papers she denied me new plates. "your name on your insurance doesn't match your license. so sorry." ohhhh. the hyphenation pain!
"it IS my name! plus a little something extra!" give me a break! I was desperate at this point. the bully "sensed my unhappiness" and reluctantly gave me a fax number. I was instructed to call the dopes at the insurance company and have then fax over a the proper name adjusted document. 15 minutes later the fax arrived but had the wrong state on it. COME ON!!!! the bully was irritated as well by now and proceeded to lecture me on driving with inaccurate paperwork. piss off. just give me my stupid plates.
4 hours and $292 later, I am a legal (and very poor) connecticut resident. I hate it here. lessons learned? stay where you are. I'll say it again. moving sucks. and...
"first name maiden name" does NOT equal "first name maiden name - surname." with marriage you become an entirely different person.
Inconceivable said...
I am moving 60-80 yards from my currect location to my new location .... Insert ... Knife ... In ..Eye Socket !!
Diana said...
ugh, I will never move there! Sounds awful and with your psycho neighbors! UGH!!!
Frank N. Beans said...
Yuck! Wait until you see your tax bill! :( | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9704884886741638}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '71372', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:GJTNOOJIPZIIL53QHC6L3EJQZIM6WZHN', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:e8a58998-939e-4e05-8553-c2eb1684e9cf>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2018, 7, 17, 5, 30, 17), 'WARC-IP-Address': '172.217.15.97', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:MS4CGZKYFMSEWJ3VV3VHPJMV5RSJGBZA', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:4266c313-d077-4697-82b7-f2a5182dc5a6>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://tryingin2007.blogspot.com/2007/07/move.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:dc1fc502-602c-4221-9a7b-d43b08fbb868>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '655', 'url': 'http://tryingin2007.blogspot.com/2007/07/move.html', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-13-227-44.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-30\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for July 2018\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.024784743785858154', 'original_id': '896eddfb578b182c340ab12084ad3740416c0860b826ca7c395d09848c2e5edd'} |
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
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<h1>Sébastien ISMAIL</h1>
<p>Bienvenue sur mon site Web !</p>
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<p>D'assistant d'école primaire en 2011 à un stage en <b>comptabilité et Ressources Humaines</b> en 2017 mes stages furent des plus enrichissants. Plus particulièrement le stage en comptabilité et RH qui m'a permis d'apprendre, en plus de ma licence en psychologie, l'élaboration d'un document unique, de factures et m'a apporté des connaissances sur certaines taxes auxquelles une entreprise peut être assujettie.</p>
<p> Depuis décembre 2015, je suis agent d'accueil et administratif au Collège Doctoral Européen de Strasbourg. Ce poste à affiné, en plus de me faire rentrer dans la vie active, mon travail en équipe, ma rédaction de mails, mon utilisation du pack Office, mon contact relationnel aussi bien par téléphone qu'en face de personnes de toutes nationalités. Par dessus tout, cet emploi m'a permis de perfectionner mes <a href="#Compétences">compétences</a>, notamment la pratique de la langue anglaise. Enfin grâce a cet emploi j'ai pu développer des connaissances dans le domaine de la sécurité et de l'hygiène.</p>
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<center><p> <font size="5pt"><mark> ¡Puedo hablar y comprender Español tambien!</mark></font></p></center>
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<center><p> <font size="5pt"><mark> J'ai des bases en création de site Web.</mark></font></p></center>
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<center><p> <font size="5pt"><mark> Je sais établir des factures.</mark></font></p></center>
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<p>Concernant la création de site Web, mon frère ainé qui est développeur informatique, m'a initié au développement que j'ai su compléter de manière autonome sur Internet. </p>
<p>Concernant les notions de comptabilité, elles viennent de mon autre grand frère qui est comptable.</p>
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<h2 class="major">Mes diplômes</h2>
<span class="image main"><img src="images/plome.png" alt="" /></span>
<section>
<p>2016-2017 <b>Licence 2 en Psychologie </b> <i>Université de Strasbourg</i>.</p>
<p>2016-2017 <b>Certificat Informatique et Internet (c2i) </b> <i>Université de Strasbourg</i>.</p>
<p>2015-2016 <b>Licence 1 en Psychologie </b> <i>Université de Strasbourg</i>.</p>
<p>2014-2015 <b>Baccalauréat ES – mention assez bien </b> <i>Lycée Marguerite Yourcenar, Erstein</i>.</p>
<p>2011-2012 <b>Brevet des Collèges – mention Bien </b> <i>Collège Romain Rolland, Erstein</i>.</p>
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Residential Heating Boilers
Residential Heating Boiler in Washington Michigan 48094
Both ducted hot air heating systems and boiler heating systems have been used in Michigan for over a hundred years; so what are the reasons why some homes have ducted hot air systems and others have boiler systems? Like many things in life, the types of heating systems that are installed often comes down to money. Boiler systems have been widely used in Michigan homes, in the past, because they were less expensive to install and operate than ducted hot air systems.
Around the turn of the century, before electric motors were widely available, home owners only had a few options to heat their homes. The options were wood burning stoves, coil (or oil) burning, natural draft ducted systems, hot water heating boilers, and lastly low pressure steam heat, which requires no pumps or motors, and can be installed to be used without electricity. One hundred years ago, low pressure steam heat was the heater of choice in many areas in Michigan.
One hundred years ago, the best heating men were boiler makers and pipe fitters. The widespread use and availability of electric motors did spur the development of forced air heating systems. However, because the best "heating men" worked in the arena of hydronic heating, low pressure hot water heating boilers became the next heating system of choice after steam. Research and development of forced air heating systems was lacking compared to that of hydronic heating systems. Natural gas was relatively inexpensive, and economic pressures did not cause manufacturers and tradesmen to look to efficiency as a major consideration when designing or installing heating systems. Also notable is the fact that until the 1960's, air conditioning systems were always thought of as a luxury that could only be afforded by the very wealthy. Because nearly every air conditioning (or air cooling system) requires forced air, but very few people intended to buy air conditioning (or air cooling systems), there was no inherent advantage to using a ducted forced air system for heating over a hydronic heating systems. Boilers maintained a lead on forced air heating systems until the late 1960's when people actually considered air conditioning (or air cooling systems) when selecting a heating system for new construction.
Boilers maintained an efficiency advantage over furnaces until the development and wide-spread use of condensing furnaces, which happened in large part because of the spike in fossil fuels which occurred during the 1971 Arab Oil Embargo. Because air conditioning (or air cooling) systems were becoming more of a thing of the present than a thing of the future, forced air heating system sales were taking up more and more of the market share compared to their biggest rival, hydronic heating systems. For a short two decade stretch, forced air heating systems surpassed hydronic heating systems in efficiency during the 1980's and 1990's. Around the year 2000, condensing boilers turned the tides on the efficiency battle, and caused boilers to again take the lead. The development of widely available, extremely efficient furnaces and boilers occurred at about the same time in the 2000's. 95% efficiency (and greater) models of furnaces and boilers are now widely available throughout Michigan and North America. Before the development and widespread use of the DC blower motor, a high efficiency forced air furnace and a high efficiency boiler where not equal because it could be argued that the gas efficiency of the furnace may be equal with that of a high efficiency boiler, however, it's electricity consumption may cause it to be more expensive to operate.
Today we are left with a scenario where hydronic heating systems are just a little bit more efficient to operate, and that is the way that things are likely to stay because there are no foreseeable economic pressures that are expected to arise which will cause the average homeowner to split hairs over a percent or two. After all, unless I'm mistaken, the only way to get 100% efficiency on any heating system is to vent the combustion air directly into the home, and I'm not much of a fan of ventless fireplaces and the like.
Because hydronic heating systems and forced air heating systems operate at about the same efficiency, and cost about the same amount of money to install, which is best? Installing a hot air ducted system with central air conditioning is usually much less expensive than installing a boiler plus an air conditioning system. When a forced air furnace with duct work is used, the furnace functions at the air handler for the refrigeration system, and the same duct work used for directing the hot air can be used for directing the cold air. If a boiler system is used, provision needs to be made for installing some type of air handler, or air handlers, to operate with the refrigeration system, and provision must be made for distributing cold air to the different areas in the home. Because of economic considerations, it is very rare that hydronic heating be installed in a new home along with a separate air conditioning (or air cooling) system. The men at Johnson Heating and Cooling, LLC have installed hydronic heating with a separate cooling system, but usually those systems are only used in commercial buildings where it may be economically beneficial, or in homes owned by people who can afford exceptional HVAC systems.
From a boiler maker's perspective, I prefer redundancy over efficiency. I don't like systems that use complicated electronics to micro manage the operation of HVAC equipment, just to save a few percent. Our attitude is that the more "stuff" that a system has, the more "stuff" that can fail. All too often, home owners fail to consider the cost of future repair when calculating savings, in their process to chose a heating system. Our customers have the benefit of our decades of experience, and we always explain the pro's and con's with our customers if we feel that it is prudent to do so. Buying the "wrong" boiler from the "wrong" company can be very costly. We always try to install systems that are inexpensive to maintain, are reliable, and are inexpensive to repair.
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1. swing voter
People who have neither partisan nor ideological conviction at any detectible level. Most often found in the suburbs, these voters are often swayed by emotional appeals rather than philosophical, moral, or logical arguments. As such, these voters are emotionally torn pulled the two parties – they want to vote Republican as they live what they believe to be the capitalist dream of a comfortable, two-income, and sterile life in the ‘burbs (with the perception of being inoculated from those sticky urban social issues), at the same time they want to vote Democrat to assuage their guilt of their own mindless and unconscious lifestyle (such as talking racial tolerance but living in a racially homogeneous community, expressing horror at things like outsourcing jobs while drawing a paycheck from a company that does it every day, driving gas-guzzling SUVs while claiming their concern for the environment, and outwardly claiming support for their neighborhood public school systems while sending their own kids to private school). Often claiming to be independent, they criticize partisans on both sides for being closed-minded while believing there is nobility in their own indecision.
More and more people are swing voters and we wonder why no one votes (hint: if you don’t have the stones to decide where you stand, then either candidate, or even a non-vote, will do)
2. swing voter
(n) 1. one who is unable to make a decision
2. a bisexual
Bush and Dick spend a lot of time in the red-light district trying to woo swing voters.
by BeardedFatass October 01, 2004 add a video add an image
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Psy 380 Final Exam Study Guide Take Note When Taking The You
1. Which of the following does not describe a trait?
a. A person is given a numeric score to indicate how much of a trait the person possesses.
b. There are many traits to describe everyone.
c. Trait scores are discontinuous variables.
d. A person can be described on every trait.
2. Personality refers to motivation.
a. description
b. development
c. dynamics
d. measurement
3. All of the following are dynamic issues addressed by personality theories except:
a. adaptation and adjustment
b. cognitive processes
c. individual differences
d. culture
4. A is a conceptual tool for understanding certain specified phenomena.
a. theory
b. theoretical construct
c. psychological test
d. variable
5. A hypothesis is tested by:
a. logical reasoning
b. reviewing the published literature
c. conducting empirical research
d. examining the results of several related studies
6. Implicit theories of personality could be described by all but which of the following?
a. They are generally held by ordinary people.
b. They are unscientific.
c. They are not necessarily incorrect.
d. Their accuracy is guaranteed.
7. In using the known groups method to determine whether a test is valid, a researcher needs to test:
a. groups of people whom he or she knows personally
b. subjects who agree to have their names known
c. groups with published norms on a variety of personality tests
d. groups which can be presumed to differ on the construct being measured
8. Personality researchers use:
a. self-report measures
b. projective tests
c. behavioral measures
d. All of the above.
9. In the analysis of Adolf Hitler, to what did the analysts attribute Hitlers tyrannical rage?
a. His underdeveloped id.
b. His overactive superego.
c. His failure as an artist.
d. His weak/non-existent ego.
10. The term psychic determinism refers to:
a. the scientific method
b. the influence of the unconscious
c. extra-sensory perception
d. will power
11. Hypnosis is best described as a(n):
a. separate state of consciousness
b. fraudulent claim
c. state of great suggestibility
d. epileptic-like seizure
12. The unconscious is least likely to be revealed through:
a. the interpretation of dreams
b. humor
c. objective tests
d. free association
13. The aim of instincts is:
a. mental health
b. sublimation
c. tension reduction
d. unknown
14. Which structure of personality corresponds to the voice of conscience, warning us to avoid evil?
a. ego
b. id
c. superego
d. hallucination
15. Which of the defense mechanisms listed below is the most primitive?
a. projection
b. denial
c. identification
d. rationalization
16. According to the text, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke in symbolic terms of the future potentials of the world because he was:
a. a minister
b. an intuitive type
c. black
d. an extravert
17. According to Jung, the relationship between the conscious and unconscious aspects of personality is best understood as:
a. inflation
b. conflict
c. repression
d. compensation
18. Jung described the ego as the:
a. gatekeeper to consciousness
b. center of will
c. most conscious aspect of personality
d. All of the above.
19. Mens inner woman is described by Jungs concept of the:
a. anima
b. animus
c. shadow
d. Great Mother
20. The archetypes that are closest to consciousness are the:
a. Great Mother and the Spiritual Father
b. Hero and the Trickster
c. Mandala and the Self
d. Shadow and the Anima (or Animus)
21. According to Bettelheims research, when children are exposed to fairy stories with all the monsters and witches removed, they:
a. become less aggressive
b. become more trusting of the world
c. become more disruptive
d. lose interest in the stories
22. Adlers theory is called:
a. psychoanalysis
b. social analysis
c. individual psychology
d. learning theory
23. According to Adler, people are motivated to move from to .
a. a felt minus; a plus
b. Europe; America
c. rural areas; cities
d. physical needs; psychological needs
24. Organ inferiority, the aggressive drive, masculine protest, superiority striving, and perfection striving are:
a. stages that occur, one after the other, in the development of normal personality
b. stages that occur, one after the other, in the development of unhealthy personality
c. processes in the development of Adlers thinking about personality
d. various diagnostic categories
25. Which of these questions would Adler ask in order to understand a person?
a. At what age were you toilet trained?
b. Do you dream in color or in black and white?
c. What is your earliest memory?
d. What does this inkblot look like?
26. According to Adler, a persons style of life is determined by:
a. parents
b. the persons own goals
c. fate
d. biological factors
27. Oldest children are by the arrival of later children, according to Adler.
a. rewarded
b. made higher in status
c. deprived of their pacemaker
d. dethroned
28. The effects of birth order are:
a. consistently found, by research, to confirm Adlers predictions
b. universal across cultures and socioeconomic levels
c. significant for achievement, supporting Adlers theory, but not for other aspects of personality
d. often significant in research, but with varying effects in different studies
29. People who score high in social interest are
a. mentally healthy
b. satisfied with their work
c. healthier than those who score low
d. All of the above.
30. In contrast to Freuds emphasis on sexuality, Erikson emphasized the aspects of personality.
a. work-oriented
b. anal
c. oral
d. social
31. In his epigenetic principle, Erikson compared development with:
a. the motion of objects as described in physics
b. the biological development of a fetus
c. the spiritual development of a soul
d. an actor or actress learning a script
32. The task of infancy, in Eriksons terminology, is to develop a sense of:
a. autonomy
b. the body
c. trust
d. attachment to the mother
33. According to Eriksons theory, a sense of inferiority is particularly likely to develop during the
stage of development.
a. second
b. third
c. fourth
d. fifth
34. The crisis of versus isolation occurs in early adulthood.
a. generativity
b. togetherness
c. intimacy
d. assertiveness
35. Religion, according to Erikson, is most relevant to:
a. initiative
b. will
c. hope
d. fidelity
36. Eriksons theory implies that problems with technology are relevant to which stage of development?
a. second
b. fourth
c. sixth
d. seventh
37. What social change had a major impact on Horneys life?
a. the rise of Nazi forces
b. increasing religious conflict
c. increasing opportunities for women
d. the decline of agriculture
38. A person who adopts the self-effacing solution is:
a. mentally healthy
b. moving toward type person
c. moving away type person
d. moving against type person
39. A person who adopts the resignation solution is a(n):
a. moving toward type person
b. moving against type person
c. moving away type person
d. emotionally well balanced person
40. The appeal of love is related to:
a. the self-effacing solution
b. the expansive solution
c. resignation (solution)
d. None of the above.
41. The growth potential within a person belongs to the self (in Horneys theory).
a. actual
b. idealized
c. social
d. real
42. According to Horney, the four major adjustment strategies:
a. eliminate neurosis
b. are signs of psychosis
c. create the appearance of harmony without solving the neurotic problem
d. are more commonly used by women than by men
43. Jerry thinks of himself as cheerful, but typically responds to How are you? with some gloomy answer. He is using the secondary adjustment technique called:
a. elusiveness
b. blind spots
c. compartmentalizing
d. arbitrary rightness
44. When Allport met Freud, what happened?
a. Freud analyzed Allports dreams.
b. Freud experienced a powerful countertransference.
c. Allport thought that Freud misunderstood him.
d. Allport proposed that he develop a test to measure Freudian defense mechanisms.
45. According to Allport, heredity influences aspects of personality.
a. no
b. a few
c. many
d. all
46. Allport and Odbert identified 17,953 trait names by studying:
a. college freshmen
b. biographies of famous people
c. letters from Jenny
d. the dictionary
47. Nearly everyone who knows Harry agrees that he is friendly. Friendly is probably a
trait for Harry.
a. cardinal
b. secondary
c. central
d. primary
48. Which of the following is not listed by Allport as characteristic of a normal, mature adult?
a. warm human interactions
b. emotional security
c. realistic perceptions
d. financial success
49. In adulthood, a person is in the stage of development that Allport called:
a. ego-enhancement
b. ego-extension
c. the knower
d. self-identity
50. Which of the following is not a description of Sonya Sotomayor by individuals that demonstrate the personality factors of Extraversion and Agreeableness?
a. warm
b. generous
c. a team player
d. ambitious
51. Cattell defined personality as that which permits:
a. prediction of what a person will do in a given situation
b. evaluation of the level of adjustment of a person
c. selection of an appropriate questionnaire
d. optimal assignment of individuals to jobs
52. Cattell classified projective tests, such as the Rorschach inkblot test, as:
a. D-data
b. L-data
c. Q-data
d. T-data
53. The set of a persons scores on all 16 factors of the 16PF:
a. is called the profile
b. must total 100
c. is a measure of adjustment
d. is a measure of intelligence
54. Neurotics typically have low scores on:
a. intelligence
b. ego strength
c. introversion
d. All of the above.
55. Researchers have found what kind of evidence against the inherited innate ability interpretation of the Culture Fair Intelligence Test?
a. education does influence fluid intelligence scores
b. zero correlations between parents and children on this measure
c. failure of the measure to predict school performance
d. high correlations between this test and measures of extraversion
56. Imitating others is made possible biologically by:
a. mirror neurons
b. memory strategies
c. evolved psychological mechanisms
d. temperament
57. Evolved psychological mechanisms include all of the following except:
a. imitation
b. sexual jealousy
c. temperament
d. sexual attraction based on physical appearance
58. Studies of rats deprived of maternal contact showed that the rats developed permanent deficits in the hippocampus. Such deficits (in rats or humans) could make them more vulnerable to:
a. aggression
b. depression
c. introversion
d. sexual promiscuity
59. According to the text, the communication of make social living possible.
a. social norms
b. emotions
c. altruism
d. empathy
60. Children who cried and clung to their mothers, in Kagans studies, were called:
a. inhibited
b. neurotic
c. difficulty children
d. uninhibited
61. In Kagans model, children are more likely to develop an aggressive, antisocial personality if they have an:
a. inhibited temperament and receive overprotection
b. inhibited temperament and are encouraged to explore the environment
c. uninhibited temperament and receive strict discipline
d. uninhibited temperament and receive lax discipline
62. Freuds concept of libido corresponds to Dollard and Millers concept of:
a. anxiety
b. behavior gradients
c. cue
d. drive
63. Undesirable responses can be eliminated by:
a. extinction or punishment
b. punishment or reward
c. extinction or spontaneous recovery
d. generalization or discrimination
64. In addition to Freuds first three psychosexual stages, Dollard and Miller described a fourth stage, concerned with conflict over:
a. anger
b. sex roles
c. siblings
d. playmates
65. Charlie Brown wants to talk to the little red-headed girl, but he is afraid she will reject him. What type of conflict is this?
a. approach-approach conflict
b. avoidance-avoidance conflict
c. approach-avoidance conflict
d. double approach-avoidance conflict
66. Dollard and Miller explained aggression with their hypothesis.
a. aggression formation
b. anger-anxiety
c. frustration-aggression
d. libido
67. Psychotherapy, as we know it today, involves:
a. learning new labels for experience
b. learning to express unwanted thoughts
c. expressing feared material without reprimand
d. All of the above.
68. Because they both thought in terms of privacy and power, Nixon and Kissinger could relate well to one another, according to Kellys Corollary.
a. Choice
b. Commonality
c. Modulation
d. Sociality
69. Kelly called his philosophical assumption .
a. logical positivism
b. constructive alternativism
c. physiological determinism
d. humanistic science
70. In Kellys theory, people are more likely to experiment with new constructs when they are:
a. threatened
b. in love
c. not threatened
d. angry
71. According to Kelly, all constructs have pole(s).
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. many
72. Slot-movement refers to:
a. radical changes, such as from atheist to born-again Christian
b. role changes, such as moving from being a student to being an employee
c. gambling
d. a method for scoring personality tests
73. Kelly understood differences between individuals as due to:
a. different early experience
b. different personal constructs
c. heredity
d. misunderstandings by researchers
74. The term consistency paradox refers to:
a. the challenge of understanding how people can develop across a lifetime yet still remain consistent
b. the discrepancy between research, which shows that people act differently in different situations, and common sense, which says they are consistent
c. peoples efforts to seem consistent to other people
d. the paradox that most personality theories seem to be saying the same thing, only in different words
75. In Mischels terminology, the of an extraverted person might include knowing how to begin a conversation with a stranger and thinking of things to say in a conversation.
a. competencies
b. expectancies
c. person variables
d. traits
76. Adam doesnt know whether he will be thanked or criticized if he helps cook dinner. He is uncertain about:
a. self-efficacy expectancies
b. competencies
c. encoding strategies
d. behavior-outcome expectancies
77. Mischel conducted research on the delay of gratification in:
a. rats
b. employees of large companies
c. children
d. twins
78. Delay of gratification is easier if the:
a. rewards are visible
b. child thinks about how good the reward is
c. child sees models who delay their own gratification
d. All of the above.
79. According to Mischel and his colleagues, the effect of traits on behavior depends upon the:
a. person
b. time of day
c. situation
d. observer
80. If I ask Jane to go to the movies, will she go, or reject me? This is a question of:
a. reciprocal determinism
b. stimulus-outcome expectancies
c. behavior-outcome expectancies
d. self-efficacy expectancies
81. Bandura recommends that self-efficacy should be measured:
a. globally
b. separately for each area of behavior
c. by projective tests
d. by an interview
82. Research shows that we are more likely to strive toward goals if:
a. we concentrate on the distant goal, not immediate short-term goals
b. no one else has succeeded
c. we are working alone
d. we expect to be able to reach them
83. Attentional processes refers to what we:
a. observe or pay attention to
b. remember
c. are motivated to do
d. are able to do
84. Bandura expanded learning theory by his work on the importance of:
a. extinction
b. generalization
c. modeling
d. punishment
85. Bandura and colleagues demonstrated that children can learn through modeling.
a. aggression
b. performance standards
c. arbitrary playful behaviors
d. All of the above.
86. According to Banduras research, children who have observed aggressive models may not behave aggressively, even if they have learned to do so, if they lack:
a. incentives
b. courage
c. an audience
d. toys
87. Rogers regarded the fundamental motivation to be:
a. the actualizing tendency
b. the need for security
c. interpersonal needs
d. sexual needs
88. The best guide to healthy growth, according to Rogers, is:
a. a professional psychotherapist
b. a religious philosophy of life
c. the organismic valuing process
d. careful reasoning
89. Rogers recommended that psychologists should investigate subjective experience when it was
a. spiritual
b. value based
c. mystical
d. All of the above.
90. Me? Angry? Never! says Lou. This statement illustrates .
a. self-actualization
b. incongruence
c. the formative process
d. empathic understanding
91. Conditional positive regard causes a person to lose touch with the self.
a. ideal
b. real
c. social
d. All of the above.
92. Adolescents who are creative are likely to have had parents who:
a. encouraged their childrens curiosity in early life
b. encouraged their children to control their emotions
c. were critical of them
d. helped their children with their work
93. Maslows theory is sometimes called:
a. individual psychology
b. person-centered theory
c. third force psychology
d. behavioral psychology
94. In order of their emergence, the needs in Maslows hierarchy are:
a. physiological, safety, esteem, love, self-actualization
b. physiological, esteem, safety, love, self-actualization
c. physiological, safety, love, esteem, self-actualization
d. safety, physiological, love, esteem, self-actualization
95. After safety and physiological needs are adequately met, the next level to motivate people is:
a. sex
b. esteem
c. love and belongingness
d. self-actualization
96. Which of the following illustrates B-motivation?
a. jealousy
b. beauty, truth, and justice
c. focused attention
d. business
97. Which hypothesis is predicted by Maslows theory?
a. People would rather starve than eat food forbidden by their religion.
b. Great soldiers would rather die than act cowardly.
c. Starving artists and musicians produce the best works of art.
d. None of the above.
98. Which of the following is characteristic of self-actualized people, according to Maslow?
a. firm belief in the values of their society
b. a sense that life is highly predictable
c. rejection of sexual needs
d. spontaneity
99. Which of the following is NOT one of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism?
a. suffering
b. attachment
c. detachment
d. retachment
100. Buddhism traces its roots back about years.
a. 1000
b. 1500
c. 2500
d. 5000
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Our Homework Writing Disciplines
With a highly diverse team in almost all academic fields including: | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '199', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.8898429274559021}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '62832', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:KNLW4KYJXKOO4LQZSOME77VBWUDSPMMJ', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:76774e78-5180-425f-80e6-55f6273927bf>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2022, 9, 29, 23, 2, 49), 'WARC-IP-Address': '162.213.253.68', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:375A3FPDWWFOPC6WBQILPLEJ4FN3GYAD', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:fa3ae997-e3dd-469f-b97a-9f43f2a2f28f>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://studyacers.com/psy-380-final-exam-study-guide-take-note-when-taking-the-you-2/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:9faa0aa7-386c-4379-b8ce-e69b6e5a56e9>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '3323', 'url': 'https://studyacers.com/psy-380-final-exam-study-guide-take-note-when-taking-the-you-2/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-40\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2022\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-88\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.19441044330596924', 'original_id': '8f1127ff12ea80abd567d2645857a0345e34ee61369d32c1c0d21895cf77f437'} |
Rules of thumb for better #openscience and transparent #collaboration
Rules-of-thumb for reuse of data and plots
1. If you use unpublished data from someone else, even if they are done with it, invite them to be a co-author.
2. If you use a published dataset, at the minimum contact authors, and depending on the purpose of the reuse, consider inviting them to become a co-author. Check licensing.
3. If you use plots initiated by another but in a significantly different way/for a novel purpose, invite them to be co-author (within a reasonable timeframe).
4. If you reuse the experimental plots for the exact same purpose, offer the person that set it up ‘right of first refusal’ as first author (within a fair period of time such as 1-2 years, see next rule).
5. If adding the same data to an experiment, first authorship can shift to more recent researchers that do significant work because the purpose shifts from short to long-term ecology. Prof Turkington (my PhD mentor) used this model for his Kluane plots. He surveyed for many years and always invited primary researchers to be co-authors but not first. They often declined after a few years.
6. Set a reasonable authorship embargo to give researchers that have graduated/changed focus of profession a generous chance to be first authors on papers. This can vary from 8 months to a year or more depending on how critical it is to share the research publicly. Development pressures, climate change, and extinctions wait for no one sadly.
Rules-of-thumb for collaborative writing
1. Write first draft.
2. Share this draft with all potential first authors so that they can see what they would be joining.
3. Offer co-authorship to everyone that appropriately contributed at this juncture and populate the authorship list as firmly as possible.
4. Potential co-authors are invited to refuse authorship but err on the side of generosity with invitations.
5. Do revisions in serial not parallel. The story and flow gets unduly challenging for everyone when track changes are layered. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9280151724815368}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '19433', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:3XAIXM7B4NQOKHAT3RW2QI7T3VDRNDCZ', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:fba79f03-75aa-49ed-8034-d2536b5be314>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2018, 10, 17, 0, 32, 50), 'WARC-IP-Address': '69.163.164.163', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:6K7XPWZYR2UBVT4NBY357W5Z42FGMDEO', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:9aa71dc3-2d17-48a5-95d6-6ce2368ec817>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.christopherlortie.info/rules-of-thumb-for-better-openscience-and-transparent-collaboration/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:f63219d4-7ba8-4979-8ff1-3efd76e808ee>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '330', 'url': 'http://www.christopherlortie.info/rules-of-thumb-for-better-openscience-and-transparent-collaboration/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-43\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for October 2018\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-65-99-88.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.8775253891944885', 'original_id': '207e1f3036ab3b9bf666581a5286a619aa9b873cd37f3e37e193744b13822e75'} |
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town -- middle grade novel review
A few months ago I reviewed The Ambassador to Nowhere, Texas. I discovered it was a sequel to another book, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, both by Kimberly Willis Holt. The Ambassador to Nowhere, Texas was set in the era of 9/11 and told the story of a middle school girl in Antler, Texas and how she and those around her dealt with all that was happening. During the book she and a friend begin to try to find out about Zachary Beaver because of a photograph of him and her father and his best friend from when they were about her age. Having not read the first book I was thrilled with the mystery, but it also left a yearning to read the first book, so today I am sharing with you the first book! It is set in 1971 with the Vietnam War going on. Seeing how I turned one in 1971 I was curious to read about this era.
From the Publisher:
This title has Common Core connections.
From Me:
Wow, talk about bringing back memories. The 1970s in many ways were such a simpler time. I didn't live in a small town or in Texas, but the simpleness of the lives are still the same. Kids were often left on their own during the summer days. They rode their bikes to where they needed to go. The roads were safer. The world was safer. This book brought back so many memories of my own childhood even though I was a baby during the Vietnam War and I didn't live in a small, farming town. Just for the memories and as an explanation to kids of how life use to be, this book is amazing.
Now let's talk about the story. I was excited to learn about Zachary Beaver having read the second book first. I was surprised at first how rude he was but it made sense when one considers his life. I was also surprised that there wasn't more to the friendship. In the end it was there but it took quite awhile for the friendship to form. It was very interesting to see how the town came out to take care of a young boy, a stranger, who was left in their town for a few weeks. It was the small town feel as well as the kinder era. The characters are very well developed. The book had me wanting to continue to read it. I read it only in a couple of days. It was interesting and heartfelt.
I also love how it deals with the stigma around obesity without really shame. Yes, Zachary Beaver is put on display as the "fattest boy in the world". They charge $2 to see him, but when asked why he lets his guardian do that to him, he answers with they would stare anyway. Toby and Cal realize how hurtful the staring and comments are for Zachary. They try to give him a normal life while he is in Antler. They find ways to get him to the drive-in movie. They help him fulfill his promise to his mother. They understand what he is going through. Helping him also is a distraction from what is going on in their own lives. The story is truly touching and yes it had me tearing up at times.
Having read the books backwards, I have to say I think it gave the second book more of a mystery. It also made me say oh, that is what they were talking about as I read the first one. The characters are so well developed in the first book that I do think it may help to read it first but I don't think my reading out of order made that much difference. Both books are rather amazing. They are well written and each captures a moment in our country's history and ways that people dealt with the issues going on at those times. These books are amazing novels to use in classrooms to share a bit about the history and the emotions around them but also are just great stories to read. I hope you check them both out! | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '181', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9913324117660522}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '138610', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:WPA5PTWMJAAC4P7ZIMXJJERRCORLNK22', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:d532c712-fd75-4186-a8af-a457850ef43e>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 9, 24, 11, 5, 48), 'WARC-IP-Address': '172.217.164.179', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:HN4OZJWB7RXMS3TJIJHH6ZE3FVVZP2II', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:28ab2691-1b18-4f9c-bb70-9ab7d212eefc>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.craftymomsshare.com/2021/05/when-zachary-beaver-came-to-town-middle.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:22ecfb03-959f-43f9-9069-81e649db5fa2>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '921', 'url': 'https://www.craftymomsshare.com/2021/05/when-zachary-beaver-came-to-town-middle.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-39\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for September 2021\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-28\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.01915198564529419', 'original_id': '75e9f9ff01bf809f279f88440c79fdd83fcd3eb857feec3440bead5679635688'} |
The Foxy forums are on the move!
Unable to obtain fx:store href
Just cloned the foxyclient-php-playground repo and got it running.
It loads at http://localhost:8000, but when I try to view coupons or item categories, I get the "Unable to obtain fx:store href" error.
What is this telling me?
How do I fix it?
I did register my client.
I added the client_id, client_secret, and refresh_token rcvd to the boostrap.php.
I also tried uncommenting the access_token and putting in the one I rcv'd, but that threw an additional error saying something like "incorrect access token".
I re-comment out that line, and that error went away.
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
Sorry to hear you're having troubles with the hAPI playground code - I've just quickly tried on my side and ran into the same problem. I'll discuss this with our API developer and someone will be back in touch soon!
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
Thanks for your patience! I've connected with our API developer and hopefully we can get you on the right track.
First off - what did you use to create the OAuth token? Did you use the example code as found here: to do that?
If so - the first thing to check there is that the use_sandbox boolean in bootstrap.php is set to false.
You mentioned you created a client - did you also connect that client to your FoxyCart store? If not - on the foxyclient example set up with your client created, click "OAuth Authorization Code grant", leave the scope as "full_store_access" and click to "Authorise Application". This will redirect you to our OAuth endpoint where you can login using your FoxyCart admin credentials and select the store to connect to your OAuth client.
Once you select the store - that will redirect you back to the FoxyClient example script - and it's from that page that you would copy the client_id, client_secret and refresh_token (you'll need to check the page source to get the last two). Paste those three values into the FoxyClient Playground script's bootstrap.php file, and again - ensure that use_sandbox is set to false.
If you then load up the playground set up, you should be able to view the store's coupons.
Sorry for the confusion with getting our example scripts up and running. We're currently working through creating a better "getting started" experience for new users for our API.
• 1. I created OAuth token via
2. Updated `use_sandbox` to `false` and tested. Failed.
3. I thought I followed the process all the way through connecting to our store (we have only one), but don't recall exactly what steps I saw after logging in with FoxyCart credentials.
4. I do know that I did not have to check page source to get any of the credentials. They were displayed all nice and orderly for me.
Is this difference because I went a different route for creating my OAuth token?
Or is there possibly an additional step that is needed from me?
In case it helps .. when I visit http://localhost:8000/coupons.php?action=view_coupons, in addition to the error of topic, there is also this error under the "Edit Coupon" heading/section of the page:
>The required resource_uri is missing. Please click back and try again.
• lukeluke FoxyCart Team
Hey @mOrloff
Sorry again for the confusion here. We are working to improve things.
Is your OAuth client named 'CouponExportAttempt'? I see it attached to a store via a store_full_access scope token. When you copied the client_id and client_secret to the playground code, did you also paste in the refresh token you got from creating the OAuth client? If so, that token would only have the client_full_access scope. You'll need the refresh token with the store_full_access scope or go through the process again with the Example code here:
The playground code assumes you have an refresh token that already has the store_full_access scope (which you can get from the example code). Yes... it's confusing. The idea was to have the FoxyClient, the example code of how to use it on a very basic level in the Example code (create an OAuth client, create or connect to a user, and create or connect to a store), and then have the playground code for more stuff we'll add later. We'll work to organize this together better, but if you don't have a refresh token with the correct store scope, you'll have to pull up the example code and click the "OAuth Authorization Code grant" link to connect it to your store and then do a view source at the bottom of the page to get your refresh token for your store.
The trick there will be the redirect_url currently configured on your OAuth client (which can be modified if you have the OAuth token with the client_full_access scope). As it's configured now, it will probably redirect to the FoxyTools link.
I hope that helps. If not, it might be best just to start from scratch. I did this last night and it took about 10 minutes total:
1) Using the example code running in a localhost, create an OAuth Client being sure to do so in production (save the client_id, client_secret, and the refresh token at this point which has the client_full_access scope for modifying your client later)
2) Authenticate the OAuth client with your store using the "OAuth Authorization Code grant" link
3) Save the client_id, client_secret, and refresh_token (have to view source to get those values) which at this point has the store_full_access scope.
4) Clone the playground, edit bootstrap to go to production and put in the client_id, client_secret, and refresh_token (need to uncomment that line as well).
5) Restart your localhost server in the playground folder and load up the coupons.
• Great instructions.
Got most of the way through step 2 before encountering an error.
| Error: This client is invalid or must authenticate using a client secret
After entering my credentials, it asked me to approve/deny.
After approving, it returns that error.
Suggestion ???
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
Just to confirm - if you're using either of our helper scripts - have you updated it to point to production by setting the sandbox setting to false in bootstrap.php?
• Yes.
Well, more specifically, I commented out `use_sandbox` rather than setting it to false.
Nonetheless, when I run it, it does say "Production" in the top right corner.
Still having the issue.
• lukeluke FoxyCart Team
In the bootstrap file, did you include your client_id and client_secret you got form step 1? If it says you need a secret, then something's not right there. Also, depending on how you configured the redirect_url when you created the client, are you sure you're going to the right place when it redirects back after the OAuth interaction?
• mOrloffmOrloff Member
edited March 2016
Thanks SOO much for the patience and hand-holding!
Because of how the credentials are included in the pages after authenticating the client, I @$$umed that was sufficient :P
As soon as I transferred them to the bootstrap file as instructed, everything started falling into place.
Again, thanks-a-bunch
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
Awesome! I'm glad you were able to get it working! I'm sorry it was such a confusing process. We're working to make the example code simpler moving forward.
• @fc_adam, @luke
I'm experiencing the same problem. But, unlike mOrloff, I've not succeeded in creating a store.
Here's what I've done:
1. Cloned, installed and launched
2. Registered my application by creating an OAUTH client
3. Created Foxy user
4. Stored generated client_id, client_secret, refresh_token, access_token and access_token_expires in bootstrap.php
5. Restarted my browser
6. Successfully tested authentication under "Authenticate client" link
7. Attempted to create a Store with my data
It resulted in:
Unable to obtain fx:stores href
Debug output:
* Rebuilt URL to:
* Hostname was found in DNS cache
* Hostname in DNS cache was stale, zapped
* Trying
* Connected to ( port 443 (#6)
* successfully set certificate verify locations:
* CAfile: /etc/cacert.pem
CApath: /etc/ssl/certs
* SSL connection using ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256
* Server certificate:
* subject: C=US; ST=Tennessee; L=Brentwood; LLC; CN=*
* start date: 2013-10-22 12:00:01 GMT
* expire date: 2016-09-28 12:00:00 GMT
* subjectAltName: matched
* issuer: C=US; O=DigiCert Inc;; CN=DigiCert SHA2 High Assurance Server CA
* SSL certificate verify ok.
> GET / HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Bearer 0bae4f34fc29ab2e5bb964d5a6e52d6140f37395
Accept: application/hal+json
User-Agent: Guzzle/5.3.0 curl/7.35.0 PHP/5.6.11
I am in SANDBOX mode.
Any idea?
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
Sorry for the confusion! It sounds like perhaps your credentials are only the client scope and not the user scope. A user_full_access is need to be able to create a new store for that user.After creating the user you will need to authorize the client to connect to the user, after which point you'll have a user scope, and you can then create stores as that user.
It looks like our sandbox admin is down though - so you won't be able to complete that step. I'll connect with our API developer and see about getting that fixed up.
• Thanks,
Please let me know if it gets fixed.
• fc_adamfc_adam FoxyCart Team
We do have some changes that are pending to fix the sandbox there, but unfortunately no ETA on when it will be applied. In the meantime, you could switch to production servers and work through it that way.
Sign In or Register to comment. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '23', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9181709885597228}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '52454', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:NX4TIKXJNXQ26YHX73FYTCRMPIEUXXE5', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:5d041c08-366b-4f6c-a999-e422e5ec00dd>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 21, 2, 5, 30), 'WARC-IP-Address': '13.32.204.105', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:AIY4ESVKTFVFVVMFYM43SWJGHRXRQWOF', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:1cf26949-733e-4e7b-b0e1-49d6d3a16471>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://forum.foxycart.com/discussion/comment/54886/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:b7af322d-d144-4101-a6ce-b2b47f08e853>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1537', 'url': 'https://forum.foxycart.com/discussion/comment/54886/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-04\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for January 2021\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-233.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.02364528179168701', 'original_id': '8eb3259cfb440a5082b4200ce9fa6c929b82db33cefcbb0bed4aa59403042e1b'} |
prometheus::replica_label: 'a'
| mini_pile | {'original_id': 'b6891eb188de26c6610d107c23287b882a6db9d6cc2bf7210029fcba5d05563f'} |
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Arduino: Micro Processing Renewable Energy - Part 4 - Control the BIG stuff!
Control the Big Stuff
I have always been amazed that a little fragile computer chip, that could easily fry from static electricity, could control a massive 400 amp solenoid to activate a dump load for a massive wind turbine. I'm just as impressed when that little processor switches on five 60 watt light bulbs.
In this fourth and final installment, I'll be discussing how to pull this kind of thing off. Before you know it, you'll be controlling the big stuff.
The Arduino can only handle a maximum of 40 mA of current on its output. This would work for a small relay, well, except for the fact that the Arduino's output is only a maximum of 5 volts. And, I really hate to push the Arduino like that. It just generates a bunch of heat and is more likely to overheat with time. I love electronic circuits that run cool and efficiently. You know, those circuits that are reliable, not those circuits that fail after 2 days of use.
So, what we need is a way to take a 5 volt signal from the Arduino and input it into something that has a large resistance/impedance. That way, very little current is drawn from the Arduino and it continues to run cool. The trick is transistors.
There are many types of transistors, but I will just talk about 2 here; the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and the MOSFET. And, just to keep it even simpler, I'll only refer to the NPN type of BJT and the N-channel MOSFET.
Basically, a transistor is just a switch. If you apply a small current or voltage (depending on which type) to the gate/base, it allows current to flow between the other two connectors.
The BJT of this size can switch about 500-600 mA of current max, but I wouldn't recommend that because it will get very hot. If you can keep it to about 150 mA or less then that would be perfect. A typical relay that this could drive would draw about 70-120 mA, which is perfect for this transistor. The circuit might look something like this.
To limit the current coming out of the Arduino into the base of the transistor, I used a 1k resistor. Since 5 volts divided by 0.005 amps equals 1,000, I used a 1k resistor. The transistor will turn on using just a 1 or 2 mA or so. Even at 5 mA on the base, that should still switch at least 150 mA through the junction.
I also wanted to limit the current to the 12 volt relay from the battery. I picked 80 ohms to limit the current to 150 mA. The 80 ohm resistor isn't standard, so you can use a 81 ohm at 5% tolerance. Also, keep in mind that at 150 mA, the resistor would be dissipating 1.8 watts. You would have to use a 5 watt power resistor. The better option would be to use a fuse, maybe a 250 mA rated fuse.
Note that the MOSFET can be used the same way the BJT is used. The gate on the MOSFET has a high impedance so the 1k resistor isn't technically needed. But, I like to keep it just in case, mainly to protect the Arduino if something is not connected right, or the transistor shorts out internally after a failure.
I also placed a diode across the relay coils. When the relay turns off, the magnetic field collapses and a high voltage reverse pulse is released. The diode will absorb that pulse to protect the transistor.
But, you may want to just use the MOSFETS as a relay and skip the whole "moving parts" idea. Typical MOSFETS can handle 10 to 80 amps or so. They need to have good heat sinks attached for heat dissipation. You can parallel as many as practical. If you had a MOSFET that could handle 30 amps, then using 10 in parallel could handle 300 amps. You get the picture.
Small 5 volt relays
There is another option that should be mentioned here. A small 5 volt relay is available that can connect to the Arduino. If you use these, make sure they have (or you use) a freewheeling diode and optocoupler to protect the Arduino.
This particular example can be cycled 100,000 times and switches 10 amps at up to 250 VAC. The optocoupler ensures that the Arduino is protected. It basically connects the Arduino to the relay via light. It uses an LED that activates a photo-transistor, all inside a small chip. It also ensures that only a few milliamps will be drawn from the Arduino output .
I would not recommend paralleling relay boards, though. When they activate, they don't turn on at exactly the same speed. This means that one may turn on a few micro seconds before the rest. That one set of electrical contacts will be temporarily carrying the entire load. Let's say that you have a 100 amp load and you are using 10 relays each capable of 10 amp switching. Then, for those few initial micro seconds, one relay is carrying 100 amps. This will start to burn out the contacts, or worse, weld the contacts closed. That would be very bad for a dump load controller. It would drain your batteries and kill them. And we don't harm batteries here...not here...ever.
Then Take A Look At This!
1 comment:
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Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes
Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes
Life imitates art. And sometimes science does the same.
Researchers discovered the mineral remnants of the lake while studying a region well-known for its rock art. The most famous example is the Cave of the Swimmers, which provided a setting in the movie "The English Patient." The drawings in the cave depict humans that appear to be swimming, floating and diving. And yet this area in southwestern Egypt is one of the driest in the world.
"Indeed, we found that there were lakes not far from the Cave of the Swimmers," says Chris McKay from the NASA Ames Research Center.
"The deposits look like a 'bathtub ring' around the canyon walls," McKay says.
Wading through cave art
The Cave of the Swimmers has captivated imaginations ever since it was discovered by the Hungarian explorer László Almásy in 1933. The shallow cave's paintings are about 7,000 years old, give or take a thousand years, and show human figures performing what looks like a kind of Neolithic doggy paddle.
The cave and Almásy himself inspired Michael Ondaatje's book "The English Patient," and the film that followed with the same name.
However, it should be noted that researchers now question the original interpretation of "swimming."
"The 'swimmers' move towards 'headless beasts' in a straight line, more as if floating in air than swimming" says Andras Zboray, a Sahara explorer and rock art researcher. "They are clearly symbolic, as are the beasts, with an unknown meaning."
Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes
Lake residents
"Our scientific interest is the dry limit of photosynthesis, so we wanted to go to the driest part of the Sahara," McKay says.
"The size of the lakes would probably have been large enough to do laps," McKay says.
"The obtained dates are surprisingly old, and appear to considerably pre-date the bulk of the ," Zboray says. The caves in the surrounding area have abundant cattle paintings that are dated as 6,500 to 5,500 years old.
"So there is a clear temporal disconnect," he says.
Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes
Giraffes and other animals not currently found in this part of the desert, which suggests the area was wetter in the past. Credit: NASA Photo/Chris McKay
Microbial rock art
The themselves tell a story about life in and around the lake.
"The carbonate is a macroscopic remnant of microscopic life," McKay explains.
These biologically-triggered formations, or "microbialites," are found around the world at places such as Pavilion Lake in Canada and Lake Alchichica in Mexico.
Darlene Lim from NASA Ames agrees that the deposits found by McKay's group are similar to the microbialites she studies as the principal investigator for the Pavilion Lake Research Project.
Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes
Gebel Uweinat is a mountainous area in the southwest of Egypt that is one of the driest places in the world. Credit: NASA Photo/Chris McKay
"The fundamental difference between the two is that the Pavilion Lake microbialites can grow to a larger size, and at times they are less consolidated than those reported in the waters of Gebel Uweinat," Lim says. "However, the microbialites described by Marinova et al. may have undergone some erosion, and as such their maximum size remains unknown."
"We are not going to find dinosaur fossils on Mars," McKay says.
Explore further
Martian mineral could be linked to microbes
Source: Astrobio.net
Citation: Rock art draws scientists to ancient lakes (2015, January 8) retrieved 20 May 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2015-01-art-scientists-ancient-lakes.html
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| dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '890', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.962268888950348}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '119231', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:JRWT7NTT4IRUKDXYEQQDNS3G4YG2OJLL', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:c2fed375-8541-4ebd-a25b-6ec88a4b18de>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 21, 1, 26, 8), 'WARC-IP-Address': '72.251.236.55', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:FFL4Q35PBDE7HRFCWYWCBGL55CX36KCE', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:4f2cd17f-6d6b-4f3a-b9be-6e5cdfa235c4>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://phys.org/news/2015-01-art-scientists-ancient-lakes.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:5c6aea2a-8db4-4118-9a32-d17f243d5cd4>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1505', 'url': 'https://phys.org/news/2015-01-art-scientists-ancient-lakes.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-7-214-88.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.050720393657684326', 'original_id': '969b45ed980458b70361dceece09e2e48925a5cddd622b6db614c87b3d831c79'} |
Lists by spfitzinger
a list of 20 people
My favorite actor/actress voices of all time
a list of 30 people
My favorite composers of film music. Not necessarily the best or most talented (although that often is case), but those I find most enjoyable, whose music fits the mood of the movie and makes the film-watching experience deeper or more enjoyable because of their music.
a list of 10 titles
Movies I own on Blu-ray
a list of 507 titles
Movies I own on DVD | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9235252737998962}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '34594', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:EHJZDLQFW54KQBFSBUVCO2KCUTRN6H6X', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:c8b491b6-bd3b-4514-8c24-2c455366c662>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2013, 12, 13, 16, 19, 54), 'WARC-IP-Address': '72.21.203.211', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:ZKAWE7FUA4MJB2PD3JKREEWITV36MP5C', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:aa1a4258-7d47-4d1b-9115-f417239918cc>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.imdb.com/user/ur0594441/lists', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:f552af15-0554-4530-a24b-035fb6cdd07c>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '84', 'url': 'http://www.imdb.com/user/ur0594441/lists', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2013-48\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for Winter 2013\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.7572543621063232', 'original_id': 'ee7683cc3cea3d405ef64d2e9ec85217f3c97a19e9d8e81e4497d47485eeb9f3'} |
WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - Data analytics and security company Palantir Technologies Inc must open its books to early investor Marc Abramowitz, who wants to investigate possible fraud and mismanagement at the highly valued private U.S. company, a judge ruled on Thursday.
Abramowitz sued the secretive firm, known for helping the U.S. government track down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, after a 2015 falling out with Alexander Karp, the company’s chief executive officer.
The lawsuit alleged that Palantir wrongly barred Abramowitz and others from selling stock in the privately owned company, while permitting sales by Karp and Chairman Peter Thiel.
Judge Joseph Slights of the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that Abramowitz demonstrated “a proper purpose of investigating potential wrongdoing and a credible basis to justify further investigation.”
Palantir said in a statement it was pleased by the outcome, saying it denied Abramowitz’s requests “beyond limited company disclosures.”
Palantir does highly confidential work for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, helping them track down terrorists and uncover financial fraud.
The company raised $880 million in funding in 2015 and was estimated to have a valuation of about $20 billion at that time.
Abramowitz, through the KT4 Partners LLC fund he manages, invested an initial $100,000 in Palantir in 2003, which, after subsequent investments, is estimated to be worth $60 million, according to Slights’ 50-page opinion.
Abramowitz enjoyed a close relationship with Karp until 2015, when Karp “verbally abused” Abramowitz and accused the investor of stealing Palantir intellectual property, according to the opinion.
Soon after, Abramowitz tried to sell his Palantir stock, but he alleged that the company blocked the deal by offering the potential buyer newly issued stock instead, the ruling said.
Abramowitz began demanding information from Palantir as he considered suing the company for blocking the sale of his stock. In response, Palantir sued Abramowitz in September 2016 for allegedly stealing trade secrets, according to Slights.
Palantir said on Thursday it would continue to pursue the theft case against Abramowitz.
In March, Abramowitz brought his Delaware case.
Palantir had argued that Abramowitz should be denied information because he was likely to use it to build his lawsuit over the blocked sale.
Slights ruled that Abramowitz could investigate Palantir’s lack of annual meetings, corporate amendments that limited KT4’s rights and the company’s sales of stock. But the judge would not allow Abramowitz to probe Palantir’s valuation or Karp’s compensation. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'ab06eca1d6ffd74c055171548edb5738c3d2afad8b06f72cc84fe787d105aa05'} |
Wedding ring flowers
Wedding ring flowers
wedding ring flowers photo - 1
Why do I require a wedding ring flowers?
What a wedding celebration without blossoms? One of the most crucial points in preparing for the event is the choice of the blossom decoration of the wedding, the wedding ring flowers and also the grooms posy. Agree, to present a wedding celebration without blossoms, to place it slightly, is difficult. However exactly how did the wedding ring flowers become the invariable device of the bride and also why is it needed?
Objective of the wedding ring flowers
The bridal bouquet, wedding ring flowers, has its very own history. In old Greece, as an example, the head was embellished with saffron or ivy wreaths, signifying infinite love. In ancient Rome, there should have been garlic and also rosemary in a wreath. The original purpose of the wedding ring flowers on the groom and bride was not just to enhance the wedding event but instead to protect the young from the bad eye. That is why each flower as well as twig collected in a wreath according to specific rules since they had essential significance as well as symbolism. So, wedding ring flowers!
Uniqueness and wedding ring flowers
Wonderful attention was paid to what kind of blossoms would remain in the wedding ring flowers due to the fact that there is a supposed language of flowers that might outline an individuals purposes, his personality.
The fast development of the wedding celebration as well as fashion business has led to the use of pearls, rhinestones, textiles, ribbons and also other designs in the design of the bouquet. And consequently, the wedding ring flowers turned into one more method to show the originality. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '161', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.966276466846466}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '77010', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:XNS3FK5BG36RQNT426EB4UVUDD7I3D7P', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:4007f9b9-91ea-4809-8178-60128f00026f>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 4, 20, 12, 29, 57), 'WARC-IP-Address': '104.31.86.159', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:C53OC7YQXMV3IKSOVYY6IPGRNNLTUBGO', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:f1871666-5eda-47c0-8e95-75007f8aa7cd>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.chadlewisbailbonding.com/wedding-ring-flowers/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:ae365904-b67a-42d7-a127-1c16d788e03e>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '288', 'url': 'http://www.chadlewisbailbonding.com/wedding-ring-flowers/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-18\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for April 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-141-45-27.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.11119610071182251', 'original_id': 'b94d93e234e0a64e39df0b3c4aba10070c6d33931713e0038802f35b4f34ba48'} |
Tags » Ajami
Ajami: when life bears no value
Categories: Midd Blogosphere
The narrator of the tragic Israeli-Palestinian tale about human suffering is a young boy called Nasri whose family is deeply troubled. His uncle gets into a conflict with a local gang which then attempts to kill him and his family. Nasri’s older brother Omar (19) becomes the oldest man in the family and is, thus, responsible to resolve the issue according to the popular scripts of the culture he comes from. Aiming to kill Omar, the gang members kill his cousin instead. When the local respected restaurateur Abu Elias helps to solve the conflict, Omar’s family is asked to pay a huge amount of money to ensure its protection. Together with 16-years old illegal Palestinian worker Melek whose mother needs to be operated, Omar decides to sell drugs in order to provide for the payment. When the two are caught by police members Nasri shoots at a policemen in order to protect them and gets killed.
Ajami is an insightful, encapsulating the senses movie presenting the realities of life in Israel and Palestine. Violence, corruption, and revenge create the all-consuming feeling of powerlessness shared by characters and public alike.
The characters in the movie are left to struggle alone in a world which does not value the life of others’. A world in which people lack moral limits and do not feel remorse as they advance at the expense of others’ wellbeing. The ties and empathy depicted in the movie lack transcendence beyond the realms of nationality, religion, culture and family.
The society presented in the movie operates on the principle of the wilderness. The stronger the better. Survival of the fittest. But being “strong” or “fittest” in the context of the world drawn by the movie does not include being ethical or moral. In fact, all characters in the movie respond to the challenges of their environment by compromising their values in one way or another. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '35', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9503158926963806}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '91472', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:52QPVTVEW3CLZPV5MQNKP6PUHP7ZF3ZC', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:2c4dce5a-4333-43d5-a005-a687752e74c5>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2015, 3, 1, 8, 28, 26), 'WARC-IP-Address': '140.233.2.239', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:PJYPQN6F6OSMLKXNUHBJQPR3WMFQR2MK', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:64273463-95ad-4d65-8b05-92033d45b594>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://sites.middlebury.edu/middblogs/tag/ajami/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:a9cee4f2-3b0a-4fb3-9542-66d195313210>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '343', 'url': 'http://sites.middlebury.edu/middblogs/tag/ajami/', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2015-11\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for February 2015\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.427976131439209', 'original_id': '06f1155fa88a7a86cda0684e1d1c62f69da99e573d78a173e24b0a4725cc311b'} |
Chewing Gum Remover
Chewing Gum Remover
Product Code: 1117
Price: AU$81.10
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A unique product formulated for the removal of chewing gum off carpets and upholstery. Can also remove tar from duco and cars.
Simply spray undiluted chewing gum remover onto affected area. Allow up to 5 minutes for the chemical to work then simply remove gum by hand or with a nailbrush
Harmful if swallowed.
Irritating to skin.
Wear suitable protective clothing. In case of fire use am/drychem/CO2/halon.
If Swallowed do not induce vomiting, seek medical advice.
Immediately show label or container.
U.N. Number 1993
Dangerous Goods Class 3
Hazchem Code 3(Y)
Packaging Group III
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[Phylogenetic origin of symptoms in psychopathology. Exemplified by hysteria].
Setting behavioral disturbances affecting humans in a natural environmental context indicates the presence of phylogenetic components in their etiology. Hysterical conversion disorders provide a good illustration. The biological model to which they can be traced seems to be the "distraction display," originally intended to deceive predators and lure them away from the offspring or threatened related individuals. Hysterical tendance to draw attention on oneself could thus paradoxically be seen as performing an altruistic function. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '51fe919f4e3881589d944cfac9f73be93647e4c2f25d2cbc9b5f4168d83bb701'} |
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114 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 300 (1988)
542 A.2d 175
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Appellant
v.
Donald & Anne Steppler, Appellees.
No. 1675 C. D. 1985.
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued June 12, 1986.
March 9, 1988.
*301 Argued June 12, 1986, before President Judge CRUMLISH, JR., Judge COLINS, and Senior Judge KALISH, sitting as a panel of three. Reargued February 25, 1987, before President Judge CRUMLISH, JR., and Judges CRAIG, MacPHAIL, DOYLE, BARRY, COLINS and PALLADINO.
J. Matthew Wolfe, Assistant Counsel, with him, Scott M. Olin, Assistant Counsel, Spencer A. Manthorpe, Chief Counsel, and Jay C. Waldman, General Counsel, for appellant.
Murray S. Eckell, with him, George D. Harwood, and Stephen J. Polaha, Eckell, Sparks, Levy, Auerbach & Monte, for appellees.
OPINION BY JUDGE DOYLE, March 9, 1988:
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Department) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County dismissing its preliminary objections to Donald and Anne Steppler's petition alleging a de facto taking under Section 502(e) of the Eminent Domain Code (Code).[1] We reverse.
*302 The entire Steppler property is a 1.3 acre parcel containing a single family residential dwelling with a pool, located on Sproul Road in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The property was first acquired by Mr. Steppler's parents in 1946, with the Stepplers acquiring title in 1974.
In December, 1968, the Governor of Pennsylvania approved plans for the construction of Legislative Route 1010 (commonly known as the Blue Route),[2] which would connect the Pennsylvania Turnpike with Interstate 95. These plans were recorded in August 1969 and show that a small triangular portion of the Stepplers' backyard (approximately 28' x 83' x 88'; .032 of an acre in area) would be required for the right-of-way. The highway as it goes behind the property generally is elevated between two and twenty-five feet above the ground by means of either a viaduct or fill.[3] It is unclear whether the specific portion of the highway on the Stepplers' property would also be elevated. These preliminary plans also do not indicate whether sound barriers would be constructed along this portion of the road.[4] The only work the Department did on the Stepplers' property occurred in 1975 when it placed stakes on that portion of the property actually required for the highway.
*303 The Stepplers first attempted to sell their home in July, 1981 when a realtor made up sales brochures and placed the property in multiple listing. The initial asking price was $135,000. This figure was lowered twice in a six month period, first to $129,500, and then to $119,900. No offers to buy the property were received.
In January, 1982, the Stepplers listed the property with a second realtor, who also placed the property in multiple listing. During 1982, the asking price remained at $119,500, but in 1983 the Stepplers raised it to $122,000. The property was shown ten times during 1983, but again no offers were received.
The Stepplers went to yet a third realtor, who again placed the property in multiple listing and also conducted "open house" days in order to market the property. This time the Stepplers asking price was increased to $125,000, which attracted no takers.
By 1984, the Department had acquired between eighty and eighty five percent of the required right-of-way for the Blue Route that lay north of the Stepplers' property and some of the necessary right-of-way located south of the Stepplers' property.[5]
On November 14, 1984 the Stepplers, filed a Petition for the Appointment of Viewers in the court of common pleas alleging a de facto taking of their entire property, to which the Department filed preliminary objections. After a hearing, the court found that the Department's activities had indeed caused a de facto taking of the Stepplers' entire property. This finding was based on the trial court's belief that the Stepplers had shown that their property was "unmarketable". Accordingly, *304 that court dismissed the Department's preliminary objections and this appeal ensued.[6]
In order for a condemnee to prove that a de facto taking has occurred, he must show that there are exceptional circumstances which have substantially deprived him of the use and enjoyment of his property. Miller Appeal, 55 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 612, 423 A.2d 1354 (1980); Perfection Plastics, Inc. Appeal, 28 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 396, 368 A.2d 917 (1977). This substantial deprivation must be occasioned by the actions of an entity cloaked with the power of eminent domain, be caused as a result of the exercise of that power, and the damages sustained by the condemnees must be an immediate, necessary and unavoidable consequence of such exercise. Florek v. Department of Transportation, 89 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 483, 493 A.2d 133 (1985); Harborcreek Township v. Ring, 48 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 542, 410 A.2d 917 (1980). The burden of proving a de facto taking is a heavy one, Holmes Protection of Pittsburgh, Inc. v. Port Authority of Allegheny County, 90 Commonwealth Ct. 342, 495 A.2d 630 (1985), and each case turns on its unique factual matrix. Rawls v. Central Bucks Joint School Building Authority, 8 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 491, 303 A.2d 863 (1973). This is true even where other de facto takings have occurred along the path of the particular construction project involved in the case. Elias v. Department of Transportation, 25 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 605, 609-10, 362 A.2d 459, 461 (1976).
The Department argues that there was no substantial deprivation of the Stepplers' use and enjoyment of the property so as to constitute a de facto taking. The Department concedes that the Stepplers' property may *305 have suffered a decrease in value because of the Blue Route, but maintains, however, that merely proving a diminution in a property's overall fair market value is insufficient to show a de facto taking. We must agree.
Generally, in order to show a de facto condemnation of a property, the landowner must show that the pre-condemnation activities of the condemning body either: (1) deprived the owner of the use and enjoyment of his property, or (2) subjected the owner to the loss of the property. Filbert Limited Partnership Appeal, 64 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 605, 630, 441 A.2d 1345, 1357 (1982). See also Conroy-Prugh Glass Co. v. Department of Transportation, 456 Pa. 384, 321 A.2d 598 (1974).
These general principles were applied to residential property in Department of Transportation v. Kemp, 100 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 436, 515 A.2d 68 (1986), aff'd per curiam, Pa., A.2d (No. 63 E. D. Appeal Dkt. 1987, filed January 19, 1988). In Kemp, the Department required a strip of the Kemps' front yard ranging in depth from six and one-half to eighteen feet in order to widen the existing highway. We held that where the owner of a residential property has not lost the use of his property as a residence, no de facto taking of the entire property had occurred, notwithstanding the fact that the residence had a reduced market value, unless the unmarketability was the result of the property's inevitable total condemnation, such that a cloud would be placed on the property's title, rendering it completely valueless. Kemp, 100 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. at 444, 515 A.2d at 73. See also Department of Transportation v. Smoluk, 100 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 422, 514 A.2d 1000 (1986), aff'd per curiam, Pa., A.2d (No. 68 E.D. Appeal Dkt. 1987, filed January 19, 1988). Here, as in Kemp, the Stepplers still live in the house, and although the condemnation of a small part of the Stepplers' backyard is probably inevitable, the Department's plans never contemplated a *306 total taking of the Stepplers' property. Thus, we must conclude that the trial court's finding that a de facto taking of the Stepplers' entire property occurred was not supported by the evidence.
The Stepplers raise two arguments in support of the trial court's order. First, they argue that the Blue Route substantially deprives them of the beneficial use and enjoyment of their property. Whether a particular activity deprives a property owner of the beneficial use and enjoyment of his property, is dependent upon the type of use the owner has given to the property. Kemp, 100 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. at 443, 515 A.2d at 72. The beneficial use of a property includes not only its present use, but also all potential uses including its highest and best use. Visco v. Department of Transportation, 92 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 102, 498 A.2d 984 (1985). In the absence of evidence to the contrary, however, the presumption is that the property's present use is the highest and best use. Id.; see also Shillito v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 434 Pa. 172, 252 A.2d 650 (1969). The Stepplers assert that because the Blue Route might be elevated on their property and might generate highway noise, there is sufficient evidence to show a substantial interference with their use and enjoyment of the property. We must disagree.
The highest and best use of the property in this case is a residence and there was absolutely no evidence that the Stepplers have lost the use of the property as a residence. And, where there is no substantial deprivation of the property's highest and best use, there can be no de facto taking. Kemp; Visco. Moreover, neither the elevated Blue Route nor the noise that the road would generate has yet come to pass; therefore, there can be no present de facto taking where the harm to be caused by the public inprovement is only at some future time and is purely speculative. Indeed, the Stepplers seem to equate the fact that their house will be less desirable to *307 live in after construction of the Blue Route, with the exceptional circumstances necessary to prove a de facto taking. Merely having a house that is somewhat less desirable to live in does not constitute the type of exceptional circumstance needed to prove a de facto taking of an entire residential property. See, e.g., Department of Transportation v. Myers, 104 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 356, 522 A.2d 112 (1987) (odors and flooding caused by Department's widening of road made property uninhabitable); Compare Westmoreland County Airport Authority Appeal, 96 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 306, 507 A.2d 899 (1986) (noise of jet aircraft overflights rendered home uninhabitable) with Petition of Ramsey, 31 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 182, 375 A.2d 886 (1977) (noise of jet aircraft overflights did not render home uninhabitable).
Next, the Stepplers point to the trial court's finding that the property was "unmarketable." Again, however, we must reiterate what we said in Kemp that mere difficulty in the marketability of a residence does not substantially deprive property owners of their right to beneficial use and enjoyment, where it is shown that the residence owner can still use his property as a residence and the whole property inevitably will not be condemned. Kemp.
Moreover, the evidence here does not establish "unmarketability." The testimony of the Department's appraiser, which was found credible by the trial judge, was that the fair market value of the Stepplers' residence was $120,000 before the filing of the Blue Route's plans. Although the Stepplers' property was listed by real estate agents for three years, all the listing prices were either above or just slightly below the property's fair market value ($119,500).
The Stepplers are not without remedy. Although they have shown at best a decline in their property's fair *308 market value, Section 604 of the Code, 26 P.S. §1-604 is applicable here, and provides:
Any change in fair market value prior to the date of condemnation which the condemnor or condemnee establishes was substantially due to the general knowledge of the imminence of condemnation, other than that due to physical deterioration of the property within the reasonable control of the condemnee, shall be disregarded in determining fair market value.
26 P.S. §1-604. The Stepplers argued below that the remedy provided by Section 604 is uncertain. Absent exceptional circumstances, however, Conroy-Prugh indicates that Section 604 is constitutionally sufficient to protect the landowner's rights until the time the ultimate formal condemnation takes place. The mere fact that landowner's remedy may be somewhat less certain does not somehow invalidate the statute. As we stated in Kemp, "[w]ithout question, the depreciation and the lack of marketability are compensable injuries to the property which may be recovered as damages resulting from the Department's taking of [part of the property]. Kemp, 100 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. at 445, 515 A.2d at 73 (1986).
Having disposed of the case on this ground, we do not pass on the other issues raised by the Department.[7]
Reversed.
ORDER
The order of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, No. 84-15364, dated May 8, 1985, is hereby reversed.
Judge COLINS dissents.
*309
NOTES
[1] Act of June 22, 1964, Special Sess., P.L. 84, as amended, 26 P.S. §1-502(e).
[2] LR 1010 is officially known as the Mid-County Expressway or Interstate 476.
[3] To give an idea of how much of the Stepplers' property will be required for the Blue Route, appended to this opinion (Appendix A) is a copy of the Department's plans showing only the Stepplers' property. This plan was introduced by the Stepplers in the trial court.
[4] Richard DeGrouchy, a witness for the Department, testified that the preliminary plans did not indicate whether sound barriers would be constructed along the Stepplers' property. Mr. DeGrouchy further indicated, however, that they would be shown on the final plans and Mrs. Steppler testified that Department officials had told her that sound barriers would be constructed.
[5] Counsel for the Department could not explain, when asked at oral argument before the Court en banc, why no declaration of taking had been filed although all or part of other properties, both north and south of the Stepplers, had been condemned for the Blue Route construction.
[6] This case was first argued June 1986 before a panel of this Court. The parties were directed on November 25, 1986 to reargue the case before the court en banc, which occurred February 25, 1987.
[7] The Department has raised the question of whether there can be a partial de facto taking under Section 502(e) of the Code. While this issue is certainly novel, the relief requested by the Stepplers was only for total taking of their property, and the direct issue of a partial taking was not placed before us.
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Monday, January 31, 2011
A very old and dear friend of mine (American) once said to me, over too many glasses of red wine, “I don’t like you very much when you speak French.” When I asked her what she meant, she replied that she thought I had changed and had become someone completely alien to her.
Alien. I was thoroughly shaken by that comment. Is this what happens to someone who has lived a very long time outside of his or her culture of origin? Is there a part of us that becomes odd and unrecognizable to our oldest friends and family as we become more and more competent in the ways of our host culture? Is there something “foreign” in our outlook and our mannerisms that disturbs our oldest friends and family?
To take it one step further, did something very fundamental change in our personalities when we crossed over into another culture and language? I am not talking about surface assimilation and I am not talking about getting over culture shock.
This is the question I ask myself: if I had stayed in the US and not moved to France in my early 20’s, would I be today, at 45, fundamentally the same person with the same character and personality? Are the changes that come with integration/assimilation so deep that whatever it is that makes me an individual is someone radically different from the hypothetical person I would have been if I stayed home?
It is impossible to test this hypothesis. I did leave and I could not have spent the last 20 years in two places. But here are a few ideas that I play with.
Deep assimilation into another reality is a radical destruction of the old persona and the gradual reconstruction of a new one that is more appropriate to the context. Does one ever consciously think that, no, here I draw the line and I will not change? Yes. I think this is why immigrants hold fast to their religious beliefs or, in my case, a visceral attachment to the concept of “free speech”.
Wherever you draw the line, the whole process is very destabilizing to those of us who live it. It makes me question every single damn day, “What am I?" There are moments I crave the ignorance of those who have never ever left home. Where is my center? Where is the part of me that will never change wherever I am? Every person an individual, says my North American upbringing. But how unique is the individual molded by culture?
We adapt so well. It is frightening how quickly we change to suit the circumstances.
And how we become strangers to our compatriots.
“...the image of a constant human nature independent of time, place, and circumstance, of study and professions, transient fashions and temporary opinions, may be an illusion, that what man is may be so entangled with where he is, who he is and what he believes that it is inseparable from them... Whatever modern anthropology asserts - and it seems to have asserted almost everything at one time or another - it is firm in the conviction that men unmodified by the customs of particular places do not in fact exist, have never existed, and most important, could not in the very nature of the case exist.”
Clifford Geertz
The Interpretation of Cultures
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Flophouse in Morocco - Departure
Just before I left Casablanca I had a very interesting conversation with one of my classmates at EHTC who has been following this blog. He seemed to be concerned that I was only seeing the positive and that I was missing the larger picture. He is absolutely right. One week is not nearly enough to acquire a true understanding of the people, the culture and the country.
However, I came disposed to like Morocco and I was not disappointed. Not once.
I also find it terribly ironic (after being warned repeatedly about Moroccan cab drivers) that the first thing that happened to me when I returned to France last night was to get a taxi driver who "got lost" on the way to Versailles. He actually tried to charge me 100 Euros for a trip from Roissy. :-)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Flophouse in Morocco - The City
After leaving the mosque the rest of the day was spent on a whirlwind trip around the city. We passed leisurely through the old quarter on tiny side streets, drove by the port, looped around to see the palace, looped around again and headed for the ocean where I walked along the beach and sniffed the cold clean salty air of the Atlantic.
The Bazaar
I also did some walking around the bazaar. Mustapha dropped me off at the main entrance after assuring me that I could wander as I wished and that he would be right there if I had any problems. The bazaar was a grand collection of narrow streets and small shops selling jewelry, clothing and carpets. Everywhere I went I was met with a "Bonjour" and a "Please come in" wave. No one seemed offended when I politely declined. I stopped in front of one jewelry shop and the owner asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. He ran down the list: clothing, jewelry, etc. After I said no to each and every one, he gave me a resigned smile and said, "Tapis volant?" (How about a flying carpet?).
Under Construction
As a general rule of thumb, I measure a people's optimism about their country's future by the number of ambitious public works and private construction sites and a dearth of local people grumbling about it. Casablanca is definitely "Under construction." I saw plans and sites for: a new port, a new tramway, a mall, and a train station (future TGV) not to mention many new private houses and apartment buildings.
Mustapha said that much of this is driven by the King who has launched a plan for the modernization of the city and takes a personal interest in his plan's progress. We were caught in more than one traffic jam caused by work on the tramway and people seemed to be relatively good-natured about the inconvenience.
King Mohammed VI
Most of my impressions about royalty are shaped by the very public goings-on of that family in England. So, imagine my surprise when we stopped at an intersection and I saw two motorcycles sweep past, followed by a very stylish (but not ostentatious) black car which was apparently being driven by the King himself. I personally have never met a Moroccan (from cab drivers to engineers) who had a bad word to say about the King who seems to have his people's genuine respect and esteem.
To finish the tour we went just outside the city limits to a hill with green fields and horses and sheep running free. I could see the whole city - a sweeping panorama with the sea to my left and the city in all its glory.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Flophouse in Morocco - The Mosque
The day began at 9:30 AM when my trusted counselor and guide, Mustapha, stopped by the hotel to pick me up for a trip into the center of town. First stop, the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world.
Full disclosure, this is the first time I have ever visited a mosque.
About 20 years ago I glanced, just once, at the interior of a very small but beautiful mosque in the northern part of the city of Seattle but I did not dare to enter. So, I had no idea what to expect. No preconceptions. Just a sense that being allowed entry to a sacred place was an exceptional honor.
I arrived just in time for the 10:00 official tour of the Hassan II Mosque which, unlike many mosques, is open to the public.
I wish I had had a tape recorder during the visit. The guide, Mohammed, was exceptionally warm and gracious. I heard more of the elegant French I have come to expect, and he made us all laugh and feel at home as he led us through the main areas and down into the lower levels.
I noticed as well that he made an effort to single out each person in the group, asking questions or including a person to illustrate a point about the mosque.
Mine was:
"Madame, do you see the writing in Arabic above that column?
Do you know what it says?
It says "Interdit aux blondes" (Forbidden to blondes)."
After we had a good laugh, he smiled and said, "What it really says, Madame, is, 'All this is made possible by God.'"
My writing skills are unequal to the task of doing justice to this extraordinary structure. I am sure you can find better descriptions in books and on the Net. Here is one. I shall, nevertheless, do my poor best to tell you what I saw and what I felt.
My first thought was: such elegant simplicity and luminosity, such spacious grandeur. As we moved around the inside of the mosque and approached the walls and the the ceilings, I completely changed my vision and suddenly everything became complex - a dance of intricate, changing patterns repeated perfectly. The grand chandeliers above my head reminded me of Dale Chihuly's work.
Three of the four elements, air, earth, and water, were all represented: the roof that opens to reveal the sun (or the stars), the stone columns and floor, the carved wood of the gallery, and the river that flows down the center aisle.
And all the technology was cunningly hidden from view in the middle of the patterns that graced the ceiling and walls. Necessary but secondary - nothing that would distract a visitor (or more importantly a believer) from the visual beauty and harmony surrounding him or her.
I left the mosque with a sense of peace as though some hungry part of my senses and spirit were fed in the brief time I spent there. I will come back and I will try (if allowed) to visit the grand mosque in Paris when I return home.
Tomorrow: the old quarter the sea and the bazaar.
And a passing view of the King, Mohammed VI...
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Flophouse in Morocco - Purpose
It all started in Tokyo.
I had been dreaming for nearly 10 years of going back to school. But the time was never right. I looked at brochures, I consulted web sites, I talked to people who had done it, but there was always something else going on at work or at home that had me shelving my dream and soldiering on.
Then one day I realized that, by default, I was on what Ferriss calls the Deferred Life Program. This is when you tell yourself the following, "Some day when I get rich/am successful/get promoted/the kids go to college/I retire, I will go back to school/travel more/start my own company and it will be a fine adventure."
In the interim, of course, you churn in frustration waiting for that magical day when you can stop living your practical, responsible, comfortable existence and do the things you've always wanted to do. In Tokyo in 2007 I decided to stop dreaming and start doing.
So I applied and, to my astonishment, was accepted at the Temple University Japan MBA program in Tokyo. I was having the time of my life when another opportunity presented itself and we moved back to Paris. But I was not about to give up. After getting over the reverse culture shock I went looking for another program so I could continue my studies. One of my professors in Japan suggested the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees International School of Management. I met with the Dean, Tawfik Jelassi, and a few months later I was back in school.
At the end of 2010 I had only two classes remaining and I thought it would be a shame to finish up my coursework without taking advantage of the fine network of sister schools that ENPC has all over the world. So I asked to take my very last class at the Ecole Hassania des Travaux Publiques in Morocco (EHTC). Dean Jelassi gave his blessing and Said Dhaibi of EHTC made all the arrangements. Monday morning I flew out of Paris and Monday evening in Casablanca I was being welcomed by Professor Stuart Chambers and the participants of the EHTC Executive MBA program.
George Bernard Shaw
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Flophouse in Morocco - Arrival
Outbound this morning on the 7:25 Air France flight from Paris and arrived right on time at 9:45 local time.
Woke up near the end of the flight, looked out the window and thought, "I must have taken the wrong flight. This looks like Ireland."
Passed the controls, found a cab and headed into town. It had rained the day before and everything was green and lush and stunningly beautiful. And a good 7 degrees warmer than Paris.
Shared these observations with the cab driver and we started chatting away. I liked his French (elegant) and I liked him (an older courtly gentleman).
Just before we arrived at the hotel the cabbie gently gave me some fatherly advice: no walking around after dark by yourself in this neighborhood, keep your cell phone and computer out of sight and so on. Then he laughed, looked at me slyly in the rear-view mirror and said, "Nothing against you, Madame, and nothing against foreigners in particular. It's just the way things are."
For the advice, the obvious concern and the great conversation I was more than happy to pay the slightly (only slightly) elevated fare when we arrived at the hotel.
I know a number of Moroccan expatriates through school and work in France and my overall impression has been that these folks are the salt of the earth: hard-working, hospitable and generous. My first day in Morocco has certainly confirmed that.
Tomorrow: Why the Flophouse pulled up stakes and headed south for the week.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Du bas ou du boa
Another offering from our guest poet, Corinne Texier.
Du bas ou du boa …
Il est étrange de pouvoir comprendre,
Comment une chose aussi transparente,
Dieux, mais que la nature est brillante.
D’un fil, un bas, je vais vous apprendre,
Le secret du boa de soie dévorant sa proie,
Mais quoi ? Oui une jambe, il va de soi.
Pour vous, je vais tenter de révéler,
Je sens déjà les regards sur moi portés,
Enfin façon de parler, juste sur la proie,
Longue, fine et musclée, pour le boa de soie.
Ce voile va sur elle doucement la protéger,
De vos doigts maintenant pressés de toucher.
Débutons notre étude par la mise en présence,
D’un bas et d’une jambe, admirer l’aisance.
Pour apprivoiser ce gant de soie si fin,
La main doit glisser délicatement afin,
Que le bras puisse venir le réveiller,
Et l’air lui aussi, en lui, s’engouffrer.
La position du corps doit être approprié,
Sinon gagez que la chute est aussitôt assurée.
Donc en appuis sur une fesse, jambes croisées,
Le corps en avant, afin que le pied soit touché,
Entre pouces et index, le boa tout recroquevillé.
Ecartons délicatement la bouche géante,
Sur ce délicat petit pied bientôt mangé.
Les pouces sur la peau posée, pour le guider,
Car la cheville maintenant doit être avalée ….
Faisons une pose, il ne faut pas le brusquer.
Comment non ! Dois je vraiment continuer ?
Mais vous êtes peut être fatigué de regarder.
Je ne sais, s’il me faut ainsi tout vous dévoiler.
C’est peut être un divertissement sans intérêt,
Mais sans vous, je ne peux que m’arrêter .....
Voilà qu’un matou, du boa vint s’approcher
Pattes de velours, il tenta par le cou de l’attraper.
Il semblait par la proie totalement hypnotisé.
Mais du repas, il ne devait que regarder.
Sur sa patte, une tape venait d’être donnée.
Le pied doucement sur sa poitrine pausé,
Dans un sursaut, la proie venant le repousser.
Le matou sur le cul venait alors de tomber.
Le boa ne pouvant de son repas laisser,
A ce félin effronté la possibilité de toucher.
Un index, sous son nez venait maintenant frétiller,
De gauche à droite rapidement pour le stopper.
La proie lentement se détendait pour le dîner,
Du festin le boa de soie de nouveau motivé.
De la cheville lentement il pouvait disposer.
Et hop la voilà goulûment dans sa gueule avalée.
Remontant sur la peau, le collier venant se déplier.
Une astuce doit être maintenant vous être mentionnée.
La jambe doit être légèrement relevée et déplier,
Ceci, afin de la cuisse et du genoux soulager.
Dos droit, jambes décroisées pour non courbaturer,
Et surtout du boa ainsi son avancer faciliter.
Cette position permet au poumon de respirer,
De laisser entrevoir leur rondeurs émoustillées.
Concentrons nous de nouveau sur son avancé !
De part et d’autre du mollet, sensuellement remonté,
L’aisance du boa et des doigts est à souligner.
L’intrépide lentement glisse sur la peau satinée.
Mais de la démonstration il faut d’autres invités,
Le matou est déjà par la souris subjuguée.
Le repas pour lui n’a pas encore sonné,
Et une pause de nouveau doit s’imposer.
La rondeur du genou ce voit annoncée …
Allez, osez ! Venez prés du matou, vous installer …
Mais qui voyons nous venir s’installer !
La conteuse rend hommage aux invités.
D’un petit cercle, la proie vient le saluer,
Comme un oiseau sous son nez voleter.
Nous allons donc pouvoir continuer.
Réveillons ce boa car de son dîné,
Il est loin d’avoir encore terminé.
Le genou est pour lui une difficulté,
Car sa bouche s’en voit fragilisée.
En effet, de la colline il doit passer,
De la rondeur, il faut de la dextérité.
La jambe maintenant de soie drapée,
Devant s’étendre et légèrement ce relever.
Vos yeux sur le genou doivent rester,
De la cuisse et l’intimité ne pas regarder.
Ne rester pas comme ceci, bouche bée !
Il vous faut rester absolument concentré.
Donc, de gauche à droite, avec agilité,
Lentement la soie se laisse appliquer.
Mais je vous entends déjà respirer,
Votre souffle par instant vous retenez.
N’ayez crainte, le boa est fort bien dressé,
La proie sait comment la soie charmer.
Goulûment, le serpent en fait qu’une bouchée,
Du genou maintenant il est enfin rassasié.
Les doigts sur la soie de la colline s’élancer,
Sur la pente de la cuisse fine et fuselée.
Attention, il ne faut surtout pas précipité,
Car sur une ronce de vos doigts peu l’accrocher.
La jambe doit absolument le boa retarder,
Et doucement le genou se replier,
Afin que sur le sol, le pied vienne se poser,
Les doigts devant la bouche de soie relâcher.
Car il faut le boa impérativement aider,
De ces mains la conteuse doit vérifier,
Que le boa de soie, sur la proie, soit bien posé.
La conteuse se délecte de pouvoir ainsi abuser.
De part et d’autre, les mains, du bout du pied,
Lentement vont maintenant remonter,
Enfin descendre, le terme sera plus approprié.
La jambe, pour votre plaisir s'est de nouveau levée.
Ecouté le chant du boa sous la peau satiné,
Imaginé comment les doigts sont électrisés,
La cheville, le tibia, et le genou rondelet …
Voilà, le collier de soie est presque appliqué,
Il ne lui reste que la dernière chevauchée...
Souhaitez-vous que je vous narre sa destinée ?
A ce que je vois, nous n’avons plus d’invité !
Mais de votre faim, je ne veux point vous laisser,
De votre attente sans fin je ne peux encore abuser
Bien que vos regards soient de moi très appréciés.
Donc le voici qui de nouveau semble affamé,
Mais de la cuisse, il ne peut d’un coup avaler,
La proie semble si longue et si musclée,
Que doucement, sur elle il lui faut glisser.
La cambrure du dos doit se prononcer,
La tête doucement venir se renverser,
Pour laisser la chevelure dans le dos couler,
Et ainsi la fesse opposée se contracter.
Avec cet appuis maintenant trouvé,
La jambe et le genou dessous se replier,
Afin que la taille fine puisse pivoter,
Et la poitrine à vos yeux montrer.
Maintenant que la proie est installée,
Le boa de soie du trésor va s’approcher.
Lentement le voilà entrain de remonter,
A mis cuisse, il vient de s’arrêter …
Car de part sa nature, il faut le soigner,
Et du temps il va lui falloir à digérer.
C’est pour cela qu’il faut penser à le fixer,
Et de dentelle il mérite d’être couronné.
Il nous faut pour un temps le laisser,
Je dois avant tout vous présenter,
A quoi le boa de soi vient de s’exposer,
Car la proie n’est celle que vous pensez.
Une fine dentelle de la taille va l’attacher,
Et les doigts dans le dos viennent l’accrocher,
De fine lanière le long de la cuisse sont révélées,
Il nous reste plus que du boa, sa bouche attrapée.
Prés du trésor le voici maintenant installé,
Tout lui semble à son goût et de vous apprécier,
Toujours cambrée …
Messieurs ! Veuillez un peu vous concentrer !
De la poitrine et du trésor, vos yeux abandonner,
Car uniquement du boa vous devez vous soucier,
D’une pince sur le haut de la cuisse facilement fixée,
Mais de votre aide en dessous, il me faut appeler.
Le quel d’entre vous aura autant de dextérité,
Et à la conteuse la suite maintenant narrer …
Mais que voici une Ombre bien téméraire,
Tel le boa sa main vient effleurer sa chair,
La conteuse frémie sous cette caresse légère,
Et du boa sa jambe la voilà enfin prisonnière.
La voici maintenant vers son pied se pencher,
Sa main légèrement venant aussitôt s’y poser,
Sa poitrine ronde et ferme de la cuisse effleurer,
Remontant lentement afin du boa bien ajuster.
Sa main remonte, lissant les courbes gracieuses,
Inlassablement, elle se fait douce et capricieuse,
Mais pour vous sa main est une torture odieuse,
Remontant … Et du trésor, effleurant la fleur radieuse.
La voici qui sur le bas de son ventre, la charmeuse,
Ce jouant du boa, elle se veut pour vous capiteuse,
Trouvez vous que sa main est des plus chanceuse,
Mais elle est pour l’instant de votre désir la voleuse.
Un frisson vient faire virevolter sa poitrine.
Est-ce le résultat de cette caresse coquine ?
Ou sur sa hanche cette brûlure divine ?
Mais il nous faut penser aussi à sa voisine.
Et d’un autre boa nous saisir pour bien faire,
Car la nature pour vous les a fait naître par pair,
Et l’autre proie en appel à son jumeau de frère,
Pour que d’harmonie ces boas puissent satisfaire.
Mais le voici qui se voit un peu rebelle,
Qui de sa bouche se refuse à la belle,
Et sur le sol, le voici rampant loin d’elle,
Mais viendrez vous aider la Damoiselle ?
Car il me semble que celui là est assez rétif,
Et de la conteuse, il est peut être craintif ?
Dans ces yeux ne voyez vous pas l’objectif,
Qui de vous sera ... Du boa le plus inventif ?
Corinne Texier
Friday, January 21, 2011
National Caricatures
The French are...
The Brits are...
The Americans are...
We've all done it. A moment of frustration in a strange land or a chat between friends that starts harmlessly enough but takes a nasty twist.
Those darn cultural stereotypes. Those comments about national characters. Intellectually, we know this is a crass and demeaning sport better suited to our ignorant and misguided ancestors. Much as we all would like to think that we have progressed, we still do it at one time or another. The only difference I see is that now it appears that we've acquired some shame to go along with the activity which only serves to make it all the spicier.
It's also a sport with a long history. In former days there was a Polish proverb that said:
'What an ITALIAN invents,
The GERMAN sells,
The POLE buys, and
the RUSSIAN takes from him."
If you would like to read more, look no further than the pages of the New York Times here and amuse yourself with a grand collection of caricatures from the 18th and 19th century.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The French/American Divide - a Few Good Books
In a previous post, I expressed my overall disappointment with the books I’ve read about moving to and living in France. (To name names, I loathe both Mayle and Gopnik)
In compensation for that sweeping generalization, here are a few books that I think are well worth reading if you have a genuine interest in bridging the cultural chasm.
Warning! These are books that may make you uncomfortable. You could be offended by the authors’ conclusions about French or American culture. They will, however, get the grey matter stirring and make you question what you think you already know about Them.
Beyond Culture by Edward T. Hall
Very good book that proposes a model for how to approach and interpret another culture. For example, Hall talks about high-context (French) and low-context (English) culture. No value judgements on his part – both are fine – but you navigate differently depending on which one find yourself dealing with. He makes a good case for his belief that French and Japanese cultures have a lot in common and are very much alike.
Cultural Misunderstandings: The French-American Experience/Evidences invisibles: Américains et Français au quotidien by Raymonde Carroll
The author tackles some of the most sensitive topics that cause real tension between French and Americans. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Americans’ attitude toward money and her suggestion that the French have very similar feelings about sex.
Français et Américains: l’autre rive/French and Americans: the Other Shore by Pascal Baudry
I gave this book to the elder Frenchling to read when she started asking tough questions about why Americans think one way and the French another. M. Baudry has a doctorate in psychology and the book explores what he thinks are the foundations of our cultural programming. His description of what happens between a mother and child in a typical American playground versus what happens in the French equivalent is, from my experience 100% dead on. Both the French and English versions of his book are available on-line for free here
Sacrés Français : un Américain Nous Regarde by Ted Stanger
This is the book I loan to my French friends and colleagues when I am being bombarded with questions about why Americans think this or that. It has very astute observations about French versus U.S. culture. His style is conversational (how he manages to sound like a Good Old Boy in French is beyond me) and he has a very gentle and funny way of introducing sensitive topics. The last person I gave this book to (a colleague at work) reported back that he enjoyed it very much but some of the chapters had him swallowing hard and fighting to move on to the next page. However, his overall judgement was that it was a fair book and well worth reading.
Bonne lecture!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Flophouse Favorite #4 - Cordes et Ame
Not too far from the St. Lazare train station on the rue de Rome is “Luthier Row”, a collection of shops selling all manner of stringed instruments: cellos, violins, violas...
In 2002 I decided to start playing again and went looking for a violin. I wanted something suitable for an amateur (not too dear) but with a good sound. A friend suggested that I try one of the shops there. After wandering around a bit I found exactly what I wanted at a place called Cordes et Ame - a beautiful 100 year old French violin.
My French violin from the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Colin dated 1901.
I won’t say that the service was impeccable because that is too poor a description of the experience. The owner was more of a guide, a trusted counsellor, in my quest to find the right instrument for me.
I even kept the receipt as a souvenir of that day - the handwriting was so lovely.
Cordes et Ame
46, rue de Rome
75008 Paris
Tel: 01 42 93 42 91
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Immigrant Rage
There is one thing that consistently irritates me in almost every book I’ve ever read by an Anglo-Saxon who took up residence in France; they write adventure tales about how they discovered the quaint and exotic natives and their strange customs.
These books bother me for two reasons:
• They reinforce positive but limiting stereotypes about the French.
• They never talk about the dark side - the long struggle toward some level of assimilation - that has you crying in your kitchen and swearing that you will be on the next plane out in the morning.
France is a country with nuclear technology (this includes nuclear submarines) and a highly developed, high-speed transportation system and is home to multi-national corporations in the areas of environmental services and software development. If I were asked (and I am asked often) to characterize the French I would say: quick, smart, and creative with a streak of perverse cruelty toward each other and strangers (it’s called ‘bizutage’)
The culture is implicit which means you have a lot to learn before you can function. The bizarre twist is that no one will explain the rules to you - figuring it out on your own is a test of your intelligence. It is a negative feedback system; you don’t know that you’ve done something wrong until someone angrily points out your error.
All this can lead to a state that Eva Hoffman called “immigrant rage” against the culture you find yourself swimming in. This is the dark side of assimilation. It’s a state of high sensitivity where any innocuous statement can set you off. You feel fragmented and lost when all you really want is to feel “normal”. From Lost in Translation:
“I don’t want to be told that ‘exotic is erotic’ or that I have Eastern European intensity or brooding Galician eyes. I no longer want to be propelled by immigrant chutzpah or desperado energy or usurper’s ambition. I no longer want to have the prickly, unrelenting consciousness that I am living in a specific culture. It’s time to roll down the scrim and see the world directly, as the world. I want to reenter, through whatever Looking Glass will take me there, a state of ordinary reality.”
For me I passed through the Looking Glass one day after I had dropped the girls off at nursery school and I was riding the bus to work in Nanterre. I looked around me and saw the ados in black going to school, the old ladies in their fur coats and funny hats, and the North Africans chatting in a mix of Arabic and French and realized that I wasn’t afraid or anxious or angry. They weren’t foreign to my anymore and I wasn’t out of place. This world had become my new normal, my state of ordinary reality.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Guest Room
The Franco-American Flophouse in Versailles is quite charming: lovely garden, nice terrace, fireplace, hardwood floors and a respectable kitchen. But, it has limited space and, if you visit, you'll have to share a bathroom with two teenagers.
For those of you who find that this does not meet your expectations for luxury and French Old Regime decadence, you will have another option sometime in late 2011.
A mansion on the castle grounds (which has served as a Finance Ministry and a mess hall for the Army) is being transformed into a luxury hotel. Photo and article here.
Please be aware that if you choose this option, but still wish for a Franco-American breakfast on a Sunday morning or an afternoon beer on the terrace in MY garden, it is a 20 minute walk along the Avenue de Paris from castle to flophouse.
From the 17th century to the 20th.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Flophouse Favorite #3 - Good Day Books
Mentally stretch and imagine for a moment Tokyo as a suburb of Paris (a little like Belgium or Luxembourg).
Then take any Parisian metro line and extend it across the Eurasian continent, under the Sea of Japan, to the Ebisu Station on the JR Yamanote line.
Exit the station, stroll a bit and you will find Good Day Books.
This little gem of a bookstore in Tokyo was a frequent hangout of mine when I lived in Japan. I was a proud member of the Bookclub, a discussion group for political junkies animated by the owner, Steve.
Good Day Books is the “largest English bookshop in Tokyo” and it is a marvel. Only bookstore I’ve ever been in that made me feel really REALLY guilty for ordering books through
Even if you are only in Tokyo for a few days, stop by and chat up Steve. Remarkable guy, amazing selection of new and used books, a “home” for those of us who like to spend our Sunday afternoons debating the fate of the world.
Good Day Books
3F Asahi Building
1-11-2 Ebisu
Tokyo 150-0013
Tel: 03-5421-0957
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Hacking French
Allow me to direct you to someone who I think has found two of the essential ingredients for learning a second language: a positive attitude and empathy. Benny the Irish Polygot is a Global Nomad who believes that he has found the secret to quick and easy second-language acquisition. His site is called Fluent in 3 Months and, while I cannot vouch for his method, I believe that his enthusiasm and open-mindedness are key to his success.
I firmly believe that there is an important link between opening your mind to a culture and a people and successfully learning another language. If you don’t like the people that you ostensibly wish to communicate with, your motivation and, ultimately, your goal is compromised from the start.
For example, if you don’t like English-speakers (be they Brits, Americans, or Australians) - in fact, if you have a bad attitude toward the Anglo-Saxon world in general - you have created an enormous wall between you and them that will spill over into your efforts to learn English.
Benny has an excellent post here about his experiences studying French in Paris. He arrived overflowing with goodwill and a desire to learn which disappeared in a few short months. Instead of blaming the Parisians, Benny took a good hard look at himself and decided to change his approach (among other things he discovered the System D.) He called it “starting with a clean slate and opening your mind.”
If you are just starting to learn another language or, if you have struggled for years to master one, a good place to start is by taking inventory of your attitudes and prejudices toward the people who speak your target language.
Then sweep the halls of your mind clean and begin again.
Friday, January 7, 2011
I have always been intrigued and impressed by my French friends’ deep appreciation for poetry.
They start young. When the Frenchlings were in elementary school I remember them sitting at the dining room table memorizing poems for French class. They must have learned hundreds of poems, some of which they can recite even today. Over the years and with a lot of guidance from friends, I’ve come to love it too.
So I was delighted when my friend and colleague, Corinne Texier, gave me permission to post some of her work here.
In English the title of the poem is “Strangeness”. Not wishing to be a “translator, traitor,” I have not translated it into English since I know I couldn’t capture her meaning in a way that would do it justice. May you enjoy it as much as I did.
Le vent doucement vient de s’apaiser,
Les oiseaux n’osent plus à cet instant chanter,
Le silence comme une feuille sur le sol posé,
Les rides du lac lentement viennent à s’effacer.
Sur ces berges un fantôme semble se dessiner,
Au témoin le voile garde ces traits dissimulés,
Mais ressent le silence que le spectre a imposé,
Il s’approche de l’onde et vient si agenouiller.
On distingue alors ces mains toutes décharnées
Que le vent d’un souffle pourrait briser,
Le témoin à cet instant s’arrête de respirer,
Vers lui le visage lentement vient de se tourner.
La main gracieuse, le voile semble attraper,
Révélant ce visage que le temps à ravagé,
Sur vous son regard, elle vient de poser,
Elle ne semble pas des berges vouloir bouger.
Vers elle maintenant vous vous avancez,
Vous discernez nettement son visage atrophié,
Prés d’elle sur le sol à ses coté, vous venez,
Dans ses yeux noirs vous y retrouvez le passé.
Elle se penche alors vers le miroir de pureté,
Son visage comme par magie vient se refléter,
Il n’est pas celui que vous semblez regarder,
Mais seulement ce que la vie semble lui laisser.
Dans quel miroir le soir voulez vous regarder ?
Celui de ce lac qui seul restitue la beauté ?
Ou celui de mon cœur sous les brumes cachées ?
Une larme des yeux noirs dans le lac est tombée.
Une si petite chose pouvait donc tout effacer,
Comme une flèche le cœur venant transpercer,
Le visage dans l’eau, c’est par magie volatilisée,
Ce spectre a-t-il pour vous réellement existé ?
Moi je l’ai sur cette berge rencontrée,
Un rêve qui me montrait une réalité,
Et les larmes sur mes joues ont coulé,
Dans ce miroir je voulais tant y regarder.
Corinne Texier
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Flophouse Favorite #2 - Les Diablotins (formerly Les Galopins)
Restaurant Les Diablotins, 27 rue des Meuniers, Suresnes
When I was working in Suresnes this place was very popular. For those of us who ate there often, it was practically the company cafeteria. There was even a story (probably apocryphal) about one executive who knew the wine list so well that he would bypass the waiter, go straight to the cellar and select his very own bottle of wine from their fine selection.
Really, really good food. The menu is here.
Get a reservation and go for lunch. There is a very nice park across the street so you can walk off your crème brulée. They are closed in August (yes, the entire month) so plan accordingly.
The most memorable meal I had here was right after my boss (two companies ago), the much-loved and greatly respected CIO, announced that she was leaving the company.
My Operations Director and I left the meeting room, walked out onto the streets of Suresnes and headed straight for the restaurant where we ordered:
An aperitif (kir)
The Côte de boeuf for two (a huge slab of perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth, bloody rare, beef )
A nice bottle of Bordeaux (also for two)
Dessert (it was either the Fondant au chocolat or the Crumble)
The meal was superb and, after the third glass of wine or so, we cheered up and started plotting our next career move.
Restaurant Les Diablotins
Tel : 01 45 06 54 54
They also take email reservations
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
What is a "Flophouse"?
When I was a child growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I lived in a house in Seattle that everyone called “The Thackeray Street Hotel”. This house (also called “The Blue House” by the Frenchlings) was located on Thackeray Street in the Wallingford District of Seattle, not far from the University of Washington.
I’m not sure who first came up with the idea of calling it a “hotel” but I surely know why; it was an open house in the best sense of that term. Almost every day there were people popping in and out; some stayed for dinner, some for a night and some practically moved in for months at a time. It wasn’t a large house by any means but there was always room for a friend or a friend of a friend to sleep and there was always space at the dinner table for “just one more if we squeeze the chairs together a bit tighter.” At one time there were so many keys to this house floating around that my parents were no longer sure who had one and who might unexpectedly appear in the evening hours. Interesting people: lawyers, artists, scientists, engineers, anthropologists, jazz and folk musicians, public radio aficionados, a retired Federal Appeals Court judge and at least one hobo.
So when the time came to found my own household I looked for name of my very own. One that captured the bi-cultural nature of the family, the transient nature of our living situation and the hope that we would have our own collection of interesting people to visit us wherever we decided to live.
“Franco-American” was obvious. As a synonym for “hotel”, the archaic American “flophouse” seemed appropriate. When I put the two together I thought that “Franco-American Flophouse” tripped nicely off the tongue.
For those who wish for a formal definition, Wikipedia says: “a place that offers very cheap lodging, generally by providing only minimal services... Occupants of flophouses generally share bathroom facilities and reside in very tight quarters." A very accurate description of every apartment I've ever lived in and the house I own today in Porchefontaine (55 square meters).
Unlike the Thackeray Street Hotel, the Franco-American Flophouse is not a physical place. On the contrary, it will never have a fixed location. But it travels well and has found homes in Seattle, Tokyo, Courbevoie, Suresnes, Paris, Versailles, Osaka and now Brussels.
Think of it as a state of mind; a place where the door is always open, you have your own key and there is always a place at the table for someone with an open mind and a gracious heart.
Francis Bacon
Saturday, January 1, 2011
French: a Passport or a Citadel?
“For any speaker of it, a given language is at once either more or less his own or more or less someone else’s, and either more or less cosmopolitan or more or less parochial - a borrowing or a heritage; a passport or a citadel. The question of whether, when, and for what purposes to use it is thus also a question of how far a people should form itself by the bent of its genius and how far by the demand of its times.”
Clifford Geertz
The Interpretation of Cultures
My Frenchlings are bi-lingual by birth; I am bi-lingual by choice.
When I arrived in France in 1989 I was a mono-lingual American who had taken French classes in high school and university but who was incapable upon arriving in Paris of ordering a baguette in a bakery. Surviving a job interview was out of the question. Writing the thank you notes after my wedding was pure torture. My first job was with an NGO in Paris where the working language was English.
At the time I perceived French as this enormous hurdle I would have to overcome to be able to function normally in this country. Today I see French as the vehicle, my passport, through which I can move freely though worlds I never knew existed. This poem by Robert Desnos, for example, which has the power to move me to tears every time I read it:
Or the excellent novel, Les Bienveillantes by Jonathon Littell which had such terrible reviews in the Anglo-Saxon press that I questioned the competence of the English translator.
Beyond the world of the arts, French has made friendships and business relationships possibIe in places far beyond the borders of the Hexagone. Every day, I meet, work and study with people from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It was in French that I discovered Quebec, Canada. It was French that gave a new dimension to my all too brief relationship with my French-speaking great-grandmother, Celestine Amans.
And if that were not sufficient reason to make me a proud Francophone, here are three more I came up with over my morning coffee:
Primo - it is the most beautifully precisely imprecise language I have ever encountered. Why do you think it was the language of diplomacy for so many years?
Secundo - its demise has been greatly exaggerated and it is more widely spoken than many people think with more than 200+ million native and bi-lingual speakers.
Tertio - since I do speak it, I feel I own a part of it even if I am not French.
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Removing the heart of Obamacare
Larry Levitt and Harold Pollack speculate about 'surgeries' the ACA might face as Republicans scheme to remove the law's vital organs
Larry Levitt Curbside Consult
Larry Levitt, of the Kaiser Family Foundation, left, and Curbside Consult host Harold Pollack
Larry Levitt is one of the nation’s leading experts on health reform. He is Senior Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he heads the foundation’s program that tracks implementation of the Affordable Care Act. We caught up just after election day to discuss how Republican victories might change the on-the-ground realities of health reform.
Transcript of Part 2 (of 3):
The 2014 election
Harold Pollack: Let’s get to the election. Republicans did well on Tuesday. How do you think that’s going to change the on-the-ground reality of health reform?
Larry Levitt: In many ways, it’s not going to change things very much at all. I think the law is highly likely to remain intact. Even if Republicans are successful in some of their proposals to change the law, I don’t think any of those get to the heart of the law or cross the line that the President drew in the sand regarding anything that rolls back the coverage expansions.
I think the biggest effect is probably in the states. Had some of the governors’ races – or state legislative races – gone differently, we might have seen more states moving to expand Medicaid. I don’t think that’s likely to happen now. It’s highly unlikely.
Harold Pollack: What are the states where you’d particularly make that comment?
Larry Levitt: There were a number of governors’ races that were up in the air in states that haven’t yet expanded. For example, Maine might have gone differently. In Alaska they still haven’t called the election, and that could still go differently.
I don’t think any states are going to roll back. There’s some fear of that in Arkansas, particularly with the idiosyncrasies that their legislative process that require super-majority vote to reaffirm the program.
I think in the short term, the biggest affect of the election is maybe just the amount of noise it’s creating and how that might drown out public education efforts as we head into the second open enrollment.
If you look at the last open enrollment period, there was a lot of hoopla leading up to it and then an awful lot of hoopla once the website didn’t work. It’s pretty quiet right now. In fact, most of the air is being sucked out by discussion of what we’re just having, about what the election means. I think very little discussion of helping to educate consumers about their choices. And we know that consumers are confused.
Harold Pollack: Just on this point of consumer confusion, if you had five minutes to talk to every American over the East German-style PA system installed in every home (which I believe was one of the components of Obamacare), how would you use that five minutes to educate people?
Larry Levitt: Someone from Europe asked me yesterday, “So what is this Obamacare?” I needed to explain it simply. Really, it’s a very simple thing. Most people have insurance through an employer and people should take up those options if they can because you are subject to a fine if you don’t have insurance.
For those that don’t have access to insurance through an employer, there are options available to you. Go to, find out what those options are, figure out if you’re eligible. There’s substantial help available.
We’re talking about tax credits of thousands of dollars that many low and middle income people can qualify for. It’s a substantial benefit to people. They just need to know where to go. For those who don’t have access to a computer, there are probably not enough consumer assistance resources available in the community but there are resources available to help.
Harold Pollack: If people signed up last year, they need to double check that the plan they’re in still makes the most sense for them.
Larry Levitt: Absolutely. The way the intricacies of the way these tax credits work, they’re based on a benchmark plan, the second-lowest cost Silver plan in the area. The good news is that insurers are competing to be that benchmark plan. It’s almost textbook competition. Insurers are in many cases lowering their premiums, which is almost unheard of in healthcare in order to be one of those low-cost insurers. That’s the good news. That will certainly save the government money in tax credits they have to provide.
The bad news is it makes it more complex for consumers. Most consumers gravitated toward those low-cost insurers in the first year. If that insurer they signed up for is no longer a low cost insurer, they could find themselves with a big premium increase if they don’t shop around. People are going to be hearing messages over the next couple of weeks a lot about the need to shop.
Likely changes (or non-changes) to ACA
Harold Pollack: Let’s talk about what the Republicans might do now that they have a pretty solid Senate majority and a very large House majority. How do you think they will try to change the Affordable Care Act?
Larry Levitt: I would imagine they will try for a repeal vote, repealing the whole law, repealing the individual mandate and repealing the employer requirement. Even if those pass, the President will veto them. So I don’t think those will succeed.
Then I imagine they’ll turn to smaller tweaks to the law. A number of things have been talked about. There is altering the employer requirement, in particular altering the definition of full-time workers. Moving that from 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week.
There’s been a lot of talk of repealing the medical device tax, which was one of the taxes in the law used to finance the coverage expansions. Maybe introducing a Copper plan which would provide skimpier coverage than the lowest cost Bronze plan.
Right now I wouldn’t be surprised if they went after the IPAB, the board that’s there to recommend changes to Medicare if costs rise too quickly. These are all things that either appeal to certain interest groups or strike an ideological cord.
Harold Pollack: It’s striking that most of the things likely to be changed tend to increase costs or decrease revenue. The rhetoric against ACA claims to seek deficit reduction. Yet as Jon Chait points out, the actual provisions they go after are cost-containment or revenue provisions.
Larry Levitt: Absolutely. To get a law that costs money or increases the deficit, you generally have to find offsets to that. I suspect that will be the case here as well. I expect it will be much easier to get consensus or get enough votes for these changes that will be to get consensus on how to pay for them. For example, changing the threshold for full-time workers to 30 to 40 hours a week would increase the deficit by over $80 billion.
Harold Pollack: Can you explain why it would increase the deficit?
Should we weaken the employer mandate?
Larry Levitt: There are two reasons. First, moving that threshold means that there are fewer workers for whom employers are required to provide coverage or pay a penalty. You’re reducing the number of workers subject to the employer requirement. If employers don’t provide coverage to them, they will owe lower penalties. This reduces revenues to the federal government.
Second, it means employers will provide coverage to fewer number of workers. If those workers end up in the marketplaces or in Medicaid, this increases federal expenditures.
Harold Pollack: From a broader policy perspective, it will cost the federal government money but aren’t there real advantages to doing that? People will end up insured. Companies will offer higher wages to their part-time workers. Might there be some benefits to a change like that?
Larry Levitt: Yeah. The employer mandate is a tough issue both economically and ideologically. For the most part we’re talking about very-low-wage workers. Higher-wage workers can command health benefits. I don’t think that’s going to change. They’re going to have employer based health insurance in a vast majority of cases. That will be true for the foreseeable future.
We’re talking here about low-wage workers. Someone earning $15,000, $20,000 a year, the cost of a family health insurance policy costs almost as much as the wages some workers are getting … It’s not surprising they’re not covered,
Harold Pollack: For my own health insurance, the University of Chicago kicks in $17,000 a year, which would be about $8.50 an hour for a full-time worker. It’s unrealistic to expect low-wage employers to be paying anything close to that for the health benefits for their employees.
Larry Levitt: Absolutely. The way we subsidize employer-provided health insurance in this country is through the tax system. Those employer provided benefits are tax-free. This is a very regressive way to provide subsidies because it’s based on your marginal tax rate. If you’re a low-wage worker, your marginal tax rate is very low so you’re actually getting a smaller subsidy from the federal Government for that employer to provide health insurance.
Conversely if you don’t have access to employer-provided health benefits and you can go get insurance through an ACA marketplace, you’re getting an income based subsidy that’s much more substantial if you’re lower wage.
Those workers, if they do get higher wages, and that is an if, particularly in short term, they’re almost certainly better off not getting employer provided health benefits than getting them. It sounds counter-intuitive but it’s likely true.
Harold Pollack: If you were a liberal advocate advising President Obama or other liberals, would you whisper: “Why don’t you pretend to be really upset about the Republicans getting rid of the employer mandate and let them have a victory,” and then feel like, “Hey in the long run getting rid of the employer mandate would actually serve liberal ends if we just let it go.”
Larry Levitt: No question getting rid of the employer mandate would in many cases make low-wage workers better off. It also takes some difficult politics off the table. Many of the anecdotes we heard last fall – and I suspect we’ll hear them again this fall – are about employers reducing hours for workers and that is a consequence of putting that threshold at 30 hours per week.
Harold Pollack: Are those anecdotes actually representative of something that’s happening a lot? Do you think there are a lot of employers who are reducing employers hours because of ACA, or do you think it’s sort of anec-data that doesn’t really capture a larger reality?
Larry Levitt: I think the anecdotes are real. You can’t dispute the anecdotes. We’re not talking about a large number of employers or a large number of workers here. There just aren’t that many workers who are uninsured and working near that 30 hour threshold.
It’s not always so easy for employers to reduce hours. It’s disruptive to their business operations. It means they’ve got to hire more people and train more people. If they could have made these jobs part-time jobs already, they probably would have done it.
Harold Pollack: That’s the employer mandate. You mentioned a couple of other things; one was the medical device tax. Isn’t that sort of the normal pork barrel politics in Washington? Here’s an industry that just doesn’t want to pay a tax and they may be able to convince Congress to get rid of it. Is there any larger policy significance of this than just, “They’ve got more lobbyists than some other people?”
Do we care about that medical device tax?
Larry Levitt: I would say no. There isn’t much in the way of policy rationale for having the tax or not having the tax. It was mostly about getting money to finance the Medicaid expansion and the marketplace tax credits.
It’s not the only tax here. There’s the health insurance tax, there’s a pharmaceutical tax, there’s a tanning salon tax. The medical device makers seem to have more clout at the moment.
Individual mandate
Harold Pollack: You mentioned two other things. How about the individual mandate? That’s the only element of the law that is really unpopular. I would assume that Republicans would make an effort to attack that. That seems like a more integral part of the law that the President has to defend.
Larry Levitt: Yeah, the President was very clear in his post election press conference that’s he’s not willing to touch that part of the law. There may be tweaks to it. You could alter the exemptions. In fact, I think it’s not well known that a very large percentage of the uninsured are actually exempt from the individual mandate through one mechanism or another. I can see some tweaks to it but at least while President Obama’s in office I can’t see them being able to appeal it.
Harold Pollack: One of the challenges to appealing it … it seems to me that the individual mandate also kind of ratifies a social contract: We’re going to give you good insurance but you have to take it even if you’re young and healthy. If you take away the mandate, it becomes easier to chip away at on the coverage side. You’re removing one element of that reciprocal obligation
Larry Levitt: I think that’s true. You’re also potentially disrupting the insurance markets significantly. It’s not clear you can guarantee insurance to people and not obligate them to take it one way or another.
Harold Pollack: It seems like the insurance industry will lobby to not mess with the individual mandate.
Larry Levitt: Oh no, the insurance industry will go to the ramparts to stop that from happening.
Harold Pollack: The Republicans have to decide whether they want to have a relationship with the insurance industry, or whether they want to attack the business model of many of the big insurers.
Larry Levitt: In many ways, you look at the insurance industry, they were split on the ACA originally. Some elements the industry supported, others either sat on the sidelines or seemed to oppose it. It looks like they’re all mostly profiting now. Insurers, like many businesses, like predictability. If you tell them what the rules are, they’ll learn to live within the rules. What they don’t like is having those change capriciously on them.
Harold Pollack: It is ironic that the opponents of the Affordable Care Act are people who’ve talked about how we’re disrupting the business climate through political mumbo jumbo and through legal interference and the legislative process. All of the business uncertainty around health reform has been, “Are the courts going to strike this down?” Or: “Are Republicans really going to knock off one of the big pillars of ACA?” Creating this regulatory and legal uncertainty that makes it hard for these firms to do the basic blocking and tackling of doing what the law asked them to do.
Larry Levitt: That’s true. I’d say, to be fair there was uncertainty during the implementation and some delays in regulations that made it difficult for insurers and employers but I think we’re mostly beyond that at this point.
Initial screw-ups of
Harold Pollack: I don’t know how much the epic failure of affected the election, but there’s an aspect of this whereby you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You can’t blame Republicans for that initial failure, which was, in terms of public perception, fairly catastrophic.
Larry Levitt: Absolutely. Although I think there’s a theory which I don’t think is crazy. There was so much public exposure to the failures of that it might be that ultimately once the website was working more people knew about the law and actually went to enroll than would have otherwise.
Harold Pollack: One of my theories is from journalist Garance Franke-Ruta. She notes that low-income people are used to very imperfect and sometimes lousy public services they really need. Many were unsurprised that they had to be patient with as the government figures out how to tie its shoes.
For middle-class people, the idea that website doesn’t work is bizarre. The idea is less bizarre for low-income people receiving food stamps or unemployment insurance or TANF benefits. These Americans have already experienced bureaucracy at it’s finest. They needed the insurance; so they were ready to ride it out.
Larry Levitt: Think about it, there were long delays in people getting on Medicaid during this whole period. A lot of attention was paid to that in the failures of
Harold Pollack: Here in Illinois, getting onto Medicaid is a very frustrating process. Getting off of Medicaid when you get a job is also a frustrating process.
Larry Levitt: Right.
Should marketplaces offer a Copper plan?
Harold Pollack: You mentioned the Copper plan. What do you think of the idea of offering a cheaper, less generous health insurance package, something along the lines of this Copper plan. What are the pros and cons of that?
Larry Levitt: One of the important things the ACA did was to largely standardize benefits across insurance plans within a state. When you think about insurance plans, there are really two components. There’s the services it covers, the benefits it covers and then how much it covers those benefits. Then there is the cost sharing; how much you have to pay in deductibles and co-pays.
The benefits are largely standardized across plans and they are identical across Bronze plans, Silver plans, Gold and Platinum plans. The differences are all about the cost sharing. Much higher deductibles in Bronze plans, little or no deductibles in Platinum plans. A Copper would not be skimpier in that it would cover fewer things but it would be skimpier in that it would have much higher deductibles.
To give you a sense, Bronze plans typically have deductibles in the $4,000 to $6,000 range. A Copper plan as it’s been defined would have to have a deductible upwards of $9,000 per person. We’re talking about very, very catastrophic coverage.
On one hand, it would be attractive to some people, particularly higher-income people who have the money to cover that deductible. If they’re healthy, it might be a very good deal. It might moderate some of the rate shock that some people have experienced who were previously buying their own insurance and had to move to ACA compliant plans.
There’s some advantages there. I don’t think it would attract a big market share, even the Bronze plans have not been all that popular, particularly among people who were receiving subsidies which is 85 percent of the people in the marketplaces. The worry you would have is that some lower-income people would see that they have to pay something to enroll in a Silver plan and they would see this Copper plan out there that would require zero premium once you take your tax credit into account and they would sign up for it and then realize that Number One, they’ve left a lot of cautionary subsidies on the table.
Those are only available on Silver plans. Number Two, they’ve now got an insurance plan that’s essentially worthless to them because they don’t have the savings to cover the $9,000 deductible.
Harold Pollack: I wonder if there’s a way to couple the Bronze plan with some kind of savings incentive so that people could put aside whatever they’re saving every month into an account that they could use to help pay for some of their expenses? It’s so hard to save for so many people.
As you point out, I really worry that the Bronze plan and certainly the Copper plan, a bunch of people who sign up for these plans may just really run into trouble if they have a $5,000 bill. Is there some way we could help people set aside the money to deal with that possibility?
Larry Levitt: I think that can work for middle-income folks. For low-income folks there’s so little discretionary income that no matter how much they may want to save or no matter how much we may want them to save, it’s just a matter of getting by month to month and there’s really not a lot discretionary income there.
Pork-barrel politics
Harold Pollack: There’s some other things that also Republicans might want to do in the new law; one is to destroy the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) …
Larry Levitt: I think the IPAB will be a target. This is a board set up to make recommendations for changes to Medicare if Medicare spending was growing above certain targets. The amazing thing is Medicare spending has slowed down so significantly and we can debate why that might be the case, that IPAB is essentially irrelevant right now. Medicare spending is so far below the targets that the IPAB provisions won’t even kick in.
The truth is that for the IPAB to exist, the President has to appoint members to it, and those members have to be confirmed by the Senate. In this environment, I don’t think those numbers would ever be confirmed anyway. I’m not sure there’s much to be lost by putting IPAB on ice.
Harold Pollack: IPAB can be framed as a Democrat versus Republican issue but the real issue is it constrains Congress’ ability to micromanage Medicare and to do the pork barrel politics around Medicare procurement and particular services that people in Congress really love to do.
It is sort of frustrating that it’s very easy to pose this as some sort of an ideological issue of big government, but what it really is, is us trying to deal with a collective action problem that the Congress has that everybody believes in cost containment but if you have a wheelchair supplier in your district, you’re really not going to support competitive bidding for wheelchairs even though there’s a mountain of evidence that we could buy wheelchairs more cheaply through a different procurement mechanism.
Larry Levitt: Right. There were plenty of Democratic members of Congress who were not so thrilled with IPAB and having that control or parent control being taken away from them.
I’ve talked to many people who advocate a single payer system. In many ways, at least on paper, a single payer system has the potential to more effectively control increases in healthcare spending than anything we’ve got now. Ultimately you’re putting that power in the hands of elected officials and they may or may not end up controlling spending to the extent you think they would.
Harold Pollack: Many of my friends who support single payer have this image that such a system would be run by Hilary Clinton. The idea that it might be run by Senator Mitch McConnell or by President Mitt Romney leads some to think: “Wait a minute, single-payer may not be so great.” Imagine contraception coverage if we had President Ronald Reagan working with the current Congress; I don’t think advocates for family planning would be overjoyed by the likely outcome of that.
Larry Levitt: Right now, hospitals, physicians and drug companies are in there lobbying for payment rates under Medicare. Imagine if they were in there lobbying for payment rates for the entire healthcare system.
If bipartisan improvements were possible …
Harold Pollack: If the Messiah comes and the President, Senator McConnell, Speaker Boehner, and Republican Governors all got together and said, “Hey, we actually want to do some bipartisan negotiating to clean up some aspects of ACA,” what would you like to see them do?
Larry Levitt: We’re in a fantasy world here. I would think of two things in the law.
We talked a little bit about the Medicaid gap, more than four million poor adults are excluded because they live in states that have decided not to expand Medicaid. That to me feels like an unsustainable part of this law as amended by the Supreme Court. Figuring out some way to make sure that all poor people have access to coverage – regardless of where they live – that would be a basic fix. The drafters of the law didn’t anticipate the Supreme Court decision. So they couldn’t have anticipated this implication.
Rationalizing the employer requirements would also be important. It goes beyond whether the threshold for full time workers is 30 or 40 hours. You’ve ultimately got a pretty regressive employer mandate that applies the same regardless if you’re a low-wage worker or a high wage worker.
In fact, we have an uneven playing field where the subsidies available in the marketplaces are scaled where they’re higher for lower-income people and the subsides and employer-based insurance are higher for higher-income people. We should rationalize that nexus between employer-based insurance and marketplace insurance. Insuring that low-wage workers and employers of low-wage workers aren’t at a disadvantage would be important as well.
Another thing we talked about earlier: rationalizing the mechanics of the subsidies. These are more complex than they need to be because of this interaction with the tax system. Figuring out another way to do that, that makes it simple for both the government and for people.
The president’s ACA legacy
Harold Pollack: Just to close out, President Obama is going to leave office in two years. When he hands over the White House keys in January 2017, to whoever; what do you think will be the state of ACA?
Larry Levitt: We’ll have to see. We will have gone through four open enrollment periods by that point. I suspect we will have many more people signed up in the marketplaces. I suspect the old, non-complaint, non-group market will largely have disappeared. We’ll have a lot of people enrolled and a lot fewer people uninsured. I think at that point, frankly even now it’s hard to turn back the clock.
I would hope that at that point, following the next presidential election that we can move on to a more normal environment in debating issues around the ACA, like we now have around Medicare and Medicaid. We don’t debate the existence of Medicare and Medicaid year in, year out. When conservatives are in charge, the programs move in a more conservative direction. When liberals are in charge they move in a more liberal direction. Hopefully we get to that point on the ACA as well.
Harold Pollack: That’s a very optimistic vision. One of the ironies in this is that you have a law that is unpopular. Indeed it’s most unpopular in the places where it’s actually helped the most people. Yet on the ground it’s becoming embedded and changing millions of lives most, not all for the better.
Larry Levitt: Absolutely. Not everyone’s a winner under this law. There’s no way you could do something this complex and have everyone benefit. I think it’s certainly true that more people are benefiting than losing and it certainly has helped millions of people.
Part 1: Is Obamacare’s greatest challenge its namesake?
Part 3: Supreme implications for subsidies and states
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Curbside Consults | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '81', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.96650230884552}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '68576', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:OKLYBNE3EHESY7K5O4NQSLWEGOIND2WB', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:affad026-cf42-474c-9d5d-7e1ea434f87c>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 6, 20, 15, 40, 57), 'WARC-IP-Address': '204.246.68.54', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:ONOGBPTUNJ4DY4CSRWCGWONBC5UXUJIN', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:412108b9-d9a0-458f-b468-9867981b4b91>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2014/11/14/removing-the-heart-of-obamacare/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:b012089c-6365-486a-901b-14350966d346>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '4645', 'url': 'https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2014/11/14/removing-the-heart-of-obamacare/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-26\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for June 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-81-232-163.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.02912968397140503', 'original_id': '961dfd63314df43302dc5988501e9b56d600eeb978b4c468d8f5659387051768'} |
Luigi Saves The Day
Note: most of the characters in this story are Nintendo’s. The only Character I own is Cirith.
WHACK! Mario’s foot smacked into the side of Bowser’s face, sending Bowser flying into the side of the Mushroom Castle wall. They were right in the front yard of the Mushroom Castle, duking it out (for the trillionth time). Princess Toadstool watched from the sidelines while cheering Mario on. Mario charged at Bowser, hoping to knock him out. This time Bowser was ready. He breathed a huge stream of fire at Mario, knocking Mario over. Bowser approached his prey, and just before shooting a tremendous fireball at Mario, something hit Bowser on the head so fast, it not only knocked him out, but it bounced away again at light speed…
2 hours later
“I DIDN’T DO IT! CAN I BREATH FIRE????” Luigi yelled as everyone started accusing him for the third degree burn Mario had on his arm. Bowser had been brought back to the Koopa Kingdom by Mushroom officials. “Don’t believe him Your Highness!” Yelled the Mushroom Prime Minister. “He’s just trying to trick you so he can do it again!” “Ah, screw this! Koopa treats his minions better than this!” Luigi finished as he stormed away from the Mushroom Kingdom.
“Hey everyone! Lets have another tennis tournament!” the Princess suddenly suggested. The people resumed their original day about 5 minutes after Luigi left. “Yeah!” “Awesome!” “Sweet!” Yelled everyone who was in hearing range. “I’ll arrange it right away!” Princess Toadstool finished.
A figure stood in a large pit made of fire. Using his magic, he was spying on everything that happened in the Mushroom Kingdom for the past three days, waiting for his opportunity, and now it had arrived. The figure walked out of the fire. He looked like a humanoid robot, with some extra features. His head was an indigo skull inside a vaguely tube like container that was filled with a light green liquid. His right arm was all machinery with a black glove over the hand. The left arm was all bone. His shoes were a cross between large boots, and dancing shoes. The rest was either machinery or tattered leather. He was (I guess) a cross between a robot and a ghost (no, not one of those old corny ghosts that are white a fly around).
Meanwhile (again)
Luigi sat down with a Root Beer and turned on the TV. “Me and my psychic buddies are waiting for your call!” He saw a woman say. “Keep waiting…” Luigi replied as he changed the channel.
2 days later
“Welcome citizens if the Mushroom Kingdom to the 2nd Tennis Tournament!” said the announcer over the intercom, as the fans in the stands cheered. “First up is: Mario VS Wario!” The fans cheered more while cheering “MARIO! MARIO!” Mario took his racquet, and the ball, and went out onto the court watching Wario wait there. Mario smiled at Wario before whacking the ball towards Wario as hard as he could. FLASH! BANG!
Mario disappeared in a flash of fire and smoke.
Mario found himself hanging above a pit of lava. He had been magically transported to a volcano.
The crowd started murmuring about what just happened. Wario just stood there, blinking. One mushroom stood up as though about to explain what just happened. However, he too was consumed by the fire and smoke. In his place, stood the skeleton ghost guy. He cleared his throat, and everyone started running around, screaming there heads off. The man snapped his fingers, and everyone stopped cold in there tracks. “As I was saying, my name is Cirith, and I will be your host for the remainder of the evening.”
“I guess I better go back now.” Luigi said as he put down his Game Cube. Luigi jumped down the pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom. What Luigi saw when he got back was shocking. The entire Mushroom Castle was on fire, and aside from that, it looked like it had better days. It was just about to collapse, and Luigi didn’y know why it didn’t already. As he got closer he saw a figure shooting flames out of his hands, and turning people into stars and blocks. Luigi ran to the seen as fast as he could, and punched the evil warlock right in the gut. Cirith wasn’t even fazed by the attack, and simply whacked Luigi away, and right into one of the stars that use to be a mushroom citizen. Luigi’s overalls started flashing, and Luigi got slightly bigger. ‘Now that I’m super, I’ll be able to beat him easily. I hope.’ Luigi thought.
He walked up to Cirith, and tapped his shoulder to get Cirith’s attention. Cirith turned around, and Luigi slammed his fist into Cirith’s gut, this time it went in, and came out the other side. Sparks flew everywhere, and the fire suddenly got smaller. Luigi’s attack apparently damaged the magical fire too. Cirith staggered away from Luigi, hunched over in pain. Cirith teleported away knowing the Luigi could easily beat him in the condition he was in.
“HA! LOOK WHO’S LAUGHING NOW!” Luigi yelled at the top of his lungs to Mario, who hadn’t gotten any of the glory for beating Cirith, and couldn’t gloat that he even helped (what, being almost cooked to death!). | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9782843589782716}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '23610', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:YRIRUMYEGXNTJWOQH6TPXUCL7RJITJ2N', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:8dd4ddaf-67e0-4cf4-abd8-255c2e8b46c7>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 5, 6, 6, 54, 34), 'WARC-IP-Address': '52.6.203.111', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:DYDUBFW42LECAXAK4EHYMI73JGMP27PO', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:165fc21e-befd-4c62-a355-3026045b7170>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://toadscastle.net/luigi-saves-the-day/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:ae72c749-dc38-47f9-8825-e2e94f2d8c03>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '871', 'url': 'https://toadscastle.net/luigi-saves-the-day/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-21\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2021\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-59.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.14627259969711304', 'original_id': '14785f98da5cd1574f63098a98f30a9d74ee0f21bbdc67fd54e1de0c634c4227'} |
[Lignans from barks of Ailanthus altissima].
Eleven lignans were isolated from the ethanol extract of the barks of Ailanthus altissima through various column chromatography methods including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, ODS and HPLC. By physical, chemical and comprehensive spectroscopic methods, their structures were identified as (+)-neoolivil(1), prunustosanan AI (2), (7S,8R)-guaiacyl-glycerol-β-O-4'-neolignan (3), (7R,8S)-guaiacyl-glycerol-β-O-4'-neolignan (4), (7S,8R)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4-(3-hydroxypropyl)-2,6-dimethoxyphenoxy]-1,3-propanediol(5), pinnatifidanin B V (6), pinnatifidanin B VI (7), (7R,7'R,7″S,8S,8'S,8″S)-4',4″-dihydroxy-3,3',3″,5-tetramethoxy-7,9':7',9-diepoxy-4,8″-oxy-8,8'-sesquineolignan-7″,9″-diol (8), hedyotol D (9), 5-(2-propenyl)-7-methoxy-2-(3,4-methylenediovxyphenyl)benzofuran (10), and (7R,8S,7'E)-guaiacyl-glycerol-β-O-4'-sinapyl ether(11).All of these compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'd5e0534d759c47be027e032ddc647bc9ccb646709e0203c300ed6e23828cfba1'} |
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Depression in college.....GRADES
rbouwensrbouwens Posts: 930Registered User Member
edited November 2012 in College Life
I really think I'm starting to feel depressed. It's my first semester and my grades are worth crap. I don't waste my time partying and drinking, and I don't socialize too much, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
In Spanish, my grade is looking like a B+. B+ average on the quizzes, B+'s on the last two writing essays. ****. Final project left (worth quite a bit), a few quizzes, a final.
In French, my grade is an A-. Shoot me, it's French 100. I shouldn't even be trying. We have 3 more tests, an oral exam (or two?), and a final.
In anthro.....B+/A-ish. Eff. I did extra credit, so that should help a bit. We have two more tests and a final.
My seminar - I'm not sure tbh. The grade is largely based on participation and I participate a lot.
Eff my life. I really do feel depressed.
Do any of you guys feel my frustration? Or all you all getting perfect grades? It looks like my dreams of a 4.0 are over.
Post edited by rbouwens on
Replies to: Depression in college.....GRADES
• CalDudCalDud Posts: 1,632Registered User Senior Member
You're probably not going to get a 4.0. It is statistically unlikely anyway.
Of course I'm frustrated, but I don't think you have it that bad.
The class average for one of my exams was 49. A recent one 27. There is no curve. There are people who showed up and straight up got a 1 on their exam or a 0. My probability professor can strike the fear of god into you when he puts up a stem and leaf plot and you're wondering which one is you.
I'm praying for B's, although I just got an A on my last test in physics and the average was a D for my physics class. Now I'm not trying as hard as I should be, but you should really not be discouraged if you're hitting B+/A- range.
All you can do is your best.
• phantombrainphantombrain Posts: 113Registered User Junior Member
I agree ... that's a rather admirable college academic performance - Remember, when competing for graduate school admission, evaluators won't draw as much of a distinction between a student who earns a 3.4 and that of someone with the likes of a 3.7 (they tend to lean towards work-related experience in the field of interest).
Even then, grades are only reflective of your academic performance ... there are many other facets of achievement of far more value, in terms of having a positive affect on society and your circle of peers (ripple affect).
However, it wouldn't hurt to see a psychologist ... perfection is never attainable, humans have a natural tendency for making mistakes! It's unwarranted to quell over an otherwise unimportant oversight.
• soccergurl7988soccergurl7988 Posts: 892Registered User Member
4.0s in college are extremely rare. Congrats, you're learning that lesson early
• SinkOrSwim123SinkOrSwim123 Posts: 235Registered User Junior Member
Yeah, don't expect college to be like high school grade-wise. Classes are kicking me, I'm just hoping I can get at least a C so I don't have to retake any classes, Engineering's tough. Though I admit, first year is the toughest since there's all these adjustments going on. Just do your best. At least your best is good enough to get you B's and A's.
• romanigypsyeyesromanigypsyeyes Posts: 23,886Registered User Senior Member
Sorry but yes, yes they will. The difference between a 3.4 and a 3.7 is HUGE. A much more likely scenario would be that they don't draw much of a distinction between a 3.7 and a 4.0.
Chill out about the 4.0. It's very, very rare. VERY rare. I have JUST under a 3.8 and I'm in the top 5% of my class. So don't worry. You're fine. Breath. Stressing will just make it worse.
• rbouwensrbouwens Posts: 930Registered User Member
I got an "A" on my last anthro test!! However, I got a "B+" on my last French test. That shouldn't happen....
• steellord321steellord321 Posts: 349Registered User Junior Member
I dunno to me it's kinda insulting when you draw this link as if "I wish i had better grades" is the same as "I don't care about grades (or anything) and have a hard time just getting out the door." The latter is what depression is. What you're struggling with is you think this is high school still or that simply trying hard means you'll always get what you want.
I got a B on a recent paper, but do i lament it? No, i got a lot of solid feedback to go off for the next paper. Learn from your mistakes instead of let them drag you down.
• rbouwensrbouwens Posts: 930Registered User Member
I don't think the fact that this "isn't high school" should be an excuse for getting poor grades. It's like going from middle school to high school - my grades didn't drop at all.
• romanigypsyeyesromanigypsyeyes Posts: 23,886Registered User Senior Member
A B is not a poor grade. Oh dear...
• astarisborn94astarisborn94 Posts: 70Registered User Junior Member
Not unless you're trying to transfer to a Top 50 university like UT Austin, UCLA, or Michigan, let alone any Ivy League schools. I doubt they accept anyone below 3.5+ GPA.
Now if you're in said university, B's are not bad. But for those like me trying to transfer out of a community college, B's will only limit your options for transfer (especally if your community college's B is a 3 regardless of if it's 80 or 89).
• ab2013ab2013 Posts: 1,756Registered User Senior Member
Getting As in college is significantly harder than in high school. High school grades were inflated; most colleges do not do this. Also, you likely enrolled in a college where more of your peers are on the same level as you are; college is a very competitive environment. It sounds like you're just shy of a 3.5, which isn't bad. Unless you're planning to transfer to a different school (as astarisborn94) or you would like to continue to grad school, don't freak out about B+'s. Many people end up worse than you do. However, a 4.0 GPA is not impossible. It just takes a different mindset and attitude. (I do know of a senior in my undergrad program who has a 4.0)
However, it's great that you care so much; just don't stress about it. If you would like to improve, there's the standard advice of going to office hours or studying with classmates. This can help you discover material that you need to know better. Also, your performance could indicate that your study methods could use some refinement. What are better ways you can study? Keep in mind it's only going to get harder from here on out. (no pressure!)
Good luck!
• ShawntcShawntc Posts: 18Registered User New Member
rbouwens, I have an idea of what you're going through. In my transition from elementary to high school, my grades didn't change at all. I was still a straight-A student. Even in community college I basically averaged a 4.0 GPA.
Then I moved away from home for university where I am now... and I'm a B student. I failed my first three quizzes in my History 101 class... 101! That's introductory level!
The first semester at college probably sucks for everyone, except perhaps those who went to preparatory school or are straight up geniuses. It upset me to find that I was having more trouble getting good grades than any other time in my life.
What are you doing wrong? I don't know if there IS anything you're doing wrong. College is a different animal from high school. Very different. But if I may say a word of encouragement, that doesn't mean you can't conquer college. It's very unlikely you just "slipped in between the cracks." 4.0? Maybe not. But you can still do good. I think it comes down to adjusting to how college is, learning what needs to be done to do well in it. It's something I'm still coming to understand myself, and my semester ends in a month.
• rbouwensrbouwens Posts: 930Registered User Member
I'm worried because I want to go to grad school. I'm an anthro major, so I'm not paying money to go to a bottom-tier one. My seminar teacher emailed me and I'm between a B+ and an A-. ***. Soooo ****ed right now.
Ok, worst-case scenario, say I come out of 1st semester with a 3.3. That's a B+ average. Obviously I want to get into a great grad school, so I'll be shooting for a 3.8+. Is that next to impossible to improve that much?
Ugh, I don't want to be a B student. I'm not one of those people who gets drunk on the weekends or plays video games all day. ***.
I mean, are there any grad schools that would accept a 3.3? Any worth shelling out money for, anyway?
• CalDudCalDud Posts: 1,632Registered User Senior Member
Why would you go to grad school if you're going to pay for it? They're supposed to pay you.
Go where the money is. All I know is that a PhD > no PhD.
• romanigypsyeyesromanigypsyeyes Posts: 23,886Registered User Senior Member
^ Most anthro programs do not allow you to go straight from BA/BS to PhD. It's extremely, extremely rare.
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Q:
C# Application Restart
I have a log-out option on my WinForms Application that uses this code:
// restart the application once user click on Logout Menu Item
private void eToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Application.Restart();
}
Clicking the Log out option brings up the "are you sure" box with "Yes" or "No"
private void frmMain_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
//Double check if user wants to exit
var result = MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to exit?", "Message",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes)
{
e.Cancel = false;
}
else
{
e.Cancel = true;
}
}
, yes works no problem, but clicking "No" still restarts the application, how do i fix this?
A:
Put the dialog box like this inside the MenuItem_Click:
// restart the application once user click on Logout Menu Item
private void eToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//Double check if user wants to exit
var result = MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to exit?", "Message",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes)
{
Application.Restart();
}
}
Leave your FormClosing event empty:
private void frmMain_FormClosing(object sender, FormClosingEventArgs e)
{
}
The other way of doing it would be if you absolutely want the dialog box to be implemented in the FormClosing event to override the OnFormClosing()
You can do this like this:
protected override void OnFormClosing(FormClosingEventArgs e) {
//Double check if user wants to exit
var result = MessageBox.Show("Are you sure you want to exit?", "Message",
MessageBoxButtons.YesNo, MessageBoxIcon.Information);
if (result == DialogResult.Yes)
e.Cancel = true;
base.OnFormClosing(e);
}
In this case also the FormClosing event will remain empty.
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '264bdeb3127fb35c7f48a2d3d5934bcd3d81a2b636ed9b21bf9c43ed59fedf9c'} |
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Organics Stone Crop
Reviews, Skin Care
Succulents that Save the Skin: Eminence Organics Stone Crop Collection
Eminence Stone Crop is known for its efficacy among skin care products. Skin care fans will always have a place on their bathroom shelf for these perennial favorites that hydrate and brighten the appearance of dark spots, including our award-winning Stone Crop Masque and Stone Crop Hydrating Mist. Learn how this stone crop ingredient can ease dry skin and minimize the appearance of aging to improve your complexion.
Stone Crop: What Is It?
Small, succulent plants called stone crop are found in Hungary, and the name literally means “a plant growing in stone.” This unusual plant can thrive in rocky soil and can even grow on top of rocks. It thrives despite having a shallow root system, requiring very little soil and water. In a moderately dry environment, this hardy succulent prospers best. However, it can survive practically anywhere if it is given a little care. Would you like to know one of the most fabulous uses for stone crops? Among its advantages for green roofs are the ease of growth, pest resistance, and disease resistance.
Stone Crop: How It’s Used
The plant is hand processed from beginning to end in order to produce our stone crop products. By hand picking each stone crop, cutting it into quarters, and pressing it, we preserve all the natural hydrating properties of the plant.
Besides drying and pulverizing succulents, we also blend them into skin care products after they are ground into powder. In our Made in Hungary video, you can see how we pick and sort our stone crop plants, then hand-cut them into simple farm fresh products.
Stone crop plants turn red in cold weather. Stone Crop Whip Moisturizer and Stone Crop Masque are sprayed with trays of stone crop plants before cold snaps arrive. This ensures that the green of these products remains vibrant.
Stone Crop Benefits
Stone crop provides deeply effective yet lightweight hydration, just as other succulents (think aloe vera and prickly pear). In a recent interview with DAYSPA, Eminence Organics President Boldijarre Koronczay explained that the stone crop plant not only reduces pigmentation and brightens the complexion, but also helps with calming sensitive skin, firming stressed skin, toning the epidermis, moisturizing, and reducing signs of aging.” Here are a few benefits of stone crop for your skin.
1. Helps heal dry skin
In order to survive in a dry environment, stone crop retains large amounts of water in its stems and leaves. Attila Koronczay, our General Manager tells Dermstore, “Most succulents have shallow roots, which means they rely on rainfall, mist, or dew to provide all the water they need to thrive.”. Stone crop has an inbuilt water-storage system that allows it to hydrate and heal dry and dehydrated skin.” Due to its water-absorbing capacity, stone crop provides deeply hydrating and healing properties.
2. Anti-inflammatory effects
The anti-inflammatory properties of stone crop have been used in folk medicine for centuries. Poultices made from bruised leaves of fresh plants or juices obtained from them were traditionally used to treat a variety of skin problems, including burns, eczema, and ulcers. Stone crop’s ability to reduce inflammation makes it an excellent remedy for symptoms of dry, sensitive skin such as itchiness and redness.
3. Brightens the skin
Whenever you see dark spots on your complexion, your skin is producing too much melanin. Such conditions are often caused by stress, such as exposure to the sun or hormonal imbalance. By inhibiting tyrosinase, the enzyme that produces melanin, stone crop brightens skin in a similar manner to other natural hydroquinone alternatives. The result is a complexion that appears more even and minimizes dark spots.
4. Reduces wrinkles
There is scientific evidence that stone crop contains antioxidants that delay the onset of aging. Antioxidants such as anthocyanins and quercetins neutralize free radicals that damage the skin over time and cause premature aging. It is believed that antioxidants help delay the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by minimising potential damage to the skin, thus keeping it looking young for a longer period.
You may also like... | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.937693417072296}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '108283', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:PB4UMD2MEIHMCOZZB7MOPCCQLBEX5IUI', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:d307f165-6f86-4259-b06d-228fa5ca46fa>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2022, 12, 8, 9, 53, 6), 'WARC-IP-Address': '138.201.80.43', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:YU2PFY6X7OEWI3NIREPFUBCZOXFAIS3H', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:09b3cd0e-c055-497b-903a-f661f6f4b7e2>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://basicofbeauty.com/succulents-that-save-the-skin-eminence-organics-stone-crop-collection/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:99937843-d1a3-4826-bba9-f195369e39b7>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '686', 'url': 'https://basicofbeauty.com/succulents-that-save-the-skin-eminence-organics-stone-crop-collection/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-49\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for November/December 2022\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-73\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.06819659471511841', 'original_id': 'dafd7291570d005ad30c65731be7f126a29f2d9c5ecfa402f50a517090aa6804'} |
\section{Cardinality of Set of Bijections}
Tags: Cardinality, Mappings, Bijections, Cardinality of Set of Bijections, Combinatorics
\begin{theorem}
Let $S$ and $T$ be sets such that $\size S = \size T = n$.
Then there are $n!$ bijections from $S$ to $T$.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
Follows directly from Cardinality of Set of Injections and Equivalence of Mappings between Sets of Same Cardinality.
{{Qed}}
\end{proof}
| math_pile | {'subset': 'ProofWiki', 'meta': "{'type': 'Theorem_Proof'}", 'original_id': '44519152ea783dea12480de2f98aa860d65db61079cb87b111a3dfe2713c555c'} |
the beauty of simplicity
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. As you simplify life the laws of the universe will be simpler.” -Henry David Thoreau
Deep breath.
I strive to live a simple life. In fact, living simply is one of the fundamental goals in my life. It’s a basic principal I want to instill in the hearts and minds of my little ones. But my goodness, living simply in this modern world is so much harder than it sounds! I’m really struggling with how to pull it off when my tiny little house, for a very active family of five, doubles as a business office, homeschool, arts and crafts studio, dance hall, seasonal storage for sometimes tons (literally) of vegetables, a warm space for plant germinating and chick brooding, (I could go on and on here), and all of the stuff that goes along with all of these things!IMG_2073
I think it is all of the stuff that gives me the most grief. I am immensely bothered by clutter. And messes. (Remember, virgo here.) But on a daily basis I am challenged to overlook lots of clutter and many messes to see the beautiful face lost in a major art project or the sorrowful eyes of one that just knocked over a cup of milk. My task is clear. While not always easy (and not always with the most patience), I have to find the strength to simplify my reaction. To tame my over-reaction. To be the guiding light to show the way to pick up the pieces or to wipe up the spill. There’s a fabulous book, Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne, that I have been revisiting lately. It touches on topics such as simplifying your home environment, simplifying schedules and rhythms, and simplifying food and meals. While incredibly helpful to me as a parent, it’s a treasure for anyone looking to simplify.
So what steps have I taken to simplify? Well, that’s a hard question for me to answer as the process has been so gradual and is certainly far from perfected. But as our family has grown, and their interests have blossomed, the task of keeping things simple has become incredibly critical for our day-to-day harmony. I see, and have seen over and over again, a direct relationship between the cleanliness of my house and how my children are behaving. When the house looks like a tornado just went through, my little ones often mirror that, especially in their interactions with one another. When the house is tidy, it seems much easier for my kiddos to tap into their amazingly creative inner-selves. While I find that I can seldom keep up with all of the cleaning chores to the extent that I strive for, I see an ideal… something to constantly work towards. And I really try to not be too hard on myself when things do slide a bit. I ask (admittedly, sometimes beg and plead) for my little loves to help mama out and pick up their stuff, and when I see certain items left deserted over and over, I gently ask if it’s time to pass the item along to the local thrift store. Allowing them to take part in the decisions about what is special to them, and what might be special to someone else.IMG_2075
Simplicity in our food choices has been easy for my family. Eating simply has become second nature. We grow (or raise) a tremendous amount of what we eat. I feel pretty confident that we could eat 100 percent from the farm, If we were so challenged (chocolate and coffee would be hard things to let go of, however). I know this to be a luxury, but I also know firsthand the amount of work involved. I know it’s not for everyone and doesn’t need to be nowadays. Diversity is what makes this modern world so fascinating! And if not for the lovely folks in town that choose to buy the food that we produce, we wouldn’t be able to keep paying the bills! We have the advantage (some might argue disadvantage) of living in a remote rural location where the nearest decent restaurant is about a 45 minute drive. Last time I checked, there wasn’t a quaint little restaurant tucked up in the forest. Pizza delivery is out of the question. But I’ve lived in a hip little town with tasty restaurants before. I understand how easy it is, especially after a long day of work, to give in to the temptation of going out to eat. I’ve done that many times before, and still do sometimes when we are in the big city, and I’m fine with that. But we have the power to choose the food we put into our bodies. My golden rule of thumb, when eating out or purchasing food, is to make sure the ingredient list is small, and each item in the list recognizable as a food. If it is something you can’t make in your own kitchen, you probably shouldn’t be eating it. When was the last time you made high fructose corn syrup at home? Right.IMG_2057One of the biggest simplifying forces with my family is an immersion in nature. It is absolutely amazing what a nice walk will do for my little people when they are feeling feisty and restless, and full of quarreling and unkind words. I mean truly amazing. The fought-over toy is long forgotten and smiles return. I see rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes. I see curiosity and creativity. This is an amazing tonic for mama as well… a fresh perspective coupled with a little break from the domestic realm where most of my work is waiting. And it isn’t necessary to own a big farm to be able to find a little natural paradise. A small backyard is an amazing place for discovery and contemplation… a place to slow down to the pace of the natural world. A place to unplug, unwind, and take a deep breath.
15 thoughts on “the beauty of simplicity
• With the sun shining, rain on the way, and the ground just dry enough for planting, I have a feeling my day is also going to be less than simple!!!
1. Beautiful. And as my family goes about the task of re-simplifying our lives your words ring true. It is indeed easier to live simply when the clutter is kept down to a reasonable roar. Let me know if you figure out what to do about coffee and chocolate 🙂
• Doesn’t it just feel so good to simplify, like a breath of fresh air. I guess we might as well enjoy a cup of coffee while we’re hard at it!!!
2. I loved this one, Cher. Simplicity doesn’t always come easy, does it?
Also, your photographs really capture the beauty of your farm and your
children. A sense of place is so important.
Love, Sally
• Thanks, Sally. Yes, it takes great effort to keep things simple. I sometimes think that I am living in the wrong era! The Little House on the Prairie days sometimes sound so utterly appealing to me!
3. So true! I read Simplicity Parenting about a year ago and it’s been very influential to me. I especially loved the part about clearing out all toys that are just marketing vehicles for TV shows and movies. Anyway, happy to have found your lovely blog and look forward to reading more. (Beautiful last photo of poncho’d child in the woods!)
• Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, the toy-clearing section in the book was very helpful to me, and a huge reason that I am revisiting the book again! I took a moment to look at your blog, and it, too, is so lovely. I look forward to more of what you have to say!
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Connecting to %s | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '6', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9572487473487854}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '89580', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:AWU7GUG377AX4QYO2GP6H6WLLSEETYUK', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:56c2aca5-b2f2-4122-a47b-3ab7185ae4a6>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2020, 4, 4, 1, 42, 22), 'WARC-IP-Address': '192.0.78.24', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:5AA5JSTLMC2FJFKS3D5WWIWM3AJKO3UR', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:ae0ae699-6d1c-46e5-856d-ba2843b56bb2>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://radicalfarmwives.com/2013/04/03/the-beauty-of-simplicity/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:1ab7d365-0d5a-4199-92b0-853fc74ddda4>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1348', 'url': 'https://radicalfarmwives.com/2013/04/03/the-beauty-of-simplicity/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-16\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for March/April 2020\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-170.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.01908940076828003', 'original_id': '51d46765e6032817224b2c8fc019c08fcbadaa524915789e14077663e0afc3be'} |
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Why Not Crack Anonymous?
Maybe because 12 steps do not work to conquer crack possession. Oh maybe for abstinence but not for complete freedom. How about the new 12 steps of Crackaholics Anonymous? If we can invent a disease for whatever we have such as road rage, and push the responsibility towards anything but ourselves, then big money happens except not in your pockett. The new IED's that are insurance accepted brings us to an all time low regarding diseases of addiction that really do not exist anyway. So hey, then why not Crackaholics anonymous! Rageaholics anonymous! I don't want to do Thataholics anonymous! Eat stupid foodaholics anonymous! Just plain stupidaholics anonymous! Wait this is it...Anonymously Anonymous Anonymous! Hi I am Todd and I am an Anonymous Anonymous....Hi To_ _...oops your supposed to be anonymous, stupid!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Compassion Does Not Mean Acceptance
A deep awareness of your suffering is the compassion I have. I pity the possession you feel. I understand how demonic crack is and because of this understanding I know how to stop this demonic madness dead in its tracks. Are you ready to do what it takes for freedom forever or just ready to ease the chaos long enough to get a better crack smoking-plan? Until your are completely ready for complete freedom, crack will have its way with you litle by little then in huge chunks out of your life. Are you completely ready? If so click on this link, or this link, do what they say, trust our 27 years dealing directly and specifically with crack cocaine and you will find freedom from crack cocaine possession. Then it is up to you to keep that freedom and pay your price for your freedom. We do not know what that is, but it has to be worth it, don't ya think?
Monday, June 19, 2006
Great Day To NOT Smoke Crack Cocaine
Well today is a great day to NOT smoke crack. How are you going to do that? Do you have a road map for that journey? Do you even know where to find that? This treasure can be found. What treasure? Complete freedom from crack cocaine possession, forever! How do we know this? We have over 27 years experience with direct involvment with crack cocaine on a daily basis both smoking and attacking and now COMPLETELY FREE FOREVER. We continue to be the same as we have been and always will be...because we know the truth about crack cocaine and have our websites to expose that truth. It is up to you to believe, follow, trust and try what will work. This is of course ONLY when you work the 75 Day Do-It-Yourself Guide correctly. Otherwise the only reason to not follow a proven and effective program, is ONLY because deep inside your soul you are still planning a crack-episode. In other words you are not ready to NOT smoke crack cocaine.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Let's Keep Crack Cocaine Not Tied To Anything
It is amazing how many crackheads cannot handle the truth. And 12 steppers...WOW are they sensitive to THEIR "program" being the way, the truth and the lifestyle they love, because hey it IS better than smoking crack! Then we have being gay with a small "g". If crack is an issue, we need to look at ALL parts that may be holding us back from freedom and the truth. Just can follow scripture and stop the madness of smoking crack cocaine. Just can follow scripture and see that programs that admit defeat and WILL NOT support scriptures will keep crack cocaine doing what it does best, destroy. Just can follow scripture and see that laying with the same sex is detestable to God, of course that is until YOU change the words to suit your life so it becomes OK and has nothing to do with crack or "drugs" except that the connection and "tie" that I am pointing out is that THE SCRIPTURES being the truth and the way to set one free is the same for all 3 items mentioned. So we still cannot connect being gay, going to meetings for a disease and smoking crack and becoming a crackhead having nothing to do with one another? Hmmm...let us think again.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Smoking Crack Cocaine Is Not A Disease
When we put all addictions in a box and call them diseases, we do get benefits, disabilities and a life time label of never getting rid of any addiction. This is completely false and stated without any financial motivation or benefit. Smoking crack cocaine is not a disease. OK maybe the disease of stupidity. Good news is this so called disease has a cure. Don't smoke crack, your kids depend on it.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Crack cocaine is the devilscandy.
Believing this is just the start. Acting like it, is the beginning. Continued faith by actions will guide you to freedom from crack. Thinking that crack is just another drug or just another sin as we say a drug is a drug and all sins are the same is what the enemy loves most. What we do know is crack cocaine is the devils candy. Until we ALL believe that and act that and have actions that attack crack before it attacks you is what this is all about. Nothing more, nothing less.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Blogging Against Crack
Again we just want another day free from crack. How do we do it? There are many ways. Some do a complete job, some just for a day at a time. Both do good. One is a life style filled with daily requirements directly towards the specific "situation". Ours will bring you freedom that you will have to hang onto, or continue to do the crack-spin. You can make a choice. You do have the power over powerlessness. I am proof of that.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Good Morning Crackheads
Lets start by not smoking crack today. This will be a place to get daily replenishing spiritual nourishment. So come back daily and this will start June 10, 2006. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '1', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9556083083152772}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '120103', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:4JM6PKLRU5NB47LLATPXM45ZJ5BYGRZK', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:2eabd6a9-8b12-4953-82da-3da2df010669>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 9, 19, 17, 7, 25), 'WARC-IP-Address': '172.217.13.65', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:2P5OOTUSOOBYWYAOIM2AWPYK7RVPZTXZ', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:8a5e2439-027e-4bd9-949c-044f1f8a78dd>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://crackcocainerecovery.blogspot.com/2006/06/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:c8e2044b-b9a1-4266-a8cf-be8c25f615f2>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '1029', 'url': 'https://crackcocainerecovery.blogspot.com/2006/06/', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-142-62-187.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-39\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for September 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.04380911588668823', 'original_id': '390404deea472b5c53c96a5e35fa104502195aca4ae9aec04eb1d73436124e24'} |
HomeDefinitionVFD Harmonics
VFD Harmonics
Harmonics is lesser known subject causing non-quantified amount of losses.
1. Passive HF are cost effective but doesn't suppress the levels entirely.
2. Passive HF + Active HF (at Point of common Coupling [PCC]) will be economical and lesser than Active HF completely.
3. Active Filters are assured way to mitigate Harmonics below 5%, but cost factor plays the role.
4. Using VFD drives with minimum 18 pulses and above (MV Drives).
5. Quantify < than 5% losses & < than 10% losses and take decision to go for heavy filtering or not. Both are IEEE 519 guidelines.
As a VFD slows down the THD goes up but the total harmonic current goes down. So there is only one point of concern, full speed. If you meet IEEE 519 at full speed you are good to go at any lesser speed point.
The best way to mitigate power harmonics is with an active filter solution. No matter how low or high the load (VFD) runs at an active mitigation solution is best. There are many non-active solutions on the market but they all fall flat under varying load conditions most are based on LC filters and need the C component switched out at low load conditions. Power factor is a vital consideration when looking at any harmonic mitigation.
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Buy VFD on
AC Motor Control | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '5', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9103012084960938}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '13973', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:I4AOGGGTEFDFPSANWPYQWP4AVZFHHQA5', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:418e732f-59d3-4d54-b910-50c7b5e4ca02>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 4, 24, 4, 9, 17), 'WARC-IP-Address': '198.252.71.136', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:NIRARESWOHWHODVDEMUO27AINKPUVINY', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:9832a662-1c23-460c-a24a-4ba961871a4a>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.vfds.in/vfd-harmonics-587586.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:1d81bf07-6ea7-4ce2-9e85-ba7d9274bef7>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '239', 'url': 'http://www.vfds.in/vfd-harmonics-587586.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-18\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for April 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-45-61-6.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.1769014596939087', 'original_id': 'b92cf17054193a7eb6baa0930d477a4b01b9e8dbd5dfd60b93ec24d5078eb69b'} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Alignment) type liquid crystal display device in which one pixel includes plural alignment areas different from each other in the alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules, and particularly to a liquid crystal display device in which a pixel area is divided into plural sub-pixels.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display device is thin and lightweight as compared with a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), and has merits that it can be driven by low voltage and its electric power consumption is small. Thus, the liquid crystal display device is used for various electronic devices such as a notebook PC (personal computer), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a cellular phone. Especially, an active matrix type liquid crystal display device in which a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) is provided as a switching element for each pixel has high drive capability. Since the active matrix type liquid crystal display device has excellent display characteristics comparable to a CRT, it comes to be used for a use for which a CRT is conventionally used, such as a desktop PC or a television receiver.
FIG. 15 shows a rough sectional structure of a conventional liquid crystal display device. As shown in FIG. 15, the liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel 101. The liquid crystal display panel 101 includes a TFT substrate 102 on which a TFT and a pixel electrode are formed for each pixel, an opposite substrate 104 on which a color filter (CF) and a common electrode are formed, and a liquid crystal 106 sealed between both the substrates 102 and 104. Since a connection terminal is provided, the TFT substrate 102 is formed to be larger than the opposite substrate 104. Both the substrates 102 and 104 are bonded to each other through a sealing material 152 applied to an outer peripheral part. A cell gap between both the substrates 102 and 104 is kept by, for example, spherical spacers 146. Besides, polarizing plates 187 and 186 are disposed at both the outsides of the liquid crystal display panel 101. A backlight unit (not shown) is disposed below the polarizing plate 187 in the drawing.
Conventionally, a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode liquid crystal display device is widely used which includes a horizontally aligned liquid crystal having positive dielectric anisotropy and in which a liquid crystal molecule is twist-aligned. However, the TN mode liquid crystal display device has defects that a viewing angle characteristic is poor and when a screen is viewed from an oblique direction, the contrast and hue are remarkably changed. Thus, a VA (Vertically Aligned) mode liquid crystal display device having an excellent viewing angle characteristic and an MVA type liquid crystal display device have been developed and have been put to practical use.
FIGS. 16A and 16B schematically show sectional structures of an MVA type liquid crystal display device. A vertically aligned liquid crystal 106 having negative dielectric anisotropy is sealed between a TFT substrate 102 and an opposite substrate 104. A bank-shaped linear projection 143 as an alignment regulating structure to regulate the alignment of the liquid crystal 106 is formed on a pixel electrode 116 of the TFT substrate 102. A vertically aligned film 150 made of, for example, polyimide is formed on the pixel electrode 116 and the linear projection 143.
A bank-shaped linear projections 142 as an alignment regulating structures is formed on a common electrode 141 of the opposite substrate 104. The linear projection 142 is extended in parallel to the linear projection 143 on the TFT substrate 102 side, and is arranged to be shifted from the linear projection 143 by a half pitch. A vertically aligned film 151 made of, for example, polyimide is formed on the common electrode 141 and the linear projection 142.
In the MVA type liquid crystal display device, in a state where a voltage is not applied between the pixel electrode 116 and the common electrode 141, as shown in FIG. 16A, almost all liquid crystal molecules 108 are aligned almost perpendicularly to the substrate surface. However, the liquid crystal molecules 108 in the vicinities of the linear projections 142 and 143 are aligned almost perpendicularly to the inclined surfaces of the linear projections 142 and 143.
When a specified voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 116 and the common electrode 141, the liquid crystal molecules 108 are inclined with respect to the substrate surface by the influence of an electric field. In this case, as shown in FIG. 16B, the inclined directions of the liquid crystal molecule 108 are different at both sides of each of the linear projections 142 and 143. By this, the so-called alignment division (multi-domain) is realized.
As shown in FIG. 16B, in the MVA type liquid crystal display device, since the inclined directions of the liquid crystal molecules 108 at the time when the voltage is applied are different at both sides of each of the linear projections 142 and 143, the leakage of light in an oblique direction is suppressed, and an excellent viewing angle characteristic is obtained.
In the above example, although the description has been given to the case where the alignment regulating structures are the linear projections 142 and 143, a slit obtained by partially removing an electrode or a recess (groove) of a substrate surface may be used as an alignment regulating structure. Besides, in FIGS. 16A and 16B, although the description has been given to the example in which the alignment regulating structures are provided on both the TFT substrate 102 and the opposite substrate 104, the alignment regulating structure may be formed only on one of the TFT substrate 102 and the opposite substrate 104.
FIG. 17 shows an example in which a slit 145 as an alignment regulating structure is formed only in a pixel electrode 116 on a TFT substrate 102 side. The electric field is distorted in the vicinity of the slit 145, and the electric line of force extends in an oblique direction with respect to the substrate surface, and therefore, the inclined directions of liquid crystal molecules 108 are different at both sides of the slit 145. By this, the alignment division can be realized and the viewing angle characteristic is improved.
FIG. 18 shows a structure of one pixel of an MVA type liquid crystal display device in which a slit 145 is formed on a TFT substrate 102 side, and a linear projection 142 is formed on an opposite substrate 104 side. FIG. 19 shows a sectional structure of the TFT substrate 102 cut along line X-X of FIG. 18. As shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19, plural gate bus lines 112 extending in the horizontal direction in the drawing and plural drain bus lines 114 extending in the vertical direction in the drawing are respectively disposed at specified pitches on the TFT substrate 102. Rectangular pixel areas are defined by the gate bus liens 112 and the drain bus lines 114. Besides, on the TFT substrate 102, a storage capacitor bus line 118 is formed to be arranged in parallel with the gate bus line 112 and to cross the center part of each of the pixel areas. An insulating film 130 is formed between the drain bus line 114 and the gate bus line 112 or the storage capacitor bus line 118. The gate bus line 112 and the drain bus line 114, and the storage capacitor bus line 118 and the drain bus line 114 are electrically isolated by the insulating film 130.
A TFT 120, a pixel electrode 116 and a storage capacitor electrode 119 are formed for each of the pixel areas. The TFT 120 uses a part of the gate bus line 112 as its gate electrode. Besides, a drain electrode 121 of the TFT 120 is connected to the drain bus line 114, and a source electrode 122 is formed at a position opposite to the drain electrode 121 across the gate bus line 112. Further, the storage capacitor electrode 119 is formed at a position opposite to the storage capacitor bus line 118 across the insulating film 130.
The storage capacitor electrode 119, the TFT 120 and the drain bus line 114 are covered with a protecting film 131, and the pixel electrode 116 is disposed on the protecting film 131. The pixel electrode 116 is made of a transparent conductive film of ITO (Indium-Tin Oxide) or the like, and is electrically connected to the source electrode 122 of the TFT 120 and the storage capacitor electrode 119 through contact holes 125 and 126 formed in the protecting film 131. Besides, the two slits 145 extending in oblique directions are formed in the pixel electrode 116 to be almost linear symmetrical with respect to the storage capacitor bus line. The surface of the pixel electrode 116 is covered with a vertically aligned film (not shown) made of, for example, polyimide.
A light-shielding film (BM), a CF resin layer and a common electrode 141 are formed on the opposite substrate disposed to be opposite to the TFT substrate 102. The plural bank-shaped linear projections 142 bent above the gate bus line 112 and the storage capacitor bus line 118 are formed on the common electrode 141. The linear projections 142 are arranged to be shifted from the slits 145 of the pixel electrode 116 by a half pitch and in parallel therewith.
In the. MVA type liquid crystal display device as stated above, when a specified voltage is applied between the pixel electrode 116 and the common electrode 141, as shown in FIG. 18 and. FIG. 20, four alignment areas α, β, γ and δ are formed in which alignment directions of liquid crystal molecules 108 are different from each other. The alignment areas α to δ are divided while the linear projection 142 and the slit 145 are made boundaries. When the linear projection 142 and the slit 145 are formed so that the areas of the alignment areas α to δ become almost equal to each other in one pixel, the direction dependency of the viewing angle characteristic of the liquid crystal display device becomes low.
In the conventional MVA type liquid crystal display device, there occurs a phenomenon in which when a screen is viewed from an oblique direction, it becomes whitish. FIG. 21 is a graph showing transmissivity characteristics (T-V characteristics) with respect to applied voltage in the conventional MVA type liquid crystal display device. The horizontal axis indicates the applied voltage (V) to the liquid crystal layer, and the vertical axis indicates the light transmissivity. A curved line L indicates a T-V characteristic in a direction (hereinafter referred to as a front direction) perpendicular to a display screen, and a curved line M indicates a T-V characteristic in a direction (hereinafter referred to as an oblique direction) in which an azimuth angle is 90° with respect to the display screen and a polar angle is 60°. Here, the azimuth angle is an angle measured in a counterclockwise direction with respect to the right direction of the display screen. The polar angle is an angle formed relative to a perpendicular line standing at the center of the display screen.
As shown in FIG. 21, when a relatively high voltage of about 3 V or higher is applied to the liquid crystal layer, the transmissivity in the front direction is higher than the transmissivity in the oblique direction. On the other hand, when a voltage of about 2 to 3 V slightly higher than a threshold voltage is applied (region surrounded by a circle), the transmissivity in the oblique direction becomes higher than the transmissivity in the front direction. As a result, in the case where the display screen is viewed from an oblique direction, a brightness difference in an effective drive voltage range becomes small. This phenomenon appears most remarkably in the change of color. That is, since the brightness difference of the three primary colors of R, G and B becomes small, when viewed from the oblique direction, there occurs a phenomenon in which the color of the whole screen becomes whitish, and the reproducibility of the colors is lowered. This phenomenon is called discolor. The discolor occurs not only in the MVA type liquid crystal display device but also in the TN mode liquid crystal display device.
Patent document 1 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,460) proposes that one pixel is divided into plural sub-pixels, and those sub-pixels are capacity coupled. In such a liquid crystal display device, since a potential is divided based on the capacitance ratio of the respective sub-pixels, voltages different from each other can be applied to the liquid crystals of the respective sub-pixels. Accordingly, apparently, plural regions different in the threshold of the T-V characteristic exist in one pixel. As stated above, when the plural regions different in the threshold of the T-V characteristic exist in one pixel, the phenomenon in which the transmissivity in the oblique direction becomes higher than the transmissivity in the front direction, as shown in the circle of FIG. 21, is suppressed, and as a result, the phenomenon in which the screen becomes whitish is also suppressed. As stated above, a method in which one pixel is divided into plural capacity-coupled sub-pixels to improve the display characteristic is called a capacitive coupling HT (half tone gray scale) method.
Patent document 2 (JP-A-5-66412) discloses a liquid crystal display device having a structure in which as shown in FIG. 22, a pixel electrode is divided into four sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d, and control capacitance electrodes 117a to 117d are disposed below the respective sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d through an insulating film. In this liquid crystal display device, the sizes of the control capacitance electrodes 117a to 117d are different from each other, and display voltage is applied to the control capacitance electrodes 117a to 117d through a TFT 120. Besides, in order to prevent light from leaking between the sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d, a control capacitance electrode 115 is disposed also between the sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d.
Patent document 3 (JP-A-6-332009) also discloses a liquid crystal display device in which one pixel is divided into plural sub-pixels. In this liquid crystal display device, for example, a rubbing processing condition is changed for each sub-pixel, and pre-tilt angles of liquid crystal molecules of the sub-pixels are made different from each other.
All of these conventional techniques relate to the TN mode liquid crystal display device.
FIG. 23 shows a structure of one pixel of a conventional MVA type liquid crystal display device using the capacitive coupling HT method. FIG. 24 shows a sectional structure of the liquid crystal display device cut along line Y-Y of FIG. 23. As shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, a TFT substrate 102 includes plural gate bus lines 112 formed on a glass substrate 110, and plural drain bus lines 114 crossing the gate bus lines 112 through an insulating film 130. The pitch of the gate bus lines 112 is, for example, about 300 μm, and the pitch of the drain bus lines 114 is, for example, about 100 μm. Rectangular pixel areas are defined by the gate bus lines 112 and the drain bus lines 114. Besides, on the TFT substrate 102, a storage capacitor bus line 118 is formed to be arranged in parallel with the gate bus line 112 and to cross the center of each of the pixel areas.
A TFT 120, control capacitance electrodes 133 and 134, and pixel electrodes 116a to 116d are formed for each of the pixel areas on the TFT substrate 102. The pixel electrodes 116a to 116d are mutually divided by slits 145. The slits 145 are extended in oblique directions, and are formed to be almost linear symmetrical with respect to the storage capacitor bus line 118.
The TFT 120 uses a part of the gate bus line 112 as its gate electrode. A drain electrode 121 of the TFT 120 is electrically connected to the drain bus line 114. A source electrode 122 is disposed at a position opposite to the drain electrode 121 through a channel protecting film 128 formed on the gate bus line 112. Besides, the source electrode 122 is electrically connected to the control capacitance electrodes 133 and 134.
The sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d are made of transparent electrode films of ITO or the like, and are mutually formed in the same layer. The width of the slit 145 to separate these sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d is, for example, 10 μm. The sub-pixel electrode 116a is electrically connected to the control capacitance electrode 133 through a contact hole 125, and the sub-pixel electrode 116d is electrically connected to the control capacitance electrode 133 through a contact hole 127. Partial areas of the sub-pixel electrodes 116b and 116c overlap with the control capacitance electrode 133 (134) through a protecting film 131. The sub-pixel electrodes 116b and 116c are indirectly connected to the control capacitance electrodes 133 and 134 by capacitive coupling through the control capacitance formed in the area. The control capacitance electrode 134 opposite to the storage capacitor bus line 118 through the insulating film 130 functions also as one electrode of the storage capacitor formed for each pixel while the storage capacitor bus line 118 is made the other electrode. The sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d are covered with a vertically aligned film 150 made of, for example, polyimide.
On the other hand, BMs 148 are formed on an opposite substrate 104. The BMs 148 are made of metal material such as, for example, Cr (chromium), and are disposed at positions opposite to the gate bus line 112 on the TFT substrate 102 side, the storage capacitor bus line 118, the drain bus line 114, and the TFT 120. A CF resin layer 140 is formed on the BM 148. The CF resin layer 140 of one color of R, G and B is disposed in each of the pixels.
A common electrode 141 made of a transparent conductive film of ITO or the like is formed on the CF resin layer 140. A bank-shaped linear projection 142 as an alignment regulating structure is formed on the common electrode 141. As shown in FIG. 23, the linear projection 142 is bent above the gate bus line 112 and the storage capacitor bus line 118, and is formed to be shifted from the slit 145 of the TFT substrate 102 by a half pitch and to be arranged in parallel therewith. The surfaces of the common electrode 141 and the linear projection 142 are covered with a vertically aligned film 151 made of, for example, polyimide.
When a specified gradation voltage is applied to the drain bus line 114, and a scanning signal is supplied to the gate bus line 112, the TFT 120 is turned on. When the TFT 120 is turned on, the gradation voltage is applied to the sub-pixel electrodes 116a and 116d electrically connected to the source electrode 122 and the control capacitance electrodes 133 and 134. Besides, since the sub-pixel electrodes 116b and 116c are capacity coupled to the control capacitance electrode 133 (134), the specified voltage is applied also to the sub-pixel electrodes 116b and 116c.
However, in the structure shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, since the area of the sub-pixel electrode 116c is smaller than that of the sub-pixel electrode 116b, and an overlapping area with the control capacitance electrode 133 (134) is large, the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116c becomes higher than the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116b. When the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116a is A, the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116b is B, the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116c is C, and the voltage of the sub-pixel electrode 116d is D, A=D>C>B is established.
When the voltages are applied to the sub-pixel electrodes 116a to 116d as stated above, the liquid crystal molecules are inclined in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the linear projection 142 and the slit 145 extend. At this time, the inclined directions of the liquid crystal molecules become opposite directions at both sides of each of the linear projection 142 and the slit 145. Since the different voltages are applied to the sub-pixel electrodes 116a and 116d, the sub-pixel electrode 116b and the sub-pixel electrode 116c, apparently, three areas where the thresholds of the T-V characteristics are mutually different exist in one pixel. By this, the phenomenon is suppressed in which when the screen is viewed from the oblique direction, the screen becomes whitish.
However, in the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, since the control capacitance electrodes 133 and 134 are formed of metal layers which are the same layers as the source electrode 122 and the drain electrode 121 and shield the light, there is a problem that the aperture ratio of the pixel is lowered and the brightness is lowered.
Besides, according to the film thickness of the protecting film 131 formed between the pixel electrodes 116b, 116c and the control capacitance electrodes 133, 134, light transmissivity, color viewing angle, the shift amount of a common potential and the like are degraded, and there is a problem that an excellent display quality can not be obtained. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '1679790510abaffa1dea0e47cd82a4ed5da1e66604a4dfe9d1090283013e0679'} |
Recurrent cervical carcinoma after radical hysterectomy: an analysis of clinical aspects and prognosis.
Samlal RAK, van der Velden J, van Eerden T, Schilthuis MS, Gonzalez Gonzalez D, Lammes FB. Recurrent cervical carcinoma after radical hysterectomy: an analysis of clinical aspects and prognosis. Int J Gynecol Cancer 1998; 8: 78-84. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the clinical aspects and prognosis of patients with tumor recurrence in surgically treated stage IB and IIA cervical carcinoma patients. Two hundred and seventy-one stage IB and IIA cervical carcinoma patients underwent a Wertheim Okabayashi radical hysterectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy. The median follow-up time was 60 months. Recurrence occurred in 27 patients (10%): 14 had a pelvic recurrence and 13, and extrapelvic recurrence. The site of recurrence was influenced by various pathological factors as well as by the primary treatment mode. 77% of recurrences were detected within three years after primary treatment. The median recurrence-free interval in patients with a pelvic recurrence was significantly shorter than in patients with an extrapelvic recurrence (14 months vs. 17 months, P = 0.03). The mortality rate of the group of patients with recurrent disease was 85% (23/27). Patients with a pelvic central recurrence had a significantly better outcome than did patients whose recurrences were located at the pelvic sidewall. Two patients with a pulmonary recurrence were treated with surgery and show no evidence of disease after 4 and 8 years respectively, of follow-up. The overall detection rate of recurrent disease by routine follow-up was only 36%. However, asymptomatic patients had a significantly better prognosis when compared with symptomatic patients. Therefore, we recommend frequent follow-up visits during the first 3 years after primary treatment to detect recurrence in an early stage. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'e746e3ada6870f7890e550cde36d65fae2b7717666452e4cb838a064ee8e1df9'} |
Brooding On
Healthified Italian Sausage Soup
We might tend to think of a soup like this as being more appropriate for a cold, winter day, but, if you are attempting to eat in season, this is actually the time to try out this recipe.
We were able to use the Swiss chard, onions, and new potatoes from our garden for this recipe. Even if you're not growing these items yourself, you can most likely snag them at your local farmers' market right now.
2 slices bacon (we use turkey bacon)
1/2 lb. lean Italian sausage
4-6 new potatoes (cut into 1/2" pieces)
1 large onion (or several smaller ones), chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
4 c. water
3.5 c. chicken broth
4 c. chopped fresh kale or Swiss chard leaves (thick stems removed)
1/2 lb. pinto beans (soaked overnight, then cooked all day in crockpot on low heat)
1 c. half-and-half
1. Cook bacon and brown sausage, then set aside. Crumble bacon, once cool.
2. In large pot, mix potatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, water, and broth. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cook uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in bacon, sausage, greens, and beans. Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes and greens are tender.
4. Stir in half-and-half; cook until just heated. Add additional salt to taste.
This was a delicious, spicy soup! It made enough for us to freeze for a repeat meal later on. We served it with some goat cheese and crackers and a big salad, but it was hearty enough that it really could've stood alone as the meal. Enjoy! | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9108390808105468}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '37096', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:TGXHPDLXNB35L5VHNSCBIWHFQA6STE26', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:531536ab-ac0c-4467-a0fd-6b501ebebcd5>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 6, 16, 3, 34, 41), 'WARC-IP-Address': '65.39.205.61', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:F5MECFQAND5BAFZKCK6WLQRBWGPHWOCN', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:078f39b1-1fb6-4926-a728-3877f75374cd>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.broodfarm.com/broodingon/2012/05/healthified-italian-sausage-soup.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:e49012cb-e0a3-4a6c-838f-1c0013fe1cb3>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '284', 'url': 'http://www.broodfarm.com/broodingon/2012/05/healthified-italian-sausage-soup.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-26\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for June 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-187-26-184.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.07959157228469849', 'original_id': 'd2c52579cadd084c5eb30e4e1dd61bade72f04864d85d87e8a45c3f341f4c47a'} |
The No. 19 Moorespeed Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo has been withdrawn from this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hour of The Glen following a heavy accident and fire in opening practice Friday morning at Watkins Glen International.
Will Hardeman made contact with the barriers at the inside of the Bus Stop Chicane in the session, prior to the car briefly catching fire.
Safety workers cut the roof of the GT3 contender to extricate Hardeman, who according to an IMSA spokesperson, then walked to the ambulance under his own power.
Hardeman has since been airlifted to a hospital in Syracuse for precautionary checks.
“I talked to Will and he said he got his bell rung,” said team owner David Moore.
Moore said the damage to the car, even before the roof being cut, would have prevented the team from competing this weekend.
Hardeman was due to share the GT Daytona class contender with Alex Riberas and Andrew Davis. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'e532e0782663125407811b5f7e12437ee38442b15e6b241d98bc3b9f881a7d75'} |
10 Facts you MUST KNOW Before Using Tenement Service
A mining tenement is basically a licence to explore and extract minerals from a piece of land, and the process in rather complex, involving submitting the appropriate forms to the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP). If you are in the mining industry, and thinking of applying for a mining tenement, here are some important points to consider.
1. There are different types of mining tenements, and it is essential you apply for the correct category. The tenement can be in the form of a claim, a lease, or a licence, and will run for a specific period of time.
1. There are specialist companies that offer tenement services, and if you are in Western Australia, Austwide tenement services in Perth are the ideal solution. They have a comprehensive service covering all aspects of mining and title rights.
1. Tenement terms and conditions are constantly being updated, and failure to respond by the due date can render you with a fine, or worse.
1. Land acquisition services are available, and the company would be constantly monitoring land availability, and can make the necessary preparations for eventual acquisition. These services would include negotiating with the current owner and also dealing with all the government departments involved.
1. In Australia, all mining tenements are issued in accordance with the Mining Act of 1971, and regulated by the DMP. There are fines imposed for late payments or submissions, and any irregularity could jeopardise any future applications to extend the tenure.
1. Title Management is very important. Once the title has been granted, you must maintain all statutory requirements and meet the terms of the grant conditions, in order to ensure continuity of the tenure.
1. Reports need to be compiled and this usually takes place soon after the initial application is made, and they might include geology and environmental reports, or perhaps a mining plan. The company that is dealing with your application would be able to compile these reports, ensuring that the application process is a smooth one.
1. Only deal withan established company that specialises in mining tenement services, and preferably one with many years of hands-on experience in the business of mining tenures.
1. DMP policy changes occur frequently, so you really do need a company to take care of your title management, which means you will always be able to conform to the new regulations, as you will have a partnership with a specialist organisation that monitors any amendments.
1. Fines can be imposed by the DMP for late submissions or payments, and in some cases, failure to pay within a certain time frame can result in debt recovery. You could also forfeit your mining tenure if certain requirements are not met.
A mining tenement service is essential if you wish the land and title acquisition to go ahead as planned, and with every stage of the process handled by the experts, you can be sure that your company will stay within the strict regulations.
Author: Chakraborty
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Storage is Cheap...
at least the kind most would use to store photos. Storage to do airline reservations might be $100k per Terabyte but the stuff my snaps live on is about $65 per Terabyte. So that means it costs around 4¢ for 10 images including backup. Pretty cheap so why throw them away. More like why not keep them. I keep getting better at post processing and I keep getting better using software that is also getting better and the software is getting better a lot faster than I get better. So snaps that maybe didn't look so good when I took them have the potential to look a lot better a couple of years later. Kinda like booze, whiskey I think would taste like hell right after it was stuck in the barrel, ten to twenty years later maybe it is a great single malt. Anyway, I was looking a NikSoftware webinar for HDR Efex which I got to replace the difficult to use Photomatix so I went back through the archives and redid some old snaps. One thrice bracketed series from Fort Delaware in June of '09, and two from August '06; a single shot faux HDR from the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia and a set of nine bracketed snaps from the Old Idaho Penitentiary, in Boise.
Snaps post processed in HRD Efex then another pass in Color Efex with Tonal Contrast and then with Glamour Glow. Final tune up done in Aperture.
Anyway, I think these prove, that old is worth keeping around and old keeps getting better — kinda like stuffed peppers, hey!
Fort Delaware
Old Idaho Pennetentiary
Eastern State Pennetentiary | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9675137400627136}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '45733', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:L3MWNKQVZYVIGQZ6XAIGCSG5VKT34D3R', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:f3dbc8f4-81a2-42c3-abf5-8f17960215dd>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2018, 11, 15, 2, 17, 42), 'WARC-IP-Address': '198.185.159.176', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:M7QPQQZHFGSYMPYQKNG6I3CMTFMCKRWS', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:3ac0085b-faf0-4004-9ab6-14e0882e0550>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.nashification.com/journal/2011/3/5/storage-is-cheap.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:c0a02d31-b66d-427f-a09a-31a70800c253>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '263', 'url': 'http://www.nashification.com/journal/2011/3/5/storage-is-cheap.html', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-47\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for November 2018\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-166-161-213.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.035762131214141846', 'original_id': '386575da72e4e47f42d288ec3d0ce2b83a10c87c4e2346a1082c79021249de5e'} |
Quinoa & Flaxseed
Cooked quinoa can replace rice or couscous in a meal.
Cooked quinoa can replace rice or couscous in a meal.
Quinoa image by bbroianigo from Fotolia.com
Quinoa is a South American herbal plant that flourishes in the Andes Mountains along the western coast of the continent. It grows to about 5 feet high and consists of flowers and fruits that contain the seeds. Quinoa is a complete protein source and is rich in unsaturated fats. Flaxseed comes from a plant called Linum usitatissimum, which can be grown throughout most of the United States. The seeds have several medicinal benefits, and they are an excellent source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.
History of Quinoa
The Incas, a South American Indian civilization living in the Andes mountains of Peru, called quinoa the "mother of all grains." Quinoa was revered by the Incas, who thrived from 1438 to 1533 A.D., and even today the people living in the Andes mountains greatly appreciate the flavor and nutrition that quinoa offers. Since 2002, the demand for quinoa has been increasing in the United States and Europe. According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Peru and Bolivia produced nearly all of the world's supply of quinoa in 2010.
Quinoa Nutrition
Amino acids are the building blocks your body needs to make proteins. The essential amino acids are the ones your body can't make, and quinoa contains all of these. This means that quinoa is a complete source of protein, and it can be a valuable part of your healthful diet, especially if you are a vegetarian. Quinoa is low in saturated fat and is an excellent source of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that 1 cup of cooked quinoa supplies almost 2 grams of polyunsaturated fatty acids. You also get 5.2 grams of dietary fiber, 318 milligrams of potassium, 2.8 milligrams of iron and 118 milligrams of magnesium.
Flaxseed Therapeutic Value
Flaxseed is purported to be a remedy for many different medical conditions. However, the "Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database" has rated flaxseed as "possibly effective" as a treatment for only four conditions. Flaxseed may, for example, be able to lower your total cholesterol and your LDL or "bad" cholesterol levels. It may also help people with Type 2 diabetes lower their hemoglobin A1c level, which is a measure of their three-month average blood glucose level. Flaxseed may also be able to help relieve menopausal symptoms, and may improve kidney function for people who have systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease.
Flaxseed Nutrition
If you want to add flaxseed to your diet, you should consume ground flaxseed and not the whole seed, says the Mayo Clinic. You can more efficiently digest the ground seed, and thus get the full benefit of the fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and lignans that flaxseed contains. Lignans are a group of plant chemicals that may play a role in cancer prevention. You can enjoy ground flaxseed by sprinkling it on your cereal, mixing it with your yogurt or baking it into muffins and breads.
About the Author
Robert DiPardo
Robert DiPardo has been a pharmaceutical chemist for more than 30 years. He has co-authored several scientific publications on cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease and other therapeutic areas. DiPardo retired from drug discovery research in 2009 and, since 2010, has covered fitness and well-being for various online publications. DiPardo holds a Master of Science in organic chemistry from Yale University.
Photo Credits
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from WikiSky)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Type of site
Web mapping
Available inMultilingual
Alexa rankIncrease 31,785 (October 2017)[1]
Current statusActive (or is a wiki and interactive sky map that covers more than half a billion celestial objects. Users can view the whole star sky at once and zoom in to view areas in greater detail. WikiSky includes many stars, galaxies, constellations, and planets, but it is still in development. Users can also edit information about different stars by writing articles, adding Internet links, uploading images, or create a special interest group for a specific task. The website, although still available for users to visit, has not shown much activity since 2010.[citation needed]
Users may browse the sky in several surveys, including GALEX, DSS, and SDSS. In either mode, the user can access the name and a brief description of visible objects. This can be used to access more detailed information, including articles and different photo images. also has its own API so that code can be written to access maps, objects’ information and SDSS data. The API that has more functionality than the interactive part of the website currently uses.
Wikisky image copyrights[edit]
Some images from Wikisky, such as Digitized Sky Survey (DSS2) are "non-commercial use".[2] The DSS datarights are held by multiple institutions.[3] Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) images are now public domain, although earlier data releases were for non-commercial use only.[4] Images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Spitzer Space Telescope (infrared) or GALEX space telescope (ultraviolet) are "PD-NASA-USgov".
Similar maps[edit]
1. ^ " Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
2. ^ "Copyright - DSS2 images". Wikisky (cached version from 2009-02-23. Archived from the original on September 9, 2008. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
3. ^ "The DSS datarights". Multimission Archive at STScI. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
4. ^ Michael L. Evans. "Image use policy". Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
General references[edit]
External links[edit] | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '20', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.8336399793624878}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '46664', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:3OAI4VG7BAMPTDKACPLPYIJCSFWHAV3W', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:3e61541c-0562-4446-946d-46c6e849f93a>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 20, 0, 5, 7), 'WARC-IP-Address': '208.80.153.224', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:S5SSFKD5KZN2MANNIA6CKH3J5GTL57JQ', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:d626617b-c750-4fe6-abb9-aa8e289012f8>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiSky', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:1834cad2-a585-43a5-8881-ea4b896c2089>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '304', 'url': 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiSky', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-158-174-231.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.12495195865631104', 'original_id': 'ab64b9cd72e1192722231cb896132a7d55a03e3ed8e8b601d75be0fe6740e739'} |
Donate Now
February 11, 2011
Report from Taiji: February 11
Taiji dolphin killers drive a pod into the CoveTaiji dolphin killers drive a pod into the CoveAll is quiet in Taiji today. The rain pours down outside my window, mixed with a bit of snow, and all twelve banger boats remain in the harbor due to the weather. This is the type of day the Cove Guardians hope for, as bad weather is a much welcomed, yet not a frequent enough occurrence here in Japan.
Tragically, 25 bottlenose dolphins lost their lives in the Cove on February 9th. At the start of the season, we believed there to be a moratorium against the slaughter of the bottlenose species. While it is unfair that one species of dolphin is more revered than another, the truth remains that the general public has, and will always have, a soft spot for any ‘Flipper’ dolphin. However, the dolphin killers of Taiji, Japan have proven on numerous occasions during this year’s season alone that they lack any inkling of affection for bottlenose dolphins or any other species of cetacean. During a recently released news segment on a Japanese television station, a reporter claimed that these men love dolphins just as much as any Western activist but they must have meat in their daily diets and dolphins are simply a resource. This statement is misguided on many different levels; every Cove Guardian here has lived without meat for years, and healthy vegetarians are living proof that meat is not a required staple in the human diet. As for these men loving dolphins just as much as those of us trying to save their lives…what a joke! If their idea of love involves ruthlessly slaughtering something they care for and then cooking its flesh on an open barrel fire in a parking lot, then there is no hope for me being able to understand their logic.
A Japanese media crew films the dolphin drive at the CoveA Japanese media crew films the dolphin drive
at the Cove
The twisted reality is that it is apparent that this little fishing village holds dolphins and whales in high regard; even the ambulances have dolphins painted on their sides. Our good Japanese friend was telling us one night that love is something that is not expressed in this culture. Husbands and wives are not affectionate and parents do not tell their children they love them. Hearing this broke my heart. Despite a difficult childhood myself, I simply cannot imagine never hearing my parents express their love for me. So then I suppose it’s not entirely farfetched that this town can love dolphins while slaughtering them. However, what they need to realize is that there is a vast world outside the perimeter of Taiji and they are slaughtering dolphins that belong in the wild, dolphins that migrate to other parts of the world, and provide enjoyment for people that see them in their natural habitat. If the cull continues, soon there will be no dolphins and while Japan will have had a major hand in that, humans in general will be to blame.
Spread the word. Raise awareness. Speak out.
For the dolphins,
Libby Katsinis
Cove Guardians Georgia, Greg, Nicole, Libby, and Thomas at the CoveCove Guardians Georgia, Greg, Nicole, Libby, and Thomas
at the Cove
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Donate Now | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '240', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9553813338279724}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '19573', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:RLIYXERGB5XK5AKUSDXIVSRPFQRISDZV', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:5a89e9c4-03aa-4210-b2e0-9604c255bb8a>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2014, 8, 2, 0, 25, 14), 'WARC-IP-Address': '76.74.126.64', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:PJEQVOEOYE5QRRKFIRIY6HZY5M7Y6OVL', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:8a17e957-3cf3-40a2-ad73-1f888e18d1c0>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/blog/2011/02/11/report-from-taiji-february-11-65', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:2c07c904-bbf0-4feb-a7b5-df5d90879011>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '811', 'url': 'http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/blog/2011/02/11/report-from-taiji-february-11-65', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-23\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for July 2014\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.03427797555923462', 'original_id': 'dd69b56ed5b24422168da83271a382762b10fd7809636c2760fd774fdb0d6a9c'} |
Some years back, in an interview in UAE, I unconsciously reminded the interviewer that treating patients in UAE was much easier than Pakistan, my home country. The prevailing rate of infectious diseases in all Arab countries is low. He immediately posed a question, how? My answer was simple that deaths in Pakistan from infectious diseases were a daily routine. The sorrowful aspect of this unending tragedy was that the numbers of doctors specializing in treating infectious diseases was negligible as compared to our huge population. Diagnostic tools and isolated beds were also not available as per requirements. More than 12 per cent of our population is suffering from Hepatitis, which is a deadly viral disease, and we have the highest ratio all over the world.
Can I ask our leaders, politicians and policy makers why their interest is only in eradicating polio and not other preventable deadly infectious diseases that cannot be neglected at any cost? Some polio experts, as a mouthpiece for World leaders have termed Polio in Syria, a man-made outbreak and war crime. It is on record, that there was mass condemnation from many countries and individual bodies involving sham polio immunization to trace Osama Bin Laden. India is actively considering asking the visiting Pakistanis to prove that they are polio free and immunized against the disease. Taking an anti-polio dose is mandatory for every national, living in Saudi Arabia. But I personally believe that polio is being used as a political tool and not a health issue per see.
Kurram Agency, March 31. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9744169116020204}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '84512', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:W2ARIQRWMJ4GX54RDQQHD4YJZS26KP2C', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:29d47bed-f764-42d1-b0b1-e80790b90ee7>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2020, 3, 30, 7, 35, 46), 'WARC-IP-Address': '94.130.90.114', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:JUSI3NVBZLMDVK56P73W23K7PLJTIT5D', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:9e01cd72-f184-4e11-bb71-7d9e90091b27>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://nation.com.pk/03-Apr-2014/politicising-polio', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:740eb11d-8a56-4939-8799-1eca80f01277>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '260', 'url': 'https://nation.com.pk/03-Apr-2014/politicising-polio', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-16\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for March/April 2020\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-170.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.06267774105072021', 'original_id': '6971d11ff767160fdb0c1cd70e0e5ff9c366d13640d8167aee0c04a3e9c85b05'} |
The Lawbreakers Curse
The Growing Problem of Oversaturation
Apr 12, 2018
lawbreakers game curse
Now, I feel like I should clarify that this is an opinion. I’m making no claim to expertise in business, marketing, creating a product or anything of that nature. However, over the course of my years playing games, I've watched the game industry grow into the giant it is today. In those years, I’ve gleaned some things, and started to understand several themes and trends.
One of those trends that I’ve noticed is that games should not be released into an oversaturated market.
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Homefront tried to usurp the FPS throne, and failed.
I can name Homefront as a good example of this. Released in 2011, Homefront was another gritty military shooter, with all of the standard trappings. Its campaign was mediocre, but the focus was placed on its multiplayer component. It was a direct challenge to the success of the Call of Duty and Battlefield series at that time. However, those were, and still are, two massive titans in their genre. Yet here was Homefront, rising up to challenge these kings on the throne and… failing. Homefront received mediocre review scores, and was quickly forgotten. It didn’t stand a chance, because it couldn’t break into the massive audience that was already so obsessed with games already in existence. Would this outcome have been different if Homefront was a better game?
Timing Is Everything
That brings us to the subject of this article. A tale of unfortunate failure, and Cliff Bleszinski, the former design director for Epic Games - a titan in the gaming industry.
After leaving Epic games, Cliff co-founded Boss Key productions and got right to work designing and promoting his studio’s new game, Lawbreakers. It was a fast paced, adrenaline pumping, frag filled multiplayer first person shooter, filled with style and attitude. Not only that, but if you ever went to PAX East in 2016 or 2017, you could see the lines to try out the shooter that promised to be faster and crazier than anything else before it. I have to admit, the game looked good. Throwing zero gravity in the mix of a fast-playing multiplayer shooter was interesting. When the game came out, review scores were great, and it was shaping up to be one of the next big multiplayer titles.
lawbreakers gameplay
It's easy to mock now, but Lawbreakers had some legitimately great ideas, and amazing moments.
The only problem is, nobody bought it.
According to GitHyp, a site that tracks concurrent players of games on steam, Lawbreakers peaked at 3000 players the night of its launch. Since then, its numbers have only gone down. So what happened? This was a game with an all star team developing it, a massive ad campaign, and good reviews. Simply put, Overwatch happened. Or was happening I suppose is the right way to put it. At the time of Lawbreakers launch, Overwatch was in the middle of its summer olympics event, and had just debuted a new map. It was a dominating force that held players attention across platforms, it owned the multiplayer shooter genre. Any thoughts that the team at Boss Key had that the two games could co-exist and still be successful were dashed at that instant. This could have been an enormous learning experience for the team. When one game is dominating a genre, players won’t flock to a new alternative. They stick with what they know is good.
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Overwatch is a force of personality - It solved the eternal question: how do you stand out from the pack?
Second Verse, Same As The First
So why in the world are Cliff Bleszinski and Boss Key doing it again? Why did they just announce Radical Heights, a currently in alpha, free to play battle royale style shooter? The words “battle royale” are so intrinsically tied into Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite that calling the market oversaturated would be like saying my D&D campaign needs another tank. No, we already have a paladin and a barbarian, we don’t need one, thanks. Just like the market doesn’t need another battle royale style game.
radical fights
Radical Heights needs to stand out from the rest, or be forgotten. Is an 80's theme and retro graphical touches enough?
I want to state one more point - this isn't an issue that's specific to one developer, or even one genre. The video game industry has been consistently increasing the amount of games that come out every year, ceaselessly adding more variety to a long list of possible purchases. While more choice for the consumer is certainly a good thing, it does double down on this issue of over-saturation. As the indie market grows more popular, and services such as Kickstarter stay in business, there are just so many different ways a particular genre or type of game can suddenly rise, then fall.
Again, I’m no businessman or game developer; I’m just an observer with a lot of experience in this field. I’m a consumer, a customer, and to some developers, the core audience. So from a consumer’s standpoint, I can safely say that I don’t understand why any developer would release yet another battle royale style game and why any consumer would buy into one. PUBG and Fortnite have already laid claim to this genre for the foreseeable future. So unless Radical Heights brings something big to the table, and I do mean really, really, really, really big, I see another flop in Boss Key’s future.
The real question is this - is there a way to deal with over saturation that doesn't just hand over a game type to the reigning champion?
Otto Kratky
News Writer | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9622025489807128}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '41136', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:SA3HTJZ7753DPXU7A4EEVGYE2SDRWVSC', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:fbee26cd-2cc5-4d7a-a897-065038b50c4d>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 9, 26, 12, 55, 5), 'WARC-IP-Address': '64.227.25.145', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:2LIMEOAV6WH46VK6W2WN3DOLGEVFWRWV', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:c6f9fe0d-4148-47d3-a289-86b1b7918587>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.spritesanddice.com/posts/lawbreakers-curse/', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:3fbeb855-cac6-4402-a05f-afbc3d8d28dc>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '957', 'url': 'https://www.spritesanddice.com/posts/lawbreakers-curse/', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-39\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for September 2021\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-130\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.1460428237915039', 'original_id': 'cbea8be6d4dc65a5ded48a45c2c66e074cf73cc477f7a28da18b8aab1663db5c'} |
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
A ton of great new cereals have come out in the past year, and I'm excited to see what else there is to come. These new flavors have got me thinking: what would my ideal cereal look like? Would it have a cornucopia of mix-ins, like a make-your-own-sundae bar? Would it have one under-used defining flavor? What shape would it be? Has it already been created in the form of Reese's Puffs or Rice Krispies Treats Cereal? If I had that amazing job of creating new cereals, what would I do?
The possibilities are endless, but I guess what I've been looking for is a coffee-inspired cereal that turns the milk into, well, coffee milk. Unfortunately this Japanese cereal, which promised to do just that, fell short. My dream cereal would be the shape of Honey Comb, with a coffee-flavored "sugar crust." I can nearly taste it. It would perhaps be called Coffee Crunch. A girl can dream.
I guess the more important question is, what would you do? Share your dream cereal in the comment, won't you?
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What happens to linear discriminant analysis when $p>n$?
I have a general question regarding LDA (Fisher's linear discriminant analysis).
What happens if the sample size $n$ is smaller than the dimensionality $p$ (number of predictors)? Is it possible to perform LDA and what will happen?
Very good question. In short - it depends how you regularize. If you use L2 regularizer - no, if you user L1 regularizer - yes. The latter has interesting properties. Check out this book (PDF) http://web.stanford.edu/~hastie/StatLearnSparsity/
@xeon Why wouldn't L2 penalty work as well? "Regularized LDA" uses shrinkage estimator of the between-class covariance and can be seen as arising through L2 penalty.
maybe this helps: http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/patrick.flandrin/LedoitWolf_JMA2004.pdf, you ask what happens when p >>n, well in that case the sample var-covar matrix is singular and the LDA method needs the inverse of the var-covar matrix (see sction 4.3 of http://web.stanford.edu/~hastie/local.ftp/Springer/OLD/ESLII_print4.pdf)
@amoeba It will but but the parameters learned with L2 penalty are not estimated as reliably (when p>>n). The L1 penalty is special which still gives a convex optimization problem AND does feature selection AND learns the parameters.
@xeon I was under impression that if one does not care about feature selection then there is no advantage of L1 over L2. Can you give a reference for this specific claim? By the way, thanks for the reference to Statistical Learning with Sparsity, I did not know about this book (even though I use The Elements all the time), looks very interesting.
@amoeba This claim comes from the very same (brand new) book from Hastie et al.. I believe the claim comes from the Chapter 2. I was reading it this weekend with great interest.
| common_corpus | {'identifier': 'https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/190197', 'collection': 'StackExchange', 'open_type': 'Open Web', 'license': 'CC-By-SA', 'date': '2016.0', 'title': 'Stack Exchange', 'creator': 'Vladislavs Dovgalecs, amoeba, https://stats.stackexchange.com/users/27961, https://stats.stackexchange.com/users/28666', 'language': 'English', 'language_type': 'Spoken', 'word_count': '278', 'token_count': '472', '__index_level_0__': '23498', 'original_id': '362969e59f6b3b512e5d2a01c5e8966d0b84a28a9be0ab793545f20c2ce6ded0'} |
{
"parent":"thebetweenlands:block/betweenstone_bricks"
}
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '94a3b3f327bbf74bc7c3ba4f17f28f08857e3e55aac04dabe459d8014d336156'} |
This folder must exist to avoid the following sphinx warning during "make html"
copying static files... WARNING: html_static_path entry u'****\\docs\\_static' does not exist | mini_pile | {'original_id': '30b8d6b79c7dba146d9f9af58fa4e9db0c7976c0d8e0eb2ba4cb26ab0e120a9a'} |
10H Texts and Films
In my section of English 10H, you will be reading the following texts. While you will be given a copy in class of all texts, you may wish to buy your own copy for annotation purposes.
Animal Farm by George Orwell (summer reading)
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (summer reading)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Grass Dancer by Susan Power
You will also watch some or all of the following films:
Lord of the Flies (excerpts)
Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh (excerpts)
Hamlet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli (excerpts)
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising's Image of Women
Frankenstein (excerpts)
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Q:
C++: Time complexity of using STL's sort in order to sort a 2d array of integers on different columns
let's say we have the following 2d array of integers:
1 3 3 1
1 0 2 2
2 0 3 1
1 1 1 0
2 1 1 3
I was trying to create an implementation where the user could give as input the array itself and a string. An example of a string in the above example would be 03 which would mean that the user wants to sort the array based on the first and the fourth column.
So in this case the result of the sorting would be the following:
1 1 1 0
1 3 3 1
1 0 2 2
2 0 3 1
2 1 1 3
I didn't know a lot about the compare functions that are being used inside the STL's sort function, however after searching I created the following simple implementation:
I created a class called Comparator.h
class Comparator{
private:
std::string attr;
public:
Comparator(std::string attr) { this->attr = attr; }
bool operator()(const int* first, const int* second){
std::vector<int> left;
std::vector<int> right;
size_t i;
for(i=0;i<attr.size();i++){
left.push_back(first[attr.at(i) - '0']);
right.push_back(second[attr.at(i) - '0']);
}
for(i=0;i<left.size();i++){
if(left[i] < right[i]) return true;
else if(left[i] > right[i]) return false;
}
return false;
}
};
I need to know the information inside the string so I need to have a class where this string is a private variable. Inside the operator I would have two parameters first and second, each of which will refer to a row. Now having this information I create a left and a right vector where in the left vector I have only the numbers of the first row that are important to the sorting and are specified by the string variable and in the right vector I have only the numbers of the second row that are important to the sorting and are specified by the string variable.
Then I do the needed comparisons and return true or false. The user can use this class by calling this function inside the Sorting.cpp class:
void Sorting::applySort(int **data, std::string attr, int amountOfRows){
std::sort(data, data+amountOfRows, Comparator(attr));
}
Here is an example use:
int main(void){
//create a data[][] variable and fill it with integers
Sorting sort;
sort.applySort(data, "03", number_of_rows);
}
I have two questions:
First question
Can my implementation get better? I use extra variables like the left and right vectors, and then I have some for loops which brings some extra costing to the sorting operation.
Second question
Due to the extra cost, how much worse does the time complexity of the sorting become? I know that STL's sort is O(n*logn) where n is the number of integers that you want to sort. Here n has a different meaning, n is the number of rows and each row can have up to m integers which in turn can be found inside the Comparator class by overriding the operator function and using extra variables(the vectors) and for loops.
Because I'm not sure how exactly is STL's sort implemented I can only make some estimates.
My initial estimate would be O(n*m*log(n)) where m is the number of columns that are important to the sorting however I'm not 100% certain about it.
Thank you in advance
A:
You can certainly improve your comparator. There's no need to copy the columns and then compare them. Instead of the two push_back calls, just compare the values and either return true, return false, or continue the loop according to whether they're less, greater, or equal.
The relevant part of the complexity of sort is O(n * log n) comparisons (in C++11. C++03 doesn't give quite such a good guarantee), where n is the number of elements being sorted. So provided your comparator is O(m), your estimate is OK to sort the n rows. Since attr.size() <= m, you're right.
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '171419f1359894aadfbde14ba7102a3e65fc23c545ef968509ef4e2911d468f0'} |
About Us
The purpose of this application is to help remember great moments in your life.
This project was originally started when Aziz was discussing old moments in his life with colleagues. He was looking for a way to have a locally hosted repository of all the great memories and for a way to share them with his friends. While Facebook allowed some degree of this functionality, the constant changing landscape of the Facebook UI has helped to discourage posting of new events. A suite that could be easily deployed over multiple servers as well as hosted on the internet was also a requirement.
Initial Phase
The project was initially modeled out using AngularJS 1.5 and utilizing a PHP backend with a MariaDB database. Unfortunetly multiple issues occured in the initial design and protoyping that necesated considering other frameworks.
Moving to Rails
While evaluating different frameworks, care was taken to ensure that the chosen framework met the requirements and had the ability to reasonably expand to new requirements in the future. Emphasis was also placed on how easily the project could get up and running so more time would be spent using the product instead of debugging issues.
Looking Forward
There are multiple enhancements in the pipeline for MemoryFriends:
1. One forward looking goal of this project is to integrate the functionality of TimeTracker(A project meant for tracking hours over the course of a day) and AzizDo(A project meant to track your tasks to be completed) into MemoryFriends so you can look back on the great work you did alongside you memories. The eventual goal is that map out your life in great detail so you know exactly where all the time has gone.
2. Another enhancement is to improve performance when many memories are placed on the sheet. We wish to exapand upon the design as more data is added.
3. We will like to investigate and evaluate more complex frameworks like Elixir and the Phoenix Framework. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9624888300895692}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '4756', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:QTMANMWTVN3ZX4WWPJH3734YHBADQ5SB', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:28293420-2ca9-47d5-9af3-d48abc7eda65>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 11, 16, 1, 5, 56), 'WARC-IP-Address': '34.230.212.94', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:V6FI43VEXNOBZ2ZQEG5YZIOQ6FALCBIT', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:7dbd1aae-4e9b-4f91-8eb9-ecda72448d4f>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://desolate-garden-48726.herokuapp.com/about', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:11c2170e-41e6-4d4c-aa6a-927845e374ec>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '329', 'url': 'https://desolate-garden-48726.herokuapp.com/about', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-47\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for November 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-67-67-222.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.16 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.025589585304260254', 'original_id': '95e3acb5dae3d8e4cb2327c074545913163e0b0b84c2c3bf4b970800094a3b0f'} |
name a reason a girl has for turning down a babysitting job
Reasons a babysitting job might be turned down include a prior obligation (birthday party, celebratory dinner, etc.) or a lack of available time due to schoolwork. It is also acceptable to simply say politely "I am sorry but I am not available to babysit on ..." and leave it at that (particularly if you hope the family will not ask again.)
Experts suggest it is best to avoid babysitting jobs in homes that are unsafe (ex. unsecured swimming pool), have unruly animals, or other hazards. Consider saying no to babysitting gigs where parents routinely come home later than expected and drink alcohol excessively.
Two examples of “babysitting dos and don’ts” from August 2012:
A 23-year-old man led Detroit law enforcement on a high speed chase which ended with a crash a foot pursuit. When the man fled the wrecked car, he took with him the 21-month-old he was babysitting.
A 15-year-old New Jersey babysitter was feeding a 3-year-old when the toddler began choking. The babysitter snapped into action, implementing the Heimlich Maneuver and saving the girl’s life. The life-saving measures she had learned 4 years prior came back to her in a flash. She encourages all babysitters to learn the Heimlich Maneuver.
Updated on Sunday, August 26 2012 at 03:31AM EDT | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9606642127037048}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '49428', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:H5CF363WYKRPFRTU3V5M5HHZJYNNW7NP', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:ae450d7d-1524-4525-83d5-62d7d788ddfc>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2014, 3, 10, 16, 41, 36), 'WARC-IP-Address': '208.85.146.103', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:6HFCUXXSF5RIPCEMBZXNUKH4WYTFPK77', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:1c27bac7-636e-4e03-b5f9-ac104603b9fc>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.kgbanswers.com/name-a-reason-a-girl-has-for-turning-down-a-babysitting-job/22750879', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:253702fa-e826-49c6-8c86-b7cbad9ad2f4>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '217', 'url': 'http://www.kgbanswers.com/name-a-reason-a-girl-has-for-turning-down-a-babysitting-job/22750879', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-10\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for March 2014\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.09418797492980957', 'original_id': '17639dd2cec5a10b58fe69e0c3732df9e1da071826da275481dd36ff297b1038'} |
There are always new infrastructure projects going on in this city. But I hadn't heard of the Metropolitan Area Express until now. This is a light rail project that has just received the go ahead.
The first stage will start at Polytechnic West (Balga Campus) and extend east-west through the city to the QEII Medical Centre, in Nedlands, and the Causeway.
One of the main reasons for such a project is to relieve traffic congestion, and reduce carbon emissions. That's an illustration of just how crowded these areas have become.
I'm sure this light rail network will be very popular with commuters, and get a lot of cars off the road. It will also transform the appearance and character of the suburbs that it runs through.
While Perth did have a tram line a long time ago, for most of its history it's been dominated by the car and the train. It's hard to characterize the difference that such a project brings. But it seems to make a city much more "European" somehow. Anyone who has been to Melbourne will know what I mean.
When I first went there back in 1990, I was quite stunned by the complexity and efficiency of the light rail network, not to mention the visual spectacle of it. Having grown up in spread out, tram free Perth, it really made me feel like I was in a completely different country.
So now Perth itself will have its own such network. Amazing how things have changed ... | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9831319451332092}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '39301', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:PPXQIAGSLLCFHT3FMWYFVIFIQUB7FGNF', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:5bfa4030-5e7a-4e29-b455-5b43fdbb01dc>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 6, 20, 20, 9, 37), 'WARC-IP-Address': '184.72.229.176', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'application/xhtml+xml', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:6BJJV4MI7V5IPYXOF5EYRO7F5ADUIHII', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:714d7eb5-a741-4fa2-a804-76bc3d356145>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.realperthwa.com/blog/the-metropolitan-area-express-will-change-the-city-s-character', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:8140775c-d927-4f77-b60d-3e79de348dbd>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '249', 'url': 'http://www.realperthwa.com/blog/the-metropolitan-area-express-will-change-the-city-s-character', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-26\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for June 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-81-161-154.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.06467199325561523', 'original_id': 'fe852bb4122894a2265c640ead81b3437223199e66c5754b743b73a2ed793243'} |
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon
Red Pill is taking a unique approach to distributing his debut album, letting visitors to his website download the album first for free and then decide AFTERWARDS how much it's worth. That's balls son. You have to have some confidence in your ability, beats and flow to take a chance like that, and in Red Pill's case it's not unwarranted. He fits firmly into category of underground rappers with a strong lyrical message that has not been compromised, standing amongst fellow Michigan rappers like Black Milk out to make a name and more mainstream rappers like Slug who already have but still exist in a blue pill form to 98% of pop culture. While none of the above will ever wake up 100% of the Taylor Swift & Ke$ha audience they at least have the potential to convert 50% or more of the Eminem & Ludacris one. The latter two already bust funny and personal rhymes, and Red Pill's no different. Take this excerpt from the title track for example:
"I need a change fast like a model
Can't go back but my past still follows
It hollowed out my soul, left a hole so big
makes that ozone look like a pothole!
I'm just waitin on the day when it makes sense
But for now I make cents with unpaid rent
Smoke my last cigarette and flick it in the dumpster
Just hope it burns this motherfucker
I'm not goin back there today (nope)
That's it, I quit, nothin more to say!"
Like so many underground artists these days, Red Pill does his own production on the album, and unlike so many of them his beats are above average. "The Introduction" is not just a skit, it's a funky bassline with a hip-hop lecture about "having a million hits on MySpace and not knowing who Dilla is." Pianos and pounding drums make up the backdrop of "Worry About it Later," an ode to persevering despite your personal doubts. "I Understand" has that cool ass 1970's Jackson 5 feel - light and airy, soulful and fresh all at the same time. "I Believe" is aggressive enough that Lil' Fame could believably drop in for a cameo. Red Pill does have a couple of misses though - "Irregular Heart Beats" missed something in the mastering process as the bass distorts so badly you are forced to skip what would otherwise be a dope track. "Dead End Roads" uses cliched "Eddie You Should Know Better" samples that no matter how fresh Curtis Mayfield is have simply been beaten to death in 2010. There's nothing technically wrong with "YouCanMakeLifeCanMakeYou," it's just a little slow and plodding for most listeners.
On the whole Red Pill's "Please Tip Your Driver" is a stronger debut album than most new artists will have, and honestly exceeds the suggested $5 donation Red Pill mentions on his website and in his press release. There's only one cameo appearance on the album, meaning for 9 out of 10 tracks you get an unfiltered look at a new and worthwhile voice in hip-hop with a promising future beyond getting people their freaky good sandwiches freaky fast. Take his advice and try the album for yourself - especially if you've already been down the rabbit hole and don't mind waking up to something outside the mainstream.
Originally posted: January 26, 2010
source: www.RapReviews.com | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '167', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9569040536880492}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '6857', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:KOH2B3K2YVL65TXROTYOJ7QWR3QL3MCA', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:9eb6ed2d-8316-453a-8928-14c6a01ff87a>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2014, 4, 18, 0, 17, 31), 'WARC-IP-Address': '198.50.239.164', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': None, 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:HTU3LD32PVZBL5OO5NH44WQCK4IR2LGU', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:3702f38f-ff6b-405a-8793-540aedd5161a>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2010_01_pleasetip.html', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:2efbc610-8a8a-43b5-a9cd-e8503010b892>', 'WARC-Truncated': 'length'}", 'previous_word_count': '723', 'url': 'http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2010_01_pleasetip.html', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2014-15\r\noperator: CommonCrawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web with URLs provided by Blekko for April 2014\r\npublisher: CommonCrawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.04845023155212402', 'original_id': '610469be195dc03a5fc0c0b69a68e34541b4e8c732cb8f72243ed84aa6f785c3'} |
Our Company is committed to the policy that all employees have an obligation to report problems or concerns involving ethical or compliance violations or complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters. We are posting notice of our Corporate Integrity HOTLINE on our website so that any employee, shareholder or other interested party may use this vehicle to report any such matters. The toll free number is (866)588-5733 [Direct Dial: (714)241-6970].
All calls to our HOTLINE can be made anonymously and without fear of retribution. Any caller is encouraged to provide adequate information to assist with further investigation. The calls are not traced and the information is treated in a confidential manner, subject to the limits imposed by law. You may call the Corporate Integrity HOTLINE at any time. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '2fd13fb7e0c278a7a06f151c7af2ede24c8da55aa34d8df61064e47dec35c7cd'} |
Evaluation of approaches for consumers to eliminate chlorine off-flavors from drinking water at point-of-use
Chlorine off-flavors of tap water have caused dissatisfaction and distrust from some consumers, placing pressure on operators concerning water disinfection. Evaluating practical approaches for eliminating chlorinous off-flavors by consumers at point-of-use while avoiding production of toxic byproducts is a practical concern. Three recognized dechlorination methods: ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ascorbic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP), were evaluated for chlorinated and chloraminated waters. AA is the most efficient for removing free chlorine and chloramine from water samples. Three new chlorine-containing compounds were detected and identified from the reaction between AA and chlorine. High doses of UV irradiation at 254 nm virtually eliminated chlorine. HP could effectively remove free chlorine but was not effective for chloramine elimination. AA shows promise as a practical household dechlorination agent. However, to assure consumers about drinking water safety, further investigation is needed to evaluate any potential toxicity concerns for reaction products in treated water.
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Metrohm is pleased to present an Application Bulletin describing the determination of free and total chlorine by iodometric titration.
To disinfect water for human consumption, chlorine is added to the water in some countries. Because chlorine is highly toxic, organism like bacteria are killed and the onset of waterborne diseases like cholera is prevented. But chlorine is not only toxic to microorganism, it is toxic for humans as well. The main reason for its toxicity is the fact that chlorine may react with...
ABSTRACT
Cooling water systems provide optimal conditions for settlement and growth of fouling species, e.g. mussels, oysters and barnacles. Excessive biofouling results in major operational upsets and even unplanned shutdowns. Controlling micro- and macrofouling organisms in once-through cooling water systems is key for safe reliable operation. For this, chlorination is globally still considered one of the best technology options. Sodium hypochlorite is applied either as bulk-product or produced on-site by...
To the lay-person, a commercial kitchen is just a floor and some equipment that needs a good clean regularly. They don’t understand the dangers of bacterial contamination and how easy it is for food to be affected.
Most commercial kitchens will use bleach, or a similar sanitiser, to keep their space safe. Today, we will share with you the top five reasons you should be using chlorine dioxide instead.
Chlorine dioxide is more effective.
When we say that chlorine dioxide is more effective, we are referring...
The internet is an incredibly useful research tool. It allows us to source and share information instantaneously. Unfortunately, this means that myths and misconceptions can spread very quickly and obscure the truth. In this post, we aim to tackle some of the myths that surround chlorine dioxide, and how this differs from our chlorine dioxide based product CleanOxide.
Myth 1: Pure chlorine dioxide is corrosive
Traditional chlorine dioxide and chlorine can be corrosive to stainless steel. However, CleanOxide is...
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I would like to receive periodic email updates and special offers from select suppliers. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '7877c1b2f529ff0db37bfd1a06a59e833be3667a3907c2b8e1fb17746060848c'} |
5 Good Practices for Successful ERP Implementation in Educational Institution
5 Good Practices for Successful ERP Implementation in Educational Institution
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5 Good Practices for Successful ERP Implementation in Educational Institution
ERP Implementation is one of the most important steps of any organization. With an ERP correctly set up in the school environment, all the different aspects such as results, attendance, library, etc. can be handled without any difficulties.
The current generation ERP solution is changing rapidly and so does the education sector. The education sector is now improving and many schools are moving through rapid changes. To make sure that the ERP is implemented in the correct way, we will go through 5 Good practices for successful ERP implementation. The practices are necessary for the correct implementation of Education ERP management such as OpenEduCat.
OpenEduCat is an open source Education ERP system developed by TechReceptives.
So, what are those practices that you should follow? Let’s start the countdown.
Pre-Installation Practice
Do you really need the ERP solution for your school?
This is one of the most important questions that should be encountered head on. The main motive of the answering this question is to ask the authorities whether the actual need for the ERP solution is justified or not. To make sure that the decision is made right, a small team of teachers and non-teaching staff should hold a meeting and decide all the benefits of the ERP solution for the school.
What are the requirements?
With the decision of implementing an ERP done, the next step is to clearly write down all the requirements of your ERP solution for school or college. Not all ERP solutions are made equal and that’s why require little too extreme customization. To minimize customization and other sorts of problems, it is always better to write down the requirements and be crystal clear about them.
Installation Practices
Creating Database and Storing Data
The next vital practice is to realize that not all the data can be imported into the new system. Recovering 100% of the data can be quite agonizing and some of the old data holds no value to the institute. That’s why school or college should create a CSV/spreadsheet file and write down all the data and segments that need to be imported into the new system.
Train the Workforce
Although ERP solution is not rocket science, but incorporating it into the work-flow of the teachers and other staff is an important step in the success of ERP implementation. There can be end users of different skill level, which in turn warrants the training of the workforce.
Also, using documents and creating value for the end user should be the top priority job in the hands of the organization.
Making Everything Work
With all the nitty gritty work done. It is high time to celebrate the live version of the ERP. Also, it is also not a bad idea to test all the major process of the ERP system before everything is finalized for the launch. This can protect your school or college from any embarrassment during the launch session.
What’s next? Enjoy the release with your team and gain one step further to success. | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.911486029624939}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '84075', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:4FKKSSNKLWCOXKIPZ2EZV257H6ZRSGBC', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:0884cc2e-1322-4a5d-b46a-45dc41d94100>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2019, 5, 19, 8, 18, 58), 'WARC-IP-Address': '104.27.184.235', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:WKPRP32P52HA575SHSGYHJOP2M27E2FI', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:4a93be1d-2e9d-4ed3-81c9-eaeae93fd3d5>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'https://www.openeducat.org/blog/open-source-1/post/5-good-practices-for-successful-erp-implementation-in-educational-institution-13', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:9784a24b-149f-494c-a303-f3733458e06d>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '537', 'url': 'https://www.openeducat.org/blog/open-source-1/post/5-good-practices-for-successful-erp-implementation-in-educational-institution-13', 'warcinfo': 'isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-22\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for May 2019\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)\r\nhostname: ip-10-47-182-244.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)\r\nrobots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.1\r\nconformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.07973462343215942', 'original_id': '79f604bf26f92c78e649beb5808bd79b93a25db2671ef0981d8e57595975d765'} |
Waves of Grief & Circus Peanuts
Since my dad’s death this past July, I’ve been thinking a lot about grief and how it’s perceived and handled in our society. One thing I’ve noticed is that grief sure makes a lot of people uncomfortable.
Often we read or hear it said that grief can feel like a wave washing over you. It’s a fairly decent analogy. When swimming (or even wading) in the ocean, sometimes a wave seems to appear out of nowhere, catching you off guard and you start to flounder at bit or in the wading scenario, lose your balance. It can take a lot of effort not to fall, be pulled under or in some cases, not to sink. We’ve all heard that phrase, sink or swim, right? The trick is not to panic.
Just like it’s probably better to not fight real waves by frantically kicking and flailing about, but rather to calmly ride them out; it’s probably also better not to fight the emotional waves that will undoubtedly come following the death of your loved one. It’s probably better to literally go with the flow of emotions, rather than fighting them or worse, stuffing them down. If you don’t, they’ll more than likely resurface again at some point anyway, potentially causing even more emotional turmoil and requiring even more effort to regain at least some sense of balance and calm.
Grief does sort of feel like riding the waves while trying to keep your head up and out of the “water”.
I’ve been riding the waves a lot since my dad’s death. Sometimes the waves are expected and sometimes they are not.
For example, a few weeks ago, I was strolling through the aisles at my local Wal-Mart mindlessly picking out stuff to toss in my shopping cart when suddenly, a wave appeared out of nowhere...
The wave was Circus Peanuts.
And no, I don’t mean the kind of peanuts in a shell you buy in a bag to crack open and enjoy while at a circus.
I mean this kind...
Circus Peanuts were one of my dad’s favorite candies (not sure they qualify as candy, but I’ll just go with that here). In fact, when he recently moved into his assisted living facility, I ran all over the place trying to find these orange, IMO gross, peanut-shaped, squishy treats. I discovered they are hard to find. Understandably so, I might add, as they are not on most people’s favorites lists. I tried one once, but only once...
But wouldn’t you know it? Wal-Mart sells them.
So there I was standing in the candy aisle (and no, I’m not going to apologize for being in the candy aisle) when suddenly, the wave hit.
While standing there staring at those bags of Circus Peanuts, I froze. Of course, the tears came next and then people started giving me weird looks. Who could blame them, right?
I proceeded to take out my smartphone so I could take a photo of one of my dad’s favorites because how could I not? I wanted and still want, to capture and hang onto everything that reminds me of him, even Circus Peanuts.
I’m sure people passing by thought, what a weird woman taking pictures of a weird kind of candy.
At that moment, being weird felt right. I had to ride the wave.
And so I did.
I try to keep reminding myself, it’s okay to ride the waves, to feel the pain.
It’s okay to feel the grief, my grief. It’s okay to let others see it too. And if this makes them uncomfortable, so what?
It’s okay, sometimes even necessary, to go with the flow.
And I when I do, usually I feel better…
Until the next wave hits.
How do you ride out waves of grief?
Is it hard for you to grieve openly in front of others?
Why do you think grief makes so many people uncomfortable?
Read more at Nancy’s Point. Follow Nancy’s Point on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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Description
The S2 is a collaboration between Boker and Sniper Bladeworks. The knife was designed by Lance Abernathy, a former SWAT member, and features the handiwork of Jody Muller, knifemaker for the past 20 years. This team designs tactical folders of a slightly different kind.
The S2 is unique due to its wide, completely flat ground blade, which provides phenomenal cutting performance. The slim handle sits comfortably in your hand and guarantees perfect control. In addition, the thumb ramp and the flipper protect against slipping of the finger. The structured G-10 scales on steel plates offer maximum stability and a very secure grip. Also features a reversible pocket clip, which allows tip-up or tip-down carry, and the lanyard hole completes the package.
The Boker Plus S2 features a high performance 440C stainless steel blade and liner locking mechanism. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '52e666fcd77e9a65b07ce2e684eb5e888afc50771627e5bff46e92fefff99d93'} |
Q:
Numpy remove duplicate columns with values greater than 0
I've the following array.
array([[ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3],
[ 4, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0],
[ 0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0]])
I am looking to find the unique values column wise such that my result is.
array([[ 0, 0, 0, 0, 3],
[ 4, 0, 0, 0, 0],
[ 0, 0, 23, 0, 0]])
The unique should only be applied to columns without 0 values i.e all columns which has 0 as their value should remain. Also I've to make sure that the indices of the columns is not changed. They remain at their place.
I've already tried the following.
np.unique(a,axis=1, return_index=True)
But this gives me
(array([[ 0, 0, 0, 3],
[ 0, 0, 4, 0],
[ 0, 23, 0, 0]]), array([2, 3, 0, 5]))
There are two problems in this result. The column indices are moved and the columns with only 0 values are also merged.
A:
This will accomplish what you want:
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
x = np.array([[ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3],
[ 4, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0],
[ 0, 0, 0, 23, 0, 0]])
df = pd.DataFrame(x.T)
row_sum = np.sum(df, axis=1)
df1 = df[row_sum != 0].drop_duplicates()
df0 = df[row_sum == 0]
y = pd.concat([df1, df0]).sort_index().values.T
y
array([[ 0, 0, 0, 0, 3],
[ 4, 0, 0, 0, 0],
[ 0, 0, 23, 0, 0]])
By summing the columns (or the rows after transposing) you can identify which ones contain all zeros, and filter them out before dropping the duplicates. Then you can re-combine them and sort by the index to get the desired output.
| mini_pile | {'original_id': 'd8f72944430b3762043ffc189ebbd6fb90d5de879451d5f79175fc7bcb6ace00'} |
Dodgers might be cooling on Dempster
But they could be warming up to Garza, who left Saturday night's game with right triceps cramping
July 21, 2012|By Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune reporter
ST. LOUIS — A report on said the Dodgers are "unlikely" to come up with a package for Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, though they remain interested in Matt Garza, who left Saturday's game after three innings with cramping in his right triceps.
General manager Jed Hoyer said before the game it's possible the Cubs could keep Dempster, though that seems unlikely considering their need for pitching prospects and Dempster's desire to pitch for a contender.
"I would never close the door on that," Hoyer said, adding: "It's fun to see a guy like him bounce back after (2011). People were questioning him. He has proven a lot of people wrong. We'd never close the door on that at all, no matter what happens at the end of July. He's a guy who's always welcome in a Cubs uniform."
But the Cubs are likely to honor Dempster's wishes for his sake and theirs. He said Friday he hasn't given the Cubs a list of teams he's willing to be traded to, though sources said he is agreeable to be moved to the American League, despite rumors he wants to stay in the National League.
Rumor mongers: Manager Dale Sveum confirmed he has had talks with some players who were concerned after seeing their names mentioned in trade talks. Even Darwin Barney, who is part of the youth movement, was mentioned in speculation about the Tigers' interest in him.
"You just nip it in the bud," Sveum said. "You're like, 'Guys, there are going to be rumors. All it takes is somebody to think this team needs a kind of player like you are and your name is going to be mentioned, and there's no substance to anything.' Obviously there might be substance, but 90 percent of the time (there isn't).
Sveum blamed Twitter-related rumors. He was reminded that talk of Garza coming to the Cubs was widespread a month before his arrival in 2011.
"That's the 10 percent," he said with a laugh.
Paniagua watch: Dominican free agent Juan Carlos Paniagua, a 22-year-old right-hander who signed Friday for $1.5 million, will be on a faster track to the majors than most international prospects.
"That was a big part of our thinking," Hoyer said. "We think he can start out pretty quickly once he's ready to go in the States, and hopefully move fairly quickly through the system. A big part of the allure of him was he was a guy we thought could move quickly." | dclm_baseline | {'bff_contained_ngram_count_before_dedupe': '0', 'language_id_whole_page_fasttext': "{'en': 0.9873053431510924}", 'metadata': "{'Content-Length': '43374', 'Content-Type': 'application/http; msgtype=response', 'WARC-Block-Digest': 'sha1:OFOEYHGK4CNMQ7HT5UFPMB5VCIR7NINB', 'WARC-Concurrent-To': '<urn:uuid:4661fe0a-351c-4b65-9b5d-b67153afc347>', 'WARC-Date': datetime.datetime(2017, 10, 23, 8, 10, 58), 'WARC-IP-Address': '151.101.32.204', 'WARC-Identified-Payload-Type': 'text/html', 'WARC-Payload-Digest': 'sha1:4YSJ7W5WQJTHFBSTKP5ZWTLEISU2IT42', 'WARC-Record-ID': '<urn:uuid:4276fdb8-7b59-437e-8bb9-d4d3e52445ac>', 'WARC-Target-URI': 'http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-21/sports/ct-spt-0722-bits-cubs-cardinals-chicago--20120722_1_ryan-dempster-darwin-barney-manager-dale-sveum', 'WARC-Type': 'response', 'WARC-Warcinfo-ID': '<urn:uuid:801f5e82-8147-4c48-9d49-3808e323e9e5>', 'WARC-Truncated': None}", 'previous_word_count': '432', 'url': 'http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-21/sports/ct-spt-0722-bits-cubs-cardinals-chicago--20120722_1_ryan-dempster-darwin-barney-manager-dale-sveum', 'warcinfo': 'robots: classic\r\nhostname: ip-10-165-76-76.ec2.internal\r\nsoftware: Nutch 1.6 (CC)\r\nisPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-43\r\noperator: Common Crawl Admin\r\ndescription: Wide crawl of the web for October 2017\r\npublisher: Common Crawl\r\nformat: WARC File Format 1.0\r\nconformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf', 'fasttext_openhermes_reddit_eli5_vs_rw_v2_bigram_200k_train_prob': '0.026568353176116943', 'original_id': '66a74aa2b10b03d72e480a6eb410126232edd098e09f5536fc644188b456a423'} |
Rev-erbalpha, a heme sensor that coordinates metabolic and circadian pathways.
The circadian clock temporally coordinates metabolic homeostasis in mammals. Central to this is heme, an iron-containing porphyrin that serves as prosthetic group for enzymes involved in oxidative metabolism as well as transcription factors that regulate circadian rhythmicity. The circadian factor that integrates this dual function of heme is not known. We show that heme binds reversibly to the orphan nuclear receptor Rev-erbalpha, a critical negative component of the circadian core clock, and regulates its interaction with a nuclear receptor corepressor complex. Furthermore, heme suppresses hepatic gluconeogenic gene expression and glucose output through Rev-erbalpha-mediated gene repression. Thus, Rev-erbalpha serves as a heme sensor that coordinates the cellular clock, glucose homeostasis, and energy metabolism. | mini_pile | {'original_id': '539d8a0d8a916dd4aaa196966454d69d0bdb3bae75ddc23f0a76218cc0d28e85'} |
map
Two people are dead after an apparent murder-suicide in Calhoun, Ga. on Friday.
Police responded to the Calhoun Tobacco and Food Mart on the 1400 block of South Highway 41 and were immediately met by a store employee who said she had been shot, according to a news release.
She was suffering from a gunshot wound to her arm and side and the officers provided first aid to stop the bleeding. She was then transported to Hamilton Medical Center by ambulance.
One of the officers saw a man run around the store heading southeast toward Stone Loop and then heard a single gunshot from the 100 block of Stone Loop.
Officers cleared the store and found a woman, Valerie Castillo, 18, lying on the floor behind the counter, unresponsive. She was pronounced deceased on scene by paramedics.
During a search of the Stone Loop area, a man identified as Victor Andres Pacheco was also found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
An investigation of the incident is ongoing and being led by the Calhoun Police Investigation Division. | mini_pile | {'original_id': 'fa070645d911270d7fdc8ef79f2e66df1204440442e639f23d0f6d3b7a76dcfa'} |
---
abstract: 'We present a large grid of computed far- and mid-ultraviolet spectra (850 Å to 2000 Å) of the integrated light from steady-state accretion disks in luminous cataclysmic variables. The spectra are tabulated at 0.25 Å intervals with an adopted FWHM resolution of 1.0 Å, so they are suitable for use with observed spectra from a variety of modern space-borne observatories. Twenty-six different combinations of white dwarf mass $M_{\rm wd}$ and mass accretion rate $\dot{m}$ are considered, and spectra are presented for six different disk inclinations $i$. The disk models are computed self-consistently in the plane-parallel approximation, assuming LTE and vertical hydrostatic equilibrium, by solving simultaneously the radiative transfer, hydrostatic equilibrium, and energy balance equations. Irradiation from external sources is neglected. Local spectra of disk annuli are computed taking into account line transitions from elements 1–28 (H through Ni). Limb darkening as well as Doppler broadening and blending of lines are taken into account in computing the integrated disk spectra. The radiative properties of the models are discussed, including the dependence of ultraviolet fluxes and colors on $M_{\rm wd}$, $\dot{m}$, and $i$. The appearance of the disk spectra is illustrated, with regard to changes in the same three parameters. Finally, possible future improvements to the present models and spectra are discussed. The synthetic spectra are available as machine-readable ASCII files via [*ftp*]{}.'
author:
- 'Richard A. Wade'
- Ivan Hubeny
title: 'Detailed Mid- and Far-Ultraviolet Model Spectra for Accretion Disks in Cataclysmic Binaries'
---
INTRODUCTION {#intro}
============
In most varieties of cataclysmic variable (CV) stars, the mass transfer between the Roche-lobe filling secondary star and the white dwarf primary star occurs via an accretion disk. It is clear from decades of observations and theoretical studies that this disk can dominate the ultraviolet and visible spectra of CVs, at least for the more luminous classes such as novalike variables and dwarf novae in outburst. Observations of CVs with the [*IUE*]{} observatory established the importance of the disk light in the mid-ultraviolet ([*mid-UV*]{}; roughly, ultraviolet wavelengths longward of H Lyman-$\alpha$), and [*Hubble Space Telescope (HST)*]{} observations using [*HSP*]{}, [*FOS*]{}, and [*GHRS*]{} have resulted in improved data for many key systems, with improved spectral and temporal resolution and enhanced signal-to-noise ratio. Observations with the ultraviolet spectrometers (UVS) aboard the [*VOYAGER*]{} spacecraft, with the [*Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT)*]{}, and with the Space Shuttle-borne [*ORFEUS*]{} experiments, have shown the same dominance of the disk in luminous CVs for the far ultraviolet ([*far-UV*]{}; from the Lyman edge to Lyman-$\alpha$). The disk may remain dominant in less luminous CVs (mainly the dwarf novae in quiescence), or it may contribute significantly less than the white dwarf, especially if the disk is highly inclined to the observer’s line of sight. In one class of CVs, the AM Her stars, the accretion flow is channeled by strong magnetic fields and a disk is not formed.
To make the most of the large and increasing archive of high quality mid- and far-UV observations of disk-dominated, high-luminosity CVs, and to distinguish reliably between white dwarf and disk spectra in less luminous cases, it is clearly necessary to have up-to-date models for the spectral energy distribution and detailed line spectra of disks, for a variety of accretion rates, central white dwarf masses, and viewing angles (orbital inclinations). As observations have been collected over the years, different techniques, involving different levels of approximation, have been applied to this task, and a few small grids of models have been produced. For example, Williams and Ferguson 1982 described a small grid of LTE disk models, spanning the transition from optically thin to optically thick in the continuum, in which the disk was assumed to have constant temperature in the vertical direction at each radius. Wade 1984 discussed the UV and optical continua for CV accretion disks, comparing two grids of spectra, based on blackbody energy distributions and computed stellar fluxes from the Kurucz (1979) grid. la Dous (1989) introduced some absorption lines from metals into her computed ultraviolet spectra of disks, which were LTE models based on the Eddington approximation without any attempt to ensure energy balance. la Dous also summarizes prior work by other authors (see also la Dous 1994).
Recent data obtained using the instruments listed above, with their higher S/N ratios and spectral resolution, demand more detailed models, computed with some attention given to the properties of disk spectra that may distinguish them from sums of stellar atmosphere fluxes. The spectra in Wade (1984), for example, are coarsely binned and entirely inadequate for the resolution achieved in [*HUT*]{} or [*HST*]{} spectra. Many studies of individual CVs in recent years have made use of improved detail in model spectra (e.g., Long et al.1994; Knigge et al. 1997; Knigge et al. 1998), but there has been a lack until now of a grid of mid- and far-UV spectra of disks, presented as a body. Such a grid can enable comparisons among objects, allow the range of temperatures in the disk to be estimated, help identify lines and blends that can distinguish disk spectra from white dwarf spectra, and perhaps in favorable cases help determine the mass accretion rate and orbital inclination in some CVs.
It is also desirable to have a new grid that explicitly tabulates spectra for disks viewed at a variety of inclinations, since it is clear that limb darkening of the UV light from a disk is of comparable importance to purely geometric effects for optically thick disks viewed at high inclination (e.g. Diaz, Wade, & Hubeny 1996; Wade 1996; Robinson et al. 1995; Robinson, Wood, & Wade 1998). This was shown in the early calculations of Herter et al. (1979), and has been illustrated from time to time (e.g., la Dous 1989), but most discussions of disk spectra since then have treated angle-averaged quantities. Diaz et al. (1996) discussed several aspects of limb darkening for a grid of 14 model disks, but tabulated limb-darkened fluxes at only one wavelength.
In this contribution, we present model mid- and far-UV spectra for accretion disks in CVs, for a range of white dwarf mass $M_{\rm wd}$, mass transfer rate $\dot{m}$, and inclination angle $i$, that covers the expected range of interest for luminous (or “high-state”) accretion disk systems. These models treat steady-state accretion disks in vertical hydrostatic equilibrium, with the energy balance of the disk computed in a self-consistent way. The modeling assumptions and techniques are described in Sections 2 and 3. Properties of the model disks and especially their spectra are the subject of Section 4. Such grids of model disk spectra need not be perfect to be useful, especially when used in a comparative way, or as a starting point in examining which way models should be improved or extended. We discuss some of these issues briefly in Section 5.
The spectra discussed here are available in tabular form as ASCII files via [*anonymous ftp*]{} (see Section 3).
MODEL ASSUMPTIONS AND CHOICE OF GRID {#modelgrid}
====================================
Steady-State Disk Model Computations
------------------------------------
Our grid of spectra is constructed as follows. The disk is assumed to be axisymmetric and geometrically thin. The disk is assumed to be in steady state, that is the mass transfer rate $\dot{m}$ is assumed to be the same at all radii. Each elementary area of the visible disk surface is assumed to make a contribution to the integrated spectrum of the disk, according to its projected surface area and at a projected Doppler shift, computed assuming circular Kepler orbits around a central white dwarf star of mass $M_{\rm wd}$ and radius $R_{\rm wd}$.
The effective temperature, which describes the total radiation energy flux at the disk surface, is given by (see, e.g., Pringle 1981) $$T_{\rm eff}(r) = T_* x^{-3/4} (1-x^{-1/2})^{1/4}$$ where $x = r/R_{\rm wd}$, and $$\sigma T_*^4 \equiv {3GM_{\rm wd} \dot{m} \over 8\pi R^3_{\rm wd}}$$ or $$T_* = 64800~{\rm K} \left[ \left( {M_{\rm wd} \over 1~{\rm M_\odot}} \right)
\left( {\dot{m} \over 10^{-9}~{\rm M_\odot~yr^{-1}}} \right)
\left( {R_{\rm wd} \over 10^9~{\rm cm}} \right)^{-3} \right]^{1/4}.$$ The maximum effective temperature $T_{\rm max} = 0.488 T_*$ occurs at $x = 1.36$.
The construction of a disk spectrum proceeds in four stages. First, the disk is divided into a set of concentric rings or annuli, with each annulus behaving as an independent plane-parallel radiating slab. The vertical structure of each ring is computed, using the program TLUSDISK (Hubeny 1990a, b), which is a derivative of the stellar atmosphere program TLUSTY (Hubeny 1988). The computation treats the entire vertical structure of each ring, from the midplane to the surface, without any artificial introduction of the notion of a distinct “disk atmosphere”. The disk stratification is computed in the LTE approximation. Hydrostatic equilibrium is assumed, with a height-varying (tidal) gravitational acceleration. Energy balance is enforced between radiative losses at the disk surface and heat generation due to viscosity, the latter distributed throughout the vertical extent of the disk. It is assumed that there is no flux incident on the disk surface from outside.
In the specific calculations presented in this paper, the number of depths between disk mid-plane and disk surface is 99. The viscosity prescription is based on a Reynolds number approach (Lynden-Bell & Pringle 1974; [Kříž]{} & Hubeny 1986). A value of $Re = 5000$ is assumed for all radii. A parameter $\zeta$ introduced by [Kříž]{} & Hubeny (1986) controls the vertical distribution of viscous heat input. In the present work, $\zeta = 2/3$. The contribution of microturbulence to the gas pressure is assumed to be zero in the present work.
Second, the spectrum synthesis program SYNSPEC described by Hubeny, Lanz, & Jeffery (1994) is used to solve the radiative transfer equation to compute the local, rest-frame spectrum for each ring of the disk. In addition to detailed profiles of the H and He lines, the spectrum synthesis includes “metal” lines up to $Z=28$ (Ni), dynamically selected from the extensive line list of Kurucz & Bell (1995; see also Kurucz 1991). Typically, many thousands of lines are included in the rest-frame spectrum of each ring. At this stage, the wavelength array is irregular and differs for each ring. In addition to the angle-averaged Eddington flux $H(\lambda)$, specific intensities $I(\lambda;\mu)$ at a number of emergent angles $i$ are computed and stored in this step.
Third, the rest-frame intensities are combined to generate an integrated disk spectrum, using the program DISKSYN5a as described more fully in §3. Fourth, the monochromatic fluxes $f_\lambda$ are convolved with an adopted Gaussian instrumental broadening function and resampled uniformly in wavelength.
Choice of Grid Parameters
-------------------------
In our framework, a steady-state disk model is specified by choice of the parameters $M_{\rm wd}$, $R_{\rm wd}$, $\dot{m}$, $Re$, and $\zeta$. These are supplemented by data that determine the details of how the programs TLUSDISK and SYNSPEC compute the atmosphere and spectra. This section describes the selection of the main parameters of the grid.
Disk models have been computed on a grid of $M_{\rm wd}$ and $\dot{m}$ with almost-regular spacing but irregular grid boundaries. The choice of $M_{\rm wd}$ is assumed to specify $R_{\rm wd}$ through the mass-radius relation for cold electron-degenerate matter. We use an analytical mass-radius relation from P. P. Eggleton (private communication; cf. Nauenberg 1972). Table \[table-1-wd\] lists for each choice of $M_{\rm wd}$ the corresponding white dwarf radius $R_{\rm wd}$, surface gravity $\log g$ (in cgs units), Keplerian orbital speed at the surface $v_{\rm surf}$, and the combination $M_{\rm wd}/R^3_{\rm wd}$ which enters into the formula for $T_*$ given above. The values of $\dot{m}$ were chosen to increase by factors of $\sqrt{10} \approx 3.16$, and the intent was to have $M_{\rm wd}/R^3_{\rm wd}$ increase by the same ratio from one choice of $M_{\rm wd}$ to the next, so that the same $T_*$ would apply to several different combinations of $M_{\rm wd}$ and $\dot{m}$ in the grid; this was achieved for all except the last step in $M_{\rm wd}$, where the factor is only 3.01.
The original grid extended only to $\dot{m} \leq 10^{-9}~{\rm
M_{\odot}~yr^{-1}}$, but was later extended. Thus the labeling of models by letters, shown in Table \[table-2-models\], is slightly irregular. This table gives for each disk model: the white dwarf mass $M_{\rm wd}$, the mass transfer rate $\dot{m}$, the number of annuli computed, the maximum effective temperature of the disk (occurring at $x = r/R_{\rm wd} = 1.36$), the Rosseland optical depth $\tau_c$ to the disk midplane at that disk radius, the effective temperature and optical depth for the outermost (last) ring, and the radius of the disk.
For each disk model, stratified atmospheres and spectra were computed at a set of radii that increase approximately logarithmically from the innermost radius, which is always $x = R_{\rm min}/R_{\rm wd} =
1.05$. The spacing of rings was chosen to ensure a sufficiently dense sampling of $T_{\rm eff}(r)$. The outermost ring was chosen to that $T_{\rm eff}(R_{\rm out})$ would be near 10,000 K, since cooler zones at larger radii contribute in only a minor way to the far- and mid-UV disk flux. (This point is discussed further in §4.4 below.) Table \[table-3-rings\] gives the radii and effective temperature structure for a number of representative models. For other models the dimensionless radii $x$ are the same. The temperature structure of other models can be estimated closely from the tabulated model that has nearly the same $T_{\rm eff}$ at $x=1.36$ (see Table \[table-2-models\], or calculated directly from the formulas given above.
The operation of program TLUSDISK is controlled by a data file that, among other things, specifies the details of opacity and equation of state calculations. In our models H and He always contributed to the equation of state; in some models cooler than 12,000 K, the first 30 elements of the periodic table were used. Hydrogen bound-free continua arising from the eight lowest energy levels were always included in the opacity calculation. Continua from fourteen levels of He I were included for models hotter than 12,000 K, and eight levels of He II were also included for models hotter than 25,000 K. Other opacity sources included electron scattering and free-free continua, and the H$^-$ bound-free and free-free continua when applicable. For models cooler than 16,000 K, the atmosphere computation was carried out with 53 frequency points defining the continuum; for models between 16,000 K and 30,000 K, 59 frequency points were used; for models with $T_{\rm eff} > 30,000$ K, 65 frequency points were employed.
For each ring of each disk model, the atmosphere calculation was started with a gray LTE disk model (Hubeny 1990a) in hydrostatic equilibrium, then iterated to thermal equilibrium. The convergence criterion was that the last relative change in any model quantity be smaller than $10^{-3}$.
SPECTRUM SYNTHESIS FOR RINGS AND DISKS {#spectra}
======================================
The radiative transfer solution to compute the detailed emergent spectrum from each ring was done by SYNSPEC at essentially full resolution. That is, the maximum spacing between adjacent wavelengths, which is 0.01 Å for $\lambda < 1300$ Å and 0.02 Å for $\lambda > 1300$ Å, is nearly small enough to resolve the thermal Doppler width of metal lines. Microturbulent broadening of lines was assumed to be zero. The spacing of computed wavelengths in SYNSPEC is done to ensure that there is a wavelength point at the center of each line that contributes to the spectrum, and at least one wavelength point between each adjacent pair of lines. Thus the wavelength grid is irregular at this stage of computation.
For each ring, both angle-averaged fluxes $H_\nu$ and specific intensities $I_\nu$ are computed. The $I_\nu$ computation is done for $\mu \equiv \cos i = 1.00, 0.75, 0.50$, and 0.25. $I_\nu$ is converted to $I_\lambda$ in subsequent computational steps.
To compute the integrated disk spectrum, a summation over rings is carried out. Each ring is divided into a large number of azimuthal sectors, and the contributions are summed with appropriate area weighting and Doppler shifting. The size of the Doppler shift (due to projected orbital motion of the gas) and the specific intensity both vary depending on the inclination $i$ of the disk symmetry axis to the line of sight. For arbitrary values of $\mu = \cos i$, the intensity $I_\lambda(\lambda;\mu)$ is interpolated linearly in $\mu$ between the pre-computed $I_\lambda(\lambda;\mu)$. Here $I_\lambda(\lambda;\mu=0)$ is assumed to be zero.
The resulting disk spectrum is sampled rather finely, with a uniform sampling interval of 0.05 Å. Since the orbital Doppler motions of the gas in the disk have smeared each line substantially for all but exactly face-on orientations, this high sampling frequency is redundant. The spectra are convolved with an instrumental profile and sampled with four wavelength points per FWHM. Except when resolution is specifically discussed, all of the spectra described here or available as machine-readable files have been convolved with a Gaussian profile whose FWHM is 1.0 Å.
Disk spectra have been computed and tabulated for six inclination angles $i$. Table \[table-4-angles\] provides a handy correspondence between $\mu$, $i$, and $\sin i$, which is the factor by which orbital motions in the disk are projected on the line of sight. The six angles are sufficient to show the dependence of the observed spectrum on the inclination, but may not always be sufficient to allow direct interpolation for the purposes of detailed fits of data. Denser sampling of $i$ or computation of synthetic spectra for specific “off-grid” angles is straightforward; interested readers may contact the first author.
The disk spectra are presented for a [*“non-projected”*]{} disk viewed from a distance of $d = 100$ pc. The calculation thus amounts to approximating the flux integral $$f_\lambda(\lambda; \mu) = {1 \over d^2}
\int_{R_{\rm min}}^{R_{\rm max}} dr \int_0^{2\pi} r d\phi$$ $$\times \int_0^\infty d\lambda' I_\lambda(\lambda', r, \mu)
V(r, \phi, \mu) \Delta$$ where $$\Delta \equiv \delta \left(\lambda - \lambda'
\left [1 + {1 \over c} \left({GM_{\rm wd}\over r}\right)^{1/2}
\sin i \sin\phi \right] \right).$$
Here $\delta$ is the Dirac delta-function, so that the Doppler-shifting function $\Delta$ selects the appropriate rest-frame wavelength $\lambda'$ that contributes at the observer’s wavelength $\lambda$. Therefore the spectra do correctly take account of projected [*velocities*]{}.
The visibility factor $V(r,\phi,\mu)$ in the formula makes allowance for the presence of an opaque central body (the white dwarf) that occults a portion of the inner disk. That is, some of the innermost sectors do not contribute to the integrated disk spectrum, if they would be blocked from view by the white dwarf. This visibility factor is not the same as the visibility factor for a “flared” disk, as discussed by Robinson et al. (1995) or Robinson, Wood, & Wade (1998). In the present work flaring effects are neglected (but see the discussion in §4.1).
It is important to note that the results illustrated in this paper, as well as the tabulated spectra, [*do not*]{} include a factor $\cos
i$ representing the geometric foreshortening of the (flat) disk, that would normally appear as a multiplicative factor in the expression above. This factor is omitted, so that the full effect of limb darkening alone can be judged from the figures.
To be compared with actual data, the present synthetic disk spectra must be supplemented with a model spectrum of the central object, itself with a suitably disk-occulted lower hemisphere. This white dwarf spectrum is omitted from the results shown here. The size of the white dwarf’s contribution to the total system light is discussed briefly in §4.3. Nguyen et al. (1998) have presented some examples of synthetic solar-abundance white dwarf spectra for the mid-UV. A large grid of theoretical solar-composition white dwarf model atmospheres has been constructed, and will be published in due time (Hubeny & Lanz, in prep.). The interested reader may contact I.H.for more information and selected models.
ASCII tables of the synthetic disk spectra are available in machine-readable form by [*anonymous ftp*]{} from [ftp.astro.psu.edu]{} in directory [pub/wade/disks]{}. There are 26 different files, each corresponding to one disk model (as listed in Table \[table-2-models\]). Each file contains a single header line, followed by 4601 data lines. Each data line contains seven columns: wavelength followed by non-projected flux $f_\lambda$ in ${\rm
erg~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}~\AA^{-1}}$ for six values of $\mu$. The initial and final wavelengths are 850.00 Å and 2000.00 Å, and the wavelength spacing is 0.250 Å. Table \[table-5-zzsample\] shows excerpts from the file [zz.grid]{} for disk model [*zz*]{}. Publications making use of these tables should make bibliographic citation of the present paper.
SOME PROPERTIES OF THE RING AND DISK SPECTRA {#properties}
============================================
Disk Vertical Structure
-----------------------
A detailed discussion of the stratification of disk models is left to another paper. A couple of issues deserve mention, since they relate to the reliability of the approximations made in computing the present spectra.
All the rings in all the models have Rosseland optical depths $\tau_c
\gtrsim 1$, where $\tau_c$ is measured vertically, from the outside of the disk to the disk midplane. (Note that the Rosseland depth referred to is computed using only the continuous opacity sources.) This high optical depth helps to ensure that: (1) the local photosphere, defined as a geometrical region where most of the observed spectrum features originate, i.e., where the monochromatic optical depths measured from the surface are of the order of unity, is a relatively thin layer on top of the bulk of the disk, consistent with the plane-parallel approximation; (2) the local atmosphere can be considered as being laterally homogeneous, also consistent with the plane-parallel assumption; and (3) the formation of (weak) absorption lines is not unduly affected by shear due to differential rotation of the disk, consistent with the hydrostatic approximation. In disk models with lower values of $\dot{m}$ than considered here, some rings may become optically thin in the continuum, so that the thermal balance of the bulk of the disk is dominated by line cooling. In that case, the details of radiative transfer in the lines, such as turbulent or shear broadening, become overwhelmingly important, and the strong lines are in emission. In the present models, it is expected that such effects are at least not dominant for the computed absorption spectrum. The lowest values of the midplane optical depth are attained in the inner disk, inside the maximum of $T_{\rm
eff}$. They are lowest for models with the lowest $\dot{m}$ at a fixed $M_{\rm wd}$, or for the highest $M_{\rm wd}$ at a fixed $\dot{m}$, reaching $\tau_c \approx 1$ for $\dot{m} = 10^{-10.5}~M_\odot~{\rm
yr^{-1}}$ and $M_{\rm wd}=1.210~M_\odot$ (model [*x*]{}) at $x=1.05$.
The assumption that the photosphere of the disk is planar was made in combining the ring spectra to make the integrated disk spectra. As will be discussed elsewhere, the opening angles of the disk are typically $\theta \sim h/r < 0.1$ radian. For the most extreme inclinations discussed here, differential visibility of the “front” and “back” halves of the disk, combined with a non-negligible difference in limb darkening of the front and back halves, should be taken into account (see, e.g., Robinson et al. 1995; Wade 1996; Robinson, Wood, & Wade 1988). However, this is most important in considering situations in which the disk is effectively resolved, such as by eclipse mapping, rather than for the integrated light of disks. Another caution is that the present models do not include any radiation from an outer disk “rim”.
Properties of Spectra of Individual Rings
-----------------------------------------
Because the disk atmospheres considered here are optically thick, there is a fairly close resemblance between the emitted rest-frame spectrum from some disk annulus and the spectrum from a (plane-parallel) stellar atmosphere, having the same $T_{\rm eff}$ and with $\log g$ corresponding to the effective gravity at the photosphere of the disk. Small details will be different, since hydrostatic equilibrium is solved in one case under conditions of constant gravitational acceleration, and in the other case with a gravitational acceleration that increases approximately linearly with distance from the midplane. Another potential difference between the disk and atmospheric structure arises because the total flux is constant with depth in the case of stellar atmospheres, but departs from constancy in disks. On the other hand, both stellar and disk atmosphere models solved in LTE have similar temperature stratification: in both cases the local temperature monotonically decreases outward, so major features of the spectrum, such as absorption line formation and limb darkening, are shared in common.
(To be more general, the local temperature decreases vertically in disks, only when the viscosity power-law exponent $\zeta$ is chosen to be larger than about 0.5 for typical cases. For lower values, i.e., when the kinematic viscosity does not decrease sufficiently rapidly towards the disk surface, one faces the so-called disk thermal catastrophe \[e.g. Shaviv & Wehrse 1986\]. This is a sharp increase of local temperature in the superficial layers, where energy is still generated by viscous dissipation, while all radiative cooling transitions are optically thin and therefore ineffective in carrying away the generated energy. With our choice of $\zeta$ this catastrophe does not occur.)
Figure \[jjrings\] illustrates the computed rest-frame spectra of three rings (18, 22, 26) from model [*jj*]{}, for the region 1500 – 1600 Å. The effective temperatures of these rings are 29150 K, 19650 K, and 13140 K. Angle-averaged Eddington fluxes, $\log
H_\lambda$, are shown. The left panel (a) shows the spectra at the full computed resolution, while the right panel (b) shows the same spectra convolved with a Gaussian instrumental profile (FWHM = 0.2 Å, corresponding to $39~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$) and sampled every 0.05 Å. Even with this very modest instrumental broadening, it is clear that information is lost. In a disk spectrum, however, the situation is even worse: the Keplerian speed of these rings would be $\sim1565,
1180$, and $890~{\rm km~s^{-1}}$, respectively, so the blending of lines due to a mixture of projection factors $v(r) \sin i \sin \phi$ is quite severe, even at low inclination. For this reason the disk spectra discussed below are convolved with a wider Gaussian (FWHM = 1.0 Å) without significant loss from the point of view of comparison with observation. Blending is discussed further, below.
Figure \[jjrings\] also illustrates the dependence of certain spectral features on effective temperature. Notable are the lines near 1530 Å, the doublet at 1550 Å, and the group of lines near 1560 Å (mainly , , and ), each of which forms at a characteristic range of temperatures. In a disk spectrum, each of these spectroscopic features will be kinematically broadened by an amount characteristic of its radius in the disk. The integrated disk spectrum thus encodes, in a complicated way, the $T_{\rm eff}(r)$ structure of the disk. Decoding this scrambled message necessarily requires spectrum synthesis of the kind presented here.
Properties of Integrated Disk Spectra
-------------------------------------
Figure \[bbresn\] shows the far-UV spectrum of a nearly face-on disk, model [*bb*]{}, viewed at inclination $i = 8\fdg1$ ($\mu=0.990$), for three different instrumental resolutions (Gaussian FWHM = 0.1, 1.0, and 3.5 Å). The smallest FWHM corresponds to a resolution slightly worse than that of the [*ORFEUS*]{} Berkeley spectrometer or the [*FUSE*]{} spectrometers, while the largest FWHM corresponds to the [*HUT*]{} spectrometer. For this extreme case of minimal Doppler broadening and blending of lines, it is clear that improving the FWHM from 3.5 Å to 1.0 Å results in an increase of usable information, while further improving the FWHM to 0.1 Å does not result in significant new information about line formation in the disk. Indeed the difference between the 0.1 Å and the 1.0 Åcases is barely noticeable at the scale of the figure, in the cores of the lines. This shows again that the adopted FWHM = 1.0 Å is a reasonable choice.
At a fixed distance from the observer, a disk can appear brighter if it is made hotter at constant size (higher $T_{\rm max}$ from higher $\dot{m}$), if it is made larger while keeping $T_{\rm max}$ the same (lower $M_{\rm wd}$, hence larger $R_{\rm wd}$, requiring an increase in $\dot{m}$), or if it is tilted closer to a face-on orientation (increased projected area, and diminished limb darkening). A disk will generally appear “bluer” (relatively more flux at shorter wavelengths) if $T_{\rm max}$ is higher, or if $\mu$ is larger (limb darkening is stronger at shorter wavelengths). If $T_{\rm max}$ and $\mu$ are kept constant along a disk model sequence of changing $M_{\rm wd}$ (such as the sequence [*x, t, p, k, aa*]{}), the effects on the spectrum are expected to be more subtle, due to different effective gravities and different orbital speeds (hence different line blending) for corresponding rings in different models. Some of these effects are illustrated below, while others are better studied with the aid of the machine-readable files.
Figure \[fnu\_mu750\] shows, for a fixed viewing angle $\mu=0.75$, how the flux at 1455 Å varies with changes in the mass transfer rate, along sequences of constant white dwarf mass and radius, and along sequences of constant $T_{\rm max}$ (recall $T_{\rm max} = T_{\rm eff}$ at $x=1.36$). At constant $M_{\rm wd}$, increasing $\dot{m}$ raises the effective temperature of each disk ring, and also raises the fluxes from the disk as a whole. At fixed $T_{\rm max}$, [*decreasing*]{} $M_{\rm wd}$ increases the flux from the disk, since the scaling of temperature with dimensionless radius $x$ is not changed, but the linear scale of the disk increases with $R_{\rm wd}$.
It was noted earlier that the model spectra presented here do not include the white dwarf’s contribution to the light (but do account for occultation of the inner disk by the white dwarf). As a rough guide for comparing the white dwarf flux with the disk fluxes shown in Figure \[fnu\_mu750\], an (unocculted) white dwarf of radius $10^9$ cm, viewed from a distance $d=100$ pc, produces a flux at 1455 Å of $\log f_\nu \approx 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.1$, and $1.2$ (mJy) for effective temperatures of 25000, 30000, 35000, 40000, and 45000 K, respectively. Fluxes for other white dwarf radii can be derived by appropriate scaling. For an opaque disk with $R_{\rm min} = R_{\rm
wd}$, the projected geometrical area of the white dwarf is reduced by a factor $(1 + \cos i)/2$ owing to occultation by the disk. The white dwarf may be competitive with the disk in the mid-UV, provided it is sufficiently hot, and either $M_{\rm wd}$ or $\dot{M}$ is sufficiently small, or if the disk is viewed at a high inclination angle.
Figure \[fratios2\] shows, also for $\mu=0.750$, the behavior of two disk flux ratios, $f_\nu(1075~{\rm \AA})/f_\nu(1455~{\rm \AA})$ and $f_\nu(1455~{\rm \AA})/f_\nu(1945~{\rm \AA})$, as $\dot{m}$ is varied. The former ratio relates far-UV and mid-UV flux, while the latter ratio is a measure of the mid-UV slope of the spectrum. As before, solid lines connect models at the same $M_{\rm wd}$, while dashed lines connect models having the same $T_{\rm max}$. At $T_{\rm
max}$ increases, the flux ratios (or colors) become “bluer”. The mid-UV slope is relatively insensitive to disk properties, and above $T_{\rm max} \sim 39,000$ K shows hardly any change. The far-UV/mid-UV ratio is more sensitive to $T_{\rm max}$, as expected. Note that the flux ratios are sensitive to disk inclination, through the effect of limb darkening, discussed below.
The previous two figures illustrated the behavior of disk fluxes for a fixed viewing direction, $\mu = 0.75$. Even apart from effects resulting from the changing projected area, the flux from a disk will change with $\mu$ owing to limb darkening. The colors (i.e., flux ratios) will change as well, since limb darkening is wavelength dependent. These effects are illustrated in Figure \[fnu\_vs\_mu\], which shows $\log f_\nu$ [*vs*]{} $\mu$ for two disks, models [*bb*]{} and [*z*]{}, at three wavelengths 1075 Å, 1455 Å, and 1945 Å.
Limb darkening occurs for both stars and disks. Invoking the classical Eddington-Barbier relation, the specific intensity $I_\nu(\mu) \approx
S_\nu(\tau_\nu=\mu)$, where $S_\nu$ is the source function, given in LTE by the Planck function, $B_\nu(T)$. Since the temperature decreases (vertically) outward, the specific intensities at lower values of $\mu$ sample lower-temperature regions, thereby producing a spectral energy distribution that is both redder and dimmer . In the case of disks there is no averaging over a hemisphere as there is in the case of stars, because disks lack spherical symmetry. The full effect of limb darkening is therefore observable, and disks appear very considerably dimmer and reddened when viewed at high inclination. Diaz, Wade, & Hubeny (1996) have discussed ultraviolet limb darkening for disks in detail.
Attention is now turned from photometric properties to the appearance of the actual disk spectra. Figure \[mdot\] shows a sequence of far-UV $f_\lambda$ spectra for disks around a $M_{\rm
wd}=0.80~{M_\odot}$ white dwarf, viewed with $\mu=0.50$, normalized near 1330 Å. The quantity that varies is the mass transfer rate $\dot{m}$. The dramatic change in overall spectral slope is due to the increasing temperature of the disk. The hydrogen lines, too, show changes in strength and profile. Two effects are at work for the lines: (1) as the disk becomes hotter overall, relatively larger areas of the disk are formed at high temperatures where the H lines are weak; (2) as the disk is made hotter, the location in the disk at which the H lines attain maximum strength moves outwards, toward lesser orbital speeds and smaller associated Doppler broadening.
The change in line shape due to the change in Doppler broadening is also noticeable in the weaker lines. For example, near 1135 Å note how “absorption” metamorphoses into “emission” at the highest $\dot{m}$. This is actually a case of separate features combining in the less luminous models to form a single absorption feature, placed roughly halfway between their rest wavelengths, but only if the disk is cool enough overall that these features are formed in the inner disk where orbital speeds are high. (See also Figure \[bbmu\].)
Figure \[mdot\_b\] shows the mid-UV spectra for the same sequence of disk models, again viewed at $\mu = 0.50$. The normalization of spectra is now at 1950 Å. Hotter disks are “bluer” (more flux at short wavelengths), and the detailed line spectra again show sensitivity to (1) the effective temperatures attained in the disk and (2) the velocities characterizing the radii in the disk where those temperatures are attained.
Another view of the far-UV spectrum is provided in Figure \[bbmu\], where a single disk model, [*bb*]{}, is viewed from a variety of different lines of sight labeled by $\mu$. Recall that the geometric projection factor $\cos i = \mu$ is not included, so the change in flux levels shown in the figure is due to limb darkening alone. Limb darkening is very strong in the ultraviolet, and is sensitive to both temperature and wavelength. Also evident is the strong dependence of the shape and strength of features on inclination angle. Since different $\mu$’s correspond to different velocity projection factors, the pattern of minima and maxima in the disk integrated spectrum changes markedly from one example to the next. Individual features appear to broaden, split, merge, or shift their locations. The overall spectrum becomes smoother when the disk is viewed more nearly edge-on.
Note in Figure \[bbmu\] how local maxima in the disk flux may appear at the rest wavelengths of strong features, when the feature has been split in two by the Doppler effect, such as the 1085 Å line of , viewed at $\mu=0.500$. Lines formed at high temperature in the inner disk will be broadened more, at a particular inclination, than lines formed in the more slowly moving, cool outer disk. Thus a single “broadening convolution” cannot be applied to a disk spectrum, as it can be to the spectrum of a single star: spectrum synthesis is mandatory.
A final exploration of the dependence of disk spectra on temperature is provided by Figure \[logflam\], which shows the region 1300 – 1700 Å for a sequence of disks with increasing $\dot{m}$ onto a 0.80 $M_\odot$ white dwarf. The viewing angle is nearly face-on in this diagram, and fluxes are plotted logarithmically to facilitate comparison of feature strengths in one model with another. “Cooler” disks (models [*m, n, p*]{}) show certain absorption features more strongly than hot disks, and [*vice versa*]{}. Thus, the integrated disk spectra do retain, in some measure, information concerning the local, rest-frame spectra (cf. Figure \[jjrings\]) of the rings from which they are constituted. This information appears in a diluted and convoluted form, which makes interpretation of the spectra difficult. However, it is the most direct connection to the physics of a disk atmosphere.
An important question is whether the ultraviolet spectrum of a steady-state accretion disk is sufficiently distinctive to enable the white dwarf mass, mass transfer rate, and inclination to be recovered uniquely. The preceding discussion shows that in many cases it will be possible to make useful distinctions among the models. However, it is possible to find pairs of spectra that are very similar. Figure \[matched\] compares two models, [*cc*]{} and [*v*]{} which have the same value of $T_{\rm max}$, achieved through different combinations of $M_{\rm wd}$ and $\dot{m}$. Since $M_{\rm wd}$ differs, there is a difference in the Keplerian orbital speed of gas in the inner disk, but different viewing angles can be chosen to match the [*projected*]{} velocities of the disk gas, about 3400 km s$^{-1}$ in this case. Likewise, the fluxes from the two model disks can be scaled to match at some wavelength, as if choosing the distances from which the disks are viewed. The result of this matching, as shown by the Figure, is two spectra that are nearly indistinguishable. The remaining differences are due to different amounts of “reddening” from limb darkening and a small difference in the effective photospheric gravity of the two disks. The differences are subtle and might pass unnoticed or be attributed to differences in interstellar reddening, for example. Yet the difference in $\dot{m}$ is more than a factor of three!
Additional, rather precise, knowledge about an observed system may be required to break such a degeneracy of model spectra that match the spectroscopic observations about equally well. This information might concern the orbital inclination, the white dwarf mass, or the distance. The specific match chosen for illustration does not involve matching extreme values of mass, inclination, or distance, however, and if encountered in practice would require precision of measurement better than is usually attained, in order to distinguish the models.
Missing Flux Due to Truncation at $T(r) \approx 10,000$ K
---------------------------------------------------------
An important consideration in using these models is to what extent flux is missing, due to the fact that the spectrum synthesis was stopped when $T_{\rm eff}$ fell below roughly 10,000 K. This missing flux may on the one hand affect the overall “color” of the integrated spectra, and may on the other hand affect the details of line blending and feature strength. The expectation is that, although the outer disk (i.e., $r > R_{\rm out}$ of the present models) is large in surface area, it is cool enough that the contribution in the far- and mid-UV spectral region can be neglected.
The missing flux question was investigated quantitatively for seven models ([*m, s, t, u, v, dd, jj*]{}) representing the whole range of $T_{\rm max}$ of the disk model grid. From visual inspection of all the individual ring spectra of model [*jj*]{}, three wavelength intervals were selected, each 10 Å wide and centered at 1075 Å, 1455 Å, and 1945 Å. In these intervals, the line blocking is relatively small and either consistent or smoothly varying over the range of temperatures that was modeled. For each spectral interval and each of the seven disk models, mean fluxes $H_\nu$ and intensities $I_{\nu}$ were computed, ring by ring. Plots of $x^2 H_\nu(x)$ and $x^2 I_{\nu}(x)$ against $\ln x$ ($x = r/R_{\rm wd}$) were constructed, and these were used to extrapolate $x^2 H_{\nu}(x)$ or $x^2 I_{\nu}(x)$ smoothly to zero in the outer disk. Numerical integrations of $H_{\rm total} = 2\pi \int x H_{\nu}(x) dx = 2\pi \int
x^2 H_{\nu}(x) d(\ln x)$ over the extrapolated disk and over the actually computed disk limits were then compared. A similar procedure was used with $I_{\nu}$.
In this way it was estimated that at 1075 Å, an error is made that is never larger than 0.2 per cent for any disk model, either for angle-averaged flux or for specific intensity. For 1455 Å, the maximum error grows to 3.5 per cent (for the coolest overall model, model [*m*]{}). At 1945 Å, the maximum estimated missing flux is largest, as would be expected, amounting to 9.3 per cent for model [*m*]{}, but no larger than 3.1 per cent for models as hot or hotter than model [*u*]{}. The error in intensity is largest when the disk is viewed nearly face-on ($\mu = 1$). At large inclination angles limb darkening, which is stronger at a fixed wavelength for cooler atmospheres, diminishes the relative importance of the missing outer disk.
As a further check, angle-averaged fluxes $H_\lambda$ for solar-abundance [*stellar*]{} atmospheres (Kurucz 1994) were used to synthesize approximate disk spectra corresponding to models [*m, s, t, u, v, dd*]{} and [*jj*]{}. These were truncated at $T_{\rm out}
\approx 10000$ K (as with the self-consistent disk models described here), and alternatively at $T_{\rm out} \approx 4000$ K. Comparison of the disk fluxes gives truncation errors directly for these stellar atmosphere-based model disk spectra. These errors are very similar to the truncation errors for the self-consistently computed disk spectra of this paper, as estimated by the extrapolation method described above.
DISCUSSION {#discuss}
==========
Modern observations of CVs in the ultraviolet are frequently of good enough quality that they deserve to be compared with model spectra that are more detailed than models used in the past. The grid of model spectra presented here is intended to provide a basis for such comparisons. The construction of the spectra involves many decisions, such as what level of approximation is to be used, or what values or ranges of parameters are to be considered, so these topics have been addressed at some length. Also, the illustrative comparison of models has been emphasized, to show the dependence of the spectrum on $\dot{m}$, $\mu$, etc.
Detailed analysis of observed CV spectra is beyond the scope of this presentation, as it involves a host of additional considerations pertaining to individual objects. These may include such things as interstellar reddening and the extent to which the white dwarf mass or orbital inclination may be constrained from orbital studies. It is appropriate, however, to review briefly some issues that may arise during the comparison of model spectra and observed spectra. We emphasize that the models presented here, although advanced by comparison with past efforts, and certainly suitable for use, also represent a starting point for improved future models.
The present disk spectra do not include the contribution from the central white dwarf or its boundary layer. The boundary layer is expected to contribute mainly in the extreme ultraviolet, $\lambda <
911$ Å (Wade 1991; Polidan, Mauche, & Wade 1990). The white dwarf’s contribution to the far- and mid-UV spectrum can be estimated (see §4.3), and can be readily computed and included.
The present disk models and spectra are based on vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Observations show that among luminous CVs, many of the resonance lines and stronger subordinate lines in the UV exhibit P-Cygni or blue-shifted absorption profiles, indicating that a wind exists. Likely, this wind arises from the disk, rather than from the central star (Pereyra, Kallman, & Blondin 1997; Proga, Stone, & Drew 1998). The direct observational consequence of the wind is that several of the more obvious spectral diagnostics cannot be used, that would otherwise provide information about the properties of the disk. More subtle problems may also arise, if the weak UV lines are formed in gas that already participates in the outflow, or if the spectrum is formed in an extended zone that undermines the plane-parallel (i.e., laterally homogeneous) approximation that was used in computing the models of disk annuli. Further modeling will be required to address these questions.
The disk stratifications computed here, and the spectra derived from them, do not include the effect of irradiation by an external source, whether it is direct illumination of the disk by the central star, illumination of the outer disk by the hotter inner disk, or emission or scattering from a wind. Such irradiation will be most important for relatively cool zones of the disk (Hubeny 1990b), for which the contrast between the color temperature of incident radiation and the photospheric gas temperature is largest. Since the far- and mid-UV spectra of disks are dominated by the inner disk, it is reasonable as a first step to neglect this complication, provided that the disk is viewed as a whole. If spectra from isolated portions of the disk are considered, irradiation becomes a larger issue, even in the UV.
Finally, within the class of hydrostatic, non-irradiated models there are some important questions to be further explored, concerning, e.g., line blanketing, or non-LTE treatment of stratification and radiative transfer. These issues are common to all computations of astrophysical atmospheres, whether stars or disks. The model spectra presented here serve as a reference, against which to compare spectra computed under different assumptions or approximations.
SUMMARY
=======
Based on the need for detailed models to compare with modern observations of disks in CVs, we have presented a grid of far- and mid-UV spectra of steady-state, hydrostatic, non-irradiated accretion disks. The grid covers a significant range of $M_{\rm wd}$ and $\dot{m}$, suitable for comparison with novalike variables or dwarf novae in outburst. The grid consists of 26 model disks, with spectra computed for each of them at six inclination angles. The models were computed using computer programs TLUSDISK, SYNSPEC, and DISKSYN. A basic set of continuum opacities was used in the calculation of vertical stratification, but a large line list was used in the computation of the emergent spectra. The emergent spectra take account of limb darkening, and also of Doppler shifts due to orbital motion of the gas in the disk around the central white dwarf. Occultation of part of the inner disk by the central star is also taken into account.
The spectra extend from 850 Å to 2000 Å, suitable for comparison with [*IUE*]{}, [*HST*]{}, [*HUT*]{}, [*ORFEUS*]{}, and [*FUSE*]{} spectra. The models extend to cool enough temperatures that essentially all of the light produced by the disk at the wavelengths of interest is accounted for. Machine-readable files accessible via [*anonymous ftp*]{} provide tabulations of the spectra at 0.25 Åsteps with a FWHM resolution of 1.0 Å. The spectra are presented in the form of [*non-projected*]{} fluxes for a disk viewed from a distance of 100 pc. For comparison with observations, the disk fluxes may need to be supplemented with fluxes from the appropriately occulted central star.
The radiative properties of both individual annuli and full disks are discussed with illustrative examples, to show how the disk spectra incorporate information about projected gas velocities and the variation of $T_{\rm eff}$ with radial distance from the white dwarf. In the disks considered, which are optically thick at all radii, the local UV spectra resemble spectra of stars that share the same $T_{\rm
eff}$ and $\log g$. Fluxes and colors (flux ratios) of the integrated disk spectra depend on $M_{\rm wd}$ and $\dot{m}$. Limb darkening is shown to have a strong effect in the ultraviolet, affecting both the overall flux level and colors of the disk. Line broadening and blending is complex and non-intuitive in these disks. Synthetic spectra such as those presented here may be needed to understand the details of observed spectra, or even in some cases to identify the lines responsible for a given spectral feature. Despite trends in the disk spectra that are evident with varying accretion rate or inclination, spectra from rather different models may nevertheless appear quite similar, and additional information about the CV may be required to decide on a unique, best model.
Several possible improvements or additions to the present set of models are discussed. As such models become available it will be of interest to compare the resulting spectra with those presented here. In the meantime, the present grid of spectra represents a self-consistent treatment of both the vertical stratification and emergent spectral properties of steady-state disks, with sufficient detail in the computation of the line spectrum to be of use in analyzing observed spectra of CV disks.
Support from NASA grants NAG5-1698, NAG5-2125, NAGW-3171, and NAG5-3459 is gratefully acknowledged.
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Hubeny, I. 1990b, in IAU Colloquium 129, Structure and Emission Properties of Accretion Disks, ed. C. Bertout et al. (Gif sur Yvette: Editions Frontieres), 227
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[lcccc]{} 0.35 & 1.142 & 7.55 & 2020 & 0.2374 0.55 & 0.905 & 7.95 & 2840 & 0.7423 0.80 & 0.699 & 8.34 & 3890 & 2.3471.03 & 0.518 & 8.71 & 5140 & 7.4231.21 & 0.378 & 9.05 & 6520 & 22.35
[l]{} (EXTERNAL PLANOTABLE, PORTRAIT MODE)\
[l]{} (EXTERNAL PLANOTABLE, LANDSCAPE MODE)\
[ccc]{} 0.990 & 81 & 0.141 0.950 & 182 & 0.312 0.750 & 414 & 0.661 0.500 & 600 & 0.866 0.250 & 755 & 0.968 0.150 & 814 & 0.989
[l]{} (EXTERNAL PLANOTABLE, LANDSCAPE MODE)\
| mini_pile | {'original_id': '2dffb8a94110f85a00e3fa6cc1647bdc064e527be4d38df00115b082524a679e'} |
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