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0.063699 | <urn:uuid:e7a42534-c80e-4fe3-8f30-f583b0b70072> | en | 0.97808 | Science Is So Cool, It Changes The World
By Ariel E
How has the technology of science changed in schools? Well, the technology of science has changed in many ways, so I’ve asked science teachers and teens to help me answer this question.
I asked four science teachers at Binghamton High School, “Do you think that advanced science equipment has changed the way you do things with your students?” They all agreed. For example, the gel-electrophoresis separates DNA and allows students to experience something new. It allows students to do an experiment they wouldn’t normally be able to do: a student can use a microscope and connect a camera to the Smartboard.
The second question was, “Does the newer equipment help your students have a better understanding and experience with science?” The science teachers said absolutely because the students can experience something rather than hear about it. It is hands-on and once they experience this, they can understand it better. It helps students to understand topics and concepts more clearly.
The last question that I asked the science teachers was, “How has science equipment changed over the years?” They said that the equipment has become more electrical, such as thermometers, microscopes and gel electrophoresis. The equipment has also become more digital, such as the PH probes, and going from simple tools to high tech equipment like a magnifying glass and the microscope.
After that I interviewed two teens and I asked them if they like the science equipment in the science rooms. They both said yes because it is interesting and cool how it works, and the equipment helps with experiments. The last question I asked was, “Does looking at a specimen under a microscope help you understand more about living things?” They both agreed and explained the more clearly they see the specimen, the better they will be able to understand it. Also, it shows what specimens are made up of and how are they structured.
The technology of science has changed in schools in many different ways, like in 1988 laptops were starting to be used as a teaching tool for kids. Also, when the teachers were students, they did different experiments than what we students do now. These are some of the ways that the technology of science has changed in schools. | http://wskgyouthvoice.tumblr.com/post/74950269977/science-is-so-cool-it-changes-the-world | dclm-gs1-485985528 | false | false | {
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0.021688 | <urn:uuid:253355f8-eb27-46ef-9a12-b7adc1c23bff> | en | 0.952415 | Altar Boyz
by David Finkle
It's not often that a perfect musical floats into town, so audiences are urged to grab Altar Boyz immediately, even though the show is so out-and-out terrific that it's likely to hang on for years in Manhattan and spawn companies in every large-, medium-, and small-sized burg throughout the land. Maybe the five-actor, four-musician show handily achieves perfection in every department because God the Father is rumored to be without flaw and this smart-as-a-whip tuner is a satirical plug for Him plus the other two thirds of the Holy Trinity.
The simple, elegant premise is that the five members of a Christian boy group are determined to cleanse sinners' souls on the last leg of their "Raise the Praise" tour. With the help of a tracking device called the Soul Sensor DX-12, the hip and hip-hopping quintet vows to rejuvenate every soul in the audience through a series of invigorating songs and exercises. Among the latter is a "Confession Sessions" sequence during which the boyz respond to questions that audience members have supposedly written on index cards.
The guys are Matthew (Scott Porter), Mark (Tyler Maynard), Luke (Andy Karl), Juan (Ryan Duncan), and Abraham (David Josefsberg). While carrying on their altruistic crusade, they take time to reveal how they originally bonded (despite Abraham's being Jewish). Eventually, they face an 11th-hour crisis that jeopardizes their staying together. (It has nothing to do with the loss of commercial interest in boy groups.) Before they get the number of needy souls in the crowd down to zero, the foundling Juan learns the whereabouts of his parents. That's all you need to know of the show before sitting back to enjoy its multitudinous delights and surprises, which arrive every other second. (Wait for the hand puppets.) Well, "sitting back" isn't an accurate description, since the piece has such magnetism that patrons are drawn to the edge of their seats and are compelled to bop along with the music. Anyone who can laugh at the eccentricities of religious fervor and is ready to chortle over boy-group clichés is guaranteed to fall in love with Altar Boyz, no questions asked.
But a reviewer wants to tick off the scores of reasons why Altar Boyz is so damned good (that is, if a show about salvation can be called "damned"). In the beginning, there's the concept -- courtesy of Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport -- which begat the Kevin Del Aguila libretto and the songs by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker. Perhaps the greatest triumph of Del Aguila's book is that, while almost every line is a laugh-getter, the playwright has created amusingly disparate three-dimensional characters to propel the action; Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham are types but not stereotypes. Del Aguila mocks with an ever-so-light touch the skewed values that often are hallmarks of religious fervor today, yet not once during this 90-minute musical sermon does he sermonize.
As for the Adler-Walker score, the first thing to be said about it is this: Every single one of the dozen numbers is melodic and funny. (Incidentally, Adler and Walker didn't collaborate but contributed six ditzy ditties each.) Part of the songs' power is that the ideas behind them are unexpected; they catch you off guard with lyrics like "Jesus called me on my cell phone." In an 'N Sync-like love song promoting sexual abstinence, the boyz sing, "Something about you, baby girl / You make me want to wait." Not since Urinetown have tunesmiths contrived to mock genres in such an entertaining way while simultaneously honoring them. Were this still a time when Top-10 recording artists and shrewd A&R people searched musical comedy scores for hits, Altar Boyz would yield a handful.
Of course, terrific songs and lines of dialogue are only as good as those singing and speaking them. In this light, Altar Boyz is five times blessed. Ryan Duncan, David Josefsberg, Andy Karl, Tyler Maynard, and Scott Porter all have voices that would score huge vote tallies on American idol. (There's a Clay Aiken joke somewhere in the proceedings, and he should only be as talented as these guys!) Furthermore, the show's creators have seen to it that each of the boyz gets his own smashing solo spot. The willowy, immensely impressive Maynard as Mark is especially effective when singing about being a Catholic and liking it. On Anna Louizos's streamlined set with catwalk, the cast members are beautifully guided by director Stafford Arima and choreographer Christopher Gattelli, both of whose marketability will skyrocket as a result of their accomplishments here. Gattelli's nearly non-stop dances, impeccably executed by the stamina-stoked cast, is the season's best so far and by far. Cheers also for lighting designer Natasha Katz's razzle-dazzle displays and Simon Matthews' fine sound design.
In a script that contains no priest jokes but does include numerous voiceover appearances by radio jock Shadoe Stevens as "G.O.D.," librettist Del Aguila manages not only to generate constant laughs but also to come up with a genuinely touching, even spiritual conclusion. Saints be praised for a show this polished and potent. | http://www.altarboyz.com/reviews/theatermania.html | dclm-gs1-486105528 | false | false | {
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0.068593 | <urn:uuid:89297743-f0df-4204-83ba-a62b6c6d96a0> | en | 0.929163 | Roy Shaw dead.
Discussion in 'The Intelligence Cell' started by kellybally, Jul 14, 2012.
Welcome to the Army Rumour Service, ARRSE
The UK's largest and busiest UNofficial military website.
The heart of the site is the forum area, including:
1. kellybally
UK fighting legend Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw died today, anybody got any news on how he died etc.
2. Heart failure.
3. Sixty
Sixty LE Moderator Book Reviewer
1. ARRSE Cyclists and Triathletes
4. kellybally
OK cheers, can't seem to find anything on the net about it.
5. Heart failure. As in, the definition of death is apparently the ceased function of the heart. So if he's dead the heart must have failed. QED.
Apart from that he was a criminal thug - so are you planning this to be a RIP thread?
6. Maybe once or twice in the throes of decease, although Gurgle might be more accurate. And onomatopoeic.
• Like Like x 2
7. kellybally
Not really fussed,just thought i'd find out how he died.
8. telecaster
telecaster LE
Fell off a church roof?
9. Both those sites seem to be in hiding; perhaps someone's "had a word" with them?
10. civpol
civpol Old-Salt
Yes he is dead. Died today.
11. At least you could leave your front door open.
12. Cabana
Cabana LE
13. civpol
civpol Old-Salt
Roy shaw one of the old school gentleman criminals......he may rob you an kick your head in but he wore a suit while doing it. Which makes it ok.
• Like Like x 1
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0.211646 | <urn:uuid:a10309b5-fc5a-414d-a4d8-6f8a9d8368d5> | en | 0.871944 | ArtsConnectEd/ArtsNet Minnesota
Inner Worlds
Art and Artists
Arthur Dove
Richard Hunt
Judy Onofrio
Betye Saar
Kay Sage
Yves Tanguy
Jane Tuckerman
What is Art? Environment Identity Designing Spaces and Places
Kay Sage
Discussion Questions/Activities
Do you think Kay Sage was a happy person? Did this affect her work? Is it important to know her history when you look at her art? Why do you think Kay Sage painted environments like On the Contrary, which looked like "shelters" in dreamlike landscapes?
Can you see the influence of classical drawing lessons in this painting? How does the realism become unreal? Notice how light is used in this painting. What time of day is it? What kind of mood is created by the light in On the Contrary?
Kay Sage, On the Contrary
Kay Sage, On the Contrary
What is meant by the term an "ivory tower?" Are people who "supposedly live in ivory towers" disconnected from reality?
Write a story of a dream you have had or something you have imagined. Illustrate your dream. How does your illustration look like a dream or imagining?
Portrait of tenth grade Minnesota student's, Inner vs. Outer
Tenth-grade Minnesota student's
Inner vs. Outer Self,
1993, self.
Draw a portrait of yourself from the inside out. Show the contrast between inner and outer self.
• Draw a picture of an environment where you feel safe. As Sage created "shelters" for herself, create your own shelter.
• Paint a picture of your happiest or the most frightening dream.
• Surrealist butterfly collage
Surrealist butterfly collage
Bring three objects from your home to class. Paint or draw them in an unreal situation as an example of the Surrealist style.
Filmmakers frequently make films from books. Choose a movie made from literature and discuss whether the filmmaker created the story or characters as you imagined them when you were reading the book. Is your imagination more vivid a reality? Was the film less successful than the book? Why?
Research and a write a report describing the development of the butterfly. How does this development relate to human development? Find out how the butterfly is used as a symbol in different cultures. Collect pictures of butterflies. Share results in groups of five. Using construction paper and patterns from magazines, make a symmetrical, Surrealistic butterfly that symbolizes an idea from your inner world. Use images that do not belong on butterflies to create a Surrealistic design.
Vocabulary Terms
development of a butterfly --larva- is the worm-like stage of butterfly development; metamorphosis is a change from one form or shape to another; pupa is the inactive cocoon stage of butterfly development.
Surrealism--Art that emphasizes fantasy, and real objects in unreal situations; the look and feeling of dreams painted realistically; includes surprise, contradiction and shock.
symbol--Usually an image that stands for an idea or object.
symmetrical--Identical on both sides.
Bailey, H. and H. F. Johnson (ed.), Kay Sate [exg, cat.], Museum of Art, 1977.
Benzi, F., E. Busmanti, and A. Sbrilli. The History of Art, New York: U.S. Gallery Books. 1989.
Brommer, G. F. (ed.). Discovering Art History. Worcester, Mass: Davis. 1988.
Eisner, E. W. "Reading the images of culture." Momentum, 15(3), 56-58. 1984.
Fineberg, J. Art Since 1940. New York: Harry N. Abrams. 1995.
Jeffers, C. "Metaphors and meanings" (abridged). Art Education, 16-19. 1990.
Sage, Kay, Retrospective, [ exh. cat.] p.1-46 Walker Art Museum, 1960.
Sage, Kay, [exh. cat.] foreward by James Thall Soby. Rome, Italy: Galleria dell' Obelisco. 1953.
Swartz, S. (ed.) Walker Art Center--Painting and Sculpture from the Collection, New York: Rizzoli Publications and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. 1990.
Wilson, L. A. "Shelter as symbol: Uses and meanings of architectural space." From Arts of Africa, Oceania and the AmericasJ. C. Berlo & L. A. Wilson (Eds.), (pp. 271-274). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1993.
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0.771873 | <urn:uuid:73f132da-9b24-4f28-9a63-56a1d9c22290> | en | 0.969787 | What's New?
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The Astronomy of Armageddon
If you haven't seen the movie, this is your last chance to get out of this page before you see what I wrote, which will spoil the ending and lots of plot bits!
[Note added September 6, 2001: This movie came out three years ago, but hardly a day goes by without someone emailing me about something I missed. I can't catch everything, of course, and in this movie bad stuff happened so quickly I couldn't keep up! So let me say here that I appreciate the comments, but to verify what people tell me I would have to watch the movie again, and I would rather stare at the Sun through Hubble than sit through this vile flick one more time. So again thanks for the input, but at this point I will consider this review done, if not complete. ;-) ]
Here's the short version: "Armageddon" got some astronomy right. For example, there is an asteroid in the movie, and asteroids do indeed exist. And then there was... um... well, you know... um. Okay, so that was about all they got right. Now I know that accuracy was not the main point of the movie, and clearly from the way the plot played out, realism was the last thing on the minds of the writers. One person who emailed me said the movie had "sub-comic book level science" which is pretty much right. But as always, I can use their Bad Astronomy as a jumping off point for some Good Astronomy. Shall we start?
I find this funny: the writers want to make the numbers sound dramatic, but they actually severely underestimate the energy involved. However, this is not too surprising given the mathematics displayed throughout the rest of the flick...
Interestingly, the dinosaur-killer segment was narrated by none other than Charlton Heston. In 1996, NBC aired a TV show called "The Mysterious Origins of Man", a fringe-science show ostensibly about unexplained aspects of science, but in my opinion simply a front for a lot of pseudoscience. Anyway, it had a segment about the Paluxy River tracks, which are supposedly a set of dinosaur footprints with human footprints superposed on top. This turns out not to be the case (see, for example, a web page by Glen Kuban about them). Anyway, I find it odd and vaguely ironic that Charlton Heston narrated both the dinosaur part of "Armageddon" and a TV show saying that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. You may make of this what you will.
The director of NASA, Dan Truman, says that the asteroid, "the size of Texas", was knocked out of the asteroid belt by a comet, which is why it is headed our way.
Yegads. First off, there are no asteroids in the solar system that big. We'd have discovered them ages ago; Ceres, the largest asteroid in the main belt, is about 900 kilometers across, and Texas is about 1400 kilometers across. Even if we assume the size is an exaggeration, it still doesn't wash. A comet could not simply impact it and knock it out of orbit! An asteroid with a radius of, let's say, 500 kilometers and made of iron (as was said many times in the movie) would mass about 5 x 1024 grams, or five million million million tons. That's a lot of asteroid; you could ram it with comets for years and not move it much. Plus, the odds of a comet hitting an asteroid at all are very slim. I have hashed this out in my review of the movie "Asteroid" as well. Incidentally, the real director of NASA is named Dan Goldin, and I have to think the similarity was on purpose. I am not implying anything here; I think they were just going for some extra realism by giving the character almost the same name!
The big asteroid is preceded by lots of little ones which hit New York City, Paris, Shanghai, etc. etc.
image of NYC getting peltedGood:
It is possible for the Earth to be pelted by forerunners of the main asteroid, if the initial impact with the comet sent shrapnel flying. But that shrapnel would dissipate quickly (as it expands, the volume of space it occupies increases very rapidly, and the debris thins out), and most likely by the time the shrapnel reaches the Earth, very little would be left. But even given that, if there is any advance shrapnel, then it would not come in episodes, but instead be a continuous rain of debris. Not only that but the average size of the debris will increase with time until the big one hits! Why is that? Because, in an explosion, lightweight stuff gets thrown faster than heavier stuff. Since it is faster it reaches the Earth first, before the heavier stuff. There is a broad range in the size of the debris, so there should always be stuff hitting the Earth as the debris cloud expands. And since the bigger stuff moves slower, it'll hit after the light stuff. In the movie, we only see a few episodes of collisions, although there is a very large hit late in the movie.
And another thing: why do movie asteroids only target big cities? I bet Ithaca, New York got hit too, but I guess watching students from Cornell running around in panic isn't as much fun as watching a guy and his dog in the streets of Manhattan. I will say though that the Paris sequence was very well done. Sacre bleu!
The asteroid is completely missed by everyone on Earth until it is only 18 days away. When asked why NASA didn't see this coming, the director says (paraphrasing) "We only have a million dollars to search the whole sky, and it's a big sky". Later, they use Hubble to view the asteroid.
Well, it is a big sky. Big professional telescopes only look at relatively small chunks of it... at least, until a few years ago. Now, there are surveys underway to look for any asteroids out there headed our way. But even discounting them, there are tens of thousands of amateur astronomers, bless them, who look at the sky every clear night. Could they have missed it?
Let's see. Let's say our killer asteroid is the same size as Ceres (remember, 900 km across). The movie says it is moving at 22,000 miles per hour (not metric, of course!), and is 18 days away. That puts it about ten million miles away, or 40 times the Moon's distance. At that distance it is 30 times closer than Ceres. Ceres itself is just barely too faint to seen by the naked eye, but if it were 30 times closer, it would be 900 times brighter! [Note: actually, it would be even brighter than that. Since it would be closer to the Sun, it would receive more light from the Sun, making it about four or so times brighter, plus the 900 times, making it about 3000-4000 times brighter than Ceres. My thanks to Bad Reader Craig Berry for pointing that out to me!] That would make it one of the brightest objects in the sky. Even if we were to assume it was farther away, like 60 days from impact (two months), it would be ten times brighter than Ceres, and an easy naked eye object to spot. Anyone familiar with the sky would spot that easily. Incidentally, they said in the movie that only 15 telescopes in the world could spot the asteroid. As I have just shown, there are billions of unaided eyes that could have seen it as well.
Using Hubble is a big deal in these types of movies. Unfortunately, it won't work. Go to my review "Doomsday Rock" for details. Basically, Hubble cannot be pointed anywhere in under two weeks due to the onboard software. [Note added May 26, 2000: D'oh! Actually, for an extreme emergency, Hubble could be pointed somewhere in as little as 2 days. However, it takes time to write up the software needed to point it, so in reality it would take a little longer than that.]
We get a good look at the asteroid. It is rough, jagged, with lots of spikes. It is surrounded by vapor.
When an object gets to be a certain size, the strength of its own gravity tends to shape it into a sphere. Why is this one jagged? I have heard some people say it's because of the comet collision (which in turn means the original asteroid was even bigger!) This doesn't work for many reasons. First, a collision big enough to send something that large our way would melt the whole thing too. It would easily form a sphere if it had melted. Second, relatedly, the asteroid was not even hot when it got here. It wouldn't have had sufficient time to cool in 18 days (or however long it took to get here, really).
The vapor was weird. I suppose an asteroid can have pockets of gas deep inside (the boundary between comets and asteroids can be blurry), and they even say as much in the movie too (holy cow, they got something else right!). But the gas is shown as red and green. Nebulae, or gas clouds, in deep space have color, and do look red and green, but that is due to their being excited by a source of ultraviolet light. The asteroid's vapor would look white to the eye, because it is lit by reflected sunlight. No big deal, but it's just another dramatic effect added with no real scientific content.
image of X71 rocketBad:
This is just Bad. During the X-71 launch sequence, they used real Space Shuttle footage, and used computer graphics to stitch the image of the X-71 onto a shuttle rocket stack. However, at least once during the sequence, you could see they forgot or didn't bother to change the Shuttle to the X-71. They just left the video as it was, and you could clearly see that it was a real Shuttle, and not the X-71. This reminded me of the old TV show "I Dream of Jeannie", when they would show footage from two or three different rockets whenever Captain Nelson went into space. You'd see an Mercury rocket miraculously change in to a Saturn. I laughed out loud in the theater when I saw that scene!
Just before the X-71's dock with the "Russian space station", the cosmonaut sends it spinning to give them gravity.
Arg! A scene chock full of bad science. First, a spinning station would be very difficult to dock with. The X-71's would have to basically fly in big circles to match velocities. The real Russian station, Mir, does not spin, and docking is still a delicate procedure. Remember, the biggest near-disaster with Mir occurred when a rocket tried to dock with it. No docking is routine! Spinning the station would make docking tremendously harder.
Then, after they dock, what is holding the X-71's to the station? All you see is a little tube connecting them to the station. That little tube could not possibly hold the ``weight'' of an X-71 against the spin of the station. Now, when you rotate a space station, you would feel a force outwards, away from the center, just like when you round a curve in a car. This would feel like gravity. During the next scenes, gravity goes every which way, basically whichever direction was convenient for the script. At the center of the station, incidentally, there would be no force at all! The force outwards that you would feel in a spinning space station is the product of how fast it's spinning and how far you are from the center; the farther out you are, the stronger the force. At the center, you are at zero distance (by definition!) and so you'd feel no force. There'd be no gravity!
Finally, what's a "Russian space station" (they never call it Mir) doing with enough fuel for two rockets? I don't think the Russian space agency ever budgeted for a plot device. ;-)
The Big Plan is to split the asteroid in half far enough away from the Earth that the separating halves will both miss. This must be accomplished four hours before impact.
Imagine the asteroid four hours before impact. Each half must move away fast enough to cover 6400 kilometers (the Earth's radius) to miss the Earth. Anything less than this means an impact. In turn, this means each half must be accelerated to a speed of 6400 km/ 4 hours=1600 kilometers an hour. That's about 1000 miles per hour, or about twice as fast as a passenger jet. But wait! This asteroid is 1000 kilometers across! It is extremely massive, and something with that much mass would take an enormous amount of energy to get moving that fast; about a hundred billion megatons, or very roughly the same amount of energy the Sun produces every second. Needless to say, one bomb ain't gonna do it. A billion or so might though. I don't think even Bruce Willis is up to that task.
After the asteroid passes the Moon, a technician says the Moon's gravity has sent the asteroid tumbling, and soon the astronauts will be out of communication range because they will be rotated away from the Earth.
Amazingly, this can actually happen, though not the way they mean. The Moon's tides will put a torque, or twist, on the asteroid, which can indeed make it spin. Basically, the strength of gravity depends on the distance you are from whatever is pulling you. The asteroid was big, and passing close to the Moon. One part was a lot closer to the Moon than another, so got pulled harder. As the asteroid swung around, this would act to try to get the long axis of the asteroid pointed towards the center of the Moon. That might actually cause the asteroid to spin a bit. In my opinion, the writers needed Yet Another Plot Device, so they threw this in, not knowing that it was actually possible.
The asteroid is big enough to have some gravity, so the people can walk and drive on the surface, but the gravity is so light that they need thrusters working in their suits and vehicles to keep from flying away. Inside the ship, though, people walk normally without suits.
Oops! The writers forgot that gravity can penetrate even the "impenetrable titanium" of the rocket's hull (if that's true, how come Ben Affleck's character could shoot a gun right through the hull to get out?). We also see the pilot running around the ship. Every time she ran she should have launched herself against a wall. Ouch!
image of tractor with man
clinging on for dear life Even more, one of the armored armadillos launches itself across a canyon, with the astronauts inside hoping to use the thrusters to push them back down when they get over the other side. They hit some rocks and start spinning, and then use the thrusters. This somehow gets them back down, when actually it would send them corkscrewing and not just spinning. If they touched down, it would be a big coincidence if it were right side up!
The astronauts need to bury the bomb inside the asteroid to magnify the effect of the explosion. They need to get it 800 feet deep, so they drill a hole to plant it.
I can almost buy the premise of burying the bomb; if it sits on the surface, half of the energy of the explosion just goes into space, wasted. But 800 feet? That's only 1/5000th of the way in! If the asteroid were the size of a soccer ball, that distance would be about 0.06 millimeters, or 0.002 inches, perhaps as wide as a human hair. And that will split the asteroid in half. Right. But wait... there's a fissure that runs through the asteroid. By putting the bomb in there, it splits the asteroid in half! Luckily, the fissure is lined up perfectly so that the two halves move away from the Earth. Imagine if the plane of the fissure were facing the Earth; the bomb would have launched one rock into the Earth at an extra 1000 miles per hour. Lucky for us the writers remembered to line the fissure up the right way! ;-)
One other thing: if time is of the essence, and they have to dig 800 feet down, why did they dig at a 45 degree angle?! That added an extra 320 feet to their drilling. What they should have done was ram one of those X-71's straight on to the asteroid. That would have created a crater much deeper than that! They wouldn't have had to dig so far.
As the final hour approaches, suddenly there is a series of explosions, with rocks flying everywhere! There are also huge gales that threaten to kill the astronauts.
Well, tides from the Earth would tend to stress the asteroid quite a bit. That might loosen rocks, causing a rock storm. It might it even open up vents deep into the asteroid, letting gas out. But that gas would escape vertically, not horizontally. The gravity of the asteroid is too weak to hold on to the gas moving that fast.
Those are the main points, though I'm sure I'll get lots of email suggesting others! However, there were some small points as well:
• A military man at some points calls "NASA" "Nassau". This same thing was done in "Doomsday Rock".
• Twice in the movie a monitor at NASA shows the Hubble Space Telescope; once at the beginning during a satellite repair mission, and again when the astronauts are planting the bomb. Wouldn't you think NASA would have something better to put on their screens when they have a huge, expensive all or nothing mission running then some random satellite?
• In space, Shuttles, even X-71's, would not fly like planes, or X-Wing fighters! There's no air up there, so the rockets can't bank around curves.
• Those rocks were so dangerous flying towards the asteroid that one of the X-71's was destroyed, yet the second one can leave the asteroid before the bomb blows up and the rocks are gone. And just what is the minimum safe distance from the asteroid when it blows up? Shrapnel from the explosion would have destroyed the rocket!
Sigh. My personal opinion of the movie science was of course low, lower than even I thought before seeing it. But I also thought the plot was vapid, the direction awful (it was like an extended car commercial, someone pointed out) and had so many ridiculous things in it that I had a hard time enjoying the fun of it. It was fun, but even that was hampered by the sheer over-the-topness of it. I never once had the feeling that the Earth would be destroyed, so all the drama of the impending doom was gone. In "Deep Impact", after the first half of the movie, you never once forgot what was going on; the sense of doom was palpable, so much so that my heart was pounding during the impact sequence. In "Armageddon", the drama never existed. One of the most important aspects of a film, especially a science fiction, is the suspension of disbelief. Once you get that "Oh, come on" feeling, I disengage myself from the movie a bit, and the fun drops. I was disappointed by this movie, and not just because of the scientific ludicrousness.
I just watched a special behind the scenes look at the movie aired on the cable channel "E!", and in it the technical advisor for the movie said "a number of ideas [before the final film was shot] needed to be changed to be physically realizable..." I wonder if he meant filmable, or actually physically better than what they started with. If the latter, I wonder how more cartoonish the movie might have been originally!
I did find some links to "Armageddon" sites. A web search will yield hundreds of them, but here are some good ones:
1. Jupiter Scientific Information's scientific review of the movie is entertaining. Alas, some things they say are incorrect (like that a solar sail will not work!), but of course I have made my share as well. It's an entertaining read though!
Buy the book!
Check out my book "Bad Astronomy" | http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/armpitageddon.html | dclm-gs1-486355528 | false | false | {
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0.025274 | <urn:uuid:f9facf43-0b16-4636-9c93-0d62a1cb5668> | en | 0.748313 | Mobile Site You Are Here > > > > Minor League Players Starting with "D'" Encyclopedia
107 Players Listed Starting with "D'"
John D'Acquisto, gn. John Francis, b. 1951, played 1970-1983
Michael D'Acunti, gn. Michael
Douglas D'addario, gn. Douglas F., b. 1950, played 1968-1969
George D'addario, gn. George Joseph, b. 1923, d. 2007, played 1943-1955
Vincenzo D'Addio, gn. Vincenzo, played 1999-2013
Dana D'Agostino, gn. Dana, played 2001-2002
Dave D'Agostino, gn. Dave, played 1996
Dominick D'Agostino, gn. Dominick A., b. 1940, played 1960
Frank D'Agostino, gn. Frank
James D'Agostino, gn. James J., b. 1924, d. 2011, played 1947-1948
Robert D'Agostino, gn. Robert R., b. 1961, played 1983-1984
Robert D'Agostino, gn. Robert, played 1951
Arthur D'Agrosa, gn. Arthur P., played 1950-1951
Raymond D'Agrosa, gn. Raymond John, b. 1934, d. 2011, played 1953-1954
Tom D'Aguila, gn. Tom
Anthony D'Alessandro, gn. Anthony
Joe D'Alessandro, gn. Joe Drew, b. 1984, played 2005-2012
Justin D'Alessandro, gn. Justin E., b. 1989, played 2012-2014
Marc D'Alessandro, gn. Marc James, b. 1975, played 1994-1997
Sal D'Alessandro, gn. Salvatore Antonio, b. 1964, played 1983-1988
Tom D'Alessandro, gn. Tom
Andy D'Alessio, gn. Andrew Anthony, b. 1984, played 2007-2010
Edward D'Alessio, gn. Edward
Greg D'Alexander, gn. Gregory James, b. 1968, played 1990-1996
Anthony D'Alfonso, gn. Anthony, b. 1987, played 2009-2013
Michelangelo D'Ali, gn. Michelangelo, played 2001
Placido D'Allesandro, gn. Placido, played 1946-1947
William D'Allessandro, gn. William A. (Gomez), b. 1925, played 1942-1949
Jim D'Aloia, gn. James, b. 1958, played 1980-1981
Albert D'Alonzo, gn. Albert F., played 1950
Alvin D'Alonzo, gn. Alvin J., b. 1929, played 1952
Brian D'Amato, gn. Brian Charles, b. 1972, played 1991-1996
Dan D'Amato, gn. Daniel James, b. 1979, played 2001-2003
Dennis D'Amato, gn. Dennis
Larry D'Amato, gn. Larry
Mario D'Amato, gn. Mario M.
Roland D'Amato, gn. Roland, played 1950
Mario D'Ambrosi, gn. Mario, b. 1933, played 1953-1957
Anthony D'Ambrosia, gn. Anthony, played 1946
Mark D'ambrosia, gn. Mark A., b. 1973, played 1994
Andrew D'Ambrosio, gn. Andrew J., b. 1967, played 1989
Dean D'Ambrosio, gn. Dean
Eugene D'Ambrosio, gn. Eugene J., b. 1921, d. 2004, played 1940-1941
John D'Ambrosio, gn. John J., played 1948-1950
P. D'ambrosio, gn. P., played 1941
D'Amico, played 2011
Alfred D'Amico, gn. Alfred G., b. 1916, d. 2011, played 1939-1948
Andrea D'Amico, gn. Andrea, played 2010-2013
Frank D'Amico, gn. Frank, played 1948
Jeff D'Amico, gn. Jeffrey Charles, b. 1975, played 1995-2004
Jeff D'Amico, gn. Jeffrey Michael, b. 1974, played 1993-2002
Jesse D'Amico, gn. Jesse, b. 1988, played 2006-2007
Leonardo D'Amico, gn. Leonardo Saulie, b. 1981, played 2000-2013
Luca D'Amico, gn. Luca, played 2012-2013
Nick D'Amico, gn. Nicholas Ryan, b. 1987, played 2010
Vincent D'amico, gn. Vincent J., b. 1949, played 1969
Yovany D'Amico, gn. Yovany Eliezer (Carrillo), b. 1984, played 2003-2012
Louie D'Amore, gn. Louis, Jr., b. 1959, played 1981
Richard D'Amura, gn. Richard, played 1951-1952
D'Andrea, played 1910
Marc D'Andrea, gn. Marc
Michael D'Andrea, gn. Michael Joseph, b. 1969, played 1992-1995
Zack D'Andrea, gn. Zack, b. 1988, played 2013
Matteo D'Angelo, gn. Matteo, b. 1988, played 2006-2013
Tom D'Angelo, gn. Tom, b. 1975, played 1998
Armand D'Anna, gn. Armand, b. 1918, played 1938-1939
Dominic D'Anna, gn. Dominic M., b. 1988, played 2010-2013
Joe D'Annunzio, gn. Joe
Louis D'Annunzio, gn. Louis
Frank D'Antico, gn. Frank
Jamie D'Antona, gn. James Joseph, b. 1982, played 2003-2010
Lewis D'Antoni, gn. Lewis J., b. 1915, played 1937-1940
Gino D'Antonio, gn. Gino, played 1950
Joseph D'Antonio, gn. Joseph J., b. 1920, played 1939-1941
Michael D'Antonio, gn. Michael C., played 1941-1947
S. D'Antonio, gn. S., played 1939
Stanley D'Antonio, gn. Stanley, played 1951-1954
Trent D'Antonio, gn. Trent M., b. 1985, played 2005-2013
Patrick D'Aoust, gn. Patrick, b. 1986, played 2008-2013
Steve D'Aquila, gn. Stephen, played 1994-1997
Tom D'Aquila, gn. Thomas Charles, b. 1973, played 1994-1996
Jerry D'Arcy, gn. Jeremiah Joseph, b. 1885, d. 1924, played 1911-1916
D'Armody, played 1913
Chase d'Arnaud, gn. Chase Jonathan, b. 1987, played 2008-2014
Travis d'Arnaud, gn. Travis E., b. 1989, played 2007-2014
Victor D'Ascenzo, gn. Victor
Alberto D'Auria, gn. Alberto, played 1999-2006
Gerald D'Auria, gn. Gerald P., b. 1919, d. 2005, played 1940-1946
John D'Auria, gn. John M., b. 1948, played 1967-1968
Matteo D'Auria, gn. Matteo, played 2011
Ronald D'Auteuil, gn. Ronald James, played 1995-1997
Frank D'Aversa, gn. Frank, played 2007-2008
Charles D'Elia, gn. Charles, played 2004
Stephen D'Ercole, gn. Stephen A., b. 1959, played 1981
David D'Errico, gn. David
Carlos D'Frank, gn. Carlos L., b. 1983, played 2000-2001
Giuseppe D'Ignoti, gn. Giuseppe, played 2002-2010
Rick D'Innocenzio, gn. Richard F., b. 1953, played 1975-1976
Francisco D'Jesus, gn. Francisco A., b. 1981, played 2000-2003
Manuel D'Jesus, gn. Manuel
Angel D'Meza, gn. Angel, b. 1877, played 1902-1907
Gregory D'Oleo, gn. Gregory
Gary D'Onofrio, gn. Gary Leo, b. 1958, played 1980-1984
Larry D'Onofrio, gn. Larry
Lou D'Orso, gn. Lou
Dalton D'Spain, gn. Dalton
Carl D'Zuro, gn. Carl, played 1940
About the Minor League Data
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0.106028 | <urn:uuid:3114fce3-9b26-490a-a493-6a67d5aaf165> | en | 0.976585 | 1997 Ford Fiesta FUN 1.3i petrol from South Africa
Good car. Bad engine. Ideal starter car
The driver's seat frayed and the side panels in the door pulled out.
The steering wheel has started to disintegrate, leaving a plastic residue on your hands (I use a steering wheel cover to avoid this).
The one of the cylinders died at 174 500km. I replaced the engine with another low-mileage Endura E (from the year 2000) imported from Japan.
The indicators started to work intermittently, and eventually had to be replaced.
The clutch had to be replaced at 172 000km, and owing to the eccentric design of the clutch, since then the pedal does not come all the way back up after changing gear about 8-10 times. This is quite annoying, especially in traffic.
The colour-coded bumpers have faded at a different rate to the body of the car. This is a trivial complaint, but it has led to people asking if it's been in an accident.
General Comments:
The engine is severely underpowered at 44kW, but feels spritely in first and second gear.
The cabin is a grey-blue plastic that has not aged well. It is faded, but appears to be of a reasonable quality (no cracks etc.).
The handling is excellent, and there is some feedback from the steering wheel, and the car can be very exciting to drive. This is one aspect of the car that I really adore; there are more-powerful cars that simply cannot compete with the chassis and handling of this little car.
The gearbox is adequate. It has a short-throw, which makes driving the car more fun, and can make you feel like a racing driver, albeit in slow-motion.
The cabin is full of cubby-holes and side-pockets, which make you feel that Ford genuinely thought about the car. This is something overlooked by many of its competitors, and despite my not liking keeping lots of things in my car, it is something that is thoughtful.
The tyres are 165/70 R13. These are on average R100 more expensive than the more common 155/80 R13 tyres. However, I have seen these tyres used on the car with no major incident.
Ride comfort is a tad firm. I think this is because of the "lower" profile tyres at 65 vs 80 in its competitors.
The sound system is standard and very good. It never sounds like it's blaring, even at higher volumes.
Fuel consumption seemed to hover around 11-12km per litre (with the original engine) and has improved to 12-13km per litre with the new engine. I mention this because it suggests that the engine's consumption doesn't vary too much (despite older ones having excessive tappet noise). It should also be noted that this is a higher fuel consumption than you'd expect from an electronically fuel-injected engine.
The car is relatively spacious. The 3-door model I have has identical dimensions to the 5-door, and can carry 5 people in relative comfort for short journeys (though the engine does struggle when fully loaded).
People regularly comment that the car is cute, and still looks sleek and modern, despite it being 15 years old.
The running costs are an annoyance. Parts (because the car is fuel-injected) and other components such as brake discs are more expensive than its competitors.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 23rd September, 2012
1997 Ford Fiesta Flight 5 door 1.25 Zetec from UK and Ireland
Ideal car for the new driver
Has gone through a few bulbs for the exterior lights since I've owned it.
Has developed a clicking/squeaking noise from the right front corner when the car is moving (can't be anything major as it has been making it for 3 months, and the drivability is unaffected).
General Comments:
Driving: Not the fastest car in the world, but it really shifts for a 1.2! It has shamed a friend's Peugeot 206 1.9 diesel, and another friend's 1.4 VW Polo (both are NEWER than the Fiesta). Also handles well, as it has left an 08 Corsa 1.2 for dust on a twisty road. Steering is spot on, as are the ride and gearbox (i.e. all easy to operate and make the car fun to drive).
Interior: One of the few cars of this size and age that can accommodate someone as tall as me (I'm 6 ft 4) and a few friends without problems. The cabin also looks really fresh and modern, despite the car being 14 (nearly 15) years old. Only gripe is that the driver's seat is a bit high, which does spoil the driving sensation a bit.
Exterior: Looks like many other cars on the road, but as it has a stripe down the side, it does give it a modicum of individuality.
Costs: Good on fuel, cheap tax and cheap maintenance. However as this is my 2nd car and I've had my licence for less than a year, insurance is a ******* joke (£2,000 a year)!! However as I only bought it off a family friend's granddad for £150, I can't really complain.
Summary: Despite the high insurance, this really is the ideal car for a new driver. It's fast enough to keep up with everything else on the road, as well as being good on fuel and very easy to drive. Would recommend to anyone and everyone.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 15th December, 2011
15th Dec 2011, 17:56
The clicking noise you mention could be either worn out constant velocity joints, or track rod ends requiring replacement.
While you are checking, have a look at the rubber bushes where the suspension arm bolts onto the chassis rails, as these are also prone to failure. (You have to replace the whole suspension arm if they have split).
My father had a 1.4 Fiesta Zetec until recently, and was very pleased with it. It may interest you to know the 1.25 and 1.4 Zetec engines were actually designed by Yamaha. | http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/ford/fiesta/1997/ | dclm-gs1-486685528 | false | false | {
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0.106908 | <urn:uuid:7e4f392d-ee40-497e-baae-8bda14fcdf5f> | en | 0.932697 | Tuesday, February 07, 2012
When ad agencies advertise themselves, shittiness ensues...
(click, via)
The latest turd is by Woonky (great name!) in Buenos Aires. A ransom note! You know what, Woonky? Kill my fucking idea. In fact, torture it first for weeks, and then kill it. Dumbasses. Ad agencies: forever horrendous at advertising themselves.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
i don't get it - an idea lives in my head. if you have it, so what? i still have it in my head.
5:25 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Dear Copyranter,
I believe have a small bit of insight as to why ad agencies are so bad at advertising (themselves). I was once asked to work on redoing a website for an agency I worked at. The website was supposed to serve as an ad for the agency, essentially.
There was so much back and forth with pig-headed account services people and the wannabe-creative CEO, so many oars in the water, so many huge egos trying to control my copy and the art director's design, that the final product was approximately as embarrassing as what you've posted.
We creative department folks frequently have people trying to shit in our magic sauce in advertising, but when it's an ad for the agency itself, all the dunder-headed middle-management schmucks in the building suddenly get to act like two things they've always wanted to be at the same time but never had the cojones: creatives and clients.
5:43 PM
Blogger LogoCop said...
These agency self-promos always seem like student folio work. Perhaps because (in my experience) they're often done by the juniors - the least expensive resource to divert from billable work?
5:52 PM
Anonymous -1-T-M- said...
Hey ranter,
they seem to be a bunch of bright, earnest, young things, so why would you want to burst their bubbles?
En WOONKY IDEAS con Siro Rodríguez.
En WOONKY IDEAS con Marcelo D'Abramo, Ramiro Delgado, Ainhoa Rigabert, Pablo Oliver, Coni Ruiz Moreno, Tomás Wells, Victoria Paterlini y Siro Rodríguez.
Obviously they don't read MichaelK @ Dlisted, famous for his cutting celebrities monikers, one in particular 'Wonky McValtrex' for Paris Hilton.
Q: Why is Paris Hilton called Wonky McValtrex?
A: Wonky is a reference to her asymetrical eyes - the weird one is her "wonky" eye. McValtrex is a reference to her use of Valtrex, a well known herpes medication.
7:23 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said...
The cobbler's children always go barefoot.
12:50 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home | http://www.copyranter.blogspot.com/2012/02/when-ad-agencies-advertise-themselves.html | dclm-gs1-486955528 | false | false | {
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0.019673 | <urn:uuid:21cdf801-a21a-491e-9135-65c7e574c028> | en | 0.912771 |
1.0-liter EcoBoost achieves 45 mpg on the highway
Source: Ford
Comments Threshold
RE: Slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww
By mgilbert on 10/30/2013 10:30:19 AM , Rating: 4
Anyone who can't merge onto any interstate with 120 HP in this light a car has no business with a driver's license. I drive a car almost twice as heavy with 200 HP, and the gas pedal has never been close to the floor. Moderate, steady acceleration from the top of the ramp is always enough. Cars just don't need the horsepower most have these days. They are not toys.
RE: Slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww
By degobah77 on 10/30/13, Rating: -1
RE: Slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww
RE: Slooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww
By Netscorer on 10/31/2013 10:54:00 AM , Rating: 2
You obviously don't have challenging ramps where you live or you would not laugh at drivers who require better torque figures. In Connecticut we have lots of entries that start at the bottom between two hills with Stop sign right before entering the highway, no merging lane (thanks to narrow bridge overpasses) and cars going at you down the hill at 75mph+.
You essentially need to thread a needle into the oncoming traffic while accelerating from full stop and fighting gravity trying to climb a steep ascend.
Add small light car that would be smashed to pieces from impact with virtually any self-respecting car on the highway and this would not be a laughing matter for you anymore.
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0.022425 | <urn:uuid:c8a47655-f4cf-4001-b4c5-b62165c60cc5> | en | 0.97331 | Heck of a Job, County
In case of catastrophe, dial 1-800-UR-EFFED
Got any extra food at your house? I'm not begging. I have my own extra food. I'm just doing a wacko check on myself.
I have extra food. I have extra water. I have extra shotgun shells. No, you can't have any. They're for me. And my family. And as soon as I decide whether I've turned into wack-job--well, come to think of it, that won't make any difference--I'm going to go out and get some more extra stuff, because I have just finished perusing the report Dallas County commissioners received last week on the county's level of emergency preparedness.
It reminds me of a joke we used to think was hilarious when I was a little kid. They were teaching us to "duck and cover" under our desks in the event of a nuclear holocaust. The joke was about the real way to deal with an A-bomb: Stand with your feet apart, bend forward as far as you can and kiss your ass goodbye. When a generation of 5-year-olds is laughing at jokes like that, the nation needs to prepare for rough times ahead.
The county commissioners' original plan was to break the law and hold its recent briefing on emergency preparedness in secret. Thank goodness The Dallas Morning News got on their case and made them do it in public. And what a typical example it was of what public officials try to keep secret:
We're screwed! Bird flu, hurricanes, dirty bombs, I don't care what it is. We're screwed! They haven't done jack! You know that jack-leg dingleberry computer system that lost everybody in the jail? They took all the Homeland Security money and spent it on that! We're screwed!
I got food. I have bottled water. I have ammo. I knew it! I knew it! I watched all those people on the news standing on the overpasses in New Orleans, and the bizarre scene with President Bush speaking from Jackson Square--all lit up and hunch-shouldered like the phantom of the opera with St. Louis Cathedral behind him, oh, man, did that ever give me the willies--and I said to my wife, "We are totally on our own."
Let me get my breath here. I'm OK. Couple deep, deep breaths, and I'm going to be just fine.
Dallas County is not prepared for squat. You know what we have? One guy. In an office. The homeland security director.
Know what Collin County has? A staff of 14 people in a 4,900-square-foot center. Denton County? Eight people in a 20,000-square-foot building remodeled at a cost of $1.5 million, a $10 million computer system and a 450-foot radio tower. City of Houston, Harris County, Bexar County--they have all spent their federal money setting up substantial infrastructure.
I had a long, very interesting conversation last week with Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, who has been trying for two years to get the other commissioners to stop pouring all of their Homeland Security money into that nutty computer system.
"This has been the crux of the issue for me and the court," she said.
Keliher believes the new computer system, even if it works, doesn't have any real connection to homeland security. "All the system does is computerize the time a person is arrested until the case is disposed of."
According to a half-million-dollar audit by Microsoft, the new system, developed by the county from scratch at a cost of $17 million, does 54 percent of what it's supposed to do for the county court system and 30 percent for the jail.
Keliher cited instance after instance where she said the dominant cabal on the county court--Commissioners Mike Cantrell, Kenneth Mayfield and Maurine Dickey--insisted on pouring all the available Homeland Security money into the troubled computer system in desperate attempts to bail it out.
"About two and a half years ago, when we were talking about what we were going to do with the Homeland Security money that comes to us from the feds, I asked if this was the only thing we had to spend money on. I said, 'Is this it? Is this all we've got? This is the only need we have? Have you gone in and talked to the sheriff's department or our constables?'"
She said Cantrell, the main champion of the computer system, told her the new system will enhance homeland security when other counties and cities plug into it, creating a broad regional network of shared information. But if its main homeland security value is regional, Keliher wondered, why is Dallas County footing all of the enormous development and start-up costs?
"I mean, the other counties are getting to use their Homeland Security money the way they want to, and yet I'm using my Homeland Security money to buy a system for them. Why is that taking up our Homeland Security money?
"I said, 'Well, if it's worth something to them, then have them pay for it.' This has been the ongoing battle for me and the court."
Cantrell doesn't dispute the basic facts offered by Keliher. He concedes that the new computer system, mainly his baby, has been the beneficiary of the county's Homeland Security money. He agrees that Dallas County is developing a system it will eventually give away to other counties. But he says that's all a good thing, and Keliher's failure to appreciate it demonstrates that "she has no vision."
"She can dis the system all she wants to," Cantrell told me. "The bottom line is, she does not like to spend a dime of money to benefit another city or another county. And if that's the case, that's a very narrow point of view. She has no vision, period."
Yeah, but, I asked him, if this new computer system is the best thing since sliced bread, homeland security-wise, how come the state's Department of Emergency Management just rated Dallas County near the bottom of its scale for preparedness? And why, in the briefing the commissioners tried to make secret, did the county's own director of Emergency Management give Dallas County four "inadequates," one "minimal" and a "limited" in scoring its preparations so far?
Cantrell said it was the judge's fault for not naming a new director of Emergency Management sooner. Keliher told me there was no point setting up a bureaucracy if all the money it would need to operate on was going to be sluiced into the computer system from here to kingdom come.
But do you get where I'm coming from at about this point? You know, with the extra food and the ammo? I don't mean to dismiss anything Cantrell said. He's a smart guy. I do tend to give Keliher more credence because she's got the agendas and the budget items and the history on paper to back her up: Almost all the money has been going into the computer system that loses the people in the jail. We just had a story in the Dallas Observer in which a lawyer said the only reliable way to find a client, now that the new system is in place, is to walk through the jail calling his name ("The Disappeared," by Jesse Hyde, February 2).
This is going to help us when the big one goes down?
We can take comfort, supposedly, in the much better emergency preparedness rating received from the state by the city of Dallas. But both Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm and Dallas Office of Emergency Management Director Kenny Shaw told me the county must play a key role in any disaster that extends beyond the city limits.
"If we had a big event like the Katrina thing where we go to the next level, they're in the chain," Shaw said. "If we have to go to the state for resources, the state asks that we go to the county first and ask them to coordinate between other cities."
So here's what I'm thinking. Let's say the city's telling the truth. They're totally up to snuff. And, hey, they have a good rating from the state to back that up.
But the big one happens. Some son-of-a-bitch toe bomber or whoever sets off a big bioterrorist toe-jam attack or whatever--we don't know what it's going to be--and all of our local units of government are called upon to respond.
The city is ship-shape and ready for war. It calls the county. The county can't come to the phone because a big hair-pulling fight has broken out over who spent all the money. But that's OK, because the state is all spiffed up and ready to roll. But the state has to call the White House, and they're all having a contest to see who can stare at the other guy the longest on the videoconference machine without talking.
He's staaaaaaring at the camera. Not saying a word. He's staaaaring at the camera. Hey. Maybe it's not a game. Maybe the toe-jam guy has done something evil to them, like a trance or a coma!
OK, my big message here is that I do not have faith right now in the ability of government to do a whole lot for me or my family in the event of catastrophe. In fact, it seems to me that government's efforts to prepare for catastrophe--across a broad spectrum from national to local--are themselves catastrophes.
So this is what I see. I see myself and my family on the roof. We've got extra food. We've got bottled water. Quite a bit of ammo. And while we're up there waiting for things to sort themselves out, I plan to pass the time reading my new manual on how to stretch and tan squirrel hides.
You think the county's computer system is from scratch? I think we're going to see things ahead that will give that particular phrase a whole new meaning.
I'm wacked out, right?
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0.018869 | <urn:uuid:a095b661-a1b0-46e4-9523-860024b16acd> | en | 0.820249 | Why Oracle won't kill openSolaris
July 14, 2009
[From InternetNews Blogs]
From the "speculation of pre-mature termination" files:
The article continues at http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2009/07/why-oracle-wont-kill-opensolar.html
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0.148079 | <urn:uuid:5fe5f483-1b93-4c28-bf57-4a8563a7d1cc> | en | 0.942051 | MIT melds electronics and living cells into new 'living materials'
Credit: CBS
The concept of living electronics is one of the stranger rabbit holes sci-fi has taken us down. The idea that some component of your starship's computer could one day be alive, in a biological sense, can cause a number of conflicting emotions. Some people might feel sorrow for the enslaved organism, while others think it only logical that we use nature's adaptability and resilience to fuel our technological progress.
If humanity is to have a debate on whether it's conscionable to employ living organisms in our electronics, it begins now. MIT researchers, led by doctoral candidate Allen Chen, have fused the living and non-living worlds by creating E. coli strands capable of incorporating gold nanoparticles and quantum dots into their colonies. These "living materials" will benefit from both the conductivity and light-emitting properties of their non-living parts and the responsiveness of their bacterial hearts.
The concept is based on naturally-occurring living materials like bone, which incorporates both minerals and living cells. While glowing, conductive bacteria is pretty interesting on its own, the research team believes that its new living circuitry could someday be used in everything from solar cells and diagnostic sensors to self-healing electronics.
Incorporating bacteria into our tech doesn't seem that terrifying from an ethical standpoint, but it does open the door to further living/non-living experimentation. Someday we could find ourselves running our tech with more complex organisms, like plants or even mammals. It may sound far-off now, but maybe it's good to start thinking about where humanity will draw the line in the sand on "living materials."
Nature, via MIT News and Core77
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How to use a windfall wisely
It will be years before renewable energy is cheap and reliable enough to replace fossil fuels entirely. For now, hydrocarbons and the warming they bring with them are necessary evils. Rather than trying to distort their supply, the American government’s job should be to let the oil and gas flow, where it is safe; but at the same time force those who use it to pay the full costs of that fuel—including those to the environment and the planet—and seek to spread the development of alternatives.
America has got the first part of that right, especially when it comes to encouraging innovation. Its landowners own the minerals below their turf, giving them a huge incentive to allow exploration (unlike Europe’s). There are a few barmy rules, such as a ban on crude-oil exports, but it can still sell the refined version. Barack Obama should approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Canadian oil to the Gulf of Mexico. Greens fear leakages, but overland pipes are far less risky than, say, shifting oil in trucks, and the pipe’s owners would have to pay for any clean-up.
| http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21566663-good-thingbut-it-would-be-better-if-energy-was-priced-correctly-united-states-americas/recommend | dclm-gs1-000235529 | false | false | {
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0.02219 | <urn:uuid:bdb67dff-087c-4844-ae66-7af1f9a38e8f> | en | 0.956656 | We see so much insane USB crap around here that we were pretty apprehensive of a link entitled "Accordion USB drive," but color us magenta if the damn thing doesn't actually look incredibly useful -- instead of an easily-lost cap, the connector simply pops back into the case. Sadly, it's not a real product yet, just a concept by Polish design student Jacek Ryn, but we'll be the first in line if it ever gets real -- Engadget HQ is littered with far too many capless flash drives.
[Via MAKE] | http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/05/accordian-style-usb-drive-actually-solves-a-problem/ | dclm-gs1-000295529 | false | false | {
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The Last Movie (1971)
Director: Dennis Hopper
By Roderick Heath
Before 1969, Dennis Hopper was one of many talented, young Method actors to drift west from the Actor’s Studio to Hollywood, if a flagrantly offbeat and arresting example of the breed. His blue eyes seemed to radiate an almost spiritual, romantic dissociation, as well as a potentially manic ferocity—Viking berserker and Celtic saint in one volatile package. He often recited dialogue with a halting, eddying, almost doleful style that could make each word sound like it was being pulled out of his mouth with pliers. His pal James Dean had brought him into film work, and Hopper’s reputation for on-set insubordination almost ruined his career before it got going; after Dean’s death he was all but blackballed by the industry.
Easy Rider was a colossal success, making Hopper a cause célèbre and Hollywood’s official hippie. But Hopper seemed to be setting himself up to become public sacrifice and cautionary example, feuding with Fonda over royalties, getting in and out of a marriage to The Mamas & The Papas singer Michelle Phillips in two weeks, and letting his indulgence in drugs go off the deep end. He was given $1 million by Universal to make his next film at a time when studios were throwing money at films about counterculture youth hoping some of it would stick. Hopper, however, couldn’t have been less interested in that subject—or so it seems. The result was an infamous debacle that once again sent Hopper into exile, branded as a livewire addict and professional madcap. He managed to turn this persona to his own ends when, against all predictions, he rehabilitated his career again in the 1980s. Hopper’s directorial legacy is scant, but, except for a largely dismissed final comedy Chasers (1994), it is also one of the strongest and most unique in American cinema.
Hopper had been kicking around the idea for The Last Movie since his experiences making a western at a foreign location in the mid ’60s, and he developed a script with Rebel Without a Cause (1955) scribe Stewart Stern. At first, he constructed a rudely expressive, but essentially linear film, before, legend has it, his pal the Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky mocked his straitlaced structure and encouraged him to attack it like an Abstract Expressionist slashing his own canvas. That anecdote sounds a touch arch, however, as The Last Movie clearly expands on the form- and mind-bending elements in Easy Rider while essentially telling its fans to fuck off.
Colonialism is certainly a part-hidden target of the film as it regards the gravitational effect of American cultural apparatchiks and their infrastructure distorting the minds and lives of anyone with whom they come in contact. Money matters to Hopper’s characters, for, as in Easy Rider, a quixotic attempt to make money to buy “freedom” comes to the fore, swapping the previous film’s original sin-like drug deal for Kansas and Neville’s attempt to ascertain if the gold mine can really pay off for them. They head into the wilderness to the gold mine with some explicit references to Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): in fact, in a scene close to the end of the film, which seems to be a non sequitur flashback to this journey, Kansas and Neville are depicted arguing comically about details from Sierra Madre, which might be Neville’s only actual source of knowledge about gold mining.
Earlier in the film, the priest alerted Kansas to a novel and disturbing phenomenon that seems to have gripped his parishioners, and led him to the fake film village to see them “shooting” their own version of the film with equipment made of out of wicker, complete with fistfights that result in real blood and bruises. Kansas tries to show them how it’s done in the trade, but the director complains that “isn’t real!” Exactly what the fake shoot is supposed to be Hopper leaves ambiguous, but he makes clear he feels guilty for his participation in the hypnotic, reality-bending force of the movies and correlates them with other forms of imperial power. Kansas requests absolution from the Priest for playing his part in this. For the locals, this activity seems initially a simplistic piece of monkey-see-monkey-do, but comes to look rather like a determined, ritualistic subsuming of the power of cultural imperialism, a Promethean project of stealing the movie gods’ fire and also a religious festival, as the film’s finale invokes two different forms of ritualised theatre, film production, and passion play, blending in perfect mirroring.
2nd 09 - 2014 | 2 comments »
Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)
The Days of High Adventure: A Journey through Adventure Film
Director: Don Siegel
By Roderick Heath
Few filmmakers more than 20 years into their careers can be said to have just come into their own—indeed, by that time, many have burned out or lapse into mere competence. Even fewer whose careers started in Hollywood’s classic studio era could have claimed such inspiration in the tumult of the mid 1960s, when audience and business shifts had left many familiar talents high and dry. Don Siegel defied the odds as he suddenly found himself a venerated hit-maker by the early ‘70s who eventually was elevated from B-movie craftsman to master and auteur. Having made the leap from Warner Bros’ in-house expert of montage cutting, Siegel directed terrific films from his debut film, The Verdict (1946), including The Big Steal (1949), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Line-Up (1958) and Hell Is for Heroes (1961), and his reputation amongst peers was strong—Ida Lupino, herself no slouch at directing, once confessed she hoped to be counted as a decent second-string Siegel. Siegel’s vertiginous visual sensibility, filled with alternations between godlike high angles and all-too-human, bruising closeness, a feel for both primal and urban landscapes as spaces that shape human action, a grip on both the studious grammar of classical filmmaking and expressive reflexes that could readily bend or break those rules armed him with tools that could absorb what he needed from New Wave filmmaking, ignore the rest, and still seem authoritative.
Siegel’s grouchy cynicism directed at the counterculture resulted in scabrous portraits in Coogan’s Bluff (1968) and Dirty Harry (1971), but then he could pivot and reveal a sheer delight in bratty anti-authoritarianism and rejection of communal rules—key to Two Mules for Sister Sara. His most consistent theme was more subtle, however, one of individuals at odds with their milieu, unable to comprehend the niceties of coexistence with radically different viewpoints and social doctrines that try to force acquiescence on his instinctually, rather than politically rebellious heroes. This is one reason that the theme of a lone wolf working within a larger system or cause was one of his favourites, an attitudinal linchpin that would have a profound influence, particularly on Quentin Tarantino.
He wrestled with modernity’s teeming, contradictory emotions in a way mainstream audiences could understand and coalesce without feeling like they were being preached at by a message movie. Siegel could offer a cop or a criminal empathy at any given moment. He could provoke liberals by transferring a frontier law ethos to modern cities, and then pivot to anatomise contemporary urges to agitation and shifting social mores in contexts like scifi with Body Snatchers, or historical, as in Hell Is for Heroes, with its proto-beatnik hero adrift in the war zone, or even further back with anxiety over emerging feminism in The Beguiled (1971) in a Civil War landscape. Two Mules for Sister Sara, like its immediate follow-up The Beguiled, bespeaks of Siegel’s inherent love of such paradox, prefiguring the next film’s dark, eerie take on sexual and social dislocation in a playful fashion that resembles The African Queen (1951) remade by Sam Peckinpah. Indeed, Peckinpah was Siegel’s first major protégé, whilst Sister Sara stars his second, Clint Eastwood.
Like Peckinpah, Siegel’s oeuvre seems intricately macho, but could embrace femininity and lyricism at unexpected moments. Again, like Peckinpah, he found an ideal thematic landscape in the open zones of culture between the U.S. and Mexico. But whereas for Peckinpah that landscape offered a schism between worlds that held the possibility of continued romantic freedom on the one hand and familiar but encroaching control on the other, for Siegel it was closer to Shakespeare’s forests, a zone of anarchy where his heroes could roam free and where familiar demarcations become porous, not a no-man’s-land but any-man’s-land. Siegel could also make fun of himself more convincingly. Sister Sara, written by Albert Maltz, was based on a story by Budd Boetticher, himself a major director who had hit a career doldrum by this time, is even more explicitly Shakespearean in its use of disguise and uncertain identity, as well as gender comedy to entertain and tease.
Antihero Hogan (Clint Eastwood) is a mercenary and a former soldier in his country’s Civil War—what side isn’t mentioned. He’s looking to make a quick fortune and buy perpetual personal independence by aiding a community in the same process, in this case the Mexican Juarista revolt against French imperialism in the 1860s. Hogan’s intentions are hampered when he comes across a nun about to be sexually assaulted in the borderland wilderness by three ruffians, whom Hogan kills in quick order with both direct and cunning means. The nun calls herself Sister Sara (Shirley MacLaine), and Hogan is forced to carry on as her protector when she reveals she must not be found by patrolling French dragoons because she, too, is aiding the revolution.
When she learns that Hogan has been hired to help destroy a French fortress in Chihuahua, Sister Sara reveals intimate knowledge of the place because her church was next door. She suggests a raid on the fortress when the garrison celebrates its traditional Bastille Day bacchanal. Sara proceeds to drive Hogan batty with a mixture of basic physical appeal that he cannot move upon, and her dedicated plying of her religious calling, such as insisting on proper burial and prayers for her assaulters, and a dozen other daily impositions. Hogan’s general credulity for Sara’s vocational steadfastness is thus sustained even when she reveals some strange knowledge, as when she reassures him that God will forgive him for putting his hands on her ass in a good cause. She soon reveals stranger habits, as when she absconds with one of Hogan’s half-smoked cigars to indulge a few furtive puffs with the relief of a showgirl between matinees, and a surprising tolerance, nay, thirst for strong liquor. She’s no nun, of course, and he’s no knight in shining armour, so the interplay of deception and ignoble intention between her and Eastwood, and the tongue-in-cheek approach to sex and religion, ambles with an off-kilter pep. Eastwood rarely played a proper romantic lead, and he doesn’t exactly play one here either, as Hogan is a sensually crude being who has no thought for settling down. The film draws much entertainment value from forcing one of his taciturn warriors to deal with a disturbing female form that is, at first, painfully off-limits, and then his increasingly perturbed reactions to Sara’s provocations.
It’s not very surprising when late in the film Sara is revealed to be a prostitute well known by certain members of the army she’s declared war on. Sara’s act, however, is more than mere camouflage and not exactly a play for false veneration. It is certainly a good-humoured mockery of the theoretical disparity of the classic madonna-whore figuration as it’s pitted against Hogan’s arch masculinity, her habit merely exacerbating Hogan’s confusion before femininity whilst also calling into question his—and the audience’s—understanding of it. Sara makes theatrical displays of playing the good Christian, blessing her buried attackers with water and infuriating Hogan with the waste. Yet Sister Sara intriguingly conflates what is usually perceived as two different kinds of tolerance, that of the woman who’s so familiar with life’s rough side that a near-rape is just another day at the office, and that of the committed religious idealist who forgives her enemies out of divine assurance, and suggests there’s no essential difference as both stem from a degree of character slightly beyond the more reactive male. Likewise, the independence of the prostitute is conflated with that of the nun, defined by their communal life in an overtly feminine space (to wit, the conflation of nunnery and bawdyhouse in Shakespearean humour) that also renders them autonomous in many ways. But Sara remains something distinct from Howard Hawks’ famous tough women because, unlike them, she reveals herself not as above the usual portrait of femininity surviving in a macho world, but readily hewing to both sides of stereotype and proving herself more than able in both.
Sister Sara represents a fascinating intersection point for several approaches to the western, although its setting and scope of action partly elide more exact definitions of the genre, almost a final point of correlation before the genre started its decline through the ’70s. In the late ‘60s, the genre had been schismatically redefined by the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone and then by the ferocity of Peckinpah, unified by their emphasis on tactile, visual realism and harsher violence than oatsers had known in the past, but separated on deeper levels by their ways of conceiving the genre’s heroes and social inferences. Leone’s grand, archetypal approach was reacting to the “adult western” of the ’50s, uninterested in its psychological and truthful reflexes, whilst Peckinpah accused the older genre of naiveté and aimed right for its sanctities. Boetticher had been, along with Anthony Mann, the adult western’s most persistent auteur, and Boetticher’s intimacy with his material was always a great strength. He was fascinated by the way individuals paint their own internal hopes or neuroses upon the neutral landscape. Boetticher wrote Sister Sara, whilst Siegel borrowed Leone’s composer Ennio Morricone to lend his film some of the weird, perfervid atmosphere of the Italian style. He also annexed aspects of Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969) and set about stitching together disparate influences with his own viewpoint in satirising the disparity between the individualist, macho hero and the woman who is in some ways tougher and more determined than him. To a certain extent, the film’s portrait of Hogan’s dizziness before Sara’s independence was reproduced on set as the practiced survivor MacLaine intimidated both Siegel and Eastwood, who finished up billed second for the last time until The Bridges of Madison County (1994), giving the finished film an amusing subtext.
Sara and Hogan’s voyage through the wilderness has a multiplicity of resonances, not just to thematically similar predecessors, like The African Queen, Black Narcissus (1947), and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1958). There’s a playful take on Samuel Beckett in Sara and Hogan’s droll meandering through a blank and depopulated landscape, bickering half-romantically, half-irascibly. There’s a hint of Luis Buñuel in Siegel’s wry, schoolboy delight in profane conceits, where a whore is holy and holiness is whoring out to anyone on the side of the angels, as well as the general atmosphere of Mexico Buñuel perhaps grasped better than anyone else as an ideal stage for surrealist disparities. The film’s title points to a particularly Buñuel-esque joke: Sara’s mule has an injured foot, giving Hogan a chance to finally leave her behind in a small village, but Sara immediately kneels to pray before a roadside shrine, whereupon a farmer rides by with an another mule for which she’s able to arrange a swap. Morricone’s droll choral chants confirm divine intervention, though the result is an extremely uneven trade. Siegel borrowed Buñuel’s former cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, and he aided in creating a film that exemplifies the visual pleasures of early ’70s cinema. Figueroa captures the sun-burnished, raw, earthy hues of the Mexican landscape, dotted with the vivid colours humans drape themselves in or discharge, be it sweat or blood, and even the porcelain tint of MacLaine’s naked back, all with a sense of pungent physicality, immediacy, and crucial beauty.
Of course, if you don’t want to think much about what a film means deep down, Sister Sara is, first and foremost, a rollicking entertainment built around Siegel and Boetticher’s cleverness and exactitude as storytellers and painters of circumstance and event. Early in the film, as Hogan helps Sara elude the French, he takes her into a ruined hacienda where he might stand a chance in a firelight shootout and kills a lurking rattlesnake. Hogan sets up an ambush, placing loaded guns in old loopholes, ready to move from one to the other to maintain rapid fire, whilst the hidden Sara dissuades a searching soldier by grabbing up the tail of the dead snake and shaking it to make the man think there’s a lurking serpent. The ploy works, and the soldiers depart. Later, when the two are bunked down for the night in a small copse, Hogan hears strange scuffling sounds in the night, so he hoists Sara into a tree, pours out some gunpowder, and lights it to catch a glimpse of the intruding presence like a camera flash, only to find a group of refugees from the war. Sara’s garb gives her rare abilities to cross barriers and move unmolested through social contexts, if not the wilderness. This advantage backfires when she tries to collect information in a garrison town, only to be waylaid by some officers looking for anyone who can give last rites to their dying commander. The commander proves to be a man Sara herself helped assassinate, and she has to silence him before he can shout out at her in rage. Fortunately, he dies right away, and Sara takes comfort in a long swig of Hogan’s whiskey once she returns.
The film’s centrepiece is a long, superbly constructed and sustained sequence in which Hogan is skewered by an arrow from a roving Indian band when he and Sara set out to blow up a troop train. Sara again successfully wields the power of her fake religiosity by warding off the Indians by holding her crucifix up in the hope some might recognise it, and then sets about obeying Hogan’s instructions for getting the arrow out of him. The shaft has pierced him through, and the point is jutting from his back, so the best way to extract the arrow is to bash it right through. Hogan gets drunk to dull the pain as he makes her meticulously prepare the arrow with a groove filled with gunpowder to be lit at the moment she strikes so that the burning powder will cauterize the wound even as it slides through his body. This excruciating piece of frontier doctoring works a treat, but it leaves Hogan too drunk and too crippled to prepare to blow the train. Instead he makes Sara plant dynamite under a trestle bridge (never mind that dynamite wasn’t patented until a year after the end of the Juarista War), necessitating a perilous climb for the woozy lady. Hogan, who can only shoot with his left hand, must try to detonate the explosive with a bullet. He muffs it repeatedly until Sara lets loose in a tirade of furious, salty insults and slaps, whereupon he finally manages to hit the dynamite and wreck the train in spectacular fashion. Their shared achievement in wounding the enemy proves to be partly self-defeating, as the French garrison in Chihuahua is put on the alert, so that the easy victory over a mob of drunkards Sara promised the Juaristas becomes instead an assault on a highly alert stronghold.
There’s a terrifically involved, logical and convincing layering of story. Siegel steps easily between comic and serious notes because they’re both allowed to flow with naturalness from the circumstances. Sara isn’t pretending to be a nun just because it’s funny, but because she’s genuinely afraid for her safety and it’s a practical, useful disguise, albeit one that creates problems as well as solutions. Frankly, Sister Sara makes a lot of contemporary genre filmmaking seem, by comparison, plastic and detached from reality, however much more fire and blood they might toss at the screen. Hogan and Sara eventually rejoin society as they make it to the encampment of a Juarista band led by Colonel Beltrán (Manolo Fábregas), another alpha male held in axial partnership with Hogan by Sara as they venture into town to check over their target and find the soldiers on the defensive, demanding a new plan. Siegel’s dynamic sense of staging turns a throwaway sequence like the Juaristas sneaking into town and ascending to the rooftops overlooking the fort into an epic moment of communal action in the offing.
Hogan travels back to the States to buy more dynamite, giving him time to heal, and when he returns, he is faced with Sara’s actual identity. Boetticher was quite mad at Siegel for making it too obvious that Sara wasn’t what she was supposed to be before the reveal, but it’s still a splendidly funny moment when Sara leads Hogan and the freedom fighters to the “church,” and the madame (Rosa Furman) greets Sara gleefully by grabbing her backside. When Hogan protests that her church is actually a cathouse, she replies, “Oh no, this is no cathouse. This is the best damn whorehouse in town.” Sara rattles off an airy explanation, wraps a red shawl about her head, steals a cigar, and bingo, she’s anything Hogan could ever need and maybe more than he can handle.
When an underground passage that offers a secret way into the fortress proves to be locked from above, the only way for the army to penetrate the fort is for Hogan to pose as a bounty hunter bringing the wanted Sara back for punishment. The fort’s commander, Gen. LeClaire (Alberto Morin), is a gentlemanly creep who pleasantly offers Sara a last indulgence of a snoot full of wine before being shoved before a firing squad still in her habit. Hogan’s quick draw sees the CO and his roomful of brass-buttoned officers blown to kingdom come in a blink, and red-blooded characters can finally get down to the proper business of fighting and fucking. The final battle scene was criticised by some, and it is at odds with the rest of the film to a certain degree, as Siegel visualises the ferocious battle as a murderous whirlwind that plays as Siegel’s riposte-cum-tribute to the climax of his former protégé’s The Wild Bunch. Forty-odd years later, though, it just seems like a damn great action climax—indeed, one of my favourites—in keeping with the determinedly gritty vicissitudes of its time. Hogan finally gets to prove his action chops, tossing dynamite like an arsenal of thunder and letting galloping horses drag him past the French guns so that he can let Beltrán and his renegades into the fort. Flames boil and limbs are severed as Siegel’s camerawork switches from rocketing tracking shots to handheld immersion in the midst of furious hand-to-hand melees.
Hogan reenters the brothel with the fort’s cashbox in a wheelbarrow and bashes his way into Sara’s room to find her in a bathtub: he climbs in fully clothed, explaining “I don’t have time!” when she comments he might at least take off his hat. The film’s last, great visual joke shows Hogan back on horseback and heading home, tetchily waving for his lady to catch up. Sister Sara is just as much his essential pain in the ass as before, dressed in all her finery as a woman of easy virtue, crossing the desert with her rough-hewn beau in dainty defiance of good sense.
7th 07 - 2014 | 12 comments »
7 Women (1966)
Director: John Ford
The John Ford Blogathon
By Roderick Heath
22nd 09 - 2013 | 2 comments »
Famous Firsts: Straight Shooting (1917)/Beyond the Hill (Tepenin Ardi, 2012)
Debut feature films of: John Ford and Emin Alper, directors
Straight-Shooting-B2-300aBeyond 2
By Marilyn Ferdinand
It isn’t every day that one can watch two films in one day—one from the early days of the motion picture industry and one hot off the presses—and see such a straight line of descent from the early to the new. Add to that “coincidence” the fact that both films represent the feature debuts of one legendary filmmaker and one possible legend in the making, and the experience is all the more powerful. Lucky was I! I had the rare privilege of seeing the first in what would be a long line of iconic Westerns by John Ford, and a more genre-mixed Western by one of the rising directors of Turkey’s emerging national cinema, Emin Alper. I had not realized the strong connection between these films when I made plans to see them, but the discovery was a highly illuminating one.
Straight Shooting was the first feature to emerge from the Cheyenne Harry short-film series Ford shot for Universal. The series’ star, Harry Carey, would continue to play kind-hearted outlaw Cheyenne Harry into the 1930s, though Ford’s working relationship with Carey would largely end by 1921. After getting a few shorts under his belt, Ford knew how to get what he wanted and delivered an action-packed Western centered on a range war, with homesteader Sweetwater Malone (George Berrell) standing fast against the threats of cattle rancher Thunder Flint (Duke Lee), who illegally stakes a claim on the creek they both share and threatens death to anyone who trespasses. Of course, Cheyenne Harry, who’d rather keep himself to himself, gets pulled into the fray.
Pete's hideout
A seemingly amoral rogue who finds himself pulled into the righteous side of a conflict, often with the enticement of a sweet and beautiful girl as partial incentive, is a stock situation that has been changed up and modified over the years, but never completely obliterated. With such a conventional through line, Ford insisted on injecting more realism with a strategy he would pursue his entire career—shooting on location. He chose Monument Valley (and is credited in some places with its discovery as a filming location), away from the artificial frontier of backlots and California ranches, to people with his ranchers, homesteaders, and outlaws. I can attest that the “hideout” for outlaw Black-Eye Pete (Milton Brown) and his gang—a valley beyond a steep rise guarded by lookouts on either side of the pass—looks very much like what a real gang would use.
Going from a short to a feature-length format may have set up a tendency I’ve seen in quite a few of Ford’s films to include a comic middle act that bears very little upon the main action of the film, and, in fact, could be popped out without any loss of continuity. With Straight Shooting, that middle act takes place in a saloon/rooming house where Harry goes to strike a deal with Flint to run the homesteaders off their land. After this bit of plot is slapped into place, a non sequitur involving the lily-livered sheriff surveilling Harry and Placer Fremont (Vester Pegg), one of Flint’s men, as they get drunk and pursue some burglars provides a bit of comic relief, though I was distressed to see Harry’s horse become so thoroughly spooked by the driving rain Ford engineered that it had to be removed after its opening appearance. In fact, horses and actors in danger during chases and descending the steep path to Pete’s hideout had me on the edge of my seat almost as much as the massing of the ranchers set to attack the homesteaders gathered at Malone’s cabin. One “dead” attacker had to “resurrect” to get out of the way of a horse on a path to trampling him. Although fascinating, such scenes are sobering reminders of how wild the early days of filmmaking actually were.
There’s no question in this fictional universe that there are good people and bad people. While Straight Shooting only goes so far as to indict Flint and his men through the cowardly act of shooting Malone’s son Ted (Ted Brooks) in the back, the film does seem to show a bias for people who settle down on the farm and start families. Malone’s daughter Joan (Molly Malone) switches her affection from her misguided beau Danny (Hoot Gibson) to Harry, and the final clinch inevitably comes after Harry weighs the pros and cons of giving up his crooked, carefree ways. While I haven’t seen the Cheyenne Harry films that follow this one, I reckon Harry slipped free of the marital noose to carry on his unofficial Lone Ranger duties.
The multi-award-winning film Beyond the Hill is a horse of a different color primarily in its insistence on withholding the blood-quickening violence from the audience and siding with the ranchers. The outlines of the conflict come slowly into view, as family patriarch Faik (Tamer Levent) welcomes his son Nusret (Reha Özcan) and grandsons Zafer (Berk Hakman) and Caner (Furkan Berk Kiran) back to the family homestead in a craggy corner of Turkey that quite resembles the Western frontier. Faik has 50 sheep grazing his pasturelands and a large stand of poplars, and Mehmet (Mehmet Ozgur), his wife Meryem (Banu Fotocan), and son Sulu (Sercan Gumus) are his hired hands. Faik declares that they will kill a goat to prepare a proper feast for his family, ignoring Mehmet’s suggestion that they wait a bit. Mehmet correctly susses that Faik means to kill the goat he took from a group of nomads that have been grazing their herd on Faik’s land.
Beyond 1
The nomads are instantly recognizable to Turkish audiences as the Kurds with whom Turkey has been fighting a protracted war for decades, and former soldier Zafer is a mental casualty of that conflict. It is also apparent from their dress and customs that Mehmet and his family are Kurds, living under the thumb of Faik in substandard quarters due to a financial debt Mehmet owes that is never explicitly outlined. The political parallels of the story may be lost on a foreign audience, but the relative position of master and servant that allows Faik to bark orders at Meryem, Caner to threaten Sulu and his dog, and Nusret to get drunk and try to assault Meryem is universal.
Unlike in Straight Shooting, the nomads are never seen. Faik assumes they are massing to attack him after he kills several of their goats for trespassing on and “destroying” his pasture—never mind that he has 50 goats of his own that put stress on the land. Like the ranchers in Ford’s West, the nomads’ argument, as communicated to us through Faik, is that they have been grazing the land since the Ottoman Empire; Faik is the newcomer/homesteader who insists on the sanctity of private property and his right to defend it in any way he sees fit, as though history began when his family settled the land.
An interesting parallel between the two films is a character that is essentially a double-agent. Danny belongs to Flint’s gang, but is courting Joan and feeding intelligence to the Malones and Harry about Flint’s impending attacks. Sulu keeps a place of his own away from the Faik compound and is frequently the messenger who speak of thefts and attacks on Faik’s livestock. The morning after Nusret accosts Meryem—whether he completed the rape or she fended him off is never known—he rouses from the spot on the floor where he passed out and goes outside. A figure with a rifle takes aim, and we soon learn from Sulu that Nursret has been shot in the ankle. A parallel scene occurs in Straight Shooting right down to the exact camera angle, similar landscape, and object of attack—the son of the patriarch. In Beyond the Hill, however, the shooter is never revealed. Nonetheless, by the end of the film, the enemy Faik locates as an outside band of intruders may, in fact, be one of his own, someone filled with resentment who may be trying to escalate the disagreement to incite violence that will drive Faik off the land for good.
In both films, the primacy of a manly code that is enforced with guns, not laws, is front and center. The sheriff in Ford’s film is cowardly and ineffectual, and the Turkish police know very well what is going on but choose to accept Faik’s lies while refusing the goat meat, religiously and legally unclean for having been stolen, he offers them. Beyond the Hill goes further in fetishizing guns, as Caner can barely keep his hands off his grandfather’s rifles, and the sound of gunfire provides a dramatic forwarding of the plot. Zafer, plagued by hallucinations of his fallen comrades, offers a corrective to the macho entitlement of his grandfather while ridiculing his younger brother for being a sissy, showing that little that is learned about the atrocity of war is passed on to the next generation. The final image set to upbeat, heroic music, the only nondiagetic music in the film, shows Faik and company marching along a ridge to meet the enemy, the half-lame Nusret dragging behind. We want to laugh, just as we laugh when Harry is domesticated by Joan, but the certainty that history will repeat itself makes for a rueful close to this eastern Western.
25th 08 - 2011 | 8 comments »
Take Me to Town (1953)
Director: Douglas Sirk
By Marilyn Ferdinand
10th 05 - 2011 | 3 comments »
Day of the Outlaw (1959)
Director: Andre De Toth
By Marilyn Ferdinand
When we think of postwar malaise reflected in motion pictures, film noir is the style that usually springs to mind. As most students of the form know, noir transcends genre, inflecting not only crime films, but also Westerns, women’s pictures, scifi, and other staples. However, noir certainly wasn’t the only style reflecting a pessimistic outlook. Problem films and angry teens and young men were all the rage in the 50s, and Westerns, too, gave in to exhaustion. Ride the High Country (1962), directed by WWII vet Sam Peckinpah, certainly is the epitome of end-of-the-trail films, but Day of the Outlaw, a Poverty Row film made by Security Pictures, was about as bleak as a Western with a “happy” ending could get, and I tend to think that it might have been an influence on Peckinpah’s later effort.
Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) and his ranch foreman Dan (Nehemiah Persoff) are shown in the opening under the credits piloting their horses through deep snow to a small town in Wyoming territory. It’s unusual for them to come off the range during the winter, and Vic (Don Elson), the owner of the general store, wonders how they could have used up their supplies so quickly. Starrett, a mass of indignant belligerence, says he came in to settle a dispute as old as the West—a farmer, Hal Crane (Alan Marshal), intends to erect a barbed-wire fence to keep Starrett’s cattle out of his fields. Starrett sends Dan to buy some kerosene so he can set the wagon containing the barbed wire ablaze; he condemns Vic for ordering the fencing for Crane and for being seduced by the business the farmers bring him to support their interests over the ranchers.
Helen Crane (Tina Louise), having seen Starrett ride in, comes to appeal to him to leave her husband alone. She knows Blaise will kill Hal, who won’t back down from a fight even though he has never fired a gun. But she has more on her mind than that—she and Blaise became lovers when she and Hal first came to the territory, and Helen is bitter that Blaise rejected her when he could have had her for the asking. The drawn-out and fairly unnecessary scene comes to an end when Starrett gets up to look for Dan and Hal. A shootout in the local saloon is imminent, but a large and imposing man in uniform comes into the saloon just as guns are about to be drawn.
Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives), a retired Union officer, and his gang of outlaws are on the run from the U.S. Cavalry. They are wanted for stealing $40,000 in gold, and Bruhn disarms all the townsmen to prevent an attack. They intend to stay the night and ride out in the morning. Bruhn demands absolute discipline from his men, forbidding them from touching either a drop of whiskey or the four women in town, and has Starrett take him to Doc Langer (Dabbs Greer), the veterinarian, for some patching up. He took a bullet, and Langer, unskilled at performing surgery on humans, is sweating bullets as he works on the unanesthetized Bruhn. Although he extracts the bullet, he tells Starrett it went in deep, and it’s more than likely that Bruhn will die from internal bleeding. If that happens, the gang will be off their tether, free to rape and pillage to their hearts’ content. Starrett cooks up a scheme to lead the gang into the mountains where they will all die from exposure, a sacrifice of his own life he’s willing to make after realizing he was eager to shoot Crane down for no real reason.
Day of the Outlaw was shot on location near Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. A ski resort had been opened there in 1958, so it’s possible that De Toth thought they would be able to combine authenticity with comfort; however, snowstorms caused delays, and Ryan developed pneumonia that had him on bed rest for a week. In truth, Ryan looks pretty haggard throughout this film, and producer/screenwriter Philip Yordan has been quoted as saying, “Everyone was on the bum with that picture.” In this case, however, the cast’s discontent adds mightily to the sense of claustrophobia and helplessness that gives this film its gravity.
Ives’ Bruhn uses his commanding presence and the testimony of Shorty (Jack Woody), who served under him, as to his ruthlessness with those who disobey his orders to keep his gang in line. Tied to his honor as a former soldier and haunted by a massacre he led in Utah, Bruhn is an odd choice of leader for a bunch of thugs. Ives put a spin on his Big Daddy performance from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that makes his fear-inspiring position believable, but it is his waning energy as his life drains away that creates the most effective tension in the picture. Ives even has a Brick in this film, a young man named Gene (David Nelson) who seems extremely out of place among the crazy, garden-variety, Western outlaws Bruhn leads. His basic decency and desire to protect Vic daughter’s Ernine (Venetia Stevenson), to whom he is attracted, has him continually bolstering Bruhn’s authority, and Bruhn protects him like a son.
In the scene that may have influenced the wedding reception in Ride the High Country, Bruhn grants his restless men’s request to bring the townswomen over to dance. The ensuing caricature of an evening social is truly grotesque. The camera spins as the women are dragged around the floor. Helen is spun so hard her hair comes undone and whips around her visage of abject disgust and fear; she eventually must be rescued from the gropes of her dance partner. The trek into the mountains not only lends a stark authenticity to the struggle for survival, but also seems to present some real dangers. The snow was very deep, and the horses had to be whipped through to break trail. The penultimate scene, in which one of the thugs has frozen to death overnight and the other has lost the use of his hands, is both gruesome and pathetic. The final shootout we always come to expect at the end of Westerns is given a genuinely tense and unique twist.
I love Robert Ryan as an actor, but I can’t say much for his performance here. He has the least interesting of the lead roles, and lacks the charisma and youth to be a believable lover for the voluptuous and much younger Tina Louise. Admittedly, the actor chosen to play her husband is no looker, but he has a certain backbone that comes through as more attractive than Ryan’s scrappiness. In general, the supporting actors were given good dialogue and execute it well, filling out this very cheap-looking film with a believable community under siege. With an A-list budget and some A-list actors, this film could have inspired some comparisons with elements of McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Its happy and redemptive ending, foreshadowed for at least one of its characters, mars the cold bleakness De Toth builds up admirably, but doesn’t entirely erase it. The West is hardly finished in Day of the Outlaw, but, like Bruhn, we know the end is near.
28th 07 - 2010 | 6 comments »
Director: Sergio Leone
By Roderick Heath
In the early 1960s, the Hollywood Western genre was beginning its long decline. The genre’s most iconic stars, like John Wayne, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda, aged, the directors who had fostered in its greatest years were themselves fading, the “adult” westerns of the ’50s had begun an antimythic trend that corroded the traditional mores of the horse opera, and television, with dozens of Western-themed shows on the schedule, was sapping the remnant vitality of the form. And yet, Westerns were still hugely popular worldwide, including in Europe, where, with the decline in American-produced fare, some producers wanted to get some of that sweet legal tender that oatsers could still generate. The late ’50s and early ’60s saw a smattering of attempts to make Westerns outside of the traditional American milieu, and a template was created when Hammer Studios honcho Michael Carreras had the bright idea of shooting the 1961 Anglo-Spanish coproduction Terrain Brutal (Savage Guns) in Almeria, Spain. After a couple more multinational follow-ups, the first Italian-produced Western, Duello nel Texas, debuted; the historical musclemen sagas that formed much of Italy’s genre cinema was running out of steam, and something else had to fill the void of violent trash.
This experiment in international genre resuscitation might have finished up as an ignominious pop-kitsch footnote if not for one Sergio Leone, an experienced screenwriter and assistant director who had recently graduated to official directing credits with the 1961 peplum pic The Colossus of Rhodes and wanted to tackle the genre. Leone, the son of early film director Roberto Roberti (birth name Vincenzo Leone) and actress Edvige Valcarenghi, claimed great affinity with the West as a subject of private enthusiasm, and disliked the more psychological, moralistic variety of Western that had arisen in the late ’50s, of which the likes of The Fastest Gun in the West (1956) or The Hanging Tree (1959) might serve as good examples. Leone resolved to toss out the psychological and metaphoric weight and get down and dirty. He began looking for a star, first trying Henry Fonda and then others, like Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and even Duello nel Texas’ star Richard Harrison. He finally found a taker in Clint Eastwood, the slender, stone-faced young actor known for the TV series Rawhide, and soon produced a huge hit that defined the Spaghetti Western in the short term and had no small impact on cinema in general.
Leone battered together a script with the help of Víctor Andrés Catena and Jaime Comas Gil, and had English dialogue written by Mark Lowell, but the film was structured to lessen the reliance on dialogue, with actors in smaller roles mostly dubbed. Leone’s ideal of the Western translated into an Italian visual style became the priority, offering up ebullient widescreen compositions that reproduce lighting and colour effects and arrangement of elements that call to mind the finest effects of Renaissance painting. The difficulty in taking A Fistful of Dollars seriously in and of itself is the immediately obvious fact that Leone and his collaborators egregiously ripped off Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo (1961), taking a cue from the successful Western adaptation of Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954)— The Magnificent Seven (1960). Leone later tried to defend himself by claiming he’d taken as much inspiration from the classic Italian play Servant of Two Masters, something which film writer Christopher Frayling emphasises. But this seems like blather, considering A Fistful of Dollars follows Yojimbo practically scene for scene: the same subplots, characters, narrative gimmicks, and even similar shots. Kurosawa successfully sued for a share of the profits, but it’s arguably only fair that he was hoist by his own petard, considering the debt his film owed Dashiell Hammett and the fact that it was a tribute to the Western traditions of John Ford.
In many ways, however, the closeness of the template and its unofficial, on-the-sly status, makes for a revelatory creation. The contrast of Kurosawa’s vision and Leone’s, differing takes by two cinematic titans on a simple and wittily brutal genre tale, is one of the few opportunities the cinema has ever offered for such clear comparison of disparate creative impulses. Kurosawa’s film is cool, crisply etched, his camera usually standing far back, the framing as sharp and refined as the edge of Toshiro Mifune’s katana blade; Leone’s frames jostle with detail, colossal close-ups, and multi-hued lighting that work in a symphonic fashion. Another difference is temperamental. Kurosawa doesn’t introduce the subplot of a woman who’s been forced to become a concubine by evil men, separating her from her husband and son, until halfway through Yojimbo. Leone makes one of the first images of his more operatic film that of the enslaved woman’s son trying to sneak into the house where she’s kept, from which he’s chased by sleazy thugs, who then beat up his father when he tries to protect the lad. This occurs in the casually observant eyeline of Joe (Eastwood), the wandering, poncho-clad mercenary who arrives in the tiny Mexican town of San Miguel, and right from that moment, it’s certain he knows not to give a damn about what chaos he starts.
Two clans are competing for the lucrative border-smuggling trade in weapons and liquor for which San Miguel is an ideal operating base. The Baxter cadres, led by the nominal sheriff John Baxter (Wolfgang Lukschy), face off against the three Rojos brothers—Ramón (Gian Maria Volonté), Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp), and Don Miguel (Antonio Prieto)—and their hired guns. Joe is harassed by the Baxters’ heavies and advised by tavern owner Silvanito (José Calvo) to hurry away after explaining the calamity that’s engulfed the town. Joe, however, seems to see opportunity—exterminating four of the Baxters’ gunmen with his own phenomenally fast draw—and tries to sell his services, in turn, to both the Baxters and the Rojos. But neither are exactly comfortable outfits to work for: Baxter’s Lady Macbeth of a wife, Consuelo (Margarita Lozano), wants to have him killed off quickly, and the Rojos are driven along by Machiavellian bastard Ramón, who contrives a successful ambush of a federale unit to rob them of the gold they’re transporting. So Joe sets up a battle between the two sides by arranging two of the dead soldiers’ bodies in a graveyard and sells information to each band, making the Rojos think the corpses are still-living survivors of the massacre they’ll have to finish off, and then tipping the Baxters to the advantage they might have in capturing the soldiers alive.
This last flourish, the impudence toward propriety and a purely makeshift sense of existence where even the dead are props to be used in the mean business of staying alive, is pure, original Leone, one of the touches that helped define his style. Leone was making films about the Wild West, but his thinking always seemed even more ancient. At the very least, he tapped into something mostly latent in the genre that had always been tidied over by American Western filmmakers seeking a veneer of relevance to contemporary society. Leone saw that it was precisely the wildness, the often barely discernible patina of civilisation reduced and reveling in animalistic behaviours that was the greater part of the genre’s pleasure. Men are hairy, sweaty, dirty, horny, greedy, and often ruthless in his movies. Basic opposites are always functioning in Leone’s films, in spite of the refinement of the style: life, death, earth, sky, rich, poor, man, woman. Personalities are present, ethics hazily visible, certain codes certainly dominant, but defined only by direct and basic force. The reduction is signaled by the animated cut-outs that form the credit sequence, and this also introduces the new note of pop-art to the proceedings.
The simultaneously deepening tactile and moral realism in Leone’s films and the unrealism, the borderline-mythic touches and the distancing from historical context, is one of the great contradictions in cinema. Emblems are important. The Baxter house, a roughly carpentered, but still recognisable approximation of a classic Yankee manor, and the Rojos house, with its lustrous Spanish white and columns, present not merely the abodes of warring gangs, but also warring civilisations and the contrast of Old World elegance versus American solidity. Joe himself, with his regulation cowboy gear and swathing poncho, blends cultural tropes in a suggestive fashion. In between the buildings, the no-man’s-land of San Miguel’s main street, is the first of Leone’s bullrings for warrior confrontation, which Leone’s widescreen lens describes in patient intimacy, often using the terraces of the Rojo house to further force the lens of perspective. Joe finds helpmates in grouchy, but fascinated Silvanito and the local coffin maker, and his only true nemesis is soon identified in Ramón, the man who gleefully machine-gunned the federales, the only one canny and brutal enough to present a real challenge. Facades are important in Leone’s films (just look at how often the image of a man hidden behind a screen spying or aiming a gun at someone appears in his films), and so is the alternation of identities; Ramón kills the federales wearing U.S. uniforms. However, no one’s better at muddying the waters than Joe. In the absence of real things to stir up trouble about, Joe provides illusions, like those two dead Mexicans, to leaven his divide-and-exploit strategy. There’s always some bullshit, Leone constantly suggests, hiding a real motive.
This stage-managed graveyard battle gives Joe the chance to search for the stolen gold, but he ends up taking an accidental hostage, Marisol (Marianne Koch), mother of the boy, now Ramón’s squaw, whom the Baxters eagerly use as a trading piece to get back their own useless son Antonio (Bruno Carotenuto). The discovery of Marisol’s history motivates Joe to win her freedom even though he’ll endanger his own life, because he “knew someone like you once. There was no one there to help,” as he tells her and her family before driving them away. Finally, real feeling has intervened in proceedings as a true motive, but it’s almost fatal for Joe, who’s captured and relentlessly beaten by the Rojos and their thugs. He turns the tables by crushing two of his torturers by rolling a gigantic barrel of gunpowder down on them—a gleefully nasty comeuppance—and then covers his escape by setting that powder alight. He literally and figuratively kindles an eruption, because the outraged Rojos assault the Baxters’ house and massacre all the inhabitants.
Kurosawa treated the story as both amusingly and harshly Darwinian, one of a wolf contending mostly with insects that cannibalise each other in thrilling but essentially pathetic ways. Leone wrings a different, more imperative flavour out of the action, and though still humorous, his possesses a darker lustre. Consuela Baxter’s death—the black-clad matriarch shouting defiance and a primal curse at the Rojos before being shot down in a wreath of smoke bellowing from her house—is exultant in its grotesquery and melodramatic scale; indeed, the whole sequence sports a remarkably, infernal vividness. So, too, is the little opera of gestures and glances on display when Marisol is briefly reunited with her family in the street during the prisoner swap. Leone, in spite of the great ease with which people die and the contempt with which they’re often treated in his work, always makes something almost transcendent out of the moments before dying.
Joe, the first incarnation of the character dubbed “The Man with No Name” (that was essentially a United Artists marketing gimmick), is only guided by a moral compass based in personal empathy, and there’s not much of that. We don’t hold it against him he uses people he loathes to make some money: most of us do that. That he proves to be a proper good guy isn’t in question, but he is definitely one of those Leone protagonists who has “something to do with death”, who, even if they don’t realise it, in essence, bring apocalypse wherever they tread. Joe even poses as a knight-errant or a risen, vengeful angel. Still playing games of truth and illusion, letting off explosives so that he steps out of the smoke like a spook after, having survived torture and eluded the hunting Rojos, he recuperates and returns strapping wearing body armour culled from the iron of a boiler to fend off the rifle blasts he knows Ramón will loose at him. Joe finally confronts the Rojos when they turn their vicious attentions to Silvanito, and doesn’t leave the town until all his foes are decimated. The irony here is that Joe mythologises himself to scare his enemies into irrational decisions, just as Leone mythologises the proceedings with a self-conscious smoke-and-mirrors style.
A Fistful of Dollars is usually described as a warm-up for the grander calisthenics of Leone’s career, but in viewing it after a very long interlude, and for all Leone’s debts and still-developing talents, I recognized it as great filmmaking indeed. Perhaps its very lack of pretension makes it a better, tauter film than the awkward intermediary sequel For A Few Dollars More (1966). It’s a wonder that with all the production problems of working with actors and technicians from four countries, Leone still managed to craft such a strong drama; this is the film that proved Leone was born to be directing motion pictures.
Eastwood’s properly terse performance, of course, made him the international film star he still is, and much of his appeal as presented here is as much about the quiet, sly good-humour he lets through Joe’s otherwise taciturn and unremitting exterior. He looks on the world much like a science experiment he’s running, sometimes a bit wryly disconcerted at how the experiment is proceeding, at least until it turns real, and then…you better run, boy. A Fistful of Dollars also sports the first of Leone’s immortally styled gun duels, defined by the rapid, rhythmic cutting between expectant faces, humour, and macho swagger slowly fading at the realisation that someone’s about to die, and then the concussive simplicity of the moment when the gunfire actually comes, with four or five men at a time dropping dead on the spot in a single, encompassing shot. Life is never more amazingly intense for Leone as in the few moments before it ends. l
7th 06 - 2010 | 14 comments »
For the Love of Film, Look What We Did!
By Marilyn Ferdinand
UPDATE: Terrific interview with Brian Meacham, the AMPAS scholar who discovered the New Zealand cache.
By now, most of the film world knows about the partnership between the New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation to repatriate and restore 75 American motion pictures that no longer survive in the United States. The news broke in the New York Times yesterday and has been all over the media, Twitter, and Facebook. Frankly, Farran (The Self-Styled Siren) and I were a bit miffed. We were told we should not make the announcement until this afternoon, and here comes someone to steal our thunder! But scoops are what newspapers are about, and this was a big one.
Sworn to secrecy out of deference to the New Zealand government, Farran, Greg Ferrara (who did our ads and banners), and I have known since last fall that the New Zealand archive was the next big project for the NFPF, but we had no idea what the nitrate experts would find as they examined the existing footage. The news is amazing! About 70% of the nitrate prints are virtually complete, and more than two-thirds have color tinting. Included is John Ford’s full-length feature Upstream (1927), a backstage romance involving an aspiring Shakespearean actor and the daring target girl from a knife-throwing act, and a trailer for the director’s lost feature Strong Boy (1929), starring Victor McLaglen. Maytime (1923), an early feature with Clara Bow, was found, though afflicted with the “bloom” that signals nitrate deterioration. NFPF got to this film just in time!
And then, of course, there are the films that the participants and donors in For the Love of Film: The Film Preservation Blogathon funded!
We promised the blogathoners a good film, and initially, we were to fund Moonlight Nights, a short comedy featuring child star Gloria Joy. But Annette Melville, the wonderful executive director of NFPF who has been so helpful to us, found a real treasure that helped double our money. The Sergeant is a very important short western that will be included on the Treasures V collection, thus receiving matching funds from the federal government. Here’s why it’s so unique.
The western was one of many made by the Selig Polyscope Company, the early motion picture company renowned for its action pictures. Based in Chicago, Selig sent director Francis Boggs west in 1908 to find authentic locations for westerns. Shooting films across the Southwest, Boggs made his way to Los Angeles, where he set up the city’s first movie studio. Boggs hired Hobart Bosworth, one of the first trained Shakespearean actors to crossover to the then-less-respected art of film; Bosworth appears to play the sergeant in this one-reeler, which he probably also directed.
Very little survives from Selig Polyscope, aside from Col. Selig’s papers in the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. After the murder of Boggs on the set in 1911, the company continued on with its popular Tom Mix westerns, the early serial The Adventures of Kathlyn, and animal pictures (the Selig menagerie became part of the Los Angeles Zoo). However, the company failed to make the transition to features and ended production in 1918.
This remarkable film—part western, part travelogue—survives through the single copy shared by the New Zealand Film Archive. The original nitrate distribution print was shrunken but complete. Thanks to our funding, the print was painstakingly copied to modern black-and-white safety negative film. This transfer was made from the negative at 16 frames per second and the tints added digitally to reproduce the colors on the original print.
We also raised enough funds to restore The Better Man, a 1912 film produced by the Vitagraph Company of America. It’s another western in which a Mexican-American outlaw proves himself the better man. The stills look intriguing.
We extend many thanks to Jamie Lean, Division Director, the New Zealand Film Archive/Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua, who said, “Hundreds of American motion pictures from the silent era exist in archives outside the United States. We hope that our example will encourage other international partners who have safeguarded ‘lost’ American films for decades to share their long-unseen treasures with the world community.”
Clips of The Sergeant are up on the NFPF website, and you can take a look at a list of some of the other films returning from their long hiatus here. You can also kick in some more money for the rest of the films that need preserving (not to mention shipping: Each reel has to be sent using precautions for hazardous materials!). As Gareth over at the Siren’s place said, “I’ve almost never had a sense of such concrete value coming from a donation.” Amen.
18th 04 - 2010 | 14 comments »
Near Dark (1987)
Director/Coscreenwriter: Kathryn Bigelow
By Roderick Heath
17th 09 - 2009 | 13 comments »
Evil Roy Slade (1972)
Director: Jerry Paris
Writers: Jerry Belson and Garry Marshall
By Marilyn Ferdinand
When I started writing this post two days ago, Henry Gibson was alive. Now he’s not. What started as an appreciation of a wildly silly movie is now tinged with sadness. But I know Gibson wouldn’t want us to dwell on what’s now missing, but rather on what he left behind for us to enjoy until we join him. So onward, corny comedy fans!
Evil Roy Slade is fall-down funny from start to finish. I know this empirically because I fell off the couch laughing and had trouble maintaining my balance all along the way. Ask the hubby. He was there. Ask Fluffy. She was so startled by my uncharacteristic guffaws that she hid in her house and chewed nervously on Mousey for half the movie.
Is it just me and the time into which I was born that makes me love this TV movie so much? Its creative team of Paris, Belson, and Marshall, TV veterans all, had the charmingly witty “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in common before they teamed to do this western outlaw spoof. Would younger viewers find a speech like “I ain’t giving up. I’ve worked hard. It took me years to work my way to the bottom,” funny? How about all the physical comedy? I’ve always been a sucker for a great pratfall. Well, I’m betting that there’s a lot of life in this old film yet, if the continued popularity of Blazing Saddles is any indication. In fact, I do declare that Evil Roy Slade is better than Blazing Saddles, even if (or because) it’s only black character is named Smith.
HAVOC is emblazoned over scenes of bank robberies and explosions as Evil Roy Slade (John Astin at his finest), rejected as an infant by Indians and wolves alike and forced to change his own diapers while raising himself in the desert, warms himself in the exquisite joy of his own evilness. His most frequent target to thieve is Western Express; Nelson “I AM Western Express” Stool (Mickey Rooney) is fed up with the cowardice (“What do you call a nephew who rode side-saddle till he was 24?”) of his nephew Clifford Stool (Henry Gibson) in failing to bring Slade to justice. But his efforts to recruit the greatest lawman in the West, Marshall Bing “Is there someone at the door?” Bell (Dick Shawn), have been fruitless.
At that moment, Slade and his gang are robbing another bank. As is Slade’s custom, he kisses the first available woman. Dissatisfied with the dusty taste of the woman’s ruby red lips—forgetting that he kissed her through his mask—he sees the lovely Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin) glancing demurely in his direction. He lowers his mask, plants a good one on her, and drags a pen attached to a desk to her so she can write her address on a stolen $5 bill.
At Betsy’s urging, Slade tries to go straight, but in the end, finds he is not done with “Sneakin’ – Lyin’ – Arrogance – Dirty – Evil.” Marshall Bell is finally induced with a picture of Betsy in her skivvies to come out of retirement, his jeweled guitar ready to gun Slade down in “E Sharp or B Flat.”
Paris and company keep the jokes, both verbal and visual, coming fast and furious. Evil Roy Slade sends up everything from singing cowboys to psychoanalysis with good-natured humor that never gets raunchy. Astin’s twinkling eyes and maniacal grin have never been in better form. Gibson does his innocent poet voice from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” which can make any fan of that show burst out laughing in recognition. Rooney doesn’t really seem to know how to get laughs with his trusted bulldog Custer, resorting to wiping his mouth with a silk handkerchief; he really didn’t need anything more than his manic energy. Pamela Austin as the wide-eyed blonde worth cleaning up for is sweet, if generic; there’s one like her in every generation of films. Shawn never needs to do much of anything to be funny; a comedian more in control of his body we’ll never find. Pat Morita, as Bell’s Indian servant Turhan, affects an almost Scottish accent that I found wickedly ridiculous.
Rounding out the all-star cast are Milton Berle as Betsy’s uncle, who never expected Roy to use a shoe horn to intimidate customers at Berle’s shoe store; Edie Adams as Floozy, I mean Flossie, Roy’s girl until Betsy usurps her (“Who wants Flossie?”); and Dom DeLuise as psychiatrist Logan Delp, who tries to cure Roy of his anger by making him cry with reminders of Roy’s lonely youth and the cactus in his diaper. The scene where Delp gets Roy to drop all his weapons and walk forward (“Walk to me! Ohhh, Roy walk to me, you sniveling little coward! Walk!”) is like Clara’s walking scene from Heidi gone horribly wrong. Look for cameos of Ed Begley, Jr. and John Ritter at the start of their careers, and Garry Marshall’s sister Penny as a bank teller.
Here’s the opening of the film to give you a taste of an era of comedy that may be past but will never really go out of style. Stay to the end of the video for the immortal campfire song, “Stubby Index Finger,” and the very recent graduate to angel, Henry Gibson, who hums along. I imagine that he’s already asked for a Jew’s harp instead of the regular kind to while away eternity. Happy trails, Henry. l
1st 09 - 2009 | 8 comments »
Director: Sergio Leone
By Roderick Heath
Sergio Leone’s colossal reputation amongst cineastes is, considered objectively, rather odd, considering that he was only credited with directing seven films, with three certifiable greats in that handful: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967), Once Upon a Time in the West, and Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (debate the merits of 1972’s Duck, You Sucker amongst yourselves). The ironies stack up when considering that apart from his credited debut, The Colossus of Rhodes (1961), Leone, who could barely speak English, set all of his films in the United States. Most of them were essayed in a genre, the western, that was beginning to die out, and worse yet, defined a subgenre that generally was derided and considered absurd at the time they glutted the world’s fleapit movie theatres.
To actually watch a Leone film is to erase all concerns about his reputation; love his style or loathe it, it is unmistakeable. The vastness of his widescreen compositions clashing with ultra-close-ups of leathery faces and staring eyes, the spacious narratives and eccentrically shaped scenes, the slow-burn structures and bullfight-like climaxes, the taciturn heroes, tarty heroines, and incessantly zany Ennio Morricone scores, burnt themselves very quickly into the pop-cultural imagination, even if they actually took some time to be recognised as something rare and wonderful and not mere Euro-eccentricity and cheap imitation run amok. I first encountered Once Upon a Time in the West through a send-up of it on a children’s television program in the early 1980s in which, as in the film’s immortally weird opening, a swarthy gunman is harassed by a fly. The parody gunman kept trying to shoot the damn thing when it rested on his face, only to reappear later with new plasters over the missing pieces of his steadily decreasing physiognomy.
The real opening sustains nearly 10 minutes of silence, as three gunmen (Jack Elam, Woody Strode, and Frank Wolff) wait for a train, contending with pesky insects, dripping water and nerve-fraying ambient sounds, before the haunting refrain of a harmonica announces the arrival of the man known only by his instrument of choice. Within a blink, the three gunmen are dead. Long waits for rapid displays of violence are the key Leone trait, but usually they had Morricone’s swirling orchestrations to fill them out. this sequence dispenses with the music and proves that it’s the pure thrill of genius film construction that is so hypnotic.
Leone’s feel for mise-en-scène, conjuring a rough-hewn western landscape possessed of a deep, tactile reality, was something remarkable. Every frame in his films drip with sensuousness—you feel the heat, taste the dust, smell the sweat. Even Once Upon a Time in the West’s interiors, shot at the Cinecitta studio, look for all the world like structures battered together by frontier carpenters. Leone made Italian baroque and American grit mesh so easily one could hardly imagine how absurd the idea is on the face of it. The phrase “cultural appropriation” gets tossed around a lot, whilst the concept of cultural affinity never gets much airtime, but Leone seemed to find real affinity with American subjects. And yet he and Sam Peckinpah radically reshaped the western, to the point where they removed the supporting props from the western mythology,by substituting for its ironclad moral laws and essential innocence an altogether darker sensibility that was both more psychologically realistic and intrinsically brutal.
But where Peckinpah was fond of exploring the ambiguities of modern morality and character in a rugged setting, Leone’s fellow ’60s Italian director Vittorio Cotofavi called spaghetti westerns “neo-mythologism”—the reshaping of the western along the lines of Roman and Greek mythology, the mainstays of an Italian cinema had produced endless Hercules and Maciste films during the ’50s and ’60s.The western had largely been, in its classical form, endless variations on St. George and the Dragon, the traditional heroes idealised as defenders of social values in rough and rude realms. Leone’s own early work was in the Italian cinema’s mythological genres with pre-modern roots, and he carried something of their less easily defined morality over to the western. What that boiled down to was that Leone’s heroes were hard to distinguish from his villains, differentiated less by attitude or ethical codes than by motives and to whom, rather than why, they dealt out brute force. Of course, Leone’s films don’t exactly lack heroes or villains, but the distance between Clint Eastwood’s The Man with No Name or Charles Bronson’s Harmonica, and Alan Ladd’s Shane and Henry Fonda’s Wyatt Earp is obvious. Leone’s are always outside of society, and bound to codes more defined by loyalty and desire for revenge.
The very title of this film shows Leone’s hand. An epic, in strict poetic definition, is defined as a tale involving the founding of a nation, a precept Once Upon a Time certainly fulfills as its plot sees the encroaching railway sweep out the last of the macho titans, but not without its own distinct level of pseudo-Marxist criticality. Nearly unique amongst Leone’s films, it had input from other major creative forces, story cowriters Bernardo Bertolucci and Dario Argento, and in particular, the former’s politics and the latter’s fondness for female central characters inflected the film. Leone never did a straight love story, and a recurring gag of Once Upon a Time is that Harmonica continually engages in sexually charged situations with heroine Jill (Claudia Cardinale) whilst never actually engaging with her; only villain Frank (Henry Fonda) actually beds her.
Despite the often raw encounters between men and women that punctuate many of Peckinpah’s and Leone’s films, they were both perfervidly romantic directors, always inflecting their machismo with an ironically intense feel for the complexities and fleeting pleasures of femininity. Unlike Peckinpah, who was exploring his cynicism over the state of modern male-female relations, Leone presents overt, extraordinarily romantic qualities with Morricone’s soaring choruses, the charged close-ups and longing eyes of Cardinale here or the gauzy flashbacks that riddle For a Few Dollars More (1966) and Duck, You Sucker evoking lost loves and sorry betrayal, conceive romance as something lovely and utterly impossible, leading finally to the rudest of romantic shocks in Once Upon a Time in America. By all accounts Leone was initially reluctant to do a film with a female central character here, but you’d never know it, in light of the film’s rich conceptualisation of Jill, a plaything of the supermen about her, and yet utterly self-contained and dedicated to self-preservation through wiles and guile. Her transition from whore to empress, predicted by Jason Robard’s scruffily noble brigand Cheyenne when he suggests she reminds him of his mother (“the biggest whore and the finest lady”), entwined with the transformation from wilderness to civilisation, is the theme that ties the tale together. The men in the film either die or ride away to nothingness.
Famously, Leone cast Fonda as Frank, inverting the actor’s image as the pillar of decency, but the role recalls how well he played charged aggression in The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and destructive remoteness in Fort Apache (1948). Introduced committing mass murder, shooting a child in the face for the sake of saving the railway company of Morton (Gabrielle Ferzetti) a few thousand dollars, Frank threatens to unite the evils of modern capitalism and the classical strong man. He is kept in check finally by the vengeful progress of Harmonica, but also by his own weird ethics that remained tied to the ideals of the “ancient race,” as Harmonica calls their breed of super-warrior, explicating the mythological concept. Fonda’s restraint was always his hallmark, and though he clearly relishes the villainous role, tackling it with a virility he rarely got to display, he resists any temptation to go broad.
Like that opening sequence, other scenes in the film are like perfect units, virtual short films in themselves, especially the final confrontation of Harmonica and Frank, which is so precise in its staging, dialogue, and use of a flashback that it could stand entirely alone as a summary of the genre—the greatest gunfight of them all. Harmonica’s recollections of a younger Frank walking out of a desert haze recur throughout the film, until the final revelation of the cruelty that has set Harmonica in his relentless quest is revealed, in a crane shot that’s damn near miraculous in its composition and conception. Harmonica, tucking his instrument, the totem of his history and vengeance, between the dying Frank’s teeth, delivers the most pitiless and deserved of comeuppances. The whole film is littered with such brilliant little flourishes, from, say, the sound of waves that accompanies Morton’s fantasias of manifest destiny in studying a painting of the sea, and then his ignominious fate, expiring by a muddy pool, to Cheyenne trying to stay alive long enough to fight off Frank if Harmonica can’t defeat him, all while only seeming to shave and drink Jill’s coffee. And that, really, is why Leone is such a remarkable figure—he represents the filmmaker as virtual god in full command, playing out sequences entirely according to his own feel for cinematic cause and effect.
Which is not to ignore the dramatic qualities of the film. The sparse dialogue by Mickey Knox is often funny and memorable, and the acting from the key leads impeccable. The always wonderful Cardinale is as luscious as ever, and Bronson, who could be a good actor on the few occasions it was required of him, plays Harmonica with concise authority, his stout, stony physique and petrified glare suggesting some living piece of the landscape having torn itself free to mete out hard justice. But for me, Robards steals the film with his droll, droning performance as a warrior passing his prime: his final demand that Harmonica leave him because he doesn’t want Harmonica to see him die is Leone’s most affecting scene. Once Upon a Time in the West is still one of the highpoints of cinema. l
20th 09 - 2008 | no comment »
The Plainsman (1936)
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
By Roderick Heath
The Plainsman is bunkum. But it’s entertaining bunkum and one of Cecil B. DeMille’s best films. The Plainsman, fairly well-written, and punctuated by neat verbal byplay reflecting DeMille’s recently abandoned interest in racy screwball comedy after the failure of Madame Satan in 1930, is given special force by two grand performances, from Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur, as an incredibly romanticized Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. It’s also a veritable Super Western, beating How the West Was Won (1962) to the punch by nearly 30 years in trying make a vast historical saga out of sprawling, disconnected events and gilded genre clichés. DeMille stretches truth and credibility to near-ridiculous lengths to provide a streamlined narrative leading from Abraham Lincoln’s (Frank McGlynn Sr.) plans for postwar America, outlined just before he goes to a performance at Ford’s Theatre, to Hickok’s being shot in the back in a card game. At least the movie is honest enough in its credits to admit to compressing events for the sake a dramatic narrative, whilst also being vague enough in its changes to disguise the timeline of events.
The oft-recycled, epic plot, follows the efforts of dastardly financiers with investments in repeating rifles who are unlikely to be paid back after the Civil War’s end deciding to sell them to Indians, hiring seedy trader John Lattimer (Charles Bickford) to do so. The Indians, unhappy at the large number of young men following the advice to “go West,” start agitating more aggressively than expected. Hickok, returning from war service, runs into old pal Buffalo Bill Cody (James Ellison), newly married to a dainty, peace-abiding Eastern miss (Helen Burgess) and fretting irritably over ex-flame Jane, who’s working as a stagecoach driver. They’re all soon embroiled in frontier skirmishes, and both Bills are sent off on disparate missions by General Custer (John Miljan) in an attempt to head off a war. But war comes anywhere. At one point, renegade Cheyenne chief Yellow Hair (Paul Harvey!), tortures his captive, Will Bill, to loosen Jane’s tongue about where Buffalo Bill is leading a relief column. Because she’s a girl, she spills the beans, and the two Bills end up holding off a massive assault on the train whilst Jane tries to alert Custer.
Needless to say, they get out of that scrape. When Hickok attempts to bring in Lattimer, he instead has to gunfight with three soldiers who are his partners, killing them all but suffering wounds himself. Custer, believing Hickok to be a murderer, wants him arrested and sends Cody after him. Both men soon find out that Custer and his men have been killed at the Little Bighorn with guns sold by Lattimer to Sitting Bull. Hickok tracks Lattimer down to Deadwood, takes out the nefarious villain, and decides to wait out Cody’s return with the cavalry to round up the rest of them. He plays a game poker with them, where he draws a hand of aces and eights.
It’s balderdash, of course, but not quite as big a load of it as I first assumed. Jane, prone to romancing, did claim to have worked as a scout for Custer at the frontier Fort Russell, but was all of 13 when the Civil War started, possibly lending a weird subtext to Hickok’s prewar affection for her. The two Bills were indeed acquainted, having met before the war when Hickok was 18 and Cody 12. But Hickok didn’t meet Jane until a couple of years before his death in 1876. Hickok’s assassin, mining roughneck Jack McCall (Porter Hall), is reinvented as a dapper, craven associate of Lattimer’s. The screenplay is, nonetheless, amusing and clever in how it weaves together vignettes in the legends of all four into a tight story that rockets along. Arthur’s wondrous Jane ought to be more famous than it is as a landmark screen heroine who, in one particularly delightful scene, strips off the sable dress she’s wearing to reveal britches, wields a Winchester, and rides off with rare zest to fetch Custer. The problem is she’s undercut by DeMille; he was fond of willful, rule-breaking heroines but always made sure they were taken down a peg for it, becoming overwrought and eventually either deliberately or inadvertently treacherous (see also Paulette Goddard in North West Mounted Police [1940] and Reap the Wild Wind [1942]; Delilah; Nefertiri). Jane is properly disgraced for being weak enough to spill the beans to Yellow Hair, but it does give Arthur a marvelous moment, when Jane lolls in pure, self-loathing despair.
DeMille was the most famously and proudly chauvinistic of filmmakers, yet also a man of curious contradictions—the devoutly religious, intensely patriotic patriarch whose sex-and-drug orgies were famous in Tinseltown, and with a biting cynicism about the expectations of the American public he went to such great effort to entertain. When they rejected Madame Satan and jazz-age raciness, he turned to religious subjects; when they rejected The Crusades (1934), he abandoned world history for a time, and did it always with a smirk. Despite his strictly conservative bent, sympathy for the oppressed and degraded is a theme in his work: he reassures us of Lattimer’s total villainy when he kicks a black porter in the head for dropping a crate of rifles.
Despite that, it’s not exactly PC in terms of its portrayal of Native American interests. Like many films of the period (They Died with Their Boots On [1941]; She Wore A Yellow Ribbon [1948], etc.), the blame for the Indian Wars is put more on irresponsible arms dealers, sharklike profiteers both individual and corporate, and renegade bigots of both races, clearing guilt away from government policies, callous military ventures, and endemic racism. As in They Died with Their Boots On, Custer is the perfect cavalier forced into a war and final destruction by forces beyond the ken of both him and the Indians, rather than the crazed, messianic butcher we’d be getting by the time of Little Big Man (1970). Far more so than John Ford’s films, which, even when portraying Native Americans at their most villainous, bestowed a certain dignity on them, DeMille is happy shopping out patronizing attitudes, for example, showing them behaving with childish fascination when Jane distracts a war party by interesting them in Mrs. Cody’s hat collection, and then moving to destructive tantrums and grotesque torture sessions. You can see variations on the same plot, each time tweaked a little further around the dial in meaning, through Rio Grande (1949) to Major Dundee (1965) and Ulzana’s Raid (1972). Whereas Ford found the theme of former enemies of the Civil War fighting together on the plains intriguing and volatile enough to generate several movies, for DeMille’s it’s a throwaway comedy touch, as if the war was an automatically healed wound in the great march of American history.
But The Plainsman feels like a generic textbook for other reasons. DeMille had the classical director’s understanding of how audiences respond to detailed flourishes of action, and Cooper, at his youthful best, is the catalyst. His Hickok is a study in rest and motion, situating himself in easy poses with an unassuming expression, tersely measured motions, and reactions until driven to action. He becomes a blur of brilliance—riding between two horses through a battle, picking off pursuers with a one-handed Winchester shot, spinning his pistols on his fingers and slipping them back in their holsters without taking his steely gaze off the men he’s challenging. Cooper’s Hickok is the perfect Western hero, and perhaps better than any other film, this one shows off Cooper, the lean, sexy, innately physical actor, supremely confident in controlling a scene. One throwaway gesture exemplifies Cooper’s style—trying to avoid discussing Jane’s betrayal with Cody, he ends with a slight move of his head, a momentary parting of his lips, as if to say something more, but then demurs, clamming up, ending the scene with an unspoken tension. It’s the sort of telling, barely noticeable flourish that affirms Cooper as both an intelligent actor and a fascinating star.
Cooper’s innate sense of subtlety is particularly cool when contrasted with DeMille’s complete disinterest in it. He pursued a kind of illustrative ideal to the point his final—and greatest—film, The Ten Commandments (1956), achieved a kind of perfection in its total, depthless stylization. The themes and characterizations in The Plainsman practically stand on a table and shout, and his schoolbook sense of pictorial history results in some hilariously museum-diorama scenes of Lincoln and Custer’s Last Stand. Yet DeMille warrants more respect as a filmmaker than he generally gets today. Like a relative handful of Hollywood directors of the time—Ford, Hawks, Walsh, Wellman, Dieterle, Capra—he had a recognizably individual style of framing shots, more vivid than the standard, dull, medium group shots of the average studio hand and usually handled with the care of a Victorian academic painter. He specialized in finely detailed and composed tableaux vivant, such as those of the battered soldiers hunkered down, but never let such fussiness spoil his sense of high action.
Moreover, though intended as thundering entertainment, The Plainsman is not stupid. It’s a film that actually manages to be about ethical growth. Hickok, so Buffalo Bill assures his wife pleasantly, has no rival as a “corpse-maker.” He’s the distillation of the violent West’s quick-draw wits and an angry misogynist. He even considers killing Cody when he comes to arrest him. But Hickok’s also decent man, who had taken Lincoln’s utterance about the need to bring order to the West to heart. Hickok eventually comes to the realization that a life of casual extermination is getting old, and begins learning to forgive Jane her failure of nerve and Jack McCall for their sins. The irony being, of course, that McCall will shoot him in the back for his newfound pacifism.
(Trivia note: A very young Anthony Quinn [above], in his fourth movie appearance, plays a Cheyenne warrior who tells Hickok and Cody about the Little Bighorn battle. He bluffed his way into the role by pretending to speak authentic Cheyenne, whilst speaking pure gibberish. Quinn would later marry DeMille’s daughter Katherine and continue a long association with him, directing a remake of his The Buccaneer in 1959. ) l
2nd 09 - 2008 | 7 comments »
Lemonade Joe, or A Horse Opera (Limonádový Joe aneb Konská opera, 1964)
Director: Oldrich Lipský
By Marilyn Ferdinand
If I made films, I’d want to make ones just like Lemonade Joe. I’d want to see “Réalisé par Ferdy”—and isn’t it better to realize something than to direct it, as though you freed your film into the world the same way Michelangelo freed his sculptures from a hunk of marble instead of arranging it like a collage from scraps of old magazines—and then watch a screen filled with comic actors of the first order doing stock Western characters in styles ranging from slapstick silents and singing cowboys to Billy Wilder and Krazy Kat, with a dash of John Ford to keep things respectable.
Like any self-respecting European in the 1960s, Oldrich Lipský was keenly interested in all things American, particularly the American West. For Lipský, however, Westerns were fodder for humor and parody. Lemonade Joe, a short-story character that appeared in Czech magazine in the 1940s, surely must have made an impression on the adolescent Lipský. He worked with the author of those short stories, Jiří Brdečka, on the screenplay for the film. In true-blue American tradition, they start this film with a dedication:
“This film is dedicated to the rough diamond heroes of the Wild West who avenged wrongs and defended the Law.”
That dedication will be the last time the film plays this Western straight.
Doug Badman (Rudolf Deyl), owner of the Trigger-Whisky Saloon, runs the town Stetson City, Arizona, the setting for our story. We open on a highly spirited barroom fight moving to the incessant honky-tonk piano in the background. As bottles are broken over heads and tables thrown through windows, the bartenders nonchalantly wash their glasses and duck as though they know where the next swing is coming from. Doug sits with equal nonchalance at a table, watching his mad dog lackey Old Pistol (Josef Hlinomaz) take apart several cowpokes, drink some Trigger Whisky, and chew and swallow a good chunk of the rocks glass. The fighting goes into a lower gear when showgirl/call girl Tornado Lou (Kveta Fialová) comes out to sing “When the Smoke Thickens in the Bar,” one of the many songs in this horse opera that take their inspiration from a variety of sources, including Weimar cabaret.
Into this den of iniquity come Mr. Goodman (Bohus Záhorský ) and his virginal, blonde-haired daughter Winnifred (Olga Schoberová) bringing their message of temperance to the drunken masses. They get nowhere; in fact, Old Pistol eats Mr. Goodman’s violin. Just then, a wiry, blond-haired figure dressed in white, with a six-shooter strapped to each leg, walks through the door. He bellies up to the bar, where Winnifred and her father are standing uncomfortably surrounded by crazy varmints and orders lemonade. “We don’t stock lemonade,” says the bartender. “That’s all right. I always Joe%2011.jpg“carry my own supply.” He pulls out a bottle of Kolaloka lemonade and downs a long draft. “You’re Lemonade Joe,” someone shouts. In case there is any doubt, Joe demonstrates his skills by shooting Old Pistol’s belt loose. The vicious consumer of objects runs upstairs at double-speed with a tablecloth covering his drawers. Naturally, both Winnifred and Tornado Lou fall in love with Joe on the spot.
Just at that moment, the bank is being robbed. A gunfight in the streets ensues as the law-abiding citizens of Stetson City try to stop the bandits. Joe protects Winnifred behind a water tank; his horse, which has ducked for cover with them, gets a gentle stroke on the cheek as it lays its head in Joe’s lap. Suddenly, Joe goes into action, appearing in stop-action shots on rooftops, in doorways, on the street, confusing the robbers and allowing him to pick them off one by one without even aiming. When Joe proclaims that his surefire aim is a result of swearing off spirits for Kolaloka, the townspeople abandon the Trigger-Whisky Saloon in favor of the white-as-snow Kolaloka Saloon that opens in quick order. Doug Badman sits atop his piano in his now cobweb-covered saloon. He tells Old Pistol, “Business is bad, but I’m still stinking rich.”
Soon, another player comes to town, a slimy thief, murderer, and debaucher named Hogo Fogo (Milos Kopecký), who we’ve learned earlier is Doug Badman’s brother Horace because they each have a round birthmark on their left forearm. A master of disguise, Hogo Fogo tricks Joe into drinking spirits, which makes our hero collapse in a catatonic trance. He reestablishes the primacy of Trigger Whisky, as a fickle public return to Doug Badman’s saloon. Hogo Fogo goes after the winsome Winnifred, chasing her around the tombstone of her dead mother:
Hogo Fogo: Of course you’ll be mine. Here, on holy soil, my dove.
Winnifred: You spider!
Hogo Fogo: My little fawn!
Winnifred: You reptile!
Hogo Fogo: Enough zoology!
Further perils, shootouts, disguises, and general silliness ensue to a final, climactic confrontation between Hogo Fogo and Lemonade Joe in which Joe is pumped full of lead. Of course, the end of Joe is never the end of a legend—thanks to Kolaloka lemonade and very fortuitous family ties.
This film is Blazing Saddles, only way better. This movie trades in every corny joke around—for example, Stetson City’s sheriff handcuffs Hogo Fogo, only to find a false hand hanging from one of the cuffs and the villian’s real hand emerge with pistol blazing. The opening bar fight looks like a loving ripoff of a Keystone Kops routine—indeed, Czech film specialist Peter Hames believes this film owes something to a 1911 film called Arizona Bill. The film also uses full-screen tints, which were popular in silent films for signaling night, day, and ambient lighting. The violence is very cartoonish—Lipský was an in-demand writer and director of animated films—and indeed, the film contains small moments of animation mixed with live action. For example, when Hogo Fogo is trying to cheat a gambler at poker, his brother blows smoke rings that spell out what the patsy has in his hand. Even the famous cartoon company, Acme Tool, can be found in Stetson City.
Two moments are especially ingenious and, I think, unique in film. The first is an extreme close-up of the interior of a mouth showing a vibrating uvula as a musical note is struck. The camera slowly pulls back so that we can see it is Lemonade Joe bursting into song as he rides the range. The other is a ground-level shot showing Joe prepare for a gun duel, his boot-shod feet resounding against the dusty street. The camera shakes with every step. Another shot that seems prescient has Joe looking into the sky, seeing what looks like Tower Bridge superimposed on the sky (the original London Bridge moved to Arizona in 1971) and then Winnifred in need of rescue.
Lemonade Joe may be different from those films of the Czech New Wave directors who were working at the same time, but it shares with them an anarchic sensibility even as it spins the American West into the East of Europe. A great send-up of American capitalism that not-so-subtly skewers that great ambassador from the West, Coca-Cola, a Western family more fractious and loyal than the Ewings, and a script to die for make Lemonade Joe a naturally sweet delight.
8th 08 - 2008 | 7 comments »
Famous Firsts: Red River (1948)
Director: Howard Hawks
Debut film of: Montgomery Clift, actor
By Roderick Heath
A beautiful young actor first appears on the screen in Red River, listening with a kind of wide-eyed, excited, but strictly measured attention. It’s Montgomery Clift, a wonder boy fresh from a Broadway splash, suddenly thrust into cowboy gear and standing between two other actors, John Wayne and Walter Brennan, constituting a trio of actors it’s almost impossible to find more diverse. Star-making debut performances, where a fresh talent arrives immediately and permanently in a leading role, like Clift here, or Marlon Brando in The Men, or Katharine Hepburn’s in A Bill of Divorcement, don’t come along so often these days. That’s largely because the kind of career momentum actors might build up on, say, the Broadway stage and transfer directly to the screen, or the careful grooming by an industry sponsor, is nonexistent now; almost every actor has done a spot of TV or film work in building a career. Even for Clift, there were some wrinkles in his swift promotion to screen stardom. Red River, his first feature starring role, was filmed in 1946, but held back from release for nearly two years. So the public at large first saw him in Fred Zinnemann’s 1948 film The Search.
Red River needs little introduction as one of the cinema’s great Westerns, a frontier myth easily described as a variation on Mutiny on the Bounty reset on the range. However, as was director Hawks’ way, the drama is essentially a study of the intricacies of human relationships and the essential ambiguity of morality as it meshes with character. In this way, the tyrannical captain of the great cattle drive, Thomas Dunston (John Wayne), is not a cardboard figure of sadistic power, but a haunted, embittered patriarch whose ever-greater efforts to hold onto his dream see it slip further and further away. It’s only saved by his adopted son, Matthew Garth (Clift), who risks his neck and a prickly kind of love with the older man to save it for all of them, their surrogate grandfather Groot Nadine (Walter Brennan), and the men who entrust them with their lives and livelihoods. Matthew and Dunston come into conflict when Matthew intervenes to save the lives of men Dunston wants to hang for trying to bail out on his great, desperate quest.
It’s hard not read subtext into Red River. Hawks’ films are generally typified as being about men doing manly things, idealizing masculine codes of behavior espousing stoic taciturnity and economy of emotion, virtually verboten in modern pop culture. Yet Hawks loved to explore ambiguities in such behavior. Men who had flunked the code, like Richard Barthelmess in Only Angels Have Wings, could yet live up to it; other men, who seem to exemplify it, end up flunking badly, like Dunston here. Then there is, of course, the famous Hawksian lady, here embodied with steely verve by Joanne Dru as Tess Millay, a dancer hooked up with a wagon train of gamblers and prostitutes heading to set up a proto-Vegas, and also by Fen (Coleen Gray), as the lady love Dunston loses early in the film.
The central clash of characters between Dunston and Matthew drives the entire film, though so much of its visual rhetoric seems merely to be about shifting cattle across the land. It’s vital because the question of the film is this: though this is man’s work, and the country a man’s country, what kind of man is the best at fulfilling this near-Homeric quest? A repetition in the narrative places Dunston and Matthew in their respective, divided positions. Both meet their true loves in wagon trains (which move east to west, whereas the cattle drive moves south to north). But Dunston walks away from the train, only to see it and his lady burn. Dunston thus turns his back on the steady march of civilization, and heads out into the wilderness without women or laws or religion or comfort to forge an empire in the Texas plains. His kind is needed to begin this great project, this American range. Matthew rides to the rescue of another wagon train that is under attack by Indians, and saves Tess in the process of rescuing the fruits of Dunston’s labor from himself. This is the crucial gap. Dunston is a destroyer, a quick draw pioneer who leaves behind civilization and womankind. Matthew’s kind is needed to complete the quest.
Hawks seems to have played on the fact that he cast a gay actor (or at least, acknowledging the fact he’s an awfully pretty one) in Matthew’s tangled relations with Dunston. Their relationship is mostly like that of a vengeful father who loves his son but wants him to grow up in the “right” way as his kind of authoritarian patriarch, independent and remote. And yet he casts Matthew, with his youth and beauty, as the closest thing to a woman in his life. He establishes these warring impulses, this sickly confusion of masculine and feminine qualities, by giving Matthew Fen’s wristband, not as a sexual surrogate, but as an emotional one. Nonetheless, Dunston ultimately casts Matthew in a feminine role and imbues him with a more complex identity fundamentally at odds with his own that he can’t stand when it makes itself apparent. The film makes a bold and valid point, that Dunston’s hyper-macho behavior, supposedly hard-headed and naturally effective, is, in fact, defined by hysteria, a wild, stunting refusal to regard human or natural concerns with acceptance.
Hawks seems to have been acutely aware of Clift’s new kind of energy. Replace him in the part with a more traditional male presence like Gregory Peck or Wayne himself 10 years earlier, and a lot of the film would instantly start seeming ridiculous. The film’s gay—or, more precisely, bi—subtext asserts itself when Matthew compares guns and shooting styles with Cherry Vallance (John Ireland), a more macho man but with a strikingly effeminate name, to Groot’s prediction that “that pair are certain to tangle some day.” Perhaps they do, but not in the fashion Groot means. Cherry becomes Matthew’s stalwart supporter, helping his coup against Dunston and later trying to intervene in their final clash; his being swatted aside almost casually by Dunston is reminiscent of wicked homophobic patriarch Patrick McGoohan hurling his son’s gay lover out the window in Braveheart.
But Cherry is also a transitory companion for Matthew. Cherry splits up the double act when he goes searching for womankind, and instead ends up digging up one for Matthew. Later, it’s Cherry whom Tess relies on to learn about the man who taunts and intrigues her. If Tess, the Hawksian woman, combines a dose of masculinity with her femininity and creates an ideal, so, too, does Matthew prove that a man with a large dash of the feminine is equally ideal. His concern for others, his willingness to explore the road less traveled, his breadth of emotional reach make him a better, braver leader of men than Dunston in the end, when what is required is not the man who smashes and shoots and digs.
Clift developed a core persona in his starring roles as a man of febrile intelligence, passive manners, ill-fitting emotional and social status, possessed of civility and a hazy type of ambition. Because of this persona, he is presumed to be weak by the he-men, but when he finally fights back, he proves to have an iron character. This broadly fits his characters here and in I Confess, From Here to Eternity, The Young Lions, and Raintree County. His acting style later became striking for his capacity to portray high emotion subtly, as if he’s slicing off pieces of his soul one by one and feeding them into his art, at its height in A Place in the Sun and Judgment at Nuremburg. This force of will strains to crack that beautiful face, and after it was marred in his car accident, he became even more volatile as a portrayer of neurotics, shivering wrecks, and hurting, conscientious men.
“No, no you won’t.”
In Red River, he maintains the same cool taciturnity as the rest of the cast, except in his wide, intrigued eyes, receptive as radar dishes, soaking up detail, registering alternately amused, appalled, incensed, and finally unblinking in facing up to Dunston’s wrath. When he responds to Dunston’s plan to hang three deserters, “No, no you won’t,” he reads the line without melodrama or scowling, but with a clear, simple diction, establishing that he has reached a point of basic refusal. Indeed, Clift’s performance is largely defined by its stillness, his becalmed face and naturalistic postures. He does not mould his body and face to the demands of the screen, like Wayne with his adamantine grace, or to highlight the individuality of his character, like twitchy, rubber-faced Brennan, but rather to express the inner stylings of Matthew’s mind. His performance wells from within, requiring us to intuit his thinking and feeling. Although he was preceded in Hollywood by John Garfield and William Holden, Clift was the first of the vanguard Method actors to alter the energy of the cinema screen. To some extent, though, Clift also updates the fundamental approach of Gary Cooper, who also used stillness and intuition in his acting.
The film builds to a finale that is controversial in its swing from thunderous tension to comic anticlimax, as Dunston, on the warpath, cuts down Cherry and proceeds to taunt Matthew, every inch the alpha male set on abusing the girly-man usurper. Matthew is happy to remain passive when there’s a chance of them actually killing each other in the course of Dunston’s hysteria. Dunston instead starts to beat him. Matthew puts up with this for a while, until, finally, he hits back, with such startling force Dunston pitches back goggle-eyed and wide-mouthed. They begin pummeling each other until Tess breaks up their brawl by firing a gun in the dirt between them, angrily calling for an end to the spectacle. Groot delights in Matthew’s finally proving his grit to Dunston, but Tess recognizes he’s been drawn into playing Dunston’s game; she subverts their hyped-up masculinity by forcing both men to bow before a strong woman, and realize their differences are fundamentally childish. In this regard, the climax is perfect.
5th 02 - 2008 | 9 comments »
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
By Roderick Heath
A few years back, Billy Bob Thornton adapted Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses for the screen. The film was mutilated from its original four-hour cut and entirely dismissed by critics and audiences. I liked it. It had a rugged poetry. I liked it much more than this film. No Country for Old Men has gained almost universal raves. C’est la vie.
ncfom-767831.jpgNo Country for Old Men tells of Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a Vietnam veteran living in a trailer in West Texas with his young wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald). He’s out hunting one day when he discovers the aftermath of a drug deal gone bad. Bodies litter the landscape, one Mexican man with a hole in his gut groans for water, and Llewellyn finds $2 million in a suitcase. He takes the money, but in the middle of the night decides to go help the wounded man. When he gets there, the man is dead, and some of his accomplices arrive and chase Llewellyn, who barely escapes. He returns home, tells Carla to pack off to her mother’s house in Odessa, before proceeding south by himself to await his pursuers. He figures on mere human adversaries. What he gets instead is Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a hulking, soulless psychopath who’s sort of lump of walking Dostoyevskian anxiety about what the world without god, dominated instead by chance and nature, will look like. Llewellyn and Anton match wits as the dead-eyed monster of existentialism pursues the stoic warrior of American ambition.
No%20country%20Tommy%20Lee.jpgA Hitchcockian story in Peckinpah country, the film has been paced and constructed by the Coens as a thriller, but it’s not a thriller. Chigurh is, in essence, an Angel of Death, though he’s certifiably “real” in that he has a job, identity, even a disgruntled boss. A Dallas businessman (Stephen Root) who seems to be running the drug deals, has sent Chigurh out, and, realising he’s a loose cannon, assigns another operative, Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), to intervene. Chigurh likes to subject random people to coin-toss choices that will determine whether he kills them or not. McCarthy’s thesis is that often crime has no motivation, that an anonymous, senseless type of evil infests modern life, and the representative of old-timey values, local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), bemoans this process and proves impotent to hold off this dissolution into moral turpitude.
I could argue with McCarthy’s point, but we’ll take it at face value for the moment. McCarthy is an exceptionally cagey writer, who, like Hemingway, perceives humans more as phenomena of nature than as individuals. His style is well pitched to evoke the symbolism inherent in his tales. McCarthy, fundamentally, is a poet. The Coens, on the other hand, approach this material with a procedural eye. The sequences of Chigurh’s hunt are riveting cinema, but much ado about nothing; there’s a long sequence where Llewellyn hides the money and then extracts it, trying to beat the clock on Chigurh’s arrival that’s breathtaking filmmaking, but ridiculously clumsy activity. But the Coens find no poetic discourse in the material. They have been poetic, mostly in early films; the wind-driven hat of Miller’s Crossing (1990) and the big clock in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) are some of the most affecting images in modern film. But the template for No Country is Fargo (1996), their last cool, blackly comic crime drama and their most overrated film. When they make serious films, they become watchmakers; the cogs are brilliant and shiny, but they do not sing. They include the usual absurdist epigrams and endless supply of caricatured American types to leaven the brutality, and elide convention by having the real climaxes occur off-screen. For example, Bell and Carla come across Llewellyn dead, brought down not by Chigurh but by some of the Mexican drug dealers, gunned down along with hapless bystanders in an El Paso motel.
Yeah, yeah, I get how wonderfully clever and unclichéd it is to set up a chase thriller and then throw it out the window. You know what? Go take a running jump, Joel, Ethan. No Country for Old Men is a hollow piece of work. The Coens cannot reveal much about their characters to make a statement about the tragedy of death carry weight. We have hints of motivation, but Llewellyn, Bell, and Anton are all robbed of a complex inner life that might make this drama build to tragedy. We’re supposed to be shocked and haunted by the epigrammatic finale where Anton fulfils a threat to Llewellyn, even though he’s dead, by tracking down and executing his wife, but she’s such a pasty character, there’s not much impact there either, even though the wonderful Macdonald does her best to imbue the part with a blowsy appeal. But my irritation with No Country began before it dynamited its own story. The story is thin, and after the central gun fight between Anton and Llewellyn, illogic begins to take a grip. The characters start acting in odd, even stupid ways, and all of the supporting characters were the usual Coen Bros cut-outs.
Anton’s evil is a cipher, a gimmick, an obvious way of summarizing a theme. Wells describes Anton as being driven by a kind of code, an honour system of death, which is as big a load of claptrap as I’ve ever heard. Anton’s actions are occasionally governed by some sort of philosophy of chance, but why he then shoots his own employers and decides to go after the money for himself is entirely opaque. Wait—he’s a self-serving renegade but also a kind of moral force? There seems to be a suggestion Chigurh is punishing the sinners of the world for their sins and the innocents for their blind innocence, and suggests he himself is only alive and in any one spot, performing any one action, through the constant turns of chance.
There’s a deep confusion in this philosophy. Is it about a fracturing, godless universe where all fate is cruel and inevitable, or is it about the notion that what goes around comes around? Either way, Chigurh’s such a blank, bleak creature that the audience laps up his evil appeal; he’s so precise, without caution, mercy, or similarity to any living human, that he’s an almost comforting villain. No scene in No Country is as tense and disquieting a contemplation of psychopathy as the central pas de deux of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a film that demanded infinitely more complex assignations of sympathy.
Llewellyn, too, is an odd beast of a hero. His decision to take water to the dying man, late as it is, signals him as a man of conscience, and he defies Chigurh with Charles Bronson-esque pith, refusing—as Carla does later—to accept Chigurh’s predestination. There is a sense, not developed, that Llewellyn and Chigurh are two sides of the same coin, both skilled, ruthless, cunning, and determined. Llewellyn is casually dispatched, and Chigurh left to go his merry way. What a bust! Why doesn’t Anton kill Bell when Bell almost finds him in Moss’s motel room? Does Chigurh “respect” the lawman? Does this have something to do with the dream Bell recounts at the end, where he’s led through the darkness by a fire lit by an unseen figure—having been passed by the bad angel, a good angel promises a peaceful end for the righteous man? What is righteousness? Is Llewellyn’s taking of the money an act that damns him no matter what he does?
To be sure there’s a political element in all this. Llewellyn wants to save himself and his wife from a life of living in a trailer park after having been used and thrown away by his country; the drug deals are actually run by businessmen who use poor people and psychos to enforce their actions. Not exactly new themes, though. The car crash that almost claims Anton at the end seems to hint at some divine justice, but why leave him with a broken arm? Why was the scene there at all? Some kids are kind to Anton, and he’s kind to them back. Is he then an agent of karmic balance? Or just a bogeyman?
I can’t fault the cast or the technical aspects. Josh Brolin, The Goonies a long way behind him now, provides a sturdy Llewellyn, reminiscent of Kris Kristofferson in look and cadences, and Jones’ aging mug evokes a worn-out soul effortlessly. Bardem has gained the most plaudits as Chigurh, which is fair enough; his droll deliveries, physical command, and occasional vivid flourishes (his eyes grow wide and ecstatic in strangling a policeman) provide the film’s most hypnotic moments. But frankly, it’s a piddling role for Bardem, one of the finest actors alive, compared to his multilayered protagonists in films like Live Flesh (1997) and The Dancer Upstairs (2002). The filmmaking is imbued with the brother’s own laser-edge editing and brilliant photography by Roger Deakins. And the film, deeply flawed as it is once the visceral impact fades, represents a return to challenging form for the Coens after several anorexic comedies.
The trouble is, the Coens just can’t do dread. Bergman could do dread. David Lynch can do it. The Coens are comedians, not tragedians. Their approach to life and death on the cinema screen is capricious. No Country is almost a remake of Raising Arizona, played for thrills rather than laughs; Anton is the straight-faced equivalent of the Lone Rider of the Apocalypse, and about as believable. Unless they’re directly copying a model (like The Hudsucker Proxy imitates Capra), the Coens rarely built a truly compelling narrative. They used to make up for this with shows of energy and invention. They’re admirable in their attempts to always take the road less travelled, but I see few signs of them being capable of making a film that’s more than a generic deconstruction. Most of their films, for all the wit, are little more than ramshackle collusions of blackout sketches, improperly finished and lacking substance, with The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou? representing their most frustrating efforts.
Sam Peckinpah used to make movies like this as almost second nature, reinforcing his own harsh worldview with a vivid, gorged sense of life as it is lived and as it is given up. No Country reads like a combination of Straw Dogs and The Getaway with The Wild Bunch’s fuck-it-all philosophy. Compared with them, No Country is schematic and trite. It’s easy to accept the ending because it doesn’t require you to feel for anything of substance being destroyed. Llewellyn and Carla die off-screen and there’s no suffering, no deep fear or agony, no urgency. Late in the film, Bell converses with a wheelchair-bound ex-colleague, who delivers the film’s signature line: “You can’t stop what’s coming.” That would be death, of course. Yet the film has failed to supply the feeling to accompany the sentiment. Fate has been reduced to its message. Boiled right down: shit happens.
29th 11 - 2007 | 4 comments »
Director: Andrew Dominik
By Roderick Heath
The first film I’ve seen this year I’ve been tempted to call great, Assassination is an extraordinarily intense study in the savage nature of fate, violence, and false mythology. It’s also a cinematic tone poem that deliberately alludes to that least-popular of genres, the revisionist Western, and in particular the films of Terence Malick, Robert Altman, Arthur Penn, Robert Benton, and Philip Kaufman’s The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), to which it is a virtual sequel. Kaufman’s drowsy, drizzly work studied with moody anti-romanticism the final raid conducted by the James-Younger gang, now long notorious and hunted on all sides. Jesse James, as portrayed by Robert Duvall, was a quick-draw psycho still fighting the Civil War using bushwhacker rules. The film concluded with Cole Younger (Cliff Robertson) dead, the gang dispersed, and the James brothers fleeing south to Missouri to form a new crew.
Assassination examines James (Brad Pitt) in his last year, robbing a train with self-aggrandising style and self-serving violence. But he’s worn out, his nerves electric with paranoia and frustration. His gang, a feckless mob of self-appointed rebels, includes Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider), a smooth-tongued, poetry-quoting skirt chaser; Wood Hite (Jeremy Renner), a pug-nosed, Yankee-hating thug and Jesse’s cousin; Jesse’s hardened, cagey elder brother Frank (Sam Shepard); Charley Ford (Sam Rockwell), a garrulous twit; and, new to the group, Charley’s younger brother Robert (Casey Affleck). A strange, drawling, pale misfit, Robert talks himself up as a man of bravery and character, despite coming across as mildly retarded and possibly crazy. Frank finds him “creepy” when he talks to Robert, and Jesse, trying out his practised charm on the 20-year-old, proves unable to fathom this tensely smiling enigma.
Slowly, as Assassination progresses, the impressions reverse. Robert, the youngest of four brothers, socially awkward, and quietly obsessed, is desperate to prove himself and live up to his dreams after a youth of dreary rural rituals and tough, strutting elder brothers who belittle and bully him. His hero worship of Jesse curdles into something like hate, beginning when the outlaw casually disavows the heroic portrayals of him that have proliferated in the popular media in the 15 years of his career, and gathering in intensity at displays of Jesse’s capricious cruelty and distrustfulness that confirm that anyone, even friends and companions, might be targets for his guns.
assassinationjessejamespubt.jpgAs the Victorian-marquee-style title suggests, Assassination has removed narrative almost entirely from the story and left a series of confrontations that simultaneously reveal and conceal motivation and character as the question of the film becomes, when, how, and why. The film gathers the deterministic momentum of Greek tragedy played out in its characters’ eyes, principally the war between Pitt’s corrosive blue irises and Affleck’s infinitely obfuscating gaze. Jesse is alternately brooding and brutal, charming and gregarious, a manic-depressive warrior who is astounded and sorrowful over his own capacity for hair-trigger violence. He is torn asunder by the need to be with people made more intense by the need to have trustworthy lieutenants and the fear that those he trusts may betray or ruin him through stupidity or clumsiness. He shoots a member of the gang, Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt), on the mere suspicion he might have ratted him out and slaps silly an adolescent cousin of the Fords’, precipitating Robert’s gathering determination to destroy Jesse.
The nature of Jesse and Ford’s psychic pas de deux is compelling as each man—and we—attempt to discern what is being communicated. Is James sure Ford is set to betray him? Robert makes contact with a Pinkerton agent connected to the state authorities. The agent assures Robert James will find out, but Jesse never lets on. Does he know—even want—this bullet in the back? Is he trying to precipitate a death that will come on his own terms? Or does his intuition fail him? Can he really not decide if Robert will betray him?
An irony resolves out of the title; it is precisely Robert’s lack of cowardice that presents him an opportunity to take out the outlaw. Jesse’s merciless gaze unnerves everyone around him to the point where he can tell swiftly if they’re lying or not, but not Robert—or Charley. But Charley has no real character. He can lie to Jesse, but he can’t actually do anything for himself.
The baleful, recriminatory regard Frank James has for his brother a rhyme in the two Ford brothers. In the film’s one moment of gunplay, a fight erupts in the Fords’ farmhouse, as Wood tries to shoot Liddil for bedding the wife of his uncle Major Hite (Tom Aldredge)—a ridiculous effort to defend family honour, as the wife, Sarah (Kailin See), is a young, fire-under-snow opportunist married to a withered old man. Robert shows for the first time his capacity for cool violence when he plugs Wood in the head to save the more likable Liddil. The killing adds another reason to the mounting list for the Fords to be wary of James and establishes Robert’s oddly dissociative ability to shoot a man from behind.
Andrew Dominik made his directorial debut with Chopper (2000), a picture based on the mostly spurious memoirs of an Australian thug. That film made Eric Bana a movie star and joined an interesting run of gangland films like Essex Boys (2000) and Sexy Beast (2000) in studying the terror of being up close to a dangerous criminal. Assassination continues this theme, as Jesse is certainly that, and his somsersaulting moods and general paranoia make him intolerable. Yet Jesse is also a gentleman, a charismatic leader, and undoubtedly brave. He stands for something—the living ghost of Southern rebellion—and lives too vividly in the zeitgeist to be just another gunman to be eradicated. Jesse is struggling to hold onto his threads of humanity—his wife Zee (Mary-Louise Parker) and kids, his final friends—even as he is pushed by forces within himself and without to destroy. There is the hint that for Jesse, death is an extirpation of his sins and the reclamation of his humanity from a history of bloodshed. In an arresting sequence, the gang robs a train at Blue Ridge, and Jesse awaits the approaching train standing atop a block. It’s a wry take on James’ self-promotional style, but also evokes the nature of his heroic appeal to the bitter and betrayed post-Civil War populace as a single man willing to stand before the oncoming industrial juggernaut of progress.
Ford longs to be James and possibly have his body, as a charged bath scene suggests that each views the other is a completion of himself. Ford feels that James has indelible place in the world, with his family, his fame, his assured strength and character, that he, Robert, can only fantasize over. Robert fails to grasp that such prestige comes only by putting yourself in the monster’s mouth. During Robert’s subsequent attempts to capitalise on his infamy as James’ killer in a stage show where he shows what happened, he’s foolish enough to play it like it happened instead of developing his own mystique. Charley’s bad portrayal of Jesse removes the sting from the play-acting; later, as Charley becomes embittered and regretful, his impersonation becomes more real, and Robert is soon faced with spiteful names from his audience.
Dominik lays claim with this film to being the most talented director to emerge for Australia since Rolf de Heer 20 years ago. His feel for Americana has obvious influences, but the fresh, cleansed physicality of the film and its burnished, poetic spaciousness are rich and new. Assassination is superior to many of those ’70s mud-and-blood Westerns by being even and assured in tone, and by knowing what it wants to do rather than flailing off the path of clichés (an urge that hobbled ambitious works like The Missouri Breaks, 1976). Dominik’s stranglehold on the pacing and quietude of the work threaten initially to be off-putting, but soon proves methodical. Dominik is conditioning us to the music of the actors’ smallest gestures and the narrative’s fixated purpose; when the moments of violence come they hit with true force. The film could have perhaps been a bit shorter (maybe cutting one of the proliferation of time-lapse cloud shots), and a droning David McCullough-esque voiceover by Hugh Ross just bugged me. Films that stand up this self-importantly as “Serious Art” often have their heads cut off, but Dominik justifies his approach with his results.
The film isn’t really revisionist because it doesn’t merely attack or subvert the James myth. Duvall’s James in The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid squarely plugs his myth between the eyes when he shoots an unarmed civilian for no reason, whilst mouthing off his guerrilla war justifications, to make it clear he’s just a psycho with a gun. Pitt’s James is a layered creature, and so is the film’s interest in him. The myth of Jesse, how it enfolded him even in life, is important to the story as it was to the people at the time—idea influences reality and vice versa. Robert wants anything like the celebrity Jesse has, in whatever form, to justify his existence.
Pitt is a majestic Jesse, as perfectly cast as he was as Achilles—both mythical warriors with deeply human fractures to their images—and is this time served by a good film. Such roles make dramatic weapons out of his looks and charisma, which otherwise automatically overwhelm his acting talents that, up until now, have best been showcased by monomaniacal characters (Seven Years In Tibet, 1997; Fight Club, 1999) or outright crazed ones (Kalifornia, 1993) that promised he’d prove to be more than the Tab Hunter of his day. Affleck matches with one of the best male acting performances in years. Previously relegated to light comic relief opposite Scott Cann in the Ocean’s films, Affleck’s Robert Ford grows slowly but surely from an enigma to an all-too-vivid human tragedy. In the film’s wistful, eerie coda, Robert, a grown man, pursued by infamy and tortured by destroying his friend and his own brother, can find a brief solace in the company of an actress Dorothy Evans, (Zooey Deschanel), but waits as patiently for the bullet from behind as Jesse did. l
14th 08 - 2007 | 10 comments »
The Proposition (2005)
Director: John Hillcoat
Screenplay/Music: Nick Cave
By Marilyn Ferdinand
18th 06 - 2007 | 1 comment »
The Hunting Party (1971)
Director: Don Medford
By Don Jacobson
In the long and honored annals of 1970s anti-Westerns, The Hunting Party doesn’t loom very large, for several good reasons. One is that it was a largely British production shot on shoestring budget in Spain, and although similar circumstances didn’t stop Sergio Leone from making one of the best westerns of all time (1967’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), in this case, MGM’s low budget was definitely a bit more indicative of the overall level of artistic endeavor. The other good reason is that it was thoroughly panned upon its release by critics who saw some of the obvious similarities between this film and The Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Little Big Man, and the aforementioned Leone efforts, and dismissed it as a violent and derivative revenge-film knock-off done quickly by television-oriented hacks.
Well, yes and no. The Hunting Party does indeed suffer from such flaws as over- and underacting, a lack of character development and inadequate explanation of their motives, and a visual style taken straight from such TV westerns as The Big Valley. But it also serves as a fascinating object lesson about a time period (the very early ’70s) when fast-changing social mores and tastes were truly taking hold among moviegoers, and how the major studios, which were still dominated by clueless “establishment” types, struggled to find a formula that would work for them while the future of the entire industry seemed to be hanging in the balance.
One tack they took to find a way to continue to churn out acceptable product for the so-called grindhouse screens, which were still playing an important role in the days before TV saturation reached the point of no return, was to take TV writers, producers, and directors and turn them loose on a big screen where TV censorship did not apply. It was hoped that the movie-going public would find appealing these essentially TV movies with emerging big-screen actors and loaded with sex and violence. Of course, this was a formula that was bound to fail The sex and violence in these kinds of movies always seems horribly gratuitous, the soon-to-be-great actors misused in a form that merely exploited newfound freedoms instead of using them to invent a new kind of socially relevant cinema. It was an attempt by the World War II generation to find a way to connect with the kids before most of the now-legendary crop of ’70s auteur-directors really had a chance to get their hands on the controls. For instance, 1971 was the year Martin Scorsese made Boxcar Bertha for Roger Corman, Steven Spielberg made the TV movie Duel, and George Lucas was writing and directing a remake of his student film THX 1138.
In that respect, probably the most notable thing about The Hunting Party is that it was Gene Hackman’s last appearance before becoming a poster boy for the auteur phenomenon – later that year, he appeared as Det. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s groundbreaking The French Connection and never went back to playing second-fiddle roles as he does in The Hunting Party, in which he plays Brandt Ruger, a sadistic Old West capitalist. Ruger’s holdings include an entire county, a bank, a railroad, and a wife named Melissa, played by Candice Bergen, who was just coming off the great success of one of the first films to establish just how the cinematic freedoms of the ’70s would eventually be used successfully: Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge (1971).
At the top of the story, it’s revealed that Ruger is impotent. Screenwriter/producer Lou Morheim (best known as the co-creator of the 1960s TV series The Big Valley and The Outer Limits) intercuts a brutal forced sex scene between him and Melissa with scenes of a crew of outlaws led by Frank Calder (Oliver Reed, the real star of the movie) carving up a cow in the desert and eating its meat raw. Of course, it’s Ruger’s cattle they’re killing, another of his possessions. The fact that Ruger doesn’t treat his wife appreciably different from his cattle forms the basis of the story. At its core, The Hunting Party is a very angry anti-Establishment diatribe in the grand tradition of ’70s cinema, and in that respect, maybe even moreso than most. Ruger is such a snarling villain and at the same time such a traditional American capitalist that the message is hard to miss: We like to substitute firepower for love and/or understanding, and will lash out violently at anyone (particularly smart, “uppity” women and others who don’t kowtow to the fascist order of things) who make us feel our spiritual impotence.
After leaving Melissa hurt and puzzled over his rage at his inability to perform, Ruger heads out on a two-week recreational trip he’s arranged with his millionaire buddies (played by a wonderful collection of some of most durable character actors of era, including Simon Oakland, G.D. Spradlin, and a pair of Brits masquerading as Old West men of means, Ronald Howard and Bernard Kay). They’re all going to get on a train and partake in one of the most egregious “sports” of the day, using long-range rifles to pick off buffalo as the train parks in the midst of a herd. Also on board are a bevy of hookers. Since he can’t perform sexually, Ruger gets his thrills by burning his, an Asian woman, with a lit cigar – a comment on The Man’s subjugation of other races.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Melissa goes off to help her friend teach youngsters in a one-room schoolhouse. No sooner does she get there than Calder swoops in abd kidnaps her because he needs someone to teach him to read to be able to pull off his next heist. As the outlaws gallop off with her in tow, we’re introduced to the gang, again, another crop of great ’70s character actors, including Mitch Ryan, huntingparty3%20edit.JPGWilliam Watson and, L. Q. Jones, who appeared in fiveSam Peckinpah films). Right off, she’s sexually attacked in a moving wagon by Hog (Jones), and Calder takes his sweet time before riding back to kick him to the ground. This is when we get our first real introduction to Oliver Reed’s Frank Calder. Unfortunately for him, Reed’s performance is awful. The British actor is unconvincing using a clipped, dumbed-down Old West accent as Morheim tried to turn him into a semi-silent Clint Eastwood clone. In some movies, such as the Ken Russell films The Devils and Tommy and as one of the Three Musketeers (1978), Reed’s large frame and larger-than-life depictions of rage and humor were well used. His style was dark, complex, and often disturbing, and in a better-written western they may have worked. But here, he alternately underplays and is allowed to go over the top.
When Ruger, still aboard the hunting train, gets word Melissa has been kidnapped, he turns into a killing machine bent on revenge. Instead of sympathizing with her plight, as voice-of-reason crony Gunn (Oakland) urges, Ruger only spits bile. In his best lines of the movie, Hackman immediately rejects the idea he could ever take his wife back, saying, “He’ll give her a kid, and I’ll have a little outlaw bastard running around the house.” “Jesus Christ, Brandt,” replies a shocked Gunn, “have a little respect for Melissa!” “Well, what the hell do you think he’s going to do with her? Sing church hymns? He’ll pass her around. When he’s through with that, maybe 15 or 20 of them, he’ll accept 40 or 50,000 dollars of my money. No thank you very much. I’m not going to have my Virginia-educated, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth wife used like a whore, then I have to take her back pregnant with a bastard!” At this point, it seems he’s out for revenge not only on Calder, but on his own wife as well, a real case of blaming the victim.
He convinces his buddies to join him in a effort to use the telescoped buffalo rifles that he had procured to hunt down the outlaw gang instead, thus making up for not possessing enough manliness to take on the hardened gang one-on-one by being able to pick them off from safe distances hundreds of yards away. This seems to be a fairly cogent comment not only on emotional and moral impotence, but also on the Vietnam-era reliance on “clean” high-tech weaponry, which changed the moral equation of warfare from one of a matter of honor (like hunting animals) to one of efficient massacres (hunting humans), though it could be argued that this depersonalization began with The Bomb.
Much of the rest of the film is about Ruger methodically tracking Calder’s gang down and picking them off in blood-gushing fashion one by one as they are mown down by weapons and attackers they never even see. At one point, one of the thugs even declares, “Who are those guys?” in a line and situation lifted directly from Butch Cassidy. Ruger has Calder is his sights several times, but lets him go for reasons that are never entirely explained, except that it sets up the ending. As the bloodletting becomes more and more cruel and gratuitous, his cronies begin questioning Ruger’s leadership and sanity, but stick with him out of an old-fashioned and ultimately disastrous sense of honor. The Vietnam parallels are hard to miss.
The other main thread then becomes the inevitable romance between the kidnapped Melissa and Calder, who, through long passages that again include a rape scene (that makes three), eventually tames the wildcat and wins her heart as she teaches him the alphabet by drawing letters in the sand with a stick. Calder is a good crystallization of the ’70s cinematic ethos of the antihero, a man with a good heart who’s doing bad things partly because he himself is a victim. It is rather thrilling to see Reed, whose tumultuous personal life was a living embodiment of counterculture rebellion, attempt to give meaning to the dignity of an illiterate outcast who has more honor than the “honorable” establishment figure hunting him down. The fact that he is doing so in a Eurotrash exploitation movie only makes it more delicious. He is an actor whose quirky list of contributions to both cinema and the British counterculture has never been truly celebrated like it needs to be.
The ending, which I won’t reveal, is exceedingly downbeat, as was also the tenor of the times. There is no resolution of the moral conflicts, only a realization that not dealing with our shortcomings as a nation of warmongers and greedy capitalists will result in a lot more heartache, especially for the women and nonconformists of the world. l
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8th 04 - 2007 | 2 comments »
Zachariah (1971)
Director: George Englund
By Marilyn Ferdinand
Living with a hippie from the 60s has pretty much guaranteed that I’m going to watch every hippie movie ever made. The hubby defines the hippie movement as an attempt by certain naïve people to reach nirvana. The films he identifies as hippie movies include Between Time and Timbuktu (1972), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), Head (1968), Alice’s Restaurant (1969), Easy Rider (1969), and Hair (1979, based on the 1968 stage musical), for their sensibility and honest depiction of the successes and failures of hippies to reach their goal.
Zachariah is perhaps the quintessential hippie movie, telling as it does the story of a young man trying to find himself. Of course, the hero’s quest is as old as humanity itself. What locates this telling in the American hippie movement is that it is a Western shot through with rock and roots music from Country Joe and the Fish, The James Gang, The New York Rock Ensemble, White Lightnin’, Doug Kershaw, and Elvin Jones.
Over the opening credits, we watch the prototypical scene of a lone horseman riding across a vast expanse of open land to the strains of a slightly romantic score. Into this idyll is introduced an unfamiliar object—a Lucite guitar turned blood-red by the rising sun. Soon, The James Gang crank out a hard-rocking song on this open plain, and our lone rider, Zachariah (John Rubenstein), jumps off his horse, and runs to a scrubby hillside to open a kraft-wrapped box. Inside is a pistol. He squares up to draw, pulls at the gun, and it flies out of his hand. The first word of dialog is his exclamation: “Shit.”
Zachariah heads into town where he visits the blacksmith shop of his best friend Matthew (Don Johnson). Coyly, he teases Matthew about something new he just got. Finally, he asks Matthew to make him some silver bullets. Matthew asks if he has some vampires he needs to get rid of on the farm, then sends his young Mexican assistant away so the two friends can be alone. Zachariah pulls out the gun he just received “in a brown paper wrapper.” Both young men are enamored with it and run off for some shooting practice. They both become very fast and very accurate in a very short span of time. With that, Zachariah decides he is leaving town to make his fortune as a gunfighter. Matthew presents him with a silver bullet—only one due to a lack of materials. At this point, the two friends decide to go off together.>
The first group of outlaws they meet up with are the Crackers (Country Joe and the Fish). In awe of their reputation, Matthew and Zachariah follow them into a saloon, where the outlaws take up musical instruments and bang out their signature song “We’re the Crackers.” Matt and Zach are enjoying the music, but another patron isn’t so happy. Zach explains that they are only trying to enjoy the music and have no quarrel with him, but to no avail. The man calls Zach out, and Zach shoots him dead right in the saloon.
Having made his first kill, a thrill that has him shaking in both horror and triumph, Zachariah decides he must become an outlaw. He and Matthew ride out to the Crackers’ camp and force them at the end of a rifle to take the pair on. The Crackers, as it turns out, aren’t very good at robbing anything. They get outrun by a stagecoach and miss a rendezvous with a train. Fed up, Matthew and Zachariah dream up a scheme to rob a bank. The Crackers will play music at one end of town, draw a crowd, and then the team will go in and rob the bank. The plan works, but Zach becomes dissatisfied. He’ll never make it to the top with this motley band. He and Matthew leave.
A wanted poster leads them to the man they must find—Job Cain (Elvin Jones), the fastest gunfighter in the West. On arrival at Cain’s hangout, Matthew and Zachariah watch him kill a challenger. Matthew impetuously urges Zachariah to call Cain out. No, says Zach, we need to learn how he got so fast. At this point, Cain picks up a pair of drumsticks and takes over for the drummer of his band (The James Gang). When we watch him beat the kit, we understand how he got his lightning draw.
Abuptly, Zachariah leaves again. He still hasn’t found what he’s been looking for. Matthew stays. The two friends are now on divergent paths. Matthew is on the narrow track to success as defined by his society. Zachariah continues on a spiritual journey that has him explore hedonism, including taking up with whore Belle Starr (the hippie go-to actress Pat Quinn, who played Alice in Alice’s Restaurant), and finally, exploring the power of the desert.
I’m not sure you could find a better blueprint for the hippie movement than Zachariah, including its Amateur Hour feel. There are some laughs along the way (though many fewer than one would expect from a writing team composed of members of the comedy group The Firesign Theatre), but this film is surprisingly serious. Hippies did have to make choices, important choices, and as with the drug-dealing duo in Easy Rider, some made very wrong choices. The sketchy script and the no-budget look of this film make Zachariah a very rough affair indeed, and many will dismiss this movie as a self-indulgent experiment that’s only worth watching for the music.
But there is a wonderful gem at the core of this ragtag film—the relationship between Zach and Matt. If you detect something gay in their rapport, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. (It may come as a surprise to younger readers that Brokeback Mountain wasn’t the first gay cowboy film. In fact, neither was Zachariah. The Celluloid Closet [1995] outed Monty Clift’s character in Red River [1948] with this line, again said over a gun: “There are only two things more beautiful than a gun: a Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere. Ever had a good… Swiss watch?”) Rubenstein and Johnson are exceedingly pretty at this early stage in their careers, and they have a chemistry and close affection that is quite touching. Although the hippie ethos was to make love to anyone in the spirit of freedom, not necessarily gay liberation, there is a true gay love story in this film.
Aside from this very watchable duo, the music showcases some of the top performers of the time who also happen to capture perfectly the sensibility of the film. In addition, roots players White Lightnin’ and, particularly, fiddler Doug Kershaw play some of the most haunting music I’ve heard in a while, placing this story squarely in the American experience and honing its spiritual edge.
Zachariah takes a universal story, and particularizes it for its generation. But it also manages to create a lasting impression that one can enjoy even at this more-distant time. This is a film that is both of its time and ahead of it.
2nd 11 - 2006 | 2 comments »
Ride the High Country (1962)
Director: Sam Peckinpah
By Marilyn Ferdinand
The scene during which the deal is struck is a comic gem. First, the milquetoast actors Bryon Foulger and Percy Helton, who play the Sampsons, were actually the same age. Watching them playing father and son in the same nervous, mousy way, looking very much alike, is a sly commentary on the essence of the bean counter. When Judd learns that the actual amount he’ll be protecting is about $20,000, the Sampsons say, “Well, it’s still a respectable sum.” We have to wonder if it is worth the risk of another life, but that’s not the Sampsons’ concern. Judd, on the other hand, is quite a bit older than they expected, and their rueful glances tell us everything about what it’s like to be an older worker—an especially difficult transition to uselessness for a Western hero. Judd says he’d like to look over the contract alone, and he is shown to the toilet. He pulls out his glasses, examines the document, folds his glasses away, and then for no apparent reason, flushes the toilet. He asks for $40 a day, $20 for him and $10 each for the two men he intends to hire.
Before going to the bank, and after dodging a horseless buggy, Judd runs into his old partner Gil Westrum (Scott), who is running a crooked carny act. He tells Westrum about his job and asks him and Westrum’s young assistant Heck (Ron Starr) if they’d like to ride with him. After he leaves to meet the Sampsons, Westrum confides to Heck that they’ll ride with Judd to steal the gold. “What if he doesn’t go along,” asks Heck. Westrum says they’ll get the gold with or without Judd’s cooperation.
Halfway up the mountain, the three men stop at a farm to see if they can spend the night. The pious farmer Joshua Knudsen (R. G. Armstrong) agrees to let them sleep in the barn. Just then, a figure we saw scurry into the house on seeing the men’s approach and throw off some scruffy farm clothes emerges from the house. It is Knudsen’s daughter Elsa (Mariette Hartley), and she has on a lovely and revealing dress. We learn what a stern father Joshua is when he angrily scolds her and tells her to put on proper clothes. She’s dying to get out from under his thumb and away from the isolated farm. Heck is smitten with her and encourages the older men to take her with them. They refuse, but Elsa follows them anyway and says she is going to the mining camp to marry Billy Hammond (James Drury). She becomes drawn to Heck as the trip progresses, but his advances are too aggressive, and she bolts for Billy as soon as they reach camp.
The marriage is a disaster from the moment it is official. The drunken revelries end in the near rape of Elsa by Billy’s four brothers. Just as she runs screaming from the bridal bed in the camp saloon/hotel, Judd shows up, decks Billy, and says Elsa is coming back with them. The Hammonds call a camp court—the only justice available in this isolated place—but Westrum forces the justice of the peace (Edgar Buchanan) to say that he wasn’t licensed to marry anyone. The court must find in Judd’s favor. Off camera, the Hammonds beat up the alcoholic preacher and then set out to reclaim Elsa. The film ends in a final showdown at the Knudsen farm between the aged gunslingers and the Hammond brothers.
Although this is not a flat-out, mature Peckinpah film, there are more than glimpses of his savage, macabre style. The wedding scene is filled with grotesques—whores dressed in their gaudiest finery to act as bridesmaids, their obese madam decked out in a green, satin gown with a cone-bustier top that puts Madonna’s cone bra to shame, the preacher drunk and drooling. The virgin Elsa, with her short Joan of Arc hair (in fact, Hartley had just finished playing the Maid of Orleans on stage), looks like the perfect sacrifice. The entire scene resembles Buñuel’s famous beggars orgy in Viridiana, but in vivid color and tinged with wild West abandon to rev up the Western conventions. We get another comic grotesque scene before the final shootout. Peckinpah photographs a gaggle of chickens and lingers on them for quite some time. It is only after we have dismissed this interlude as a throwaway shot that Peckinpah pans up to the wide-eyed and bloody face of Knudsen, dead and draped across a rail near the chicken coop.
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Marvels Thor: The Dark World continues the adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvels Thor and Marvels The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save humanity. | http://www.filmfetish.com/2013/04/23/marvel-studios-reveals-thor-the-dark-world-trailer/ | dclm-gs1-000405529 | false | false | {
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Step onto the front lines of the battle that changed the very course of history in a documentary that utilizes both vivid recreations and actual battle footage to tell the remarkable tale of the largest covert military operation in history. By storming the beaches of Normandy, Allied troops were able to gain the foothold that would allow them to commence the liberation of Europe. Though the maneuver didn't come without major risks, the eventual success of the operation marked a major turning point in the harrowing war that held multiple nations in the grip of a maniacal tyrant. Now history… More
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Abstract and Applied Analysis
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 275494, 37 pages
Research Article
On the Behaviour of Singular Semigroups in Intermediate and Interpolation Spaces and Its Applications to Maximal Regularity for Degenerate Integro-Differential Evolution Equations
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato 5, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Received 6 May 2013; Accepted 25 June 2013
Academic Editor: Rodrigo Lopez Pouso
Copyright © 2013 Alberto Favaron and Angelo Favini. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
For those semigroups, which may have power type singularities and whose generators are abstract multivalued linear operators, we characterize the behaviour with respect to a certain set of intermediate and interpolation spaces. The obtained results are then applied to provide maximal time regularity for the solutions to a wide class of degenerate integro- and non-integro-differential evolution equations in Banach spaces.
1. Introduction
Let be a complex Banach space and let be a semigroup of operators on , which is generated by a multivalued linear operator and which may have a power type singularity at the origin , that is, for some nonnegative constant and nonpositive exponent , where denotes the Banach algebra of all endomorphisms of endowed with the uniform operator norm. In this context our aim here is twofold. The first is to characterize the behaviour of with respect to some intermediate and interpolation spaces between and the domain of . The second is to investigate how this behaviour reflects on the question of maximal time regularity for the solutions to a class of degenerate integro- and non-integrodifferential initial value problems in .
The class of operators we will deal with consists precisely of those multivalued linear operators whose single-valued resolvents satisfy the following estimate: Here, is the identity operator, is a positive constant, , and is the complex region , , . It thus happens (cf. [13]) that is the infinitesimal generator of a semigroup of linear bounded operators in satisfying (1) with , where .
To outline the motivations of our research, let us assume for a moment that is a single-valued linear operator satisfying (2). It is well known that if , then is the infinitesimal generator of a bounded analytic semigroup. For this case, an extensive literature exists concerning the behaviour of with respect to the real interpolation spaces , , , and its application to questions of maximal regularity for the solutions to nondegenerate (possibly nonautonomous) integro- and non-integrodifferential abstract Cauchy problems. See, for instance, [411]. Due to (1) with , the case of and is definitely worsened and the literature for it is considerably less conspicuous, although estimate of type (2), with in place of , goes back even to [12, Remark p. 383] in the ambit of Abel summable semigroups admitting uniform derivatives of all orders. One of the main problems with the case is that some equivalent characterizations of begin to fail (cf. [13]), so that some spaces which were just real interpolation spaces between and in the case become only intermediate spaces in the case . However, avoiding questions of interpolation theory and of maximal regularity, a quite satisfactorily semigroup theory for the single-valued case with and its application to the unique solvability of some concrete partial (non-integro-) differential equations have been developed in [1418]. Since the multivalued case embraces the single-valued one, our contribution in this field is to fill this gap, supplying a theory for the behaviour of singular semig intermediate and interpolation spaces which, in the case , reduces to that in [9, 11]. As an effect of this theory, there is the possibility of investigating questions of maximal time regularity for an entire class of nondegenerate evolution equations which does not fall within the case .
The case when is really a multivalued linear operator arises naturally when we shift our attention to degenerate evolution equations of the type considered in [13]. There, a semigroup theory for multivalued linear operators was introduced as a tool to handle degenerate equations by means of analogous techniques of the nondegenerate ones. Such a theory has been then successfully applied to questions of maximal regularity for the solutions to a wide class of degenerate integro- and non-integrodifferential equations. We quote [2, 1923] where, in general and unless , it is shown that the time regularity of the solutions decreases with respect to that of the data. In this respect, we mention the recent results in [20] where, under an additional condition of space regularity on the data and provided that and are large enough, the loss of time regularity is restored. Regrettably (cf. the appendix below), we have found some inaccuracies in [20, Section 4], and for this reason we must indicate some changes to that paper. On the other side, fortunately, the basic idea in [20] is correct and remedy can be applied to all the inappropriate items. Furthermore, unexpectedly, we will see that the more delicate approach followed in this paper not only corrects the mistakes in [20], but also gives rise to an effective improvement of the achievable results. In fact, here, we will straighten out, refine, and extend [20], enlarging the class of the admissible spaces to which the data may belong, weakening the assumption for the pair , and complicating the structure of the underlying equations. This is why we will first analyze the behaviour of the semigroup generated by with respect to some intermediate and interpolation spaces which turn out to be equivalent only in the case . Indeed, the phenomena exhibited in [13] for the single-valued case extend to the multivalued one (cf. [24]), and, until now, for the mentioned behaviour there exist no more than some partial results obtained in [2, 19, 24].
We now give the detailed plan of the paper. In Section 2, for a multivalued linear operator having domain and satisfying (2), we introduce the corresponding generated semigroup . This leads us to define also the linear bounded operators , , , () and to recall the fundamental estimates for their -norm. For the operators a semigroup type property is proven in Proposition 1. We then introduce the spaces we will deal with in this paper, that is, the interpolation spaces and the spaces, , . Special attention is given to the embeddings linking these two classes of spaces which, in general, are equivalent only in the case . Some relations existing between the spaces for different values of and are proven in Proposition 2 and discussed in Remarks 35. We conclude the section recalling the estimates proven in [19, 24] for the norms , , and , . In Remarks 7 and 8 we explain why, unless we renounce to optimality, in the case these estimates can not be directly extended to the norms and , , respectively.
In Section 3, we investigate the behaviour of the operators with respect to both of the spaces and . First, in Proposition 9, we deal with the norms , , and we show that, except for replacing with if and with if , the same estimates of [19] for the norms continue to hold. The second significant result is Proposition 12 where, extending those in [24] to values of other than one, we establish estimates for the norms , , . As a byproduct we deduce the basic Corollary 14, which in Section 5 will be a key tool in proving the equivalence between the following problem (3) and the fixed-point equation (179). The estimates in Proposition 12 are then merged together with those in [19] to achieve estimates for the norms , . In particular, two different estimates are obtained, if or not. For if , then (cf. the proof of Proposition 16) we can take advantage of the reiteration theorem for interpolation spaces and obtain estimates that, unless , are better than those rougher estimates derived in the general case (see Remarks 17 and 18). We stress that if , and is single-valued, then we restore the estimates in [9]. Finally, in Proposition 20, a combination of Propositions 9 and 12 yields the estimate for the norms , . Since , the spaces are, in general, only intermediate spaces between and for ; here the reiteration theorem does not apply and a weaker result is obtained (cf. (101)–(103)).
The estimates of Section 3 are applied in Section 4 to study the time regularity of those operator functions , , that we will need in Section 5. In particular (cf. formula (106)), we modify the definition of in [20, Section 4] in order that it is well defined, at least when acting on functions , (cf. Corollary 26). Consequently, operators and in [20] change too, and the new and should be introduced (cf. formulae (107)–(110)). The Hölder in time regularity of the ’s is characterized in Lemmas 22, 24, 30, and 32 and Propositions 29 and 36. The main feature of these results is to show that the loss of regularity produced by and can be restored, in and respectively, employing the regularization property established in [20, Section 3] for a wide range of general convolution operators.
In Section 5 we analyze the maximal time regularity of the strict solutions to the following class of degenerate integrodifferential equations in a complex Banach space : Here, , , , , , , whereas, being another complex Banach space and being a bilinear bounded operator, , and , . Of course, if , then may be the scalar multiplication in . As , , and , , we take closed single-valued linear operators from to itself, whose domains fulfill the relation , and we require to have a bounded inverse, allowing to be not invertible. Hence, in general, is only a multivalued linear operator in having domain . Assuming that satisfies (2) and that the data , , and , , , are suitably chosen, problem (3) is then reduced to an equivalent fixed point-equation for the new unknown , . It is here that the results of Sections 3 and 4 play their role, leading us to Theorem 48. In that theorem, provided that , we will prove that if , , , , and for opportunely chosen , , , and , , , then problem (3) has a unique strict solution satisfying and , where (cf. Remark 51). Section 5 concludes with applications of Theorem 48 to integral and nonintegral subcases of (3), (cf. Theorems 5254 and 56). We stress that Theorem 48 repairs, generalizes, and improves [20, Theorems 5.6 and 5.7], where similar results were proven only for the case and under the stronger condition .
In Section 6, we give an application of Theorem 48 to a concrete case of problem (3) arising in the theory of heat conduction for materials with memory. In particular, we show how Theorem 48 characterizes the appropriate functional framework where to search for the solution of the inverse problem of recovering both and the vector , , in (3) with and , .
Finally, in the Appendix we explain how to amend [20, Theorems 5.6 and 5.7] in accordance to Theorem 48.
2. Multivalued Linear Operators, Singular Semigroups, and the Spaces and
Let be a complex Banach space endowed with norm and let be the collection of all the subsets of . For a number and elements , , and denote the subsets of defined by and , respectively. Then, a mapping from into is called a multivalued linear operator in if its domain is a linear subspace of and satisfies the following: (i) , for all ; (ii) , for all , for all . From now on, the shortening m. l. will be always used for multivalued linear.
The set is called the range of . If , then is said to be surjective. The following properties of a m. l. operator are immediate consequences of its definition (cf. [1, Theorems 2.1 and 2.2]): (iii) , for all; (iv) , for all, for all; (v) is a linear subspace of and for any , . In particular, is single-valued if and only if .
If is an m. l. operator in , then its inverse is defined to be the operator having domain such that , . is an m. l. operator in too, and . The set is called the kernel of and denoted by . If ; that is, if is single-valued, then is said to be injective. Observe that (v) yields if and only if .
Given , we write , so that, in particular, . If , are m. l. operators in and , then the scalar multiplication , the sum , and the product are defined by where , and are m. l. operators in and .
Let and be m. l. operators in . We write if and for every . Clearly, if and only if . If and for every , then is called an extension of . If a linear single-valued operator has domain and , that is, for every , then is called a section of . With an arbitrary section , it holds , , and , but this latter sum may or may not be direct (cf. [25, p. 14]). A method for constructing sections is provided in [25, Proposition ].
If , , are two complex Banach spaces, then the linear space of all bounded single-valued linear operators from to is denoted by ( if ) and it is equipped with the uniform operator norm . Then the resolvent set of a m. l. operator is defined to be the set , with being the identity operator in . The basic properties of the resolvent set of single-valued linear operators hold the same for m. l. operators. First, if , then is closed; that is, its graph is closed (cf. [25, p. 43]). Further (cf. [1, Theorem 2.6]), is an open set and the operator function is holomorphic. Finally (cf. [1, formula ]), the resolvent equation , , is satisfied, too. Unlike the single-valued case, instead, for the following inclusions hold (cf. [1, Theorem 2.7]): Then, in general, , , is only a bounded section of the m. l. operator . Throughout this paper, we denote this bounded section by , but we warn the reader that here does not necessarily denote a section of itself. Of course, if is single-valued, then reduces to . Notice that (5) implies that , , is single-valued on and with any , . Another difference with the single-valued case is that for every it holds . Indeed, . Therefore, in the m. l. case, , . However (cf. [24, Lemma 2.1]), if , then , and, in addition, if and only if , . We also recall that for every the following slight variants of the resolvent equation hold (cf. [24, Lemma 2.2]): In particular, if , then, since , the first in (6) with yields ; that is, Let be a m. l. operator in satisfying the following resolvent condition: (H1) contains a region ,, , and for some exponent and constant the following estimate holds: Introduce the family defined by and where is the contour parametrized by , . Then (cf. [1, pp. 360, 361]), is a semigroup on , infinitely many times strongly differentiable for with where . In general, no analyticity should be expected for . For if in , then does not contain any sector , , and [15, Theorem 5.3], which extends analytically to the sector containing the positive real axis, is not applicable. We stress that (9) and , , imply for every , whereas . Hence, if is really an m. l. operator, then . From the semigroup property it also follows that for .
Now, for every such that we set Here, for the multivalued function we choose the principal branch holomorphic in the region , where for principal branch we mean the principal determination of . We briefly recall the main properties of operators . Of course, , . As shown in [26, p. 426], , , , is a section of , so that from (10) we get Moreover (cf. [19, formula (22)] with being replaced by ), we get Finally, implies the following estimates (cf. [1, 24]): where the ’s are positive constants depending on , , and . Thus, letting in (14), we see that if , then the operator function may be singular at the origin and the semigroup is not necessarily strongly continuous in the -norm on the closure of in . Notice that if , then the singularity is a weak one, in the sense that is integrable in norm in any interval , . Further (cf. [24, Lemma 3.9]), if , then , and if , then for every .
Observe that , , , so that , . The operators satisfy the following semigroup type property.
Proposition 1. Let , , and let , . Then
Proof. First, the function being holomorphic for every and , and the contour in (11) with can be replaced with the contour parametrized by , , , and lies to the right of . Then, for every , from the resolvent equation we obtain Now, after having enclosed and on the left with an arc of the circle , , we apply the residue theorem and let go to infinity. To this purpose, we observe that since the contours and both lie in the half-plane , the arc may be parametrized in polar coordinates by , , . Then, for every we have Since and , the right-hand side of the latter inequality goes to zero as goes to infinity, so that for every and . The residue theorem together with the fact that lies to the right of thus yields and . Replacing these identities in (16) and using the equality which is satisfied for the principal branch of the function , we finally find The right-hand side being precisely , the proof is complete.
For an m. l. operator satisfying we introduce now the spaces and . We first specify a topology on equipping it with the norm , . Since , this norm is equivalent to the graph norm and makes a complex Banach space (cf. [2, Proposition 1.11]). As and being given normed complex linear spaces, we will write if and there exists a positive constant such that for every . If , that is, if and the norms and are equivalent, then we will write . Of course, with the norm satisfies . In fact, if , then for every we have , so that . Taking the infimum with respect to , we thus find for every . If is a Banach space, we denote by the set of all continuos functions from to , and for a -valued strongly measurable function , , we set , , and . Let or let , and for define if and if . Let us set This characterization of the spaces is that obtained by the so-called “mean-methods”, and it is equivalent to that performed by the “K-method" (cf. [27, Theorem and Remark 1.5.2/2]) and the “trace-method” (cf. [27, Theorem 1.8.2]). Then, due to [27, Theorem 1.3.3], for every and the space is an exact real interpolation space of exponent between and . Observe that by exchanging the role of and and performing the transformation , we get . Also, if , then (cf. [27, Theorem ]). The definition of the spaces is meaningful even for the limiting cases , , whereas , , , reduces to the zero element of . In particular (cf. [28, pp. 10–15]), denoting by the completion of relative to and endowing it with the norm in [28, p. 14], we get and . Let and let , . Then, for and , , the following chain of embeddings holds: Let . Recall that a Banach space is said to be of class and shortened to , if is an intermediate space between and , that is, if . From (20) it thus follows that , for every and . Moreover, since , , and , we have and . Then (cf. [28, p. 12], [27, Theorem ], and [9, Section ]), for and , , the reiteration theorem yields Finally (cf. [29, Theorem 1.II and Remark 1.III]), we recall that if and are two complex Banach spaces and is such that , , , then , , , and As a consequence of this general result and the identity from the third in (21) we find that if is such that and , then , , , , and the following estimate holds: Notice that here for every . Therefore, if we let and let , then , , and . Hence, in order that the additional inequalities , , are satisfied, we have to choose . As we will see this simple observation will be the key for the proof of the second estimates (90) in the following Proposition 16.
We recall that for every fixed the map satisfies , and . Then (22) with , and yields the interpolation inequality: with being the positive constant depending on and such that .
As another application of (22) and for further needs, we also recall that if satisfies , then satisfies the estimate (cf. [24, formulae (4.16) and (4.17)]).
Consider From (26), using (22) with , , and , it then follows for every and where is the positive constant depending on and such that .
For and we now define the Banach spaces by It is a well-known fact that if is single-valued and in , then (cf. [30, Theorem 3.1] and [27, Theorem ]). On the contrary, if , then such an equivalence is no longer true, as first observed in [13, Theorem 2] for single-valued operators and, in the case , in [2, Theorem 1.12] for the m. l. ones. Recently, extending [13] to m. l. operators and [2] to , in [24, Proposition 4.3] it has been shown that the following embedding relations hold: Then, as in the single-valued case, if in (H1). More precisely (see the proof of [24, Proposition 4.3]), if , , , then whereas if , , , then with being a positive constant depending on , and .
By setting , , from (30) it follows Then, if , the spaces , , , are intermediate spaces between and only for , whereas, when , they may be smaller than . In any case, when , it is not known if the spaces , , , are only intermediate or just interpolation spaces between and .
Notice that , , . Indeed, assume that there exists such that for some and . Then, since , , we have for every and , contradicting . This property plays a key role in the proof of many of the results in [24]. Further, due to (30), it implies that , , . On the contrary, since may be a proper subset of for , , in general it is not true that . This is true, instead, if . In this case the topological direct sum is a closed subspace of , and if is reflexive, it coincides with the whole (cf. [3, Theorems 2.4 and 2.6]).
For every and from (27), (29), and (31) it follows Hence, for and we may rewrite (27) and (34) more compactly as where and is equal to or according that or .
With the exception of the case , in general it is not clear if embeddings analogous to (20) hold even for the spaces . In fact, using (20), (29), and (30) we can only prove that if and , then whereas if and , then What can be proved without invoking (20), (29), and (30) and using only the definition of the norm is instead the following result, which extends to the spaces the embeddings , and , , (cf. (20) with and ).
Proposition 2. Let be an m. l. operator satisfying the resolvent condition (H1). Then the following embeddings hold for every and :
Proof. If in (H1), then there is nothing to prove since and both (38) and (39) follow from (20). Therefore, without loss of generality, we assume that is such that if . We begin by proving (38). Let first . For every , , we write where . Using the first inequality in (26) we find where . Concerning , instead, using , we get Summing up (40)–(43) and setting , it thus follows , completing the proof of (38) in the case . Let . For every , , we write where , , , . Again, the first inequality in (26) yields Instead, using , we have Summing up (44)–(46) and setting , we thus find . This completes the proof of (38) for the case . We now prove (39). Due to (38) with , it suffices to assume that . As above, for every , , we write , where and are defined by (41). Hence, the same computations as in (42) yield As far as is concerned, instead, we have where . Summing up (47) and (48) and setting , we deduce . The proof is complete.
Remark 3. Notice that (37) with yields , , and this latter embedding is less accurate than (38).
Remark 4. The main problem for extending (20) to the spaces in the case is that it is not clear if it holds | http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aaa/2013/275494/ | dclm-gs1-000895529 | false | true | {
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0.044912 | <urn:uuid:9a99975e-3989-4e7f-9d9c-b5d6f5451adc> | en | 0.963339 | Huffpost Media
The Blog
Glynnis MacNicol Headshot
Why Glenn Beck Could Be The Next Oprah Winfrey
Posted: Updated:
Let the games begin! Now that Oprah Winfrey has officially decided to end her talk show the race is on to find her daytime replacement. Brian Stelter pens a speculative piece in today's Times about the possible contenders for Oprah's crown:
Already, she has groomed another decade's worth of new talk show hosts. She ordained Mr. McGraw in 2002, and his talk show, "Dr. Phil," now ranks second behind her own hour. She followed up with "Rachael Ray" in 2006 and "The Dr. Oz Show" this fall. "Dr. Oz" is already a hit. And now she is developing a program for Nate Berkus, her favorite interior designer, for fall 2010...The shake-up may also make more room for lower-rated talk shows by Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks and Bonnie Hunt, among others. Looking farther afield, Ms. Couric, whose CBS News contract is up in 2011, has long been mentioned as a possible syndicated star.
All great ideas, and it would certainly be interesting to see Couric try and rekindle her daytime fan base. That said, it's hard to envision any of these people filling Oprah's shoes. While she certainly started out as merely a popular talk show host, Oprah became in the last decade or so, evolved into a sort of national mentor around whose ideas and beliefs people (the country, one might argue) shaped their outlook on life. Probably it's safe to say no one is taking life advice from Katie Couric, or Ellen, or Tyra Banks. Know who some people are taking life advice from these days? Glenn Beck.
Yes, granted it's a different sort of life advice -- I'm fairly certain that Oprah never went on a weeks-long diatribe comparing anyone to Chairman Mao -- but different times call for different media stars! And Glenn Beck is nothing if not a media star to fit our politicized, polarized times. Instead of the Oprah life philosophy, which taught us to take responsibility for our own actions, Beck wants us to take responsibility for our politics (I think...sometimes his theories are difficult to keep up with amidst all the chalkboard razzle-dazzle).
Beck has already drawn Oprah comparisons from the New York Times, no less, for his Winfrey-like effect on book sales. However, this weekend's much-covered announcement of his 100 year plan elevates him to the realm of (potential) movement leaders. I still don't think Beck has his eyes on the presidency (and in the words of James Poniewozik, "I don't believe that I have done anything to deserve being that lucky as a columnist") but read the following statement from Beck regarding his 'plan" and then swap in diet, or food, or 'best life now' (or the Secret) for freedom, or values, or founders...and voila! You have a somewhat scary successor to the 90's Oprah phenom.
The question (or one of them) obviously remains: Will Beck still have the media clout necessary to summon crowds of people at "the feet of Abraham Lincoln on the National Mall for the unveiling of The Plan and the birthday of a new national movement to restore our great country" come August 28, 2010? Who knows. Oprah benefited from a media cycle that was mostly under her control. Also, she has years of success under her belt before launching into movement-like undertakings such as the Angel Network, or Living Your Best Life Now, etc. Glenn Beck has only actually been a national media phenom since roughly August; next August is a ways away in our current media and political cycle. Also, love her or not, Oprah was not perceived by much of the population as being unhinged. However, that said, judging by the current ratings a certain cable news channel enjoys (not to mention the pop stars du jour) the public apparently prefers their media figures as unhinged as possible. | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glynnis-macnicol/why-glenn-beck-could-be-t_b_368201.html | dclm-gs1-000985529 | false | false | {
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0.019351 | <urn:uuid:ec060008-13f0-4ac7-a2b3-2f84e67e7e39> | en | 0.963392 | Abducted and abused in the name of an ethnic civil war
Chimir has little chance of seeing his family ever again. After a childhood in brutal captivity, he doesn't remember his parents' names, writes Caroline Hawley
CHIMIR AMEL thinks he is 14, although he looks younger. He has not seen his family for several years. A Dinka from southern Sudan, he was abducted from his village by Arab militiamen. He does not know exactly when it happened - he was too small to remember. What he does recall is a childhood that no one should have to endure.
Quietly, almost inaudibly, he tells how he was forced to work as a goatherd for an Arab family, how he lost a goat one day and was made to hold a piece of burning charcoal in his hand as punishment, how they broke his teeth and how, eventually, he ran away and sought refuge with another Arab family who treated him well and sent him to school.
Chimir was found there five months ago by a committee of Dinka chiefs formed to try to trace the thousands of children abducted during 16 years of civil war in southern Sudan. He has now been brought to Khartoum along with several others whose cases are expected to take a long time to solve.
Good news has just come for a little boy called Garang, thought to be about five years old. He was abducted when he was about two, but the committee says it has now managed to track down his father, through other Dinkas who know the family. But Chimir's chances of going home in the near future are slim at best: he does not even remember his parents' names.
Chimir and Garang are among countless children whose lives have been torn apart by Sudan's civil war. As many as 2 million people are thought to have died, either directly or as a result of famine caused by the war, while more than 4 million people have been displaced - half of them children. Many now live in dismal slums on the outskirts of Khartoum.
Hundreds of thousands of children - most of them southerners - end up on the streets of the capital. "The main factor is that their families are too poor to feed and clothe them," said Hashim Zakaria, director of a local aid organisation, the Sudanese Popular Committee for Relief and Rehabilitation. "Some of them have also been forced on to the streets because they have lost their parents."
In the early 1990s, the government swept many street children into camps outside Khartoum where they were forced to speak Arabic and were given Muslim names. Some were sent to fight in the south. The camps have now been disbanded, but the problem of street children has only got worse.
Africa's largest country has been devastated by civil war between the Muslim north and the mainly Christian and animist south. The government is thought to spend $1m a day on the conflict - money that is desperately needed elsewhere.
Government hospitals in Khartoum had to stop performing all major surgery last week because the capital's central medical laboratory had run out of chemicals to test blood for HIV and hepatitis. "If I have an emergency now, I'll have to give them untested blood," said the director of emergencies at one Khartoum hospital. "It's a big dilemma - while trying to
treat them I may also be making them ill with something else." Medical treatment that used to be free now comes at a cost that few Sudanese can afford.
Doctors say health services have deteriorated dramatically as they have received less and less public funding. "In rural areas, staff at government clinics are paid irregularly, if at all," said a doctor working with the French organisation, Medecins sans Frontieres. "Essential drugs are routinely not available."
The education system has suffered similarly. "There's a shortage of government schools and even in those schools some fees are required," said Mr Zakaria. "We did a survey in Khartoum six months ago that found that 40 per cent of children of school age weren't going to school because their parents couldn't afford the fees and the food they would eat there."
Not surprisingly, most Sudanese are now desperate for change. "Every day, people are dying at the front," one young man said. "What a waste. If the war ended this country could be transformed."
A glimmer of hope has come from an unexpected quarter: the power struggle within Sudan's Islamist leadership. President Omar el-Bashir has ditched his eminence grise, Hassan al-Turabi, the parliamentary speaker, dissolving the legislature and calling a state of emergency. Mr Turabi is deeply unpopular, and there are now hopes that Mr Bashir will push ahead with efforts to achieve political reconciliation in the north and peace in the south.
But it is an enormously complex conflict, of which the last 16 years of bloodshed are only the latest bout. Many in the international community are concerned that recent American moves to provide food aid to the main southern rebel group, the SPLA - if they go ahead - will only prolong the war. There is also a risk that the power struggle between Mr Bashir and Mr Turabi could turn violent, dragging Sudan into yet more bloodshed.
The Sudanese people, already impoverished, can ill afford further conflict. Many people, especially the displaced, are expected to go hungry in the year 2000.
"The main problem we face now is that although there are food surpluses in some areas, the poor can't afford to eat properly," said Mr Zakaria. "And when you have poverty you have children forced on to the streets. We expect the number of street children to increase next year."
As long as the war continues, there will also be little hope of any real solution to the plight of the thousands of children, like Chimir, who have been abducted and abused as part of the conflict.
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0.288373 | <urn:uuid:cc20391d-d5fd-4f86-9664-190601689885> | en | 0.907509 | Auditor's Opinion
DEFINITION of 'Auditor's Opinion'
A certification that accompanies financial statements and is provided by the independent accountants who audit a company's books and records and help produce the financial statements. The auditor's opinion will set out the scope of the audit, the accountant's opinion of the procedures and records used to produce the statements, and the accountant's opinion of whether or not the financial statements present an accurate picture of the company's financial condition.
There are generally three types of auditor's opinions. A "clean" or unqualified opinion states that the financial statements present a fair and accurate picture of the company and comply with generally accepted accounting principles. A qualified opinion contains exceptions, which may include the scope of the audit.
An adverse opinion contains a major exception or warning. The most well-known adverse opinion is the "going-concern" exception, in which the accountant expresses doubts about the company's ability to remain in business.
1. Statutory Audit
A legally required review of the accuracy of a company's or government's ...
2. Audit Committee
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A professional person who performs accounting functions such ...
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0.030101 | <urn:uuid:a34205e0-ddad-4195-a6d4-b1bbfa4c076c> | en | 0.978745 | Castaway’s odd land diet helped him at sea
Comment on this story
iol pic wld New Zealand Sea Survior~2
Chocohuital - Well before his incredible tale of survival in a 13-month Pacific odyssey, Jose Salvador Alvarenga consumed raw fish and turtle blood in his Mexican fishing village - the very things that saved him at sea.
Fellow fishermen in Chocohuital, a village nestled on a lagoon in the southern state of Chiapas, remember Alvarenga as a good man with a quirky diet that they say gives credence to his amazing story.
The burly man they knew as “La Chancha”, the Spanish word for a sow, would gobble up anything, including dog food.
“He wasn't picky. He ate everything. When he grabbed sardines, which we use as bait, we would tell him 'no, Chancha!' But he would say with his husky voice, ‘Yes, you have to try everything’,” his boss Bellardino Rodriguez said in an interview.
Alvarenga, a 37-year-old native of El Salvador, has claimed that he survived more than a year lost in the Pacific after leaving Chocohuital on a fishing expedition aboard a seven-metre fibreglass boat in late 2012.
iol pic wld_PACIFIC-CASTAWAY-_0204_11 Fishermen push their boat into the sea in the fishing town of Ahuchapan, the hometown of castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga. Picture: Ulises Rodriguez Reuters
Alvarenga says he endured the 12 500km journey - which ended in the Marshall Islands last Thursday - by eating raw birds and fish as well as drinking turtle blood, his own urine and rainwater.
But Alvarenga has told AFP that a teenager named Ezequiel who had been with him for what was supposed to have been a one-day fishing trip couldn't stomach the raw diet and starved to death.
After the pair disappeared 13 months ago, fishermen in Chocohuital say they searched for them for four days with the help of a government helicopter to no avail.
Rodriguez said Alvarenga had found his young assistant minutes before setting out to sea.
But once out, they were caught by powerful northern winds. Then their engine, their GPS system and their radio broke down.
In a final radio call, Rodriguez recalled, Alvarenga said: “The swells are more than four metres high. They're godawful!”
Officials in the Marshall Islands said Alvarenga would depart the tiny Pacific nation on Friday for Hawaii, before travelling on to El Salvador or Mexico.
This past week, the fishermen were awestruck when they saw images of Alvarenga on their small television. He had a bushy beard and was walking slowly.
To Rodriguez, his friend looked “weak, with a puffy face”.
“He was strong, muscular.”
But not his friends in Chocohuital.
Rodriguez said the boat seen in news footage belongs to the community.
“It's from here. It has the licence number and the name of our co-operative,” he said, noting that the vessel was also covered in small seashells that latch on at sea and that fishermen usually remove.
“This man ate everything. He would even eat dog food,” Velazquez said. “He would tell us: One day, I'll have to stay at sea.”
Local people believe turtles have magical effects on health, but “La Chancha” drank their blood because he liked it, so it was little surprising for his friends that he consumed it to stay alive.
“He would drink the turtle blood. I have tried it, but because I was sick with asthma and when it was over, I stopped drinking it,” Velazquez said.
Guillermina Morales, a woman who runs an eatery for the fishermen, doubted that Alvarenga, who moved to Mexico 15 years ago, had lost his head.
“How could he be crazy? If he was crazy, he wouldn't have survived. Here, he acted like an honourable and working man,” she said. “He was also brave.”
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0.275732 | <urn:uuid:7b9d5b3b-d8be-482d-b832-1322ef4b74a9> | en | 0.949306 |
Around 300,000 Jews lived in Spain before the 'Reyes Catolicos', Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand, ordered Jews and Muslims to convert to the Catholic faith or leave the country.
The law, which was first unveiled in February, potentially allows an estimated 3.5 million Sephardic Jews whose ancestors settled in countries such as Israel, France, the United States, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina and Chile to apply for Spanish nationality.
Applicants must prove their Sephardic background through a certificate from the federation of the Jewish community in Spain or from the head of the Jewish community in which they reside, through their language or ancestry.
Spanish law does not normally allow dual citizenship except for people from neighbouring Andorra or Portugal or former colonies such as the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea or Latin American countries.
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0.05771 | <urn:uuid:c15dfdf6-9d37-44ec-a0bb-dd8f1a815725> | en | 0.958247 | Venetian Style Italian Food | Italy
Venetian Style Italian Food
Venetian Taste by Chef Francesco Antonucci
Italian Food Recipies
Venice, La Serenissima, once supreme in its world, is ever sublime. This floating tapestry of 117 islands, a fantasy of lacy bridges and shrouded alleyways, of gilded palaces and dark canals, of romance and mystery, of fleeting images and lingering reflection, is a city of mists and sunshine that exists at the mercy of the moon-driven tides.
At one time the most important place on the planet, a crossroads for traders and travelers between east and west, north and south, it remains the most magical. In Lord Byron's words, "as from the stroke of an enchanter's wand: The revel of the earth, the masque of Italy!"
This fabulous realm that used sequins for currency, as if at a party, was governed by aristocrats of a mercantile disposition, whose turn of mind was so pragmatic that they also invented the stock exchange. In addition they controlled the quality of the rest of Europe's food. The Allure of the East appealed to the Venetian taste for the extravagant and irresistible to Marco Polo, who embodied the essence of the adventurous, inquisitive Venetian Spirit.
Venice became a place of mystically glittering Byzantine mosaics, serpentine arabesques, fantastic color, and above all, a panoply of rich and exotic flavors.
In this vibrant kingdom that enjoyed independence for one thousand years, a cuisine of similar distinction evolved and today, in a world of disappearing cultural borders, the delicately forthright cooking of Venice and style of presentation retain their uncommon character.
Venice is above all, a proud city of the sea. In that shadowy time between ancient Rome and medieval Europe, the city's first settlements were on the beach at what is now the Lido. The early Venetians lived in a fragile water-bound fortress to protect themselves from predatory hordes on land. As the populace grew, so did the settlement and its power.
The Venetians began trading in salt and fish, built their boats, and from the 10th century on, under the leadership of successive doges (dialect for "Leader," dux in Latin, duce in Italian), expanded their sphere of influence first toward Byzantium to the east then to the Levant to the south, and eventually overland in Italy and in the rest of Europe. The Adriatic became Venice's second Lagoon.
To their commerce in salt and fish, the intrepid Venetians added a priceless catalogue of spices, pepper, ginger, saffron, cloves, and nutmeg. Then sugar brought from India and refined in Venice enriched the city's coffers as it sweetened the food of all Europe.
A fleet with ships built in the dockyards of the Arsenal made war to advance mercantile ambitions. Venetians joined the Crusades from the 12th to the 14th centuries, primarily because they understood that commerce could develop along the route rather than because of religious fervor. In fact, Venice was the only city-state in Itasly never to submit to the control of the pope. "Venetians first, then Christians" (veneziani, poi cristiani) was the saying. Venice's independent spirit, supported by its power gave it the determination to resist the advances of the Turks, the Milanese, the Vatican, and the French and also made it a haven for political exiles from the internecine feuds in Florence and other provinces. Visitors like Jacopo d' Albizzotto Guidi, who came from Florence 1427, described the fruiterers, poultry merchants, butchers, and wine sellers along streets also filled with goldsmiths, embroiderers, and vendors of tapestry.
The city was at the pinnacle of wealth influence in the 15th century. Though it had lost some of its possessions in the Aegean Sea to the marauding Turks, Venice was still flourishing by the dawn of the 17th century, when John Evelyn, an English visitor described it as "one of the most miraculously placed of any in the whole world, built on so many hundreds of Islands in the very sea, and at a good distance from the continent."
Within one hundred years, having been embroiled in costly wars with the French, Spanish, and resurgent Turks, the republic had relinquished much of its empire. "The great days of Venice are over," said the French ambassador in 1718, after a peace treaty ending the War of the Spanish Succession was signed. "The city, however, remains a perpetual delight."
Throughout the 19th century a time of occupation first by Napoleon then by Austria, Venice continued to fascinate artists, writers, and musicians, who by 1846 could travel by train across the new bridge from Mestre on the mainland. Just as the complex harmonies of Vivaldi, the glowing artistry of Bellini and Titian, the theatricity of Goldoni and the Carnevale, the imagination of such writers as Casanova were nurtured in Venice, the pens of others like Russkin, Browning, Sand, Mann, Proust, and Hemingway, and the brushes of Turner and Sargent would similarly be inspired. Its artistic wealth was eventually enriched by the long-term residence and legacy of Peggy Guggenheim in the 20th century.
Although Venice no longer boasted a huge merchant fleet, it turned to the wealth of its glass and gold, to tourism and fishing, activities it maintains with renewed vigor today.
Even without the might of a far-flung empire, Venice still depends on the bounty of the sea. Its cuisine not only is based on seafood but also celebrates the abundance of market gardens on outlying islands, farms of the hinterlands, and curiosities from around and expanded world that are constantly brought to its kitchens. And only as the Venetians can, they flavor all this with millennia of dramatic, luminescent history, with spices and herbs, from afar, and with the shimmering inspiration of its water and light.
Here polenta is the color of saffron and rice is tinted with the ink of cuttlefish. Flower blossoms are friend or candied and eaten for their color as much as for their elusive, faintly aromatic flavor. Scents of ginger, nutmeg, mace, licorice, tarragon, and even curry tease in the countless dishes. Ethereal dessert is fancifully dubbed "pick-me-up." The haunting dark fragrance of coffee perfumes the air.
Fish is central to the table. Little birds are preferred to larger game. Meat comes in translucent, saline slices of prosciutto, the rosy transparencies of carpaccio, or stir-fried slivers of fegato alla veneziana, a classic of Venetian cuisine that says it all: Asian stir-fry sweetly flavored with caramelized onion and edged with a touch of acid.
The bitterness of radicchio, the sweet and sour of many marinades, the pungency of olives and anchovies, are all part of the Venetian table. But there is always a lightness, a refusal to mask with heavy sauces, an insistence on freshness and balance, that dignifies the cuisine.
Venice was an early laboratory (and warehouse) important in the development of fine European cooking. Venetian merchants introduced such now-basic ingredients as sugar, rice, and coffee to the continent and long held a monopoly on the distribution of salt and pepper. If the morsels of food in a dish like fegato alla veneziana were bite-size, they were not cut small just to enhance the cooking, but to allow the fastidious Venetians to pick them up with their forks at a time when the rest of Europe was still licking its fingers. Forks and glassware were first used on the Venetian table. By the 16th century the cuisine was renowned throughout Europe for its delicacy. The artistry of thousands of unnamed craftsmen working in silk, lace, and lustrous glass has shaped the Venetian table.
The first Venetian cookbook, a six-volume work by Bartolomeo Scappi, was published in 1610. A Venetian of the period, Gerolamo Zanetti, compared the cooking of France unfavorably with that of his own city, writing that "French cooks have ruined Venetian stomachs with sauces, broths, extracts, meat and fish transformed to such point that they are scarcely recognizable."
Tourists today are often surprised at the simplicity of the food and at the similarity of the menus from restaurant to restaurant. While revelers at Carnevale go about disguised as birds and mountebanks, the cuisine does not stoop to artifice for flavor. Ultimately the food of Venice comes to the table embellished and distinguished, ever so subtly, by Byzantine, Turkish, Dalmatian, Persian, Spanish, Jewish, Austrian, Indian, African, and even Chinese notions.
Venetian food is not the cooking of Venice alone. There are three "Venices" that look to the city. Venezia Euganea, the area more often known as the Veneto, with Venice as its capital, extends from the gulf of Venice westward to the Lake of Garda and includes the cities of Padua, Verona, Vicenza, and Breganze. Treviso, a beautiful city of villas north of Venice, is also in the Veneto and shares the cuisine of seafood, grains and vegetables.
In Cortina d'Ampezzo the ski resort in the dolomites where the Veneto stretches to the Austrian border, the food is rustic and more Germanic than Italian, as it is in the neighboring province of the Alto Adige, also known as the Venezia Tridentina, situated between the Veneto and the borders of Austria and Switzerland. Here Dumplings replace gnocchi, slabs of pork sausage fortify the polenta, and bollito mistro anchors the main course. If there is fish, it is likely to be mountain trout. Strudel graces the dessert table.
To the east of Venice lies Friuli, or Venezia Giuliana where the sea marries hearty mountain cooking. Potato soup, roast pork, and cabbage dominate the table in the northern part of the region, while at lower elevations and nearer the sea, artichokes, asparagus and seafood reappear. Like the Veneto, Friuli is known for its wines.
In the world of contemporary cuisines, regional cooking everywhere is being eroded by the tides of trendy notions. The delight and surprise of seasonality have fallen victim to technology and global marketing. But the food of the Venice region continues to celebrate market freshness. While maintaining its tradition of fusing and interpreting many influences, it has also managed to sustain a unique, intriguing and often seductive simplicity.
The Venetian table is essentially a frugal one, and its cooks, like those in other parts of Italy, depend on the quality of the ingredients rather than elaborate techniques. Then, once the dish is done, it may be worthy of presentation in a great and frivolous display of Venetian glass, lace, silver, and linen.
The vision of Remi, an expanding, and almost doge-like culinary empire based in New York, with outposts in Santa Monica, Mexico City Tel Aviv, and eventually elsewhere, is to understand the past, reflect the present, and without compromising the integrity of what Venice and its food represent, evolve into the future.
The restaurant, a realization of the combined efforts of Adam D. Tihany, the brilliant designer whose Venetian sensibility led to its conception, and Francesco Antonucci, its chef, co-owner, and one of Venice's most outspoken culinary ambassadors, is named for the gondolier's oar. Like the oar it is sleek, stylish, and traditional yet finely crafted to cut the water and stay ahead of the next wave.
"I think it's very important to keep the typical symbolic dishes of Venice alive, and to make sure they do not become phony or watered down," says Antonucci. "But at the same time, I think we can use these dishes as the basis for a contemporary cooking that draws on ideas from all over the Mediterranean and that responds to the new more sophisticated American and international taste."
Venice, described by the foods writer Waverly Root as "a stage setting for an extravaganza," is on Antonucci's mind as he cooks and thinks about food. He brings his heritage to the market and the kitchen.
As for Tihany, he dreams of Venice, the city he has evoked in Remi-New York, a narrow curving canal of a space fitted with bridging arches, a colorful face-like mural, glittering Murano chandeliers, and snappy maritime stripes. He would take to heart the words of Henry III of France upon his first visit to Venice. "If I were not the king of France, I would choose to be a citizen of Venice."
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Shopping Portals Offer the Best Prices on the Web
When you're looking for the best possible prices on the web, where do you go? Web shoppers used to hit the major search engines when they were looking for gifts and products. But these days, they skip the middleman and head directly for shopping portals and shopping comparison sites, where they'll find the best deals and the best selection of products to buy. Why are shopping portal sites becoming so popular?
The Best Deals Regardless of Size
When you search for products on the major search engines like Yahoo!, Google and Bing, you'll see the same sites in the top search results search after search after search, and they're almost always names you recognize. The top retail stores have the cash to dominate the search results and drive all traffic to their own sites. That doesn't just hurt the little websites like your local toy or hardware store, it also makes it harder for you to find the best prices. Even comparison sites that promise to show you the top results with the best prices let the big players buy their way into the top spots. If Target or Wal-Mart is selling that television cheaper than your local electronics shop, you'll never know it from the results in a standard shopping search. The big guys have deep pockets to make sure that their results end up at the top of the list. That's great for their bottom line, but not so much for your pocketbook.
Shopping portal search sites that cater to smaller websites and shops make it easier for you to find the real deals on everything from kids' T-shirts to high-ticket HD television sets. They use a pay per click model that gives smaller websites and retailers a shot at the top spot in the search results for products that they sell. Because they don't have to compete with the big budgets of national chains, you'll get to see their prices and their products, which could be great for your bottom line.
Why Shopping Portals Get You the Best Bargains
Unlike the major search engine, shopping search sites concentrate on one thing, and that's giving you access to the products you want to buy. You can search by broad product category, such as kitchen goods, or buy specific names and model numbers. Many of them allow you to create your own personalized account so that you can easily bookmark and share the deals you've found while you're researching prices, and come back to them later. Shopping web sites provide you with the tools you need to compare prices and other important features of products so that you can find exactly what you're looking for at the prices you want to pay. Some even let you save your searches and will email you when new products are added to your favorite categories or when a product you want to buy is posted at a lower price.
Finally, shopping portal search engines do the searching for you. When you search through a shopping search site, you'll get all of the results from all of the vendors in one place so you don't have to site-hop to find the best deals. Next time you're in the market to buy something online, check out a shopping search engine first and see how much time and money you can save.
To learn more about subjects like shopping portal please visit the web site at:
About the Author
is a published author of Majon International. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2014 (Fri Mar 25 2011) Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource internet marketing web site at:
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0.035519 | <urn:uuid:ff80e1ad-0b2e-4aa1-adb0-0e75376ea261> | en | 0.951761 | Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?
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Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings
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• Starring: , ,
• Summary: Its placid waters complement the pristine Maine wilderness it borders. This tranquil setting is probably the last place you'd expect a gruesome fatality. But then it's also the last place you?d expect to find a 30-foot, narrow-snouted, multi-toothed, reptilian of the species Crocodylus. An eating machine more commonly known as a crocodile. (20th Century Fox) Expand
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 4 out of 25
2. Negative: 13 out of 25
1. Reviewed by: Andrew Collins
2. A formulaic thriller, treated in a style that's just shy of outright parody.
4. It's laughably stupid, only fitfully scary and relatively harmless summer fun – if you're 12 years old, in which case you probably aren't supposed to be going to movies like this anyway.
5. Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
Jul 24, 2014
At least White summons the camp energy that Lake Placid is fecklessly seeking.
6. 25
7. 20
The shticky dialogue undercuts the solid genre plotting, which undercuts the humor.
See all 25 Critic Reviews
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 6 out of 8
2. Negative: 0 out of 8
1. Apr 11, 2014
this film is truly fantastic in that it is not and should never be approached as a horror film but as a comedy/jibe to all generic slasher films out there defiantly worth a watch Expand
2. MiguelB.
Jun 4, 2007
More fun than horror, with lots of hilarious banter between main characters. Should not be taken seriously, of course, but definitely more enjoyable than most movies in this genre. Expand
3. WesleyE.
Mar 15, 2006
It's by no means a good movie... but the actors (if you can call them that) do poke some slight fun ath the subject, and the Big Croc itself kicks ass. Expand
4. Nov 27, 2012
I consider this a 'cult classic'. It's not quite "Citizen Kane", but it's excellent TV and popcorn fare. A local law enforcement officer is killed in a quite gruesome manner by some unknown creature (ok - not a spoiler, but: it's a crocodile), so the local sheriff calls in the Fish & Game department. Pullman shows up, along with a woman paleontologist, who's run into an office 'triangle' and been deported, so to speak, to check out a tooth found in the victim. Eventually, a well known crocodile expert enters the mix. Along the way, the four make quite a dysfunctional family, with Pullman and Fonda unable to take their platonic relationship to another level, while Platt (playing expert Hector Cyr) and Gleeson (playing the sheriff, Hank) are the two bickering brothers. Finally, to throw another wrench into the works, there's Betty White as Mrs. Bickerman, whose husband is dead (without any records being filed in the local courthouse, and no real explanation immediately coming). Eventually, it's confirmed that there's an enormous crocodile inhabiting the lake. The only question is whether to try and trap it, or destroy it). Pretty light fare, with a few 'shocking' scenes which may be a little bit too intense for very young children. A final note: stick around until the very end and you'll be slightly surprised. Expand
5. GaborA.
Aug 20, 2006
Even stupider than most creature features, but also way funnier at the same time. Sheer hilarious at times.
6. May 22, 2012
Lake Placid pays homage to (or rips off, depending on your point of view) numerous monster movies, but mostly it's trying to be Jaws with a crocodile, as demonstrated by everything from the film's story to its cinematography to its music. Rip-off or not, it's pretty consistently entertaining throughout, with plenty of obligatory jumpy moments and dismemberment, decent creature effects, a good dose of black comedy, some pleasingly silly set pieces and a team of bickering idiots to follow as protagonists. Less satisfying is the film's script, which is pretty crude, often bordering on dumb (particularly disappointing as it comes from the usually brilliant David E. Kelly), and all characters remain woefully two-dimensional throughout the film. The cast's performances are of mixed quality - Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda are both incredibly wooden, and their characters' relationship, which is meant to be the romantic core of the film, isn't believable in the slightest, but Brendan Gleeson is good, and Betty White looks as though she is having an immense amount of fun swearing like a sailor. Lake Placid is probably the best of the 90s creature-features (though that's not saying much when your bedfellows are Arachnophobia and Anaconda), but at the end of the day you have to acknowledge that the film is utter trash. It's largely quite enjoyable trash, but it's still trash all the same. Expand
7. Apr 14, 2013
It was just mediocre. Nothing more and nothing less. What kept it from being good was the comedic overtones and the corny dialogue. But the biggest problem was that there's a giant crocodile in a lake in a movie that's rated R and only 2 people get eaten in the 82 minute runtime! Expand
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Nanotechnology General News
The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: May 25, 2009
Insight gained into key molecule involved in development
(Nanowerk News) Scientists have shed new light on how cells interpret messages from the signalling molecule known as 'Hedgehog', which plays an important role in the development of organisms as diverse as flies, fish, mice and humans. Defects in the Hedgehog system have been linked to common birth defects and certain cancers. The findings, made by scientists in Austria and the US, are published in the journal Current Biology.
Many signalling molecules help to guide the development of an embryo, and Hedgehog is one of the most important, controlling the development of the extremities, the central nervous system, teeth, eyes, hair, lungs and the gastrointestinal tract. The concentration of Hedgehog varies throughout the developing body, and the concentration of the molecule determines whether the cells in a certain area will go on to form an arm or an eye, for example.
'The cells are told what to do not only because the molecule is present but also by the different concentrations of the molecules in the tissue,' explained Pia Aanstad of the Institute for Molecular Biology at the University of Innsbruck in Austria. 'The concentration of Hedgehog makes the thumb of the right hand grow on the left-hand side, and the thumb of the left hand grow on the right-hand side.'
Mutations in the Hedgehog signalling process can cause dramatic, often lethal deformities, such as the formation of one central eye instead of two eyes on either side of the face. A mutation in Hedgehog is also behind holoprosencephaly, which is one of the most common birth defects: the most extreme cases are characterised by severe brain defects and facial abnormalities. In addition, Hedgehog signalling problems have been linked to uncontrolled cell growth in certain cancers.
Norwegian researcher Dr Aanstad has been studying the Hedgehog signalling system in the tropical zebra fish for a number of years. A few years ago, she discovered a fish that had a mutation in a protein called Smoothened (Smo). The Smo protein is found on the cell membrane, where it is responsible for transferring the Hedgehog signal into the cell.
Further investigations revealed that the Smo protein is concentrated around the cilia, which are tiny hair-like projections that stick out from the cell.
In this latest study, the researchers highlight the crucial role played by a part of the Smo protein located on the outside of the cell; until now, this part of the protein was not thought to be necessary for the Smo function in vertebrates.
'By using high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, we have now shown that in the new mutants, a small genetic alteration at the extracellular part of this protein inhibits localisation in the cilia, and that while the cells identify the Hedgehog signals, they interpret the concentration incorrectly,' said Dr Aanstad. 'This is evidence for the notion that cells use various molecular mechanisms for interpreting different Hedgehog concentrations.'
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0.112765 | <urn:uuid:840f7308-e68a-438b-8f4b-0b21837b3cf0> | en | 0.975807 | Monday, October 31, 2011
Next Mormon Migration, You Cain't Do That...
Ruth Marcus
Paul Krugman
David Letterman's "Top Ten Things Overheard At Moammar Gadhafi's Funeral"
6. 'Where's his hot daughter Kim?'
3. 'Incoming!'
2. 'Nice of Leno to send flowers'
1. 'Let's bury this guy'
No He Cain't!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
What Rough Beast is Slouching Towards Damascus?...
"They found Gaddafi in a hole with a gun and luggage, or as it's known here, the middle class." – Bill Maher
"These Republicans, they will not give credit. They gave credit to the rebels, to the British, and to the French. But they would not mention the president. It was like they were on a game show and the password was 'Obama.' They're like the banks; they will not give a black man credit." – Bill Maher, on Qaddafi's death
"I'm guessing our soldiers are happy to be leaving Iraq. It is no fun being in a country where there's crumbling infrastructure and an ignorant population, but they said they're happy to come home anyway." – Bill Maher
I suppose it was a good thing that the body of Moammar Qaddafi was buried in a secret place. The reason given was they didn't want his burial place to become a shrine, or have his body dug up by loyalists and have fetishes made from his body parts... As it is now, in a few years, when the myths have grown to rival the conspiracy theories, we'll have the Qaddafi cultists prowling the desert at night, hoping to pull off a Graham Parsons ceremony. The only thing missing are the joshua trees; maybe the state of California will export some, making part of the Libyan desert into a theme park of sorts... Does the fact that both Osama bin Laden and Moammar Qaddafi were shot and killed instead of captured and put on trial mean that the Western style of judicial system has become as bankrupt as its economic system?
The problem once a dictator who has been in power for a long time passes, is that the people have forgotten how to make decisions for themselves. Can the groups that were the rebels work together to organize and plan a working government? Tunisia's hassle free election on Sunday should give its neighbors inspiration. It remains to be seen if the other Arab countries can put enough pressure on Bashar Assad in Syria, to stop being a vicious jerk, but that whole family may be too delusional to listen to any reality-based suggestions. I can't believe how long the protests have gone on in Syria and Yemen, and what a transformation if those stubborn old men leave peacefully. Because it's been shown that one way or another they will leave, there's a secret spot in the Libyan desert now being reserved just for them...
It's hard to believe that all of the protests throughout the Middle East, and probably the world, was sparked by one man who set himself on fire. When I was a kid, one of the most powerful images I witnessed was when a Vietnamese monk immolated himself in protest to the coming war. Yet, recently there have been nine Tibetan monks and nuns who have immolated themselves to protest the Chinese policies in Tibet, and the Chinese government insistence that they will be making the choices of who the successors are to reincarnating Lamas. I would bet that the Chines government has adopted the Ogden Nash rule on lamas:
The one-L lama,
He's a priest.
The two-L llama,
He's a beast.
And I would bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-L lllama.
The longer that the Occupy Wall Street protests last in places like Denver and Oakland, the more our police departments look like the Syrian military. The problem is that the occupiers have set themselves up without a graceful exit strategy, without an attainable goal where they can say that they have won, sort of like the US in Afghanistan. Hey, Goldman Sachs posted its first quarter loss, and the business section of the NY Times is full of stories of banks and businesses who are sitting on piles of cash,waiting for god knows what before they start lending and spending again. Maybe they are waiting for the Bat Signal, or Newt Gingrich to hold his breath until he turns blue, but one can't help wonder if these banks aren't in collusion with the Republican Party, willfully withholding helping to stimulate the economy as long as a Black Democrat is in office... Then, sure, I'd surely join in the nearest demonstration, as long as it wasn't in Oakland...
Friday, October 21, 2011
Moammar We Hardly Knew Ya...
Ruth Marcus
Maureen Dowd
"You got to feel bad for poor Mitt Romney. He's in their plugging every week, and every week somebody gets ahead of him. The people who have led Mitt so far: Donald Trump, then Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, now Herman Cain. He's been led a reality show star, a crazy lady, a stuttering cowboy, and the guy who brings the pizza. That's gotta hurt a little." – Bill Maher
"Herman Cain's plan to save the economy is '9-9-9.' He keeps saying it every day like the Count on Sesame Street. Well, this week we finally found out where he got it from. Not from an economist. He got it up from the guy who works at his local Wells Fargo branch. Literally, it's like he went down to deposit checks, and the teller said, 'Can I help with anything else?' And he said, 'Yeah, can you re-write the tax code?'" – Bill Maher
"Rick Perry got the date of the American revolution wrong by two centuries. What is it with the right wing? Michele Bachmann doesn't know where the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' took place, Sarah Palin doesn't know why Paul Revere went on his ride, Rick Perry doesn't know that 1776 happened in the 1700's. These aren't gotcha questions. I know this sounds mean about Rick Perry, but if was a child, you'd leave him behind." – Bill Maher
with apologies to the Moody Blues:
Moammar Qaddafi's dead.
Moammar Qaddafi's dead.
He'll fly his US bought plane,
Set his tent up around the bay,
And lecture you the same day,
Moammar Qaddafi. Moammar Qaddafi.
Along the coast you'll hear them boast
About his compound that is filled with fear.
So raise your glass, we'll drink a toast
To the little man who tells you
now the coast is clear.
The jig was up, missiles brought him down,
Dragged by his feet firmly on the ground.
He flies so high, he swoops so low,
He knows exactly which way he's gonna go.
Moammar Qaddafi. Moammar Qaddafi.
He'll fly his US bought plane.
Set his tent up around the bay.
He'll lecture you the same day.
Moammar Qaddafi. Moammar Qaddafi.
Moammar Qaddafi. Moammar Qaddafi.
Moammar Qaddafi.
Altogether, these past few years have not been kind to dictators, especially in the Middle East. It began with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Empire, and now has spread through the Middle East like a wildfire. Unfortunately, those who did not get out of the way suffered in the end. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is home to one errant dictator, and shelter of another, and they have propped up yet another dictator in Bahrain. If Yemen and Syria shed their dictatorial families, the politics of the region will have been changed forever. A test case in what to do after someone is deposed comes up this Sunday, with elections in Tunisia.
All of these protests and revolutions started out peaceful and non-violent, escalating into military action after the governments shot and killed unarmed civilians. The ultimate bloody results happened with pulling Moammar Qaddafi out of a drainage culvert, then shooting him execution style,and bringing his body back to town for viewing. (one o the secret places that Qaddafi had, was his place to watch porn. This makes me wonder if all dictators have their places to watch porn and if there's any special themes that might be commonly enjoyed between Qaddafi and bin Laden and perhaps Bashar Assaud...) Perhaps we can thank wahabism and al Qaeda for promoting their extremist views, which have only resulted in needless deaths by suicide bombers, and resentment among normal folks. Which is why the vast majority of Muslims preferred a peaceful approach to getting their message across.
I wish that life after Qaddafi and Mubarak and Ben Ali was going to be all rosy and positive, but they have left behind dysfunctional governments that may never be able to guarantee basic human rights, and their armies are sorely tempted to take over in a coup. They could easily devolve into becoming another Pakistan, and if their are enough Iranians salting the mix, end up with their share of paranoia and conspiracy fantasies.
The biggest loser in this soupy muddle are the Israelis. They could have shown more solidarity with the movements towards democracy, but that will never happen as long as the right wingers and Benjamin Netanyahu are in charge. The biggest winner is the US, and maybe France, whose role in this region is constantly changing, first you love us, then you hate us, then we invade someone until you love us again as we withdraw...
So, good-bye to an era, of colonial powers and client states, having the British deciding on the borders and which tribe would rule. Good-bye to allowing dictators to rule for years and years, and letting protests bloom if they disagree with your policies. Good-bye to religious intolerance and hello to dervish dancing and music. Good-bye to propaganda on television and hello to cellphones and the Internet. Who will design the next Facebook and Youtube for the Middle East?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Change Iran Can Believe In, The Hermanator Scam
Roger Cohen
Paul Krugman
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Herman Cain Wuz Scammed, Rick Perry Scams Us, Those Naive Qud Generals
Bruce Riedel
Paul Krugman
"One of the guys accused of organizing the Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador is a used car salesman from Texas. Just when you thought terrorists couldn't get any lower." – Jay Leno
"Rick Perry's advisers said he prepared for the last debate by getting a lot more sleep. Apparently, he did it during the debate." – Jay Leno
"At one point, Rick Aantorum was interrupted by a gay heckler. But then Michele Bachmann told her husband, 'Just shut up and sit down.'" – Jay Leno
Surprise surprise! The big swinging dicks of Wall Street may think that the protesters are lazy, naive hippies, but today there were Occupy Wall Street protests in over 900 cities world-wide. Commerce may be the lifeblood of our civilization, but ripping people off is not...
In the aftermath of the US revelations about the Iranian assassination screw-up, those pundits with vast knowledge of the professional ways of the Quds Force branch of the Revolutionary Guards all say that it just doesn't sound like how they would conduct business. Even the Ayatollah Khamenei dismisses it as so much American fantasy... But, let's be honest, the Revolutionary Guard is like most armies that haven't fought a battle in over 30 years, over-hyped and more interested in commerce and the easy intimidation of Iranian citizens and Iraqi nationals.
For a country whose top leaders don't get out much, and Mr Khamenei hasn't traveled much outside of his housing compound since 1979, they tend to rely more on the CNN headlines to tell them how the world works, and their viewpoint is flat and two-dimensional. When this naive type of person watches al Jazeera and sees coverage of Mexican drug cartels murdering people in great batches at a time, it's easy to assume that the enemy of your enemy could be hired to be your friend. And just as easy to believe that the cousin of a great Quds general is also a great person, not some poor used car salesman barely scraping by, dreaming of any kind of score involving easy money... If the cursed Israelis and Americans can kill off our scientists on our soil, it makes perfect sense to kill some of theirs on their own soil. And if the American President can have a hit list that justifies killing, why can't the leaders of every other nation have one, too?
Herman Cain got scammed, and he's just now figuring it out. Turns out that his much touted 9-9-9 economic plan was lifted from the 2003 edition of SimCity. Turns out that Mr Cain doesn't do any fact checking before putting it on his website, and in interviews he has said that his economic advisors are two guys that he has to keep secret, and one guy that works in a branch office of a Ohio Wells Fargo... Either his secret advisors are Beavis and Butthead, and they are snickering at the tube every time he mentions 9-9-9, or Mr Herman Cain is also scamming the American people. After all, he has taken a page from Sarah Palin's playbook and gone on booktour...
Rick Perry unveiled his solution to the jobs problem on Friday, and it proved to be a huge dud. Not only wasn't it original, but he copied from an industry report endorsed by the American Petroleum Institute. Mr Perry pretty much proves that he wasn't that great of a student... Basically, he wants to open up all Federal land to oil and natural gas exploration. It would mean more profit for the oil companies, and not much money to us for the oil leases; critics have said that it would not add any more jobs unless you are an unemployed geologist...
I figure that the reason most extreme conservatives are so dumb, is because its too difficult to both think while keeping their anuses puckered so tight...
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Iranian Plots Again...
Kenneth Pollack
David Ignatius
Pepe Escobar
"The Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered outside Rupert Murdoch's house chanting, 'What do we want?' Murdoch interrupted saying, 'I already know, I hacked your phones.'" – Craig Ferguson
"Herman Cain was in 2nd place in most of the national polls, behind Mitt Romney. Apparently his message of 'less government, more toppings' has been well received." – Jimmy Kimmel
The hawks among us are demanding a response to the Iranian plot to kill the Saudi ambassador on our soil. Dick Cheney must be drooling right now, wishing that he and his cronies were back in power, they'd show the world who was boss... The more tolerant are scratching their heads, wondering how such a professional group as the Quds could fall for such a lame operation. Well, people wondered at the stupidity of invading Iraq on the basis of a son trying to prove he has larger cojones than his wimpy father, but we went along. Do we invade Iran on just as flimsy evidence? If anything, we should let Texas secede from the Union, based on the dreams of a used car salesman thinking he had made his big score... Or make it a law to not allow anyone from Texas seeking national office, because the summer heat warps their brains and causes them to do irrational things... The problem with extremist behavior is that it appears so irrational and unbelievable to saner and more moderate people, it seems improbable that anyone would come up with such a dangerous plot, much less act it out. But to fanatical Iranians, what does it matter sacrificing a few hundred Iraqis, or Syrians, or Lebanese, or Palestinians, or American infidels, if it means promoting the Shiite cause?
The one scary aspect of this story that has been down-played, is what might happen if the South American drug cartels hooked up with regimes such as Iran or Afghanistan, forming a truly global drug trade. There already have been attempts to unload cocaine in Africa, and develop a route to smuggle it up to Europe and Russia. If Iran goes into wholesale drug smuggling, they may become the principal trading partner with Afghanistan after the US leaves, and they are also trying to develop economic markets for their goods in South America. We can only guess what a mess would be created if we decriminalized all drugs and not make them as profitable...
Rick Perry's Bad Back Makes Him Dumb, Iranian - Houston Terror Plot, Gilad Shalit To Be Released
Dana Milbank
Thomas Friedman
"YouTube has launched a politics channel so that people can easily find videos of the presidential candidates. Today they posted their first video, 'Cat Winning a Debate Against Michele Bachmann.'" " – Jimmy Fallon
"Under Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, everything would be taxed at 9 percent. Now, Rick Santorum says he has a better tax plan called 0-0-0. Oh, sorry, that's his chances of becoming president." – Jay Leno
"California had its first medical marijuana job fair. Over 2 million people meant to show up." – Conan O'Brien
Two days after I postulated that Rick Perry was under the influence of muscle-relaxers or reds during the Florida debate, his campaign said that he was suffering from back pain. So, I called it right. But, at last night's debate in New Hampshire, what was Rick Perry's excuse? We need to have all of our candidates and our elected officials disclose all of the drugs they take by prescription. It has a lot to do with how well they can function, and I don't want my congressperson nodding out or not comprehending proposed legislation.... It's bad enough most of them are dumber than stumps, and mix in something potentially addictive, and you get a Rick Perry...
And it's not just some good ol' boy from Texas that we have to worry about, it can also be some foreign born used car salesman from Houston that jumps to the front of the news... Our story begins with a couple of minor members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, sitting around and getting high, either on the locally grown marijuana, Somalian khat, or Afghani opium. They begin riffing on what kind of ways they could get back at the US and Israel for the computer virus and assassination of a nuclear scientist, and one guy says that he has a cousin who lives in America, why don't we get him to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington, maybe a few Saudi embassies in other countries thrown in. Yeah, why don't I give my cousin Mansour a call, what can it hurt?
An alternative theory is that this scenario was planned, or at least approved by the head Ayatollah Khamenei himself, proving that he never was the smartest student and his mental powers have devolved into something that resembles Alzheimer's, whatever you would call it in Farsi...
But wait, the weird part begins when the used car salesman suggests to hire a Mexican cartel to do this for us, and in return we can sell them huge amounts of heroin from Afghanistan. The opium growers increased their plantings of poppies this year in anticipation... Mansour asked around, and was soon introduced to a man who was connected to the Zeta cartel in Mexico, except that he was really an informant for the Feds... The deal supposedly solidified that the Zetas would assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US at some restaurant near the embassy, hopefully getting a few US Senators in the process.
If the whole thing sounds amateurish, that's because it is. But the used car salesman was able to go back to Iran and have his cousin wire the informant $100,000 as a down payment on a $1.5 million fee. Mansour then flew to Mexico City, but Mexico refused him entry, put him on a commercial flight back home with a stop in New York City, where he was arrested. As Hillary Clinton put it:
"The idea that they would go to a Mexican drug cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right?
This story will only get more bizarre over the next few days as Iran tries to disavow how dumb their professional soldiers really are, and the embarrassment of being caught out in public. Of course, if they had pulled it off, the Ayatollah Khamenei would be the new sweetback, singing his badass song in the Middle East, with the ghost of bin Laden passing him the terror torch...
Don't get your hopes up too high... Hamas and Israel have come to an agreement to get Gilad Shalit released from jail, where he has been kept by Hamas since 2006. The Israeli Prime Minister said that he should be home within a few days, but here is where there could be a snag. Israel will release 1,027 people from prison in exchange for Mr Shalit, and there was celebration in Gaza over so many of their children coming home. Ever since he was captured, Mr Shalit's family has staged public demonstrations and press conferences to put pressure on the Israeli government to try and negotiate his release, at one point over 10,000 Israelis joined them on a march from the Shalit's home in northern Israel to Jerusalem.
This is just the latest in the public relation wars between Hamas and Fatah for the hearts and minds of the citizens of Gaza. Both groups are trying to appear to be doing the most for their people, Fatah making an application for UN recognition, and Hamas with the release of Gilad Shalit. If they really wanted to resolve this strange pissing match, why don't they hold election? After all, elections should have been held three years ago, and neither parties want to hold another one in case they get voted out. Sure, will anybody believe that Hamas would peacefully leave Gaza if they lost an election? Even in these days of change in the Middle East?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Greenspan Hearts Bush Tax Cuts, Perry's Policy Speech, Ms Warren Causes A Stir
Paul Krugman
According to a report released this morning, the recession is officially over. Feel any better? Most household incomes have not increased, many have actually shrunk. Also, over 50% of those who have applied for a refinanced mortgage have been denied by the banks...
The solid GOP facade on the economy is beginning to crack, with a freshman congressman complaining in public about Grover Nordquist and his peer pressure, making everyone sign a pledge against "no new taxes." By now everyone and their second cousin knows that tax breaks have nothing to do with creating jobs. Nordquist has formed an anti-tax mafia that has translated into blocking legislation for improved medical benefits for veterans who have lost a limb, and definitely against any new stimulus. Many states, including Texas, used the last stimulus to balance their budgets, then turn around and say how little good it did them. Unfortunately for them, this year and the next will be harder for them to balance their budgets, what will trickle down will be bad news for the local economies. Our city is planning on laying off 9 more police officers and more firemen, and not filling 37 vacant positions in city government. Oh, it looks even worse in Rick Perry's Texas, people may have no choice but to homeschool their kids, after the local school districts fold... The good news is that they can always turn the buildings into meth labs to help stimulate the local economies, like on Breaking Bad...
The current field of GOP candidates all have vague theories of policy while offering nothing concrete. Rick Perry maybe leaping to the forefront by announcing he will give a policy speech this coming Friday, with some ideas on solving the job problem. We have a week to guess whether he will deliver the goods, or relegate another attack on Mit Romney through a proxy. Lord knows he needs to generate some positive press, instead of the religious intolerant, racist, and bad debater images that have been plaguing him for the past two weeks. His handlers have been practicing debating with him, getting him to stick to the vague, scripted answers like the other candidates give. And, they are claiming that during the last debate, Rick suffered from lack of sleep, it certainly wasn't anything like muscle relaxers or anti-depressants that made him appear so out of it...
Back to the GOP economists, or, in Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, the lack of one... Even Alan Greenspan has made a public statement that he was wrong about the free market approach to the economy. Lately, he has even said that it is important to let the Bush tax cuts expire:
“If we do not get Simpson Bowles as a fallback,” Greenspan told CNBC, referring to a large-scale deficit reduction program proposed by the co-chairs of President Barack Obama’s fiscal commission, “I stand with allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. You could do it gradually, whatever. But if we think we have this luxury of waiting for a couple of years with a little stimulus now and then later tightening up. I hope the bond markets are listening.”
“What’s driving the United States at the moment to a very large extent is Europe. You can’t understand the United States at all, I think, unless you know what’s going on in Europe.”
The Loneliest Woman in Europe, Angela Merkel, has announced that Germany and France are just about to sign a plan to rescue the rest of Europe, and hopefully, pull the economies of Greece, Spain, and Portugal out of the tank. In response, the stock market rose a few points. No telling what may happen if Europe no longer allows high speed trading by computer for large dollar amounts. A computer can issue over 1000 trade slips per second. Shady profiteers issue tens of thousands at a time, hoping to affect the price of certain stocks, then they cancel the most of the trades before they legally have to pay for them. This goes on all day, every day, and a lot of money can be made, or lost. Practices like this are what is being protested on Wall Street...
The last crack came in the form of a video, showing candidate Elizabeth Warren, that dreaded consumer advocate, making a common sense argument for rich folks to pay their taxes and stop their bitching, from EJ Dionne's column in the Washington Post: "The declaration heard ’round the Internet world came from Elizabeth Warren, the consumer champion running for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warren argued that “there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own,” that thriving entrepreneurs move their goods “on the roads the rest of us paid for” and hire workers “the rest of us paid to educate.” Police and firefighters, also paid for by “the rest of us,” protect the factory owner’s property. As a result, our “underlying social contract” requires this hardworking but fortunate soul to “take a hunk” of his profits “and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”
Who knows what will happen this week, but it looks like the balance is tilting in favor of President Obama's modest proposals, and they might actually be passed by Congress. Again, government cannot create jobs in the private sector, all it can do is to hire federal employees or fund public projects that can be hired locally. The closest it gets to stimulating private businesses, is through the small business administration, but they used to have a $50,000 cap on their loans, so not much will be generated that way... Now I'm wondering if Rick Perry has decided that the best we can do is to pray away the depression...
Friday, October 7, 2011
Wall Street, Herman Cain In Lead, My Father's Premature Death
Kathleen Parker
Nicholas Kristoff
"Big changes in the Republican field. It's a 10-way tie for Not Romney." – Stephen Colbert
"Sarah Palin announced she’s not running. Finally, a Palin who pulls out before it’s too late." – Jay Leno
David Letterman's "Top Ten Ways Rick Perry Plans To Spend $17 Million"
10. Death row taco bar
9. Two words: Alberto VO5
8. Hire staff to write some more great zingers like this . . .
7. Always wanted to see Branson
6. Spend a weekend at his hunting lodge with Hank Williams, Jr.
5. $8.5 million on campaign buttons; $8.5 million on bumper stickers
4. Health care for all Texans . . . I'm totally messing with you
3. Shut up or he'll execute you
2. Get a fabulous makeover from Michele O'Bachmann's husband
1. Buy lunch for Chris Christie
I was wondering how the spirit from the Arab Spring would manifest in the US, and the anti-corporate greed demonstrations on Wall Street and in other cities seem to be it. If nothing else, it lets us old farts know that the younger generation hasn't all gone bankrupt and has some morals... Interesting that the most common way that the repressive regimes in Syria, Yemen, China, and New York all respond with violence to their unarmed citizens camping out on the streets. If the protests were to happen in places like Ohio, Georgia, or South Carolina, the state legislatures would already be drafting legislation making such protests a violation against our capitalist way of life, and punishable by time in jail, a treasonable offense similar to what was passed in Russia, Georgia, Iran, and Tunisia...
Does anyone expect that the CEO's of Wall Street will break down and agree to stop their predatory habits, or to stop lobbying against the changes that are supposed to make their industry more transparent and honest? Not since they are back making huge salaries. But since they are intertwined with what is going on in Europe right now, there is a good chance that if Europe falls back into a continent wide recession, then so will the US economy, and people will be less comfortable with a CEO making over $26 million that year...
Is anyone surprised that Sarah Palin officially has said that she is not running for President? She has been making more than enough money with her books, reality television show, speaking fees, and being a pundit on FOX News, she doesn't want to start spending lots of money and going through the grind of raising enough money that a national election would entail. Plus, she really is crazier-than-batshit, a mean and vindictive person who would abuse the position of President to get back at all of her detractors, real and imagined... What is surprising is that Herman Cain is currently leading in the polls. He's taking a page from Sarah's playbook, to stop campaigning and go on a book tour for a month, try and make some more personal money to refurbish what he's had to lay out so far. Herman may be forced out of the running if the public finds out how much of a temper he has. So far, he's been able to deflect answering uncomfortable questions by saying well, we have differences of opinions, so let's move on... Don't ask embarrassing things like who are the economists that came up with his 9-9-9 flat tax scheme (hint, turn those nines over into sixes) or why he won't disclose their names, so let's move on... Once he starts being called on the outrageous claims he makes as the Black Walnut, he will be seen as the fringe candidate he really is, wackier than Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann combined...
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health went through the data for all 1,802,029 Medicare recipients who were 65 and older, who died in 2008. They found that an alarming number, one in three, people had surgery during the last year of their lives. One in five had surgery during their last month of life, and one in ten had surgery during their last week of life.
The implication here is that our nation is filled with greedy surgeons who perform unnecessary surgeries, knowing that their patients may die instead of recover from those surgeries? All for the sake of the Medicare fees? The researchers were shocked at the amount of surgeries they found, nobody asked why there hasn't been any earlier looking at surgical data or any oversight by Medicare itself. Hopefully, some kind of change will come from this, but I won't hold my breath.
My father was one of those people who had surgery and died within the week afterwards. He had last stage COPD, but had survived a couple of years longer than they thought he would. His doctor referred him to a surgeon, who said that he might be able to fix it so he could breathe better, and it was considered as a minor form of surgery, he would walk out within a couple hours afterwards. Unfortunately, their are more patients who don't survive the anesthesia than the surgery itself, my father didn't regain consciousness until sometime the next afternoon.
My father was kept in intensive care for three days afterwards, then two more days on a regular ward. I wanted my father transferred to a nursing home, but my younger brother said that he could take care of him better, because all my father wanted was to go home. Unfortunately, my brother, who is sociopath, won out and took my father home with him. My father died ten hours after he was released.
Needless to say, I'm still angry over my father's death. I'm angry at his regular physician, who seemed to not cared whether he lived or died once he was diagnosed with COPD. I'm angry at the surgeon who convinced my father that surgery would be beneficial to him, instead of leaving him alone and letting him live for another few months or couple years more. I'm angry at the anesthesiologist, who didn't seem to take my father's state of health into consideration when he administered his drugs. I'm angry at the doctors in the hospital who released my father prematurely. And I'm angry at my younger brother, who has been involved with the deaths of my mother and our youngest brother, as well as making threats towards myself... As the woman at the mortuary told me, it's far too easy to commit murder and get away with it in the state of California...
Monday, October 3, 2011
All Watched Over By Drones Of Loving Grace
Paul Krugman
Christopher Dickey
Science fiction has long become a recognized and accepted form of popular literature, a genre long mined for television and the movies. Part of science fiction is devoted to predicting how our society will evolve in the future, from Jules Verne predicting the submarine, to Robert Heinlein predicting the use of LSD. Now its our turn to make predictions, with the rampant use of the drone in warfare.
Drones have recently been used wherever the CIA has been operating with mercenaries, in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, firing missiles at those we deem to be enemies, kiss al Qaeda goodbye... Unfortunately, the missiles aren't always as accurate as we'd like, so there also has been more innocent civilians killed s collateral damage than targeted individuals. But the drone program has been counted as so successful that the Air Force is currently training more men to command drones by remote control than it is training pilots for fighter jets...
Domestically, drones have been used to patrol the border between the US and Mexico, to monitor the sea lanes into the US, and to look for refugees fleeing from Haiti and Cuba. The Department of Homeland Security currently uses four bases to launch and use their drones: Riverside, California; Sierra Vista, Arizona; Grand Forks, North Dakota; and Cape Canaveral, Florida. By expanding the use of drones, and coupling them with satellite imagery, soon we will have the entire globe under surveillance. Hook that information up to the cameras set up at every stoplight in every city, and the types of databases that can be accessed by our police and intelligence services, I would like to formally welcome you to A Brave New World, run by a New World Order. Oh, it's so much more than an episode of NCIS: LA. And it all happened while we were distracted by 9/11 and the economic crisis. Once these information controls are firmly in place, will the man behind the curtain reveal himself, or will we be forced to continue making silly conjectures about antichrists, raptures, and the return of our savior/and or the return of the mahdi? At least the Buddha never made those kind of claims, unless you believe in reincarnation and the Chinese government picking the next Dalai Lama... Recently, a couple of men were arrested for buying some of the larger remote-controlled toy planes (they actually are pretty sophisticated, that you can't really describe them as toys anymore), and trying to fit them with explosives for a terrorist act.
Ultimately, we will know that drones and their ilk have truly been integrated into our society, when we develop commercial uses for them, and put shows about them on television. Action shows such as Hawaii Drone-O, or Predator, Rise of the Drones, or comedies like Two and a Half Hellfire Missiles... With the ardent need for gamers to run the new military and security programs, we may soon see recruiters stalking the halls of the junior high schools, paving the way to lower the age for drinking, driving, and the use of recreational drugs, putting the coca back into coca cola... | http://www.notesfromagrumpyoldman.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html | dclm-gs1-001815529 | false | true | {
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0.030035 | <urn:uuid:b25c23ab-198f-42a2-9986-73abb4038081> | en | 0.979771 | Speculation is mounting over the future of Cuba after its leader Fidel Castro recently handed power to his brother Raul.
The president is currently recovering from treatment for internal bleeding, and the temporary appointment of his sibling may bring good news for the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the future.
President Castro, 80, said the pressure of being in power since 1959 contributed to his illness.
Raul, currently Cuban Defence Minister, is hailed as a natural successor to Fidel, and his support for his daughter could mean greater rights for Cuba’s gay community.
President Castro’s seizure of power in the 1959 Cuban Revolution was followed by the targeting of homosexuals in society who were sent to work camps and in the following decades excluded from jobs.
She insisted that she has the support of her father but admitted President Castro is harder to persuade, “Of course, I talk with my father whenever I have the chance. He is one of those in the party that supports our work. He thinks it is useful, good, just.
“Fidel is very sensitive to these issues, he is a pensive man and when the subject is one of justice it gets his attention. He asks for more information, more elements to consider.”
Her mother, Vilma Espin, was a champion of women’s rights in Cuba, and pushed for men to help out in the home and with raising children.
Ms Castro is now being pushed to promote gay unions in the country, she said: “Many people ask her if she plans to push legalisation of gay marriages.
“We do not know what we will propose. It depends on what we identify as homosexuals’ and lesbians’ main needs.
“Marriage is not as important in Cuba as in other more Catholic countries. Here consensual pairing is more important, what matters is love.”
If her legislation is approved it would rank Cuba amongst the most liberal Latin American nations on gay issues.
In 1979 homosexuality was legalised in Cuba, and the President has recently described being gay as natural. However the country has no anti discrimination laws based on sexual orientation and bans gay organisations.
Although the president insists his absence is not permanent, many Cubans are hoping for an end to his regime and in Washington plans are reported to have been made to help the island’s population after his death. | http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2006/08/02/castro-illness-may-raise-cubas-gay-hopes/ | dclm-gs1-002115529 | false | false | {
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0.033659 | <urn:uuid:abcac7cc-5cec-427e-9011-a5cae13a2edf> | en | 0.898559 | Submit Your Poems
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I am the wind
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
The Wind
~~The Wind~~
Look into my eyes
Follow me into a world of ecstasy
There and only there
Will you find the peace to unwind
Beautiful brown eyes not blue
Shady lids, stunning ocean view
Embracing every word
Hear the wind whispers your name
Come with me
Drown with me
Into the abyss of loving rain
Embrace this moment as I draw you in with words
I Share--I take
Into my arms
I am the charm
Around your neck
Around your wrist
Listen to the voice from my beating heart
It yearns
The freedom of touch
The freedom of speech.
Of love,
Of purity
Like the wind
I'll find my way
Into your heart
Arouse the cheerful energy
Of your insecurity and pen
Follow me into the sea
There we will fall into the deep
Build sand castles
Around dreams of reality
Slip into my aura light
Set to the rhythm of the oceanic night
Now, listen to the breeze
It's called out your name
You'll find yourself calling out...... mine
by; PD
Dedicated to all my loving friends & fans :-)
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
Wakened, the winged and winsome wind wandered westerly while whistling witchery. It waltzed whimsically within woodlands - whooshing, then whipping willows. Worn, it waned. . . whispering wistfully.
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
Where the Wind Blows
I followed one day a spring breeze at play. It seemed not to know where to go. And aimlessly, I - like a butterfly - meandered with it to and fro. Among bright blue bells, it tired a spell. Recovering, it picked up speed. Alongside a rill, I ran with a thrill just to know where the breeze might lead. My heart filled with song as I danced along, careening through meadows of green. And then the breeze dove into a large grove, the loveliest I’d ever seen. No longer a breeze, it whipped around trees. It whistled while beckoning me, and as it passed through where tall redwoods grew, I was following, wild and free. In that beautiful place, it changed its pace and got stronger, for the breeze goes where sturdy trees thrive. I felt so alive! I have been to where the wind blows.
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
Gone Forever
Here I sit amongst the long grasses and the reed,
in a solitary place, where my breath is freed,
on an Indian Summer's evening on the lake bed,
autumn has come, yet the warmth has not fled.
Blazing orange skies, are mirrored to reflect,
I cannot imagine a scene being any more perfect,
as I looked up, an unfallen leaf caught my gaze,
spotlighted in the sun's last golden rays.
I noticed this crimson leaf as it began to wave,
the end of a short life that I could not save,
then swept away suddenly by the wind's rake,
and ripples formed as it landed on the still lake.
The leaf was carried away and my eyes followed,
then drowned by the water's surface and swallowed,
windy fingertips tugged it from the branch to sever,
existing once, like today, and then was gone forever.
Note - This was my original idea for the poem "The leaf",
but it was revised for a contest. I just wanted to post both
versions of the poem.
| Details | Wind Poem | |
Global Warming
As I wake up to the dawn of another day
I wrestle with myself and ask why bother
Just another day, without any warmth
There is a chill in my heart, sadly this is true
The coffee pot sings, an attempt to lift spirits
I confess I welcome even this small endeavor
A machine trying to cheer me up,
In this a cold cold cold world
How can this be?
Me so thirsty and cold?
I hypnotically prepare for another day
As I curse Al Gore
I see you all scurry from here to god knows where
Curious I ponder what’s the rush?
Snow falls from a dreary sky
A blanket of white to chill us even more
A child romps happily in springtime meadows
Chasing butterflies and dreams
His heart now filled with Vodka Ice
How did such warmth turn into an ancient glacier?
In the subway deep underground
I see a stranger, a woman, tears falling
Icicles form under her eyes
She too has a frozen heart
I would hug her, with words of comfort
If not for the invisible cold barrier between us
We are many on this subway of desire
So close, yet we all feel the northern winds of loneliness
This world of love and compassion has become frozen
We have forgotten the season of spring
We have been frozen out of emotions garden
We shiver here in the cold together alone
I rise up from the subways depths
I know my heart was murdered by the arctic winds
Something inside of me , cries
Go Go Go melt something, anything
I pass the newsstand selling flowers
I buy one single rose
The woman with icicle tears is nearby
I hand her this rose
I whisper, what this planet needs
Is some global warming
She smiles a sad thank you
As I walk away, hoping
Global warming takes hold
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
Rolling Thunder And A Gentle Rain
The gentle music flows
from every drop of rain,
as it just lightly taps
against my window pane.
The wind begins to whistle
it's own melodious song,
while the wind-chimes
dance and play along.
The soothing sounds cast open
the windows and doors.
I close my eyes and breathe.
The energy surrounds me as my spirit soars.
I hold out my hand and feel the raindrops
as if they were at play.
My breath now quickened with emotion.
I taste the rain on my lips as I embrace the glorious day.
The curtains blow inward
the breeze itself is warm,
my mind is so peaceful
in the calm before the storm.
The sky's voice trembles
from above a darkening cloud,
as the rolling thunder
speaks it's thoughts aloud.
The thunder awakens
the flash of light.
The part of nature
that sends some to flight.
I chose to embrace the power of nature
in the earth and sky.
And bask in the wonder
that fills my eyes.
The rain seems to be letting up
as it puddles on the green grass,
and the once powerful winds
are now calming down at last.
The gray clouds are parting
and a bright rainbow forms,
proving that something beautiful
can come from such dangerous storms.
My eyes close and I breathe
in the scent of the cleansing rain.
The brilliant hues of the rainbow
dance in my mind where I feel no pain.
The sun peaks from behind the clouds
just to say hi.
I feel the warmth against my face
as I view the beauty with a sigh.
Written by: Kelly Deschler & Nature Boy
For Jared Pickett's contest - "Collaboration"
| Details | Wind Poem | |
a Friend to the Wind even now
On a leaf I would write you a letter
and mail it into the wind
that's the chance I had in finding ,
my once in a lifetime friend.
But it landed right there beside you,
tangled in threads of your shawl,
with only your heartstrings to guide you,
you found me where dying dreams fall.
The Gypsy wind whispers a reason,
the where and the why and the how,
but I will remember that season........
I'm a friend to the wind
even now.
Premium Member Poem | Details | Wind Poem | |
In the Clouds entry
a cumulus lamb grazing in heaven’s blue . . . winds howl darkly For the Contest of PD
| Details | Wind Poem | |
In the Wind--Collaboration With Casarah Nance
I heard my name in the wind where the willows do weep,
Such a moment of bliss I will evermore keep.
For I sat in the silence, just a moment or two,
With paper and pen, thinking only of you.
Then I scrolled out a verse, a most delicate rhyme,
Unaware of the hour; unconcerned with the time.
Till my eyes were made blurry by the sun through the trees,
As the sweet-smelling jasmine arrived on the breeze.
So I took in a breath, just as well as your heart;
It was beating for all, and no longer a part.
Then your touch, as the grass, teased my delicate skin--
Such sweet innocence this; or such wonderful sin.
Ah, the earth is our playground; our home is the sky,
As I proudly remarked, "Look how high we can fly!"
Thus I give you my love, may it evermore keep...
Hear the wind in the willows? They no longer weep!
Collaboration: Mel Merrill and Casarah Nance | http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems/best/wind | dclm-gs1-002175529 | false | false | {
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0.231048 | <urn:uuid:8caaaa52-6fca-4a4e-8395-98de4f40a1cc> | en | 0.986114 | Psybersquare Logo family image
family image
Injustice Collectors
by Mark Sichel, LCSW
"My father always had a list of people who he felt were "bad." These bad people, he felt, had insulted, injured, or treated him unjustly. I was often on that list; at one point, he would not talk to me for a period of five years. As he got older, his list grew and he became even more isolated, angry, and bitter. It was very sad to watch, and it was horrible to have to worry about it until he died when I was in my fifties."
Barbara* is a 67-year-old woman who is telling me about her difficulty in letting go of a chronic need to please people. She feels that her need to please others is highly related to having grown up with a parent who was an injustice collector. Barbara identified with her mother, who was a People Pleaser until the day she died, but her sister Eileen, on the other hand, inherited their father's destructive habit of collecting wounds, insults, slights, hurts, lack of respect, lack of understanding, and whatever other grounds either of them could use to place people on their "Bad List." Barbara and her mother are examples of People Pleasers; Eileen and her father are examples of Injustice Collectors.
"Eileen seemed to want to spoil every moment of happiness in everyone's life but her own. She always seemed to be able to manipulate a story and present it in a way that would portray her or her family as poor pitiful victims of whoever in the family seemed to be having a good day. For years, rather than get angry, I would, as I had learned from dealing with our father, quickly apologize and scramble to make everything ok again. I never really felt that I did anything terrible to Eileen, certainly nothing to merit her levels of rage, but whatever it was, I'd always make the peace."
Barbara told me that her sister's chronic drama would repeatedly take the form of hurling accusations at her or her husband or children, and then saying, "I'm done. I'm never speaking to you again." Barbara would immediately say she was sorry, and then spend inordinate amounts of time courting Eileen for forgiveness. Whatever Eileen accused her of did not make sense to her; nonetheless, she immediately felt that it was her fault. She felt overcome with shame and guilt, and in her self-blame would readily prostrate herself before Eileen, groveling to get through the episode and avoid an ugly scene at a family event.
When Barbara's oldest son Lawrence was getting married, he had decided to have a small wedding, and to that end, while he had invited his Aunt Eileen and her husband, he had not invited their grown children with whom he had never been closely involved. Two days before Lawrence's wedding, Barbara had received the dreaded call of rage from Eileen. This time, however, when Eileen shouted, "I'm never speaking to you again, instead of scrambling to fix it, Barbara simply said, "OK. Goodbye." She hung up the phone and never looked back.
"My father died a bitter, lonely and angry man, taking his precious "bad list" into the coffin with him. The funeral was sad for me, not because I would miss him and his atrocious behavior, but because by that point he had alienated everyone but my mother and sister, and we were the only ones at the funeral. I realized with my sister that she was going to play out the same ugly drama, and I finally decided that I didn't need or want to be part of that."
Characteristics of Injustice Collectors:
1. Injustice Collectors are convinced that they are never wrong. How is it possible that they are never wrong? It is simple: They are always right.
2. Injustice Collectors never apologize. Ever. For anything.
3. Injustice Collectors truly believe that they are morally and ethically superior to others and that others chronically do not hold themselves to the same high standards as the injustice collector does.
4. Injustice Collectors make the rules, break the rules and enforce the rules of the family. They are a combined legislator, police, and judge and jury of
5. Injustice Collectors never worry about what is wrong with themselves as their "bad list" grows. Their focus is always on the failings of others.
6. Injustice Collectors are never upset by the disparity of their rules for others with their own expectations of themselves.
7. Injustice Collectors rationalize their own behavior with great ease and comfort.
The unfortunate outcome in the dysfunctional family is that either the People Pleaser has to become progressively more crippled and entrenched in their subservient role in the family, or else they become healthier and stronger and ultimately are accused of breaking up the family. The sad part about this drama is that once the People Pleaser has grown to the point where their self-respect is high enough to not grovel and shake in the presence of the injustice collector, the family remains divided.
To find out more about People Pleasers, read People Pleasers.
To discover why a family estrangement is almost never about one single incident, read "I'm Done" - The Family Drama.
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by Mark Sichel, LCSW
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** All prices subject to change without notice | http://www.psybersquare.com/family/family_injustice.html | dclm-gs1-002225529 | false | false | {
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0.030458 | <urn:uuid:14cd4df4-fbfe-48f3-acfb-02d4aaaa33a7> | en | 0.921143 | Return to the Purplemath home page The Purplemath Forums
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Mel F. ...My background also includes the titles of Math Assessment Specialist for Educational Testing Service and Math Editor for a major test publishing firm. I strive to be attentive to students' needs and goals.Currently teaching and have taught Precalculus. Worked for a major publishing firm and wrote Precalculus questions.
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0.039115 | <urn:uuid:521787ce-c680-4ba7-8d4d-2b57fbf3ea3b> | en | 0.955841 | Porn ReviewsSpecialsAdult PersonalsPorn TrialsPorn BlogSearchBookmark
Some of my friends say that the reason strip clubs don't really appeal to me is due to the fact that I review porn sites for a living. However, it's actually due to the fact that I find the action to be too soft. It takes a real beauty to pull off a striptease in my opinion, so normally I prefer sex shows. If you agree with me on that front, then Untamed Shows is exactly what you need.
The design is kind of barebones, but not to the point of being ugly. The navigation, however, is clunkier than you might like. There are no search functions and the only way to distinguish one scene from another is to rely on a single thumbnail (there are no images anywhere else on the site, by the way).
To make matters worse, the movies are all broken up into a series of clips and scattered randomly in the movie section, which makes it tough to watch the parts in chronological order. It also makes it tough to get you an exact count, but it's probably safe to say that you get about 50 scenes. They can all be streamed and downloaded in MP4 files, with the stream being offered in three sizes. But be sure to stick with the smallest one. The larger you go, the blurrier and choppier it becomes.
The downloads are all available as high-def files. They generally look pretty sweet, but some movies are more pixelated than their bit rates suggest. There's also some focus issues on account of how some of the cameras had to zoom in in order to get the performance on tape.
You're free to check out the entire Wank Pass network and it has more sex-show sites like Scandal Shows and Strip Club Cheaters, as well as other sites likes Public Wasted. Those extras add value to your membership, but it doesn't look like Untamed Shows offers you enough to keep you here longer than a month.
Number of Reviews: 482
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Pros & Cons
pros -high-def movies
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cons -no photo galleries
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Main Category: Reality Porn
Updated on: 2/12/2014 02/12/2014- From 52 to 49: Rotating content. -Adam
- Initial review: 9/10/2012 | http://www.rabbitsreviews.com/s22190/Untamed-Shows.html | dclm-gs1-002295529 | false | false | {
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0.040103 | <urn:uuid:19a094a5-3e9b-455d-8598-4b6d8b267710> | en | 0.946693 | ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead developer Bohemia have announced today that a ‘British Armed Forces’ DLC pack will be coming to the game in August. Bloody ‘ell, lads!
The DLC pack will add the British forces to ARMA 2′s expansion, including “six of their weapons, two new vehicles, another two helicopters and special Brit versions of the Apache, Chinook and offroad car.”
The British forces will be able to play through a short campaign “focused on depicting the asymmetrical warfare with a guerrilla force and the counter-insurgency operations.” The DLC pack will be released on August 26, for $9.99.
I live near a British Army Training ground, and can wholeheartedly confirm that our Chinooks are fucking deafening. Also, all the guns that our army shoots and that. They’re loud too. So don’t hurt your ears.
[Via Shacknews] | http://www.ripten.com/2010/07/22/arma-2-operation-arrowhead-british-armed-forces-dlc-announced-sam-n/ | dclm-gs1-002465529 | false | false | {
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0.100274 | <urn:uuid:c364b42e-5c79-4bd5-bd4b-783806adf005> | en | 0.896574 | San Valentine's Day is close! So is time for making tags for that occasion. Making tags for scrapbooking for this san valentine's day is a great idea. You can use different shapes and papers for creating this special touch. Try using some chipboard letters with your favorite san valentine's paper. Also try, putting embellishments, stickers and other material related to san valentine's day. If you desire more ideas, visit my gallery where you can find some pictures about a similar project. | http://www.scrapbook.com/tips/doc/41633/190.html | dclm-gs1-002585529 | false | false | {
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0.567761 | <urn:uuid:7cc9f204-868d-41db-9786-dc1d3bba6016> | en | 0.970416 |
DX: HR DC uses the Wii U GamePad for, and I quote, "touch-screen hacking, interactive map editing, augmented sniping, grenade throwbacks and many other neural hub enhancements."
The DLC chapter Mission Link, which was essentially standalone before, is now "integrated seamlessly" into the main game, as is the DLC mission Tong's Rescue. The announcement also boasts of "refined game balance and combat," Miiverse integration, and developer commentaries and in-game guides. Hey, this is quite a lot of shiny new things! Now, please, pretty please, could some of them find their way home to the PC edition?
The boss fights were awfully out of place in HR, simply combat arenas which require straight-up fighting. You could simply run away from bosses in the original Deus Ex, if you wanted. As well as being out of place, they punished players who were equipped and augmented for sneaking or social approaches. How exactly they're different in the DC is a mystery, with Squeenix only saying they're "overhauled."
Square Enix isn't any more specific with a release date than "soon". If you want Deus Ex newness now, the publisher also has the OC ReMix gang jazzing up the very first Deus Ex's soundtrack for Deus Ex: Sonic Augmentation. To my ears, they've mostly added lots of noises, but perhaps that's your bag. | http://www.shacknews.com/article/78296/deus-ex-human-revolution-wii-u-overhauls-boss-battles?id=29873216 | dclm-gs1-002645529 | false | false | {
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0.080996 | <urn:uuid:faf4d8b3-78f5-4813-8f98-54ee8ae0a617> | en | 0.905215 | Monday, October 20, 2014
Print Email Most Popular Save Post Retweet
China's congress tightly orchestrated
BEIJING (AP) — Each spring, thousands of people from China's farthest reaches stream into the country's capital to attend the biggest event on the political calendar, the National People's Congress. It's a tightly orchestrated affair that rarely veers from the script, a challenging assignment for any photographer trying to capture interesting and compelling images of the event.
Infused with vibrant, saturated colors and a grainy texture that carries a hint of nostalgia, film photography conveys a richness in tone that tends to be missing in today's digital images. Shooting the often staid political meetings on film adds a sense of timelessness — accentuating the feeling that these scenes have played out before.
To create a cinematic quality, I used a Hasselblad XPan camera that produces a panoramic format nearly twice as wide as the traditional 35mm frame that most photojournalists use. The panoramic view captures more details — the people, the colors, the layers, and the spaces. It captures what's happening at the margins, not just at the center of the scene.
Print Email Most Popular Save Post Retweet
Breaking News | http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/19040101_Chinas_congress_tightly_orchestrated.html | dclm-gs1-002775529 | false | false | {
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0.047804 | <urn:uuid:2b2ca76b-1c12-4c34-9374-64f67878f925> | en | 0.927818 | DVDs won't play
By livesteamfan
Jan 26, 2009
1. Whenever I try to play a dvd in either of my drives the program starts, and then either closes or gives me a send/don't send error message. Both drives will read/write cds and will burn dvds. They also work on a different system. My os is Win xp pro. The computer also freezes every now and then and I sometimes get the bsod.
2. brucethetech
brucethetech TS Enthusiast Posts: 301
which dvd decoder are you using. has it ever worked
3. livesteamfan
livesteamfan TS Rookie Topic Starter
it has worked before. i recently replaced my motherboard with an asus a8n32-sli deluxe and that is when it stopped working. and what do you mean by dvd decoder? if it's software i wouldn't really know, i'm better with hardware.
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0.078153 | <urn:uuid:743fb761-c7b7-4655-9065-22595b9247d8> | en | 0.936563 | MS-DOS Boot Disk XP
By goboy
Sep 13, 2006
1. Hi.
My PC has stopped booting into XP... it gets so far and restarts in a constant loop. I have created an MS-DOS startup disk for Windows XP using my other computer. It gets into the command prompt, where it reaches "A:\" then stops which is all perfectly fine and normal. On this machine there are two 200gb SATA hard drives. Windows XP sits on the primary hard drive, the secondary is used for documents etc.
I have exhausted all possible solutions and contacted technical support and am confident that the hard drive will have to be re-built and restored using the recovery option installed on the machine. However there are some documents on the C: drive which I need to back-up to the D: drive.
The recovery solution only allows me for complete 'reformat' and 'rebuild' it would normally give me an option to preserve the Documents and Settings folder but because the XP installation is so badly corrupted that is a no-go area and I want the documents moved to the other drive, without taking the hard drive out of the computer and putting it into another computer.
The problem with the MS-DOS start-up disc which I have created is that it will not read the two other hard drives, so the batch file I have created using the command xcopy is pretty much inefective. How do I get the boot disk to enable all the drives which are active in my machine, without booting into Xp which obviously does not work anyway?
2. Ididmyc600
Ididmyc600 TechSpot Chancellor Posts: 2,251
I do believe that you cannot see SATA drives from a DOS environment, as special drivers need to be installed, i may be wrong.
You say however that there is a rebuild option, this should just restore the faulty files, however it will create a new administrator account and a few other bits, but it may be the answer.
3. Nodsu
Nodsu TS Rookie Posts: 9,431
DOS should work with non-RAID SATA. DOS does not work with NTFS, which happens to be the default Windows XP filesystem.
I would recommend a CD Linux like Knoppix or INSERT. These work with SATA and NTFS. You can drag and drop your files as you like.
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0.018153 | <urn:uuid:d46734ac-85f6-4d74-b012-b695f21312ef> | en | 0.953598 |
Watch the 28-minute interview:
Lexi: “All the way back?”
My Roman Catholic friends would likely be both proud and appalled. With one smooth lift of his right hand Hutchins waved us back to Rome! But let’s assume that apostolic succession were true, as Hutchins presented it and Rome maintains it, how in the world can the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship, Int’l claim to stand in that succession outside the Roman Communion?!
Gender Roles
Bishops and Money
Lexi: “What do you mean by that?”
Print Friendly
27 thoughts on “Bishop Mania and Confusion About Biblical Church Leadership”
1. Inchristus says:
Re: whether or not 1 Tim 3:1 refers to “man” or “mankind” the Greek text says “ει τισ” where “τισ” is a neuter pronoun. While I agree with your points of disagreement with these concerns, Phil Payne from his Man and Woman, One in Christ offers some words to consider:
“If it were Paul’s intention that women should forever be excluded from teaching and from positions of authority in the church, there is no more natural place in all his letters for him to have said so than in the…passage listing requirements for overseers and deacons, 1 Tim 3:1-12. Unfortunately, practically all English versions of 1 Tim 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9 give the false impression that Paul uses masculine pronouns, implying that these church leaders must be male. In Greek, however, there is not even one masculine pronoun or ‘men only’ requirement for the offices of overseer and deacon in 1 Tim 3:1-12 or elder in Tit 1:5-9.”
This raises serious questions as to why translators of every popular English translation (e.g., NIV, ESV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, and even the TNIV) would translate these passages this way. While Payne does not demonstrate what was driving translators’ mindset on why these passages are not more faithful to the original language, one has to wonder if gender bias was not a motivation. Even if 1 Tim 2:12 provides a “limitation into the requirements for overseer,” it does not warrant the vast number of masculine pronouns introduced into the text, especially those “formally equivalent” translations such as the ESV, NASB, et al. (see Payne, p. 24, note 1 for the number of masculine pronouns inserted per English translation).
1. Thabiti Anyabwile says:
Hi Inchristus,
Thanks for stopping by and adding to the discussion!
I’m not likely to ever be on anyone’s translation team since I have no Greek training, but I’d have to guess that the committees translated 3:1 with “man” because the context so strongly favors it. As I understand it, there are no feminine pronouns in 1 Tim. 5:3-16 but the discussion of widows and other feminine terms require feminine pronouns in that text.
I’m certain there’s no translation committee free of bias or free from constraints imposed by their interpretive approach. But with a set of English translation committees and approaches that diverse, personally I’d hesitate before assuming gender bias as a motivation. Until gender-neutral translation came a long, it had also been convention to translate the general category (mankind) with the term “man.” Perhaps in addition to gender bias or other biases, it could in part be that historical reflex??? I don’t know, but personally I think the context warrants the interpretation.
1. Inchristus says:
There are a host of feminine references in 1 Tim 5:3ff. I quote Payne…
“there is no dispute that 1 Tim 5:3-16 is dealing specifically with women. Widows are repeatedly identified as the subject (5:3, 4, 5, 9, 16). 5:3 has a feminine article. 5:5 has a feminine participle, which, like the following feminine participles, identifies the subject as female. 5:6 has a feminine article and two feminine participles. 5:9 has a feminine participle that makes it unambiguous that “one-man woman” (ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνή) specifically describes a woman. 5:10 has a feminine participle. The comparative adjective in 5:11 is feminine. 5:12 has a feminine participle. 5:13 has two feminine participles. 5:14 has a pronominal adjective identifying the subject to be younger women. 5:16 has a feminine pronoun and is part of this section on widows, so it is not correct to say that there are no feminine pronouns in this passage discussing the role of widows. 5:16 also has a feminine article with “widows.” Each of these factors and the standard use of χήρα to identify female widows ["χήρα, -ας, ἡ fem. of χῆρος = bereft (of one’s spouse)" BAG 889] make it clear that Paul is not talking about men who have lost their wives as widows.”
“tis” however can be either male or female. Context is king as someone else here mentions. But context does not redefine terms to force an agenda.
2. Tom says:
Not sure how the phrase “μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα” (i.e. a man of one woman) in 1 Tim 3:2 can be referring to a woman bishop.
3. David Hoffelmeyer says:
Hi Inchristus-
I appreciate that you brought the gender and leadership discussion back to the original text of Paul’s letter. “Ei tis” is certainly not gender specific. You’re right on there. But, the thing is, ESV and NIV (ESV leans toward formal equivalence and NIV toward dynamic, but both seek to communicate the original Greek faithfully into our modern English) both translate “ei tis” with appropriate gender neutrality– respecitely, “If anyone” and “Whoever”. ESV is a bit more formally equivalent since it captures the conditional “if” (ei). NASB and KJV do use the masculine “any man”, but before we cast stones we should ask whether the text warrants this reading.
That said, both ESV and NIV go on to use masculine pronouns to describe overseers. So, it’s right for us to ask whether there is warrant in the original text– i.e. was Paul really intending to speak about men when he listed qualifications for overseers?
As my seminary professors say, “Context is king” in hermeneutics. In this case context makes it easy. You can’t read 1 Tim. 2:12-14, right before this passage, and conclude that Paul is speaking of women as overseers. Further reading in Paul’s letters will reveal the same thing, and reading more widely in the NT and the entire Bible for that matter will continually affirm complementary roles in the church and home for men and women.
That said, women are viewed highly in the Bible’s estimation– God uses Ruth to continue the royal line of David, he extols the virtuous woman in Prov. 31, and he inspires Luke and Paul to write about lots of women like Prisca and Phoebe who were instrumental to God’s redemptive mission. Just as each Person of the Trinity is equal in glory and dignity and yet differing in role, so is woman equal with man.
4. Christian Crouch says:
Hi Inchristus,
Actually tis in 1 Tim 3:1 is masculine; the neuter equivalent would be ti. In this context it could be translated very literally “someone [who is a male].” Additionally, the overseer/bishop is required to be an aner (man) in 1 Tim 3:2. Tis is used again in 1 Tim 3:5. The masculine plural pronoun houtoi is used to refer to deacons in 1 Tim 3:10, and as with overseers/bishops, they are also required to be an aner (man) in 1 Tim 3:12. With the exception of the adjective referring to women/wives in 1 Tim 3:11, all of the adjectives in this section are masculine.
So it seems then that there are numerous reasons to use masculine pronouns in English translations of this section. I’m not sure how anyone who knows Greek could look at it and say that no masculine pronouns or masculine-specific language is used. I don’t see any reason to “seriously question” the different translation committees on this one.
1. Inchristus says:
Hum….If tis is masculine, then how do we handle translating 1 Tim 5:4 where εἰ δέ τις χήρα clearly refers to women as widows? Clearly this is not the case.
It’s not likely that the gender issues will be resolved here, nor could we ever expect them to. For those with sufficient skills in the language and time, I recommend Phil Payne’s book Man and Woman: One in Christ among many others. A summary of reviews here.
1. Christian Crouch says:
Huh. Good point! I checked BDAG, and I shouldn’t have been so dogmatic about tis being masculine. Thanks for the correction! At the same time, I think my other points remain relevant.
2. Drew says:
Thabiti – great article. Only small correction/gripe – the Anglican Church also believes and practices apostolic succession – so it is not just a Rome belief. But agree 100% that the argument doesn’t make much sense in the context of Baptistic polity and ecclesiology.
3. David Camera says:
Thabiti- thanks for pointing this confusion out. When you say “…The terms are not synonyms..” don’t you mean “the terms ARE synonymous”? In other words, as you say in the sentence before, the different terms refer to the same office, but perhaps a different aspect of the same office?
1. Thabiti Anyabwile says:
Thanks for catching that, man. It’s been corrected.
4. Marti Lowder says:
I appreciate this FANTASTIC article, but I am a little disheartened. It seems as though these “bishops” are saying, “I’m not a Biblical scholar, but I play one on T.V.” How many hours of valuable time are spent having to (try to) explain or untangle the message of those who misrepresent God’s Holy Word?
1. Thabiti Anyabwile says:
Dear Marti,
thanks for joining the conversation. I’m afraid it takes a great many valuable hours untangling things like this, mixed as they are with partial truths but filled with fatal flaws. Heartbreaking, really.
5. Mark says:
What do you think about the often overused term ‘reverend’?
It’s a shame that all of these “Bishops” are using people as pawns.
6. John Metz says:
Thank you for a very good post. The lust for a title is a scandal of evangelicalism, in some groups more than others. I especially liked how you pointed out that “bishop” and “overseer” (or elder) are the same thing. One refers to the person and the other to the person’s function. Additionally, in the Bible there was always a plurality of elders or bishops (no caps) in each church and no hierarchy, no apostolic succession.
Thanks again for a very frank expose of today’s situation. You even touched on the matter of financial gain.
7. Greetings! I was at FBC Grand Cayman with Tony Merida the Sunday you preached in view of a call. Happy to hear of your faithfulness there.
I’m sure you already know, but for those scrolling through the comments: when it comes to Baptists using the term “bishop”, the 1925 version of The Baptist Faith and Message (Southern Baptist) says about the local church “Its Scriptural officers are bishops, or elders, and deacons.”
The terms “bishops” and “elders” were dropped in the 1963 version (which may be a reason Southern Baptists of today over the age of 35 furrow their brow when they hear about elders; the term was removed from SBC vocabulary…but so was the term “bishop”).
Anyhow, for what it’s worth.
God’s peace to you.
8. Mark Timothy O'Bryant says:
I am grateful to God for men like you Brother Thabiti. Who are not afraid to expose error! We know according to Scripture, not to marvel that Satan himself can transform as an angel of light and likewise his ministers. I am not calling these men agents of the Enemy, but we know the Devil is the great deceiver . And in the garden he changed what God had said, thou shalt not surely die. Changed the context of what God had said .we must rightly divide the Word of God 2 Timothy 2:15. I stand with you! We know God’s Word states, in the end time men will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having itching ears, turning to fables. Keep up the good work of sharing, and telling the Truth of God’s Word !
9. Jemar says:
Thank you for this great article, Pastor T. You highlighted the issues of titles, apostolic succession, and biblical interpretation very well.
I have heard that Black people in general–and I think the pattern plays out in the Black church specifically–originally began to use long titles to reclaim their dignity in a racist system of oppression. Instead of being called “boy” or “Toby”, when Blacks could start naming themselves they responded by using titles, initials, and other appellations (e.g. Bishop J.C. Smith III [fictitious name as far as I know]).
Have you heard of this? Is there any merit to it? Might this be part of the reason for such titles in the Black church?
1. Thabiti says:
Hi Jemar,
i pray you had a wonderful Christmas and the Lord blesses you richly in the year to come. Thanks for dropping by the blog and contributing a good question.
While it is true that one of the first acts of self-definition in the war for full humanity and dignity is the act of naming, I don’t think that offers any justification for the titles discussed in this post or the Black Church. I’d say that for a couple of reasons.
First, the kind of example you use has to do with personal names. We do see some people adopting names like “Prince” or last names like “Freeman,” literally “free man.” These naming practices happen primarily with personal names–not so much with personal titles.
Second, if these exalted titles had some basis in our earlier history, we’d expect to see this behavior in the 1800s. But we don’t. In fact, the only ones using honorific and exalted titles tend to be secular movement leaders like a Marcus Garvey in the early 1900s or Masons with the rise of that movement. Church leaders tend to simply use the common titles in their denominational bodies. So Allen becomes “bishop” because of the Methodist system he follows rather than “apostle” or some such thing. Exalted honorific titles belong to cultic groups.
Third, given the riches of grace, freedom and opportunity we enjoy compared to our people in the 1800s or even first half of the 1900s, even if this were a part of our history, we still can’t justify the practice today. Instead, we should look to always be reforming according to the word of God. We should settle for being sloppier than our forbears. In fact, the stuff we’re seeing today is just plain dishonesty with the biblical text, sometimes for personal gain.
We have to be better stewards of our history and heritage. That better stewardship requires at least two things:
1. We have to protect the history from romanticism and abuses, which often justify themselves by attempting to root error in some unimpeachable past; and,
2. We have to correct the errors of the past. The fact that something once happened doesn’t mean it should always continue, especially if it doesn’t conform to the word of God. History is a guide post, not a hitching post.
Those would be my reactions, bro. I hope there’s something helpful in it.
10. Beyond the love of exalted titles (particularly “bishop”) being contrary to the history of being Baptist, isn’t it exactly what the Lord Jesus warned us against in Matthew 23:7-10? :
“they love . . . being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.” (Matthew 23:6-10 ESV)
Surely, the problem is just with those specific titles (rabbi, teacher, father) but with the love of title itself — including, we could add, “Reverend”.
11. Agam says:
thank you for an insightful article on this. While this seems to be very common in the black (and independent pentecostal) strands of the church in America, it is sadly spreading fast among church leaders in Africa.
12. judi Gordon says:
The Church is based on Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Evangelists and Teachers. Hence the 5 fold ministry. NEVER in the Bible does is talk about a “senior pastor” etc. But they can get licenses on line too as can Bishops.
And my other question is (and if ANYONE can answer this, I would LOVE to hear from you) if we are made in God’s image (Genesis) then God is both female and male and holds ALL of male and female. I am NOT saying we are not different as we are BUT why aren’t there more females in leadership roles? Thank you.
13. I saw this particular episode of The Lexi Show some time ago. I am seriously disturbed by the title chasing preachers in our country today, especially within the African-American community. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” I would suggest for all “Baptist Bishops” to relook the Reformation and its purpose. My covering is Christ alone.
14. RD says:
Following up on what John Carpenter wrote, and Matthew 23, I am wondering at the use of any titles, including that of Pastor or Rev. before someone’s name vs. “Brother” (or “Sister”) as Jesus himself instructs us.
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Thabiti Anyabwile
Thabiti Anyabwile's Books | http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2012/12/20/bishop-mania-and-confusion-about-biblical-church-leadership/?comments | dclm-gs1-003125529 | false | false | {
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0.077928 | <urn:uuid:7bfdfe7b-d1c8-41b3-a77d-941f04a2c01f> | en | 0.981331 | Why apple pie and sauerkraut make poor fare
Pretty, clever, rich - too good to last? Sarah Ryle reports
Robin Saunders is becoming to the broadsheet newspaper business sections what Anthea Turner was to the tabloid press: the golden girl with the world at her feet who became a figure of ridicule in the public perception.
Saunders' reputation, sought after or not, as a 'hot-shot blonde financier' is now in similar jeopardy and she could soon be wondering how she attracted first such a high profile and then how she could provoke the levels of Schadenfreude -soaked hostility currently coming her way.
The answer to the first question is easy: Saunders is female, beautiful, daring and wealthy. Until now even when she was not depicted as having the Midas touch she had at least been acclaimed for pulling off enough stunning deals to balance the (some say) inevitable flops.
The answer to the second question might be 'ditto'. The very qualities that make her stand out are those that engender envy. It is impossible to find a photograph that portrays her as less than an all-American goddess. Those who have met her (who opine, incidentally, that there is not much flesh to meet) say she is extremely pretty and 'very photogenic'.
She grew up in North Car olina and had the interests of a well-bred little girl: dancing, piano, painting and sewing. When she graduated from Florida University, it was a close call between dancing and investment banking. New York dance doors shut in her face before she opted for finance.
At almost 41 she is said to look 'years younger'. She is driven, in both senses of the word as she cannot drive, and even her relaxation is high-octane: hip-hop dance classes with body-pierced youngsters.
Some say they doubt that she feels the need to relax although in a handful of interviews she always cites her twin daughters, Ella and Savannah, as her prime focus. Supposedly social engagements revolve around business and money according to some who have got near enough to Robin and her banker husband, Matthew Roeser, to be able to judge.
There were 180 or so 'close friends' at her famous fortieth bash in Tuscany last year - the £400,000 party (source: gossipy estimates) lasted three days and took in a Renaissance costume ball that observers were quick to compare (favourably) to the toga party thrown weeks before by her business associate and friend Philip Green.
Green is a fan. Saunders backed his bid for Bhs, pulling off the deal in 72 hours and earning herself a £1.75 million dividend last year for a 1 per cent stake (since halved). Green admires Saunders ability to grasp commercial ideas very quickly and that 'she has always acted properly'. Saunders says Green - and Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone, the other colourful entrepreneur with whom she is associated - 'are contrarians and... somewhat controversial, but they are extremely good at what they do and it has made the transactions we did with them a lot of fun. It certainly made a lot of money for the bank and them.'
Ecclestone says: 'I am a straight-talking kind of person and so is she. It is refreshing to meet someone like that in the City. I have not met that many in the financial world. To me, they all seem to think that they are beyond being touched and do not need to keep their word.'
Saunders is said to inspire incredibly strong loyalty in her team. They followed her en masse when she left WestLB's bigger compatriot Deutsche in 1998. This is how, presumably, she can buzz in and out of meetings when deals are being done. 'She comes into a room and there is almost an audible intake of breath,' says one businessman. 'She radiates an energy and a self-belief. She doesn't play to her femininity, she's too successful to do the flirtatious bit.'
Even those who question her judgment admire her ability to have big ideas and make them happen. This is regarded as novel in the City.
Saunders has never done anything without WestLB approval and however much criticism she receives for courting publicity, a charge she denies, there are those who say that WestLB did little to dampen it.
A dull, provincial German bank sought its opposite in sparkling Saunders and basked in the reflected limelight as she signed off glamorous deals. Some ask whether a more self-confident bank would have needed the publicity and so have exercised more control.
Whether it was hubris that was followed by nemesis is arguable, but there are plenty who revel in the downfall. Just ask Anthea Turner.
Today's best video
Today in pictures | http://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/jun/15/theobserver.observerbusiness14 | dclm-gs1-003135529 | false | false | {
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0.025516 | <urn:uuid:9f7f049b-dffe-4039-94e7-25bb50a0bb20> | en | 0.950164 | Wait, what?
For the unaware, the Slide Pad is a weird little device that Nintendo created to add a second circle pad to the 3DS. Their exact motivations are unclear, though the 3DS was criticized for having only one analog stick. When it was finally revealed, many were taken aback by the size of the peripheral, which adds significant girth to the handheld. It was also announced that the Slide Pad would not draw power from the 3DS, but would instead rely on a separate battery.
The fact that the battery apparently lasts a really, really long time is something of a silver lining to the whole debacle. Though the fact that the peripheral’s single circle pad doesn’t draw a lot of power shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Oh, and it looks like the battery compartment has as screw-lid, so there’s that.
While that may seem like truly breathtaking battery life, it’s important to note that this figure is reported to come from Nintendo’s own documentation. As is the case with other pieces of consumer electronics, it wouldn’t be too surprising if Nintendo had inflated those claims somewhat. But even if the device only gets 240 hours of battery life in the wild, that’s still 10 straight days of gaming. Speaking personally, I think the most time I ever put into a handheld game was Pokèmon Red — about 96 hours worth. With that in mind, the slidepad will probably get you through just fine.
However, one of the most convenient things about modern Nintendo handhelds has been the ease of recharging them. Nintendo’s sealed, rechargeable battery design has done away with having to root around for spare batteries, or carry a bunch of spares around. Instead you just whip out the adapter and charge it up. By relying on a separate battery, Nintendo is probably keeping things cheap and simple, but is also defeating the convenience of having a well-designed modern handheld.
Those in the US and eager to strap on the Slide Pad will have to wait a little while longer. The peripheral won’t go on sale in the US until February 7, which just so happens to be the proposed launch date for the SpaceX’s mission to the ISS. Coincidence? Absolutely. But at least there will be something fun to do that day.
( via Endgadget)
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0.058993 | <urn:uuid:7a6e0ac7-bc65-4431-971d-edcb31ee667d> | en | 0.978307 | FORT COLLINS — Football teams evolve or they fall behind, and Colorado State isn't the only program nationally dealing with losses.
No, the Rams can't replace a Weston Richburg or a Crockett Gillmore, not in the case of talent, definitely not when it comes to experience. And the 31 touchdowns Kapri Bibbs rushed can't be expected to be duplicated. Players will fit into those spots, but they won't be who they replaced.
But who those players are and what they can offer are all part of the discovery phase that is spring practice.
The offense the Rams run will likely look different than a year ago, but the goal is to find a way to be just as explosive.
"If you follow the career that I've had, we're going to adjust to the personnel that we have," CSU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin said. "We're not going to say we're going to pound the ball if we don't have the running back. We've got some very talented wideouts, a talented quarterback, we've got some freshmen running backs coming in. We've got some kids who can play in the backfield who are wideouts, and we showed that last year.
"We'll just have to find what we've got going into fall camp, and it's not right now. There will be no conclusion of what we have until you get into fall camp and really figure it out. That's the way it always will be."
While head coach Jim McElwain admits that he'll see something in practice that jogs another idea, it's not just the coaches taking notes. The players do it themselves, because what transpires over the 15 practices will give them a better idea of what to expect in the fall, as well as what they will focus on in the summer when they're organizing workouts themselves.
In the span of a month's time, there's a lot to explore and experiments to be run.
Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson works on a drill during football practice on Tuesday at the team’s on-campus practice field.
Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson works on a drill during football practice on Tuesday at the team's on-campus practice field. (Steve Stoner / Loveland Reporter-Herald)
"I think that's what me and coach Baldwin in every meeting that we've had, we've sat down and said this is what we're going to do every day, and we're going to test this out certain days and test this out on other days," quarterback Garrett Grayson said. "That's what we're doing, we're testing the waters with everything. We want to see what we do best this spring so we can go into next summer and go into next fall with something in mind of what we're going to try to do."
But for Baldwin, it all starts wtih the guys up front, and if the Rams can't establish an offensive line, the rest won't really matter.
"Who can play guard, who can play center, who's going to win the job there and then how physical we can get there," Baldwin said. "The game's a physical game; it won't change. Can we come off (the ball) and knock people off?"
If they can, anything is possible he said. Jake Bennett, Fred Zerblis and Mason Myers have all run with the first group in the interior spots, and they could turn out to be interchangeable. Baldwin said nailing down who is center is paramount to the process.
Just as important is developing the young wideouts. McElwain said he won't anoint anybody there, but he does feel the Rams can be very good at that spot. With more size in the system, stretching the field was already a goal for the spring.
"I'm definitely watching those guys," quarterback Garrett Grayson said. "That's the biggest thing for us is we want to see where they're at. We've got guys that are 6-foot-2, 6-3, 6-4 that we can throw down field, hit the fades, the deep balls. That's our thing this spring, we want to stretch the field so the short game opens up, and that will help the running game. We're going to need them next fall."
How many they use could become the key question. Rashard Higgins improved throughout his true freshman season, and Jordon Vaden made strides at the end. The slot has returners in Joe Hansley and Charles Lovett, and Xavier Williams, Sammie Long and Elroy Masters are all getting multiple reps. They're also being used inside and out.
"Coach (Alvis Whited) being our receivers coach obviously wants as many receivers on the field as possible," Hansley said. | http://www.timescall.com/sports/ci_25451361/rams-are-learning-what-they-have | dclm-gs1-003355529 | false | false | {
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K-Fed Wants Brit Caught on Tape -- Commissioner Rules
10/26/2007 1:28 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
The Britney AM hearing is over -- it was all about videotaping Brit's deposition.
K-Fed's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told the judge he wanted to videotape Spears' depo, because the way Britney speaks is as important as what she says.
Sources tell us that during Britney's last court appearance, her words to the Commissioner sounded sincere but they were dripping with sarcasm.
Spears' lawyer, Thomas Dunlap, argued that there have been tons of leaks and he didn't want the videotape ending up on
The Commish said he was not concerned about Britney being videotaped because she seems to court all that with the media. He said, "Your client's concern on paper makes sense, but the ongoing pattern with the media and with the kids doesn't square."
Parent Crap -- click to launchBut ultimately, Commissioner Scott Gordon ruled he would not allow a video because he was concerned about the content leaking to the media.
As for TMZ getting the story as to what was in the parenting coach's report, Commissioner Gordon said, "I am deeply impressed by the investigative work of the media, although I think it's a little stretch of their talent." Aw, shucks!
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Refresh y'all TMZ's got the courthouse surrounded. Video's started.
2552 days ago
Video? Wow. Look at all of those paps. The circus is in town.
2552 days ago
Julie G.
#101 by OCD, I agree with you. I hope both of them will get help and work on some areas that they may need to do for the boys' sakes. It is not easy to do, but it would be worth it a try.
2552 days ago
2552 days ago
OCD and JR are the same morons with the same dull comments. They talk to each other as if they were different people. And you think Britney has a problem?
2552 days ago
106 jr hahaha, you are ocd. Your nuts. Stop talking to yourself.
2552 days ago
defender of the femme
#10, I agree. It's bad when judges are influenced by the media. I believe some of this commisioners comments about britney's "habitual, continual, whatever" use of substances was made not by evidence, hard evidence, but by the influence of stroies he'd read. No one is immune to being persuaded or influenced, including judges. Also, that he would even address the media--by talking about how deeply impressed he is by their work (and then chides them), is courting the media. It sounds biased to me. This commish isn't talking about his tuna sandwich, and crying, but he's still courting the media, in a more savvy way. Of course, HE knows he is also a focus of attention.
I just read this post and then everything after, up to the end of the hearing where britney leaves "very upset" and kfed leaves "very happy". TMZ has definitely taken sides. Comments about kfed being a "sharp dresser", and britney being a wreck...I don't think she yelled the stuff Extra claims she yelled. At this point, certain reporters are feeling comfortable enough to flat-out lie. Once a few people said bad things, they started feeling safe. They can point to other people who lie about the same stuff.
Wasser is quoted as saying kfed and britney both care a lot about the kids. why mention kfed at all? Did she represent britney? or kfed? she wasn't representing the kids, bc she backed out. She was supposed to be britney's lawyer, and later makes it clear she was never on britney's side.
I still feel britney doesn't know who the driver was in all of this. Right now, I don't think she can even see it, or look back and remember clearly. But when the fog clears, and her hindsight is better, she's going to understand how she was set up and that this was not her fault. Give her one year away from the stress, and she's going to start putting two and two together. She needs to dig a little deeper and start making some connections as to which assistant she hired knew who.
Good idea for her mom to write parenting book. If britney is so slandered, shore up mom to take these kids back as an expert in parenting.
Britney will get them back, and maybe even get full custody down the road. The difference between kfeds side and britneys side is that britney reacted, she didn't plot. She's still not plotting or making strategies for getting kfed in trouble. kfeds party would try to get her drunk, and have a "friend" enable her and encourage her to do things she wouldn't normally do, simply because brit wouldn't know what was going on and would only hear the flattery. kfeds party would set her up with an assistant who would lie and say he witnessed all kinds of things. kfeds party would know someone in the media and use them as a tool. Kfeds party would try to alienate britney from her family, and would set her up to have affairs with men she didn't know well. britney...wouldn't even think of doing that. she might think of taking away his car, or leaking the news that he smoked pot around the kids, and she may have ended their marriage over the phone. but she never would go to the levels he's gone to, and her friends never would either. her family wouldn't even think of it. kfed's got a dirty party, and while britneys family may have christian values, it's time for them to fight back, and get dirty too. Jesus took a lot of crap without saying a word, but he also brought a lot of people down--calling them out for what they were, and destroying their business (turning over tables in the temple). I see britney and kfed in a reverse samson & delilah scene, with kfed seducing britney only to bring her down for the delight of others, cutting off her hair and whispering, "pleease...just do it for me", getting her drunk enough to confide her deepest secrets and weak spots. Kfed found the weak spots, and he and his group worked on her and brought her down. I believe, the first time britney almost split with him, after kid #1, he knew he wouldn't win custody. kfed knew that if she divorced him them, she'd get the kid. So he sleazed his way back into her heart, and got her pregnant, with the intention of giving himself more time to work on her, and to hire people who would work for him.
2552 days ago
OCD is a person who does care what is best for others. Jr and OCD are two different people. I agree with you OCD.
2551 days ago
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Home | Feature Articles | Defending Bowhunting and Why
Defending Bowhunting and Why
By Dave Colavito
Printer-Friendly Format
The Dec/Jan 2013 issue of TBM presented Sam Beuschel's well reasoned defense of trophy hunting immediately before the NEWS section. I don't know if such proximity was a decision based solely on magazine layout considerations or whether the editors had something more in mind. Either way, it highlights an important challenge confronting bowhunting.
Mr. Beuschel's article laid out a cogent argument in support of trophy hunting within the context of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM). He used reason and facts to address concerns often expressed in opposition to trophy hunting.
The NEWS, however, did something very different. It provided clarity on the values necessary for bowhunting to remain the honorable pursuit that it is by describing principles, mutually agreed to by bowhunting's finest organizations, that identify bowhunting amidst the barrage of technology hype. The broader message was equally clear: bowhunting as originally intended faces an uncertain future, due not only to a "What's wrong with easy?" mind-set but also from decisions sometimes made by resource managers.
Facts and reason versus values; their relationship is complex, with consequences close to home as wildlife managers in my own state slide farther down a slippery slope towards an anything-goes approach to big game management. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is moving aggressively towards recognizing crossbows as legitimate archery tackle, thereby giving the nod for their general use during the archery-only season. And they've already inserted a firearm deer hunt within that season under the shingle of increasing hunter recruitment.
So can facts and reason persuade policy makers to preserve bowhuntng values? Let's hope so. But let's also not kid ourselves. Hope isn't a strategy, and it's difficult making the case for preserving those values on the basis of balancing wildlife populations alone. Thankfully, the number of punched tags doesn't tell the entire story either. If it did, machine guns would be more common in the woods.
Keeping those values afloat requires wading into the murky water of bowhunting politics. A good example of that murkiness is the length profiteers have gone to manufacture confusion in their effort to convince state legislatures, wildlife managers, and the hunting public that the crossbow is actually a bow, never minding what little they do share in common has mostly to do with the last three letters identifying them -- motorcycles and bicycles are no different either, and they both also have wheels, right?
Rational arguments refuting the claim are dismissed as either uniformed or pompous elitism. From a big game bowhunting perspective, the end game for industry here in the U.S. is expanded market share through the full inclusion of the implement anywhere there's a bow-only season. And state wildlife agencies with peculiar notions about what constitutes bowhunting, and what it needs to thrive, appear to be buying what they're selling. A perusal of industry "factoids" and progression of states sanctioning the crossbow as archery tackle leave little doubt about the tactics being employed and their effectiveness. According to one source, over the past 30 years the number of states permitting crossbows in bow-only seasons increased from 2 to 24, with 21 of them falling into line during the past decade alone. Market inertia in Canada is similar.
Normally I'm not one to argue too much with success. However, it's one thing to hit the mark when shooting straight, entirely another to move the mark and claim a straight shot. Bearing in mind that the crossbow lobby isn't the only success story in town, I'm inclined to go back to the basics of NAM. First, some clarification on what isn't and is or should be at issue and why.
Whether crossbows are legitimate hunting implements is not at issue; they are. Whether they can be used safely isn't either; they can. And whether or not employing a particular hunting implement is likely to aid managers in some way seems obvious; it probably would, at least for a time. That's as true for crossbows during an archery season as it is for explosive tips on arrows, big game hunting with spears, or the above reference to machine guns in the woods. I make no claim of impartial observer, but by any reasonable measure the crossbow clearly isn't a bow (more on this later), and -- setting aside for the moment, considerations of exceptions for hunters with permanent physical disabilities -- on that basis alone has no place in archery seasons. It's a testament to the power of marketing that confusion on this point (some would say, lie) persists. I wish this was just an abstract point, but it isn't, because state legislatures are a controlling interest and their members, often non-hunters, understandably lack perspective on the matter -- "horizontal bowhunting" (not my term) isn't merely a matter of bow cant.
What is or should be at issue is whether permitting weapons superior to bows, such as crossbows and firearms, during archery seasons comports with the spirit of NAM.
It's not a convenient determination for public wildlife managers to make, but they are obligated to make it -- NAM is a series of bedrock principles they commit to abide, a public trust burden for-profits don't bear. And it isn't arbitrary either -- no more than deciding a driver at 50 mph is complying with the speed limit in a 30 mph zone.
No one would deny that public resource managers today confront a dizzying array of competing interests; it's messy but no less vital to the democratic underpinning of NAM. So the temptation for some agency decisions to be over-influenced by stakeholder polling and internal expediency can be as understandable as it can be unwise. But that's where the principles the agency commits itself to should provide a rudder, to help maintain course, as it grapples with thorny questions that lie at the intersection of those interests and the finite capacity of natural resources.
It's safe to say New York's DEC isn't the only state wildlife agency committed to remain "dedicated to ensuring that the tradition of hunting remains strong … and that deer management continues to reflect the tenets of the North American Model and principles of fair chase, despite changing cultural values and pressures from within and without the hunting community." (my emphasis) And in A Conservation Timeline: Milestones of the Model's Evolution, Robert Brown, Ph.D. and Dean of the College of Natural Resources at North Carolina State University, points out that although the term North American Model of Wildlife Conservation was coined relatively recently, its history extends hundreds of years.
Principal architects of that history include Aldo Leopold, widely regarded as the father of modern wildlife management in the U.S. While rereading his essay, Wildlife in American Culture, I was reminded again how the depth of his thinking was far advanced not only for his own time but arguably also for today.
"No one can weigh or measure culture, hence I shall waste no time trying to do so. Suffice it to say that by common consent of thinking people, there are cultural values … that renew contacts with wild things. I venture the opinion that these values are of three kinds."
He went on to describe them as those experiences that remind us of our history (what he termed "split-rail" values), our dependency on the soil-plant-animal-man food chain ("man-earth" values), and that exercise ethical restraints, which he collectively referred to as "sportsmanship."
It's self-evident that the evolution of that sportsmanship is away from the essential values Leopold believed it embodied. To those values, he went on to explain, "Our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is the voluntary limitation in the use of those armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things." (my emphasis)
"… Perhaps the bow and arrow movement and the revival of falconry mark the beginnings of a reaction. The net trend, however, is clearly towards more and more mechanization, with a corresponding shrinkage in cultural values, especially split-rail and ethical restraints."
Although hunting today under the aegis of NAM places important control on the numbers of wild animals we kill, it's more than a stretch to suggest Leopold's concern was confined solely within the context of such numbers. The father of modern wildlife management was concerned with the dumbing down of the hunting tradition through the broad uncritical acceptance of technology in the pursuit of wildlife, an acceptance that degrades our appreciation of the natural world. However, that tradition isn't a homogenous slab. It needs to be recognized for the tapestry that it is, comprised of individual strands each embodying the virtues of its own rich tradition, each therefore worthy of recognition within the context of NAM, and in turn, an agency's principles.
Discerning that recognition for the bowhunting tradition is a growing challenge. In their own defense, agencies frequently cite general trends of burgeoning ungulate populations, and lower hunter recruitment, as implied justification for their decisions that marginalize bowhunting. Those trends are correct though alone don't provide insight to their underlying causes. And acting without addressing those causes risks confusing activity with progress, or worse, creating unintended consequences.
I need to be clear. Protecting natural resources comes first; without that, tradition goes the way of passenger pigeons, a point made brutally clear by the early twentieth century. However, when essential values of the bowhunting tradition are all but stated to conflict with resource management, before attempting to dumb them down it's important to assess the correctness of the claim, whether the choices being presented are false, and whether viable alternatives exist for preserving them.
A defining distinction of those values is the commitment required to become proficient with a hunting bow, an implement that remains under human muscle control prior to and throughout full draw and release. Unlike a hunter using superior weapons, such as crossbows and firearms, which deliver factory preset levels of energy to bolt and bullet respectively, the bowhunter, through form and fitness, is integral to the energy delivered to a loosed arrow. It sets the bow apart as a primitive hunting weapon and imposes the added limitation of close range hunting tactics.
Because public wildlife agencies play a unique and central role, bowhunting values won't endure without being respected in agencies' policies. That won't occur without a renewed commitment by agencies to acknowledge mission drift.
Proposals to place big game firearm hunts in the archery season should, therefore, prompt a range of questions, including:
1. What does placing them in the firearm season fail to accomplish that placing them in the archery season does?
2. Why isn't implementing special archery AND firearm hunts during their respective seasons also an option?
3. Does the "hunter support" for the proposal touted by the agency reflect something tangible beyond a broader preference for hunting with firearms over bows? If it doesn't, how can the agency claim to be "dedicated to ensuring that the tradition of hunting remains strong, despite changing cultural values and pressures from within and without the hunting community?"
4. Is the overlap of small game gun with big game archery season adequate justification, even for special youth hunts? In other words, is the impact to bowhunting from big game's response to an incremental increase in firearm activity merely perceived? On the surface it might seem so, but anyone can mentor a youth and you don't need a special season to do it. And after many encounters of deer lounging well within range of my own practice sessions, I'm sure others can also attest that it isn't the same animal when it knows it's being hunted. The level of firearm activity isn't the only concern; it's also hunter behavior toward the species being pursued.
Proposals to sanction crossbows during archery seasons deserve similar scrutiny:
1. The crossbow isn't a bow, so what does permitting its use during the archery season really accomplish that restricting it to other seasons doesn't?
2. Here again, is the agency losing sight of its guiding principles?
3. And because they share many design features in common with firearms, crossbows, like firearms, are conducive to different hunting tactics than those used in bowhunting. The "drive" is one example. Are such tactics likely to interfere with the time-tested bowhunting tactics of stand and still hunting, particularly in areas of higher hunter densities? (The distinction in hunting tactics is the reason DEC gives for excluding gun hunter sightings from the Bowhunter Sighting Log. The Log is used to compile data on "species for which we most need management information" and the agency believes "[bowhunter] preference for stand and still hunting will reduce variability and give a better index than we would get from other types of hunters.")
On the question of whether to permit crossbow use during archery season for bowhunters with permanent lifetime disabilities, I consider myself blessed and cursed. Blessed, because I'm in good health, cursed, because I recognize I'm unable to fully appreciate the physically challenged bowhunter's situation. On the one hand, adaptive equipment for vertical bows is available, so there's a case to be made for the blanket exclusion of crossbows during archery season that applies in some states. But who, other than the physically challenged hunter, knows best whether that equipment is adequate to serve his or her needs? The question clearly deserves great care.
Yet irrespective of programs designed for the physically challenged, managers sometimes defend their proposals on the basis of providing additional "tools" for controlling wildlife numbers. That sounds good, but a hatchet is a poor substitute when the work calls for a scalpel. Programs for attracting new and retaining existing hunters, particularly among youth and valued members of the physically challenged community, need to be encouraged. But opening the door for able body hunters to use crossbows during the archery season suggests a different agenda, perhaps one growing out of touch with the hunting tradition.
With more and more country placed off-limits to hunting in general, the challenge for managers to achieve population objectives can be understandably daunting. According to some documents, declining hunter access, not surprisingly, is believed to contribute to higher rates of hunter attrition, the combined result being fewer hunters to control deer and elk populations expanding beyond the carrying capacity of winter range. But that's hardly an indictment of bowhunting; dumbing down the later in response to the former is like mopping up water from a bathroom floor as the tub continues overflowing.
Make no mistake; there's no substitute for the expertise our trained professionals bring to wildlife management, and they need and deserve our support. But they are human, subject to the same political and financial pressures we all are and at times in need of a course-correct. They need to be reminded our support for bowhunting isn't selfish obstruction in the management of wildlife. And it's no more a wholesale knock against technology than is our support for wild places a preference to live out our lives in caves.
Rather, it's a unique way to reaffirm, and help preserve, an essential element of the conservation ethic the father of modern wildlife management was so passionate about, self-imposed restraint.
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• The Trad Knife Thread | http://www.tradbow.com/public/Defending-Bowhunting-and-Why.cfm | dclm-gs1-003395529 | false | false | {
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0.050952 | <urn:uuid:14a1c94a-0304-414b-86fc-bfddf8722381> | en | 0.957561 | look up any word, like thot:
idiot, fool, loser, someone who acts childish, immature.
"stop being an arbutus" he shouted to the young man who was throwing coins at the young girls.
by Danny Le June 07, 2007
A tree/human in an episode of 'Disney Princess - Aladin' who at first seems evil, because he doesn't understand how humans need friends, but at the end, he was nice.
Arbutus: Jasmine... I think I understand.
Jasmine: Y..y..you do?
by Grace Lucy November 26, 2007 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Arbutus&defid=2456116 | dclm-gs1-003525529 | false | false | {
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0.210072 | <urn:uuid:da2c530c-46c8-404a-ae5a-cb533e42bb99> | en | 0.940917 | look up any word, like pussy:
Plural: hair gods
(n) 1. used to describe a Supreme Being responsible for impeccable hair transformation(s) who many praise for approval
(n) 2. an extremely skilled stylist who has mastered the art of hair manipulation
Her hair was so flawless as if it was laid to the hair god
by The Bundle Boutique LLC March 27, 2014 | http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hair%20God | dclm-gs1-003555529 | false | false | {
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0.220464 | <urn:uuid:de3c160a-dc04-40a1-955a-9e2a96897a0b> | en | 0.951782 | look up any word, like ebola-head:
1. A really cute guy that usually hangs out at a skate park and skateboarding (go figure)
2. A hot guy who usually has long hair, wears skinny jeans, Vans, hoodies, etc.
3. Someone who is "real" and not self-conscious, tells it like it is. You can't fake that type of kick-ass personality. (Well, you can, but it's much too obvious)
4. Someone with a kick-ass smile and gorgeous eyes, but turns around and breaks your heart
"Skater" is a synonym for "heartbreaker"
by ThisBrokenCitySky January 11, 2009
"skater" or "skateboarder"
A person who is foot mounted on a board of some type with zero-four wheels. Usually without any motor. (Manually propelled vehicle.) Skateboarders usually do not have a single fashion, and their clothing style is borrowed from other sub-cultures. (i.e. Punk-Skaters, Prep-Skaters, Homie-Skaters, etc.) Derived from the "surfer", "stoner" and "metal-head" sub-cultures. Sadly some ignorant people still affiliate skaters with stoners. Skaters are typically athletic and usually do not use drugs.
The term is actually difficult to define due to the fact of the large diversity in the sub-culture. Basically anybody how uses any type of skateboard for any reason. (yes posers exist, but they exist for every sub-culture, I'm sure that there are "Thug" posers also.) Skateboarders do not listen to one specific type of music. No strict fashion exists except for the people who try to look dedicated/sponsered, or are actually sponsered by wearing name-brand skateboarding clothing (such as a company's t-shirt, hat, or shoes.) Any person can be a skater: african, european, asian, mexican, female, male, elderly, youngsters, poor, rich, etc.
Skateboarders are people who participate in a sport/art, not a fashion trend.
To find some skaters: grab a skateboarding magazine, or a skateboarding movie, or hell, even go to your local skatepark or skateshop.
by Steven Hanaway November 21, 2005
by El Gordo December 06, 2004
at first not that bad, i had a few skater friends who were pretty cool. about 1/4 of the skaters are still loyal to just liking the sport for what it is and how good thtey were, and not being like everyone else. Its just when you get the stupid asshole tight pants boys who think they're all that just because they have a $60 C1RCA jacket, and an $80 pair of KR3W pants. I actually didn't mind these guys until they all started being stuck up and thinking they were better than everyone else. all the skater friends I have are completely normal, regular jeans, cheap t-shirts, and maybe a good pair of skating shoes. but that is it. I found out that they were actually better at boarding then the stupid elite guys who thought they were good, calling everybody "posers" and shit. I think that people who skateboard are cool guys, its just the stupid wannabe assholes that give every skater a bad reputation for being a stupid bitch and a bad guy. I DONT MIND PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD AT SKATEBOARDING. JUST THE STUPID DUMB SHITS WHO THINK THAT IF YOU WEAR VANS, YOU ARE THE BIGGEST POSER EVER. GET A FUCKING LIFE. ITS JUST SHOES, NOT THE FUCKING APPOCALYPSE.
tight pants skater boy: DOOD were did u get those vans there fuckin sweet.
non-bitch kid wearing cool vans just because he likes them:the vans store at the mall, where else.
tight pants skater boy: i was just fucking with you. those are so gay and retarded. if you dont even skate, you shouldnt even have the right to go inside that store, FUCKING POSER. besides, vans suck, C1RCA is the shit. (all his faggot friends laugh with him)
non-bitch kids friend whos good at skating but doesnt show it: (goes up to tight pants boy and beats the fucking shit out of him, all the others fleeing, and coming back to school never wearing tight pants again. then the non bitch kid gets lots of compliments on his shoes by everybody.)
by FUCK ALL FAG SKATERS January 08, 2008
skateboarding is not a fad, it's a way of life.
while i may not skateboard every day, i do it for the right reasons... not to get freinds or to cash in on the rise in popularity that skateboarding has suddenly taken.
Skating skate skater
by wolf15668 August 30, 2013
Keyword in the military, especially the Marine Corps:
S: Stay out of trouble
K: Keep a low profile
A: Avoid responsibility/higher-ups
T: Take your time
E: Enjoy yourself
R: Relax
I just keep Skater in mind when I don't want to work.
by Renegade888 July 10, 2008
A skater is someone who rides a skateboard, and gets pleasure out of doing it. One thing that really ticks me off is when someone calls a skater a punk (mostly gay townie wankers do this),as skaters are just skaters :) . So all you gay townies out there IM NOT A PUNK!
Most skaters these days are really friendly and dont call biginners posers, and actually help them.
Also most people think us skaters do drugs, ok, some do, but most dont, I ve been skating for 2years and havent touched a spliff.
A young skater at a skate-park
Noob: Oh, dude sweet Kickflip, teach me how.
Experienced guy: Yeah sure.
2 weeks later....
Noob: Yeah! I can Kickflip!
Expereinced guy: Oh nice one Lil' Buddy ;).
by Majik May 25, 2007
skater is any one who skates.if u try to get better every day always trying to get that next big move your a skater . if u try to skate but still cant do anything but keep trying your still a skater no matter what someone says because every one started the same way. and it doesnt matter what you where. u could be goth, prep, gay , emo, and still be a skater i dont care what other people think. i skate in ripped "american eagle" jeans ,shirt and my vans, my friend is a football player jock and he skates like anyone else. were not pot heads or anything were just people who like to skate. your not a posser if your not a hard core skater yet . your only a posser if u carry a board with u every where just to get girls but cant even skate on it
hot girl: hey nice board are u a skater. skaters are hot
posser : yea i skate
hot girl: can u show me?
posser: i would but i hurt my foot doing a trick
hot girl: o poor baby u must be hard core .how about some other day?
posser: sure want to make out for now?
hot girl: ok
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0.279558 | <urn:uuid:ba9e2dbf-003d-43c3-8583-099481f879b6> | en | 0.954913 | NASA: Floating 'junk' no threat to space station
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) - NASA says a piece of old space junk that it's been tracking for a few days is no threat to the International Space Station.
But there's another piece of debris in the space station's neighborhood.
On Friday, NASA spotted an old science payload from a previous shuttle mission in the vicinity of the 220-mile-high (355-kilometer-high) space station. It's expected to come within 9 miles (14 kilometers) Monday. For now, it's not considered a threat. | http://www.vcstar.com/news/nasa-floating-junk-no-threat-to-space-station | dclm-gs1-003715529 | false | false | {
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0.049736 | <urn:uuid:d4f34347-9383-495b-baa2-270a71a3cc46> | en | 0.946676 | Warfare historian
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Clare Makepeace, the warfare historian.
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My particular interest lies in how war transforms individuals’ lives. I think this was instilled in me at a young age, having seen the effect the Second World War had on my grandfather. He was captured during the British Army’s retreat at Dunkirk in June 1940 and spent five years in captivity. From an early age, I struggled to reconcile how it was that my kind, gentle, patient grandfather had been forced to endure such hardship and witnessed so much barbarity.
I’ve focused upon two particular aspects of World War One and World War Two in my research – the visits of British soldiers to brothels in the First World War, and prisoners of war in the Second World War. In these topics, I draw upon the wider themes of men at war, emotions in war and memories of war, themes which I consider fundamental to fully understanding individuals’ experiences of warfare.
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Re: [CT] [MESA] When and where did we say this?
Released on 2012-10-18 17:00 GMT
Email-ID 2006080
Date 2010-10-22 15:10:44
Ah, ok, thanks.
On 10/22/2010 9:09 AM, Anya Alfano wrote:
Weekly last month --
On 10/22/10 9:07 AM, Kamran Bokhari wrote:
See bolded quote below.
Making it strategic
By Tariq Fatemi
Thursday, 21 Oct, 2010
THE current round of the strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the
United States was proposed at President Obama's initiative as a means
to build a partnership based on "mutual trust and mutual respect" that
would lead to a more stable relationship between the two countries.
However, while both parties recognise that they need each other, their
ties continue to swing between cooperation and confrontation and
remain plagued by suspicions. Recent leaks in both capitals reveal
major hiccups which do not bode well for the stability of the
The fragility of these ties has been laid bare by Bob Woodward in his
book Obama's Wars, which confirms that Pakistan continues to occupy
"centre stage" in Washington but for all the wrong reasons. Moreover,
it reveals that Washington is no longer taking the current civilian
leadership seriously, viewing it as weak, corrupt and incompetent,
while the army high command is seen as "having the power to deliver,
but refusing to do much".
This is evident in the manner in which senior US officials, including
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, castigated the government for
its failure to improve governance. At the just-concluded Friends of
Democratic Pakistan meeting in Brussels, Secretary Clinton abandoned
all pretence of diplomatic civility, warning that "it is absolutely
unacceptable for those with means in Pakistan not to be doing their
fair share to help their own people, while the taxpayers of Europe,
the US and other contributing countries are all chipping in."
This was echoed by others, including EU foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton who stressed that the international community wanted to "learn
more about Pakistan's strategy for a longer-term comprehensive
approach to recovery and how it will tackle structural impediments".
In other words, our friends have had enough of excuses; they want
action and want it now. More worrying is President Obama's resolve,
shared by his principal aides, that if American goals in Afghanistan
are thwarted or if there is a terrorist strike in the US, which can be
traced to Pakistan, the US "would be forced to do things that Pakistan
would not like. No one will be able to stop the response and
This message, conveyed directly to President Zardari, came with the
warning that the US had drawn up a plan to bomb "150 terrorist centres
in Pakistan". While it would be folly to view this as mere bluster, it
would be equally naive of Washington not to consider the disastrous
consequences, given the fragility of the current political set-up and
the virulently anti-American sentiments in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, news emanating from Washington confirms that
notwithstanding the desire of Gen Petraeus to see "sons and grandsons
fighting in Afghanistan", President Obama remains determined to begin
reducing American presence there in less than a year.
It is in this context that comments by both Secretary of Defence
Robert Gates and Secretary Clinton in Brussels last week, that the
Obama administration is now a partner of the Afghan government in its
peace talks with the Taliban, acquire significance. Secretary Gates
clarified that though the US was not officially participating in the
talks, it was closely monitoring them and offering counsel.
Other reports suggest that Nato is providing safe passage to Taliban
officials engaged in the talks. Secretary Clinton defended the
administration by claiming that "stranger things have happened in the
history of war".
This development carries risks and opportunities for both the US and
Pakistan. President Obama's critics may accuse him of negotiating with
the very people who harboured Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda
leadership prior to 9/11, but the administration is hoping that by
reiterating its commitment to troop withdrawal, the president may be
able to offer some comfort to his war-weary supporters. US commanders
would also be hoping that news of dialogue with the Taliban leaders
will sow discord in the ranks of the fighters.
Islamabad should welcome American encouragement of dialogue with the
Taliban, while ensuring that we not only remain involved in the
process but are able to protect our interests. This can be done by
encouraging genuine reconciliation in Afghanistan by using Pakistan's
linkages with the Taliban leadership to bring about a transitional
government that addresses many of Pakistan's concerns.
As Strategic Forecasting, a US think-tank, commented last week: "The
US needs its withdrawal to take place in a manner that strengthens its
influence rather than weakens it and Pakistan can provide the cover
for turning a retreat into a negotiated settlement."
The `strategic dialogue' therefore comes at a critical time, not only
because of significant developments in Afghanistan but also because a
number of other trends in the region call for deep analysis.
One of the most important will be the outcome of President Obama's
forthcoming visit to India. He may not be as starry-eyed about India
as Clinton or Bush, but being a cold practitioner of power politics he
cannot be oblivious to the tremendous political and economic
advantages that the US could derive from getting India firmly in its
strategic embrace.
The recent cooling of relations between Washington and Beijing and
public expressions of concern by Clinton and Gates about China's
"ambitions" in the Pacific could not have come at a more opportune
moment for India.
It is in this context that the Indian army chief's statement
describing China and Pakistan as "threats" should be seen. Neither
India nor the US is happy with Islamabad reverting to its traditional
position on Kashmir. But President Obama needs to be reminded of his
election campaign remark, that there can be no peace in the region
without a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue.
While US interests, for understandable reasons, lie in securing
Pakistan's cooperation in the war against terror, genuine strategic
ties can only be established through a deeper understanding of each
other's concerns and interests.
The US should strive to move beyond the hitherto single-item agenda
and demonstrate, through tangible initiatives, that it wishes to
promote political stability in Pakistan and the economic well-being of
its people.
Kamran Bokhari
Regional Director
Middle East & South Asia
T: 512-279-9455
C: 202-251-6636
F: 905-785-7985 | http://www.wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/20/2006080_re-ct-mesa-when-and-where-did-we-say-this-.html | dclm-gs1-003935529 | false | false | {
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0.020284 | <urn:uuid:a392b553-461e-492d-83b5-6a8aab0683e2> | en | 0.966863 | Many Elis break from norm, lean right
At Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity’s annual Mortician’s Ball, the football players who stood at the entry of the raucous event collected an entry fee in exchange for a beer cup. But these were no run-of-the-mill beer cups.
The tall plastic cups DKE printed for the party depicted John Kerry as Frankenstein and said, “As scary as Kerry.”
DKE, which consists of mostly football, baseball, lacrosse and soccer players and a few non-athletes, is traditionally a right-leaning fraternity, football player and DKE President Dicky Shanor ’05 said. While there are a few liberals in the fraternity, the majority of the brothers seems to be representative of so many varsity athletes on campus: politically conservative. In stark contrast with the rest of the student body, many athletes tend to espouse Republican views and vote the party line.
“From my experience and the athletes I know, I would agree that athletes seem more conservative,” Joshua Schwartz ’05, a member of the squash team, said. “I don’t know if there’s any basis for that, or if [conservative athletes] are the louder athletes that speak out.”
While Schwartz’s team happens to be one of the least politically conservative teams at Yale, teams such as men’s lacrosse, football and baseball are notoriously conservative. As is the case in DKE, there are always a handful of liberals who stand their ground during political discussions — which seem to come up quite often, especially on the football team — but conservatives compose the overwhelming majority.
“I guess speaking from experience of people on the football team, I’d say the proportion of conservatives is a lot greater than in the student body as a whole,” defensive lineman Bryant Dieffenbacher ’05 said.
Dieffenbacher quoted a poll of football players taken by Yale Sports Publicity at the beginning of the year that found 62 players voting for Bush, 27 for Kerry and 11 undecided.
In part, Dieffenbacher said, this can be attributed to the geographical composition of the team.
According to the Yale Football Media guide, 20 players hail from Texas, roughly 35 percent of the team comes from southern states and around 13 percent have their roots in the Midwest. Only four players call a northern city home.
In contrast, one third of the squash team is international students, and another third is from New York. The difference in the geographical make-up of the two teams speaks volumes about their differing political preferences.
The baseball team is composed mainly of Bible Belt ballers. Seven come from Florida, by far the largest state contingent on the squad.
Pitcher Colin Ward-Henninger ’05 said the Republican majority on the baseball squad is “definitely noticeable.” Though Ward-Henningner is in the Democratic minority, he said he never feels uncomfortable discussing politics with the team.
“[The Republicans on the team] just think in general most liberals are going through a phase, and once they get into the real world they’ll realize that it doesn’t make sense, and they will become conservative,” Ward-Henninger said.
Ward-Henninger also pointed out the presence of religion on the squad. He said many team members adhere closely to the laws of a religion, and some participate in Athletes in Action, a Christian group for athletes.
Catcher Cody Slape ’07 is an active participant in AIA at Yale. Meeting with AIA members twice a week helps him to balance school, sports and religion, he said.
Shanor said he believes religion is one of the main factors that helps to explain the conservatism of the football team, as well. A group of players on the team pray on their own before every game, Shanor said.
And while one would be hard-pressed to find a southerner with a stick in Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium, there is another huge factor that contributes to the lacrosse team’s conservatism: economics.
“In sports, there is a huge emphasis placed on personal ability and achievement,” Shanor said. “There’s little emphasis on compassion for the loser … If you look at NFL contracts, there are stipulations that say if you rush 1,000 yards in a certain amount of games, you get X amount of money. It’s very incentive-based. A lot of emphasis is placed on meritocracy, and that translates over to the capitalist view of the world.”
Lacrosse player Dave Levy ’07 agreed that most lacrosse players are conservative, and their political bent is often based on pocketbook matters.
“I always hesitate to say stuff like that because I think it sort of takes away from the legitimacy of a Republican’s point of view,” Levy said. “It’s not like he’s a Republican just because he’s rich … But on the lacrosse team, there are a lot of upper class, high society kind of kids, so that’s why most of our team is conservative.”
But professor William Kelly, who in the past has taught “Sports, Society and Culture,” said he thinks there is another element at play. While he agrees that geography, religion and demographics make some teams more conservative than others, he said an element of time-honored machismo in contact sports adds to players’ conservative values.
Kelly’s argument also helps to explain why highly individualized sports teams such as squash and tennis are not necessarily as conservative, even if the players have the same blue-blood pedigrees as their counterparts on the lacrosse and football teams.
“Those sports are among the most masculine sports, and they tend to idealize a kind of traditional masculinity and aggressive masculinity and conform to conventional gender stereotypes,” Kelly said.
Kelly’s argument also helps to explain why it seems women’s teams are often not as politically conservative as men’s teams. While society expects men to play aggressively, it expects women to take a more feminine role, Kelly said. That role does not include smashing into people on the field or on the ice.
“Women are playing against the stereotype when they become involved seriously in sports like this, so they well may have less conventional, or be less satisfied with conventional, attitudes,” Kelly said.
Lacrosse player Katherine Sargent ’05 said the women’s lacrosse team is probably much less conservative than their male counterparts.
“I think it might have to do with gender,” Sargent said. “I think women may tend to be more liberal, and the issues they’re concerned about might have more liberal ideas.”
Both Sargent and other female athletes addressed their hesitation to offend their teammates. While men’s teams often get into heated political debates, the women seem to steer clear from political argument.
“I’m not going to pick a fight with a teammate about politics,” Sargent said. “Those are their values, how they were raised, what their parents are … It’s not worth creating a rift on the team.”
But even on the football team, the players said they are a team above all else.
“We joke around with a liberal or whatever but it’s never in a harsh, mean, offensive sense,” Shanor said. “We all do respect each other in the end, and politics take a back seat when it comes down to it.”
Captain Freedom, a member of DKE fraternity, rides on the back of the Zamboni at a men’s hockey game. DKE, a traditionally right-leaning fraternity, is composed primarily of athletes, who tend to be conservative and go against the Yale political grain.
Kate Lawson | http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2004/11/11/many-elis-break-from-norm-lean-right/ | dclm-gs1-004215529 | false | false | {
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0.023114 | <urn:uuid:65112a1f-8291-453b-ae5c-ec6e4b8b805d> | en | 0.975151 | New Liposuction Lets Your Surgeon Sculpt Your Body
Brand-new outpatient plastic surgery techniques could give patients the body they want without spending hours at the gym or enduring a painful recovery and unsightly scars.
Believe it or not, Dr. Michelle Copeland says the new kinds of liposuction are not too good to be true.
The new procedures can create a toned, muscular body and home in on the problem areas, Copeland said. One procedure can actually etch six-pack abs, another boosts flat behinds and another sculpts shapely ankles and calves.
" Isn't it about the six-pack?" asked Paula Antovaras, who underwent high-definition liposelection. "Everybody loves a six-pack on anybody."
The 37-year-old mother of two talked about her surgery on "Inside Edition." She underwent a procedure called high-definition liposelection in which doctors sculpted a six-pack into her abs by enhancing her exact muscle structure with her own fat.
"This uses the technique of liposculpturing, so if somebody is looking at their body parts, sometimes we have to reduce, sometimes we have to add," Copeland said. "Sometime people have a flat or sagging butt and they want a lift or a perk. In the past, we couldn't do that without making large scars. But today, virtually scarless, we can lift the butt, give it a fullness. We can use lipo to take it from certain areas, then add that fat to others."
It usually costs $5,000 and up, and recovery time is minimal because the incisions are small. Copeland said that people usually took only a few days off from work, but that it did take three weeks to six months to see the full effects.
New York actress Joanna Blais underwent Brazilian butt sculpting. Doctors added lift and bulk to her flat derriere.
"I never could have imagined that one could go to a doctor and say, 'You know I would like a butt like this,'" she said.
Copeland said that only about half the added fat lasts and that it usually disappeared due to aging. She said that all kinds of people could benefit from liposelection because no matter what, sometimes parts of the body are stubborn and will not change no matter how much one exercises.
She said there were specific techniques for specific parts of the body.
For example, someone with thick ankles could have fat removed from the ankle and sometimes the calf and knee as well.
Liposuction can also help people get started on a diet, she said.
"Once a fat cell is removed, it's gone forever," Copeland said. "But if you're going to put on 10 pounds, it's less likely to go where you had liposuction. It's a jump-start for many people for weight loss."
Like with all surgeries, Copeland said there were some risks involved.
"You want to make sure someone has the same aesthetic sense as your doctor," she said. "Computer imaging helps here to help you see how you're going to look. There can be healing issues, bruising issues and sometimes swelling."
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You Might Also Like... | http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/BeautySecrets/story?id=1796686 | dclm-gs1-004285529 | false | false | {
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0.033808 | <urn:uuid:70202fb6-cba7-4190-9706-cdd9125942b5> | en | 0.987846 | Current CNA with RN goals!
1. 0
I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions, on what I could do to enhance my skills as an cna to prepare myself for nursing!
2. 4 Comments so far...
3. 0
I've been told to just work hard and try absorbing every bit of knowledge you can and pick up on the practices around you. Maybe try looking for a bridge program from CNA to LPN as well. I too am training for my CNA and ultimately look to gain my RN =) best of luck to you though. What state do you plan on doing your CNA in by the way? Been told that nursing degrees vary from state to state
4. 0
I am currently in Michigan and already a CNA, but relocating to Georgia this summer and starting nursing school. I considered Phlebotomy and EKG which I think and hope will help me get into a hospital. So that in the future as a nurse I will have different types of experience, that hopefully will help getting a job as a new nurse.
5. 0
The PCT's that we hire as RN's after they finish nursing school are very efficient and proactive at their current job, also show interest in the RN role but not to the degree that they aren't good at their current role. The ones we don't hire are slow or have shoddy work at their current role. A strong work ethic as well as being liked will get you far. Even if you want to work elsewhere after graduation, hopefully your manager and coworker RN's will have a good review of you.
6. 0
I agree thanks for the tip! | http://allnurses.com/cna-ma-nursing/current-cna-rn-809243.html | dclm-gs1-004355529 | false | false | {
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0.019245 | <urn:uuid:f2bdf651-216c-41dc-be82-782dcf7e1f82> | en | 0.952446 | Toronto Registration process for Msc Degree and 3+ Years of Exp nursesin India
1. 0
Dear Sir/Madam, Find the below career Details of my spouses, Now she is interested to relocate to Toronto.
1) Msc Nursing completed in OBJ ( 2007 Year from India)
2) Bsc Nursing completed 2005
3) 3+ Years of experience as Senior staff Nurse.
4) having required IELTES score
can apply CRNE Exam direcllty for login to CNO or we need to wait CNO inputs?
and all the international nurses are madatory to go Bridge courses at nay nursing school along with CRNE Result .??
Please let me know Msc degree holder and 3+ Years of clinical Experience nurses are manadatory to take Bridge course ??
please adivce me .
Thanks in Advance
2. 5 Comments so far...
3. 0
CNO will not give eligibility to sit CRNE without reviewing her application and may decide to do some form of assessment before eligibility is granted. If IELTS is over I think 12 months or 2 years old she will have to do it again. How is she planning on relocating to Toronto? Are you in Toronto? I believe IELTS has to be 12 months old for immigration purposes
4. 0
Yes it was old , she will be taking again.
My question is do she has to take any Bridging progrmme or directlly can she apply for RN?
what is the RN Process at CNO?
can we able to get nursing's job's at toronto?
5. 0
If bridging program is required then CNO will tell her after her application has been reviewed and if necessary she had done SEC or other type of skill assessment.
Just check CNO website in regards RN process.
Jobs like many other places currently can be hard
6. 0
Thanks for your info.
You mean Nursing job's are Hard to get in Toronto?
Mean while i want to ask you one more information, ie Phd or research degrees in nurses available in Toronto Intake Aug/Jun 2013. if yes please let me know the details and process.
7. 0
Know nothing about availability courses for Phd and research for Toronto, I am living at the other end of the country.
Jobs in many places of Canada are hard to get as many start of as casual and depending on how she is planning on living in Canada if she requires a work permit then they need to be full time jobs | http://allnurses.com/nurse-registration/toronto-registration-process-806792.html | dclm-gs1-004365529 | false | false | {
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0.154444 | <urn:uuid:3bc09677-250a-4299-a335-0ba81a9a9dea> | en | 0.965904 |
Is it important for anarchists to keep up with what's going on in the world politically?
+2 votes
asked 2 years ago by anonymous
3 Answers
+4 votes
It could be, but it would depend on what the anarchist in question was working on at the time, and might also depend on what is meant by politics. Many anarchists find politics boring (because it is), and when you hate something, it is rather maddening to immerse yourself in it.
Even though I don't vote, and don't have any interest in electoral politics, I do find it helpful to know what is going on in that realm to (hopefully) better engage with the people around me. I find I am able to offer much more resonant critiques and provocations to the non-anarchists I know when I can reference current events.
Knowing what is happening in local politics can also be helpful for predicting where possible opportunities for future flare ups of rebellion might arise. If the city council is pushing redevelopment and gentrification of a particular neighborhood, for example, that might be a place where anarchist interventions will be particularly effective. Or not.
At the same time, I don't read political blogs or keep up too closely, as that just feels like a waste of time. I'm not trying to be Noam Chomsky (by which I mean, very engaged with politics and offering up an anarchism so watered down that it is just social democracy).
answered 1 year ago by ingrate (13,730 points)
+2 votes
I think it could be useful, as described in the answer above, however perhaps to bring up something not often discussed, I think that as human beings entrapped in this society, were are assaulted every second of the day with entirely too much information. Dare i say, we need a lot less information. Assuming the way we interact with each other and the way we feel is not entirely based on a quantitative analysis of the material conditions to continually update our abstract theory of "the way the world is", i think it would actually do us all a lot better if we werent totally subsumed with information, facts, analysis, etc. on a constant basis. I dont really have much trust for anarchists and especially communists who have some to occupy a position based on analysis and rationalization rather than feeling, instinct, etc. Perhaps it is useful to remain "relevant" and "non-autistic" if we wish to engage in social ways with others besides close friends, but really the total consumption of information, even under the guise of it adding to "our analysis" is totally detrimental to our ability to function as a living animal. How many of us have had our ability to remember totally destroyed, all things personal and subjective, our memory thoroughly ravished? This constant bombardment puts us always on the defensive, either having to process and internalize, parse through useless shit (at what cost?) or entering into total dissociation.
How many of us have been in some event that was "significant" in some way, and later seen it processed and spit out in some form of media, alternative or otherwise, and thought, "that isnt how it happened" or "that is so far from the experience that i had"? I think it makes sense to apply this process of total mediation and representation to all other "events" that we internalize through "keeping up with whats going on". Our ability to have subjective experience is constantly being hammered down, more and more with the incessant progress of the technological apparatuses, and our way of being is so often implanted with the mechanical view of experiencing everything through an abstract, objective lens - a total construction of life and its experiencing for us.
I think this is inescapable if we wish to stay "up to date with current events" but is it worth it? to actively participate in it? perhaps we have no choice, who knows
answered 1 year ago by jingles (2,500 points) edited 1 year ago by jingles
i think this is a really good point, jingles.
and usually i hear the argument that we should keep up to date as part of a strategy to convince other people of things.
but my reason for wanting to stay abreast of events has more to do with understanding what other people are doing and reacting to, and to how old enemies are newly spinning the same line (for example)... so that i can be watchful for people i care about (also for example)...
but i haven't looked at a newspaper or a news site in years. so, fuck yea.
1 year ago by dot (44,930 points)
i think that is probably the most important thing to glean from staying relevant - to understand how those who position themselves as comrades are actually inventing "new" politics to wrangle in our friends
0 votes
Being able to express an opinion—simply just being able to articulate one's self and have those ideas diverge from the injunctions of institutions—is far more important than absorbing a bunch of facts about current events. This is very important in an age where Google finishes what you're saying before you do.
All of the information available through the media has already been computed and shaped by those agencies that collected it in the first place, so approaching the formation of your own, let's say, self-theory from the quantitative approach of commanding a clear recollection of news items is, at best, truly redundant and at worst a way of buttressing your own command of "what's really going on" in the world so that you can badger others into accepting your worldview. You become a thinking man, who thinks for your own self, contrary to the sheepish masses. Thinking for yourself is crucial but not in that way. All of that information isn't inert in the hands of the agencies that announce and tend to it. It is actively working upon billions of minds already. I mean, media institutions are fundamentally business enterprises. You never quite get the information that you want and it always has a reductionist bent to it that aligns with a profit-maximizing filter. Case in point is how the suffering and grief of America over the Sandy Hook massacre works as front page material with Obama's single, manly tear as the crowning image, but the suffering and grief of the Chinese over an extremely similar tragedy isn't even of tertiary value. Even in China itself this is true. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/121217/chinese-reactions-newtown-sandy-hook-henan-school-attack
There's also something far deeper to be said about these media institutions. The current sex scandal in the BBC bears a remarkable likeness to the disrepute of the Catholic clergy. These professional, managerial classes have the same fundamental dysfunction of not being able to discuss how the disciplinary functions they perform facilitate morbid exercises of power and systematic violence, which is important since they seem to have such an awful lot to say about the rest of the world. They have a good, slick hold on the issues of the day but they are shockingly ill equipped to disclose their structural role in class domination. Not much can be gained for the thinking man in the absence of reflecting on one's self.
I'll leave you with this,
“The working class bury their heads, that’s good, they might see the root of things.”
answered 1 year ago by madlib (3,940 points)
Related questions | http://anarchy101.org/3913/important-anarchists-keep-with-what-going-world-politically | dclm-gs1-004435529 | false | false | {
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0.042685 | <urn:uuid:0b6395dc-dd93-49e3-8f7c-be046d625c18> | en | 0.930091 | Technology Lab / Information Technology
Ars Technica System Guide: Bargain Box, February 2013
Build a cheap rig for your home office or an HTPC with our recommended hardware.
Case and power supply
• Antec VSK-3000
• Seasonic SS-300ET
Finding a decent high-efficiency power supply for a budget system is difficult. The cheap units used in many pre-assembled case/PSU combos tend to be old, inefficient designs that lack even basic passive PFC (power factor correction), a cost-cutting move we occasionally see in boxes from the big OEMs.
Nice aftermarket units tend to command a bit of a premium, leaving us the choice of a lower-quality PSU than preferable or spending a larger chunk of the budget for a better power supply. The third option—hoping to catch a decent unit like the Corsair CX430 V2 or Antec Earthwatts Green 380W on sale—is unfortunately a little too hard to depend on in the System Guide.
Cases are a bit easier, with plenty of decent ones for a Bargain Box around. The main distinguishing feature, a front-mount USB 3.0 port, almost always requires a few more dollars. The premium for a Silverstone PS08B or Coolermaster Elite 120 Advanced isn't too horrible, but it's just enough for us to omit it and go with the cheaper Antec VSK-3000 (which has only front USB 2.0). Finding acceptable construction and design means some modicum of effort is still necessary, but the relatively low heat produced by the Bargain Box means we don't need to be too concerned about it.
The Antec VSK-3000, part of Antec's New Solution Series, is a pretty basic case that happens to look fairly decent, has OK construction and design, and is very affordable. Two 5.25-inch external bays, two 3.5-inch internal bays, two front-mount USB 2.0 ports, one 92mm exhaust fan plus one empty 92mm intake fan mount, micro-ATX motherboard compatibility, and a 2-year warranty round things out. The Fractal Design Core 1000 is a somewhat nicer, higher-end competitor that's also worth a look.
One possible variation of the Bargain Box is abandoning the standard micro-ATX layout in favor of mini-ITX, particularly in a slim mini-ITX system. A typical micro-ATX mini tower like the Antec VSK-3000 or Fractal Design Core 1000 is about 26 liters (about 1600 cubic inches), while a slim mini-ITX setup can be between 3.5 to 8 liters (200 to 500 cubic inches). Such boxes are small enough to mount on the back of a monitor's VESA mount or tuck away in a corner, such as the In-Win BP655, In-Win BQ656T.AD80TBL, or Rosewill RS-MI-01.
Note that some of the smaller ones (such as the BQ656T.AD80TBL) require a slim optical drive to achieve such compact dimensions. Many cases in this category also include a power supply, although the quality may be suspect, and some are proprietary, which makes replacement difficult. Cases using the TFX form factor power supply can use the excellent Seasonic SS-300TFX, but none of our recommendations do so.
• Acer G205HVbd
Acer seems to have a lock on budget monitors at the moment. We used to see more from Hanns-G, Planar, Asus, and a few others, but checking around shows the most popular low-cost monitors are Acer units. A few bucks extra gets the Acer G215HVbd and its higher 1920×1080 resolution on a 21.5-inch panel, while the Acer G206HLBbd and Hanns-G HL203DPB are very similar 1600×900 20-inch monitors.
A little more money gets into bigger 23-inch monitors based on the same TN technology, but you'll usually get better contrast, more brightness, or both. The Samsung S23B300B is a solid example, as are the Asus VS247H-P and VS238H-P. To get an IPS or PVA/MVA panel for their superior color reproduction requires still more money, with the LG IPS234V-PN looking to be somewhat more affordable than similar models from Dell and HP. "Affordable" is still a relative term, though, as one of these can easily be half the cost of the entire Bargain Box.
The Acer G205HVbd is very similar in spec last two alternatives, with a 1600×900 resolution, 20-inch screen, 5ms response time, VGA and DVI-D inputs, 700:1 contrast ratio, and a 200cd/m^2 brightness from its TN panel. The last few in particular are distinctly so-so but common across many budget monitors.
Keyboard, mouse, and speakers
• Logitech MK120 wired desktop
• Speakers (no specific recommendation)
For a mouse and keyboard, the Logitech MK120 wired desktop is quite decent, as are the Microsoft Wired Desktop 400 and the more expensive Microsoft Wired Desktop 600.
We strongly suggest trying out any mouse and keyboard before using them due to the very subjective nature of keyboard feel and mouse shape. Spending a few extra dollars on a more comfortable setup might be the best money spent in the entire Bargain Box.
For speakers, we have no specific recommendation. Allocating a few bucks gets some speakers that will produce recognizable sounds, but not too much beyond that. Headphones may be a better way to spend money, but in this price range even that gets hard to make any solid recommendation. The Logitech S120 might work, but their competition in this area is virtually identical in performance (or lack thereof).
Expanding on the Bargain Box
The Bargain Box offers some intriguing possibilities as a basic computer that responds readily to a few tweaks. A bit of extra money takes it beyond being a bargain, strictly speaking, but it also opens it up to a large number of possibilities that would be seriously out of budget with a pre-built box from a big OEM.
Emphasizing value is still key, but so is flexibility. Options for a little more money include more performance, a much smaller form factor, and a nearly silent computer.
Going smaller
As alluded to, a mini-ITX configuration is very possible with the Bargain Box. Onboard graphics now are more than powerful enough for HTPC use, and a mini-ITX box can sit unobtrusively on either a desk or in a home theater.
Switching to a slim mini-ITX and slim optical drive such as the In-Win BQ656T.AD80TBL with Lite-On 8x slim DVD-RW nets a tiny system. The more conventional In-Win BP655 with a regular sized optical drive might be better for HTPC use, as finding a cheap standard-sized Blu-ray drive such as the LG UH12NS29 is much easier than finding an affordable slim one.
Several suitable mini-ITX motherboards are mentioned earlier, including the Gigabyte GA-H77N-WIFI for Intel builds and the MSI FM2-A75IA-E53 for AMD builds.
Overall cost impact may not be that significant if you're going mini-ITX. Adding a Blu-ray drive would definitely drive the price up, but the higher cost of a mini-ITX motherboard may be partially offset by the fact that many mini-ITX cases come with a power supply. Be aware that quite often the included power supplies are less-efficient designs, which are is of the things we strive to avoid. The In-Win BQ656.AD80TBL's unit looks like it might be a decent one, but it's hard to tell for sure. Thermal issues are also worth keeping an eye on; the smaller mini-ITX cases may have more compromises for airflow and noise due to their limited internal volume.
More performance
In a quest to maximize value and focus on only the most basic needs for computing, the Bargain Box omits a few useful features.
Spending a little more on a case with a front-mount USB 3.0 port, such as the Silverstone PS08B or Coolermaster Elite 120 Advanced makes things more convenient for users and offers potentially better cooling.
Bumping the CPU performance up is a little more tricky. The AMD A6-5400 and Intel Pentium G2020 are so modest in their performance boosts that they are hard to justify. Spending roughly twice the money originally spent in the Bargain box is necessary for a significant improvement in processor performance. AMD's A8-5500 doubles the CPU cores and gives the GPU a similar kick, while the Intel Core i3-2105 gives a serious boost in CPU performance on the Intel side. The older Sandy Bridge HD 3000 IGP unfortunately is not as much of an upgrade—something extra to think about.
More memory is also a cheap upgrade, as is a 1TB hard disk, or maybe even a smaller SSD.
Drawing the line: The Bargain Box
A few dollars more for a faster CPU, nicer case, faster storage, more memory—it's easy to get carried away.
This means not spending more money than necessary on unnecessary amounts of computer, no matter how tempting it is. Performance benefits and form factor compromises are inherent in most system builds and are even stronger factors in the Bargain Box than in the rest of the boxes in the Ars System Guides.
Bargain Box builders would be strongly advised to keep the Bargain Box's original goal in mind: being able to do basic tasks with minimum fuss.
Expand full story
You must to comment. | http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/ars-technica-system-guide-bargain-box-february-2013/3/ | dclm-gs1-004535529 | false | false | {
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0.58985 | <urn:uuid:10581205-5a00-474f-9bd9-0a2f838b493a> | en | 0.843777 | istədiyin sözü axtar, məsələn: the eiffel tower:
Fucking snooty stuck up Canadian.
Rossiboy tərəfindən 18 İyun 2009
A citizen of the northernmost country in North America, Canada.
People from other countries commonly stereotype Canadian culture, though usually as a joke, but, sometimes taken seriously.
The most common stereotypes include:
-Living in igloos
-Saying "eh" a lot
-Being overly nice
-Mispronouncing words such as "house", or "about". ("Aboot, Hoose".)
-Being good at hockey
-Having a unique french accent.
-Being "outdoors-y"
-Having a horse-mounted police force
-Lack of military
-A love for maple syrup
-and so forth.
Many sterotypes hold some shred of truth, as every stereotype does.
-The Canadian military is miniscule in relation to it's land mass, though it is able to do it's duty without problem, in and out of the country.
-How Canadians speak depends on the province. Newfoundlanders (or Newfies) in particular.
-The general interest in hockey seems to be higher in Canada, though the lack of teams make it difficult to win a Stanley Cup.
Canadians are usually portrayed in the media as nice people with funny accents, occasionally riding a moose, wearing a toque, and emphasizing "eh" whenever possible.
In the end, Canadians are the same as Americans, and patriotism ruins it.
The average American could just think of a Canadian as someone who grew up in a different state.
Everyone else can think of them as an American who happens to speak french.
This is assuming that American media has had a larger effect on the concerned party.
LennardLemming tərəfindən 02 İyul 2010
a person who lives in canada, dont talk gangster
oh and by the way americans have french speaking states too.
Kelleh tərəfindən 02 Mart 2006
The best country ever, with good beer, tons of snow and good skiing. Other benefits is, unlike the americans we have some non-obese people and only a fraction of our population eats McDonalds every day.
We are the best skiiers, hockey players and skaters , other than maybe russians.
Basically we are awesome.
Frank: Why are you so happy?
Joe: I just realized something.
Frank: What?
Joe:We are Canadians and..I live in CANADA!!!!!!!!!!
Frank: YEAH!!
Jess278 tərəfindən 18 Fevral 2011
1. term used to refer to black people, when one doesn't want them to think they are racist.
2. a black person.
Girl: Oh, those damn canadians are always calling us racist when we say that they start all the fights at school.
ninip tərəfindən 21 Mart 2011
people who DO NOT say "aboot"
what do u wanna do?
canadians: what about a beer?
santa hohoho tərəfindən 10 Sentyabr 2008
Great Beer, Cheap smokes and the best damn Dope around!
Bob: We have some good beer, eh?
Doug: It's great to be Canadian!
biggybiggerstein tərəfindən 09 Mart 2010
I convenient alibi for Americans in France. Everyone knows the French hate Americans.
Waiter: Porc américain stupid Stupid American pig!
American: Non ! Je suis canadien, je jure No! I am Canadian, I swear.
Waiter:: Dans ce cas, je ne cracherai pas en votre nourriture. In that case, I will not spit in your food.
lokimainst tərəfindən 05 Noyabr 2007 | http://az.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=canadian&defid=4051224&page=5 | dclm-gs1-004605529 | false | false | {
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0.040325 | <urn:uuid:27a7447d-9cfd-4e72-87f7-d4067809436c> | en | 0.961608 | Why is it that you always seem to have to do everything for the general running of life all at the one time? The last 2 days has seen me being the busiest of bees – getting paperwork done, having men come in and fix bits and pieces around the house, doing shopping, gets cars serviced…I am exhausted (and broke!)
BUT…I do have that lovely old feeling of having got ‘stuff done’. Not to mention some newly installed fans keeping me cool, a non-leaking gas connection, a new screen door about to be installed, a car soon to be fixed, a house that has been sprayed for creepy crawlies and cupboards full of food. It does feel good.
Rob has also been super busy and working very hard so I haven’t seen much of him. This afternoon he gets to film the cast of the show at the Arias (Australian music awards night thingy) for the show and will be working late (again). It is quite a juggle to get 2 kids organised at night and something I am still getting used to. I think the having to sit and breastfeed while toddler runs around, or wants dinner, or is in the bath at the same time the hardest…am sure it will get easier with practice and no doubts there will be plenty of that for me in the future.
To say I am looking forward to the weekend is an understatement. Bring it on. C’mon. Let’s go! And to my friends in the US of A I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! See what did I tell you? I am crossing stuff off lists and getting stuff done!
1. what a lovely feeling!… most days I feel like I do so much and still get nothing done!
Speak Your Mind | http://baby-mac.com/2009/11/maintenance/ | dclm-gs1-004615529 | false | false | {
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0.08201 | <urn:uuid:d68c4d1d-9426-4925-bf6c-fe7bd2f5204d> | en | 0.941772 | Keith Laumer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
Keith Laumer
Keith Laumer c. 1966
Born(1925-06-09)June 9, 1925
Syracuse, New York, United States[1]
DiedJanuary 23, 1993(1993-01-23) (aged 67)
OccupationNovelist, short story author
GenresScience fiction
Jump to: navigation, search
Keith Laumer
Keith Laumer c. 1966
Born(1925-06-09)June 9, 1925
Syracuse, New York, United States[1]
OccupationNovelist, short story author
GenresScience fiction
John Keith Laumer ((1925-06-09)June 9, 1925 – January 23, 1993(1993-01-23)) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a U.S. diplomat. His older brother March Laumer was also a writer, known for his adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz (also mentioned in Laumer's The Other Side of Time). Frank Laumer, their youngest brother, is an historian and writer.
Writing career[edit]
Keith Laumer is known for the Bolo and Retief stories. Stories from the former chronicle the evolution of super tanks that eventually become self-aware through the constant improvement resulting from centuries of intermittent warfare against various alien races. The latter deals with the adventures of a cynical spacefaring diplomat who constantly has to overcome the red-tape-infused failures of people with names like Ambassador Grossblunder. The Retief stories were greatly influenced by Laumer's earlier career in the United States Foreign Service. In an interview with Paul Walker of Luna Monthly, Laumer states "I had no shortage of iniquitous memories of the Foreign Service."
In addition to his Bolo and Retief stories, Laumer's more serious adventures included the subjects of time travel and alternate-world adventures such as found in his The Other Side Of Time, A Trace Of Memory, and Dinosaur Beach.
Four of his shorter works received Hugo or Nebula Award nominations ("In the Queue", was nominated for both) and his novel A Plague of Demons (1965) received a nomination for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
During the peak years of 1959–1971, Laumer was a prolific science fiction writer. His novels and stories tend to follow one of three patterns:
In 1971, Laumer suffered a stroke while working on the novel The Ultimax Man. As a result, he was unable to write for a few years. As he explained in an interview with Charles Platt published in Dream Makers Volume II (1983), he refused to accept the doctors' diagnosis. He came up with an alternative explanation and developed an alternative (and very painful) treatment program. Although he was unable to write in the early 1970s, he had a number of books published which had been unpublished at the time of the stroke.
In the mid-1970s, Laumer partially recovered from the stroke and resumed writing. However, the quality of his work suffered and his career declined (Piers Anthony, How Precious Was That While, 2002). In later years, Laumer also re-used scenarios and characters from earlier works to create new books, which one critic felt limited their appeal:
Alas, Retief to the Rescue doesn't seem so much like a new Retief novel, but a kind of Cuisinart mélange of past books.
Somtow Sucharitkul (The Washington Post, March 27, 1983. p. BW11)
His Bolo creations were popular enough that other authors have written standalone science-fiction novels about them.
An anthology "Created by Keith Laumer", Dangerous Vegetables, appeared in 1998. Actually edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, the book's introduction (by Ben Bova) said the book was Laumer's idea but that he had died without completing it.
Model airplane designer[edit]
Laumer was also a model airplane enthusiast, and published two dozen designs between 1956 and 1962 in the U.S. magazines Air Trails, Model Airplane News and Flying Models, as well as the British Aeromodeller. He published one book on the subject, How to Design and Build Flying Models in 1960. His later designs were mostly gas-powered, free-flight planes, and had a whimsical charm with names to match, like the "Twin Lizzie" and the "Lulla-Bi". His designs are still being revisited, reinvented and built today.
Books concerning the Bolo self-aware tanks. Co-author book credits also indicated at Bolo Self-aware Tank.
Satirical adventures of Retief, the galactic diplomat. Most are collections; novels are shown as (n).
Books set in the Imperium mythos: a continuum of parallel worlds policed by the Imperium, a government based in an alternate Stockholm. In the science fiction novel Worlds of the Imperium, the Imperium is formed in an alternate history where the American Revolution did not occur, and the British Empire and Germany merged into a unified empire in 1900. The protagonist, American diplomat Brion Bayard, is kidnapped by the Imperium because the Brion Bayard in a third parallel Earth is waging war against his abductors. Further adventures follow after Bayard decides to remain in the service of the Imperium.
Time Trap[edit]
Lafayette O'Leary[edit]
A comic equivalent of the Imperium mythos, in which the hero has the ability to travel to feudal/magical alternate Earths.
The Avengers (based on the TV series)[edit]
The Invaders (original novels based on the TV series)[edit]
Standalone books[edit]
Mad Dog Graphics: Keith Laumer's Retief[edit]
1. Policy (1987)
2. Sealed Orders (1987)
3. Protest Note (1987)
4. Saline Solution (1987)
5. Ultimatum (1988)
6. The Forest in the Sky (1988)
Adventure Comics: Keith Laumer's Retief[edit]
1. The Peace Makers (1989)
2. Ballots and Bandits (1990)
3. Mechanical Advantage (1990)
4. Aide Memoire (1990)
5. Wicker Wonderland (1990)
Adventure Comics: Retief and the Warlords[edit]
Adventure Comics: Retief: Diplomatic Immunity[edit]
1. The Forbidden City (1991)
2. The Castle of Light (1991)
Adventure Comics: Retief the Giant Killer[edit]
1. The Giant Killer (1991)
Adventure Comics: Retief: Grime & Punishment[edit]
1. Grime & Punishment (1991)
Adventure Comics[edit]
1. ^
2. ^
3. ^
External links[edit] | http://blekko.com/wiki/Keith_Laumer?source=672620ff | dclm-gs1-004725529 | false | true | {
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0.025524 | <urn:uuid:f5e79387-c35b-4903-b47d-0fc1395974a3> | en | 0.92626 | Maternal sensitivity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - View original article
Jump to: navigation, search
A mother and her child in 1912. Mothers who better understand their infant's signals are said to have higher maternal sensitivity.
Maternal sensitivity is a mother's ability to perceive and infer the meaning behind her infant's behavioural signals, and to respond to them promptly and appropriately. Maternal sensitivity affects child development at all stages through life, from infancy, all the way to adulthood. In general, more sensitive mothers have healthier, more socially and cognitively developed children than those who are not as sensitive.[1] Also, maternal sensitivity has been found to affect the person psychologically even as an adult.[2] Adults who experienced high maternal sensitivity during their childhood were found to be more secure than those who experienced less sensitive mothers.[2] Once the adult becomes a parent themselves, their own understanding of maternal sensitivity will affect their own children's development.[2] Some research suggests that adult mothers display more maternal sensitivity than adolescent mothers who may in turn may have children with a lower IQ and reading level than children of adult mothers.[3]
There are different ways of assessing maternal sensitivity, such as through the use of naturalistic observation,[4] the Strange Situation,[5] maternal-synchrony,[6] and maternal mind-mindedness.[7] There are also a number of ways of measuring maternal sensitivity in the scientific world, which include Ainsworth's Maternal Sensitivity Scale (AMSS),[8] the Maternal Behaviour Q-sort (MBQS), and the Pederson and Moran Sensitivity Q-Sort.[9]
Description[edit source | edit]
Maternal sensitivity was first defined by Mary Ainsworth as "a mother's ability to perceive and interpret accurately her infant's signals and communications and then respond appropriately". It was later revised by Karl and Broom in 1995 as "a mother's ability to recognize infant cues consistently and act on those cues, and the ability to monitor and accurately interpret infant cues, as evidenced by mother–child interactions that are contingent, reciprocal and affectively positive". It can be generally defined as a broad concept combining a variety of behavioral care giving attributes.[10]
The research on maternal sensitivity follows earlier work in psychoanalytics and is especially rooted in attachment theory. As the focus of psychoanalytics shifted from individuals (particularly adults) to children, research studies on mother–infant dyads, on the effects of early childhood on development, and on pregnancy became wider. A psychologist named John Bowlby eventually developed the attachment theory in 1969. Mary Ainsworth, who worked with Bowlby, along with her colleagues created the concept of maternal sensitivity in 1978 in order to describe early mother–infant interaction observed in her empirical studies.[11]
There are four important aspects of maternal sensitivity: dynamic process involving maternal abilities, reciprocal give-and-take with the infant, contingency on the infant's behavior, and quality of maternal behaviors.[10][10]
Maternal sensitivity is dynamic, elastic and can change over time. A sensitive mother needs to be able to perceive the cues and signals her baby gives her, interpret them correctly and act appropriately. The three most positive affecting factors for the baby are a mother's social support, maternal–fetal attachment and high self-esteem. The three most negative affecting factors are maternal depression, maternal stress, and maternal anxiety.[10]
Assessment[edit source | edit]
Naturalistic observation[edit source | edit]
Maternal sensitivity is most commonly assessed during naturalistic observation of free play interactions between mother and child.[4] There are several factors surrounding assessment during observation that may cause differences in results, including the setting (home vs laboratory), the context (free play vs structured task), the length of observation and the frequency of observation. While some observational studies focus strictly on the relationship between mother and child during close interaction such as feeding or free play, other studies look into how well the maternal figure divides her attention between the baby and other everyday activities.[12] The latter was demonstrated in an experiment conducted by Atkinson et al. where mothers were given a questionnaire to act as a "distractor task", and were assessed on their ability to effectively divide their attention between the "distractor task" and their child.[13] In regards to length of observation, some studies require no more than a one-time 10-minute assessment, while other studies used a much lengthier time.[12]
Strange Situation[edit source | edit]
The Strange Situation was developed by Mary Ainsworth in the 1970s to assess attachment relationships between caregivers and children between 12 and 18 months old. Because maternal sensitivity is an indicator of attachment relationship, researchers sometimes use the Strange Situation to observe attachment so that they may use the results to predict and infer the level of maternal sensitivity.[5]
In the Strange Situation, the toddler's behavior and stress is observed during a 21-minute free-play session through a one-way glass window as the caregiver and strangers come into and leave the room.[5] The specific sequence of events is as follows:
1. The mother and child are alone.
2. A stranger joins the mother and child.
3. The mother leaves child and stranger alone.
4. The mother returns and stranger leaves.
5. The parent leaves and the child is left completely alone.
6. The stranger returns.
7. The parent returns and the stranger leaves.[5]
The children are observed and categorized into one of the four attachment patterns – secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment, or disorganized attachment – based on the infant's separation anxiety, willingness to explore, stranger anxiety, and reunion behavior.[5]
Mother–infant synchrony and maternal mind-mindedness[edit source | edit]
Two related qualitative concepts that are correlated with maternal sensitivity are mother–infant synchrony and maternal mind-mindedness.[6][7]
In mother–infant synchrony, the mother and infant's ability to change their own behaviour based on the other's response is taken into consideration. Infant affect (vocal and facial) and maternal stimulation (vocal and tactile) are good indicators of mother–infant synchrony. Zentall et al. found that infants' rhythm was stronger and interactions were led better at 5 months than at 3 months. According to the study, an infant's ability to send signals and a mother's ability to perceive them increase with synchrony over time.[6] Studies have shown that mother–infant synchrony will result in the infant's development of self-control and other self-regulating behaviours later on in life.[14]
The related concept of maternal mind-mindedness assesses the mother's ability to understand and verbalize the infant's mind: thoughts, desires, intentions and memories. Maternal mind-mindedness has been found to be related to some developmental results, such as attachment security. A caregiver's comment is deemed an appropriate mind-related comment if the comment was deemed to match the infant's behaviour by the independent coder, if the comment associated the infant's current activity to past activities, and/or if the comment encouraged the infant to go on with his or her intentions when the conversation paused. This correlates to high maternal mind-mindedness. If the caregiver assigns the wrong internal state to the baby's behaviour, if the comment about the current activity is not insufficiently associated with a past event, if the comment deters the infant from proceeding with the current activity, and/or if the comment is unclear, it is deemed a in-appropriate mind-related comment and correlates to low mind-mindedness.[7]
Role of maternal sensitivity in development[edit source | edit]
Infancy[edit source | edit]
Infants whose mothers are more sensitive are more likely to display secure attachment relationships. Because the maternal figure is generally accessible and responsive to the infant's needs, the infant is able to form expectations of the mother's behaviour. Once expectations are met and the infant feels a consistency in the mother's sensitivity, the infant is able to find security in the maternal figure. Those infants whose mothers do not respond to the signals from their children or respond inappropriately to their children's cries for attention will form insecure and anxious attachments because the infants are unable to consistently depend on the maternal figures for predictable and safe responses.[15]
In order for the infant to feel that the maternal figure is accessible and responsive, a certain amount of interaction must occur. Though the most research has been done on face-to-face interaction, studies have found that bodily interaction is also important in sensitivity and development. It is not how often the baby is held that reflects attachment, but how the baby is held and whether or not the baby desires to be held that matters in attachment development. Another factor that is important is sensitivity to the infant's feeding signals.[15] There lies some controversy in whether infants who form insecure attachment relationships with their mothers do so because the mother is particularly insensitive to her child's needs or because of differences in their personality (i.e. their temperament) and due to life situations.[16]
Childhood[edit source | edit]
Children whose mothers have higher levels of maternal sensitivity are generally happier, healthier, smarter, and better behaved.
There is a crucial interplay between parenting and child characteristics such as health, temperament, development and cognition. The children with the most sensitive, consistent mothers are the ones who are generally most healthy, happy and well adapted.[1][17]
Health in childhood[edit source | edit]
Maternal sensitivity even in the first few months of mother–child relationships are an important factor to health in childhood, especially with obesity. A study using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development assessed mother–child interactions and categorized them in one of two groups: sensitive or insensitive. Their child's growth (height and weight) was monitored throughout their childhood, from 24 months all the way to grade six, and body mass index was calculated. As the children grew, the percentage of overweight or obese grew too. From 24 months the overall overweight-obese percentage was 15.58% and by grade six, 34.34% of the children were classified as overweight or obese. More interesting is the difference between the maternal sensitive group and the maternal insensitive group. The children with the sensitive mothers started out with an overweight-obese percentage of 14.96% (24 months) and ended the research with 29.54% (grade six). The children classified with insensitive mothers had an overweight-obese percentage of 16.16% at 24 months and 39.28% at grade six. This shows a significant correlation between the mother's sensitivity and the child's risk for overweight-obesity during their elementary years. This is very important for obesity prevention programs for children.[1]
Temperament in childhood[edit source | edit]
Current studies have shown a correlation between maternal sensitivity or insensitivity, negative discipline and childhood aggression. An experiment sampling 117 mother–child pairs showed a unique relationship between the mother's sensitivity and the use of discipline and the child's temperament level. Observations (of the mother's sensitivity to the child's needs, the child's aggression and temperament level and the relationship between the two) were made when the children on average were 26.71 months old (range of 13.58 to 41.91 months). The data were collected again a year later. Results show a year later that negative discipline is correlated with child aggression, but only when that mother is insensitive.[17]
Development in childhood[edit source | edit]
A study by Jay Belsky and R.M. Pasco Fearon tested the correlation between childhood development and the sensitivity of the mother.[18] The hypotheses were:
The children were tested in five developmental categories: problem behavior, social competence, expressive language, receptive language and school readiness. Results highly support the hypothesis (i.e. maternal sensitivity and childhood development are positively correlated.) This is an important issue as it shows how influential the early experience of a child affects their future development.[18]
Cognition in childhood[edit source | edit]
Mothers who were found to display higher sensitivity towards their children from preschool to first grade were found to have higher achieving children than those who displayed lower maternal sensitivity. The children of maternally sensitive mothers scored higher in math and phoneme knowledge than those who had a history of lower maternal sensitivity.[19]
Maternal sensitivity has been shown to teach infants attentional skills, which are necessary later in life for emotional control, and other more complex cognitive processes.[20]
In families with more than one child (twins or triplets), it has been found that maternal sensitivity is lower, as there are more needs to be taken care of by the mother and less time to form a unique bond, which in turn results in decreased cognitive development in the infants (relative to if the child were raised alone).[21] Furthermore, in the newborn period, women who displayed high maternal sensitivity had children who were able to regulate their emotions and who had higher symbolic and cognitive skills. In the case of the triplets, the child that received the least maternal sensitivity was the one that showed the poorest outcomes cognitively and had the most medical problems.[22]
Socialization in childhood[edit source | edit]
Maternal sensitivity has been shown to have an effect on children's socialization skills. In particular, some research suggests that children of more sensitive caregivers have high levels of effortful (i.e. emotional and behavioural) control. Such control is proposed to have been fostered from the infancy stage when the a sensitive mother's quick and appropriate responses to the baby's distress teaches the baby to adjust his/her arousal. This speedy regulation of arousal is then adapted into childhood resulting in the ability to regulate emotion and behaviour well.[23]
Caregiver sensitivity has also been found to have a connection with empathy in children. Generally, securely attached children have been found to be more empathetic compared with insecurely attached children. The reasoning suggested for this result is that because securely attached children receive more empathy from caregivers during times that they themselves are distressed, they are more likely to show empathy in a situation where someone else is distressed.[24]
Adulthood[edit source | edit]
Adults' own understanding of maternal sensitivity affects their sensitivity towards their own children.[2] Adults who had insensitive mothers during infancy were found to not be able to remember specific childhood events or their importance. They were not able to present an accurate description of their parents by use of memories, they were found to idealize experiences and are more likely to remember situations in which they were rejected.[25] Adults who experienced higher maternal sensitivity during both infancy and adulthood were found to be less dismissive and more secure than those who did not. Adults who are preoccupied were found to also try to please their parents as they were young, and have a sense of anger towards them.[25] About half of the adults who were found more preoccupied than others were found to have experienced divorce between their parents earlier in life, as well as other negative life events such as death of a parent or sexual abuse. These life events cause the security of attachment between mother and child to decrease as the mother's availability, as well as responsiveness may decrease, no matter the maternal sensitivity experienced prior to these events.[25] Male adults were found to have experienced less maternal sensitivity earlier in life than females and were more likely to be classified as dismissive than females were.[2]
Difference in maternal sensitivity in adult and teen mothers[edit source | edit]
Maternal sensitivity has been found to be greater for adult mothers than for adolescent mothers.[3] The level and quality of mind-mindedness, which refers to how prone the mother is to comment about the infant's mental activity during interaction, is higher in adult mothers, and has been related to greater maternal sensitivity. The comments made by adult mothers were found to be more positive than those made by adolescent mothers. Adolescent mothers used almost no positive comments, but instead negative comments. This causes the adolescent mother to be more insensitive to their baby's needs, possibly because of lack of need understanding, and therefore have lower maternal sensitivity and a less secure attachment to their infants.[3]
Maternal sensitivity in adolescent mothers can be predicted prenatally.[26] Mothers who talked lively and positively about their future relationship with the child were found to display higher maternal sensitivity than those who did not (classified as autonomous mothers). Autonomous mothers were also found to have infants with a more secure attachment. Adolescent mothers who were not classified as autonomous were found to have anxiously attached infants.[26] Furthermore, adolescent mothers were found to have children four–eight years old with lower IQs and a below-average reading level, than did adult mothers.[27]
Although adolescent mothers have been found to display lower maternal sensitivity, there is no evidence that maternal age itself has a negative effect on child development, as other factors at that age such as education and financial status may play a role in the insensitivity of the mother towards the child as well.[28]
Measurement[edit source | edit]
Ainsworth's Maternal Sensitivity Scale (AMSS)[edit source | edit]
Mary Ainsworth developed Ainsworth's Maternal Sensitivity Scale (AMSS) to use as a measure in her Baltimore longitudinal study (1963). The scale is based on naturalistic observations completed by Ainsworth over a period of several hours and thus has no short procedure outline. Her method uses a nine-point scale (nine being very high and one being very low) in a number of important maternal traits. In order for this measurement to be accurate, it is essential that the researcher has developed good observations and insight into the behaviour of the caregiver.[8]
Maternal Behaviour Q-sort (MBQS)[edit source | edit]
Maternal Behaviour Q-sort (MBQS) was developed by David Pederson, Greg Moran and Sandi Ben to measure maternal sensitivity. It has been used to measure a variety of studies including home based and video-recorded observations. The measures are defined using q-factor analyses.[30] The standard version of the Q-sort consists of 90 items that measure maternal sensitivity with regards to accessibility, responsiveness and promptness to the child's needs and there are many variations. In order to measure sensitivity, observers sort the items into nine piles of ten based on correspondence between the observed behaviour and the item. The maternal sensitivity score is calculated by comparing the descriptive sort and the criterion sort (prototypical sensitive mother). This Q-sort is said to be similar to the Waters Attachment Behavior Q-sort.[9]
Pederson and Moran Sensitivity Q-Sort[edit source | edit]
The Pederson and Moran Sensitivity Q-Sort was developed by Pederson D.R., Moran G., Sitko C., Campbell K., and Ghesquire K. in 1990. Similar to Ainsworth's Maternal Sensitivity Scales, the Pederson and Moran Sensitivity Q-Sort was designed to detect changes in maternal sensitivity with relation to infant behaviour.[9]
References[edit source | edit]
1. ^ a b c Wu, Tiejian; Wallace E. Dixon, William T. Dalton, Fred Tudiver and Xuefeng Liu (2011). "Joint Effects of Child Temperament and Maternal Sensitivity on the Development of Childhood Obesity". Maternal and Child Health Journal 15 (4): 469–477. PMID 20358395. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
2. ^ a b c d e Beckwith, Leila; et al (May 1999). "Maternal Sensitivity During Infancy and Subsequent Life Events Relate to Attachment Representation at Early Adulthood". Developmental Psychology 35 (3): 693–700. PMID 10380860. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
3. ^ a b c Demers, Isabelle; Bernier, Annie; et al. (July 2010). "Mind-mindedness in adult and adolescent mothers: Raltions to maternal sensitivity and infant attachment". International Journal of Behavioral Development 34 (529): 529–537. doi:10.1177/0165025410365802. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
4. ^ a b Bento, S.; Evans, E.M., Moran, G., Pederson, D.R. Assessing Maternal Sensitivity from Videotaped Recordings.. Retrieved June 7, 2012year=2007.
5. ^ a b c d e McLeod, B. "Mary Ainsworth – Strange Situation.". SimplyPsychology. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
6. ^ a b c Zentall, S.R.; Boker S.M., Braungart-Rieker, J.M. (2006). Mother–Infant synchrony: A dynamical systems approach.. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
7. ^ a b c Meins; et al (2002). "Maternal Mind-Mindedness and Attachment Security as Predictors of Theory of Mind Understanding.". Child Development 63 (6): 1715–1726. PMID 12487489.
8. ^ a b Benson, editors-in-chief Janette B.; Haith, Marshall M. (2009). Social and emotional development in infancy and early childhood (1st ed. ed.). Amsterdam: Academic. ISBN 978-0-12-375065-5.
9. ^ a b c Moran, G., Pederson, D. R., Pettit, P., & Krupka, A. (1992). Maternal sensitivity and infant-mother attachment in a developmentally delayed sample. Infant Behavior and Development, 15, 427–442.
10. ^ a b c d Shin, Hyunjeong (2008). "Maternal sensitivity: a concept analysis". Journal of Advanced Nursing 63 (3): 304–314. PMID 18764848. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
11. ^ Kemppinen, K. (2007). Early Maternal Sensitivity: Continuity and Related Risk Factors. Kuopio University Publications D. Medical Sciences 412. p. 19.
12. ^ a b Bernard, K; Dozier, M., Lindhiem, O (2011). "Maternal Sensitivity: Within-Person Variability and the Utility of Multiple Assessments". Child Maltreatment 16 (1): 41–50. PMID 21131634.
13. ^ Atkinson, L.; Goldberg, S., Raval, V., Pederson, D., Benoit, D., Moran, G., Leung, E. (2005). "On the relation between maternal state of mind and sensitivity in the prediction of infant attachment security". Developmental Psychology 41: 42–53. PMID 15656736.
14. ^ Pickler, R. H; Reyna, A.B (2009). "Mother–Infant Synchrony". JOGNN 38: 470–477. PMID 19614883.
15. ^ a b Ainsworth, M.S (1979). "Infant-Mother Attachment". American Psychological Association 34 (10): 932–937. PMID 517843.
16. ^ Susman-Stillman, A.; et al. (1996). "Infant Temperament and Maternal Sensitivity as Predictors of Attachment Security". Infant Behaviour and Development 19 (1): 33–47. Retrieved July 14, 2012..
17. ^ a b Belsky, Jay; R. M. Pasco Fearon (2002). "Early attachment security, subsequent maternal sensitivity, and later child development: Does continuity in development depend upon continuity of caregiving?". Attachment & Human Development 4 (3): 361–387. PMID 12537851. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
18. ^ Downer, Jason T.; Robert C. Pianta (2006). "Academic and Cognitive Functioning in First Grade: Associations with Earlier Home and Child Care Predictors and with Concurrent Home and Classroom Experiences". School Psychology Review 35 (1): 11–30. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
19. ^ Bell, Martha Ann; Christy D. Wolfe (March/April 2004). "Emotion and Cognition: An Intricately Bound Developmental Process". Child development 75 (2): 366–370. PMID 15056192.
20. ^ Booting, J; Macfarlane, A. and Price, F (1990). "Three, Four and More. A Study of Triplets and Higher Order Births". London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
21. ^ Feldman, Ruth; Arthur I. Eidelman, and Noa Rotenberg (November/December 2004). "Parenting Stress, Infant Emotion Regulation, Maternal Sensitivity, and the Cognitive Development of Triplets: A Model for Parent and Child Influences in a Unique Ecology". Child Development 75 (6): 1774–1791.
22. ^ Spinrad, T.L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., Greving, K., Liew, J., Hofer, C. (2007). Relations of Maternal Socialization and Toddlers' Effortful Control to Children's Adjustment and Social Competence. Developmental Psychology. 43(5), 1170–1186.
23. ^ Kiang, L., Moreno, A.J., Robinson, J. L. (2004). Maternal Preconceptions About Parenting Predict Child Temperament, Maternal Sensitivity, and Children's Empathy. Developmental Psychology. 40(6), 1081–1092.
24. ^ a b c Waters, Everett; Hamiltion, Claire E., et al (May/June 2000). "The Stability of Attachment Security from Infancy to Adolescence and early Adulthood: General Introduction". Child Development 71 (3): 678–683. PMID 10953933. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
25. ^ a b Ward, Mary J.; Elizabeth A. Carlson (1995). "Associations among Adult Attachment Representations, Maternal Sensitivity, and Infant-Mother Attachment in a Sample of Adolescent Mothers". Child Development 66: 69–79. PMID 7497830. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
26. ^ Lobi, M; Welcher DW, Mellitz ED (1971). "Maternal age and intellectual functioning of offspring.". Johns Hopkins Med J 128: 347–361. PMID 5559291.
27. ^ Elster, Arthur B.; Elizabeth R. McAnarney and Michael E. Lamb (April 1983). "Parental Behavior of Adolescent Mothers". Pediatrics 71 (4): 494–503. PMID 6340043. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
28. ^ Prior, Vivien; Glaser, Danya (2006). Understanding attachment and attachment disorders : theory, evidence and practice (1. publ. ed.). London; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84310-245-8.
29. ^ Moran, G. (2009). The Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS) – Overview, Available Materials and Support. SelectedWorks of Greg Moran. | http://blekko.com/wiki/Maternal_sensitivity?source=672620ff | dclm-gs1-004735529 | false | false | {
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0.044479 | <urn:uuid:d65045fa-7f42-4b7c-92c0-5b7875a4dd46> | en | 0.870261 | WWV (radio station)
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WWV is the call sign of the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) HF ("shortwave") radio station in Fort Collins, Colorado. WWV continuously transmits official U.S. Government frequency and time signals on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. These carrier frequencies and time signals are controlled by local atomic clocks traceable to NIST's primary standard in Boulder, Colorado by GPS common view observations and other time transfer methods. NIST also operates the very similar radio station WWVH in Kauai, Hawaii. WWV and WWVH make recorded announcements; since they share frequencies, WWV uses a male voice to distinguish itself from WWVH, which uses a female voice. They also make other recorded announcements of general interest, e.g., the GPS satellite constellation status and severe oceanic weather warnings. WWV shares its Fort Collins site with radio station WWVB that transmits carrier and time code (no voice) on 60 kHz in the low frequency (LF) band.
WWV is the oldest continuously-operating radio station in the United States, first going on the air from Washington, D.C. in May 1920, approximately six months before the launch of KDKA. The station first broadcast Friday evening concerts on 600 kHz, and its signal could be heard 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Washington. On December 15, 1920, WWV began broadcasting on 750 kHz, distributing Morse code news reports from the Department of Agriculture. This signal could be heard up to 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Washington. These news broadcasts ended on April 15, 1921.[1]
Standard frequency signals
At the end of 1922, WWV's purpose shifted to broadcasting standard frequency signals. These signals were desperately needed by other broadcasters, because equipment limitations at the time meant that the broadcasters could not stay on their assigned frequencies. Testing began on January 29, 1923, and frequencies from 200 to 545 kHz were broadcast. Frequency broadcasts officially began on March 6, 1923.[2] The frequencies were accurate to "better than three-tenths of one percent." At first, the transmitter had to be manually switched from one frequency to the next, using a wavemeter. The first quartz oscillators were invented in the mid-1920s, and they greatly improved the accuracy of WWV's frequency broadcasts.[1]
One of the Beltsville transmitter buildings
In 1926, WWV was nearly shut down. Its signal could only cover the eastern half of the United States, and other stations located in Minneapolis and at Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were slowly making WWV redundant. The station's impending shutdown was announced in 1926, but it was saved by a flood of protests from citizens who relied on the service. Later, in 1931, WWV underwent an upgrade. Its transmitter, now directly controlled by a quartz oscillator, was moved to College Park, Maryland. Broadcasts began on 5 MHz. A year later, the station was moved again, to Department of Agriculture land in Beltsville, Maryland, where it would stay until 1966. Broadcasts were added on 10 and 15 MHz, power was increased, and time signals, an A440 tone, and ionosphere reports were all added to the broadcast in June 1937.[1]
WWV was nearly destroyed by a fire on November 6, 1940. The frequency and transmitting equipment was recovered, and the station was back on the air (with reduced power) on November 11. Congress funded a new station in July 1941, and it was built 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the former location.[1] WWV resumed normal broadcasts on 2.5, 5, 10, and 15 MHz on August 1, 1943.[2]
Time signals
A 1940 QSL for WWV
WWV had been broadcasting second pulses since 1937, but these pulses were not tied to actual time. In June 1944, the United States Naval Observatory allowed WWV to use the USNO's clock as a source for its time signals. Over a year later, in October 1945, WWV broadcast Morse code time announcements every five minutes. Voice announcements started on January 1, 1950, and were broadcast every five minutes. Frequencies of 600 Hz and 440 Hz were broadcast during alternating minutes. By this time, WWV was broadcasting on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 MHz. The 30 and 35 MHz broadcasts were ended in 1953.[1]
A binary-coded decimal time code began testing in 1960, and became permanent in 1961. This "NASA time code" was modulated onto a 1000 Hz audio tone at 100 Hz, sounding somewhat like a monotonous repeated "baaga-bong".[1] The code was also described as sounding like a "buzz-saw". On July 1, 1971, the time code's broadcast was changed to the present 100 Hz subcarrier, which is inaudible when using a normal radio (but can be heard using headphones or recorded using a chart recorder).[3]
WWV moved to its present location at Fort Collins[4] on December 1, 1966, enabling better reception of its signal throughout the continental United States. WWVB signed on in that location three years earlier. In April 1967, WWV stopped using the local time of the transmitter site (Eastern Time until 1966, and Mountain Time afterwards) and switched to Coordinated Universal Time.[1]
The 20 and 25 MHz broadcasts were discontinued in 1977, but the 20 MHz broadcast was reinstated the next year.[1] The voice used on WWV was that of Don Elliott Heald until August 13, 1991, when equipment changes required rerecording the announcer's voice. The one used at that time was that of John Doyle, but was soon switched to the voice of KSFO morning host Lee Rodgers.[5]
The radio signals of WWV, WWVB and WWVH, along with the atomic clocks that their time signals derive from, are maintained by NIST's Time and Frequency Division, which is based in nearby Boulder, Colorado.[6] The Time and Frequency Division is part of the NIST's Physics Laboratory, based in Gaithersburg, Maryland.[7] NIST's predecessor, the National Bureau of Standards, previously maintained WWV as a part of the Department of Agriculture; NIST is currently part of the Department of Commerce.[8]
WWV and Sputnik
WWV's 20 MHz signal was used for a unique purpose in 1958: to track the disintegration of Russian satellite Sputnik I after the craft's onboard electronics failed. Dr. John D. Kraus, a professor at Ohio State University, knew that a meteor entering the upper atmosphere leaves in its wake a small amount of ionized air. This air reflects a stray radio signal back to Earth, strengthening the signal at the surface for a few seconds. This effect is known as meteor scatter. Dr. Kraus figured that what was left of Sputnik would exhibit the same effect, but on a larger scale. His prediction was correct; WWV's signal was noticeably strengthened for durations lasting over a minute. In addition, the strengthening came from a direction and at a time of day that agreed with predictions of the paths of Sputnik's last orbits. Using this information, Dr. Kraus was able to draw up a complete timeline of Sputnik's disintegration. In particular, he observed that satellites do not fail as one unit; instead, the spacecraft broke up into its component parts as it moved closer to Earth.[9][10]
Call Sign
WWV is one of a small number of radio stations west of the Mississippi River with a call sign beginning with W. The W call sign stems from the station's early locations in D.C. and Maryland—the call sign was maintained when the federal government moved the station to Colorado—and the fact that WWV, being a government station, does not fall within the FCC's jurisdiction with respect to call signs. However FCC regulations do dictate that time stations are to be issued call signs beginning with "WWV".[11]
Broadcast format
On top of the standard carrier frequencies, WWV carries additional information using standard double-sideband amplitude modulation. WWV's transmissions follow a regular pattern repeating each minute. They are coordinated with its sister station WWVH to limit interference between them. Because they are so similar, both are described here.
WWV/WWVH minute format
0–1Minute beep (0.8 s)
1–45Standard tone or voice announcement
45–52.5Silence (except tick)Voice time announcement
52.5–60Voice time announcementSilence (except tick)
Time of day
WWV transmits the exact time of day in two separate ways:
1. English-language voice announcements.
2. Binary time code, which also gives the date.
Per-second ticks and minute markers
WWV transmits audio "ticks" once per second, to allow for accurate manual clock synchronization. These ticks are always transmitted, even during voice announcements and silent periods. Each tick begins on the second, lasts 5 ms and consists of 5 cycles of a 1000 Hz sine wave. To make the tick stand out more, all other signals are suppressed for 40 ms, from 10 ms before the second until 30 ms after (25 ms after the tick). As an exception, no tick (and no silent interval) is transmitted at 29 or 59 seconds past the minute. In the event of a leap second, no tick is transmitted during second 60 of the minute, either.[12]
On the minute, the tick is extended to a 0.8 second long beep, followed by 0.2 s of silence. On the hour, this minute pulse is transmitted at 1500 Hz rather than 1000. The beginning of the tone corresponds to the start of the minute.[13]
Between seconds one and sixteen inclusive past the minute, the current difference between UTC and UT1 is transmitted by doubling some of the once-per-second ticks, transmitting a second tick 100 ms after the first. (The second tick preempts other transmissions, but does not get a silent zone.[12]) The absolute value of this difference, in tenths of a second, is determined by the number of doubled ticks. The sign is determined by the position: If the doubled ticks begin at second one, UT1 is ahead of UTC; if they begin at second nine, UT1 is behind UTC.[13]
WWVH transmits similar 5 ms ticks, but they are sent as 6 cycles of 1200 Hz. The minute beep is also 1200 Hz, except on the hour when it is 1500 Hz.
The ticks and minute tones are transmitted at 100% modulation (0 dBFS).
Voice time announcements
Voice announcements of time of day are made at the end of every minute, giving the time of the following minute beep. The format for the voice announcement is, "At the tone, X hours, Y minute(s), Coordinated Universal Time." The announcement is in a male voice and begins 7.5 seconds before the minute tone.
WWVH makes an identical time announcement, starting 15 seconds before the minute tone, in a female voice.
When voice announcements were first instituted, they were phrased as follows: "National Bureau of Standards, WWV; when the tone returns, [time] Eastern Standard Time."[14] After the 1967 switch to UTC, the announcement changed to "National Bureau of Standards, WWV, Fort Collins, Colorado; next tone begins at X hours, Y minute(s), Greenwich Mean Time."[15] However, this format would be short-lived. The announcement was changed again to the current format in 1971.[16]
Voice time announcements are sent at 75% modulation, i.e. the carrier varies between 25% and 175% of nominal power.
Standard frequencies
WWV and WWVH transmit 44 seconds of audio tone in most minutes. It begins after the 1-second minute mark and continues until the beginning of the WWVH time announcement 45 seconds after the minute.
Even minutes (except for minute 2) transmit 500 Hz, while 600 Hz is heard during odd minutes. The tone is interrupted for 40 ms each second by the second ticks. WWVH is similar, but exchanges the two tones: 600 Hz during even minutes and 500 Hz during odd.
WWV also transmits a 440 Hz tone, a pitch commonly used in music (A440, the note A above middle C) during minute :02 of each hour, except for the first hour of the UTC day. Since the 440 Hz tone is only transmitted once per hour, many chart recorders may use this tone to mark off each hour of the day, and likewise, the omission of the 440 Hz tone once per day can be used to mark off each twenty-four hour period. WWVH transmits the same tone during minute :01 of each hour.
No tone is transmitted during voice announcements from either WWV or WWVH; the latter causes WWV to transmit no tone during minutes :43–:51 (inclusive) and minutes :29 and :59 of each hour.[13] Likewise, WWVH transmits no tone during minutes :00, :30, :08–:10 and :14–:19.
Audio tones and other voice announcements are sent at 50% modulation.
Other voice announcements
WWV transmits the following 44-second voice announcements (in lieu of the standard frequency tones) on an hourly schedule:[13]
Additional time slots are normally transmitted as a standard frequency tone, but can be preempted by voice messages if necessary:
WWVH transmits the same information on a different schedule. Also, its storm warnings cover the area around the Hawaiian islands rather than North America.
WWV/WWVH hourly schedule[13]
Second ticks are transmitted over top of signals listed here.
00Station identificationSilence20500 Hz600 Hz40500 Hz600 Hz
01600 Hz440 Hz21600 Hz500 Hz41600 Hz500 Hz
02440 Hz600 Hz22500 Hz600 Hz42500 Hz600 Hz
03600 Hz(NIST reserved)23600 Hz500 Hz43SilenceGPS status
04(NIST reserved)600 Hz24500 Hz600 Hz44SilenceGPS status
05600 Hz500 Hz25600 Hz500 Hz45SilenceGeophysical alerts
06500 Hz600 Hz26500 Hz600 Hz46Silence600 Hz
07600 Hz500 Hz27600 Hz500 Hz47Silence(NIST reserved)
08North Atlantic storm warningsSilence28500 Hz600 Hz48SilenceWest Pacific storm warnings
09North Atlantic storm warningsSilence29SilenceStation identification49SilenceEast Pacific storm warnings
10Northeast Pacific storm warningsSilence30Station identificationSilence50SilenceSouth Pacific storm warnings
11(Additional storm warnings)Silence31600 Hz500 Hz51SilenceNorth Pacific storm warnings
12500 Hz600 Hz32500 Hz600 Hz52Silence(Additional storm warnings)
13600 Hz500 Hz33600 Hz500 Hz53600 Hz500 Hz
14GPS statusSilence34500 Hz600 Hz54500 Hz600 Hz
15GPS statusSilence35600 Hz500 Hz55600 Hz500 Hz
16(NIST reserved)Silence36500 Hz600 Hz56500 Hz600 Hz
17600 HzSilence37600 Hz500 Hz57600 Hz500 Hz
18Geo-alerts discontinuation noticeSilence38500 Hz600 Hz58500 Hz600 Hz
19Geophysical alertsSilence39600 Hz500 Hz59SilenceStation identification
Digital time code
Time of day is also continuously transmitted using a digital time code, interpretable by radio-controlled clocks. The time code uses a 100 Hz subcarrier of the main signal. That is, it is an additional low-level 100 Hz tone added to the other AM audio signals.
This code is similar to, and has the same framework as, the IRIG H time code and the time code that WWVB transmits, except the individual fields of the code are rearranged and are transmitted with the least significant bit sent first. Like the IRIG timecode, the time transmitted is the time of the start of the minute. Also like the IRIG timecode, numeric data (minute, hour, day of year, and last two digits of year) are sent in binary-coded decimal (BCD) format rather than as simple binary integers: Each decimal digit is sent as two, three, or four bits (depending on its possible range of values).
Bit encoding
WWV-WWVH time code format.svg
The 100 Hz subcarrier is transmitted at −15 dBFS (18% modulation) beginning at 30 ms from the start of the second (the first 30 ms are reserved for the seconds tick), and then reduced by 15 dB (to −30 dBFS, 3% modulation) at one of three times within the second. The duration of the high amplitude 100 Hz subcarrier encodes a data bit of 0, a data bit of 1, or a "marker", as follows:
A single bit or marker is sent in this way in every second of each minute except the first (second :00). The first second of each minute is reserved for the minute marker, previously described.
In the diagram above, the red and yellow bars indicate the presence of the 100 Hz subcarrier, with yellow representing the higher strength subcarrier (−15 dB referenced to 100% modulation) and red the lower strength subcarrier (−30 dB referenced to 100% modulation). The widest yellow bars represent the markers, the narrowest represent data bits with value 0, and those of intermediate width represent data bits with value 1.
It takes one minute to transmit a complete time code. Most of the bits encode UTC time, day of year, year of century, and UT1 correction up to ±0.7 s.
Like the WWVB time code, only the tens and units digits of the year are transmitted; unlike the WWVB time code, there is no direct indication for leap year. Thus, receivers assuming that year 00 is a leap year (correct for year 2000) will be incorrect in the year 2100. On the other hand, receivers that assume year 00 is not a leap year will be correct for 2001 through 2399.
The table below shows the interpretation of each bit, with the "Ex" column being the values from the example above.
WWV BCD time code
:00No 100 Hz (minute mark) :201Hours
Example: 21
1 :40100Day of year (cont.)0
:010Unused, always 0.0 :2120 :412000
:02DST1DST in effect at 00:00Z today0 :2240 :420Unused, always 0.0
:03LSWLeap second at end of month0 :2380 :4300
:041Units digit of year
Example: 9
1 :2400 :4400
:0520 :25100 :4500
:0640 :26201 :4600
:0781 :270Unused, always 0.0 :4700
:080Unused, always 0.0 :2800 :4800
:09P1MarkerM :29P3MarkerM :49P5MarkerM
Example: 30
0 :301Day of year
1=January 1
365=December 31
(366 if a leap year)
Example: 86 (March 27)
0 :50+DUT1 sign (1=positive)1
:1120 :3121 :5110Tens digit of year
Example: 0
:1240 :3241 :52200
:1380 :3380 :53400
:1400 :3400 :54800
:15101 :35100 :55DST2DST in effect at 24:00Z today0
:16201 :36200 :560.1DUT1 magnitude (0 to 0.7 s).
Example: 0.3 s
:17400 :37400 :570.21
:180Unused, always 0.0 :38801 :580.40
:19P2MarkerM :39P4MarkerM :59P0MarkerM
The example shown encodes day 86 (March 27) of 2009, at 21:30:00 UTC. DUT1 is +0.3, so UT1 is 21:30:00.3. Daylight Saving Time was not in effect at the previous 00:00 UTC (DST1=0), and will not be in effect at the next 00:00 UTC (DST2=0). There is no leap second scheduled (LSW=0).
Daylight saving time and leap seconds
The time code contains three bits announcing daylight saving time (DST) changes and imminent leap seconds.
If the DST1 and DST2 bits differ, DST is changing during the current UTC day, at the next 02:00 local time. Before the next 02:00 local time after that, the bits will be the same. Each change in the DST bits happens at 00:00 UTC and so will first be received in the mainland United States between 16:00 (PST) and 20:00 (EDT), depending on local time zone and on whether DST is about to begin or end. A receiver in the Eastern time zone (UTC-5) must therefore correctly receive the "DST is changing" indication within a seven hour period before DST begins, and six hours before DST ends, if it is to change the local time display at the correct time. Receivers in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones have one, two, and three more hours of advance notice, respectively.
During a leap second, a binary zero is transmitted in the time code;[18] in this case, the minute will not be preceded by a marker.
Levels of modulation
The once-per-second "ticks" and minute and hour tones are modulated onto the carrier signal at 100 percent, or 0 dBc. The time code and audio tones are modulated at 50 percent, or approximately −3 dBc, and the maximum modulation level for the voice recordings is 75 percent, or approximately −1.25 dBc.[19]
WWV antenna coordinates (WGS84)
2.5 MHz40°40′55.0″N 105°02′33.6″W / 40.68194°N 105.042667°W / 40.68194; -105.042667 (WWV—2.5 MHz antenna)
5 MHz40°40′41.9″N 105°02′27.2″W / 40.678306°N 105.040889°W / 40.678306; -105.040889 (WWV—5 MHz antenna)
10 MHz40°40′47.7″N 105°02′27.4″W / 40.679917°N 105.040944°W / 40.679917; -105.040944 (WWV—10 MHz antenna)
15 MHz40°40′44.8″N 105°02′26.9″W / 40.679111°N 105.040806°W / 40.679111; -105.040806 (WWV—15 MHz antenna)
20 MHz40°40′52.8″N 105°02′30.9″W / 40.681333°N 105.041917°W / 40.681333; -105.041917 (WWV—20 MHz antenna)
Transmission system
WWV broadcasts its signal on five transmitters, one per frequency. The transmitters for 2.5 MHz and 20 MHz put out an ERP of 2.5 kW, while those for the other three frequencies use 10 kW of ERP.
WWV's 15 MHz antenna
Each transmitter is connected to a dedicated antenna, which has a height corresponding to approximately one-half of its signal's wavelength, and the signal radiation patterns from each antenna are omnidirectional. The top half of each antenna tower contains a quarter-wavelength radiating element, and the bottom half uses nine guy wires, connected to the midpoint of the tower and sloped at one-to-one from the ground—with a length of One-quarter wavelength times the square root of two—as additional radiating elements.[1]
Half-hourly station identification announcement
WWV identifies itself twice each hour, at 0 and 30 minutes past the hour. The text of the identification is as follows:
National Institute of Standards and Technology time: this is Radio Station WWV, Fort Collins Colorado, broadcasting on internationally allocated standard carrier frequencies of two-point-five, five, ten, fifteen, and twenty megahertz, providing time of day, standard time interval, and other related information. Inquiries regarding these transmissions may be directed to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Radio Station WWV, 2000 East County Road 58, Fort Collins, Colorado, 80524.
WWV accepts reception reports sent to the address mentioned in the station ID, and responds with QSL cards.
Telephone service
WWV's time signal can also be accessed by telephone by calling +1-303-499-7111. Telephone calls are limited to two minutes in length, and the signal is delayed by an average of 30 milliseconds.[20]
See also
1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nelson, Glenn; Michael Lombardi, Dean Okayama (2005). NIST Special Publication 250-67: NIST Time and Frequency Stations: WWV, WWVH and WWVB. NIST. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1969.pdf.
2. ^ a b Beers, Yardley. "WWV Moves to Colorado: In Two Parts - Part II". QST (American Radio Relay League) (February 1967): 30–36. OCLC 1623841. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/271.pdf. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
3. ^ Fey, Lowell. "New Signals from an Old Timer...WWV". Broadcast Engineering (July 1971): 44–46. ISSN 0007-1994. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/479.pdf.
4. ^ "WWV to be Relocated", NBS Technical News Bulletin: 215–216, December 1965, http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1730.pdf, retrieved 2011-05-26 . Also contains details about the construction of the Fort Collins WWV transmitters.
5. ^ DX Listening Digest 5-016 "For a short time, a broadcaster from Atlanta named John Doyle's voice was used on the broadcast; the voice announcement was then re-recorded by a radio personality in the San Francisco area named Lee Rodgers." —Glenn Nelson, NIST
6. ^ "Physics Lab: Time and Frequency Division". NIST. http://www.nist.gov/physlab/div847/index.cfm. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
7. ^ "Physics Lab". NIST. http://www.nist.gov/physlab/. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
8. ^ "About Us: 1930-1939". USDA ARS. http://www.ars.usda.gov/Aboutus/docs.htm?docid=8841. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
9. ^ "Science Notes: Death of a Sputnik Traced by New Radio System". The New York Times: pp. E11. January 19, 1958. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20D14F7355E107B93CBA8178AD85F4C8585F9. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
10. ^ "Science: Slow Death". Time. January 27, 1958. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,864206,00.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
11. ^ "Telecommunication: Frequency allocations and radio treaty matters, general rules and regulations § 2.302". Federal Communications Commission. http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/pdf/47cfr2.302.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
12. ^ a b Leap Second 2005 Audio recordings of WWV during a leap second.
13. ^ a b c d e "Information Transmitted by WWV and WWVH". NIST. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/iform.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
14. ^ "NBS Letter Circular 1023: 1956 Guide to NBS Time and Frequency Services". NIST. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1643.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
15. ^ "NBS Special Publication 236: 1968 Guide to NBS Time and Frequency Services". National Institute of Standards and Technology. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1754.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
16. ^ Viezbicke, P (7/1971). "NBS Special Publication 236: 1971 Guide to NBS Time and Frequency Services". Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/general/pdf/1771.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
17. ^ "Space Weather Prediction Center to Discontinue Broadcasts on WWV and WWVH". American Radio Relay League. http://www.arrl.org/news/view/space-weather-prediction-center-to-discontinue-broadcasts-on-wwv-and-wwvh. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
18. ^ Lombardi, Michael (2002). "NIST Time and Frequency Services (NIST Special Publication 432)". NIST. p. 80. http://tf.nist.gov/general/pdf/1383.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
19. ^ "NIST Radio Station WWV". NIST. http://tf.nist.gov/timefreq/stations/wwv.html. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
20. ^ NIST. "NIST Telephone Time-of-Day Service". http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/grp40/ttds.cfm. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
External links | http://blekko.com/wiki/WWV_(radio_station)?source=672620ff | dclm-gs1-004755529 | false | true | {
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0.029701 | <urn:uuid:d11a29c8-19de-4229-8656-74dfb8338469> | en | 0.980078 | Bonds lawyer starts to pick at government’s case
While Ruby, a high-priced, high-profile defense lawyer, spoke in a booming baritone and painted Bonds as a victim over the course of an hour, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew A. Parrella gave his 46-minute statement in a workmanlike monotone that had some jurors struggling to keep their heads up.
Anderson also served three months in prison and three months in home confinement for money laundering and steroids distribution from the original Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) case. Anderson’s plea in that instance happened in 2005. Bonds’ trial is the last to stem from the BALCO investigation.
Mark J. Geragos, Anderson’s lawyer, argued that additional sanctions would be “punitive rather than coercive,” which was ignored by Illston. Later, she instructed the jury that Anderson was unavailable and that jurors may not draw “any inference from his failure to testify.”
Anderson was the go-between for Bonds in his contact with BALCO, and without his testimony to authenticate them, Illston excluded what the government said were three positive drug tests performed for the lab. Because he isn’t testifying, the government will have a harder time proving the charges in Bonds’ indictment, which includes four counts of making false statements to the grand jury and one count of obstruction.
Each count carries a penalty of up to 10 years, but federal guidelines recommend a sentence of 15-to-21 months.
Bonds, wearing a dark suit as he did Monday, this time with a light blue shirt and a silver-blue tie, sat with hands clasped for much of the time during opening statements. He occasionally wrote out notes for his lawyers, and he sat slouched in his chair, his long legs crossed at the ankles and poking out the other side of the defense table.
While much or all of the government’s evidence has been made public since Bonds’ indictment in December 2007, Ruby gave the clearest indication of the defense strategy: stick to the story Bonds told the grand jury and assail those implicating against him.
Ruby said the government witnesses and leaks “created a caricature of Barry Bonds, terrible guy, bad, mean.”
“Barry is not a caricature. He’s a man,” Ruby said. “Whether the evidence in this case persuades you that he is an admirable man or not an admirable man or something in between has not a thing to do, we can all agree, with the charges that the United States government brought against him.” He also criticized the government witnesses for cooperating with the media, saying they created “poisonous things that have been out there about Barry.”
Ruby alleged Kimberly Bell, an ex-girlfriend who ended a nine-year relationship with Bonds, and Steve Hoskins, who had a fallout with Bonds in his signed memorabilia business, were “facing the loss of the financial benefit that Barry provided to them over the years.”
Ruby also criticized Kathy Hoskins, Steve’s sister and Bonds’ former personal shopper, saying “the bitterness of these people toward Barry … was very, very pervasive.”
Jurors, who brought pads of paper to the court room, took notes as Novitzky spoke, and there were several empty seats in the five spectator rows during his often-tedious testimony.
Under questioning from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Nedrow, the tall, bald investigator, then with the IRS and now with the Food and Drug Administration, recounted going through BALCO’s trash and finding copies of magazine articles containing photos of Bonds with BALCO executives. He then identified what he called a “treasure trove” of drugs taken from Conte’s storage locker, and syringes, steroids and HGH seized from Anderson’s home in September 2003. He said Bonds’ claims that he was given steroids unknowingly caused prosecutors to consider whether they should file assault charges against BALCO executives.
When Novitzky, in response to a question from Ruby, talked about a recording of Anderson and Hoskins discussing how Anderson injected Bonds, several jurors took notes. Ruby objected to the testimony, and Illston ordered it stricken from the record.
Bonds rubbed his eyes and rested his chin on a hand during part of Novitzky’s long testimony. A member of his legal team read the Huffington Post on a laptop.
Categories: Uncategorized | http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/03/22/bonds-lawyer-starts-to-pick-at-governments-case/ | dclm-gs1-004805529 | false | false | {
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0.040979 | <urn:uuid:e21c089a-1b1e-4245-871a-8b379b027ba1> | en | 0.991628 | During the Windows 95 project, we had a super-sized whiteboard in the hallway outside the build lab in order to keep track of the most critical bugs that were blocking the release of the build. I remember one day I was walking past the board, and two of my colleagues were particularly interested in one of the bugs. Its current status had recently been updated to something like "Problem understood, fix coming, ETA 2pm." But they weren't as interested in the bug itself as in the identity of the person who made the update.
Janice asked Rachel, "Do you know who wrote that?"
"No, but it's clearly a woman's handwriting."
"Obviously, but who could it have been? I would have guessed Laura, but I know her writing and that's not it."
"Ahem," I interjected. "I wrote that."
An awkward silence.
"Oh, it's very nice handwriting, really."
"Yes, very graceful."
Looking back at my penmanship through the years, I think that era was my peak. It has been declining steadily ever since. Sometimes I stop to try to recover some of its former glory, but at best it's just holding its ground.
(While you're checking out TechNet Magazine, why not drop into the current issue's Blog Tales written by our own Betsy Aoki.) | http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/02/28/540579.aspx | dclm-gs1-004915529 | false | false | {
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0.226312 | <urn:uuid:38949b08-2ce5-4d1b-9b5a-80c7bbec2b3a> | en | 0.956044 | Your Guide to Holiday Drinking at Your Hometown Bar
Categories: Fiesta!
flickr: jessicalea
By Vanessa Quilantan
Imagine you're in high school again for one night, only this time with booze and seasonal depression.
It's the holidays, which means that, for all you transplants out there, it's time to go home and see Mom and Dad. After a few hours with the family, however, you'll get that urge to get out of the house and go to a bar. Which is great! Except that, with all of these (formerly) familiar faces in the room, you're going to be opening a pandora's box of intense feelings. Here's how to handle the situation.
First, let's set the scene: At the bar, likely divey and likely close to your parents' house, you will be encountering former classmates, childhood friends, and old flames. Yay? Sure, much like a friend's wedding or a high school reunion, these nights can be fun and nostalgic. But they're also rife with opportunities for emotionally-charged, booze-fueled decision making.
"The crowd those nights is usually anywhere from 22 to 28. It seems like the older you get, depending on how misanthropic you are, those nights are like measuring sticks," says Steve Steward, a bartender at Fort Worth, Texas's Boiled Owl Tavern. "For a single dude, it's like: Who's gotten fatter? Who's gotten balder?"
Keep yourself in check. You're more likely to have fun if you're not comparing yourself to others. Don't talk about work too much, and if you catch yourself doing salary math in your head, snap out of it. It's fun to look back at how far you've come with the people you grew up with, but everyone's definition of success is different. It's Thanksgiving, not your Reality Bites moment.
If you're one of those weird people who stays friends with their exes, then the potential for awkwardness might be lower. But you're still at risk for drunken mistakes. This is especially true if you run into a first love type, someone for whom you still have a soft spot. Whether you get along with them or not, you don't want to end up drinking and talking to your old high school sweetheart all night. It's weird, and no good can really come of that. Catch up for a bit, then keep it moving.
"There's all this nostalgia and feelings of general good will, so people generally try to throw down," says Steward.
Make sure to watch your booze intake. There's a lot to toast to, and the holiday spirit tends to keep the drinks flowing. For starters, think of your bank account.
And let's not forget that you've got a stomach full of Christmas tofurkey. You're already going to be bloated tomorrow, so take it easy. Plus, you're going back to your parents' house. Do you really want to wake up on your mom's couch reeking of peach Schnapps? Or worse, have everyone remember Christmas 2013 as the year you vomited in the parking lot? You've got to be able to walk back in here next year.
Keeping all this in mind, there's no reason why your hometown holiday drinking experience can't be joyous and anxiety free. Though you're bound to these people by your past, toast to your futures, and the promise of many more holidays together. Tip your bartenders, and never forget how effective a good jukebox can be in setting a festive mood.
Just please don't play any Christmas songs.
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From the Vault | http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/rftmusic/2013/12/holiday_drinking.php | dclm-gs1-004935529 | false | false | {
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0.031988 | <urn:uuid:2ecacd14-4dee-4e3f-b84c-037d4de549fb> | en | 0.963239 | November 25, 2012
Point by Point: A Fantasy Football Playoff Speech
I know it has been awhile, life has been crazy and all, but I just posted this on my fantasy football league's message board and thought I would share. Out of 14 otherwise male teams, I am in first-place in the midst of Week 12:
I don't know what to say really. Two weeks to the biggest playoff battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as teams or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch, fantasy point by fantasy point, til we’re finished.
You are in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And you can stay there and get the shit kicked out of you by a girl or you can fight your way back into the light. You can climb out of hell. One fantasy point at a time.
Now I can’t do it for you. I’m too competitive. I look around and I see these playoff-desperate faces and I think, I mean, I made every right choice a young female manager could make. But I uhh…. pissed away all my trade good will, believe it or not. I traded off any waiver wire pick-up who ever loved me. And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in MJD’s spot on my roster.
You know when you get too competitive in life, things get taken away from you. That’s, that’s part of life. But you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of points. So is fantasy football. Because in either game, life or fantasy football, the margin of error is so small. I mean, one yard short or early injury, you don’t quite succeed. One terrible transaction or dropped opportunity, and you don’t get the score. The fantasy points we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game. Every minute, every second.
In this league, we fight for that point. In this league, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us, to pieces for that point. We claw with our fingernails for that point. Because we know. We know when we add up all of those points, that’s going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING, between the PLAYOFFS and SHAME.
I’ll tell you this. In any fight, it is the guy or surprisingly awesome female who is willing to die who is going to win that point. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because I am always willing to fight and die for that point – because that is what WINNING is: the six imaginary points you left on your bench.
Now I can’t make you do it. You gotta look at the guy in this week's match-up. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go for that point against you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for his team. Because he knows when it comes down to it, you are going to do the same thing to him.
That’s a fantasy league, gentlemen. And either we play now, as teams, or we will die as humiliated individuals. That’s fantasy football guys. That’s all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?
1 comment:
1. Nice to see you back, and challenging. | http://chicksdigthefastball.blogspot.com/2012/11/point-by-point-fantasy-football-playoff.html | dclm-gs1-005155529 | false | false | {
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0.023813 | <urn:uuid:83d8ad09-c2a4-400b-ad93-57d6ac883cd0> | en | 0.953364 | Skip over navigation
BOOK REVIEW: Partials by Dan Wells
BOOK REVIEW: Partials by Dan Wells
By Swapna Krishna
The MindHut
The year is 2076 and there are less than 50,000 humans left on the planet Earth. The human race is a dying species; RM, the disease that the Partials engineered to wipe out humanity, has ensured that. Yes, we created the Partials to fight for us, to be killing machines, but we didn’t think they’d turn against us, wiping out most and leaving the rest unable to have children. If we can’t reproduce, we will die; that much is certain.
For Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic, enough is enough. She can’t bear to deliver another baby, to have to tell another hopeful mother that her child is dead. What’s more, the Hope Act, which declares that all women eighteen and over have to be pregnant at all times, uses women as breeding machines with minimal results. Every baby still dies hours after it’s born.
Kira decides that the only answer is to somehow find a cure for RM. Though the world’s best scientists (at least, what’s left of them) have been working on finding a cure and healing humanity, Kira thinks she can do better. She’s clever and resourceful, and she’s willing to take risks that no one else is. Kira puts together a daring, treasonous plan, knowing that she may be the last hope for humanity.
It’s easy to think of Partials as just another post-apocalyptic dystopian YA thriller, but there’s a lot about it that’s very different than much of what’s out there. First of all, though Kira and what’s left of humanity live under an oppressive government, their lives aren’t horrible. They have enough to eat, and because it was a disease that killed humanity, all the infrastructure and resources are intact. It’s unique, which is hard to find these days, and is always fun. Also, it doesn’t really come across as YA. Yes, Kira is sixteen, but she and others her age are expected to act like adults. There’s no real romantic drama, not much teenage angst, and let’s face it: it’s refreshing.
The story Partials is what’s really exciting about the book. Yes, we’ve read a lot of books about robot wars, but this one is different. There are a lot of questions surrounding the book – where are the Partials now? And why haven’t they wiped out what’s left of humanity? Wells does a great job revealing information in a shocking way. While some of the plot twists are predictable, others are jaw dropping. It makes for an incredibly entertaining read.
That’s not to say the book is perfect—the writing can be clunky at times and the dialogue isn’t really realistic. But as the book moves on, these issues move to the background as the story becomes explosive and the stakes are heightened. In the end, they’re minor quibbles, as Partials is a crazy fun novel to read, and the ending will have readers absolutely clamoring for the next book in the series.
What's the last great sci fi book you read?
Topics: Life, Mindhut
Tags: sci fi, ya novels, reviews, books-and-comics, partials, dan wells
Write your own comment!
About the Author
Swapna Krishna
Wanna contact a writer or editor? Email | http://community.sparknotes.com/2012/07/12/book-review-partials-by-dan-wells | dclm-gs1-005305529 | false | false | {
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0.355597 | <urn:uuid:0f837963-60cd-4b66-a1a7-b314f01ef23b> | en | 0.665342 | suche ein beliebiges Wort, wie spook:
when you ask your Mexican friend to clean off your desk for you
Hey Carlos, will you eat el desko? Sweet! Now I can eat lunch without all my books in the way!
von Benny brad 1. September 2006
Words related to eat el desko
almost clean ask clean clear wipe | http://de.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=eat%20el%20desko | dclm-gs1-005495529 | false | false | {
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0.067933 | <urn:uuid:a4078156-0d60-4523-9342-c741edb7346a> | en | 0.939219 | web analytics
Martini Masterclass at The Waiting Room (Crown Entertainment Complex, Melbourne)
My father loves movies. More accurately, he loves falling asleep during movies. Barely 20 minutes into the movie (any movie!), I’d start hearing his gentle snores from the couch. Which meant that I watched an awful lot of the same movies over and over again since Dad wouldn’t remember anything that happened in them. [...] | http://eats.sefiebee.com/tag/cocktails/ | dclm-gs1-005705529 | false | false | {
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0.069725 | <urn:uuid:78401538-2d3e-460d-8710-826c1f18433a> | en | 0.931494 | Thursday, May 21, 2009
Indentation Wars
Ever suffer from tab rage? You know, you're fixing or refactoring someone else's code, and the logic is solid but the indentation is all over the place. So much so, that your appreciation of what the code does is over-shadowed by how bad its looks.
At the recent project kick-off, we had occasion to debate what coding conventions should be put in place. A few general principles occured to me, crystalized in the following rules:
1. No endless debate.
The first rule of code style is: you do not talk about code style.
The second rule of code style is: you DO NOT talk about code style!
Endless amounts of time can be burned splitting hairs over obscure rules like the requirement to signal abstractness with Abstract or Base in the class name. Believe me, I've been there. The trick is just to agree that once the rules are in place, they're treated as being eteched in stone. You don't have to like them, just follow them. Yep, I do have a slightly dictatorial streek.
2. Enforce the rules early and often.
Do not rely on folks to follow the conventions out of community spirit. Neither is it a good idea to wait for code reviews to smoke out style issues. The rules must instead be enforced from the get-go. With an iron fist, I tells ya!
Where IDEs such as Eclipse are used, ensure continuous builds flag style violations as you type them. Enable checking via checkstyle and/or PMD as part of all routine automated builds. Fail the build if any sytle violation is found, no ifs or buts. Make it so that resistance to the style police is futile.
3. Rules are made to bent.
What, doesn't that contravene the preceding principles? Well yes it kinda does, but sometimes needs must. When a boatload of pre-existing code is being imported into a project for instance. Or when the style checker doesn't understand some new language feature, such as PMD's tendancy to trip over variadic arguments. In these cases, use //CHECKSTYLE:OFF comments or @SupressWarnings("PMD.theRuleName)" annotations to selectively exempt the least amout of code. Selectivity is the key here.
4. Skip checks altogether when appropriate.
A tad contradictory again, but style checking does not come for free, and there is no point wasting time auditing code you already know to be clean. So when you build a fresh checkout for the first time, or when running the same test from maven multiple times without any code changes, the checkstyle.skip and pmd.skip properties are your friend.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
fewRemainingStrands.tearOut(); EasyMock.expectLastCall().andReturn(yourHair);
Don't get me wrong, EasyMock absolutely rocks for unit testing.
But I've just burned half an hour with frustration, misled by the most misleading error message I've seen in a long while.
What does the following say to you?
java.lang.IllegalStateException: missing behavior definition for the preceding method call: someMethod(interface someType)
Maybe that you forgot to set an expectation for someMethod(someType)? Yeah that's why I thought too. But that would be too straight-forward. Wouldn't involve the fun of the chase :) Simply setting the apparently missing expectation doesn't resolve the issue. To my deep frustration, just now.
What EasyMock is really trying to tell you here is that you've called IMocksControl.replay() in the wrong place. Too late in the day, to be specific. After you've used one of your mocks in anger.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Distributed OSGi 1.0 ... Thunderbirds are Go!
Almost a year ago now, myself and Sergey Beryozkin started out on the road to building the official reference implementation for what was then just plain ol' RFC 119, being cooked up by the Enterprise Expert Group at the OSGi.
After quickly putting together an initial proof-of-concept based on Apache CXF, we moved the code to a sub-project of CXF and continued its development from there.
Fellow RFC 119 author David Bosschaert later joined us in the implementation effort, and became a CXF committer in the process.
After much refining of the RFC along with the expert group, multiple trips to Montpellier to eat chèvre and argue over the fine detail of the spec, a serious case of concall-ear and lots of updating the implementation along the way to follow the moving goalposts, we've finally released version Distributed OSGi 1.0.
So enough of the back-slapping, where's the beef, says you.
Well you can get started kicking around the reference implementation by downloading one of the three distribution formats we provide for your convenience:
1. Multi-bundle distro: cxf-dosgi-ri-multibundle-distribution-1.0.tar.gz
Contains the dOSGi implementation and all 3rd party dependencies as separate bundles within an archive. Along with config snippets for both Felix and Equinox, to allow you to easily pull in all the required bundles without having to go through the tedium of typing many install commands in the shell.
2. Single-bundle distro: cxf-dosgi-ri-singlebundle-distribution-1.0.jar
Contains the dOSGi implementation and all 3rd party dependencies wrapped in a single OSGi bundle so as to allow direct installation in your favourite OSGi container in one fell swoop. As long as your favourite OSGi container happens to be either Felix 1.4.1 or Equinox 3.5M4+, for these are the OSGi runtimes that support the OSGi Service Registry Hooks on which dOSGi depends. That's the magic that allows us to intercept client calls into the OSGi Service Registry and do some sleight of hand to ensure there's a proxy transparently registered for the remote service.
3. Source distro:
Contains the entire source tree for dOSGi, for your building pleasure. For those of you who prefer to get your hands dirty from the get-go :)
For any tar-phobic Windows users, there are .zip versions of the distros also available.
Docco-wise, the best starting point for getting your head around dOSGi is the Getting Started Guide.
There are a number of samples also to play with, illustrating various approaches to enable transparent remoting on your common-or-garden OSGi services. If you're new to the ideas behind dOSGi, you'll find that the detailed walk-through of the greeter sample should cause a few lightbulbs to flash.
Your feedback, we value. Even when its of the form "this, I don't understand" or "that, looks like its broke". So if you've got any, be sure to drop us a note on the CXF lists. | http://eoghang.blogspot.fr/2009_05_01_archive.html | dclm-gs1-005865529 | false | false | {
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0.018392 | <urn:uuid:cce02d89-ddc0-4e50-b1c6-ecfa034220c8> | en | 0.938407 | What to Do With a Financial Windfall
Maybe you purchase a lottery ticket every once in a while and dream of your life after winning the jackpot. If only you had millions and millions of dollars…
The odds of winning the lottery may be minuscule, but there are a number of other times when you may receive a more modest financial windfall. Whether it’s a bonus from work, a tax refund, an inheritance or a birthday gift, unexpected money is exciting. Even small amounts can go a long way toward helping you reach your financial goals, if you use them wisely.
1. Press Pause
You need a plan. Before you spend any of the money, really think about your financial goals. Depending on your situation, this could mean looking at clearly defined goals you have set out, or it could mean mulling over your future for the first time. Either way, look at the big picture to see how you can best use this money toward getting you where you want to go. Put the money in a secure place while you mull over your options.
2. Dump Your Debt
High-interest debt is a drain on your finances. A big chunk of money can knock some of it out and help you avoid paying more in interest. Consider the impact on your budget if you knocked out your credit card debt or paid off your car. Look at whether it makes more sense for you to put the windfall entirely toward one debt or if you should spread it around.
Debt has a huge impact on your credit scores, and paying off debt can save you money in the long run by raising your scores and making it easier to qualify for the best interest rates on home loans, credit cards and more. If you want o see how your debt is impacting your credit, free tools on Credit.com will show you two of your credit scores and explain the biggest factors impacting them.
3. Feed Your Funds
Assess your current emergency fund. It’s a good idea to have three to 12 months of expenses saved up in case of a job loss or other unexpected expense. Just how much you need to have at the ready depends on your income, job stability and personal comfort. Squirreling away your surprise money doesn’t sound exciting but it can provide peace of mind.
4. Dream Big
This can be a time to live out some of your lottery fantasies. While your windfall may not be enough to finance the purchase of an exotic island, use this opportunity to start a vacation fund to visit an island. If you have an established emergency fund and have already paid off your debt, you can set a new goal and use this money to start saving for it.
5. Ratchet Up Retirement Savings
This could be a good time to bump up your 401(k) or IRA contributions. Saving for retirement is a long-term goal that sometimes gets forgotten with all of the short-term financial obligations. Plus, there’s a lot of confusion over just how much you need to save to secure your retirement. But the earlier you put money into retirement savings, the more it will work for you. You can use unexpected money to build up your nest egg.
6. Share the Wealth
Giving all or some of your financial windfall to charity is a noble goal. Make sure to research the organizations you want to support to ensure your money is going where you want it to go. And don’t forget to keep track of your donations for tax purposes.
More from Credit.com
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0.037744 | <urn:uuid:7c82b422-e5d6-4a77-ace0-d3f889aa440d> | en | 0.933452 | Appliance Repair Forum
Appliance Repair Forum (
- Washer Repair (
- - Washer won't agitate or spin, can turn motor by hand (
englaisfitz 11-14-2012 06:49 AM
Washer won't agitate or spin, can turn motor by hand
The washer won't won't agitate or spin. I've checked the pump, that seems OK (no visible clogs, and I can turn it by hand). I've checked the coupler, no signs of wear. I bypassed the timer switch and checked the motor, this hums but won't start, unless I turn it by hand, then it will kick in and continue the motion.
One suggestion was a bad motor capacitor, but I've checked that using a multimeter, and the range starts high, but then dwindles to almost zero, which is what it's supposed to do, right?
Another suggestion is a bad clutch. Is there any way I can check for this?
Or are there any other suggestions you may have as to the cause of the problem?
Many thanks guys!
fairbank56 11-14-2012 06:58 AM
Does it drain?
englaisfitz 11-14-2012 08:51 AM
It doesn't get that far, the motor hums for about half a minute, then the system shuts off.
fairbank56 11-15-2012 11:43 AM
So, your saying with the motor on the floor, connected and everything else hooked up (timer), it will run if you start it by hand?
If your comfortable checking live 120vac with your multimeter, I can advise you further. Need to check for power at the motor harness connector.
You can check continuity of the motor windings and motor switch first. Check with connector unplugged. On the motor, you should have continuity between the terminals where the white and blue wires as well as between where the red and yellow wires connect. You should also have continuity between where the white wire connects and the violet wire coming out of the motor. These should read just a few ohms resistance. Then check from where the blue wire connects and the blue wire coming out of the motor, between where the red wire connects and the black wire coming out of the motor and between where the orange wire connects and the blue wire from the motor. These should be 0-.5 ohms. If these are all good, need to check for 120vac with the motor plugged in and running (or attempted running).
englaisfitz 11-18-2012 10:30 PM
Washer won't agitate or spin...
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, with the motor on the floor, hooked up, even WITHOUT the timer (another guy gave me a way to bypass the timer, making a power cord with multiple connectors so we can simulate the cycles of the machine when the motor was in place, i.e. one direction spins the drum, the other direction moves the agitator post). So just power going into the motor, it hums, and waits for me to start it by hand, but will then continue.
-- When It does start (and stop, when I turn off the power), there is a reasonably loud click sound, like a switch activating.
Just to confirm, I'm checking wire locations ON THE MOTOR itself, where the harness plugs in, right, so I can remove the motor completely, set it aside from the washer, and check the wire connections with the multimeter, right? I'm not checking the harness end that is attached to the washer, I'm checking the motor terminals.
White to Blue = 1.1 ohms
Red to Yellow = 7.3 ohms
White to Violet = There is no violet wire
Blue in to Blue out = 0 ohms
Red in to Black out = 0.1 ohms
Orange in to Blue out = There is no orange wire
Haven't checked with power on yet, as I wasn't able to complete what you asked thus far.
I really appreciate your help with this Eric, it seems to have stumped every other website I've been to. One guy said it was the capacitor, but when I checked that, the reading started high, then dwindled away to almost zero, which is what it's meant to do, right? Another guy suggested the clutch, but when I checked this by starting the motor by hand (installed), it functioned normally for both agitation and spin operations. I dropped the clutch down, there's no leakage of oil, and everything looks clean and new inside.
Should I repeat the above wire connectivity tests with the power on?
Now when you say "comfortable", what, exactly, should I not be comfortable about...
And can I do it using the bypass harness, so we're checking just the motor, or should I wire it back up to the washer to check?
Many thanks!
fairbank56 11-19-2012 06:30 AM
I thought this was a 2-speed motor. 5 wires coming from motor is a single speed. Anyway, the readings are good although the start winding is on the high end of a 4-7ohms normal reading. I assume with your power cord setup, you are still using the capacitor in the circuit? The click you hear is the switch. The part on the motor that the wires are plugged into is a switch operated by a centrifugal mechanism inside the motor on the shaft. It opens contacts for the start winding when it gets up to speed as the start winding is not meant for continuous use. It also operates other contacts in a multi-speed motor.
The capacitor test you did is just a static test. It will tell you if it is shorted. The reading you get when the resistance starts out low and gradually comes up indicates it is not shorted and the capacitor is charging up but it is just a static test using low DC voltage from the meter. In operation the capacitor has 120vac across it. The static test doesn't give you the value of the capacitor either so the capacitor could still be bad. The capacitor provides a phase shift in the current applied between the run and start windings to produce a rotating magnetic field to get the motor going.
Testing the resistance of the switch contacts is also a static test using low dc voltage. It could read fine but break down when high current is passed through them. One other test you can do will bypass the start winding cutout switch. With your test setup, instead of connecting to where the red wire normally goes, disconnect the black wire from the motor and connect there. You'll need to make an adapter jumper wire. If the motor starts this way, turn it off right away as this bypasses the switch and you should not leave power applied to the start winding but for a second or two. If it still doesn't work, I would try another capacitor.
BTW, you can buy a suitable capacitor from Grainger for $6.31 Physical size may be slightly different so you may have to modify the mounting.
englaisfitz 11-20-2012 03:37 PM
Thanks Eric.
I hooked up the motor as you suggested, and it fired up immediately as I plugged it into the wall. Does this mean the capacitor is good (as I already ordered one from Grainger, thanks for that little bit of info! Talk about going the extra mile!)?
What's the next step, Sir?
Many thanks,
fairbank56 11-20-2012 04:08 PM
Yes, capacitor is good. Bad motor switch. The switch is replaceable but I'm not sure which motor you have. The parts manual shows it as part number 661600 which is a 2-speed motor. The switch for that motor is part number 8529896. Can you provide a good clear photo of the wiring diagram on the tech sheet located behind the control panel or possibly somewhere inside the cabinet?
englaisfitz 11-22-2012 11:55 AM
Alas, there is no tech sheet or wiring diagram anywhere on the machine, nothing on the case, nothing anywhere near the controls, nor on the body itself. I can take a photo of the existing switch, so you can see where the wires are located...
I also found a manual parts list, showing the part number for the motor switch as 62850
Whirlpool Repair Part List - 8179518-007 - YouserGuide
Which seems to pass me to the same part number you list.
Thanks again, Eric, I'll take that photo and hopefully this will solve the whole problem.
englaisfitz 11-24-2012 05:30 PM
1 Attachment(s)
Here is the photo of the motor switch
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0.756451 | <urn:uuid:44c960e0-a233-48bf-862b-2a53fc91898b> | en | 0.851144 | Go Down
Topic: Speed PI control for a servo HS-55 feather hitec (Read 357 times) previous topic - next topic
hello, I need some help in my school in the control class left me a task to perform PI speed controller for a feather servo Hitec HS-55, but I have very basic programming knowledge, and I hope you can help me :)
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0.210256 | <urn:uuid:179f3cd0-942e-48d7-aaa5-bf3445b139bf> | en | 0.913555 | Trossen Force Sensor Top Banner
Tutorial: Introduction to Encoders
1. lnxfergy's Avatar
lnxfergy lnxfergy is online Mech Warfare Organizer Alumni
Introduction to Encoders
An Introduction to Encoders
My bot won't drive straight!
Such is a common problem in robotics. Unfortunately, two motors will never be identical, two surfaces will never have the same coefficient of friction, and two wheels will never be exactly the same diameter. So what is a roboticist to do? We need to incorporate a form of feedback into our motor control. Encoders are one possible solution to the problem of a bot that won't drive straight, as well as these other problems:
• The need to turn a specific angle
• The need to go forward/backward a specific distance
• Complex path planning (not covered here)
Types of feedback for speed control of small robots
Most people are familiar with hobby servos, the most cheap and widely-available of all motors that incorporate a feedback loop. However, servos only have a small range, about 180 degrees, due to the use of a potentiometer as their form of feedback. If we want to have our robot go more than a few inches, we need motors that can turn a full rotation, but still have feedback. What we need is an encoder that measures how much the motor or wheel turn. Encoders often use either small magnets or light.
Do I really need encoders?
This will depend on your environment. If your robot can reference a nearby object, such as a wall, then maybe not. You'd be surprised how much can be accomplished by just following a wall with an IR sensor.
Theory of operation - Encoders
We will first look at the single-channel encoder, for ease of understanding, we will say it is a magnetic one. The encoder would be constructed of a small magnet on the motor shaft, and a hall-effect sensor that puts out a pulse every time the magnet passes it. Our simple encoder gives us 1 pulse for each rotation of the motor shaft. If our motor then has a 100:1 gearbox which the wheel is connected to, we will get 100 counts per rotation of the wheel. (this is a somewhat theoretical sensor, nearly all encoders today will be Quadrature encoders and have 2 channels, but we can get this type of a sensor by ignoring the second channel)
Encoders send out pulses related to rotation of the motor shaft. Unfortunately, you often want to control the speed, which is the distance/time, or the distance, which is the summation of pulses. We need to be able to count the pulses now. We have to realize that our pulse rate may be very high. If our wheel is going even 300RPM, our very simple encoder will give us 500 counts per second. We don't want to eat up all the processing time on our delicate micro controller - so we will use an interrupt! (see my interrupt tutorial)
// sample arduino code for getting relative speed from an encoder
// this code will print the # of encoder ticks each 1/2 second
volatile int counter = 0;
void setup(){
attachInterrupt(0, count, RISING);
void loop(){
void count(){
Theory of Operation - Quadrature Encoders
While a simple single-channel encoder can give us speed, we need more data to extract direction of rotation. While you may not always need to know the direction from the encoder, it can come in handy (for instance, if you are parked on a hill, it might be nice to know you rolled backwards rather than forwards).
A quadrature encoder has two channels of output, commonly referred to as A and B. The two channels are 90 degrees out of phase with each other, by decoding the pulses coming out of the encoder, we can determine both speed and direction of rotation from our encoder. For instance, if you have an interrupt that triggers on a positive change in A, you can choose how your count changes based on B: if B = 0, rotation is CCW, if B = 1, rotation is CW, as seen in Figure 1 (your particular encoder may be reversed as far as CCW or CW).
You can do a lot more to increase the resolution of the encoder. The Nubotics sensors I'll be using below give out only 32 pulses on the A channel for each rotation. However, if we then add the B channel, and pay attention to our truth table below, we can see that by keeping track of what B was last time, we can get much better resolution. Specifically, if we are interrupting on the rising edge of A:
• and B is logic high, and B was logic high last time, we've gone clock-wise, but we've actually gone through a full wave cycle of the A channel. This is actually twice as much travel as if we had reversed direction.
• and B is logic high, but B was logic low last time, we've still gone clock-wise, but we've reversed direction, and thus gone only 1 click in distance.
• and B is logic low, we've gone counter-clockwise. Based on the previous B value, we can decide if we've gone 1 or 2 steps.
Using this, we've doubled our resolution. As they say on TV though, but wait, there's more. If we interrupt on both the rising and falling edges of A, and do a similar decoding, we can double our resolution again.
Of course, since I'm using these Nubotics sensors, it's somewhat academic to decode the A/B signals, since these awesome encoders provide an alternative Clock + Direction output that is already decoded as described above. But, we should at least discuss this, since not all encoders are quite as nice.
Figure 1 - Quadrature Encoder output and truth table. A quadrature encoder has two channels, A and B, which are some distance out of sync with each other. If we have an interrupt routine that runs on the rising edge of A, we can determine the direction of rotation by reading B. When our encoder turns in one direction, the interrupt will be triggered on the red dots, times at which the B channel is low. If our encoder turns in the opposite direction, it will trigger our interrupt on the green dots, when B is high.
Theory of operation - Feedback loops
The general idea of a feedback loop is fairly simple. We have some set point value (for instance, the desired speed), and we have an actual value read from some sensor (the current speed). From this, we can compute an error. We then need to create a function that will adjust our outputs in order to make our error smaller. In technical feedback control terms, the function is known as a controller, and the device (in our case a motor) that acts on the output value is known as a plant.
Figure 2 - A typical diagram of a feedback loop. Our set point and feedback go into a summation node, the output of which is our error, and is sent to our controller, which produces an output.
When you drive down the road, the speed limit sign is your set point. You are a controller that adjusts the car's speed, based on the actual value you read on your speedometer. If your car has cruise control -- you've already used a closed-loop feedback device to regulate the speed of a motor!
There are of course caveats with this. We have several things that may arise that can be detrimental or downright destructive to our system. First and foremost, a poorly configured feedback loop can easily go into oscillation, if it is really bad the oscillation could build to infinity. It will be seen that this type of situation often happens if we try to adjust too quickly. On the other hand, if we adjust too slowly, we will probably never get our actual value to equal our set point value. There are also a multitude of physical issues that will plague feedback loops. Motors don't typically have linear speed control, especially on their low-end speeds. Friction on wheels, inclines, and other properties of the environment cause spurious changes in the actual value -- these spurious changes can also set off oscillation in the controller. For all of these reasons, creating the function or controller can be difficult, time-consuming, and involve quite a bit of tuning.
Figure 3 - Diagrams of: (A) overshoot and oscillation, (B) undershoot and residual offset, (C) near-perfect convergence.
Typically, to make sure feedback is as responsive as needed, without overshooting, designers use a PID loop. PID stands for Proportional, Integral, and Derivative. Each of these are a smaller controller inside our control function. Each of our portions as an associated K factor, the amount it adds to the output, for instance, our proportional term might have a Kp of 0.5, and our derivative term might have a Kd of 0.2. If we have computed the error, we now have to compute how much we change our output value:
• Proportional term: this term adds a proportion of our error to the output, it is typically what a novice would use for their entire feedback function. Typically just Kp * error.
• Integral term: this is used to adjust out any residual offset we might have. If our controller typically approaches the value we want, but typically never actually makes it all the way to the value, an integral term may be used. Many controllers are actually just P-D controllers, they omit an Integral term. Typically just Ki * sum(errors).
• Derivative term: effectively fights back against overshooting, by adding a value relative to how fast we are approaching our set point. Typically just Kd * (error_this_cycle-error_last_cycle).
We will examine the control of a motor's speed, however the same process can be applied to anything really: position control, temperature of an oven, etc. When using an encoder, we have to count very delicate and often high-speed pulses, and thus we really need a dedicated controller that is running in real-time. This is best achieved using a microcontroller with interrupts to count pulses, and some hardware timer to set your time intervals if doing speed control. Our example will use an Arduino, due to it's low cost, and easy availability.
The Speed Control Problem
Controlling the speed of a motor is probably the most common application of wheel encoders. A quick run-down of what our software will have to do:
1. We will store a set point value in a variable
2. An interrupt will count pulses from the encoder, creating our actual value
3. A second time-based interrupt will occur at some frequency (say, maybe 5 or 10hz), this will trigger our function to run and update our outputs
The first two parts of this are almost trivial. If using a quadrature encoder, the code for #2 may be more complex. #3 is where we really earn our pay though. For now, we'll stick to a non-quadrature encoder, to keep the example code simple.
For this example, I am using an Arduino-based robot, the controller is actually an AVRRA Mini board configured as an Arduino. I'm using GM8 motors and the associated wheels, powered by an SN754410 motor driver. My encoders are the Nubotics ones designed specifically for these motors. The encoders need just a simple 5V supply, and have both an A/B style output or a clock+direction style output. They give 128 counts per rotation when using the clock+direction output.
Figure 4 - The miniBot
There is an important question we need to answer:
how often should the loop run? The more often it runs, the more accurate your speed will be (in theory), however, the speed at which ticks are generated by the encoder will govern the top speed of the loop. I'm going to cheat, and use the Clock+Direction output on the encoders to get high resolution without a lot of processing in my Interrupt routine. My encoders will therefore give 128 clicks per rotation of the wheel doing a full rotation, RPM should be around 70-80, so we can expect about 160 clicks per second. For now, we'll use a 5hz update rate, it should give us enough ability to regulate speed, while still having fast enough reaction time to actually regulate the speed.
It's tough to regulate speed when you're need your top end speed, since you don't have any ability to go faster. Thus, we'll try to go about 100 clicks per second (which turned out to be about a PWM value of 200 out of 255 or 80% speed
on this robot). The demo code below implements just a proportional control. It manages not to oscillate too badly (although differing flooring materials may cause issues). The code below will run 3 trials. The first trial has a low kP, and it doesn't ever make it to the desired speed. The second trial is too high of a kP, it overshoots somewhat (although does manage to level out well). The third trial is just about the right kP.
// Encoder Demo - M. Ferguson
// This sketch controls the speed of our motors. Only the code
// for the left channel is shown here.
// My motors library is available at
#include <Motors.h>
Motors drive = Motors();
// ms for each frame, this gives us 5Hz update rate
#define FRAME_LEN 200
unsigned long last; // last time our loop ran, to do 5hz update
// left/right actual values, used by our ISR to count ticks
volatile int lCount = 0;
volatile int rCount = 0;
// left/right desired values
int lSet;
int rSet;
// motor speeds
int lSpeed;
int rSpeed;
// PID tuning parameters
int kP;
int trial = 0;
// enable our interrupts
void setup(){
// Encoder clock output is tied to Digital2, call ISR function named left.
attachInterrupt(0, left, RISING);
lSet = 20; // we'll try to go about 50rpm
last = millis();
lSpeed = 0;
kP = 20; // trial 0 - kP too low, residual offset
// main loop
void loop(){
while(millis() < last + FRAME_LEN);
// find error, and then reset counter...
int error = lSet - lCount;
lCount = 0;
last = millis();
// do our update
int nextSpeed = (kP * error)/100 + lSpeed;
lSpeed = nextSpeed;
// output some data
// our demo code: change our kP over time
if(millis() > 30000){
// we are done
}else if(millis() > 20000 && trial == 1){
// trial 3 - just right!
kP = 100;
lSpeed = 0;
trial = 2;
}else if(millis() > 10000 && trial == 0){
// trial 2 - kP is too high, oscillates
kP = 1500;
lSpeed = 0;
trial = 1;
// only regulating left speed right now...
void left(){
// we want this to be fast, so we'll avoid digitalRead()
// digital 8 is the direction channel, but that is actually AVR PB0, so:
Some commonly available (and awesome) encoders
While you could go the route of printing your own encoder disks, and building a circuit that works, there are quite a few nice packages already out there. Possibly my favorite unit is the Nubotics encoders for the Solarbotics motors (they also make a version for continuous rotation modified servos). These encoders fit right onto the motor case and are about just the right resolution for many common tasks people want to do with small robots.
For slightly larger robots, Lynxmotion sells thier 37MM gear motors with shafts on both ends. The back end can be used with a very high-end US Digital encoder. These encoders are actually so fine of a resolution that they typically give several thousand clicks per inch, even with large wheels.
Often, this is just too much data, and your poor micro controller can't do anything else but count the rotations of the wheel. An encoder divider is a circuit board that can be used to reduce the number of counts your encoder gives off, Banebots sells a fairly inexpensive one that will also translate your A/B signals into clock+direction.
You can also often find surplus motors with built in encoders.
Unfortunately, many times the pin-outs are not that well known.
Attached Files
• feedback
• trace
• convergence
• truth
• miniBot | http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/tutorials/introduction-129/introduction-to-encoders-3256/ | dclm-gs1-006175529 | false | false | {
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0.04794 | <urn:uuid:eeb678d5-8da6-46ee-b2b6-a83771171a77> | en | 0.959303 | Tag Archives: tea party
Permits, protests, and pepper spray
19 Nov
In the above video you can clearly see a police officer walk up to a group of students who are sitting down, and casually hose them with pepper spray. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common police response to peaceful protesters. Some of the more famous victims include an 84 year old woman, a 19 year old pregnant woman, a priest, and a small group of women who were just standing there before being penned in by police and misted with perfume de fuego.
A common argument I’ve personally seen and heard used to defend the officers is “They are just following orders…” and “the protesters did not have permission to be there.” Since when did the Nuremberg defense excuse someone from their behavior? Secondly, requiring “permission” to protest defeats the whole point of protesting. No shit we don’t have your permission to protest you, we’re protesting specifically because of you!
State and local governments have long been employing various tactics to crack down on dissent. Let’s not be coy here people. Bloomberg didn’t really send in the storm troopers to zuccotti park because he was concerned for the health and safety of the protesters occupying it. No, he wanted them gone and just needed some bullshit excuse since expressly crushing a protest because you don’t like the protesters is bad press.
No, permits and requiring permission from the authorities before you protest violates the freedom of assembly. Some might argue that permits and permission are needed so business as usual isn’t disrupted. Well what if the point IS to disrupt business as usual? What if the point IS to bring the whole system to a screeching halt? To make people be inconvenienced? What? No? We can’t have our protest in the first place? I’m sorry, you seem to be missing the point of the first amendment. It’s not there to protect people you agree with, it’s there to protect those you disagree with, no matter how fiercely you disagree with them.
Lastly, I just have to wonder about the contrast to how the police are treating the OWS protesters and the Tea Party.
The OWSers tend to be more liberal.
The Tea Partiers tend to be very conservative.
The OWSers show up with drums and tents.
The Tea Partiers show up with guns.
The OWSers protest the deregulated banks and corporations that destroyed the world economy and doomed my generation to a life of wage slavery, debt, and unemployment.
The Tea Partiers protest the half-assed regulation of the above mentioned banks and corporations along with universal healthcare.
The OWSers are a grass roots movement with no leaders.
The Tea Partiers are bank rolled by some of the largest corporations in the country.
The police do nothing to the Tea Partiers.
The police protect and serve the shit out of the OWSers.
I really have to wonder, how would everyone who is defending the police brutality respond if instead of liberals, the police were crushing the Tea Party? I bet they would be singing a different tune…
GOP leaders don’t care about USA
2 Dec
As much as these red blooded “Americans” like to beat their chest and scream of patriotism, the GOP leadership doesn’t give a shit about America. Actually, let me define my terms because according to them, they ARE America. By “America” I mean the 300 Million people living within the 50 states that make up the nation’s territory. To GOP leaders, “America” is themselves and the companies that own them. Think that’s an outlandish statement? Here’s the proof they don’t give a rat’s ass about the people that make up this country:
Currently America is in an extemely bad position. Unemployment is nearly at 10%, the education system is collapsing, prisons are overcrowded, our immigration system isn’t adequate, we’re fighting two wars, possibly a third and fourth in Korea and Iran, and we’re trillions of dollars in debt. These are just some of the massive problems facing congress. However, when the republicans took control of the House of Representatives was their top priority fixing any of these problems? NO.Instead top Republican Mitch McConnell came out and said: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
That’s right. “America can go fuck itself, we want political points.” You see, you’re naive if you think the game is about running the country in a way that best improves the lives of those who populate that country. No, that’s just the nice little lie, the scraps they toss from the table to appease us while they go about business as usual. “Yes, yes, daddy loves you, now go and be a good child and play outside.” As long as the politicians and the companies that own them get what they want and can retire to the Caribbean, that’s all that matters.
Obama, like a moron, spent the first two years of his presidency trying to compromise with people who viewed him as the anti-Christ. Now that the democrats no longer have the majority needed to pass any legislation that the voters asked for, the republicans have come out and publicly stated what has been their policy all along. No compromise. Right after the election another top republican, Mike Pence, echoed McConnell’s sentiment: “This election wasn’t so much about getting things done as it was about getting things undone.”
Earlier this week Obama had his first meeting with the republican leadership since they took power in the House. The meeting was called to find where they could compromise. This was actually the second time the meeting was called since the elections. The first time it was cancelled because the republican leadership told Obama to go to hell. They got together this time to say a lot of pretty things, but with the underlying message of “go fuck yourself.” To make sure the blind, deaf, and dumb Obama got the message, the very next day the republicans sent a letter promising to filibuster EVERYTHING unless they got the tax cuts for their rich owners.
The absurdity of this “we’re going to deny everything no matter what it is just to stop the next 2 years from happening” view is starting to have it’s consequences. Up for debate now is the New Start Treaty, a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia that would cut the number of nuclear weapons we both have. We already have enough nukes to sterilize the planet five times over, so cutting back has no downsides… except that Obama likes it. That’s right, for this sole reason the republicans are going to vote down the bill. Nevermind that it’s a win win situation, nevermind that it would help stabilize the planet; Obama wants it and that means no.
There is one republican who is fighting the madness: Dick Lugar. Dick’s served five terms in the senate and is an ardent conservative. With his track reccord, no one can question his conservative credentials. However, times are changing. Earlier this week Lugar came out and said that if the republican party has slipped so far to the right that they are going to veto this treaty, then they are “beyond redemption.”
Do you know how the other conservatives responded? They told him he was a dead man. They threatened him with a primary next election cycle. They’re going to replace him with someone who will tow the crazy line. They have gleefully vaulted off the cliff face into insanity and they don’t care if they take the country down with them.
Nobody fails at elections like democrats
5 Nov
As much as I really don’t want to write anything, I feel I must at least say something after the democrats just suffered the second worst defeat in their history.
The democrats don’t know how to run an election and they don’t know how to govern if by some fluke they do win. This became painfully evident after they won big time in 2008; riding on a wave of disillusionment and the public’s desperate (fool’s) hope that things might actually change. Like timid children afraid to go into the pool, they hesitated. Not trusting themselves, or the mandate the people gave them, they refused to go it alone, to stick their necks out and actually do something. Instead they compromised. Compromise, compromise, compromise. That was the strategy: compromise with the party of NO! (Which gives you runny, watered down versions of NO!)
The democrats got the shit kicked out of them by the republicans. Want to take a wild guess as to the democrats’ brilliant new strategy for winning back seats? Yep, you guessed it! COMPROMISE! (And if you honestly did think they had a new strategy, you’re delusional. Any scrap of tattered hope you have left should have been destroyed by these past 2 years) Harry Reid and Obama were quick to come out with their tales between their legs and grovel at the republican’s feet. It makes me want to vomit.
The infuriating thing is that attacking the republicans is SO EASY!
Unfortunately the majority of the American public doesn’t remember just how disastrous republican rule was because the democrats are to fucking spineless to run good attack ads. They sit there, twiddling their thumbs, all whilst letting the republicans frame the debate, define the terms, and them lead them to the slaughterhouse.
Obama got hammered on the economy. He let the republicans hammer him. He should have been out there, everyday, saying “Republicans left me a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit, republicans left me a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit, republicans left me a 1.2 trillion dollar deficit” until we heard it in our sleep. If someone is beating you to a pulp, you don’t stop them by saying “let’s compromise!”
The majority of the people in this country are democrats. If everyone voted in every election, the democrats would always win. However, the democrats haven’t given us anything to vote FOR. (And don’t say that gave us healthcare and financial reform. The healthcare companies practically wrote that legislation and now they have millions of new customers that have to give them money by law; same goes for the bullshit financial reform.) I firmly believe that this election was not a vote for the republicans, but a vote against the democrats. I think this is evident by the large numbers of liberals staying home. (Myself included) People don’t want appeasement, they want action.
The republicans might be the minority, but they’re a very well organized minority. I think it has something to do with their ideology and way of looking at the world. Conservatives tend to value order and cohesiveness more than liberals. (Hence why conservatives tend to be homogeneous and the liberals are heterogeneous) Republicans are better at falling in line and taking orders from the top, where as liberals are so diverse and independent, the often suffer from lack of focus. This tightly organized military mentality of conservatives allows them to organize effectively to win elections. Unfortunately I think the party of diversity, freedom, equality, and independence will always suffer from a lack of focus.
There is a silver lining here. Hopefully the majority of appeasement democrats got eliminated during the elections. Hopefully the remaining few will disobey the president and Harry Reid and fight. (I know I’m just kidding myself and that’s not what’s going to happen) In reality they will become even more timid and scared. Obama will rush to appease them, like he is doing currently, having just come out saying he would give in on tax cuts for the richest 1% of Americans.
The democratic party in it’s current form needs to die. Hopefully this election was the first step in it’s death and rebirth as a new party. History shows that you can’t defeat a foe through appeasement. They only become emboldened and demand more. Come primary season it’s time to vote out the appeasers and vote in people who will actual start to beat the shit out of the republicans.
The Amazing Atheist also touched on this:
Software License Culture
28 Oct
I weep for humanity…
Why I’m not voting in November
25 Oct
Hear me out before you respond with how I’m neglecting my civic duty.
I am not going to vote this November. It will be the first time I have ever not voted. Contrary to how this might sound, civic engagement is very important to me and I am not apathetic about this. In the last presidential election I drove my friend home, four hours away, just so he could vote. In essence, I care. This is exactly why I am not voting this November. How the hell does that make sense? I’ll explain:
I am furious with the democrats in this country. I am furious with Obama. No matter how loud you scream, they just don’t understand; it’s like they’re in a sound proof bubble. This is where the three major political parties in America fall on the spectrum:
As you can see, the democrats are a center right party. The Obama administration is currently fighting against all types of liberal causes. They’re fighting the legalization of marijuana in California, they’ve fought against gay marriage (likening it to pedophilia), they continue to torture and extradite prisoners, the list goes on. Most importantly, however, is the fact that the democrats as a whole never miss an opportunity to cave to the republicans. I cannot stress this enough! Despite controlling the congress and the white house, the democrats collapse at the mere thought that they might hurt the republicans’ feelings. Obama (who idealizes Reagan btw) is notorious for compromising to the republicans. He’s a fucking imbecile for doing so because the republicans, knowing he’ll compromise at any cost in a desperate and misguided attempt to appear “bi-partisan”, then ask for the most insane shit!
A perfect analogy is haggling with a merchant. He starts with asking for 20, you say 10, he offers 15, you accept. The merchant was never expecting to get 20, he really wanted 15, but he knows how to play the game and so he asks for higher than he wants, knowing he’ll lower it to 15 and you’ll feel like you’re getting a deal. The republicans are doing the same thing! They know how to play Obama and the democrats to get what they want! That’s why everything the democrats pass is extremely watered down, if not slanted in favor of the republicans.
The rest of the progressive base sees this and we’re furious. But pay attention because this is the worst of it: Instead of comprehending what we’re upset about, the democrats see everyone’s anger and think it is because they are not conservative enough! It just makes my head want to explode! “Golly gee wilikers! The people are mad! Maybe we’re not being like the republicans enough!” And so they move farther to the right.
There is no way to get them to move towards the left. They have conceded in their hearts that the republicans are right, that they are un-American frauds, that to be liberal is to be a dangerous radical. You can hammer on their bubble till every bone in your body breaks, but they will not hear you. Even worse, Obama is disappointed in the base for being disappointed in him. That’s right, the elected democrats are chastising the progressive base because the base is mad with them.
But here is the central reason why I am refusing to vote, and this is very important. I will not let myself be blackmailed. That is exactly what the democrats are doing; they are blackmailing their base. You would think that if you threatened not to vote for a party, that party would be concerned about the reasons why you are not going to vote, but no. Instead the democrats respond with threats of their own. That’s right: they are threatening their own base! “You don’t have a choice! If you don’t vote for us, the republicans will win!”
Newsflash: you are the republicans. Liberals are offered two types of shit. One is to vote for the republicrats and the other is to vote for the flaming radioactive shit that is the tea party. But the democrats are wrong. I DO have a choice. Casting my vote for a democrat, even if cast in fear of the tea party, is still an endorsement of the democrats. I refuse to endorse them.
So no, I will not be voting this November. In effect my refusal to vote is in a way voting. There will be those who will completely not understand my reasons, no matter how simply I try to explain them, they will continue to accuse me of being apathetic and unpatriotic. In reality I am refusing to vote for exactly the opposite reasons.
A very valid question to ask of me is how I expect to change things by doing nothing. I would argue that I am not “doing nothing;” I am doing quite the opposite. My silence is my action, and hopefully if enough liberals remain silent in the face of this blackmail, that silence will be deafening.
I want the tea party to win by a landslide. I want Obama to crash and burn. I want the entire house of cards to come crashing down. As horrible as it is, the only way to save the liberal cause is to let this virus run it’s course. Only when this country is turned into a conservative theocratic hell-hole will people rise up in a liberal backlash. It’s the only way to shatter the democrats’ bubble and get us out of the conservative doldrums.
*** Edit***
I’m starting to think that last paragraph is a bit extreme. I don’t actually want the tea party to win by a landslide, that would be my worst nightmare come true, I just don’t know what else would jolt people into electing real progressives who do something other than cave to the republicans.
Tea party craziness
5 Oct
Ok, we know that the tea party claims to be about smaller government and doesn’t officially take a stance on social issues. We also know that the tea party complains that “the main stream media” maligns them by calling them racist extremists. Maybe the media only showed pictures of a few crazy people with Obama=Hitler signs and the rest of them are calm, rational people who only care about economics. I doubt it, but it’s possible. All that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what the tea party says they stand for, and it doesn’t matter how the media portrays them. What does matter is who they elect to office and support. Their actions transcend any superficial image they may or may not be projecting. My interest is in the tea party’s social agenda and whether or not the candidates are sane. I may have some libertarian leanings when it comes to economics, but for me, social issues will always trump economics. So lets look at some of the tea party canidates:
Sarah Palin. I don’t need to say anything. You know. We’ve been talking about her since the 2008 elections. There are posts all over about her draconian social policies, her anti-woman’s rights stances, her end-times theology, and various other scandals. So, moving on.
Christine O’Donnell: “Aka, younger, dumber Palin” This woman is a strong social conservative christian. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve heard about her anti-masturbation stance and seen the old video clips of her talking about masturbation and the bible, along with her claims to have “dabbled in witchcraft”. Back in 2006, while running for another office, she claimed to be privy to secret information obtained by christian missionaries in China that revealed China had an elaborate plan to take over America! Recently Palin advised her not to give any national interviews (gee, I wonder why?), but before she shut her mouth she said that god was keeping her campaign alive. She’s strongly anti-science, thinks mice have human brains, and believes birth control is “anti-human”.Where you got your college education is not overly important when running for office, but O’Donnell has managed to make it a huge issue by repeatedly lying over and over about her education background. She’s claimed to have her college degree for years, yet never graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University until last month. She’s claimed to have done graduate work at Princeton, Oxford, and Claremont. All liesEven Karl Rove thinks she’s insane! Look, I could go on and on about this lady who needs to be put in a straight jacket.
Jim Demint: Another winner. A senator from South Carolina and the tea party’s man in congress, he’s fiercely homophobic and believes unmarried women should not be allowed to teach in schools. He’s also strongly anti-woman’s rights and fits nicely into the conservative christian mold.
Michelle Bachmann. Like Sarah Palin, she’s been around for a while and there are so many posts on just how bat shit insane she is that I needn’t bother. Just google her. Here, if you’re lazy, are 10 quotes from her, only 10, and she’s been at this a long time so there are plenty more.
Chuck Devore: Running in California, not nearly as crazy as the above people, though on legislative score boards he’s received a 0% from Equality for California, 18% from Planned Parenthood, 30% from the California National Organization for Women, and 29% from the Lambda Letters Project (LGBT), so he’s also votes socially conservative.
Trent Frank: Strongly Conservative, Anti-choice, and anti-gay equality. He also believes that current abortion rates in the black community means black people were better off as slaves.
Glen Urquhart: I quote “”The exact phrase ‘separation of Church and State’ came out of Adolph Hitler’s mouth, that’s where it comes from. So the next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of Church and State, ASK THEM WHY THEY’RE NAZIS!” He’s running in Delaware like O’Donnell. He is also a strong social conservative and is backed by the anti-woman’s rights group “Concerned women for America”, the National Conservative Fund, and the vehemently homophobic Family Research Council.
Sharron Angle: You might have heard of her. She’s running against Harry Reid and thinks healthcare reform should be replaced with the barter system. She’s also counseled rape victims and women who might die if they carry a pregnancy to term to go ahead and carry the baby. You can find a list of her crazy history here.
Carl Paladino: Thinks housing poor people in prisons is a great idea: “These are beautiful properties with basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities. Many young people would love to get the hell out of cities!” He also threatened to kill a NY Post reporter. Lately he’s been in the news for a slue of racist e-mails and e-mails containing porn and women having sex with horses.
Steve King: Thinks Al-Qaeda supports Obama and cheered his election. He is also an extremely strong social conservative. Best friends with Bachmann, even shares congressional staff with her.
Louis Gohmert: Wants to overturn the birthright citizenship part of the 14th Amendment, believes there is a secret plot to have terrorists born in America and then trained to attack in 20-30 years.
Lamar Smith: Feels the greatest threat to America is not a recession or terrorists, but the “liberal media”. It’s all a conspiracy you see. He’s also another extreme social conservative.
Joe Miller: Encourages people to bring guns to rallies, called his female running opponent a prostitute, and believes women should be forced to carry their rapist’s child.
Ken Buck: Also would love to force women to carry their rapist’s baby, opposes birth control, believes a 13 year old girl raped by her 14 year old brother should be barred from the morning after pill to prevent pregnancy, and wants to tear down the wall of separation between church and state. Yet another religious nutter.
Dan Maes: Despite also having resume issues with lying, like O’Donnell, he is best known for revealing what his is certain is a dastardly conspiracy to deliver Colorado to the “Marxist United Nations” by ways of a bicycle sharing program!
Mike Lee: Like Gohmert, also wants to over turn the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship if you’re born in US territory. Also wants to get rid of a woman’s right to control her body, and is against marriage equality.
I could go on but I think you get the idea. It doesn’t matter if the tea party claims to be focused on only economic issues, if and when these people get elected, they will have to deal with those issues. It is important to know where they stand. It doesn’t matter how the tea party started out, if the core founders where socially liberal and economically conservative libertarians or not; what matters is what the tea party has become. It’s been hijacked by people who were so fringe, the republican party didn’t want them. It’s been hijacked by 9/11 truthers, birthers, people who believe Obama’s a secret muslim, and other conspiracy theorists of all stripes. It doesn’t matter what they claim to be, but the people who they put up for election and those already elected whom they support. The people they have put up so far on the national level have muddied pasts with problems writing factually correct resumes, believe in draconian restrictions on women’s rights, wish to repeal parts of the constitution, view the civil rights movement as a black spot on US history, and support a host of conspiracy theories from Chinese takeovers to Trojan bicycles. While I might like to see a smaller government and less debt, I could never bring myself to vote for a party that tries to shift focus off their barbaric social and religious policies.
Just a few minutes ago I stumbled across this study done by the Pew Research Institute looking at how religion and social values factor into the tea party. Really interesting stuff and confirms my suspicions.
Just watched “Capitalism: A love story”
7 Jun
I will state up front that I consider myself a socialist. Not the “Zomg! Obama’s a fascist/socialist/communist/racist/muslim!!!11″ kind that the people with tinfoil hats seem to think is socialism, but the one of the actual kinds of socialism.
To be completely honest, I’m not quite sure exactly where I fit on the socialist spectrum. I think I land somewhere between “progressive” and “democratic socialist“. (At least those were my top too according to this test)
I’m of the position that a government, formed by the people, should be charged with conducting itself in a manner that best protects the interests of the people as a whole. In other words, the government should work to make sure the greatest number of people possible have the best standard of living possible. (Yet the rights/views of minorities should be protected, hence why I don’t believe in direct democracies that lead to mob rule, but I digress)
I feel that hard work should be rewarded, and that people should benefit from their labor. But then this is where my views get confusing, even to me. I do not feel that the wealthiest people in America are necessarily “hard workers”. I feel they cynically game the system much the same way welfare freebooters game the system.
My view that the wealthiest people unfairly manipulate the system was really confirmed by this movie. Now before you make the assumption that I am some Michael Moore fan boy, there was a lot about this movie that did not sit well with me. I felt the lion share of this movie was an appeal to emotion, which makes sense, Moore is trying to outrage you into action, yet I would have preferred he focus more on facts rather than sensationalist teary-eyed families being forced out of their homes.
The facts that are in this movie should speak for themselves. The most compelling part of the film is when Moore weaves together the story of how America became a plutonomy starting with the recession of the Carter years and the capturing of the government by Wall Street during Reagan’s presidency. The scene where Don Regan tells president Ronald Reagan to “speed it [his speech to the NY stock exchange] up” is amazing.
The whole tale of a calculated and organized hijacking of the nation by Wall Street’s CEOs seemed to smack of conspiracy theory. It’s an amazing, and infuriating, story, but I would like to find some evidence outside of Moore’s documentary in order to decide for myself if it’s true. There is one thing, however, that this conspiracy story has going for it that others don’t:
In most conspiracies, the actors are the government. The problem with this is that the government is notoriously incompetent.* The “9/11 was an inside job” conspiracy is extremely improbable merely because of the high level of planning and competency required to pull off such and act and then cover it up. A government is just not capable of that level of finesse. (Especially under Bush’s incompetent reign) In this conspiracy story, however, the actors are not some clumsy government, but a small collection of some of the smartest, most brilliant people in America, the CEOs on Wall Street.
“But wouldn’t market competition dictate that different CEOs be working against each other?” Yes and no. While they most assuredly were in competition with one another, it makes more sense for them to work together on something that would benefit them all greatly. (Like no regulations) However, the ultimate “winner” was Goldman Sachs. Under Clinton and Bush, Goldman Sachs managed to fill top Treasury Department positions with its “former” employees, including even the position of Secretary of Treasury with Henry Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs. (His net worth was $700 million when he left to become Sec. of Treas.) With this superior posturing, Goldman Sachs was in prime position to pressure its will on the government.
(Goldman Sachs also had their CEO in the Sec. of Treas. position with Robert Rubin. (Who also served as CEO of Citigroup) The current Sec. of Treas., Timothy Geithner, is a protegee of Rubin’s)
The most shocking and outrageous part of the film for me came when Moore discussed the recent bailouts of the super banks. Two months before elections, Sec. Paulson drew up a 3 page plan to bail out Wall Street. (Keep in mind, usually legislation passed by congress is hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long) In that plan Paulson stipulated that all laws, including court review, would be waived:
Sec. 8. Review.
Checks and balances anyone? The American people were rightfully outraged, but Paulson and his goons ramped up the fear factor, hoping to cram through the bill with a little debate as possible, just as Bush had done for the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq. Amazingly, for once, the American people fought back and the bill was defeated, by 12 votes. Congress then went home to prepare for elections.
Here is where I become really furious: Enter the democratic party leadership. Paulson and company rush back to DC and enter in backroom deals with the democrats. Promises are made, futures are sealed, and then congress does a complete 180, the American people be damned. Paulson gets the key to our pockets and makes off with 700 Billion; proof Wall Street has muscles to flex over our government.
The film is very thought provoking to say the least. It’s clear that our “free market” system is being manipulated to the benefit of a very select few. Employment near 10%, thousands of people being evicted from their homes, corporations making millions off of “dead peasant” policies, meanwhile banks take billions in our money, only to send their executives on luxurious vacations and the CEOs retire with unholy amounts of money. This isn’t working, but what’s the answer?
Despite the film being directed by Michael Moore, a person people on the right hate as strongly as they love Reagan, I feel a large portion of the movie would appeal to the right as well, especially the Tea Party movement. The fact that we’re being universally fucked by our leaders is something we can all rally behind, and I think this is one of the great points the movie tries to make. Moore references a Citigroup memo that was leaked where Citigroup explained to it’s top investors that they [Wall Street] had successfully turned America into a plutonomy, and that it was no longer a democracy. (Seriously, go read it, it’s scary) The memos explained that the top 1% of America now had more wealth than the bottom 95% COMBINED. Here’s the real kicker: Citigroup states in the memos that the biggest threat to their “gravy train” (yes, that is a direct quote) would be if society demanded a more equitable share of the wealth. The biggest problem was that despite having more money, a rich person can only cast as many votes as a poor person, 1. In other words, if the peasants realized that they were never going to get that carrot, the “American dream” of wealth, that they would revolt and vote the puppet government out of office. (Seriously, go read the memos)
I certainly feel communism is just as evil as American style unregulated capitalism. While we have vast economic inequity, communism, as practiced as a political system, is totalitarian and oppressive. I want there to be a middle ground, that’s why I call my self a progressive socialist. But do my views work? I don’t know. To be honest, I’m not sure how closely my views fall to those in Europe. I’ve always dreamed about moving to Europe because there they work to live, whereas here we live to work. Unfortunately, Europe is going through a financial crisis right now because Greece took that to the extreme, completely unbalancing their budget. I’m interested to see how European style socialism weathers this crisis.
*unless you work for the Coast Guard
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0.090735 | <urn:uuid:76a7bb2e-e2c8-4902-9a18-bfd08a9acc98> | en | 0.963295 | MakerFaire K.C. sneak peak at ArcAttack’s new toy
I’ve been seeing videos of ArcAttack all over the web for several years now and hoped one day I’d be able to cross paths with them. When I heard they were going to be at MakerFaire K. C., I was determined to grab them and ask a few questions. As it turns out, they’re fans of Hackaday and were happy to talk. Not only that, but when I was asking what fun things they were building, their eyes lit up. “You’re going to love this” one of them said as he ran off behind the stage. He returned with a device which was strapped to his body and spitting 5 foot long lightning bolts. He was right, I did love it! They demonstrated this proton pack looking portable tesla coil for a while, shocking each other and random bits of metal, all the wile grinning like the fools we all are.
I know we’ve covered a portable tesla coil or two before, but seeing this thing in person,heading right for you,strapped to someone who might actually even be able to run faster than you, is pretty cool.
There is video (sorry, shaky) and a ton of pictures after the break. Enjoy.
[Read more...]
Singing Tesla coils
The video above is ArcAttack! playing the classic “Popcorn” through their signature Tesla coils. Solid state Tesla coils (SSTC) can generate sound using what [Ed Ward] calls pulse repetition frequency (PRF) modulation. The heat generated by the plasma flame causes rapid expansion of the surrounding air and a resulting soundwave. An SSTC can be operated at just about any frequency, so you just need to build a controller to handle it. The task is made more difficult because very few electronics are stable in such an intense EM field. [Ed] constructed a small Faraday cage for his microcontroller and used optical interconnects to deliver the signals to the Tesla coils.
[via Laughing Squid]
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0.804956 | <urn:uuid:301789e0-bc11-4b58-8494-db6871900ef5> | en | 0.920301 | Friday, September 10, 2010
White Blood cells – our protectors against infections & diseases
So what exactly is their function?
White blood cells are asymmetrical, colorless and do not contain hemoglobin. They have the ability to change their shape, which enable them to penetrate into the walls of blood vessels and between other cells. White blood cells divide by a process of mitosis, forming either more stem cells or white blood cells that can differentiate into specific white cell types, such as lymphocytes.
Let’s find out the types of White Blood Cells
A brief description of each type of white blood cells:
· Neutrophils
· Eosinophils
· Basophils
Non granulocytes
· Lymphocytes
Lymphocytes are the common white blood cells which detect and destroy invading viruses, parasitic worms and microbes. These cells have the ability to recognize specific invaders (antigens) and quickly launch a response to them, when they are encountered again. Lymphocytes are classified into T cells, B cells and Natural killer cells.
T Cells and B cells are specific to a particular antigen and are able to bind to a particular molecular structure.
Generally each B cell produces one specific antibody and when it gets activated by an antigen, it produces large cells known as plasma cells which produce antibodies. The antibodies produced by the B cells will help to destroy antigens that try to damage our immune system. B cells and their antibodies, both natural and adaptive, play a fundamental role in the immediate and late defense against microbes.
T cells not only help the B cells by producing antibodies but also play a vital role in protecting our body against diseases by destroying cancerous cells and those cells which are infected with viruses and bacteria. These cells are capable of recollecting memory against past infections and quickly expand to large number of effector T cells upon their re occurrence.
Natural Killer cells or NK cells play a crucial role in killing tumors like lymphomas, melanomas and viral infected cells such as herpes and cytomegalovirus. The functions of NK cells are similar to that of the effector cells. Lack of T and B lymphocytes can lead to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). These cells generally tend to get cancerous, if their count increases to a large extent. Hence the count of T or B lymphocytes should neither be too high or too low.
· Monocytes
Monocytes are the type of white blood cells which are produced in the myelo-monocytic stem cells in the bone marrow. The size of monocytes and its nucleus are biggest among all types of WBC’s. They comprise about 3 -8% of the total white blood cell count. Monocytes are one of the major white cells that protect the body from infection and prevent microorganisms from entering the bloodstream. They also support phagocytosis and antigen processing, as a result these cells play crucial role in immune defense, inflammation and tissue remodeling. Monocytes have the ability to turn into macrophages or dendritic cells, which are vital immune system cells.
White blood cell count
White blood cell count determines the number of white blood cells present in the blood. It helps identify whether the number of white blood cells is high or low. White blood cell count is determined by the number of white blood cells per volume of blood. This test is taken according to the different types of white blood cells such as Neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and Basophils.
WBC count is also taken to identify presence of an infection, leukemia or any other type of disease. The WBC count is generally classified according to low white blood cell count and high white blood cell count.
White blood cell count Low
Normal white blood cell count helps the body to fight against several infections and diseases. Normally there should be 4,500 to 10,000 white blood cells in 1 micro liter of blood. But if the count of white blood cells decreases below this level it can lead to leucopenia.
Due to scarce WBC’s, body is unable to fight against invading pathogens, microbes or viruses. There are number of causes that lead to low white blood cell count.
· Damage to the bone marrow due to certain complications can reduce the number of white blood cells.
• Au\toimmune diseases such as Lupus react against healthy white blood cells and produce antibodies to attack it.
• Epstein-Barr virus, tuberculosis and HIV are some of the types of viral infections that can reduce the WBC count
• Chemotherapy not only kills cancerous cells but also healthy immune cells reducing the WBC count.
• Aplastic anemia is one of the major causes that can reduce white blood cells to a large extent.
White blood cell count High
When the white blood cells exceed the normal count it can lead to leukocytosis. If the count is higher than 10,000 leukocytes in a micro liter of blood, it is considered as high white blood cell count. White blood cell count is elevated due to certain pathogens, microbes or infections. Increased white blood cell count can even lead to cancer. Postmenopausal women with elevated white blood cell counts may be at an increased risk of developing certain types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, endometrial, and lung cancers.
High white blood cell count causes
· Acute lymphocytic leukemia is a kind of cancer which elevates WBC count as it mainly affects the bone marrow.
· Certain use of drugs such as epinephrine and corticosteroids can increase white blood cell count.
· Tuberculosis, acute or chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myelofibrosis and other bacterial infection can also increase the risk of high white blood cell count.
· Smoking and stress also increase white blood cell count.
About Jobelyn Blood Enhancer
Jobelyn Blood Enhancer is a powerful antioxidant which stimulates white blood cell protection. Jobelyn is an excellent nutritional supplement which promotes blood cell production in the body, stimulates red blood cell production, protects blood vessels, maintains blood cell and vessel flexibility for better circulation and is a powerful antioxidant protection for cardiovascular health.
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1. If you're looking to buy best protein powder (or related protein products) but not sure what to look for, this free expert-nutrition tutorial can help.
2. Yoga Teacher Training Rishikesh - Yoga teacher training (Yoga Alliance, USA), yoga courses for beginners, yoga & retreats in India at yoga school shree narayan Yog Peeth (RYS 200, 500). | http://healthforeversupplements.blogspot.com/2010/09/white-blood-cells-our-protectors.html | dclm-gs1-006505529 | false | true | {
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0.054732 | <urn:uuid:6b63dfb8-f32e-45da-b8e4-d856e392159c> | en | 0.963112 | Sebastian is the second novel of a trilogy about central and Eastern Europe during the first half of the last century. It is 1913 in Vienna, the capital of the diverse Austro-Hungarian Empire. The main character of the title is sixteen and is about to have his leg amputated because of an accident. The book mainly follows his misfortunes and how he copes with them: the amputation, World War One, a family shop to run in increasingly stringent circumstances when his father goes to fight. He is aided and hindered by friends and relatives through the deprivations and uncertainties of the war. A second storyline develops around Margit and her mother Piroska, who journey to Austro-Hungarian Galicia.
As in the trilogy’s first book, The Luck of The Weissensteiners, the author’s considerable research shows in settings and attitudes which are described in detail and which feel authentic. Sometimes, however, there is too much background; the book at times felt like a history text. Sebastian has a large cast of characters who enable the author to explore a wide range of social, religious and ethnic issues but there was occasionally too much to take in.
As constructive criticism, I thought the cover could have been more inspiring to a potential reader’s eye, and the internal layout could be improved. The text is not adequately centred against the page edges when the book is opened fully, and the title and dedication pages are displaced to the right, which jars visually as soon as the book is opened. A few minor errors in the first few pages would be picked up by a further copy-edit, but these were not enough to make me stop reading.
Nevertheless this is a story worth digesting, but like a rich Viennese Sachertorte: one slice at a time.
Share this review
(UK) £8.99
(UK) 9781484156001
Reviewed by | http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/sebastian/ | dclm-gs1-006555529 | false | false | {
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0.24193 | <urn:uuid:ce83db4f-597b-4767-b2d7-a6d5be3e7828> | en | 0.886079 | Keress bármilyen szót, mint például: the eiffel tower
something that is really annoying that you can't stop: like the buzz of a fly or the coldness of an aircon in a shop.
"hi how was school?", said sam. "it was alright a few flambits though" ,replied susan.
Beküldő: cije08123 2011. december 26. | http://hu.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=flambits | dclm-gs1-006585529 | false | false | {
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0.145761 | <urn:uuid:42c765de-1745-49de-895d-b6f0b57d0638> | en | 0.731143 | cari istilah yang lo mau, kaya' blumpkin:
It is the act of delivering an open hand smack to the side of ones face.
Much like how the farm hands do all the work on the farm, "The Farm Hand" does all the work...
Shut up b*tch or you will get The Farm Hand!
dari Switch_Midgett Sabtu, 13 Februari 2010 | http://id.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=The%20Farm%20Hand | dclm-gs1-006595529 | false | false | {
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0.051338 | <urn:uuid:a6ebcc89-1e16-464e-b83a-a7ef06e6b67e> | en | 0.934703 | Category:Food Science’
CO2 Breath Test
- by KitchenPantryScientist
Last week, I wrote about Carbon, Bananas, Coal and You and promised to try to come up with a safe, easy way to see the carbon dioxide in your breath, so here it is! If you prefer a video, click here to see a quick demo of the experiment on Kare 11.
Once again, the star of the show will be red cabbage juice, a safe, natural, easy-to-make acid/base indicator and the same one you can use to make magic potion and red cabbage litmus paper. The trick is to use a very small volume of cabbage juice, since it’s not a very sensitive acid indicator.
You’ll need red cabbage, drinking straws, and very small cups (the ones you measure kids’ medicine with work well) or test tubes. Chop a head of red cabbage, boil it for 5-10 minutes, and collect the juice. It will be purple and turns blue when exposed to a base or pink when exposed to an acid.
Then, pour a very small volume- a teaspoon or two (5 to 10 ml)- of the (cooled) juice into two small cups. Take a straw, put it all the way against the bottom of one cup and blow through the straw repeatedly for a few minutes until you see the cabbage juice turn noticeably pinker than the juice in the control cup. It may take several minutes to see a difference, so be patient! Test tubes are less messy since the juice can’t splatter so much.
What happens? The carbon dioxide in your breath combines with the water in the cabbage juice to form carbonic acid, causing the pH of the solution to drop and the cabbage juice to turn pink.
Why is this interesting? About a quarter of the carbon dioxide released by activities like burning fossil fuels and burning down rainforests is absorbed by our world’s oceans. This results in the ocean water becoming more acidic, like the cabbage juice in the experiment, and can have an effect on sea life, like coral. To learn more about ocean acidification and the chemistry of ocean acidification, check out NOAA’s amazing website.
You can explore the same concept (and see why carbonated drinks are hard on your teeth) by pouring uncarbonated water into one cup of cabbage juice and carbonated water into another. If you can, choose water from the same source, so you know the only difference is the carbon dioxide that’s been added to make it fizzy! Or, you could use dry ice to add carbon dioxide bubbles to water and test it before and after you add bubbles!
What happens if you add yeast to cabbage juice and let it grow for a while?
You can use your leftover cabbage juice to make red cabbage litmus paper and then for a “magic potion” experiment.
Food Science: Red Cabbage Litmus Paper
- by KitchenPantryScientist
This is a great science project and results in beautifully colored paper that can be dried and used for art projects like collages.
All you’ll need is a head of red cabbage and some paper towels or white coffee filters. Alternately, you can just use the juice from canned red cabbage. I’d recommend wearing an old tee shirt or a home-made lab coat for this project, since I’m guessing that cabbage juice stains. To make a lab coat, just have kids write their name in permanent marker on the pocket of an old button-down shirt.
Chop half a head of red cabbage into small pieces and add it to a pan with about a cup of water. Boil the cabbage uncovered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, let it cool, and strain the juice into a jar or bowl. (Save the cooked cabbage for your favorite recipe and make cole slaw with the other half!)
If you want to avoid the stove, chop half a head of red cabbage and blend it with about 3 cups of water. Strain the liquid through a colander and then through a coffee filter in a plastic bag with one corner cut off. Blended cabbage juice makes longer-lasting bubbles and turns a slightly brighter shade of blue!
Cut the paper towels or coffee filters into strips about an inch wide and a few inches long and soak them in the cabbage juice for about a minute. Remove them and let them dry on something that won’t stain. I blotted them a little to speed up the drying process. You might even try using a blow dryer!
When dry, your litmus paper will be ready to use for testing acidity. Your can dip the paper into orange juice, soapy water, lemon juice, baking soda in water, baking powder in water, vinegar, and anything else they want to test. The paper will turn red-pink in acids and blue or green in bases.
Everything in our world is made of very tiny pieces called atoms. Atoms are so small that if you blow up a balloon, it will contain about a hundred billion billion atoms of the gases that make up air. Atoms are often bonded to other atoms to form a group of linked atoms called a molecule. A water molecule, for example, has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, bonded together.
Acids usually dissolve in water to form free-floating hydrogen atoms. Bases are the opposite and take up free hydrogen atoms. The molecules in the cabbage juice litmus paper change when exposed to an acid or base, making the paper change color.
How Safe is Your Milk?
- by KitchenPantryScientist
Spy Juice and Invisible Ink
- by KitchenPantryScientist
Using cranberries and baking soda, you can create invisible messages that will be revealed to friendly eyes and self-destruct before your enemies have a chance to read them. You’ll see how some pigments in fruit can change color when they’re exposed to an acid or a base.
I showed viewers how to make Spy Juice on Kare11 this morning. Here’s the link, if you want to watch a video demonstration!
You will need half a bag of cranberries, water, baking soda and some printer paper. To write your message, you’ll also want to find a small paintbrush, Q-tip, or something else with an absorbent tip. We made our own pens by wrapping a tiny piece of paper towel around the pointed end of a wooden skewer and winding scotch tape around to secure it. Be sure to put on an apron or wear old clothes for this experiment, since cranberry juice stains!
Have an adult or teenager boil the cranberries in about three cups of water for 15 or 20 minutes. Be sure to put a lid on the pan, since the small pockets of air that help cranberries float can make them explode as they cook. If you listen, you’ll hear some of the them popping! Crush the cooked berries and push the liquid through a sieve or colander to collect the concentrated cranberry juice. Most cranberry juice from the grocery store is diluted with water, corn syrup and other juices and won’t work as well!
Let the juice cool and pour it into a casserole dish or cake pan that the paper you’re writing your messages on will fit into. If your cranberry juice seems thick and syrupy, add a little water (maybe half a cup.) It has to have enough water in it so that it will soak into the paper!
Add a few teaspoons of baking soda to about 1/3 cup of warm water and dissolve it as well as you can. (Don’t worry if you can still see some baking soda.) Using a Q-tip, paintbrush, or your homemade writing tool, use the baking soda solution to write a message on your paper. It may take a little practice, so don’t get frustrated. You’ll get the hang of it!
Let your message air dry, or speed things up with a blow dryer.
To reveal your message, place your paper in the cranberry juice and see what happens!
The science behind the fun:
Cranberries contain pigments called anthocyanins (an-tho-SY-a-nins), which give them their bright color. In nature, these pigments attract birds and other animals to fruit. This is important because animals eat the berries and spread plants seeds from one place to another.
These pigments, called flavanoids, change color when they come in contact with acids and bases. Cranberry juice is very acidic, and the pigment is red in acids. When you add it to a base, it turns purple or blue. Baking soda is a base, so your baking soda message will turn blue when it comes into contact with the pigments in the cranberry juice. Eventually, when enough cranberry juice soaks into the paper, it will dilute the baking soda and make the paper acidic, turning the pigment back to red and your message will disappear!
There are over 300 kinds of anthocyanins which are found in many fruits and vegetables including blueberries, red cabbage, grapes and blueberries. Scientists think they may have many health benefits and some researchers are even making organic solar cells using flavanoids!
What other juices can you use to reveal secret messages? What other bases could you use as ink?
Try making your own recipe for spy juice! I’d love to hear how red cabbage works! Check out my red cabbage litmus paper experiment to find out how to make red cabbage juice.
Let me know what works best!
Curds and Whey- Day 4 of Science Camp
- by KitchenPantryScientist
We discovered two easy experiments you can do with milk and vinegar. One is hot, and requires adult supervision, and the other is done at room temperature. Who knew you could make plastic and glue from milk?
Milk Plastic
The first experiment we tried was making “plastic” from milk curds. Heat about a cup of milk in a pan until it gets a scum on top or gets lumpy.
The scum that forms looks like plastic wrap!
Our milk curds before adding the vinegar
Skim off the scum (curds) with a spoon and put them into a small bowl to cool. Eventually, we got tired of skimming and just let a thick layer form on top of the liquid. Then, I poured the hot milk out of the pan and scraped out the curds with a spoon, adding them to the curds we’d already collected. Add a tsp. of vinegar and let the mixture cool for about an hour. Then, slowly pour off the liquid (we blotted some off with a paper towel too) and knead the “plastic”. You can shape your plastic into anything you want- beads, balls, animals and allow it to dry on a paper towel. When it’s dry, you can even paint it! Our plastic was very soft and gooey, so we rolled it into small balls on toothpicks to make beads.
Milk contains a protein called casein, which is a polymer, or a chain, or long molecules which can bend and move until the plastic hardens.
Homemade Glue
We also made glue using milk and vinegar. Just add a cup of milk and 1/3 cup white vinegar to a clear jar or bowl. Mix gently and allow the mixture to settle until you can see two layers. The curds are the white layer on the bottom of the jar and the whey is the liquid on top. Fish some of the curds out with a spoon or sieve, or just pour off the whey. The curds can be used as glue. We tried it and found that our homemade glue worked pretty well for gluing paper together!
Our glue works!
The vinegar separates the milk, allowing the fat, minerals and casein protein to form curds. White glue is made from caseins of milk curds. Cheeses, as you probably already know, are made from curds.
I wonder how hard it is to make homemade edible cheese curds. Maybe that will be a project for another day.
Seafood Watch
- by KitchenPantryScientist
Updated Seafood Watch Pocket Guides
Eat fish. It’s good for you .
We hear this message over and over, and it’s true. Fish is good for you.
Most people are also aware that eating to much fish can be bad for you too, if it’s the kind of fish that tend to build up heavy metals and pesticides. Farm-raised fish can be full of toxins, depending on how they’re raised. After all, you are what you eat, even if you’re a fish.
Sadly, our appetite for our finny ocean friends has brought many of our favorite fish to the brink of extinction. The majestic Bluefin tuna is almost certainly doomed and many other species are in trouble too. It may not seem like a big deal, but fragile ecosystems hang in the balance.
What can you do to help save our oceans? Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch website and print off a Seafood Watch Pocket Guide to help you select seafood that is both safe to eat and abundant enough to be well-managed and caught in environmentally-friendly ways. They even have a sushi guide.
If you want to shop at a grocery store that sells seafood responsibly, Whole Foods Market seafood department works harder than any other fish market (I know of) to help keep farmed seafood and the environment healthy. They use the Seafood Watch program for wild-caught seafood and buy the rest from Marine Stewardship Council Certified Fisheries. I love their seafood department and I can enjoy their sushi without guilt!
In other words, if you do your homework, you can feel even better about eating fish!
The Monterey Bay is one of my favorite places in the world, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium is an amazing resource teeming with ocean life. Click here to go to webcams at the aquarium where you can watch fish, sharks, jellyfish, otters and more!
Beneficial Bacteria: Our Best Defenders?
- by KitchenPantryScientist
Did you know that we have ten times more microbes in our bodies than human cells? It may sound gross, but these microbes are often more friend than foe and keep us healthy in return for a little space to call their own.
There was a fantastic article in yesterday’s Science Times about microbiomes- what scientists call the collection of microorganisms colonizing our bodies. The study of microbiomes has intensified in recent years and scientists are trying to catalog some of the bacteria we carry.
I eat yogurt filled with healthy, or beneficial, bacteria on a daily basis to keep a healthy population of these little helpers living in my gut. This keeps the bad bacteria from finding a place to take hold. A more extreme version of this was mentioned in the Science Times article, where a woman dying of an intestinal infection caused by pathogenic, or bad bacteria was saved when bacteria from her husband’s intestines was introduced into her large intestine. Within hours, the good bacteria had “kicked” the bad bacteria out, taking over residence.
I also learned that babies born by C-section (like my three kids) are more prone to skin infections and asthma, possibly due to the fact that coming from the sterile amniotic sac, they are colonized by bacteria from adults’ skin rather than that bacteria from their mother’s birth canal. In fact, people with asthma have a different set of lung microbes than healthy people and obese people have a different set of bacteria in their guts than people of normal weight.
You’ve heard that kids on farms and are exposed to dirt have healthier immune systems than city kids? It’s not the dirt itself, but the microbes in the dirt giving them their immune systems a boost.
There are years of hard work in the lab ahead of scientists to validate their beliefs that beneficial bacteria may one day be a weapon in the arsenal against infectious disease, but in the meantime, I plan to keep eating my yogurt and letting my kids play in the dirt.
Clean Water, Clean Fish, Green Plants
- by KitchenPantryScientist
I don’t usually buy farm-raised fish. Too many articles I’ve read tell me that the fish are polluted with chemicals and that fish-farming pollutes the environment. So, I dutifully check my Seafood Watch card and spend a little more on wild, sustainable, healthy fish.
When our Twin Cities blogging group, the Blog Pantry, met at Local D’Lish a few weeks ago, my eyes were instantly drawn to a fish tank set up at the back of the grocery store. The owner, Ann, told me they were setting up a small-scale aquaponics system that would use water from the fish tank to fertilize vegetables and herbs they were planning to grow in the store. I had seen a larger-scale version of the same thing on Will Allen‘s amazing 3-acre urban farm in the middle of downtown Milwaukee in the film “FRESH.”
Apparently, this type of closed loop, recycling system allows people to grow crops using less water while raising cleaner fish for food. Systems like these may revolutionize the way people farm in the future.
According to an article in the Christian Science Monitor,
Recirculating aquaculture systems, or RAS, are closed-loop production systems that continuously filter and recycle water, enabling large-scale fish farming that requires a small amount of water and releases little or no pollution.
About 99.75 percent of the water in each unit is continuously cleaned and returned to the fish tanks. Manure filtered from the water during the recycling process is used as fertilizer on nearby farm fields. The nutrient-rich water can also be used to feed vegetables and herbs in large-scale aquaponics systems, which in turn filter the water for reuse.
One of RAS’s biggest benefits is its small “water footprint,” which opens the door to commercial fish production in areas with limited water resources. (The technology is proven for both fresh- and saltwater systems.)
Cool! Maybe someday, we’ll all have little kitchen gardens hooked up to fish tanks!
In the meantime, I look forward to a future where I can buy farm-raised fish with a clean conscience.
Raw Milk isn’t Worth the Risk
- by KitchenPantryScientist
“Food Rules” I Can Live By
- by KitchenPantryScientist
This afternoon, I buzzed through Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules”, which are basically his Cliff Notes on a healthy diet. His mantra is “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants,” which is hard to argue with when you look at the superior health of nations who eat according to those rules. Here in America, where we eat mostly highly processed, sweetened and fatty foods, we’re on the verge of a national epidemic. Obesity and diabetes will kill more and more people each year, young and old alike, and further cripple our ailing health care system if we don’t change our eating habits. Americans literally can’t afford to keep eating this way.
Here are some of my favorite food rules from the book:
#13 “Eat only foods that will eventually rot.” It is scary that there are foods that even bacteria and fungi won’t touch.
#19 “If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.” I can follow this maybe 70% of the time, but I love cold cereal.
#27 “Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.” Costs a little more, but who wants mad cow disease?
#36 “Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of milk.” My kids and husband love Fruity Pebbles, but I ALMOST never buy them.
#37 “The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.” Complex carbs rule.
#41 “Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.” How do you say “yum” in all those languages?
#43″ Have a glass of wine with dinner.” My favorite food rule.
#44 “Pay more, eat less.” Why are people willing to spend money on everything EXCEPT healthy food?
#58 “Do all your eating at a table.” This is harder than it sounds, but a great rule and teaches your kids good eating habits.
#59 “Try not to eat alone.” Eating is most enjoyable when it’s a shared activity.
#63 “Cook.” We only order pizza once a week. That’s not so bad, is it?
#64 “Break the rules once in a while.” My second favorite rule and essential to the sanity of anyone with kids to feed.
So, this weekend, call some friends, cook a good meal (that includes a salad) and open a bottle of wine. You’ll just be following the rules.
Posted on “Food Renegade’s” Fight Back Friday July 1, 2010 | http://kitchenpantryscientist.com/category/food-science/page/2/ | dclm-gs1-006895529 | false | true | {
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0.02196 | <urn:uuid:d023d9c8-d46b-4169-bc32-b73ebd527092> | en | 0.897502 | [Top][All Lists]
[Help-glpk] RE: GLPK on 64 bit Linux
From: Hammond, Paul
Subject: [Help-glpk] RE: GLPK on 64 bit Linux
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:04:12 +0300
I did not write the original code here I'm debugging, but it's certainly
intended that there is a constraint that all the input must be allocated. I can
double check that this is the case.
In terms of presenting a test case, I'm quite new to GLPK, I'd have to read up
n the formats you have below.
We do make some calls when we're debugging to the following:
solver.writeCpxlp(file + ".dat");
solver.printSol(file + ".sol");
Would any of these files be sufficient? If not is there a call I can make on
the solver from Java to give you the problem in the format you would need?
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Makhorin [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: 25 March 2010 14:37
To: Hammond, Paul (IDEAS)
Cc: address@hidden
Subject: Re: GLPK on 64 bit Linux
> Yes you're right, a given input resource may be allocated
> differently and is the case. But one thing that should remain constant
> though is the totals, what I'm talking about is that the totals of the
> allocations at the end of a given input do not equal that input.
> By way of illustration, take the often quoted example where the
> farmer is allocating his land to grow wheat or barley subject to
> constraints. In the output results, even if there are multiple optima,
> all the land should be allocated to either wheat or barley, but I find
> cases where the total land in the output is less or greater than the
> amount coming in, and it's too great to be a rounding error.
It may happen that it is not profitable to allocate all the land
until you require all the land to be allocated by introducing an
appropriate equiality constraint.
> Now my resource allocation problem is clearly different than the
> simple example above, I have many different resources to be allocated
> subject to more constraints, but the problem I have is essentially the
> same as this analogy.
You can write the solution in a text file with glp_print_sol
and see if the optimality conditions are satisfied. If they are,
probably you missed some essential constraints. If not, please
write your instance in mps or better in glpk lp/mip format and post
it to me. Thanks.
NOTICE: If received in error, please destroy, and notify sender. Sender does
extent permitted by applicable law.
reply via email to
[Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread] | http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-glpk/2010-03/msg00084.html | dclm-gs1-007065529 | false | false | {
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0.025956 | <urn:uuid:1e85b5a5-22c4-4ca3-b0d1-f5e5f5a057ec> | en | 0.978774 | Elbert to start rehab Friday with Rancho Cucamonga
Elbert to start rehab Friday with Rancho Cucamonga
LOS ANGELES -- Reliever Scott Elbert, healed from two left elbow operations, will begin a Minor League rehab assignment Friday for Class A Rancho Cucamonga and could be back in the Dodgers' bullpen within seven to 10 days.
"I've adjusted my mechanics so I'd have less stress throwing," he said. "Now I feel I'm throwing from my legs and not just my arm."
By raising his elbow above his shoulder during the throwing motion, instead of even with the shoulder, Elbert said he has "better action with the fastball and better depth with the slider. We'll see when there's hitters, but it's a significant tweak. If you compare it on the video, it's completely different and feels different."
Whether it's the surgeries or the mechanics or both, Elbert said he's also noticed a difference in the way his arm feels the day after throwing.
"It's made such a difference bouncing back," Elbert said. "Now I don't even feel like I played catch the next day. Today I didn't hold back. I feel I would have competed if I had pitched in a game tonight. Knowing that gives me confidence when I come back and they shouldn't be scared to put me back in the situations I used to pitch, but we'll see."
Since Elbert is out of options, he can't be sent down to the Minor Leagues for any reason other than a rehab assignment without the risk of another club claiming him.
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0.034693 | <urn:uuid:5910051b-c15a-4770-969c-2272c98530ed> | en | 0.963084 | I run happy.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Marshmallows, Dusty Trails, Peaks, Mountains and Stars
Some races just come together.
Some races start and you know you're done before the first mile.
Some races are done before you start but you do them anyway...and that's okay.
This last Saturday was one of my better ones:
for 13 miles.
BS had some battles...
for 32 miles(50k)...
but he persevered and finish his 50k in 7:xx, ending with a death march that included a smile and a few minutes of projectile vomiting once he reached the shade. So proud of my mentally and physically strong husband. Yes, projectile vomiting might not seem okay to some but in our household, it happens.
Dawn...we camped and drove a mile to the start.
Early start, 6:30 a.m.
Finish...sometime after 1 p.m. the last 1/2 mile.
Pre-vomit fest with Craig!
Race Eve festivities with Ping and Pong, their mom and her boyfriend.
My favorite part of camping.
Finding the perfect marshmallow roasting stick is always a priority for me.
BS was satisfied with his time and effort, it was a hot day and he finished.
My half was a highlight for my year; I felt strong on the hills both up and down and the heat made me feel great...it is definitely a comfort for me which is weird, I know.
My highlight of the weekend was NOT the lumpy, hard and crusty ground where we slept because I tossed and turned ALL night. No, the highlight was when I left the tent to pee in the tall grass at about 2:30 a.m., near our tent, and and looked up to see an ENTIRE sky filled with stars that were so close together they almost exploded before my eyes. I couldn't walk. I couldn't stop myself from scanning the sky. I felt so insignificant and yet, so embraced by the beauty.
Thank you Cuyamaca 3 Peaks for a great time...
Run happy,
1. Your highlight certainly makes needing to pee at 2:30 am a pleasure instead of a nuisance. Just one of the side-benefits of being running-obsessed.
2. Awesome and well done to both of you! I wish we could join you for a race weekend one day. My son commented a while back that he hasn't seen me vomiting after a race for a long time now. He asked if everything was ok :)
3. Great job! The stars sound magnificent! Great to find a plus out of a 2 a.m. outdoors pee.
4. Love it - I LOVE my night-time pees when I'm camping! Nice work on the 13 miles as well and I can't believe you love running in the heat. As for BS - 50K! Awesome!
5. Sounds like such a great event...too bad about the vomitting, but it sounds like it was par for the "course". It's been a while since I've come to read your adventures. I'm doing a little catching up :) | http://megrunsalot.blogspot.com/2013/07/marshmallows-dusty-trails-peaks.html | dclm-gs1-007425529 | false | false | {
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0.044471 | <urn:uuid:5f8256ff-b0b1-4a5d-80c8-61279f77334e> | en | 0.923589 | « More Legos for Legoland Florida | Main | Road trip attractions: Visiting movie sites »
Frequent fliers and the 'ultimate airplane nerd event'
How’s this for a weekend getaway: You and a bunch of people charter a commercial airliner, practice emergency evacuation drills, fly to the Boeing 737 factory and the American Airlines operations center.
Fun, huh? There’s a good reason we prefer roadtripping.
But follow this link and read about 160 people who paid to take just such a getaway. One called it the “ultimate airplane nerd event.”
They are frequent fliers extraordinaire, people who take extra flights at the end of the year to ensure they have enough miles to qualify for elite status, who can brag about the luxury trips they paid for with their miles, and who know far more trivia about airplanes and airlines than most of the rest of us would even want to know. Whatever powers your engines … | http://miamiherald.typepad.com/roadtripping/2012/02/frequent-fliers-and-the-ultimate-airplane-nerd-event.html | dclm-gs1-007465529 | false | false | {
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0.933246 | <urn:uuid:db19fa93-9df7-4e2c-b80d-6321d24987fb> | en | 0.906084 | zoek een woord op, zoals bukkake:
Someone who has violent sexual intercourse with both male and female Codfish. Typically known as people from Norwegia, the cod rapist is known for putting entire limbs in a cod. Most salmon will also do.
God damn cod rapists trying to move to Amercia.
What the fuck is wrong with you cod rapist, go fuck a goat. Like the Swedes.
door iamalex 24 april 2009 | http://nl.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cod+Rapist | dclm-gs1-007765529 | false | false | {
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0.402645 | <urn:uuid:747cb7bc-0d79-4482-9c26-1522b344e4ef> | en | 0.968388 | 12 November 2007
FFS It's Monday: Iran: Why America Needs the United Nations
The USA, and possibly this country, could be heading to war with Iran, for all the reasons we've head before in relation to another Middle East country – Weapons of Mass Destruction, links to terrorist atrocities and a dictator generally hell-bent on destroying Western civilisation.
Some people say that the US has real concerns about Iran and the stability of the world, but personally I believe Bush just wants to be able to roadtrip it straight from Kabul to Baghdad , via Tehran. He'll probably make a movie, full of tits, fart jokes and vomiting, that'll flop at the cinema, but sell really well on DVD, as thousands of horny teenagers rush to buy another teen movie they can masturbate over whilst pretending to study. And if you believe that you'll believe anything, in which case I'm the widow of a Nigerian General who needs your help transferring some money out ... I think I'm getting beside the point.
You see, politicians don't really understand what war is all about – namely that it's bloody, it's horrible and it's only necessary in extreme cases. Those we elect however, see their poll ratings go through the roof and they want a bit of that, so they all engage in a mass circle jerk over some tin pot dictator, throwing words like "Weapons of Mass Destruction" around and making nebulous claims about atrocities in far flung places that the tin pot dictator couldn't possibly have committed. What’s even worse in the case of Iran is that President Ahmed-showaddywaddy isn’t a dictator, but an elected politician in a theocratic system of government.
For the first few months of war, of course, all goes swimmingly - the media can't criticise, the opposition shut up and everybody generally "supports our troops" - and those who don't are peer-pressured into shutting the fuck up or demonised for undermining morale. Quite why the country completely loses its ability to critically analyse this absurd situation just because somewhere in the world its army is doing its job, is beyond me, but that’s the way life is and there's bugger all I can do about it.
At the end of the Second World War, the four winners (and France) set up the United Nations, with the aim of prohibiting war and other uses of armed force except in cases of self-defence or where the Security Council authorises it. The victors (and France) got a seat at the top table, and instituted a voting procedure called “screw everyone else” (the veto), in which they always got their own way, unless they decided not to show up for a vote. The United Nations system hasn’t worked fantastically, in fact for the first forty five years of its existence it was a giant bloody shambles, unable to do anything because the US and USSR kept facing each other off in a dick waving contest that the rest of the world barely cared two hoots about. But, as everyone knows, democracy was victorious and communism was shit (except for Tetris) and hopes were high in 1991 when the world bandied together under US command and kicked Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.
Things have pretty much returned to normal since then, however, meaning the US can’t rely on the Security Council to let it go round whatever country it wants, kick some arse, set fire to some buildings and then go home for tea. And they want to do that, because their under attack from “terrorists”, who want to rape their grandmas, take their freedoms and do a dump in their gardens. So, George Bush and his team of rabid monkeys set out a doctrine of pre-emptive self-defence in which they maintain
The only problem with this is the rest of the world said, “well, you can fuck right off”, and completely rejected the doctrine of pre-emptive action. So, when the US went to war with Iraq in 2003 it based its use of force not on the pre-emptive doctrine but on previous Security Council resolutions, arguing that the 1991 ceasefire was no longer operational as Iraq was in material breach of its commitments under it (see, I did discuss Kuwait for a reason). The problem that the US has with Iran is that there are no equivalent resolutions that they can use as they march into Tehran and open up their latest Starbucks and McDonalds chains. Meaning they would have to rely on the pre-emptive doctrine and they don’t want to do that for a very simple reason: the rest of the world can then use it whenever they perceive a future threat against their survival – Pakistan against India, China against Taiwan, Israel against the rest of the Middle East, the Middle East against Israel, Scotland against England, you get the idea. The whole thing would resemble something close to apocalypse, and then who would there be left to consume Hollywood movies and buy frankly suspect hamburgers.
Therefore, the USA, if it wants to take action (military or otherwise) against Iran, needs the United Nations and it needs to make a concerted effort to ensure that at the very least the permanent members are on its side. They should hopefully act as a bulwark against any hasty military action.
No comments: | http://oberon2001.blogspot.com/2007/11/iran-why-america-needs-united-nations.html | dclm-gs1-007835529 | false | false | {
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0.023693 | <urn:uuid:2aa3d1ba-e671-4c1f-ad35-0ac793f83d38> | en | 0.970903 | Welcome login | signup
Language en es fr
Forum Post: Congress wishes itself a Merry Christmas. . .
Posted 2 years ago on Dec. 17, 2011, 11:52 a.m. EST by Toynbee (656) from Savannah, GA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
• Congress voted to extend the payroll tax cut. . . for 2 months.
• Congress didn't do the nation a favor.
• It did itself a favor that allows them to now take the Christmas/NewYears holidays with a clear conscience.
• That's what's wrong with Congress.
• That's what's wrong with Wall Street.
• Pessimism about Washington D.C. is well founded. . .
Read the Rules
Vote AGAINST ALL incumbents . . .
Of course, the rich threw a fit and started cutting jobs. They would stop at nothing to maintain their disgusting profit margins and ill-gotten obscene levels of wealth as long as possible. The small business owners did what they felt necessary to survive. They cut more jobs. The losses were felt primarily by the little guy. This created a domino effect. The middle class shrunk drastically and the lower class expanded. With less wealth in reserve and active circulation, banks failed by the hundreds. More jobs were cut. Unemployment reached 25% in 1933. The worst year of the Great Depression. Those who were employed had to settle for much lower wages. Millions went cold and hungry. The recovery involved a massive infusion of new currency, a public works program, a World War, and higher taxes on the rich. With so many men in the service, so many women on the production line, more currency, and those higher taxes to help pay for it, some US wealth was gradually transferred back down to the majority. This redistribution of wealth continued until the mid seventies. By 1976, the richest 1 percent held less than 20 percent of America's private wealth. The lower majority held the rest. It was the best year ever for the American middle and lower classes. And rightfully so. This was the recovery. A partial redistribution of wealth.
Note: A knowledgable and trustworthy contributor has gone on record with a claim that effective tax rates for the rich were considerably lower than book rates during the years of redistribution that I have made reference to. His point was that the rich were able to avoid those very high marginal rates under the condition that they invested in American jobs. My belief is that if true, those policies still would have contributed to a partial redistribution by forcing the rich to either share profits and potential income through job creation or share income through very high marginal tax rates. This knowledgable contributor and I agree that there was in effect, a redistribution but disagree on the use of the word.
One thing is clear from recent events. The government won't step in and do what's necessary. Not this time. Book rates for the rich are already at all-time lows. They may go even lower. The richest 500 Americans hold more personal wealth than the lower 150 million Americans combined. The richest 500 Americans pay an effective rate of under 15% on their income. Their corporate golden geese are subsidized. Now, more than ever. It's up to us. Support small business more and big business less. Support the little guy more and the big guy less. It's tricky but not impossible. For the good of society, stop giving so much of your money to rich people. Stop concentrating the wealth. This may be our last chance to prevent the worst economic depression in world history. No redistribution. No recovery.
| http://occupywallst.org/forum/pessimism-about-washington-dc-is-well-founded/ | dclm-gs1-007845529 | false | false | {
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0.04694 | <urn:uuid:e919ec06-7bb6-42eb-891d-87d6eae90641> | en | 0.967926 | Saturday, February 07, 2009
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Guy is sitting in his living room watching TV when all of a sudden the door bursts open and his girlfriend storms through. "You fucking asshole!" she screams and heads into the bedroom. Stunned, the man walks toward the bedroom, wondering "now what have I done?"
Inside the bedroom he finds the girl furiously packing a suitcase. He asks her what's up. She responds with a hiss, "My therapist says that I should leave you and that you're a pedophile!" The man responds, "Wow... pedophile... that's a big word for a 12 year old." | http://ogdaa.blogspot.com/2009/02/wrong-wrong-wrong.html | dclm-gs1-007855529 | false | false | {
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0.0263 | <urn:uuid:ad07694e-f642-4a70-be78-f8ad5b24d4b1> | en | 0.954209 | Native Peoples Law Lawyers In Emerson New Jersey
Emerson is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 7,197. What is now Emerson was originally formed on April 8, 1903 from portions of Washington Township as the Borough of Etna, the name of a railroad station in the community. The name was changed to Emerson as of March 9, 1909.
What is native peoples law?
Answers to native peoples law issues in New Jersey
Federal court opinions concerning native peoples law in New Jersey | http://openjurist.org/law/native-peoples-law/new-jersey/emerson | dclm-gs1-007915529 | false | false | {
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0.025908 | <urn:uuid:1603ad77-a3c2-4cc3-aed2-6a815e0044ed> | en | 0.912778 | Shaking Hands with the Government, or At Least With PIMCO
Good comments from a bond ghoul writing in the new Atlantic business channel on the nervousness among his compatriots given that it seems increasingly possible that bondholders will eventually be forced to share the bailout pain. As I have said here repeatedly, PIMCO has made it clear it is taking the other side of that trade, cozying up to the government and even suggesting how it should orient its umbrella of protection. Who is right?
The deepest, darkest concern of bond professionals is whether bond holders of banks will ever be asked to share the bailout pain. Ever since Lehman the Fed’s reluctance to impair bank bonds has been palpable. For starters, finance issues represent more than 60% of 1-5 year maturity bonds. They are ubiquitous in pension funds, insurance company portfolios and, until last fall, money market funds (most money market funds have moved up the capital structure to CDs at this point, spooked by the post-Lehman panic). So there are "systemic" reasons to protect them. The same logic protects General Electric. Furthermore, the capital structure of large banks is horribly convoluted. If you wanted to get bondholders to contribute to recapitalization you’d have to create a scheme of cascading discounts to cover preferred stock and capital notes issued by the holding company and the senior and subordinated debt of the banks. Near the top of this stack is the preferred stock investment of TARP, so a bondholder discount necessitates a TARP revaluation. Also, the Guarantied "TLGP" obligations are holding company debt and would have to be discounted. So the government would participate in any loss.
Still, one understand public sentiment on this issue. Apart from Lehman, bondholders, like CDS counterparties, have benefited at the expense of taxpayers. This potential uncertainty is one of the things supporting wide bond spreads. Despite the obvious government support, Citibank’s holding company bonds offer a plus-sized 5% premium over their government-guarantied paper. Pimco, the gorillas of bond investing have publicly positioned themselves as if this pain-sharing will never happen. "Shake hands with the Government", they claim. Others among us have hedged our bets. On Monday Tuesday, Geithner will choose where to locate losses, or delay the reckoning again.
More here.
Related posts:
1. Hedge Funds Do Tech Takedown in Bond Market
2. Air Canada’s Inflated Bonds are Flying too High
3. Is Equity a Cult, and Is That Ending?
4. Hands-Up If You’re Not on Paulson’s List?
5. Government: Sticky Upwards Only | http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2009/02/shaking_hands_w.html | dclm-gs1-007985529 | false | false | {
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0.120026 | <urn:uuid:3d30313c-2597-4daa-8822-4f55c8e67261> | en | 0.970781 | The Millennials
Previous Random Photo
The Millennials • Posted: Oct 13, 2014 00:24:01Comments WelcomeVote CoolPhotoblogsPurchase a PrintShare
NPR's All Things Considered began a series this week on young people born between 1980 and 2000, "the millennials". One surprising statistic NPR uncovered was that in the very near future, millennials will make up 40% of the electorate within the U.S. That fact is surprising because for decades we've been reading how "boomers", those born just after WWII, were having fewer and fewer babies. In consequence, school districts were being downsized, and a significant proportion of white people began worrying about losing majority status to blacks, hispanics, and asians. Hence, the current preoccupation among conservatives with staving off immigration, suppressing votes, ending access to abortion, dismantling government programs that transfer wealth, and demonizing educational practices that fail to propagate notions of white exceptionalism.
As it happens, though, those now entering adulthood, the millennials, are very much less panicked than their conservative parents about skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or whether someone else may have a bigger house, slicker suit of clothes, or more decadent car. By this writer's experience, and I have a son within that group, millennials are, instead, more concerned with how they'll make financial ends meet this month, manage the amount of stress they'll experience, and avoid creating strife in the world around them. They, in fact, have less a vision for their own, or our collective future, than a desire not to make things worse than they already are. While their parents came of age in a world with limitless horizons, they see a world whose horizons are closing in, perhaps on the verge of shutting down altogether. While their parents felt themselves endowed with power to change things, millennials are humbled and full of doubt that anything but futzing with what is right in front of them will make a difference in any substantial way to anything at all.
In thinking back, what is it that infused boomers with a sense they could, if they tried, change things? Perhaps it began with all those "how we won the war" or "weathered the great depression" stories heard from parents and grandparents. Convinced of their own exceptionalism, a budding sense of collective invincibility was further reinforced during school with every pep rally, and compounded again with every winning touch down or break for the net. Later, feelings of power and strength grew still more with the communal singing of anti-war folk songs and the head pounding beat and squeal of guitars during massive live rock concerts. Such group experiences helped boomers feel and expect a surge of boundless power coursing through their bodies. It was intoxicating. And, it was without contradiction, or even cautioning temperance.
But now think back to what millennials have experienced. They've taken a look at what their parents have pointed to with desire to change and seen that it really hasn't changed. In fact, in many way, it's gotten worse. They've gone to pep rallies and "big games" too, But they've smiled upon them as quaint, of a by-gone era. And they've gone to concerts. But not to sing along or madly dance in the aisles, instead to veg out on reverberant subtleties and to enquire of each other how remarkably different their individual experiences were. In doing so, they have come to realize there is no external common reality or set of circumstances that is exactly right for everyone. That only with the vague inexactness of language can we begin to appreciate the unique analytical and imaginative gifts we each have to offer in interpreting the experiences we all share. From their point of view, even if we did act together, or in harmonious concert, the consequence would only be something different, not necessarily something "better". Whatever might result could even be "worse". Perhaps, they have concluded, it is better to just "make do" with whatever has been left before us.
The thing is, though, millennials are still young. Most have not yet entered full maturity. Developmentally, their points of view will likely change, as will their priorities and their sense of time slipping away. It is not a foregone conclusion they will never feel the need to act politically en mass. My personal guess is that, at some point, each millennial will unavoidably come to the conclusion that "now is the time to act". In their own individual ways, they will begin to sense that if they, we, don't act now, something special about life around us will be lost forever. And I believe, within each and every one of them, they will somehow find courage, conviction, wisdom, and strength to act.
Because most millennials demonstratively care deeply and appreciatively for each other's welfare, there is little doubt we will all be better off for their efforts.
Thursday, October 31st, 2013
San Francisco
10 mm 27 mm
1/320 sec
f 4
Flash: Not Fired | http://refertogrey.com/ | dclm-gs1-008265529 | false | false | {
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0.3975 | <urn:uuid:41fce1ab-9303-4a1b-84ef-1c31d1644e05> | en | 0.932175 | Caută orice cuvânt, cum ar fi thot:
1 definition by grungee
Grungee is basically your ultimate choice for a date, a girl so awesome that you would never imagine someone that awesome could go out with you.And you would be right.
Anyone: I tried to ask that grungee out, but she said "no".Man, what a humiliation!
de grungee 10 Aprilie 2005 | http://ro.urbandictionary.com/author.php?author=grungee | dclm-gs1-008305529 | false | false | {
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0.027753 | <urn:uuid:f4d15c70-587e-4e53-bf1d-ad8cb05a0703> | en | 0.758268 | Home | About | Sematext search-lucene.com search-hadoop.com
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[MAPREDUCE-5881] Create counters that count how many bytes of data were read from a local node and a local rack - MapReduce - [issue]
...MapReduce provides the counters "org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.JobCounter DATA_LOCAL_MAPS" and "org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.JobCounter RACK_LOCAL_MAPS" that count how many local map tasks were...
http://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MAPREDUCE-5881 Author: Adam Kawa, 2014-05-07, 11:16
Re: multinode hadoop cluster on vmware - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...Maybe you can try Serengeti http://www.projectserengeti.org/ or Vagrant ( http://java.dzone.com/articles/setting-hadoop-virtual-cluster, http://blog.cloudera.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-use-vagr...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-18, 21:23
Re: hadoop fs -text OutOfMemoryError - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...Hi, What is the value of HADOOP_CLIENT_OPTS in you hadoop-env.sh file? We had similar problems with running OOM with hadoop fs command (I do not remember if they were exactly rel...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-13, 21:24
Re: how to corrupt a replica of a block by manually? - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...Hmmm.. I guess that you can try to read this file using $ hadoop fs -cat to detect that When reading a file its checksums are calculated and compared to checksums that were...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-12, 01:41
Re: secondary namenode is hang at post - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...It looks that it can not copy the new checkpoint into the NameNode. Can you copy-past what jstack says? $ sudo -u hdfs jstack 2013/12/11 Patai Sangbutsarakum ...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-11, 22:40
Re: issue about Shuffled Maps in MR job summary - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...time ? Apart from valid information that Yong wrote in the previous point, please note that: 1) You do not want to have very shortly lived (seconds) reduce tasks, because the ove...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-11, 22:30
[expand - 1 more] - Re: Why is Hadoop always running just 4 tasks? - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...I am not sure if Hadoop detects that. I guess that it will run one map tasks for them. Please let me know, if I am wrong. 2013/12/11 Dror, Ittay ...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-11, 19:46
Re: Job stuck in running state on Hadoop 2.2.0 - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...I am glad that I could help. In our case, we followed mostly the configuration from here: http://hadoop.apache.org/docs/current/hadoop-project-dist/hadoop-common/ClusterSetup.html (cha...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-11, 19:24
Re: how to handle the corrupt block in HDFS? - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...I have only 1-node cluster, so I am not able to verify it when replication factor is bigger than 1. I run the fsck on a file that consists of 3 blocks, and 1 block has a corrupt replic...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-11, 18:33
[expand - 1 more] - Re: Setting the HADOOP_HOME_DIR - MapReduce - [mail # user]
...Sure! Hope that my previous post answers your question ;) 2013/12/8 Forrest Aldrich ...
Author: Adam Kawa, 2013-12-08, 23:08
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Adam Kawa | http://search-hadoop.com/?q=&fc_author=Adam+Kawa&fc_project=MapReduce | dclm-gs1-008465529 | false | false | {
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