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Nonimmersive Brain Gaming for Older Adults With Cognitive Impairment: A Scoping Review.
Technological advances have allowed a variety of computerized cognitive training tools to be engineered in ways that are fun and entertaining yet challenging at a level that can maintain motivation and engagement. This revolution has created an opportunity for gerontological scientists to evaluate brain gaming approaches to improve cognitive and everyday function. The purpose of this scoping review is to provide a critical overview of the existing literature on nonimmersive, electronic brain gaming interventions in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Systematic search was conducted using 7 electronic databases from inception through July 2017. A comprehensive 2-level eligibility process was used to identify studies for inclusion based on PRISMA guidelines. Seventeen studies met eligibility criteria. Majority of the studies were randomized controlled trials (n = 13) and incorporated an active control (n = 9). Intervention doses ranged from 4 to 24 weeks in duration with an average of 8.4 (±5.1 standard deviation [SD]) weeks. Session durations ranged from 30 to 100 min with an average of 54 (±25 SD) minutes. Nearly half of studies included a follow-up, ranging from 3 months to 5 years (n = 8). For most studies, brain gaming improved at least one cognitive outcome (n = 12); only one study reported improvement in activities of daily living. This scoping review conveys the breadth of an emerging research field, which will help guide future research to develop standards and recommendations for brain gaming interventions which are currently lacking. |
University of Kyrenia is at the summit of Erciyes….University of Kyrenia: 67- Beşiktaş: 65
University of Kyrenia is at the summit of Erciyes….University of Kyrenia: 67- Beşiktaş: 65
Women’s Basketball Team of University of Kyrenia played a game against Beşiktaş at the Erciyes Cup final match with was organised by Abdullah Gül University, and as a result of this match, University of Kyrenia won a triumph over Beşiktaş with a score of 67-65.
According to the press release issued by the Directorate of Press and Public Relations of University of Kyrenia, the match was held at Kayseri Kadir Has Congress and Sports Centre and as a result of the match, the champion of Erciyes Cup was determined. It was pointed out that the match was very competitive right from the beginning until the end. Beşiktaş completed the first period one point ahead, 21-20. The second period was head to head, but Beşiktaş completed the period ahead again with a score of 37-32. Continuing to show a strong defence to its opponent, University of Kyrenia completed the third period with a draw, 47-47. Finally, the last period of the match was completed to University of Kyrenia’s advantage with a score of 67-65; making the University of Kyrenia the champion of the Erciyes Cup!
İlker Gözeneli: “It is very pleasing to have won the cup against a very strong opponent!”
Feeling rather pleased of the University of Kyrenia women’s basketball team’s achievement, Coach İlker Gözeneli made a statement and said that it was satisfying and motivating to have become the winner of the Cup prior to the new season, especially against a strong team such as Beşiktaş.
Gözeneli: “We will be learning lessons from the mistakes we have done in the tournament matches and therefore will be moving with this knowledge. In other words, we are aware of the significance of understanding why we had lost certain matches. These matches were also important ones as they were matches enabling the new athletes to adapt to the team. Hopefully, by the end of the next season, we will reach our goals. I would like to express many thanks to the athletes on the team for their achievements today.”
The first match of the League is in Ankara…
University of Kyrenia will be playing against Osmaniye Tosyalı Toyo Sports at Mamak Municipality Sports Hall in Ankara on Saturday, 22nd October, 2016 at 14:00. |
Introduction
============
Silver-catalyzed transformations of alkynes have attracted much attention over the past decade \[[@R1]--[@R2]\]. As a powerful π-activator, silver can promote various reactions of alkynes in high efficiencies \[[@R3]--[@R8]\]. Generally speaking, the proceeding of these reactions involves the activation of alkyne bond by coordination of \[Ag\] and then the attacking of nucleophilic partners, followed by a protodemetalation step to form the alkene motif ([Scheme 1](#C1){ref-type="fig"}, path a) \[[@R9]--[@R11]\]. However, the formation of a silver carbene intermediate, which could be generated usually from relevant diazo precursors \[[@R12]--[@R14]\], appears to be an unusual event in silver-mediated reactions of alkynes ([Scheme 1](#C1){ref-type="fig"}, path b). In 2007, Echavarren and co-workers have developed an intramolecular cyclopropanation reaction of 1,6-enynes by silver catalysis, involving probably the generation of a silver-carbene species \[[@R15]\]. Wang and co-workers reported a range of propargylic esters tethered to cyclohexadienones that can be converted into complex polycycles by Ag-carbenoid-initiated cascades \[[@R16]\]. Recently, Zhu's group developed a tandem 1,3‑dipolar cycloaddition/cyclopropanation silver-catalyzed reaction of enynals with alkenes \[[@R17]\]. In our previous studies, this silver carbene species could be also involved mechanistically in the Ag-mediated reaction of enynals with conjugated dienes \[[@R18]\] and the homodimerization of enynals \[[@R19]--[@R20]\]. So, the studies on the reactions of alkynes involving the generation of silver carbene species from non-diazo precursors are of great value for getting some insight into silver-carbene chemistry.
{#C1}
The generation of α-imino gold carbene intermediates in gold-catalyzed reactions of alkynes has been widely studied in recent years \[[@R21]--[@R30]\]. In 2015, Ye and co-workers, as pioneers, developed this chemistry with the employment of isoxazole nucleophiles in gold-catalyzed formal \[3 + 2\] cycloaddition reaction of ynamides \[[@R31]--[@R32]\], and zinc-catalyzed the reaction of ynol ethers \[[@R33]\], giving the respective multi-substituted pyrrole derivatives efficiently ([Scheme 2](#C2){ref-type="fig"}) \[[@R34]--[@R35]\]. The reaction proceeds via an α-imino gold carbene pathway presumed by mechanistic studies and theoretical calculations. Following our ongoing interest in the alkyne chemistry \[[@R36]--[@R38]\], we recently envisaged that the reaction of ynamides with isoxazoles could proceed under silver catalysis conditions, involving the generation of α-imino silver carbene and subsequent cyclization to pyrroles ([Scheme 2](#C2){ref-type="fig"}). Herein we want to provide some detailed results on the reaction ([Scheme 2](#C2){ref-type="fig"}), leading to the synthesis of a variety of functionalized 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamide derivatives in high yields. The reaction features the use of an inexpensive catalyst, mild reaction conditions, simple operation and product purification. Notably, the core skeleton of these products is the substructure of many biologically active molecules. For example ([Fig. 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}), compound **1** has significant activities as DNA-cleaving agent \[[@R39]\] and sangivamycin **2** has been in clinical trials against colon cancer, gall bladder cancer and acute myelogenous leukemia in humans \[[@R40]\] and its 2-aza analogue **3** is also active against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) \[[@R41]\]. To the best of our knowledge, this case of α-imino silver-carbene is not yet reported \[[@R42]\].
{#C2}
{#F1}
Results and Discussion
======================
An initial experiment was carried out with ynamide **4a** and isoxazole **5** as the selected substrates based on the known procedure developed by Ye's group \[[@R31]\]. With pyrrole **6**, a 42% yield was obtained using AgNTf~2~ (5 mol %) catalyst and DCE as the solvent at 80 °C for 2 h ([Scheme 3](#C3){ref-type="fig"}). The reaction conditions were then further optimized but without obvious improvement of the yield. We presumed the reason might be due to the low nucleophilic reactivity of isoxazole **5** to the ynamide motif by silver activation. Therefore, we considered that the introduction of an amine motif can enhance the nucleophilic ability of nitrogen on the isoxazole ring. However, this change could raise at least an issue, involving the direct addition of an amino motif to the ynamide substrate \[[@R43]--[@R44]\]. To answer this question, two isoxazoles **7** and **8a** with an amino group at the distinct position were utilized for the current reaction. The results exhibited that the use of 5-methylisoxazol-3-amine (**7**) gave a complex mixture. In contrast, 3-methylisoxazol-5-amine (**8a**) led to the formation of the desired pyrrole **10aa** in 99% yield. Notably, the hydroamination product cannot be found in the reaction of **4a** and **8a**.
{#C3}
In order to study the effect of reaction conditions on the yield of **10aa**, various silver salts and solvents were screened and the results were listed in [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}. Among the silver salts screened, AgNTf~2~ led to the formation of **10aa** in the best yield ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entry 1). Both AgSbF~6~ and AgOTF (silver trifluoroacetate) salts can catalyze the proceeding of the reaction at 80 °C, affording the desired pyrrole **10aa** in 42% and 28% yields ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entries 2 and 3), respectively. The hydrolytic product **11** was also obtained in 55% yield when AgOTF was used as the catalyst. Other silver catalysts such as AgNO~3~, AgBF~4~ and AgOTf were not suitable for the current reaction, thus no desired product was observed ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entries 4--6). Furthermore, the solvent studies showed that 1,4-dioxane, THF and toluene are good alternatives, giving the pyrrole **10aa** in similar yields ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entries 7--9), while the use of acetonitrile led to a lowered yield and the formation of a small amount of side product **11** ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entry 10). By considering the boiling points of the solvents and reaction efficiencies, DCE is believed to be the optimal choice. In addition, the reaction temperature can be lowered to 60 ˚C but a prolonged time was needed ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entry 11). Incomplete conversion was observed at 40 °C, and even no reaction happened at 20 °C ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entries 12 and 13). The yield of **10aa** did not decrease obviously when the isoxazole **8a** were reduced to 1.1 equiv ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entries 14-16). A control experiment showed the reaction could not proceed in the absence of Ag catalyst ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entry 17). Finally, the optimal reaction conditions were established with a slight excess of isoxazole **8a** (1.1 equiv) and catalytic AgNTf~2~ (5 mol %) in DCE at 80 °C ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}, entry 15).
######
Effect of different reaction conditions.^a^
-------------------------------------------- -------------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- --------------
entry Catalyst (5 mol %) Solvent Temp. (°C) Time (h) Yield (%)^b^
1 AgNTf~2~ DCE 80 2 99
2 AgSbF~6~ DCE 80 4 42
3 AgOTF DCE 80 4 28, 55^c^
4 AgNO~3~ DCE 80 4 0, 20^c^
5 AgBF~4~ DCE 80 4 0
6 AgOTf DCE 80 4 0
7 AgNTf~2~ 1,4-dioxane 80 2 99
8 AgNTf~2~ THF 80 24 95
9 AgNTf~2~ toluene 80 12 92
10 AgNTf~2~ CH~3~CN 80 12 85, 10^c^
11 AgNTf~2~ DCE 60 4 98
12 AgNTf~2~ DCE 40 8 50
13 AgNTf~2~ DCE 20 24 0
14^d^ AgNTf~2~ DCE 80 2 99
15^e^ AgNTf~2~ DCE 80 2 99
16^f^ AgNTf~2~ DCE 80 2 96
17 -- DCE 80 24 0
-------------------------------------------- -------------------- ------------- ------------ ---------- --------------
^a^All reactions were carried out with ynamide **4a** (0.2 mmol), isoxazole **8a** (0.4 mmol, 2 equiv) with the indicated catalyst (5 mol %) in solvent (2.0 mL), unless otherwise noted. ^b^Yield of isolated product **10aa**. ^c^Yield of hydrolytic product **11**. ^d^1.5 equiv of **8a** was used. ^e^1.1 equiv of **8a** was used. ^f^1.0 equiv of **8a** was used.
Having identified the optimized conditions, the scope of substrates was subsequently investigated. Firstly, various ynamides were utilized for the current reaction under the optimized conditions and the results were summarized in [Fig. 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}. It could be found that a variety of 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamides were obtained in up to 99% yields. For examples, the aromatic motifs of ynamides possessing an electron-donating group such as MeO-, Me- and *t*-Bu- are well tolerated to afford the desired cycloadducts **10ba**--**da** in 85--99% yields. The ynamide substrates **4e**--**g** with an electron-deficient halogen substituent (F-, Cl- and Br-) on the aromatic ring could be also successfully applied to the reaction, giving the 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamides **10ea**--**ga** in high efficiencies. The reactions of *meta*-substituted aromatic ynamides **4h** and **4i** with **8a** could proceed smoothly, affording the corresponding products in 99% yield. However, the use of alkylated ynamides such as **4j** gave a complex mixture under current conditions, and no desired product (**10ja**) was isolated. Subsequently, the *N*-substituents of ynamides were investigated. The results showed that other alkyl (iPr-, *n*-Bu- and Bn-) and phenyl are compatible for this reaction, and the pyrroles **10ka**--**na** were obtained in 50--98% yields. In addition, the Ts protecting group could be changed for other sulfonyl groups such as Ms (**10na**, 98%), *o*-Ns (**10oa**, 99%) and *p*-Ns (**10pa**, 99%), while the cyclic carbamate-derived ynamides such as **4q** are no good substrates, leading to the formation of a complex mixture.
{#F2}
The scope with regard to the 5-aminoisoxazole was next evaluated. As seen from [Fig. 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}, aryl-substituted 5-aminoisoxazoles **8b** and **8c**, and secondary alkyl-substituted 5-aminoisoxazole **8d** were suitable reaction partners, thus expanding the applicability of the present reaction. By the transformations, several desired 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamide products were easily obtained in 96--98% yields (**10ab**--**ad**). The structure of **10ad** was further confirmed unambiguously by single crystal X-ray analysis ([Fig. 4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). The sterically demanding *t*-Bu group installed at 5-aminoisoxazole **8e** has an obvious inferior effect on the efficiency, leading to the generation of cycloadduct **10ae** in \<10% yield under current conditions. Nevertheless, the yield of **10ae** could be increased to 38% by changing the reaction conditions to 2.0 equiv of **8e** and 100 °C. It should be also noted, however, that the reaction could not proceed efficiently with 3,4-dimethylisoxazol-5-amine (**8f**), thus a mixture of unidentifiable decomposition products was observed.
{ref-type="fig"}). ^a^Reaction conditions: 2.0 equiv of **8e**, 100 °C.](Beilstein_J_Org_Chem-15-2623-g004){#F3}
{#F4}
In order to investigate the feasibility of the present reaction on a large scale, a gram-grade experiment was performed ([Scheme 4](#C4){ref-type="fig"}). The results indicated a similar yield was obtained in the reaction of ynamide **4a** with **8a**. Notably, after the completion of the reaction, a white precipitation was observed and filtered straightforwardly to afford the desired product **10aa** in mostly quantitative yield.
{#C4}
A tentative mechanism for the formation of 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamide **10aa** is provided in [Scheme 5](#C5){ref-type="fig"} \[[@R21],[@R31]--[@R32]\]. Initial activation of ynamide **4a** by silver catalyst can afford the Ag complex **A**, which can isomerize to the keteniminium ion intermediate **B**. A nucleophilic addition of 5-aminoisoxazole **8a** to silver species **B** leads to the formation of alkenylsilver species **C**, followed by the fragmentation process to give an unusual α-imino silver carbene species **D**. The intermediate **D** should be able to isomerize to **D'** by conformation rotation to facilitate the addition of activated methene to Ag-carbene, thus forming a new silver species **E** with a 5-membered ring. The leaving of silver catalyst from **E** along with the formation of enamide motif affords 3*H*-pyrrole **F**. A final aromatization step by isomerization provides the desire cyclic product **10aa**. Notably, two possible cyclization routes from **D'** (or **D**) to give 7-membered rings **G** and **H** cannot be achieved through the attack of the *O*- and *N*-nucleophilic sites, respectively.
{#C5}
In addition, silver-stabilized carbocation intermediate **I** generated from intermediate **C** might be another possible process to form **E**, although it was rarely mentioned due to weak Ag--C bond ([Scheme 6](#C6){ref-type="fig"}). It should be also mentioned that a direct protodemetalation step of **C** was not existing, thus compound **12** could be not formed in current reaction.
{#C6}
Conclusion
==========
In conclusion, we have developed a reaction of ynamides with unprotected isoxazol-5-amines that can achieve the synthesis of a variety of functionalized 5-amino-1*H*-pyrrole-3-carboxamide derivatives in high efficiency. The reaction conditions involve the use of catalytic AgNTf~2~ with DCE as the solvent at 80 °C, without needing to exclude moisture or air. The presumed reaction mechanism might involve the generation of an unusual α-imino silver carbene species (or a silver-stabilized carbocation) and then cyclization/isomerization to complete the formal \[3 + 2\] cycloaddition process. This reaction highlights the use of an inexpensive catalyst, and simple work-up without column chromatographic purification for most of the products. Furthermore, these products contain the core structure of many bioactive molecules, thus providing a practical method for the construction of similar skeleton compounds. Our next investigation will focus on the studies of the detailed reaction mechanism and the applications of this methodology for the synthesis of interesting molecules.
Experimental
============
**General information**. Reactions were carried out in an open flask and monitored by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) on silica plates, visualized by irradiation with UV light. Commercially available reagents were used without further purification. ^1^H and ^13^C NMR spectra were recorded at 500 MHz for ^1^H nuclei, and 125.8 MHz for ^13^C nuclei. Chemical shifts (δ) are reported in units of parts per million (ppm); signals are referenced to TMS (0.00 ppm) or solvent residual peak (DMSO-*d* ~6~, 2.5 ppm for ^1^H and 39.5 ppm for ^13^C) as an internal standard. Coupling constants (*J*) are given in Hz, and multiplicity is abbreviated as: s (singlet), d (doublet), dd (doublet of doublets), t (triplet), q (quartet), and m (multiplet). All melting points are uncorrected and determined on an X-4 digital microscopic melting point apparatus. HRMS were measured using electrospray ionization (ESI).
Ynamide compounds **4a**--**q** were prepared according to the known literature procedures \[[@R45]\]. The isoxazol-5-amines **8a**--**e** are commercially available reagents.
Typical procedure for the AgNTf~2~-catalyzed reaction of ynamide **4a** with **8a**: To a stirred solution of ynamide **4a** (57.0 mg, 0.2 mmol) in DCE (2.0 mL, 0.1 M) was added isoxazol-5-amine **8a** (21.6 mg, 0.22 mmol, 1.1 equiv), followed by AgNTf~2~ (3.9 mg, 5 mol %). The resulting mixture was placed into an oil bath of 80 °C with stirring for 2 h generally, monitored by TLC. After completion, the reaction mixture was cooled and the desired product was precipitated. The solid was filtered and washed with DCM twice, then dried in a vacuum drying oven at 50 °C for 24 h to give the pure pyrrole product **10aa**, 75.8 mg, 99% yield.
For products **10ab**--**ae**, **10ka**--**la**, the purification method was as follows: evaporation of volatiles under reduced pressure to give the residue, which was suffered from column chromatography on silica gel (petrol ether/ethyl acetate 1:1--1:2, v/v) to afford the pure pyrrole.
**5-((** ***N*** **,4-Dimethylphenyl)sulfonamido)-2-methyl-4-phenyl-1** ***H*** **-pyrrole-3-carboxamide (10aa):** white solid, mp 176.5--178.5 °C, yield 75.9 mg, 99%; *R* ~f~ = 0.16 (hexanes/EtOAc 1:1); ^1^H NMR (DMSO-*d* ~6~, 500 MHz) δ 11.22 (s, 1H), 7.37 (d, *J* = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.25 (d, *J* = 8.1 Hz, 2H), 7.23--7.13 (m, 3H), 6.99 (d, *J* = 6.4 Hz, 2H), 6.76 (s, 1H) 5.87 (s, 1H), 2.96 (s, 3H), 2.39 (s, 3H), 2.32 (s, 3H); ^13^C NMR (DMSO-*d* ~6~, 125.8 MHz) δ 166.7, 143.3, 135.1, 134.0, 129.57, 129.52, 128.8, 127.7, 127.3, 126.3, 122.3, 119.4, 114.4, 38.6, 21.0, 14.5; HRMS--ESI (*m*/*z*): \[M + H\]^+^ calcd for C~20~H~22~N~3~O~3~S, 384.1376; found, 384.1375.
Supporting Information
======================
######
Characterization data and ^1^H and ^13^C NMR spectra for all new compounds.
######
Crystallographic information file (cif) of compound **10ad** (CCDC 1916501).
This work was supported by the NSFC (21402106). We also acknowledge the support provided by Shandong Natural Science Foundation (ZR2018JL013 and ZR2018MB014). Z. Cao acknowledges the support from Qufu Normal University for Research Start-up Foundation (bsqd20130115).
|
Q:
F# StackOverflow in mono with continuations (tail call eliminations enabled)
I was running a example of an interpreter made with Continuations, and it fails in Mono JIT compiler version 4.3.0 with a stackoverflow error despite the Tail Call optimization enabled. The same code works fine in Windows (.NET 4.6).
This is the code:
open System
open System.Runtime
let print x = printfn "%A" x
type 'data env = (string * 'data) list
let rec lookup env x =
match env with
| [] -> failwith (x + " not found")
| (y, v)::yr -> if x=y then v else lookup yr x
(* Abstract syntax of functional language with exceptions *)
type exn =
| Exn of string
type expr =
| CstI of int
| CstB of bool
| Var of string
| Let of string * expr * expr
| Prim of string * expr * expr
| If of expr * expr * expr
| Letfun of string * string * expr * expr (* (f, x, fbody, ebody) *)
| Call of string * expr
| Raise of exn
| TryWith of expr * exn * expr (* try e1 with exn -> e2 *)
type value =
| Int of int
| Closure of string * string * expr * value env (* (f, x, fBody, fDeclEnv) *)
type answer =
| Result of int
| Abort of string
let rec coEval2 (e : expr) (env : value env) (cont : int -> answer)
(econt : exn -> answer) : answer =
match e with
| CstI i -> cont i
| CstB b -> cont (if b then 1 else 0)
| Var x ->
match lookup env x with
| Int i -> cont i
| _ -> Abort "coEval2 Var"
| Prim(ope, e1, e2) ->
coEval2 e1 env
(fun i1 ->
coEval2 e2 env
(fun i2 ->
match ope with
| "*" -> cont(i1 * i2)
| "+" -> cont(i1 + i2)
| "-" -> cont(i1 - i2)
| "=" -> cont(if i1 = i2 then 1 else 0)
| "<" -> cont(if i1 < i2 then 1 else 0)
| _ -> Abort "unknown primitive") econt) econt
| Let(x, eRhs, letBody) ->
coEval2 eRhs env (fun xVal ->
let bodyEnv = (x, Int xVal) :: env
coEval2 letBody bodyEnv cont econt)
econt
| If(e1, e2, e3) ->
coEval2 e1 env (fun b ->
if b<>0 then coEval2 e2 env cont econt
else coEval2 e3 env cont econt) econt
| Letfun(f, x, fBody, letBody) ->
let bodyEnv = (f, Closure(f, x, fBody, env)) :: env
coEval2 letBody bodyEnv cont econt
| Call(f, eArg) ->
let fClosure = lookup env f
match fClosure with
| Closure (f, x, fBody, fDeclEnv) ->
coEval2 eArg env
(fun xVal ->
let fBodyEnv = (x, Int xVal) :: (f, fClosure) :: fDeclEnv
coEval2 fBody fBodyEnv cont econt)
econt
| _ -> raise (Failure "eval Call: not a function")
| Raise exn -> econt exn
| TryWith (e1, exn, e2) ->
let econt1 thrown =
if thrown = exn then coEval2 e2 env cont econt
else econt thrown
coEval2 e1 env cont econt1
(* The top-level error continuation returns the continuation,
adding the text Uncaught exception *)
let eval2 e env =
coEval2 e env
(fun v -> Result v)
(fun (Exn s) -> Abort ("Uncaught exception: " + s))
let run2 e = eval2 e []
(* Example: deep recursion to check for constant-space tail recursion *)
let exdeep = Letfun("deep", "x",
If(Prim("=", Var "x", CstI 0),
CstI 1,
Call("deep", Prim("-", Var "x", CstI 1))),
Call("deep", Var "n"));
let rundeep n = eval2 exdeep [("n", Int n)];
[<EntryPoint>]
let main argv =
rundeep 10000 |> ignore
"All fine!" |> print
0
I found that this is a problem with MONO but I wonder if there exists a way to work around this (I wish to do CSP to implement several features for the interpreter)
It is also notable that disabling the tail call optimization triggers the stackoverflow error way faster on windows than on mono/osx.
A:
I reimplemented coEval2 using a trampoline. This function I cleverly called coEval3. coEval2 crashes for me in Debug and works in Release as expected. coEval3 seemed to work for me in both Debug and Release.
// After "jumping" the trampoline we either have a result (Done)
// or we need to "jump" again (Next)
type result<'T> =
| Done of 'T
| Next of (unit -> result<'T>)
let coEval3 (e : expr) (env : value env) (cont : int -> answer) (econt : exn -> answer) : answer =
// "Jumps" once producing either a result or a new "jump"
let rec jump (e : expr) (env : value env) (cont : int -> result<answer>) (econt : exn -> result<answer>) () : result<answer> =
match e with
| CstI i -> cont i
| CstB b -> cont (if b then 1 else 0)
| Var x ->
match lookup env x with
| Int i -> cont i
| _ -> Abort "coEval2 Var" |> Done
| Prim(ope, e1, e2) ->
jump e1 env
(fun i1 ->
jump e2 env
(fun i2 ->
match ope with
| "*" -> cont(i1 * i2)
| "+" -> cont(i1 + i2)
| "-" -> cont(i1 - i2)
| "=" -> cont(if i1 = i2 then 1 else 0)
| "<" -> cont(if i1 < i2 then 1 else 0)
| _ -> Abort "unknown primitive" |> Done) econt |> Next) econt |> Next
| Let(x, eRhs, letBody) ->
jump eRhs env (fun xVal ->
let bodyEnv = (x, Int xVal) :: env
jump letBody bodyEnv cont econt |> Next)
econt |> Next
| If(e1, e2, e3) ->
jump e1 env (fun b ->
if b<>0 then jump e2 env cont econt |> Next
else jump e3 env cont econt |> Next) econt |> Next
| Letfun(f, x, fBody, letBody) ->
let bodyEnv = (f, Closure(f, x, fBody, env)) :: env
jump letBody bodyEnv cont econt |> Next
| Call(f, eArg) ->
let fClosure = lookup env f
match fClosure with
| Closure (f, x, fBody, fDeclEnv) ->
jump eArg env
(fun xVal ->
let fBodyEnv = (x, Int xVal) :: (f, fClosure) :: fDeclEnv
jump fBody fBodyEnv cont econt |> Next)
econt |> Next
| _ -> raise (Failure "eval Call: not a function")
| Raise exn -> econt exn
| TryWith (e1, exn, e2) ->
let econt1 thrown =
if thrown = exn then jump e2 env cont econt |> Next
else econt thrown
jump e1 env cont econt1 |> Next
(* The top-level error continuation returns the continuation,
adding the text Uncaught exception *)
// If trampoline is tail-recursive F# will implement this as a loop,
// this is important for us as this means that the recursion is essentially
// turned into a loop
let rec trampoline j =
match j () with
| Done v -> v
| Next jj -> trampoline jj
let inline lift f v = f v |> Done
trampoline (jump e env (lift cont) (lift econt))
Hope this is somewhat useful
|
Q:
Zend_Form_Element_Hash random failures
I have a load of ZF1 salted hash elements in various forms on my site and 99% of the time they work fine but occasionally they fail. This usually seems to happen after a redirect but not within the redirect hop. The form is created after the redirect in a separate action so I don't understand why the redirect would be affecting it. The forms that fail are generating their tokens correctly, they just don't match after the POST and validation.
Any ideas?
Hash element below:
$token = $this->createElement(
'hash',
'token',
array('timeout' => 1440)
);
$token->setSalt($config->csrf->salt)
->addErrorMessage('The session for this form has timed out.');
$this->addElement($token);
A:
It turns out that the issue was due to token naming. I had a standard hash element named 'token' that was added to all forms. I changed the code so that the token name was prepended with the form name so rather than 'token' they are now 'loginformtoken', etc.
I'm still not sure if this was due to an issue in my code due to redirects or whether ZF uses an internal 'token' session anywhere (the word token seems to be fairly heavily used in the ZF source code) that was causing a conflict.
Nevertheless, using unique hash ids seems to be the way forward and I'll be following this standard in the future.
Edit:
This was my fault completely for not reading the manual:
The name of the hash element should be unique. We recommend using the salt option for the element- two hashes with same names and different salts would not collide.
I had a default salt and the same hash name so no wonder I was having problems.
|
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Established Light Rail Systems Spur New Urban Multifamily Development Possibilities
With the apartment industry’s migration in recent years to downtown urban centers, Texas’ budding light rail agencies find themselves in new territory and developers are hopping aboard for the ride.
A build-it-and-they-will-come mentality along transit rail lines is creating opportunities for multifamily developers to capture a younger generation of renter who’s more focused on short commutes. And the trend appears to be growing in other parts of the state, which is a relative newcomer to moving people by rail in modern times.
Since Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s arrival in 1996, Texas has joined the legion of states east of the Mississippi River that traditionally provide rail transportation to high-density areas. An aggressive DART expansion will double its line to 90 miles by 2013, and Houston and Austin are acquiring light rail lines as fast as they can. Last year the Denton A-Train made its debut north of Dallas.
Light rail, says DART Executive Vice President/Growth and Regional Development Tim McKay, just makes mixed-use properties more attractive. An established light rail system is a huge piece of the puzzle already in place for a developer to justify building a property where residents can shop, dine or work within a short distance from home.
“A couple of things are starting to become popular,” McKay said. “You enter into an agreement with a developer where (light rail) brings to the table a piece of property. The developer brings a master plan for a development, and the city throws in tax breaks. Next thing you know, you have a viable project.”
DART has seen a flurry of activity from developers enticed by an established system that recorded 22.3 million trips in 2011 over 700 square miles and 31 North Texas counties. The agency is evaluating two proposals – one near Mockingbird Station, a high-density development that was the first of its kind in the region, and another across from the downtown headquarters – that have been initiated by developers who want to leverage DART. Existing stations on other parts of the network are getting attention as well.
Mockingbird Station, developed about the time that DART launched Kenneth Hughes, spotlights how developers embrace light rail. Once the site of the old Western Electric building, Mockingbird Station complements one of DART’s first stations and connects the Orange, Red and Blue lines. It’s not far from Southern Methodist University and bustles with activity day and night.
The 10-acre urban village features residential lofts, 22 retail shops, about a dozen restaurants and 21 businesses, from law firms to banks to ad agencies. Seven stories of living space offer spacious one-bedroom studios, one- and two-bedroom lofts, and lavish penthouses covering 211 floor plans.
An average of 3,086 weekday riders board trains every few minutes at the subterranean station accessible by a two-track tunnel that connects to Downtown Dallas. Above the station, activity abounds at a Starbucks, a theatre, and a burst of chic shops.
The successful development of the property altered DART’s stance on being a player in mixed-use developments.
“It’s really one of the first that made national notoriety, but there had been other things that were done,” McKay said. “This was a developer who stepped out and said that he had an idea and went for it. At the time, I think the Board of Directors said that’s not our core business, so let’s not wade off into that too much.”
It’s a different mind-set now.
“Until fairly recently, if we didn’t have use for a property, we’d sell it,” added McKay, who says the agency is willing to hold onto to land for future development. “Now we have a transit-oriented development policy that talks to long-term leases that are leveraging assets that the agency has accumulated or will accumulate.”
DART has become an integral part of residential development in other areas of downtown and even in the suburbs. Similar ideas are on view in Houston and Austin.
A new Greystar development designed by Meeks + Partners will be accessible via Houston METRO’s proposed Uptown Line extension on the MetroRail. The 400-unit property graces a choice five-acre tract near the Galleria and four major roadways with access to shopping and restaurants. Some of the units will be ready for occupancy this fall.
Meeks + Partners CEO Don Meeks told Multi-Housing News in March that the Avenue R location will mean easy access to everything in the Uptown District plus proximity to Highway 59, Interstate 610, the Westpark Tollway and Interstate 10. The Uptown Line expansion, which is still in development, will provide residents a transportation alternative.
Austin’s two-year-old MetroRail is an urban renewal focal point for the Airport Boulevard Corridor, which stretches from Lamar Boulevard to Interstate 35. The city hired Gateway Planning to create a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly mix of retail and residential.
Gateway Planning President Scott Polikov told the Austin American Statesman that the redevelopment could utilize existing features like the rail line to reinvent a dilapidated area with its aging mall, strip centers and car repair shops.
A 79-page public review released in October depicts a blend of high-rise and two- and three-story residential and retail development within walking distance of a MetroRail station. Gateway Planning is even implementing a form-based code to revitalize the corridor. Polikov envisions investors creating a desirable setting right around the corner from the train.
Back in Dallas, DART hopes to influence a younger generation that desires high-density, high-rise living over traditional apartments on sprawling properties in the suburbs and doesn’t get behind the wheel as much.
Recent data suggests that fewer young Americans are driving less and that urban centers in suburbans are dwindling. According to the U.S. Census, metropolitan areas – including Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown and Washington D.C./Arlington/Alexandria – experienced population growth from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011. Also, the Associated Press recently reported on a study at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute April that the number of driver’s licenses issued to people in their teens, 20s and 30s has dropped in the last 30 years.
“We’re starting to see a renaissance in the area where some of the younger professionals would rather not drive as much and want to get to where they’re going on the light rail system,” McKay said. “It’s generational, and a lot of the younger generation likes the live-work-play destination.”
Tags
Tim Blackwell is a long-time publishing and printing executive in the Dallas/Fort Worth area who writes about the multifamily housing and transportation industries. He has contributed numerous articles to Property Management Insider, and worked as a newspaper reporter in the D/FW area. Blackwell is president of Ballpark Impressions, and publishes the Cowcatcher Magazine. He is a member of the Fort Worth Chapter/Society of Professional Journalists. |
An Efficient and Economical Assay to Screen for Triclosan Binding to FabI.
Triclosan is an effective inhibitor for enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (ENR) in fatty acid biosynthesis. Triclosan-resistant mutants of ENR have emerged. Thus, it is important to detect these triclosan-resistant mutations in ENR. Generally, enzyme activity assays on the mutants are used to determine the effect of triclosan on ENR activity. Since the substrates are linked to acyl carrier protein (ACP), the assays are challenging due to the need to prepare the ACP and link it to the substrates. Non-ACP-linked (coenzyme A [CoA]-linked) substrates can be used in some ENR, but not in all. Consequently, screening for triclosan-resistant mutants is also challenging. We have developed a simple thermal shift assay, which does not use ACP-linked substrates, to determine the binding ability of triclosan to the ENR active site, and thus it can be used for screening for triclosan-resistant mutants. Staphylococcus aureus FabI enzyme and its mutants were used to demonstrate the binding ability of triclosan with NADP(+) to FabI. The direct correlation between the binding ability and enzyme activity was demonstrated with Francisella tularensis FabI. This method may also be applied to select effective triclosan analogues that inhibit ENR activity. |
Mumbedah, New South Wales
Mumbedah is a civil parish, a creek and a hill in central New South Wales.
Mumbedah Parish is a civil parish of County of Napier, a county of the central western part of New South Wales, Australia in Warrumbungle Shire.
History
Before European settlement the surrounding area was occupied by the Gamilaroi and Wiradjuri peoples.
Allan Cunningham was the first British explorer to discover the area in 1823 while travelling through Pandoras Pass over the Warrumbungle ranges to the Liverpool Plains.
References
Category:Localities in New South Wales
Category:Geography of New South Wales
Category:Central West (New South Wales) |
Bernie Ecclestone says he hopes seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher's teenage son Mick can make it all the way to Formula One.
Mick Schumacher is stepping up to European Formula 3 in 2017 with Prema Powerteam, having finished runner-up in both the German and Italian Formula 4 championships last season, taking a total of 10 wins across both series in the process.
When asked if he would like to see Mick on the F1 grid in the near future, Ecclestone told German newspaper Bild: "If he is anywhere near as good as his father, why not? It would be good for Formula One if the name Schumacher was with us again."
European Formula 3 launched the career of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and has proved an important step in the racing ladder for many top drivers. Williams driver Lance Stroll, who will make his F1 debut at the age of 18, won the F3 title with Prema in 2016.
If Mick were to make it to F1, he would become the third Schumacher to compete in the sport, following in the footsteps of his father Michael and uncle Ralf, who also raced for Jordan, Williams and Toyota between 1997 and 2007, recording six wins. |
Wild Dogs (11): As the two gosu begin their fight below, the lead guard of the Naeseonhyang reveals the history of Sa Paecheon. Noting Gang had used reflective ki to mitigate his initial blow, Sa Paecheon beckons for him to attack. Seeing no response, Sa Paecheon attacks instead and puts Gang on the defensive. Quickly realising that Gang Ryong was holding back to prevent getting the old men caught in the crossfire, Sa Paecheon unleashes a merciless attack that eradicates everyone caught in it, infuriating Gang enough for him to use a Divine Heavenly Destruction technique to counter it... |
Q:
The property 'Entity1.Entity2' is of type 'Entity2' which is not supported by current database provider
I am trying to create an initial migration with code-first. I have 2 entity classes as follows:
public class Entity1
{
public string Id { get; set; }
}
public class Entity2
{
public Entity1 Entity1 { get; set; }
public int Order { get; set; }
}
And my DbContext as follows;
public class AppDbContext : DbContext
{
public DbSet<Entity1> Entity1List { get; set; }
public DbSet<Entity2> Entity2List { get; set; }
public AppDbContext(DbContextOptions options) : base(options)
{
}
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
modelBuilder
.Entity<Entity2>()
.HasKey(c => new { c.Entity1, c.Order });
}
}
When I try to create a migration using
add-migration InitialMigration
I get the error;
The property 'Entity2.Entity1' is of type 'Entity1' which is not supported by current database provider. Either change the property CLR type or ignore the property using the '[NotMapped]' attribute or by using 'EntityTypeBuilder.Ignore' in 'OnModelCreating'.
A:
May be you are trying to make Entity1's primary key to be the part of Entity2's composite primary key. So your Entity2 should be as follows:
public class Entity2
{
public string Entity1Id { get; set; }
public int Order { get; set; }
public Entity1 Entity1 { get; set; }
}
Then in the OnModelCreating as follows:
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
modelBuilder
.Entity<Entity2>()
.HasKey(c => new { c.Entity1Id, c.Order });
}
|
The present invention relates to novel methods for predicting suicidal and other abnormal behaviors. In particular, it relates to the detection of polymorphisms in the tryptophan hydroxylase gene, which are correlated with abnormal serotonergic function and related behaviors.
Genetic factors have been implicated in the etiology of alcoholism, violence, and suicide in both family and twin studies. A strong interrelationship exists between these phenotypes, as they tend to occur in the same individual and in individuals who are genetically closely related. Although these disorders are heterogeneous in their clinical expression, and have complex causes, it is possible to identify more homogeneous subgroups among patients with these problems.
Decreased brain serotonin concentration has been associated with several behavioral traits including impulsive, aggressive and suicidal behavior, pyromania (fire setting), and with disruption of circadian rhythms. For a review of the correlation between serotonin concentrations and abnormal behavior see, Lopez-Ibor et al. (1991) In Serotonin-related psychiatric syndromes: clinical and therapeutic links (Ed. Cassano and Akiskal, Royal Society of Medicine Services Ltd.) pp. 35-40. Serotonergic activity is correlated with the concentration of the serotonin metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid (Asberg et el. (1976) Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 33: 1193-1197).
Low concentrations of 5-HIAA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been associated with behaviors characterized by intolerance to delay, or impulsive behavior. These include impulsive aggression (including homicide), pyromania (fire setting), personality disorders, and alcoholism. Serotonin is also critical in slow-wave sleep, temperature control, and appetitive behaviors. Diminished CSF 5-HIAA concentrations have been found to be associated with risk of suicide in depressed patients. In animal studies, indices of decreased serotonin concentrations are connected with postulated anxiety-related intolerance to delay and deficient control of impulses.
Although 5-HIAA concentrations in CSF are correlated with abnormal serotonergic behaviors, 5-HIAA's usefulness as a marker is limited by the difficulty in obtaining CSF. CSF may only be obtained by an invasive, expensive, and impractical procedure. Thus, there is a need for an easily typed marker that is correlated with 5-HIAA levels and abnormal serotonergic behaviors. The present invention fulfills this and other needs. |
4.7-W, 255-nm source based on second-harmonic generation of a copper-vapor laser in cesium lithium borate.
We have generated 4.7 W of UV (255-nm) radiation with wall plug efficiency of 0.12% by frequency doubling the green (511-nm) output of a kinetically enhanced medium-scale copper-vapor laser (CVL) in cesium lithium borate (CLBO). Frequency doubling in beta -barium borate produced 3.9 W of UV radiation with wall plug efficiency of 0.1%. We found that conversion was better with CLBO because of the reduced constraints on CVL beam quality, less UV absorption, and smaller UV walk-off. |
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10 Most Expensive Cities In The World
The ranks of the most richest and influential cities in the world are based on the comprehensive analysis of economic vitality, political influence, research ability and living standard. Though there are several other important cities which are rich in terms of their natural resources and stabled economy but the following are considered to be the richest cities of the world in terms of living cost.
10. Singapore – Singapore
The republic of Singapore is an Island country. It has diverse population 5 million made up various ethnic communities. It is town country which only has a total area of 700 square kilometers. It is ranked the tenth most expensive city in world. The town is small but has a different lifestyle. This is the only country which has no villages as Singapore itself is a city and country as well.
The average one-bedroom rental ranging SIN $ 600 per month or more in the housing area.
The electricity, water and internet cost SIN $ 300 per month or more for single family
Including the very high car prices, the average vehicle tax from SIN $ 1,000 or more annually and the average cost of parking ranges from SIN $ 150 per month.
For meals, Singapore may be said quite friendly range average SIN $ 5 or more to eat and drink.
9. Beijing – China
Beijing is the capital and second largest city in China. One of the densely populated cities in Asia gives convenience of investing to attract many foreign investors to come and invest in China.
Average rent of an apartment in the downtown ranges from RMB7000 (including electricity and water / utility costs)
Dining in Beijing is over RMB20 range for one meal
Daily international newspaper-ranging RMB25, a glass of coffee in a medium restaurant costs RMB 35, and a packet of food including burgers, potatoes and soft drink are more approximately RMB18
8. New York – USA
New York is considered to be the most influential and richest industrial hub in the United States of America. It is the most populous city and is headquarter of all major banks and financial institutions of the world. GDP in 2008 was $1406 Billion, more than entire GDP of India.
New York is the most expensive city compared to all other cities in the US. It is the destination of people from various parts of the world. The population of New York is around 10 million.
Average rent for apartment with two good bedrooms starts around US $ 4000 per month.
International paper per issue of US $ 1.8, glass coffee from US $ 3, and packets of food (burger + potato + sodas) for US $ 5.
7. Copenhagen – Denmark
Copenhagen is a distinctive and Capital city of Denmark. It is a place of typical Danish products sales. Its quality of life in this city is one of the best in the world. It has a total population of 667,228 in the beginning of 2009. Copenhagen has a service oriented economy. An important sector is life science and research which plays a major role in the economy of the city
Home rental average-cost in the suburbs of Copenhagen range from US $ 2.500 per month.
Meals are extremely expensive, particularly when eating in a restaurant. Tthe standard per person with two meals plus drinks range more than US $ 80. If you do not eat out for meal, it will cost around U.S. $ 200 upwards for two adults per week.
Monthly costs for electricity, telephone and internet range from a minimum of US $ 200 or more per month.
Cost transport such as taxis quite expensive, short trips use a taxi will cost about US $ 50.
6. Zurich – Switzerland
Zurich is one of the main cities in Switzerland. This city has alpine mountains is a beautiful city for tourist. Lower taxes lead to many investors who invest in stocks.
The cost of apartment rental outside the city without an elevator is starting from US $ 1500 per month.
Utilities fees range from US $ 200 per family, standard family meals (4 persons) ranged from USD800 per month or more
Monthly train pass is US $ 90, oil is very expensive. It costs about US $ 1.6 per liter.
Dining out in the restaurant for two people range from standard to US $ 300, three menus plus wine.
5. Geneva – Switzerland
After Zurich Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland. Geneva is a global and financial city. There is a worldwide centre for diplomacy and the most important international co-operation centre with New York because of the presence of numerous international organizations, including the headquarters of many of the agencies of the Red Cross and the United Nations.
Average rent for apartment with three bedrooms starting around US $ 3000
A three family meal cost around US $ 1200 per month
Health-insurance cost is quite expensive to US $ 800.
Local accommodation costs around US $ 400 up to 650 (per room in a hostel or rental individually per flat), food monthly cost of about US $ 450, transport by tram or bus around US $ 100-170, books and support materials for learning about US $ 100, other costs of US $ 400 other. So the cost for his/her monthly needs about USD $ 1500 to 1800.
4. Moscow – Russia
Moscow is the capital of Russia and is ranked fourth most expensive city in the world. This “Red Bear” city is a 25% contributor to the Russian domestic oil. Sport areas, recreation and clothing are expensive in this city.
Average rent for apartment, not yet furnished with two luxurious bedrooms, is starting around US $ 4500
International paper per issue of US $ 5.5, glass coffee from US $ 9 (most expensive cup of coffee compare to other countries), and package food burger + potato + sodas US $ 5.
Dining-out costs will increase the normal monthly family expenditure to 2-3 times.
3. London – UK
London is considered to be the most important and financial center of the world. It is famous for its safe and luxuries life. It is the centuries old financial hub connecting Western economies with the eastern ones. With a GDP of $565 Billion it is Europe’s richest and most exciting city. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK’s top 100 listed companies and hundreds of Europe’s top 500 companies. London is the only city of UK among top 10 richest cities of the world.
Living in the UK particularly London is very expensive compared to other places in the World. An average two bed room apartment in central London will cost you from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds per month. However this cost varies from zone to zone. Living in zone 1 for students is extremely expensive. Dining in a restaurant will cost around 10 pounds per person with one cheese burger, snacks and a soft drink. Transportation cost is also very high. A bus fare from one stop to another is 2.20 pounds. However if you buy week or monthly bus pass that will cost you less . One day oyster pass costs you 4 pounds, whereas one week oyster pass will cost you 17.80 p0unds.
2. Paris – France
One of the most beautiful cities of the world is Paris famous for its architectures and historical buildings. Paris is considered to be the second largest city of Europe. Its GDP is €552.7 billion (US$813.4 billion) in 2008, produces more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) of France. The Paris region receives 45 million tourists annually, 60% of whom are foreign visitors. The city contains numerous world famous institutions, populous parks and iconic landmarks. It is also called the city of fashion.
1 sandwich will cost you around €5. Pizza between €8 and €10, 1 small coffee €1 at the bar, €2 sitting down, 1 full meal (starter, main dish, dessert, not including drinks): between €15 and €20 depending on the area.
1 beer in a café: €2 to €4, and 1 seat at the cinema: €9.
One bed room apartment in city center will cost 870 € per month where as 3 bed room apartment will cost 2,116 € in city center.
1. Tokyo – Japan
Tokyo is considered to be the costliest city in the world. It is the capital city and financial hub of Japan. The City has an area of 2187 km square and there are more than 13 Million people live in Tokyo. It is the most populated and industrial city in the world. The city often hit by earthquakes so it’s not allowed to build a skyscraper. The cost of living in Tokyo is very expensive.
Average rent for apartment not furnished with two luxurious bedrooms starting around US $ 4.500
International paper per issue of US $ 1, a glass coffee from US $ 5, and package food of burger + potato + sodas for US $ 5.
Are you serious? One bedroom apartment is at least 3000 SGD. With 600 SGD you can only get 1 small room in a shared apartment without bathroom. This apartment wouldn’t be good either, it would be apartment funded by the government and so bad.
Cost for an alcoholic beverage is at least 10 SGD and unless you eat at a small hawker center, food is at least 10SGD and above. Singapore is freaking expensive, you gotta at least make your assessment correct before publishing a false article. |
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When Vikings Attack: 10 things you need to know
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The Vikings are coming to PS3 and PlayStation Vita – make sure you're ready with these fantastic factoids from developer Clever Beans.
1. Helmet hogwash
Real Vikings didn't wear horns on their helmets, but they do in When Vikings Attack. Apologies to any Viking fans, Scandinavians, historians or anyone else who feels we have unfairly tainted the reputation of Vikings or taken liberties with historical accuracy.
The game is deliberately based only on vague, half-remembered half-truths from our school days. Real Vikings are indeed a fascinating subject, but this game is about the Vikings of common mythology, rather than history. Also, Vikings did not really invade 1970s Britain. We made that bit up too.
2. Sound effects and stolen biscuits
Many of the sound effects for the game were recorded by our sound designer Jamie Finlay during a session in an abandoned warehouse full of stolen biscuits. The warehouse was actually demolished the next day.
When Vikings Attack probably has the largest sound budget of any game that we have worked on. Almost everything in the game has a customised smashing or throwing sound, or both; many of which will make you laugh out loud. There are also countless funny vocal exclamations in various accents from all over the UK; at Clever Beans we call these "Ey-Ups".
Jamie is a real perfectionist, and even took his laptop on holiday to Spain so that he could do some last-minute voice-over editing for us. We can only apologise to his girlfriend for this.
3. Horses are all talk
An early storyline for the game involved a talking horse with a colander on his head. We will definitely include a talking horse in one of our games, in the future. There are clearly nowhere near enough games about talking horses.
4. When Vikings evolve
In a much earlier version of the game, the player could punch, kick and jump, and also throw other characters around just like objects.The game started out as a massive bar brawl style beat 'em up. Although we couldn't figure out how to make this seem like a convincing fight; there were a lot of characters wandering around doing nothing, and it wasn't clear how the player could control more than one character at once.
So we decided to have friendly characters follow the player character around. We had the idea that they were your "lives", waiting to step in and take over when needed. From there it was only a small step to make them all controllable at once, as a team.
5. The house of ideas
In one prototype level that we built, player teams could walk on walls.It all got a bit too confusing, both to play and to design. The game feels a little bit like an iceberg sometimes: a little pile of fun sitting on top of a much larger mountain of submerged, discarded gameplay ideas.
6. Stick with it...
The characters that you see in the game are the third or fourth iteration character models. An early prototype stick man character is unlockable in the game; see if you can find him! Producers at Sony Computer Entertainment liked this little guy so much that they asked for him to be put back in, even though he was only a graphic made by one of our programmers. We got an artist to remake him with a nice smiley face, though. A later, equally defunct character model can be found near the town hall in the game, as a statue.
7. Animal magic
No penguins were harmed during the making of the Zoo level.The donkey, however, was completely bent out of shape over the course of the project. Originally built for our first prototype world, he was reused in the Sorting Office world, the Pier world and then transformed into a zebra for the Zoo. Finally, after a lot of stretching and another new paint job, he put in a stint as a giraffe, also in the Zoo. Such is the nature of indie game development - we all have to wear a lot of hats. Even donkeys have to wear a lot of hats.
8. Let's dance
The most time-consuming special animation was the mime artist - although he was the quickest to make sound effects for. The robot is another favourite animation of ours. The track that he is breakdancing to is actually I'm in the Mood for Dancing by the Nolan Sisters. So he's not quite as cool as you might think.
9. Duck and cover
The inspiration for the Public Information films that punctuate the game came from a series of 1970s Cold War films called Protect and Survive.These were made in case of a nuclear attack on Britain, but never broadcast - perhaps because they are so terrifying. We substituted the Cold War terror of a nuclear invasion for a load of daft Vikings. Another inspiration was a British comedy series called Look Around You. This is a brilliant spoof of 1970s educational programmes, which has excellent period sound and music effects.
10. Credit where credit's due
When Vikings Attack has the longest credits list in the history of gaming. When you reach the end of the game, you will unlock the enhanced credits. These really are worth watching, and listening to.
Want to find out more about When Vikings Attack? Keep reading playstation.co.nz and PlayStation.Blog for all the latest on this hilarious action title. |
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Brexit and the new Heathrow runway: the issues are linked
Steve Peers
Yesterday, the Member of
Parliament for Richmond Park, Zac Goldsmith, resigned his seat, forcing a
by-election over the issue of the new runway at Heathrow Airport. It’s reported
that he wants the by-election (in which he will run as an independent) to be
regarded as a ‘referendum’ on the Heathrow runway, while his opposition (in
particular the Liberal Democrats, who were in second place last time) will
raise other issues, including Brexit. In a very real sense, however, Brexit and the new Heathrow runway are not separate issues – they are inextricably linked.
Let’s look at why. Many
commentators have suggested that there are enough votes in Parliament to
approve the Heathrow runway. Therefore the main obstacle to the runway is a possible legal challenge. And a main argument cited
in that potential challenge is EU law, namely the EU Directive
on air pollution.
What happens to that Directive in
the event of Brexit? Currently the government’s plans are to table a ‘Great
Repeal Bill’ next year. As I discussed recently
on this blog, the effect of that Bill will be to convert EU law into UK law as
of Brexit Day. The proposed Bill will give government ministers powers (in the
form of ‘delegated legislation’ known as ‘Statutory Instruments’) to repeal or
amend most or all EU laws without an Act of Parliament, meaning that Parliament
will have no power to amend such ministerial decisions and only a limited
opportunity to debate or block them. One such ministerial decision could simply
exempt the Heathrow runway decision from ex-EU air pollution law. (Of course,
there are many other EU laws on the environment, or other issues like
employment or equality law, which could face the same treatment).
Another issue arising from the ‘Great
Repeal Bill’ is how to deal with rulings of the EU Court of Justice interpreting
EU law, at least where those rulings were issued prior to Brexit Day. Arguably,
in the interests of ensuring legal continuity which underpin the planned Bill, such
judgments should remain binding or at least highly persuasive, until ministers
or Parliament decide to amend ex-EU laws with the unmistakable intention of
changing that interpretation. The point is relevant to a broad swathe of ex-EU
law, from trademarks to equality law, and in fact it is particularly relevant
to air pollution: in 2014, the EU Court ruled (as discussed here)
that the UK was indeed violating EU air pollution law as regards London.
It would be possible for
Parliament to complicate this process somewhat, by ensuring that when the Great
Repeal Bill becomes an Act, ministers will not have the power to approve the
Heathrow runway (or indeed to change other ex-EU laws on the environment or
other key issues) without an Act of Parliament. But if it is correct to say
that there is a Parliamentary majority to approve a new Heathrow runway, a
requirement for an Act of Parliament to change ex-EU law (and EU court rulings)
on this issue would only slow things down a bit.
What could stop the new runway
altogether, besides overturning Brexit itself? One option for Brexit is the ‘Norway
option’, where the UK would sign up to the ‘European Economic Area’ (EEA) treaty to retain full
participation in the single market. That treaty also entails continued
participation in most EU law on employment, sex equality and the environment,
including the main air pollution law that could be relevant to the new Heathrow
runway (see point 14c in this Annex
to that treaty).
Signing up to the EEA is not the same thing as staying part of
the EU in all respects, as that treaty does not apply to EU policies in key areas
like fisheries, agriculture, tax or trade with non-EU countries. So it could
not be said to ignore the Brexit vote, and it could be interim only (see
further discussion of the ‘interim EEA option’ here).
Or there could be an alternative ‘soft Brexit’ approach to the UK staying in
the single market, still including participation in EU environmental law.
One thing is clear: Goldsmith’s
position of decrying the new Heathrow runway, while supporting the very Brexit that
will likely make it impossible to oppose effectively in the courts, is
intellectually untenable. |
In a recent interview, Gun Owners of America’s Larry Pratt responded to demonstrations and riots in Baltimore by insisting that they would not have been a problem if police and armed citizens had simply shot rioters dead.
“This should be a wakeup call, if one were still needed, for Americans to arm themselves and be vigilant and, frankly, to know who your neighbors are,” Pratt said on the “Liberty Roundtable” last week, “and if, God forbid, something like Baltimore were to loom as a possibility where you live, that you and your neighbors would be able to hopefully head it off before it gets as bad as Baltimore got. Because one thing I’m pretty sure of is if the bad boys see that this is not going to be taking candy from a baby, that you break a window, you get shot. ‘Oops!’”
When the program’s host, Sam Bushman, suggested that “Eric Holder or the next attorney general or Barack Obama or somebody else from above” was “calling the shots” during the riots in Baltimore, Pratt responded that that was “a reasonable supposition” although Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was probably just acting like a “hardcore liberal.”
Rawlings-Blake, Pratt said, should have simply demanded that “the first time one of the demonstrators looked cross-eyed, they got arrested, and then if they had broken a window, shot.”
“Then, it seems to me, we wouldn’t even still know where Baltimore is,” he said.
Later in the interview Pratt repeated his belief that “we need to deal more firmly with those that would try to create the sort of disorder.”
“So at the first instance of collective criminal activity, ‘Boom!’ In comes the paddy wagon, off they go,” he said. “And if they start violating persons or destroying property, ‘Bang!’ Then you don’t need a paddy wagon. “ |
Basic Ecclesial Communities An Expression of a Renewed Church in the Philippines - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Basic Ecclesial Communities An Expression of a Renewed Church in the Philippines. Rev. Amado L. Picardal, CSsR, STD. The PCP II Vision of a Renewed Church and the Ecclesiology of Basic Ecclesial Communities
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“Our vision of the Church as communion, participation and mission, about the Church as priestly, prophetic, & kingly people, and as a Church of the Poor- a church that is renewed - is today finding expression in one ecclesial movement. This is the movement to foster Basic Ecclesial Communities.” par 137
The Church is called to be attentive to the situation of poverty, injustice, armed conflict, human rights violation, ecological degradation,
PCP II calls for a renewed social apostolate and for the Church to actively participate in the work for justice, peace, development & integrity of creation. The church is to be involved in social transformation.
The BECs enable the poor to embrace evangelical poverty and to actively participate in the Church’s prophetic, priestly and pastoral mission
The poor are not only evangelized, they also become evangelizers
The poor are not just passive recipients of aid, they are active participants in the process of social transformation. The poor are empowered to struggle for peace, justice, development, liberation and the integrity of creation
There were BECs that became involved in militant activities – such as protest marches and rallies against various issues (military abuses, human rights violations, U.S. bases, dam project, land reform, etc.).
All these led to the suspicion that the BECs were being used by groups struggling against the Marcos regime.
In a master’s thesis on “Contemporary Religious Radicalism in the Philippines” which he submitted to the National Defence College in the 1979, Colonel Galileo Kintanar wrote that the religious radicals were building up the BECs as “an infrastructure of political power” that could pose as a threat to national security.
Many of the development projects such as cooperatives, communal farms & community based health projects were suppressed on the suspicion that these were being used to support the revolutionary movement.
There were chapels that were closed and the people were forbidden to gather for prayer and bible-service.
Leaders and members of BECs were arrested and some were killed. Those who died were regarded as BEC martyrs.
They are communities, not organizations, prayer groups, societies or associations. They are not specialized groups but stable environment. The members often live in close proximity and interact with each other regularly.
They are small communities of Christian, usually of families who gather around the Word of God & the Eucharist.
These communities are united to their pastors but are ministered to regularly by lay leaders. The members know each other by name & share not only the Word of God & the Eucharist but also their concerns both material & spiritual
They have a strong sense of belongingness & responsibility for one another (par 138)
Holistic/Transformative BECs. BECs with social action component integrated with its evangelizing/worshipping activities. These are the fully developed BECs that work for progress, peace, justice & social transformation. (IGP, livelihood programs, peace zones, etc)
There is parallel but uneven development of BECs – in some places they are already established & are part of the structure of the local church, while others are just starting. There are still many places where there are no BECs yet.
The formation of BECs is part of the ongoing efforts to renew the Church since Vatican II. It is a new way of being Church. |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a configurable partition that is mobile and interconvertible in configuration. A method and system of use thereof is also disclosed.
2. Related Art
There is a need for an improved partition that offers increased flexibility of use and configurability than existing partition devices and partition systems which overcomes at least one of the aforementioned and possibly other deficiencies, in the art of partitions and partition systems. |
Q:
Communicating between subclassed nstextfield and view controller in swift
I've run into an issue where I need to communicate between a class that is a subclass of nstextfield and the view controller I am using in a cocoa swift project.
The subclassed nstextfield changes the size of it's frame. The field itself is within a table within the view controller. Essentially, when the nstextfield changes its frame size, I want the view controller to become aware of that. I'm able to signal to the view controller that the frame has changed via the use of Nsnotification Centre where an observer in the view controller listens for the notification, that works fine. But now when that notification is triggered, I need to view controller to return to the subclassed nstextfield in order to retrieve the size of the frame. I don't believe that I can pass for example a frame size with the notification message.
Can anyone give me an idea as to how I retrieve the frame size of the nstextfield from within the view controller?
Thanks for your assistance in advance.
A:
When you post your notification you can specify an object, in this case the textfield. The viewcontroller can retrieve the textfield from notification.object and ask for its frame.
If the viewcontroller needs more info, you can use -postNotificationName:object:userInfo:, userinfo is a dictionary in which you can store whatever you want.
|
DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract): Cocaine amphetamine, and other psychostimulant drugs, cause abuse and addiction by interacting with and altering certain neurochemical systems in brain. Recently, a neurochemical has been discovered which appears to be involved in cocaine's action. This neurochemical has been named CART (fro Cocaine and Amphetamine Regulated Transcript). The goal of this proposal is to clarify how CART peptides mediate or modulate the effects of cocaine and other psychostimulant drugs. A first step in this work is to show that injection of these peptides into the brain causes the same physiological effects that are caused by cocaine. In other words, CART peptides cause increased locomotor activity in rodents and reduced food intake. These are well known effects of the psychostimulant drugs themselves. In addition, we will look at the effects of these drugs at brain receptors; stimulation of physiologic receptors in brain is known to produce second messengers molecule such as cyclic AMP. Further, we will map the distribution of CART peptides in brain so as to fully understand where they are located and how they might influence the brain. We will also look at the effects of blocking their production and availability so as to obtain additional evidence about what they do, and we will prepare to make transgenic mice which either overproduce or have no CART peptide. These experiments will help us to understand how cocaine changes the brain, will show us how these new neurochemicals, the CART peptides, are involved in drug abuse, and may provide new strategies for developing medications to treat cocaine abuse and dependence. |
(CNN) The Philippines has been gripped by a political bout between the President, his biggest rival, with a special appearance by former world champion Manny Pacquiao.
Last week, Senator Leila De Lima called a hitman to testify before lawmakers that while, as mayor, President Rodrigo Duterte ran a "death squad" whose hundreds of victims included a justice department official who Duterte personally killed with an Uzi submachine gun
Duterte's office has denied all accusations against him.
His supporters succeeded this week in dumping De Lima from her role on the inquiry, as Duterte continued to loudly defend his anti-drug war. On Tuesday he said he would tell EU officials who had criticized him "f**k you!"
If all that sounds crazy... we haven't even got started.
De Lima removed
Senator Leila De Lima
On Monday, De Lima was removed as chair of the Justice and Human Rights Committee by a vote in the Senate led by Manny Pacquiao.
Critics have described her removal as a "reprisal" for her role in investigating Duterte's anti-drug war, which has so far claimed hundreds of lives amid accusations of extrajudicial killings by police.
Following her ouster, De Lima herself has become the subject of an inquiry held by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Duterte's allies.
Wait, Manny Pacquiao?
JUST WATCHED Manny Pacquiao: Duterte realizes what he said Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Manny Pacquiao: Duterte realizes what he said 05:20
Yes, the former world champion boxer turned politician led the charge to unseat De Lima, saying the committee was being used to "pin down the administration."
"It's not our intention to stop the investigation," Pacquiao told CNN. "(But) it's about investigation, not singling out one person."
He said self-professed hitman Edgar Matobato would be invited to continue testifying, but argued that there were numerous "inconsistencies in his testimony" against Duterte.
Pacquiao, a rising political star who is often discussed as a future Presidential candidate, is a firm ally of Duterte -- "he's a good friend of mine, from way back" -- and told CNN he supported the President's anti-drug policy.
Duterte vs. De Lima
While De Lima has long sought to have Duterte officially investigated over alleged death squad killings in Davao, and rights groups have denounced his apparent " impunity ," he has stepped up his attacks on her in recent weeks.
In a speech in August , Duterte called De Lima an "immoral woman" and a "robber," accusing her of having an affair with her driver and using him to collect drug payoffs.
"If I were De Lima, ladies and gentlemen, I'd hang myself," he said.
For her part, De Lima accused the President of throwing everything but the kitchen sink at her. "I'm still waiting for the sink."
What are the accusations against De Lima?
Flanked by armored police and granted immunity by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, former drug dealer Herbert Colanggo told the House committee Tuesday that the New Bilibid Prison was turned into a "Little Las Vegas" during De Lima's stint in the Justice Department under former President Benigno Aquino.
Colanggo and two other witnesses testified that they delivered millions of pesos to De Lima or her staff, in return for political favors.
How did she react?
In a statement Tuesday, De Lima denounced the hearings as a "blatant exercise in harassment and persecution."
She condemned the disclosure of her cellphone number and home address, both of which were provided by witnesses as supposed proof that they knew her.
"(I have been) bombarded by text messages ... and phone calls from unknown persons, threatening me, harassing me, calling me the vilest of names," she said.
What about Duterte?
JUST WATCHED Duterte's office denies death squad claims Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Duterte's office denies death squad claims 02:16
The President -- who De Lima investigated when she was head of the Commission on Human Rights and he was Davao City mayor -- said he was De Lima's "favorite whipping boy."
Speaking to supporters in Davao Tuesday, Duterte joked about the accusations against him.
"Yes, I kill, that's true, but not that many. 1700? Maybe more like 1,004," he said.
He said that when he was mayor, "it was very simple. I said get out of here -- if you're into drugs, murder for hire -- get out of here. This is true, I will kill you. And in the process I killed many upon my direction. There's no problem there."
So what happens now?
According to Pacquiao and new Human Rights Committee head Richard Gordon, the investigation into extrajudicial killings will proceed without De Lima.
"De Lima was not ousted because of Matobato. She was ousted because many of the people of the Senate felt that objectivity was being lost," Gordon told CNN Philippines
He added that Matobato would be included in the next hearing, but would be asked only to testify on the recent spate of extrajudicial killings, not past incidents or allegations about the Davao Death Squad. |
Q:
Why does PubSub resend messages when they were ack?
I have a short project where I push a number of messages (~1000) and then I try to process them on a single thread, but I still receive duplicates.
Is this a desired behavior of PubSub?
this is the code to create a subscriber
ExecutorProvider executorProvider =
InstantiatingExecutorProvider.newBuilder().setExecutorThreadCount(1).build();
// create subscriber
subscriber = Subscriber.newBuilder(subscriptionName, messageReceiver).setExecutorProvider(executorProvider).build();
subscriber.startAsync();
Here is the demo: https://github.com/andonescu/play-pubsub
I've pushed 1000 messages, each process took 300 milliseconds (delay added intentionally) then ack() was called. The ack time on subscription is 10. Based on all these I should not receive duplicate messages, but I've received more than 10% of those sent.
here is the log: https://github.com/andonescu/play-pubsub/blob/master/reports/1000-messages-reader-status
I've added same question on https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/pubsub/issues/182
A:
just looking very attentive through PubSub documentation and I've discovered the following part:
However, messages may sometimes be delivered out of order or more than once. In general, accommodating more-than-once delivery requires your subscriber to be idempotent when processing messages. You can achieve exactly once processing of Cloud Pub/Sub message streams using Cloud Dataflow PubsubIO. PubsubIO de-duplicates messages on custom message identifiers or those assigned by Cloud Pub/Sub.
https://cloud.google.com/pubsub/docs/subscriber#at-least-once-delivery
It seams that Cloud Dataflow PubsubIO is the key in my case.
or use an UniqueId and do the de-duplication in the client :)
|
All Pumped Up—Again
By Jan Chait | December 11, 2007 10:49 am
At least last week ended on a high note, ’cause it started out as a comedy of errors.
Bright and early Monday morning, I crawled out of bed, got dressed, and drove to an oncologist’s office for a scheduled 8 AM interview for an article on colorectal cancer. There, I settled into a comfy sofa in the waiting room and watched the morning news while waiting for Susan, the clinic’s PR person/reporter-babysitter to arrive.
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Around 10 or 15 minutes after my interview was to begin, I called Susan. “Are you coming for the interview, or are you finally going to let me talk to somebody without you hovering?” I asked her.
“Tomorrow?” she asked.
“No, it’s this morning,” I responded. “I’m at the office now. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“It’s tomorrow—Tuesday—morning,” she said as she laughed.
“#*)” I responded.
Tuesday morning, I got up bright and early, got dressed, and stumbled out to my car, which was covered with frost. Opened the door, got in, put the key in the ignition and closed the door. Which bounced back open. I tried closing it again. Again, it bounced back open. Most car doors stick shut when they’re covered with frost or ice. Mine has to be different and stick open.
I checked the clock. Fifteen minutes until I was supposed to be at the doc’s office. I started calling Susan’s pager. Susan’s pager doesn’t like me. I tried from my cell phone. I tried from my home phone. The third time (on my home phone) was a charm and I was able to explain the situation to her so the interview could be rescheduled. She also confirmed that her pager had only beeped her once.
After making sure I got her cell phone number, I opened my address book to enter it. It was already there.
I finally made it Thursday morning. Late. The children stayed overnight with us on Wednesday and had to be taken to school. My grandson had gone out and started my car, with instructions to turn the heat up all the way and the defrosters on. I thought it would be good to go when it was time to leave. He started it, but it didn’t stay that way. When we went out, the car was silent and every window on it was coated with a thick layer of frost. We couldn’t find a scraper and had to wait for the defrosters and heat to clear the windows.
When I got home, I noticed I had my pants on inside out.
Friday dawned cold, but beautiful, with a cover of fresh snow blanketing the landscape. I had no outside appointments and plenty of time to cook dinner at my leisure. As my neighbor and I were sitting at the table, sharing tea and looking through her latest sewing project, my doorbell rang. It was my new insulin pump[1] being delivered.
Yes, I gave in and got a new one. It has the latest features including something I’ve really been wanting: It calculates how much insulin[2] is still active in your body and calculates how much you’ll need to correct a high. I’ll no longer have to commit math!
After my neighbor left, I unpacked the box and commenced setting up the pump. It’s a different brand than I’ve had before, and I have a trainer coming, but figured I could get it going. After all, I’ve been pumping for more than nine years. How difficult can it be?
An hour later, I came mighty close to calling a teenager. Not that all teenagers know how everything works, but this particular one happens to use the same kind of pump I got.
However, by reading the manual and going back and forth a lot before I got the basics set up, I finally managed to get it to the point where I could hook up to it.
There was a noise. My (now former) pump was beeping. What was it trying to say? It was low on insulin? There was an occlusion? (I’d been getting a lot of those lately.) I peered at the screen. “Battery low,” it said. It was a sign.
I opened the door with the broken hinge cover, then the battery cover, and shook out the batteries. I tossed the batteries into a nearby trash can, closed the doors on the pump, and set it down on the table.
Silence reigned once again. Suddenly, it occurred to me that, after more than nine years, I could finally utter those famous words; the words behind the reason I had named my first pump “Elvis.”
Jan Chait: Jan Chait was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in January 1986. Since then, she has run the gamut of treatments, beginning with diet and exercise. She now uses an insulin pump to help treat her diabetes.
Disclaimer of Medical Advice: You understand that the blog posts and comments to such blog posts (whether posted by us, our agents or bloggers, or by users) do not constitute medical advice or recommendation of any kind, and you should not rely on any information contained in such posts or comments to replace consultations with your qualified health care professionals to meet your individual needs. The opinions and other information contained in the blog posts and comments do not reflect the opinions or positions of the Site Proprietor. |
Monday, January 31, 2011
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam (39), says North Korea should abandon the "Songun" or military first doctrine, and pursue reforms and open up.
He also commented on the North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, referring to the waters surrounding the South Korean island as a "battle zone," and said there are "forces" in the North Korean regime who are trying to use the attack to justify the Songun doctrine and nuclear weapons.
It is unclear whether his father is part of those "forces," but Kim Jong-nam's comments read like a denunciation of the retrograde hawks taking over key positions within the North Korean regime.
He urged his half brother Jong-un to handle inter-Korean relations wisely so that tragedies such as the artillery attack on Yeonpyong Island do not happen again. He expressed hope that Kim Jong-un will become a leader respected by his people, adding that he was not trying to challenge or criticize him and that he wished the North could stabilize politically and recover economically.
He said his younger was chosen to succeed his father to "stabilize the framework of the nation." But he warned "Instability in North Korea will lead to instability in the surrounding region."
Sunday, January 30, 2011
For the third year running, North Korea was ranked the world's worst persecutor of Christians, according to a report that was examined by the Council of Europe.
Hundreds of Christians were arrested in North Korea in 2010, with some killed and others sent to concentration camps, according to the report by Protestant evangelical group Open Doors International (ODI).
Iran, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia ranked just below Pyongyang in the 50-nation ranking of violence perpetrated against Christian communities, according to Open Door's latest World Watch list.
The report was examined on the sidelines of a parliamentary debate at the 47-member Council of Europe on violence perpetrated against Christians in Near and Middle Eastern nations.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
In preparation for his presidential bid, Barack Obama pursued this vein and wrote "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream." In his State of the Union speech this week, Obama proposed that we build momentum with investment in research, education, technology and infrastructure.
The challenge is the projected deficit for 2011 stands at $1.5 trillion, and the government will need to borrow 40 cents for every dollar it spends.
Our third-largest budget item is the military. We can no longer afford to serve as the global policeman. The American Dream 2.0 requires awareness that our fiscal and military resources are not limitless and that our moral authority has been called into question. As a country we have no choice but to seek global solutions in partnership.
What about North Korea? Will it be easier to work with Kim Jong Un than his father, Kim Jong Il, if the young man weathers the transition to power?
Friday, January 28, 2011
Chosun Ilbo reports the South Korean government will set a 1-percent quota for North Korean defectors in administrative assistant jobs at public agencies. The government assumes that about 3,000 North Koreans arrive in South Korea on average every year and have a hard time adapting to their new environment partly due to difficulties finding jobs.
A Ministry of Public Administration and Security spokesman said the government "decided to take the lead in hiring North Korean defectors to raise awareness of them and encourage private companies to follow suit."
The ministry plans to ask former and current public servants to serve as mentors for defectors and give them a training course through which they can develop their skills.
According to the ministry, the total number of defectors is expected to exceed the 30,000 mark in 2013.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The number of cell phone subscribers in North Korea grew more than fourfold in the year through September, according to an Egyptian carrier operating in the country. Subscribers can communicate across about 70 percent of the country's residential areas now that sufficient base stations have been built, according to the sources.
Orascom Telecom Holding said it had more than 300,000 subscribers in the country in September, compared with about 180,000 in late June and about 70,000 at the end of September 2009. The carrier began operating the service in North Korea in late 2008.
Although the spread of cell phone use could loosen Pyongyang's grip on information control, officials are reluctant to close down the business because it brings much-needed cash to a state-run company that holds a 25-percent stake in the cellular network, sources close to Pyongyang said.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A man and a woman caught reading South Korean propaganda were executed in North Korea Monday, activists reported.
The people executed were a 45-year-old woman accused of reading a propaganda leaflet and failing to report it, and a regional military officer charged with pocketing the money sent along with the leaflets, The Chosun Ilbo reported.
Choi Sung-yong, the head of Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea, said North Korean security services collected about 500 people and forced them to watch the execution.
Choi said the families of the two people were sent to a camp for political prisoners in South Pyongan province. And he added, "It seems North Korea is stepping up monitoring and crackdowns on people who read or listen to anti-communist propaganda to ensure the hereditary transfer of power" from Kim to his son Jong Un.
North Korean defectors said people who handle anti-communist leaflet are required to notify authorities.
Vismita Gupta-Smith, an official of the World Health Organization which operates an office in Pyongyang, added that the WHO has been informed that the North’s public health ministry has “intensified its disease surveillance efforts to timely report any unusual incidence or occurrence of disease.”
Any effect of the cold on the spring farming season would come at a particularly inopportune time: the United Nations recently estimated that some 5 million North Koreans will face food shortages this year as the impoverished country continues to struggle with a lack of staple grains.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
North Korea's official news agency issued a report on recent talks between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The Korean Central News Agency said that a joint statement issued after the talks stressed the importance of improving relations between the two Koreas and called for dialogue.
It said the statement also urged an early resumption of six-nation negotiations on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.
The brief dispatch was North Korea's first report on the summit and contained no commentary.
It comes two days after South Korea decided to accept a North Korean proposal for high-level defense talks.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
On the subject of North Korea, all that emerged is President Obama saying he and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed that North Korea must avoid further provocations.
In a joint statement, Obama and Hu appeared to set aside recent rancor over North Korea, which caused alarm with the shelling of a South Korean island and claims of new nuclear advances. But it offered no new ways to contain Pyongyang. So all in all, no breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, a Chinese firm says it wants to invest US$2 billion in North Korea's Rajin-Sonbong region, which the North has been trying to develop as a special economic zone.
Rumors also circulate in northeastern China that a real estate firm in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture is likewise considering investing in Rajin-Sonbong.
A local source said, "According to rumors circulating in the North, the Stalinist country has finished attracting investment amounting to $10 billion in the Rajin-Sonbong region and tangible results will come out in March or April.”
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
North Korea began building centrifuges to enrich uranium in the late 1990s, a high-ranking North Korean defector said Tuesday. "There is a factory in Huichon, Jagang Province that builds centrifuges," the defector said.
There are fears that centrifuges manufactured in Huichon could have been moved to the nearby Yongbyon nuclear facility north of Pyongyang. Huichon is just 57 km from Yongbyon and the two cities are connected by road and railway.
In November North Korea took U.S. nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker to a facility in Yongbyon that contained around a thousand centrifuges. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials believe that the centrifuges were made elsewhere.
A North Korean source said, "It takes a considerable amount of electricity to operate centrifuges. There are suspicions that North Korea wants to turn Huichon into a uranium enrichment center after completing the hydroelectric plant." The senior defector said North Korea is incapable of producing the engines that are a crucial component of centrifuges and had to import them from Japan, France and Russia.
Turning to the North's existing nuclear weapons, the defector said their efficiency still needs to be improved, so North Korea will try to boost its nuclear capability by conducting a third nuclear test.
"There is almost no chance that North Korea will start a war at this point," he added. "High-ranking North Korean military commanders know their country is incapable of sustaining a war."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
On the occasion of the White House State dinner that President Obama will host for President Hu Jintao of the People's Republic of China on January 19, 2011, the North Korea Freedom Coalition cordially invites you to join us for a Candlelight Vigil to remember the North Korean refugees who have been repatriated against their will by the Chinese authorities to North Korea to face certain torture, certain imprisonment and even death for fleeing their homeland.
We will begin gathering at Lafayette Park at 6 pm on Wednesday, January 19, 2011, for the candlelight vigil at 7 pm. We will walk in front of the White House for a quiet ceremony carrying a coffin to remember all those who have died because of this policy, and we will read THE LIST of all the names known to us of the North Korean refugees who have been forced back to North Korea. Special guests will include North Korean defectors.
[Besides your attendance] there are two ways that you can help:
1) please send your letters -- both personal appeals and letters from NGOs are welcome -- to President Hu to stop repatriating the North Korean refugees.
"China has neither the plan nor the conditions to deploy troops in other countries," said Zhang Zhaozhong, a military expert at the PLA National Defense University.
There are only several conditions under which Chinese troops will be stationed in other countries, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry's official. And that includes for peacekeeping missions and disaster rescue efforts approved by the UN.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Chinese President Hu Jintao goes to Washington this week for a crucial summit with his US counterpart Barack Obama which will try to smooth the rocky relationship between the world’s two biggest economies, while trying to move beyond a long-running currency stand-off and nagging trade issues. This is Hu’s first official state visit to the United States and it highlights the changing power structures in the global economy, as China matches its growing economic might with increased political influence on the world stage.
Political discussions will be tricky, as both disagree sharply on how to resolve the nuclear crisis with Chinese ally North Korea. Obama is likely to urge Hu to increase pressure on North Korea.
Chinese vice-foreign minister Cui Tiankai insisted China and the US “have broad common interests and share the same goal on the Korean nuclear issue”.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
China is in discussions with North Korea about stationing its troops in the isolated state for the first time since 1994, the Chosun Ilbo reports.
The South Korean newspaper quoted an anonymous official at the presidential Blue House as saying that Beijing and Pyongyang recently discussed details of stationing Chinese soldiers in the North's northeastern city of Rason. The location gives access to the Sea of Japan (East Sea), while a senior security official was quoted as saying it would allow China to intervene in case of North Korean instability.
"The worst scenario China wants to avoid is a possibly chaotic situation in its northeastern provinces which might be created by massive inflows of North Korean refugees," Seoul's International Security Ambassador Nam Joo-Hong was quoted as saying.
China's defense ministry declined comment to AFP on the matter.
Chinese troops left North Korea in 1994, when Beijing withdrew from the Military Armistice Commission that supervises the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Speaking at a news conference in Japan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there was a "common interest" between the US, China, South Korea and Japan in securing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.
And he stressed that it is time for North Korea to get "serious" about negotiations for peace. "There must be concrete evidence that they are finally serious about negotiations," Mr Gates said of the leadership in Pyongyang.
North Korea has offered talks, and the reopening of tourism and industrial projects in recent days, but South Korea, the US and Japan have responded skeptically.
Speaking in Washington, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen said North Korea posed "an evolving threat, not just to the region but to the United States specifically".
Mr Gates was in China for 4 days, is presently in Japan and heads to South Korea on Friday.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
North Korean border guards have reportedly shot dead five North Korean refugees after pursuing them across the frozen Yalu river, which forms a natural border with neighboring China.
South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that border guards pursued seven refugees across the river into China. “Five of them died instantly under intensive gunfire by North Korean border guards who had run after them and the two others were wounded and taken to the North,” the paper said. The reports indicated that the guards dragged the bodies and the injured back across the border with permission from Chinese authorities.
This is the first time in years there have been reports of defectors being shot. In fact North Korean border guards have never shot defectors once they had reached the Chinese side. The paper suggested the guards could have been given new directives on dealing with would-be defectors.
Many North Korean defectors escape through China, finding sanctuary with ethnic Koreans in the border regions of China, and then make their way to South Korea. In some cases China has returned defectors, leaving them to an uncertain fate. In general the area is like many border regions – deeply porous and difficult to monitor. Moreover, there is considerable traffic, both trade and human, across the frontier.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Defense Secretary Robert Gates predicted within five years North Korea will have a limited ability to deliver a weapon to U.S. shores using intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The risk of war on the Korean Peninsula is also rising because South Koreans are fed up with provocation and harassment from the North, Gates added to reporters in China, where he is currently visiting.
"We consider this a situation of real concern and we think there is some urgency to proceeding down the track of negotiations and engagement," he said.
U.S. officials have said North Korea's increasingly bellicose behavior over the past year is probably part of a plan to establish the military bona fides of leader Kim Jong Il's son as his chosen successor. North Korea regularly denounces the United States and accuses it of wanting to destroy the country, but it poses the most direct threat to its neighbor South Korea, a U.S. ally.
Gates said he wants to see North Korea take specific steps, such as a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests, to show that it is serious about disarmament talks. Gates said he wants to make sure North Korea is not rewarded for brinksmanship. He said the North has a pattern of bargaining by provoking a crisis, "and then everybody scrambles diplomatically to try and put Humpty Dumpty back together again. I don't want to buy the same horse twice."
Sunday, January 09, 2011
North Korea’s heir apparent celebrated his first birthday Saturday since making his public debut.
There is no indication that the birthday of Kim Jong-Un -–January 8-- has been designated as a public holiday in the communist state, which is immersed in a personality cult built around its founding family.
Pyongyang’s propaganda machine gave no indication as to whether the country was celebrating the younger Kim’s birthday as a public holiday, with North Korean 2011 calendars indicating that January 8 is an ordinary Saturday.
A South Korean official said Thursday that North Korea had arranged low-profile celebrations. But PSCORE, an anti-Pyongyang activist group, quoted sources in the North’s northern city of Musan as saying that goods such as soap, underwear and liquor were being transported by train to be handed out to people on the birthday.
Friday, January 07, 2011
China is using the profits from its export trade with the US to fund what is likely to become a military challenge to American dominion over the waterways of Asia and the Pacific.
With its growing resources, Beijing is claiming a vast maritime arc from Korea to Indonesia long dominated by the US Navy.
In August, after Washingtonexpresseda “national interest” in the South China Sea and conducted naval exercises there to reinforce that claim, Beijing's officialGlobal Timesresponded angrily, saying, “The US-China wrestling match over the South China Sea issue has raised the stakes in deciding who the real future ruler of the planet will be.”
Amid growing tensions, the Pentagonreportedthat Beijing now holds “the capability to attack… [US] aircraft carriers in the western Pacific Ocean” and target “nuclear forces throughout… the continental United States.” By developing “offensive nuclear, space, and cyberwarfare capabilities,” China seems determined to vie for dominance of what the Pentagon calls “the information spectrum in all dimensions of the modern battlespace.”
To check China and extend its military position globally, Washington is intent on building a new digital network of air and space robotics, advanced cyberwarfare capabilities, and electronic surveillance. By 2020, if all goes according to plan, the Pentagon will launch a three-tiered shield of space drones—reaching from stratosphere to exosphere, armed with agile missiles, linked by a resilient modular satellite system, and operated through total telescopic surveillance.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. envoy on North Korea (DPRK), said he hopes "serious" talks over Pyongyang's nuclear program will soon begin.
"We look forward to being able to launch those at a reasonably early time," the envoy, who arrived in Seoul Tuesday afternoon, told reporters at the Incheon International Airport.
He is seeking to "consult and coordinate positions" of the countries involved in the stalled six-party talks aimed at dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear program, the envoy said, adding he is expecting "more listening than talking." He will also visit China and Japan on this trip.
The envoy's trip is expected to lay foundations for the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington later this month.
The flurry of diplomatic activities come after Pyongyang, which once declared the six-party talks dead, expressed its will to return to the negotiating table while claiming it has developed a new, highly sophisticated uranium enrichment facility.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk has called on North Korea to take measures to improve the human rights and living conditions of its people.
“North Korea is restricting freedom and truth while failing to provide the people with rights to live humanly without worrying about survival,” Cheong said in an exclusive New Year interview with The Korea Times.
He urged North Korean leaders to exert efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and make its people happier.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
It used to be that if you wanted propaganda from North, the official Korea Central News Agency was your destination. But sometime this past year, the hermetic Stalinist ruling clique decided that sort of online communication was too archaic and one-way.
So now North Korea has a YouTube channel and Facebook, Flickr and Twitter accounts to promote the glory of its homebrew “Juche System” ideology.
Pyongyang didn’t make that decision because of its fondness for tweeting. South Korea has an aggressive effort to block its citizens from accessing the North’s Korean-language online content. To break past the firewall, the North jumped into social media last summer, according to U.S. intelligence. The move was announced by a North Korean website called Urminjokkkiri that’s administered out of China. (Here’s its English-language edition.)
South Koreans visiting Urminjokkkiri can find a link to proxy router programs to help them evade the firewall, according to the August report from the Director of National Intelligence’s Open Source Center, “suggesting a connection with efforts to neutralize South Korean censorship.”
Pyongyang’s official Twitter account — which has over 10,000 followers — uses TinyURL links, so users don’t get directed to blocked North Korean web addresses.
The YouTube channel is filled with typical North Korean fare: gaunt-looking technicians at factories demonstrating their latest computerized controls; miners extracting endless trays of coal to an accordion-heavy soundtrack; ceaseless military parades. They appear to be clips from state television.
Same goes for the other social-media efforts. The North’s Flickr page is heavy on shots of flash-card dancing and joyful fireworks explosions, with heavy emphasis on the illuminated streets of Pyongyang — to refute the image of the country as an impoverished, electricity-starved prion-state. Curiously, its Facebook page is pretty barren, except for links to its other propaganda and social-media sites. |
When Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters, a great debate began. Social media has been back and forth on who is cuter; Baby Yoda (yes, The Child, we know) or Babu Frik . The Anzellan droidsmith plays a pivotal role in The Rise of Skywalker. So, how did the littlest member of Zorii Bliss’ Kijimi crew come to life on the big screen? IGN got a chance to speak to the VFX team including creature effect supervisor Neal Scanlan and special effects supervisors Roger Guyett about what it took to make this tiny guy a reality.
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Effects Behind the Scenes 5 IMAGES
Practical creatures have been a part of the Star Wars universe since the very beginning. You’ve likely seen the video of Mark Hamill working with a puppet version of Yoda back in Empire Strikes Back. Guyett told IGN that Babu Frik “encapsulates the spirit of Star Wars.” Scanlan, who said there were 538 creatures used in The Rise of Skywalker, gave us a look at what went into doing a scene with him.“Babu is a little nine-inch puppet,” he explained. “He has animatronics and mechanisms in his head so that he can talk and blink. And so, to a large extent, what we're trying to do in that world is create a fully livable entity. But he can't obviously move on his own accord, so there are rods attached to him, and those rods are then held by puppeteers who stand behind him in most of the scenes.”The practical effects in films, particularly in the Star Wars franchise, are enhanced with digital work, making puppets look more like real creatures. Though Babu Frik is a rod puppet and was operated by puppeteers in green suits, Babu Frik is enhanced by CG. According to Scanlan, “If we didn't have the wonderment of CG and the brilliance of ILM, we wouldn't be able to do this because you'd see them behind [the set]”.It wasn’t just the usual puppeteers either. Scanlan told us that the voice of Babu joined in. Shirley Henderson (who you’ll remember as Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films) did some work on that front as well. “J.J. [Abrams] said, ‘Wouldn't it be great if she could actually operate Babu's mouth so that when she talks she performs the puppet?’ So she came and she worked with us for a couple of weeks, and she joined him with our puppeteering team.” Henderson was doing the dialogue live and operating the mouth while working with the other actors on set.Scanlan said this whole process is “very unique to Star Wars,” and that the audience responds to that. He said, “We don't want Babu to look so real that you're not - We want him to be a puppet. We want you to engage with him like you would do at a Punch and Judy show as a child.”Babu wasn’t always the witty little droidsmith we saw in the final cut. In fact, he was a little more Zen. Scanlan explained, “Babu’s role in the film changed from the original concept that we talked to J.J. about, to where you see him…His costume changed, and I'm sure I can say this, he was almost like a mystic to begin with. And then he became almost like a welder, and then you can see now his evolution as a character.” That said, Babu’s basic look and size stayed the same.Eagle-eyed fans might have noticed this already, but there may be a little Easter egg in Babu’s workshop. Scanlan said, “I'm not sure if it's there because even I haven't had a chance to look close, but I'm not completely unsure that there isn't a Bad Robot [director J.J. Abrams’ production company] in Babu's workshop…I think he's in there. I glimpsed, so I'm trying to see if he's there. We definitely made one.”Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now. Stay tuned for more info on the VFX from the film, including how they made those Leia scenes work.And for more of Rise of Skywalker coverage, check out our review , read our explainer on those Sith revelations , and learn what Finn was trying to tell Rey in that key scene. |
959 N.E.2d 861 (2011)
Gordon B. DEMPSEY and Gordon B. Dempsey, PC, Appellants-Plaintiffs,
v.
Todd H. BELANGER, Appellee-Defendant.
No. 49A04-1104-CT-201.
Court of Appeals of Indiana.
November 23, 2011.
Rehearing Denied January 13, 2012.
*862 Gordon B. Dempsey, Indianapolis, IN, Appellant pro se.
Daniel S. Tomson, Mercer Belanger, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellee.
OPINION
VAIDIK, Judge.
Case Summary
Gordon B. Dempsey and Gordon B. Dempsey, P.C. (collectively referred to as "Dempsey"), appeal the trial court's denial of his motion to reinstate his complaint against attorney Todd H. Belanger. Although Dempsey's complaint against Belanger had been dismissed on the merits in 2007, Dempsey contends that the Journey's Account Statute and Indiana Trial Rule 60(B)(7) allow him to continue his action against Belanger. Concluding that Dempsey is not entitled to continue his action against Belanger and that the trial court properly awarded attorney's fees to Belanger, we affirm the trial court in all respects. We also conclude that appellate attorney's fees are warranted and therefore remand this case for the limited purpose of determining Belanger's appellate attorney fees.
Facts and Procedural History
This action is the latest installment in an ongoing series of legal proceedings concerning Dempsey's purchase of properties in Indianapolis. As noted in one of these federal decisions, "[t]his drama has unfolded in the Marion Superior Court, the Indiana Court of Appeals, the Indiana Supreme Court, the United States Bankruptcy Court, . . . [the] United States District Court," and the Seventh Circuit. Dempsey v. Carter, No. 1:04-cv-0996-JDT-TAB, slip op. at 2 (S.D.Ind. Feb. 16, 2007). We, however, recite the facts relevant only to this appeal.
Dempsey, a licensed Indiana attorney who is representing himself in this matter, owned a property on Kessler Boulevard in *863 Indianapolis which he used as his office. The property also contained two rental units. JP Morgan Chase Bank held the mortgage on this property.
In 2004, Dempsey lost a six-figure judgment in Marion Superior Court to George and Oleva Carter. The trial court determined an amount of the deficiency and ordered an execution sale for the Kessler Boulevard property. The execution sale took place on May 18, 2005. Chase, who was the only bidder, bid the remaining amount of Dempsey's mortgage and won the property. Because Chase's bid was for the amount outstanding on the mortgage, the sale did nothing to reduce the Carters' judgment against Dempsey.
On June 3, 2005, Chase, represented by Belanger, petitioned the trial court for a writ of assistance to take possession of the Kessler Boulevard property. Dempsey filed a motion to set aside the May 18 sale and an objection to the writ of assistance. The trial court denied the motion and entered the writ of assistance. On July 19, the Sheriff evicted Dempsey and the tenants from the Kessler Boulevard property, which was also the day of the viewing for Dempsey's cousin. Dempsey had asked Chase for a delayed eviction because of his cousin's viewing and funeral, but Chase did not oblige him.
On June 6, 2006, Dempsey filed suit against Chase in Marion Superior Court, generally alleging that Chase violated his mortgage agreement when it bought the property at the execution sale and then evicted him. Chase removed the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction and filed a motion to dismiss. On February 16, 2007, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana dismissed all but one of Dempsey's claims for failure to state a claim. Dempsey, No. 1:04-cv-0996-JDT-TAB. The district court remanded the remaining claim to state court because Dempsey lacked standing to pursue it in federal court. The district court also awarded Chase approximately $30,000 in attorney's fees.
Dempsey appealed the dismissal. On March 31, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded that the district court lacked jurisdiction to hear one of the claims that the court had dismissed on the merits but otherwise affirmed the district court. Dempsey v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 272 Fed.Appx. 499, 500-01 (7th Cir.2008). Specifically, the Seventh Circuit:
concluded that [Dempsey's] first subargumentthat Chase breached the mortgage by paying too littlewas really an attack on the state court's order allowing the execution sale, which expressly authorized mortgagees like Chase to bid the value of their liens. Thus, [the Seventh Circuit] concluded that the [district] court lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim. But the remaining claimsthat Chase breached the mortgage agreement by evicting him and that its execution of the writ of assistance was unfair[the Seventh Circuit] easily dismissed as wholly without merit. [The Seventh Circuit] remanded the case to the district court so that it could send the barred claim back to the state court.
Dempsey v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, 335 Fed.Appx. 614, 616 (7th Cir.2009). The Seventh Circuit also instructed the district court to recalculate attorney's fees to exclude any fees associated with the barred claim. On remand, the district court reduced the attorney's fees to approximately $22,000. Dempsey filed a motion to reconsider, which was denied. Dempsey again appealed to the Seventh Circuit, this time arguing that the award of attorney's fees was still too high, and the Seventh Circuit *864 affirmed the district court. Id. at 617. On January 25, 2010, Dempsey's lawsuit against Chase was remanded to state court for resolution of the remaining claims.
In the meantime, on July 19, 2007, Dempsey had filed a personal suit against Belanger in Marion Superior Court. Dempsey alleged that Belanger had advised Chase to seek possession of the Kessler Boulevard property, sought the writ of assistance in order to take possession of the property, instructed the Sheriff to remove the tenants (although the tenants had no notice and opportunity to be heard), and participated in the decision not to allow him a few extra days for the eviction based on his cousin's death. Dempsey also appeared to raise claims of invasion of privacy by intrusion and false light.
Belanger quickly filed a motion to dismiss. Belanger argued collateral estoppel in that the claims against him were the same claims that Dempsey brought against Chase. In addition, Belanger argued that Dempsey failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted according to Indiana Trial Rule 12(B)(6) for failing to provide legal support for his claims. On August 27, 2007, Dempsey filed an amended complaint. Appellant's App. p. 129. On September 17, 2007, the trial court granted Belanger's motion to dismiss, but it did not articulate the basis for dismissal. Id. at 6. That same day, the trial court also struck Dempsey's amended complaint. Dempsey filed a motion to correct error, which the trial court denied. Dempsey did not appeal the dismissal.
Nearly three years later, on August 26, 2010, Dempsey filed a motion to reinstate his complaint against Belanger arguing that the Journey's Account Statute and Indiana Trial Rule 60(B)(7) entitled him to resurrect his litigation against Belanger. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Dempsey's motion to reinstate on January 13, 2011. The court found, in pertinent part:
[Dempsey's] claim is not subject to the protections of the Journey's Account Statute. The evident purpose of the statute is to reach those cases where a suit is brought, and the plaintiff, from some cause other than negligence in its prosecution, fails to obtain a decision on the merits. The Journey's Account Statute is typically used to save an action filed in the wrong court. . . . In this case, [Dempsey] proposes an interpretation and application of the Journey's Account Statute not based on any relevant statute or case-law. [Dempsey] makes a series of arguments in his motion to reinstate, but fails to support any of these assertions with any statutory or case law. Essentially, what [Dempsey] has submitted is merely a collection of how the law should be applied to preserve his claim. By [Dempsey's] interpretation of the [Journey's Account] Statute, any claim dismissed for any reason other than negligence would enjoy the statute's protection, including claims previously settled on the merits. This Court is unwilling to extend the Journey's Account Statute that far.
Additionally, [Dempsey] propose[s] that the statute applies to this claim because the initial complaint was dismissed based on "an ultimately ill founded collateral estoppel." However, [Dempsey] offer[s] no support for this assertion, and there is nothing in the record to support it. This case was dismissed by this Court on September 17, 2007, but the Order of Dismissal does not state the reason for such dismissal. [Dempsey] ha[s] once again stretched and bended the facts in the present situation to suit [his] needs. Therefore, as [Dempsey] ha[s] failed to *865 establish any of the requirements, the Journey's Account Statute is simply not applicable.
Next, we turn to [Dempsey's] argument that his claim should also be reinstated under Indiana Trial Rule 60(b)(7). Trial Rule 60(b)(7) does not require or justify reinstating [Dempsey's] complaint. [Dempsey] attempts to fashion a piecemeal interpretation of Trial Rule 60(b), whereby only phrases that are beneficial to his cause are cited. [Dempsey] argues again, without showing any facts supporting this assertion, that the dismissal was based on a prior judgment which has been reversed or is otherwise vacated. Once again, [Dempsey] offers nothing to suggest or support that the trial court based its dismissal on collateral estoppel. T.R. 60(B) does not provide a substitute for direct appeal.
Additionally, Trial Rule 60(B) states that a motion under section (7) shall be filed within a reasonable time. Even if the court had used collateral estoppel to dismiss Dempsey's initial Complaint, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Order remanding the matter . . . was entered March 31, 2008, and [Dempsey] waited more than two years before attempting to revive his claims. The courts have found that a "reasonable time" under T.R. 60(B) varies with the circumstances of each case. . . . Therefore, Trial Rule 60(b)(7) does not support reinstating [Dempsey's] complaint.
Id. at 9-12 (citations and quotations omitted). Finally, the trial court found that Dempsey's complaint was frivolous under Indiana Code section 34-52-1-1(b) and awarded Belanger approximately $2000 in attorney's fees. Dempsey filed a motion to correct error, which the trial court denied. Dempsey now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
Dempsey raises two issues on appeal. First, he contends that the trial court erred in denying reinstatement of his complaint against Belanger under the Journey's Account Statute and Indiana Trial Rule 60(B)(7). Second, he contends that the trial court erred in awarding attorney's fees to Belanger. In his brief, Belanger requests appellate attorney's fees.
I. Reinstatement
A. Journey's Account Statute
Dempsey contends that the trial court erred in denying reinstatement of his complaint against Belanger according to the Journey's Account Statute ("JAS"). The JAS provides in relevant part:
(a) This section applies if a plaintiff commences an action and:
(1) the plaintiff fails in the action from any cause except negligence in the prosecution of the action;
(2) the action abates or is defeated by the death of a party; or
(3) a judgment is arrested or reversed on appeal.
(b) If subsection (a) applies, a new action may be brought not later than the later of:
(1) three (3) years after the date of the determination under subsection (a); or
(2) the last date an action could have been commenced under the statute of limitations governing the original action;
and be considered a continuation of the original action commenced by the plaintiff.
Ind.Code § 34-11-8-1. The JAS generally permits a party to refile an action that has been dismissed on technical grounds. Irwin Mortg. Corp. v. Marion Cnty. Treasurer, 816 N.E.2d 439, 443 (Ind.Ct.App. *866 2004). The JAS's purpose is to ensure that a diligent suitor retains the right to a hearing in court until receiving a judgment on the merits. Id. at 444. "The prerequisites under th[is] statute . . . are strict." 22A Stephen E. Arthur, Indiana Practice: Civil Trial Practice § 39.12 (2nd ed. 2007).
A plaintiff cannot be said to "fail" within the meaning of this statute unless he makes an unavailing effort to succeed. If he makes such an effort in good faith, and fails upon some question which does not involve the merits of his case, and if such failure is not due to negligence in its prosecution, the statute may be held to apply.
Al-Challah v. Barger Packaging, 820 N.E.2d 670, 674-75 (Ind.Ct.App.2005) (emphasis added) (quotation omitted). That is, the JAS provides for continuation when a plaintiff fails to obtain a decision on the merits for some reason other than his own neglect and the statute of limitations expires while his suit is pending. Id. at 674; see also Cox v. Am. Aggregates Corp., 684 N.E.2d 193, 195 (Ind.1997) (enabling an action dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction in one state to be refiled in another state despite the intervening running of the statute of limitations). To invoke the benefits of the JAS, the claimant must have commenced a timely action that failed for reasons other than "negligence in the prosecution." Eads v. Cmty. Hosp., 932 N.E.2d 1239, 1243 (Ind.2010). Examples of conduct which would likely be deemed negligence in prosecuting a case presumably include dismissal for failure to prosecute, dismissal for failure to comply with the discovery rules, failure to pay filing fees, and naming the wrong party. Id. at 1244; 22A Arthur, § 39.12.
Based on the above principles, we conclude that the JAS does not apply to this case. Dempsey filed his complaint in the correct forum. It was argued and dismissed on the merits. Dempsey filed a motion to correct errors, which was also denied. Notably, Demspey did not amend his complaint following the dismissal or appeal.
Although the trial court did not indicate whether it was dismissing Dempsey's complaint on grounds of collateral estoppel or failure to state a claim pursuant to Trial Rule 12(B)(6)both of which Belanger argued in his motion to dismiss, see Appellant's App. p. 31-41this is immaterial. Both grounds operate as on the merits. See Ind. Trial Rule 41(B) ("Unless the court in its order for dismissal otherwise specifies, a dismissal under this subdivision or subdivision (E) of this rule and any dismissal not provided for in this rule, other than a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, operates as an adjudication upon the merits." (emphasis added)); Thacker v. Bartlett, 785 N.E.2d 621, 624 (Ind.Ct.App. 2003) ("A plaintiff is entitled to amend his complaint pursuant to Trial Rule 12(B)(6) and Trial Rule 15(A), or to elect to stand upon his complaint and to appeal from the order of dismissal."; "A Trial Rule 12(B)(6) dismissal becomes an adjudication on the merits only after the complaining party opts to appeal the order instead of filing an amended complaint."); see also Appellant's App. p. 160 (Dempsey conceding, "A dismissal under TR 12(B)(6) probably becomes an adjudication on the merits, if plaintiff does not file an amended complaint after granting of the motion.").
Accordingly, because Dempsey's initial complaint was dismissed on the merits, the JAS simply does not apply. In essence, Dempsey is trying an end-run around his failure to appeal the 2007 dismissal of his complaint against Belanger on the merits. This is not the purpose of the JAS.[1]
Nevertheless, Dempsey argues that Eads controls this case. Eads, however, is *867 readily distinguishable from this case. In that case, the trial court dismissed the plaintiff's original complaint alleging premises liability for lack of jurisdiction because the plaintiff failed to comply with the Medical Malpractice Act's procedural requirement of filing a proposed complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance before filing it with the trial court. Eads, 932 N.E.2d at 1242. Eads had filed a proposed complaint with the IDOI alleging the same circumstances two weeks before the trial court's dismissal, but the Medical Malpractice Act's statute of limitations had already expired. Id. Our Supreme Court concluded that the plaintiff's IDOI claim was a continuation of her original claim pursuant to the JAS. Id. at 1247. The Supreme Court specifically noted that the trial court's dismissal of the plaintiff's original complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction was a "fail[ure] in the action" under subsection (a)(1) of the JAS. Id. at 1243 n. 2. Here, however, because Dempsey's first complaint was dismissed on the merits and not for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, it does not qualify as a failure in the action.
B. Trial Rule 60(B)(7)
Dempsey next contends that the trial court erred in denying reinstatement of his complaint according to Trial Rule 60(B)(7), which provides:
On motion and upon such terms as are just the court may relieve a party or his legal representative from a judgment, including a judgment by default, for the following reasons:
* * * * *
(7) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application[.]
(Emphasis added). A motion based on subsection (B)(7) shall be filed "within a reasonable time." Ind. Trial Rule 12(B). In addition, Trial Rule 60(B) cannot be used to revive an expired attempt to appeal. Masterson v. State, 511 N.E.2d 499, 500 (Ind.Ct.App.1987). Further, Trial Rule 60(B) "envisions exceptional and extraordinary circumstances." Id.
The decision of whether to grant or deny a Trial Rule 60(B) motion for relief from judgment is within the sound, equitable discretion of the trial court. Stonger v. Sorrell, 776 N.E.2d 353, 358 (Ind.2002). We will not reverse a denial of a motion for relief from judgment in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Id.
Dempsey argued to the trial court that because the court's dismissal of his action against Belanger was based upon the district court's dismissal of his action against Chase and the district court's dismissal was later reversed in (very small) part by the Seventh Circuit,[2] motion for relief from judgment under subsection (B)(7) was warranted. Appellant's App. p. 170. The trial court denied Dempsey's motion for two *868 reasons: (1) the trial court did not explicitly dismiss Dempsey's action against Belanger according to collateral estoppel and (2) even if it did, Dempsey did not file his motion to reinstate within a reasonable time. See id. at 11 ("Even if the court had used collateral estoppel to dismiss Dempsey's initial Complaint, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Order remanding the matter . . . was entered March 31, 2008, and [Dempsey] waited more than two years before attempting to revive his claims."). On appeal, Dempsey argues that an "abuse of discretion probably occurred" when the trial court denied his Trial Rule 60(B)(7) motion because the delay here was generally within the time frame allowed for such a motion. Appellant's Br. p. 11.
According to Indiana Practice,
[Trial Rule 60(B)(7)] provides that relief from judgment may be granted if a prior judgment upon which a judgment is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated. This portion of the rule applies only to related judgments where the second judgment is based upon the first judgment, and the first has been reversed or otherwise vacated; it does not apply to unrelated cases.
22A Arthur, § 37.14. In addition,
Relief from judgment under Trial R. 60(B)(7) has been denied where a party challenges a final judgment because an appellate court, in a subsequent and unrelated case, declares the law to be contrary to that applied by the trial court in the moving party's underlying action. Professor Harvey states: "It is irrelevant that the court made an error of law in deciding the case. The fact that a subsequent decision in the appellate court recognized error in an unrelated case does not alter this. It only demonstrates that had the moving party in the principal case appealed, the moving party would have succeeded, assuming identical questions were presented. Where a party foregoes appeal and accepts the judgment, the party becomes bound by the law of the case and must then assert additional, extraordinary circumstances to invoke the court's equity powers to relieve it from that finality."
22B Stephen E. Arthur, Indiana Practice: Civil Trial Rule Handbook § 60:2 Comment (2011) (footnotes omitted).
Here, Dempsey seeks to have his complaint against Belanger reinstated based on the Seventh Circuit's 2008 opinion in Dempsey's action against Chase. Because the Seventh Circuit's opinion involved only Chase and not Belanger and because Dempsey did not appeal the trial court's dismissal of his complaint against Belanger, Trial Rule 60(B)(7) does not apply to this case.[3] Moreover, Dempsey does not argue that extraordinary circumstances exist. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Dempsey's Trial Rule 60(B)(7) motion for relief from judgment.
*869 II. Attorney's Fees
Finally, Dempsey contends that the trial court erred in awarding approximately $2000 in attorney's fees to Belanger for defending the motion to reinstate and instead contends that he is entitled to such fees. The trial court found that Dempsey's action was frivolous and awarded attorney's fees to Belanger according to Indiana Code section 34-52-1-1(b), which provides:
(b) In any civil action, the court may award attorney's fees as part of the cost to the prevailing party, if the court finds that either party:
(1) brought the action or defense on a claim or defense that is frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless;
(2) continued to litigate the action or defense after the party's claim or defense clearly became frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless; or
(3) litigated the action in bad faith.
The decision of the trial court to award fees is reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard. Noble Cnty. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Fahlsing, 714 N.E.2d 1134, 1139 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), reh'g denied, trans. denied. In the absence of an affirmative showing of error or abuse of discretion, we must affirm the trial court. Id.
Here, in awarding attorney's fees to Belanger, the trial court reasoned:
[Dempsey's] entire argument for reinstatement relies on the Journey's Account Statute and TR 60(b)(7), which do not apply to the case at hand. Furthermore, [Dempsey] is attempting to revive a case which was dismissed nearly three years ago despite never having appealed this matter and having been unsuccessful in a 2007 Motion to Correct Errors. [Dempsey] fails to support his Motion to Reinstate with a rational argument from existing caselaw. Rather, this is an unfounded attempt to revive a claim which has long been settled.
Appellant's App. p. 12. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney's fees to Belanger. Dempsey's claims against Chase and Belanger have been largely unsuccessful in a number of state and federal courts. Nevertheless, Dempsey attempts to bring his claims despite the growing number of decisions against him. Concerning this case, Dempsey attempts to resurrect a 2007 action against Belanger, in which a trial court ruled against him and which he did not appeal, by using law which has no application to this case. We therefore affirm the trial court's award of attorney's fees to Belanger and reject Dempsey's argument that he is the one who is entitled to such fees "based on the clarity of Eads." Appellant's Br. p. 19.
As a final matter, Belanger requests appellate attorney's fees according to Indiana Appellate Rule 66(E), which provides that "[t]he court may assess damages if an appeal . . . is frivolous or in bad faith. Damages shall be in the Court's discretion and may include attorney's fees. The Court shall remand the case for execution." Our discretion to award attorney's fees is limited to instances when an appeal is permeated with meritlessness, bad faith, frivolity, harassment, vexatiousness, or purpose of delay. Thacker v. Wentzel, 797 N.E.2d 342, 346 (Ind.Ct.App.2003). For the same reasons as above, we award Belanger appellate attorney's fees and remand this case to the trial court for it to calculate the amount of appellate attorney's fees Belanger is entitled to recover.
Affirmed and remanded.
FRIEDLANDER, J., and DARDEN, J., concur.
NOTES
[1] Dempsey notes that his failure to appeal the dismissal is not fatal to his claim that the JAS applies to this case. See Eads, 932 N.E.2d at 1244. Because we find that the JAS does not apply because Dempsey's initial complaint was dismissed on the merits, there is no need to determine whether Dempsey's failure to appeal precludes application of the JAS.
[2] Specifically, the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of only one claim:
In attacking the price that Chase paid for the Kessler property, Dempsey is attacking the state court's order allowing the execution sale, which expressly authorized mortgagees like Chase to bid the value of their liens. It makes no difference for purposes of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine that his basis for doing so is a mortgage agreement; it is not the case that Dempsey was injured under the agreement prior to the sale and the state court simply failed to redress that injury. Thus, the district court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction over Dempsey's mortgage-agreement claim to the extent it takes issue with Chase's purchase of the Kessler property, and we must vacate the district court's dismissal on the merits and instruct the district court to remand the claim to the Indiana court from which it was removed.
Dempsey, No. 1:04-cv-0996-JDT-TAB, slip op. at 4 (citations omitted).
[3] Dempsey appears to argue that because Belanger, in his motion to dismiss, relied on Dempsey's action against Chase in federal court which the district court dismissed to prove that collateral estoppel applied, the cases are indeed related according to this rule. We note that the trial court did not indicate in its dismissal order whether it was dismissing Dempsey's claim again Belanger based on collateral estoppel or failure to state a claim. Because Dempsey took no further action, this judgment became final.
|
Q:
Select latest 10 rows except the first
What I need to do is (using PHP) select the latest 10 rows from a table except the first (which has the highest ID). How is this done?
A:
Try something like this:
SELECT * FROM `table`
ORDER BY `id` DESC
LIMIT 1,10
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/select.html
The LIMIT clause can be used to constrain the number of rows returned
by the SELECT statement. LIMIT takes one or two numeric arguments,
which must both be nonnegative integer constants (except when using
prepared statements).
With two arguments, the first argument specifies the offset of the
first row to return, and the second specifies the maximum number of
rows to return. The offset of the initial row is 0 (not 1):
|
CT treatment planning of the liver.
The article deals with CT treatment planning of the liver to maximize the dose to the liver but minimize the dose to the right kidney, spinal cord, and bowels. (The left kidney is out of the field due to the oblique angles of the fields.) This is achieved by right kidney shielding reconstruction from multislice CT treatment planning and by the oblique angles of the fields. Without CT, it is not possible to utilize oblique fields to cover the liver. With conventional AP-PA fields, not only is the whole liver treated but also most of the right kidney, half of the left kidney, bowels and spinal cord. Tolerance dose to the kidneys is exceeded if adequate dose is delivered to the liver. Some new computer algorithms display a bird's eye view of the shielding but this paper presents for the first time, a technique for actual shielding reconstruction from multislice CT treatment planning for use by the radiation oncologist when shielding blocks are drawn on the simulator films. |
-List of World War II films - Wikipedia.This is a list of fictional feature films or miniseries which feature events of World War II in the narrative. There is a separate list of World War II TV series.--Liste de films sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale — Wikipédia.Liste de films, documentaires et séries tv sur la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Dans chaque partie, les films sont classés chronologiquement, puis alphabétiquement s'il ...--That Certain Age - Wikipedia.That Certain Age is a 1938 American musical film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Deanna Durbin and Melvyn Douglas. Based on a story by F. Hugh Herbert, the ...--Top 10 Licensed Games That Actually Didn’t Suck - Cheat ....How many times have you heard that games based on movies or other media are horrible? Probably several, but this list shows off some of the best licensed games around!--Recherche Film de Guerre 70/80 [Résolu].Merci mais je l'ai aussi. Je fais la collection des films de guerre 40/45. Voici la collection, il y en a quelques uns qui ne sont pas de cette époque mais ils ne ...--LES JAQUETTES " B " DE MOVIECOVERS.Liste des jaquettes de film dont le titre commence par B--Robert Cummings at Brian 's Drive-In Theater.Actor Robert Cummings starred in numerous films and TV series from the 1930s to the 1970s Visit Brian's Drive-In Theater for photos, biography and filmography ...--New York bomber's garden pictured with burn mark from ....These are the burn marks left in his family home's back yard which the FBI believe are evidence of the chicken shop bomber practicing his attack - and ...--Hazel Court - Tallahassee's Professional Web Design and ....A cyberspace tribute to Hazel Court, the fabulous redheaded actress from Britain who starred in many Hammer horror films--What in the World Are They Spraying? - Top Documentary Films.Our innate intelligence tells us these are not mere vapor trails from jet engines, but no one yet has probed the questions: WHO is doing this and WHY. With ...- |
Child Malnutrition Doesn’t Take Vacation in Spain
Children in the cafeteria of the Manuel Altolaguirre public school in the poor neighbourhood of La Palma-Palmilla, in the southern city of Málaga, Spain, which provides meals to the poorest students in the summertime. Credit: Inés Benítez/IPS
MALAGA, Spain, Aug 6 2014 (IPS) - It’s two in the afternoon, and María stirs tomato sauce into a huge pot of pasta. School is out for the summer in Spain, but the lunchroom in this public school in the southern city of Málaga is still open, serving meals to more than 100 children from poor families.
“My son has had to take my grandson to summer school because he doesn’t have enough money to feed him.” -- Mercedes Arroyo
“The kitchen is always operating, winter and summer,” Miguel Ángel Muñoz, the prinicipal of the Manuel Altolaguirre school, told IPS. “There are families in situations of extreme need. For many children, the only hot meals they eat are what they are served at school.”
The school is in La Palma-Palmilla, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in this city in the southern autonomous community or region of Andalusia.
A number of reports have described the dire economic situation faced by many families with children in Spain, and the resultant problems of poor quality diets and child malnutrition.
There are 2.3 million children in Spain – 27.5 percent of the total – living under the poverty line, according to a study by UNICEF, the United Nations children’s fund.
The report, “La Infancia en España 2014” (Childhood in Spain 2014), released Jun. 24, found that the number of households with children where no adult is working increased 290 percent since 2007, the year before the global financial crisis broke out. Between 2007 and 2013 the total climbed from 325,000 to 943,000 families.
The unemployment rate in this country of 46.7 million people stands at 25.9 percent, according to the National Statistics Institute. Then there is the “working poor” who earn wages too low to cover mortgage payments or rent, utility bills and food.
“My mother sells lottery tickets and my father is at home,” Rafa told IPS just after eating pasta, salad and watermelon for lunch in the Manuel Altolaguirre school lunchroom. The eight-year-old has siblings aged four, 10 and 12.
Sitting next to him, 11-year-old Yeray said he and his brother Antonio have lunch at the school every day while his father works “carrying luggage in the airport.”
“The food is good,” said Yeray, who wants to “fix cars or be a policeman” when he grows up.
Daniel Fernández, with the local non-governmental organisation Animación Malacitana, who has been responsible for summertime activities in the school for 13 years, told IPS that “there are entire strata of society in emergency situations” and in need of help in Spain.
Since 2013 the government of Andalusia, the most populous autonomous community in Spain, has extended through the summer vacation period the aid it provides during the school year, and subsidises summer school in institutions like Manuel Altolaguirre in cities throughout the region.
In summer school, the poorest children are served breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack at no cost, while they participate in recreational and educational activities run by social organisations.
“My son has had to take my grandson to summer school because he doesn’t have enough money to feed him,” Mercedes Arroyo, who has three children – aged 18, 24 and 28 – and three grandchildren – two seven-year-olds and a 10-year-old – told IPS.
“And many of us are in that situation,” said her husband, Enrique Sánchez, outside the “25 Mujeres” “economato social” – government shops that sell basic foodstuffs and cleaning and hygiene products at cost to poor families – in La Palma-Palmilla.
It is now common to see grandparents supporting their children and grandchildren – and even great-grandchildren – on their small pensions. Rosario Ruíz, 67, draws a disability pension of 365 euros (500 dollars) and lives with her 26-year-old unemployed granddaughter who is a single mother of two children, aged two and five.
“Are you going to write about how I need help? Are you going to tell?” Ruíz asked IPS after shopping in the ‘economato’.
The families of some 200,000 children in Spain can’t afford a meal based on beef, chicken or fish every two days, the NGO Educo reported on its website.
Poor nutrition in childhood can have irreversible effects on children’s health, abilities and development, experts say.
“Parents need school lunchrooms to be open in the summertime too,” said Muñoz, who stressed the vulnerability of the children who attend schools in La Palma-Palmilla.
The children mainly come from gypsy (Roma) or other immigrant families, most of them from Romania. They are served breakfast and lunch, and are given an afternoon snack in a bag to take home, year-round as part of an anti-poverty plan run by the socialist government of Andalusia, one of the regions with the highest unemployment rates in Spain.
Different NGOs in Málaga also organise summer activities for poor children. For example, Málaga Acoge runs ¡Queremos montar un circo! (We Want to Mount a Circus!) for 120 immigrant children, financed through microdonations, while Prodiversa ran a summer camp in July for 23 children between the ages of six and 11, subsidised by the Obra Social la Caixa Proinfancia and offering meals, tutoring and counseling.
Spain is the European Union country with the second highest level of child poverty, following Romania, according to a report by Caritas Europa on the social impact of the austerity policies applied in the countries hit hardest by the economic crisis, released Mar. 27.
Caritas, a Catholic social assistance organisation, put the proportion of children under 18 in Spain living on the edge of social exclusion at 29.9 percent.
“It’s a chronicle of impoverishment foretold,” economist Juan Torres López told IPS. He said the “policies involving steep cutbacks have dismantled the social services and basic collective assets,” turning Spain into “the country with the worst inequalities in Europe.”
According to the economist, the government of right-wing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has adopted “inadequate, unfair and ineffective” measures to combat the economic crisis, instead of opting for “alternatives that could bring good results such as tax reforms aimed at greater equality and financing that is not set up to benefit the banks.”
The budget earmarked for children in Spain fell 14.6 percent from 2010 to 2013, UNICEF reported.
Cuts in public spending began during the administration of socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004-2011). But the biggest cutbacks in social expenditure in democracy in Spain have been applied since Rajoy took office.
Teachers and members of social organisations told IPS that some students ask to fill their plates three times in the school lunchrooms. Many don’t even have hot water at home to take showers in the winter, because they live in broken homes or come from extremely poor families.
“Good thing the summer comes. Then I don’t mind taking a shower with cold water,” a boy whose family could not afford a water heater or gas cylinder every month told Fernández. |
Google Is Being Investigated By Missouri Attorney General
"The state of Missouri is gearing up for a legal battle with Google," Fortune (Nov. 13, Vanian) is reporting. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Monday that his office is investigating the Internet search giant over allegations that it violated the state's various consumer-protection and antitrust laws. Hawley's office sent Google a subpoena early Monday demanding “documents and information” about its business practices. Google could potentially contest the subpoena. Company spokesman Patrick Lenihan told Fortune that the company has "not yet received the subpoena. However, we have strong privacy protections in place for our users and continue to operate in a highly competitive and dynamic environment." Hawley is looking for information from Google to determine whether the firm's privacy policy accurately reflects its current data collection and sharing practices and whether those practices "respect and protect consumer privacy." |
return {
fur_garment_old = {},
}
|
All About STEM NEWS
As Team GB take GOLD at the Rio Olympics, we’re celebrating with some fantastic Olympic STEM challenges & resources! They are perfect for home, STEM Clubs or if you’re planning STEM activities for the Autumn Term.
STEM Challenges
If you’re thinking of using the Rio Olympics as an opportunity to explore the role of STEM subjects in sports, there are a number of sports related resources – which were inspired by London 2012 – available on the STEM Challenges website. Challenges include developing a new sports venue, an anti-doping challenge, exploring travel and carbon footprints, designing a sports glove and creating wetsuits for paratriathletes.
The Olympics and Paralympics are fantastic learning opportunities right across the curriculum including science, maths, D & T, geography and of course PE! STEM Learning’s resource bank contains many useful ideas as to how to put these into practice, such as investigating heart rate after exercise, analysing reaction times, looking at healthy diets and using sports activities for data collection, presentation and analysis. |
Which opinion is more reliable: A well-informed one tainted by financial arrangements or one free of such conflicts but based on limited data — and possibly colored by spite?
Investors in securitizations are now getting more of the second kind, though not as often nor in the precise form regulators hoped for when they enacted reforms encouraging unsolicited opinions.
For example, Fitch wasn't hired to rate single-borrower securitizations in the fledgling single-family rental market, but it recently assessed these transactions' risks.
The company's analysts recently said in a ratings comment that issuers risk not being able to refinance large balloon loans underlying deals when those loans mature. Fitch mainly cited debt yield, a metric that shows a property's capacity to support financing. Debt yield is calculated by dividing the property's cash flow by the debt. Three recent deals in the single-family rental sector had debt yields below 5%, compared to the roughly 9% typically found in Freddie Mac multifamily securitizations, the rating firm noted.
In contrast, presale reports by other ratings agencies generally indicate that refinancing through securitization is just one option in a maturity default where a loan can't refinance. They base credit and in some cases top triple-A credit ratings more on the potential recovery through foreclosure and property sales, a practice Fitch disputes.
"From our perspective, especially for investment grade debt, you shouldn't have to foreclose. The property should generate sufficient cash flow that a take-out lender at maturity would feel comfortable refinancing," said Dan Chambers, a managing director at Fitch.
Unpaid ratings agency opinions became more accepted after 2007 when waves of downgrades hit a huge number of mortgage securities that previously had top triple-A ratings, according to Mark Adelson, a veteran bond market executive and researcher known for his early warnings about mortgage securitization risks before the downturn.
"Back in the '90s or early 2000s a rating agency would say of unsolicited ratings, 'This is sour grapes,' and might get an investor to dismiss those opinions. It's a lot harder for the sell side to make those arguments today," said Adelson, who is now chief strategy officer at BondFactor, a company created to help improve insurance claim payment certainty in the municipal market.
Unsolicited ratings or ratings comments may be unbiased by seller payment but still competitively biased, particularly given that competition has grown because the downturn created opportunity for new entrants who could bill themselves as untainted by pre-crisis ratings mistakes.
But the bias in unpaid ratings reports creates balance because it tends to present a more conservative view of deal risks, rather than downplaying them as paid ratings often are more prone to do.
Grade To Order
This is important because regardless of whether ratings agencies are new entrants or former players, sellers generally tend to "ratings shop" in choosing which ones they want to work with, said Adelson. This encourages raters to de-emphasize risks in seller-paid ratings over time because sellers generally tend to hire the ratings agencies that offer the most favorable views of their bonds, he said.
Encouraging unpaid ratings has been the aim of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 17g-5, which creates a mechanism for paid ratings agencies to register information they have asked for and gotten from sellers, making it available to unpaid ratings agencies for unsolicited ratings purposes under certain conditions.
The rule encourages unsolicited ratings in theory, but in practice it has its limitations, said Adelson.
Ratings agencies not hired by the issuers have published some unsolicited commentary based on publicly available data, but full unsolicited structured finance ratings based on 17-g5 information are scarce, said Brian Grow, a managing director in Morningstar Credit Ratings' residential mortgage-backed securities group.
There is an obligation related to accessing the 17-g5 information, which paid ratings agencies provide. After accessing information from nine deals, that company must agree to rate the 10th deal, monitor and report on its performance throughout that transactions' life, he said. It's costly work to do unpaid.
"There's not a lot of upside in the current market to publishing a rating on an unsolicited basis," Grow said.
Some of the 17-g5 information can't be cited in a ratings report, he noted.
"A lot of the 17-g5 information is confidential," said Grow.
Also, because the 17-g5 data is based solely on sellers' responses to other paid rating agencies' questions, it may not have the information needed by an unpaid rating agency to rate a deal, said Becky Cao, who also is a managing director in Morningstar's RMBS group.
Morningstar does use 17-g5 information primarily for its subscription-based surveillance of transactions over time, something investors and other market stakeholders subscribe to in order to get access to performance information on a broad range of deals in the market.
Ratings agencies have attempted investor-paid models which would remove the issue of seller-paid bias, but so far it's been tough to survive on alone, as seller-paid ratings revenue tends to outweigh it, said Adelson.
Differences between paid and unpaid ratings commentary aren't necessarily huge but even if they are a matter of nuance, together they paint a more well-rounded and multifaceted picture of deal risks.
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Source: Jacob Wackerhausen/iStock; used with permission
The number one resolution for New Years is to “get fit.” We understand that a healthy body is crucial to supporting all other endeavors in our lives. So too, the body life in our marriages - our sex life - undergirds our connection, our very purpose for calling the relationship marriage rather than . But it’s not just sex alone that we want in marriage but rather eroticism – sex imbued with meaning, romance and desire.
Often one spouse is the emotional pursuer but sexual distancer, and complains that they need more time together with intimate feelings being shared in order to feel sexual. The other spouse, the sexual pursuer but emotional distancer, hears this complaint and feels frantic because deep down inside they know sex unlocks their wellspring of emotions and without it they can’t open up.
A dear couple I am working with has come almost to the brink of over this painful dilemma.They are loving, smart and good people but my heart is worried and heavy over their crazy idea of separating.They are pointing their fingers at each other instead of realizing that each must grow and develop as individuals. Divorce would only mean starting the power struggle over again because the true problem isn’t solved. I believe any other likely partner is going to want someone who is sexual and someone who is vulnerable.
In Janine and Matt’s case, she must have as individual, separate commitment to eroticism that is apart from whether he gives her what she needs. And he must have an inner commitment to share his internal world no matter how scary and frightening it feels even during lean sexual seasons. Without these individual resolutions, neither can hope to have by changing partners. Marriage calls us to change in ways that will make us stronger as individuals and let alone will make us happier as a couple.
Tired of the tedium, this couple boiled down the fight to “I need sex,” and “I need more talking.” Now it’s getting ugly with each accusing the other of only wanting the condensed, purported need. “All you want is sex!” “You only want to talk with no action.”
The argument is really about proportion. Each spouse wants and desperately needs their emotional life entwined with their body life. Here are five resolutions toward an erotic life.
Build desire – Author of The Erotic Mind, Jack Morin said, that plus obstacles equals sexual excitement. The problem in marriage is that sex is taken for granted. There is always another night for it. We think our partner is always available imagining that they are feeling sexual just when we are. But, we have to acknowledge our separate moods, concerns and appetites as inherent obstacles and take it as a challenge just the way we did when we were dating.
Imagine sexy - In the throes of a new romance, we imagine our lover as flawless, kind, and lovely, never broken, critical, or hurtful and our sexual desire roars like a raging fire. We overlook red flags and overt transgressions in order to find “the one.” In a committed relationship, we can stoke desire the same way by focusing on the things we do like about our partner stowing each positive observation away in a cache like kindling. Try to catch your partner in kindness, in a sexy look, in doing something that you’ve asked for.
Use your body to express your love – If you were blind, deaf and mute, how would you show your partner your love. Do you touch in the hallway, hug with joy at having them near you, stroke them for reassurance that you are not alone in the world? Practice absolute silence one time in the bedroom to force touch and gaze to be your only transmitter and receptor of everything you want to communicate to each other. As humans we are body, mind and spirit. Commit to love physically with touch, affection and sex.
Frame sex as sacred – All religious and mindful traditions set aside a sacred time for worship or reflection – weekly or daily. We partake in rituals requiring physical movements like kneeling, standing, sitting still, exchanging rings, breaking glass, eating, etc. Find a sacred time that you devote to physical love every week and be devout.
Keep a secret surprise. Our brains release sexual inducing when we try a new activity. Knowing you have something delightful to share with your partner will light desire inside. Seduction is in the surprise. My sexually-distancing patient, Janine said she couldn’t think of anything that would be a surprise to her husband and nothing she found sexy herself. Her work included exploring her history that informed her adult . As she did she realized all the prohibitions that she had heard from her parents as well as those she had taken on as a young adult. Until , she had never allowed herself to imagine what was sexy to her. Discovery of our inner sexual self is an on-going practice to breathe life into .
Listen to Laurie's exciting new podcast FOREPLAY - Radio Sex Therapy with couple's therapist Dr. Adam Mathews on iTunes or Sticther.
CONTACT Laurie online for clinical consultations!
Are you the pursuer or distancer - emotionally or sexually? Use my FREE Love and Sex Style QUIZ or visit my website to learn more about couples and sex therapy. |
Q:
Using animated GIFs in OpenLaszlo 5.0 in DHTML and SWF10/11 runtime
The Flash Player does not offer native support for animated GIF files. In the DHTML runtime, you can just use an animated GIF like any other image resource. But how can an image be used as a resource for a view in the SWF10 or SWF11 runtime?
A:
Luckily there are a number of existing open source ActionScript libraries with support for playing and generating animated GIFs. We are going to use the as3gif project. We first have to compile the ActionScript source code of as3gif into an SWC library, which then can be used with OpenLaszlo. Download the ZIP file with version 0.6 of as3gif. Extract the ZIP file in your $LPS_HOME folder. You should have a subfolder "GIFPlayer 0.6".
$LPS_HOME/GIFPlayer 0.6/
Go into that folder, and use the Flex SDK compc command to compile the ActionScript classes into an SWC file. For OpenLaszlo 4.9 or 5.0 (as of September 2012), the compc command can be found in $LPS_HOME/WEB-INF/bin/compc. If you use the flex4.6 branch of OpenLaszlo, the path to the compc command is either WEB-INF/flexsdk/4.5.1/bin/compc for the SWF10 runtime, or WEB-INF/flexsdk/4.6.0/bin/compc for the SWF11 runtime.
$LPS_HOME/WEB-INF/bin/compc -optimize=true
-static-link-runtime-shared-libraries=true -source-path+=. -output=bin/as3gif_0.6.swc -include-classes org.bytearray.gif.decoder.GIFDecoder
org.bytearray.gif.encoder.GIFEncoder
org.bytearray.gif.encoder.LZWEncoder
org.bytearray.gif.encoder.NeuQuant
org.bytearray.gif.errors.FileTypeError
org.bytearray.gif.events.FileTypeEvent
org.bytearray.gif.events.FrameEvent
org.bytearray.gif.events.GIFPlayerEvent
org.bytearray.gif.events.TimeoutEvent
org.bytearray.gif.frames.GIFFrame org.bytearray.gif.player.GIFPlayer
After the compilation, you will find the generated SWC file in the subfolder bin:
bin/as3gif_0.6.swc
Copy the SWC file into your $LPS_HOME/WEB-INF/flexlib folder. The class which we are going to use to display an animated GIF is the org.bytearray.gif.player.GIFPlayer class.
Here is an example of an OpenLaszlo class supporting GIFs in both runtimes:
<canvas>
<!-- Copyright (c) Raju Bitter / MIT license http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php -->
<class name="gifview" extends="view" width="200" height="200">
<passthrough when="$as3">
import flash.events.IOErrorEvent;
import flash.net.URLRequest;
import org.bytearray.gif.player.GIFPlayer;
import org.bytearray.gif.events.GIFPlayerEvent;
</passthrough>
<attribute name="gifsrc" type="string" value="" />
<attribute name="__gifplayer" type="object" value="null" />
<handler name="oninit">
if (this.gifsrc != '') {
this.ongifsrc.sendEvent();
}
</handler>
<handler name="ongifsrc">
if ($dhtml) {
this.setSource(this.gifsrc);
} else {
if (this.__player == null) {
this.__player = new GIFPlayer();
this.__player.addEventListener(GIFPlayerEvent.COMPLETE, onGIFLoadComplete);
this.__player.addEventListener(IOErrorEvent.IO_ERROR, onIOError);
}
this.__player.load(new URLRequest(this.gifsrc));
this.getDisplayObject().addChild(this.__player);
}
</handler>
<method name="onGIFLoadComplete" args="evt"><![CDATA[
Debug.info("GIF loaded successfully!");
Debug.info("Total frames: " + this.__player.totalFrames);
for (var i=1; i <= this.__player.totalFrames; i++) {
Debug.info("Delay for frame #" + i + ": " + this.__player.getDelay(i));
}
]]></method>
<method name="onIOError" args="evt">
Debug.error("Error loading GIF!");
Debug.inspect(evt);
</method>
<!-- Custom unload method -->
<method name="unload">
if ($dhtml) {
super.unload();
} else {
this.getDisplayObject().removeChildAt(0);
// Dispose image resources
this.__player.dispose();
this.setAttribute('__player', null);
}
</method>
<method name="stopGIFAnim">
if ($as3) {
this.__player.stop();
Debug.info("Stopped animation at frame " + this.__player.currentFrame);
} else {
Debug.warn("Not supported in this runtime");
}
</method>
<method name="startGIFAnim">
if ($as3) {
this.__player.play();
} else {
Debug.warn("Not supported in this runtime");
}
</method>
</class>
<gifview x="100" y="10" id="gv" gifsrc="animated.gif" />
<button text="Start anim" onclick="gv.startGIFAnim()" />
<button y="50" text="Stop anim" onclick="gv.stopGIFAnim()" />
<button y="100" text="Unload GIF" onclick="gv.unload()" />
<button y="150" text="Load again" onclick="gv.setAttribute('gifsrc', 'animated.gif')" />
</canvas>
The ActionScript class supports starting and stopping animation, and gives you access to the delay for each frame of the GIF.
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Received August 27, 2017; Revised February 3, 2018; Accepted February 19, 2018.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Fruit rot is the principal phytopathological problem of pipiana pumpkin (Cucurbita argyrosperma Huber) in the state of Guerrero. The aims of this research were to 1) identify the causal agent of southern blight on pumpkin fruits by morphological, pathogenic, and molecular analysis (ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2); 2) evaluate in vitro Trichoderma spp. strains and chemical fungicides; and 3) evaluate under rainfed field conditions, the strains that obtained the best results in vitro, combined with fungicides during two crop cycles. Number of commercial and non-commercial fruits at harvest, and seed yield (kg ha−1) were registered. Morphological, pathogenic and molecular characterization identified Sclerotium rolfsii as the causal agent of rot in pipiana pumpkin fruits. Now, in vitro conditions, the highest inhibition of S. rolfsii were obtained by Trichoderma virens strain G-41 (70.72%), T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1 (69%), and the fungicides metalaxyl (100%), pyraclostrobin (100%), quintozene (100%), cyprodinil + fludioxonil (100%), and prochloraz (100%). Thiophanate-methyl only delayed growth (4.17%). In field conditions, during the spring-summer 2015 cycle, T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1 + metalaxyl, and T. asperellum + cyprodinil + fludioxonil, favored the highest number of fruits and seed yield in the crop.
The pipiana pumpkin (Cucurbita argyrosperma Huber) is an annual crop cultivated in a traditional agricultural production system, during the rainy season. The crop is cultivated during the months of May and June and is harvested from September to December (Ayvar et al., 2007). The main product obtained from pipana pumpkin cultivation is the mature seed, which has great acceptance for its consumption in different dishes of Mexican cuisine; and is used in the industry as raw material to prepare mole paste. The crop is affected by different phytopathogenic fungi, but those that live in the soil are those that cause severe damages from the beginning of the fruiting stage until harvesting (Diaz et al., 2015). The infection occurs in fruits that are in contact with the soil and the disease development is favored by warm and humid conditions. Infected pumpkin fruits are lost because the pathogens are destructive (Zitter et al., 2004). In this regard, Díaz et al. (2014) mention that the damage of highest economic impact is fruit rot that occurs just before harvest because it drastically reduces seed yield and threatens the successful economic investment of the farmer. To reduce damages, the causal agent must be combated by previous diagnose, through integrated management, where the use of different methods is highly recommended, such as cultural practices, as well as the use of beneficial microorganisms, and the application of chemical products. The use of chemical fungicides is the method that farmers prefer; however, in the state of Guerrero, there is limited information on integrated management of rot in pumpkin fruits. Ayvar et al. (2007) and Díaz et al. (2015) have reported the incidence of oomycetes and deuteromycetes in pipiana pumpkin; they recommend applying specific products such as benomyl and metalaxyl, among others; however, the fungicide validation in the crop is very scarce. In the integrated and sustainable management, control methods must be incorporated in order to reduce the use of chemical molecules, such as applying the genus Trichoderma, a biocontrol agent with high expectations for fungi management in pumpkin, because it has the advantage of being harmless to humans and animals, and does not pollute ecosystems. To achieve success in the integrated management of rot in pipiana pumpkin fruits, it is important to know the history of the cultivated plots taking into account climate information, and the application of biocontrol agents and fungicides in a preventive and never in a curative manner. The aims of the research were: a) to identify, through morphological, molecular and pathogenic techniques, the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruits, b) to evaluate in vitro the biological effectiveness of commercial and native Trichoderma spp strains, and fungicides and c) to evaluate in the field, under rainfed conditions, the two strains that obtained the best results in vitro combined with fungicides during two consecutive crop cycles.
Materials and Methods
Isolation and purification
In September and October 2014, 20 mature pipiana pumpkin fruits were collected, in a 60,000 m2 commercial plot, established in valle de El Zoquital, Apipilulco, municipality of Cocula, in the northern part of the State of Guerrero, located at the coordinates 18°11 06.30″ North latitude and 99°37′ 36.60″ West longitude, at 620 masl. The typical soil type is loamy-clay, with rainfall and average annual temperature of 1000 mm and 30°C. The W-transect type sampling method was used; where fruits with patches of white fluffy mycelium (in contact with the soil), and with sclerotia were collected. From mature pumpkin fruits, samples with symptoms and signs of rot, five pieces of 0.5 cm2 tissue were cut from the advancing disease area. Samples were disinfected with 1.5% sodium hypochlorite for two minutes, washed three consecutive times with sterile distilled water; 50 tissue samples were placed in Petri dishes containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at room temperature (± 28°C) with 12/12 h photoperiod for 5 days.
Morphological identification
The developed fungal colonies were separated and purified by the hyphal tip method in Petri dishes with PDA medium. Temporary preparations in lactophenol were carried out using mycelium samples of the isolated and purified pathogens which were observed in a composite microscope at 40X and 100X lenses, the principal taxonomic characteristics such as color, septation, and branching of the hyphae, as well as the presence of sclerotia was compared to the illustrated keys described by Watanabe (2002); which made it possible to carry out the identification of the fungus.
Pathogenicity test
For the pathogenicity test, five fruit samples were used, washed with running tap water, and the surface was sterilized with 0.2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) for 2 min. Then, washed three times with sterile distilled water. Prick inoculation was performed on the fruit epicarp using mature mycelium of the fungus with a sterilized dissecting needle. Inoculated fruits were kept in a moist chamber at 70% relative humidity and incubated for 7 days at 28 ± 2°C. Fruits inoculated with sterile distilled water were used as the control.
Molecular identification
Genomic DNA extraction of the isolates was performed from 7 days old mycelia sample using the DNeasy™ kit (QIAGEN®, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The PCR reactions were carried out using oligonucleotides ITS1 (5′-TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG-3′) and ITS4 (5′-TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC-3′) (White et al., 1990), which amplify the internal transcribed spaces and the 5.8S gene of the ribosomal DNA (ITS region) and generate a product of varying size, between approximately 500 and 600 base pairs (bp) (White et al., 1990). This practice was carried out in the reaction mixture in a final volume of 25 μl, whose final components were 1X reaction buffer, 2 mM MgCl2, 200 nM of each dNTPs, 20 pmol of each primer and 1 unit of Taq DNA polymerase (Promega, WI, USA). The thermal program consisted of maintaining a temperature at 94°C for 2 min, followed by 35 cycles at 94-55-72°C for 30-30-60 s and a final extension of 5 min at 72°C. The PCR-amplified fragments were observed in a UV light transilluminator and sequenced directly on an ABI PRISM® 3700 Genetic Analyzer (Foster City, CA, USA). The consensus sequences were edited and assembled with the CAP option (Contig Assembly Program) (Hall, 2004) of the BioEdit 7.2.5 Software (Tom Hall, Ibis Biosciences, Carlsbad, CA, USA) (Hall, 2004). In the evolutionary analysis, all consensus sequences were aligned with the ClustalW program (Thompson et al., 1994) included in the MEGA 7 software (Kumar et al., 2016). Phylogenetic reconstructions were performed for the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 data based on the maximum parsimony method, using the algorithm Subtree-Pruning-Regrafting, search option (level = 1) with the initial tree by random addition (10 replicates) and the missing spaces were considered as complete deletions. To calculate the confidence values of tree clades, a bootstrap test with 1000 replicates was performed (Felsenstein, 1985). The sequence obtained was deposited in the GenBank database.
Biological control of the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruits in vitro
Three commercial and three native Trichoderma spp strains; those of the second group were provided by the Laboratory of Phytopathology of the Superior Agricultural College of the state of Guerrero (CSAEGro), which were originally obtained by the plate dilution technique and were reactivated by transferring them in Petri dishes with PDA. Similarly, the commercial isolates were obtained in pure culture, with the same procedure and were reactivated on PDA. The treatments evaluated were: T1: Control, T2: Trichoderma fasciculatum, T3: Trichoderma virens Strain G-41, T4: Trichoderma reesei, T5: Trichoderma asperellum Strain CSAEGro-1, T6: Trichoderma asperellum Strain CSAEGro-2 and T7: Trichoderma sp. Strain Santa Teresa. To evaluate the antibiosis of the Trichoderma strains, the cellophane technique described by Patil et al. (2014) was used; first, cellophane paper was cut in circles of 8.5 cm in diameter, same as the size of the Petri dish; was then sterilized and placed on PDA; with a 0.5 cm diameter cockborer. PDA discs with 3-day old Trichoderma spp colonies were placed in the center of the dish, after incubating for 48 h, the paper with the active Trichoderma spp colonies was removed, so that the secondary metabolites can diffuse in the culture medium, in which the fungistatic effect was immediately evaluated by placing in the center of the petri dish, PDA with mycelium from a 3- day old pathogenic colony and incubating the dishes at room temperature (28 ± 2°C) in the laboratory. A completely randomized design with five replicates was used. The experimental unit consisted of one Petri dish 8.5 and 9.0 cm in diameter, and 1.5 cm in height, with 20 ml of PDA culture medium + Trichoderma spp metabolites. The percent of inhibition was determined by the equation: inhibition % = ((D1−D2)/D1) × (100) where: D1 = diameter of the pathogen colony (control) and D2 = diameter of the pathogen fungal colony growing in Petri dish with PDA medium where Trichoderma spp. had grown (Patil et al., 2014). An analysis of variance and multiple mean comparison test was performed with the data obtained from the variable using Tukey’s honest significant difference method with significance level at 5% (Statistical Analysis System, 2015).
Chemical control of the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruits in vitro
The experiment was established to study the effect of different fungicides on the development of the identified fungus, using the poisoned culture media technique (Sohbat et al., 2015). The following commercial chemical products were used at the doses recommended by the manufacturer T1: Control, T2: Metalaxyl, T3: Pyraclostrobin, T4: Thiophanate methyl, T5: Quintozene (PCNB), T6: Cyprodinil + fludioxonil and T7: Procloraz, where 20 mL PDA was added to the Petri dishes that contained the doses of fungicide and was allowed to solidify at room temperature (28 ± 2°C). Then a PDA disc (0.5 cm diameter) with fungal mycelium was placed in the center of the Petri dish; they were labeled and incubated in the laboratory. A completely randomized design with five replicates was used. The experimental unit consisted of one Petri dish. To determine the effect of the chemical molecules on the development of the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruit, the percentage of inhibition was measured in the same manner as described above. Statistical analysis was also similar to that performed in the first in vitro essay. All statistical analysis were performed using the Statistical Analysis System version 9.4 program (Statistical Analysis System, 2015).
Integrated control of the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruits in field conditions
This phase consisted of evaluating under field conditions, the two most outstanding Trichoderma isolates obtained from the first in vitro essay and the fungicides used in the second in vitro phase.
Experimental site
The experiment was conducted during two crop cycles, in the spring-summer of 2015 and 2016, under rainfed conditions, at the experimental field of the Superior Agricultural College of the state of Guerrero, Cocula, Guerrero (18° 14′ NL, 99° 39′ WL and at 640 masl). The climate is AW0, which corresponds to a warm sub-humid climate with summer rains, average annual temperatures of 26.4°C, and 23.4°C in the coldest month (December). The temperature oscillation from one month to another is from 5 to 7°C. The average annual rainfall is 767 mm. The soil is vertisol with pH 7.1, electrical conductivity 0.23 dS·m−1, organic matter 1.7%, total N 0.1% and phosphorus 14 ppm. The native genotype “Apipilulco”, the most cultivated in the study area was used, reaching maturity at 100–110 days after emergence (d.a.e.).
Treatments and experimental design
A split plot experimental design, with whole plots arranged in completely randomized block design, was used. The whole plots corresponded to two Trichoderma strains, and the sub-plots to fungicides; four replicates were used, the treatments are described in Table 1. The experimental unit consisted of 12 plants, and due to the crop characteristics (indeterminate creeping growth), the entire experimental unit was considered as the useful plot. The treatments were applied twice using an Arimitsu® motorized pump (Model SD-260D, ROGAVAL S.A. of C.V., Mexico State, Mexico), with a 2-point flat-fan KS-K6 nozzle at 80 psi. With a water expenditure of 800 l ha−1. The pH of the water was adjusted to 7 (Agrex® ABC, Agroenzymas S.A. of C.V., Mexico State, Mexico) and the adjuvant (Inex-A®, Cosmocel S.A., Nuevo León, Mexico) was added at a doses of 1 ml.l−1. The Trichoderma strains were applied to the soil at 20 and 35 days after emergence (d.a.e.) and the fungicides, at 60 and 75 d.a.e. The number of commercial fruits harvested in 35 m2 (mature fruits without damage); number of noncommercial fruits also harvested in 35 m2 (mature fruits with some symptoms or level of fungal damage) and seed yield in kg ha−1 were evaluated. Data of each variable were analyzed using individual analysis of variance for each of the cycles and combined through the 2 cycles. Likewise, multiple comparison test using the Tukey method with significance level at 5% was used. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis System (Statistical Analysis System, 2015).
Pathogenicity test
Soft rot symptoms appeared 7 days after inoculating Sclerotium rolfsii in mature pumpkin fruits (Fig. 2 right) in which abundant white cottony aerial mycelium of an aqueous consistency was observed, symptoms and signs were similar to those observed in the field. The control fruits remained healthy (Fig. 2 left). The reisolation of the fungus obtained from the infected tissue of inoculated fruits presented the same morphological characteristics as those that were originally isolated.
Molecular identification
The obtained sequence (570 bp) showed 100% similarity to the ITS region, whose alignment coincided with sequences reported in the Gen Bank for Athelia rolfsii (Curzi) Tu & Kimb [Anamorph: Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.]. The accession KX757771.1 CSAEGro-CaDIA was deposited in the Genbank of the National Biotechnology Information Center (Fig. 3). The species was identified as A. rolfsii in the phylogenetic reconstruction based on the use of ITS region. The ITS region was able to separate the identified pathogen and the S. rolfsii strain (JX566993), from the rest of the species of the same genus, with a bootstrap reliability of 73%, besides being highly differentiated from the rest of the species (100%) (Fig. 3).
Biological control of Sclerotium rolfsii causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruit in vitro
For the three samples of the pathogen growth colonies, the mean values showed highly significant differences (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0042). The lowest growth was observed in treatments with Trichoderma virens strain G-41 (commercial strain) and T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1 (native strain) with 2.46 and 2.60 cm, respectively (Table 2); for these same isolates the highest inhibition percentage of the pathogen was obtained on the last evaluation date (70.72 and 69%) (Fig. 4). The S. rolfsii grew at a rate of 2.8 cm day−1. At the end of the experiment, T. fasciculatum, T. reesei, T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-2 and Trichoderma asperellum Santa Teresa, registered fungistatic activity on the pathogen. There are reports that the secondary metabolites of Trichoderma spp. produces enzymes (glucanases and chitinases), antibiotics (viridina, gliotoxin or peptaiboles) and mycotoxins (Shoresh and Harman, 2008), which are involved in the fungistatic effect Trichoderma produces against fungal pathogens such as S. rolfsii (Hirpara et al., 2017). The results obtained in the present experiment with T. virens are different to those reported by Parmar et al. (2015), who studied, antibiosis of various Trichoderma strains in vitro in the biocontrol of S. rolfsii isolated from peanut. In which, 50% inhibition was obtained with T. virens. In this regard, Hirpara et al. (2017) found that Trichoderma virens presented 76.37% inhibition of S. rolfsii growth in vitro at 144 h; this average effectiveness is similar to 70.72% obtained in the present study, where the maximum inhibition was found using T. virens strain G-41 (PHC RootMate® Plant Health Care, Mexico City, Mexico), but in half the time (72 h). The difference in these results may be explained by the incubation conditions, which may affect the diffusion of secondary metabolites by the biocontrol agent and the pathogen development (Infante et al., 2011). Alvarado-Marchena and Rivera-Méndez (2016) evaluated in vitro the efficiency of Trichoderma asperellum against Sclerotium cepivorum isolated from onion, and found that the pathogen growth inhibition ranged from 47.3 to 61.08%, the maximum inhibition reported by these authors is lower than 69% obtained with T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1, but with the species S. rolfsii. John et al. (2015) evaluated in vitro the antibiosis of different Trichoderma asperellum strains against Sclerotium rolfsii and found that the pathogen growth inhibition ranged from 42.71 to 100.00%, mean values that are within the range and above that obtained by the native T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1. Native strains are an important option to be included in a management plan, as was confirmed in the present study, where the native T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1, was found to be one of the most outstanding biocontrol agents against S. rolfsii in vitro. This agrees with that reported for native T. asperellum strain Csaegro-1, which has been evaluated against Rhizoctonia solani and Phytophthora capsici isolated from pipiana pumpkin, in which the appearance of these pathogens observed in vitro was delayed between 4 and 6 days in inoculated pipiana pumpkin fruits (Díaz et al., 2014, 2015).
Chemical control of Sclerotium rolfsii, the causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruit in vitro
In the four sampling dates, highly significant differences (P < 0.0001) were found because all the evaluated fungicides totally suppressed the colony growth of S. rolfsii, with the exception of thiophanate methyl, in which there was an average growth that fluctuated between 0.76 cm in the first evaluation and 8.05 cm at the end of the experiment (Table 3). For the experimental units of the control treatment, the pathogen had an average growth rate of 2.1 cm day−1. At the end of this experiment, the majority of the fungicides inhibited S. rolfsii at 100%, in comparison with the fungistatic activity presented by thiophanate methyl. Khan and Javaid (2015) evaluated the fungicide metalaxyl in vitro, to control the isolate S. rolfsii obtained from chickpea. They reported that this product inhibited the growth of pathogen by 100%. This result is similar to that obtained with the same fungicide against S. rolfsii isolated from pipiana pumpkin in the present experiment. Other studies have evaluated the sensitivity of S. rolfsii in vitro to some fungicides. For example, Mahato et al. (2014) evaluated several fungicides, where the active ingredient metalaxyl inhibited the growth of the pathogen by 94.04%; this percentage is similar to the value obtained with metalaxyl in the present experiment. These results were possible because metalaxyl belongs to the phenylamides group, which inhibits the synthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA), affecting mycelial growth, spore formation and pathogen infection (Fishel and Dewdney, 2012). Liang et al. (2015) evaluated the effect of pyraclostrobin on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, and reported that close to 100% inhibition was obtained when using salycilhydroxamic acid. Without the latter, the inhibition was significantly reduced. On the other hand, Amule et al. (2014) reported that pyraclostrobin inhibited by 100% the development of S. rolfsii in vitro obtained from chickpea. This result is similar to the 100% obtained with this fungicide in the present study. According to Fishel and Dewdney (2012), pyraclostrobin affects mitochondrial respiration that discontinues energy production causing the death of phytopathogenic fungus. In the present study, thiophanate methyl produced fungistatic effect because it allowed 95.83 and 4.17% mycelial growth and inhibition, respectively. These results differ from those reported by Suryawanshi et al. (2015), who obtained the inhibition of S. rolfsii with thiophanate methyl by 63.81%. However, the fungistatic effect of thiophanate methyl observed in the present study coincides with that reported by Manu et al. (2012), because with this same product they registered 0% inhibition on S. rolfsii in vitro; that is, the fungus grew 100% in the culture medium prepared with the fungicide. In the present study, quintozene inhibited the development of S. rolfsii by 100%. In other similar studies, García et al. (2012) found that with quintozene, there were mycelial growth and inhibition by 17.38 and 82.62% in vitro, but against Rosellinia necatrix who is an inhabitant of the soil. Fishel and Dewdney (2012) mentioned that mode of action of quintozene is not fully known, but they propose that it interferes with the synthesis of lipids and cell membranes, which directly affects the mycelial growth of the fungi. The fungicide SWITCH® 62.5 (Syngenta Australia Pty Ltd., Macquarie Park, Australia) (cyprodinil + fludioxonil) was tested in vitro against the mycelial growth of Sclerotium cepivorum isolated from garlic (Allium sativum L.) by Pérez et al. (2015). They found that this product inhibited mycelial growth of the fungus by 1.0 cm, representing 11.76% growth and 88.24% inhibition; inhibition percentage for S. rolfsii lower than 100% was recorded in the present study. On the other hand, Ayala et al. (2015) studied the effect of the fungicides SWITCH® 62.5 WG (cyprodinil + fludioxonil) and Sportak (prochloraz) in vitro on the growth of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum isolated from bean plants. They reported 100% inhibition of the two products; this value is similar to those obtained in these same treatments evaluated against Sclerotium rolfsii in this study. Mueller and Bradley (2008) commented that cyprodinil inhibits the synthesis of amino acid, and interferes the penetration and fungal growth both inside and outside the area where the product is applied. On the other hand, fludioxonil neutralizes the transduction pathway of the osmotic signal, which affects spore germination and mycelial growth. The azole group of fungicides including the active ingredient prochloraz, which has an inhibitory effect on the biosynthesis of ergosterol, necessary for the formation of cell membranes, permits the adequate pathogen control.
Integrated control of Sclerotium rolfsii, causal agent of rot in pumpkin fruits in field conditions
Number of commercial fruits
Significant differences were found among treatments (P < 0.0001); the averages fluctuated from 12.25 to 29.75. The control obtained the lowest incidence of mature fruits without damage by the pathogen. The highest average was obtained by the native Trichoderma asperellum strain CSAEGro-1 + metalaxyl (T2) (Table 4). On the other hand, during the spring-summer 2015 cycle, more commercial fruits were harvested (Table 4), because in this year there was little rainfall, which lowered the incidence caused by the pathogen. In the combined analysis used to determine the effect of the strain and fungicide of the crop cycles, the best yield was recorded in the spring-summer 2015 season and was obtained by the native T. asperellum strain CSAEGro-1 and the fungicide Metalaxyl (Table 5). Rather et al. (2012) evaluated the effect of metalaxyl and Trichoderma virens strains, against Fusarium oxysporum, Phytophthora capsici, Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii, pathogens that cause wilt in pepper, under field conditions. They reported that with these two treatments when applied individually register averages of disease incidence of 30 and 51.9%, respectively; but when using metalaxyl + Trichoderma virens the disease incidence was significantly reduced to 27.3%. These results coincide with those obtained in this study with Trichoderma asperellum (CSAEGro-1) + metalaxyl, which produced the lowest disease incidence by Sclerotium rolfsii in pipana pumpkin fruits in the field and, consequently, a higher number of commercial fruits were obtained. These findings demonstrate that by combing the different control methods reduces the pathogens damage, which directly affects the harvest of more commercial fruits per cultivated unit area. Number of noncommercial fruits. This characteristic showed significant differences due to the effect of treatments, crop cycles and fungicides (P < 0.0001), but the strains showed a similar behavior. The highest fruit rot incidence was presented by the control, which fluctuated from 2.37 to 11. The lowest fruit damage was obtained by T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) + metalaxyl (T2) (Table 4). On the other hand, in the spring-summer 2015 cycle, less fruit damage was obtained during harvesting (Table 5). From combined analysis, the fungicide quintozene used in the spring-summer 2015 cycle obtained the lowest damage observed in fruits; On the other hand, the treatments T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) and T. virens strains (PHC RootMate®) produced similar behavior regarding the fruit rot incidence (Table 5). Islam et al. (2016) evaluated Trichoderma species in controlling tomato stem rot caused by Sclerotium rolfsii; They found that with T. asperellum the disease incidence was reduced; the effect was more consistent when the biocontrol agent was inoculated in the seed and applied to the soil; in the present study similar results was obtained because T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) decreased the incidence of rot in pipana pumpkin fruits; although the lowest fruit damage was recorded when combing T. asperellum + metalaxyl. In this regard, Mueller and Bradley (2008) argued that the phenylamide group presents systemic properties, so when they penetrate the plant, they are transported systemically to the fruits and protects them against an infection by S. rolfsii. In the analysis of the fungicide effect, quintozene suppressed the incidence of the pathogen and registered lower fruit damage; the positive effect of quintozene was because it affects the integrity of the cell membrane and cell wall, as well as the mitochondria in the phytopathogenic fungi, which decreases the formation of infectious sclerotia and propagules (Latin, 2011). Likewise, the climate played an important role in reducing damages in the 2015 cycle, since the average registered rainfall was only 145 mm, during the growing cycle (June-October). Seed yield in kg ha−1. This component is of great interest because it determines the productivity and profitability that this crop can generate. Significant difference was obtained only by the effect of treatments, cultivation cycle, and fungicides (P < 0.0001). The multiple mean comparison test showed that the highest yields were 901.64 and 883.89 kg ha−1, which were obtained by the treatments T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) + metalaxyl and T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) + cyprodinil + fludioxonil, respectively. The highest yield was obtained in the spring-summer 2015 cycle, because less rainfall occurred in this cycle, compared to the spring-summer 2014 cycle (Table 4). The individual effect of the fungicides allowed us to know that the mixture of cyprodinil + fludioxonil was the most outstanding treatment, obtaining the highest seed yield, 862.71 kg ha−1. Although no significant differences were found between the two evaluated strains, T. asperellum (CSAEGro-1) recorded a slightly higher seed yield than the commercial T. virens strain (PHC RootMate®) (Table 5). These results are consistent with Rather et al. (2012), who mention that the use of metalaxyl + Trichoderma sp. reduces the incidence of wilt in pepper (Capsicum annum L.) and promotes higher yields. Akgul et al. (2011) applied several fungicides in the field to control S. rolfsii in peanut, and found that metalaxyl decreased the incidence of the pathogen and also increased yields; the data reported by these authors coincides with the field results obtained in the present study, because the highest yields were produced by metalaxyl and Trichoderma; Finally, Mouden et al. (2016) recently studied the effect of cyprodinil + fludioxonil in vivo to control Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides in strawberry; they reported that cyprodinil + fludioxonil was the most effective because it presented 100% inhibition; the effective control of pathogens by using these chemical fungicides corroborates that these products have great potential and should be incorporated into the integrated management of pests and disease, as obtained in the present investigation. These active ingredients protect pumpkin fruits from infection and help to obtain the highest seed yield in the field. The results obtained by Trichoderma are due to its rapid growth, wide ecological plasticity, mechanisms of direct action (competition, antibiosis and mycoparasitism), which manifest their antagonistic potential against plant pathogens such as S. Rolfsii (Infante et al., 2011); this encourages the incorporation of species such as Trichoderma asperellum in the integrated management of this pest and diseases under field conditions, which permits acceptable commercial yields of pumpkin seed as was identified in the present study.
Fig. 3. Phylogenetic tree obtained by the maximum parsimony method using the Subtree-Pruning-Regrafting algorithm. The confidence values of the nodes were formed with 1000 bootstrap replicates. Remarked letter in bold, evaluated strains in this study. s. l. = sensu lato.
†Values of means with equal letters in the same column are not statistically different (Tukey, α=0.05).
HSD: Tukey’s Honest Significant Difference.
Table 4
Combined analysis of the treatments including Trichoderma spp. and fungicides on the production of healthy and damaged fruits and seed yield in the cultivation of pipiana squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma), through the 2015 and 2016 cycles
Analysis of the factorial structure not including the control treatment of the crop cycle 2015 and 2016, strains of Trichoderma spp. and fungicides, on the obtaining of healthy fruits, damaged and seed yield, in the cultivation of Pipiana squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma) |
Before
It’s News has recently received the following tip from a
confidential source who asked that we get this information out to the
public. In light of recent cancellations of airline flights out of
Alaska, Oregon and Washington state, was there another reason behind
those cancellations besides what we have already
been told? While
the official word is that ‘the flu’ has struck Alaska Airlines
crews, causing the cancellations of 24 flights, we have been informed
that the real reason that crew members have called in sick has been
due to fears of high levels of radiation in the air, as confirmed
by this
recent story
that hot particles are now in the lungs of Americans, especially in
Seattle, via an Interview
with nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds.
That same story shared with us that helicopters conducted secret
flights to do surveys of the amount of radiation in the air and adds
credence to more secretive military flights that were conducted just
days ago and shared below.
On
December 23rd, flights out of Seattle Washington and Portland Oregon
returned to their airports as shared in the first video below
from Mary
Greeley.
That very same day, there was also very strange military aircraft
activity in the exact same area as shared in the 2nd video below from
Mary. Were these military flights actually ‘radiation detection’
flights and did the Alaska Air crews get the word of high levels of
radiation from confidential military sources? What would happen to
the airline industry if Americans were to find out that flight crews
of planes are calling in sick on days they find out that radiation
levels in the upper atmosphere were extremely high? This would
not be the first time that Alaska Air crews have been struck with
illnesses due to Fukushima radiation as shared in the 3rd and 4th
videos below when hundreds of Alaska Air flight attendants were
struck with mysterious illnesses causing them to lose their hair and
sustain unusual rashes, each of those symptoms being signs of
radiation poisoning. Who could blame these same flight attendents for
calling out sick when finding out that dangerously high levels of
radiation were in the air again? |
MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2016 ME 15
Docket: Yor-15-231
Submitted
On Briefs: November 19, 2015
Decided: January 19, 2016
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, MEAD, JABAR, HJELM, and HUMPHREY, JJ.
KEVIN DUBE
v.
LISA DUBE
HUMPHREY, J.
[¶1] Kevin Dube appeals from a divorce judgment entered in the District
Court (Biddeford, Janelle, J.). He argues that the court abused its discretion in
setting his rights of contact with the parties’ daughter by (1) depriving him of
overnight visitation with his daughter, and (2) failing to set a specific contact
schedule. He also challenges the judgment as to the spousal and child support
awards, arguing that the court erred in finding that Kevin earns $175,000 per
year—a finding underpinning both awards. For the following reasons, we
conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in setting Kevin’s rights of
contact. However, because we conclude that the court erred in its finding
regarding Kevin’s income, we vacate the judgment as to the spousal and child
support awards and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
2
I. BACKGROUND
[¶2] The following facts, drawn from the record in this contested divorce
matter, are undisputed. Kevin and Lisa Dube were married on December 24, 2002,
and have a fourteen-year-old daughter.1 Kevin is a merchant marine engineer who
works the majority of the year on the Great Lakes. Lisa is a homemaker who
earned some income over the course of the marriage through self-employment.
[¶3] Kevin filed a complaint for divorce on March 25, 2014. On
February 10, 2015, a final divorce hearing was held in the District Court,2 and on
March 13, 2015, the court entered a final divorce judgment granting Lisa and
Kevin shared parental rights and responsibilities and stating,
Kevin shall have the right to visit with and be visited by [their
daughter] at all reasonable times when he is in Maine during time off
from his work on the Great Lakes. The parents shall confer to set up a
workable schedule. Lisa and Kevin should be flexible in scheduling
parenting time and should consider the benefits to [their daughter] of
frequent, meaningful and regular contact with each parent and the
schedules of the child and each parent. Both parents shall provide the
other parent direct telephone access to [their daughter]. Phone calls
made to [their daughter] shall be promptly returned.
The court stated that it had “made certain findings regarding the parties’ incomes
and Parental Support Obligation set forth in the Child Support Worksheet that are
incorporated herein” and ordered that Kevin pay $325 per week in child support.
1
Kevin also has one adult child from a previous relationship.
2
The hearing was delayed in part to accommodate Kevin’s work schedule in the Midwest.
3
The worksheet lists Lisa’s gross income as $25,000 per year and Kevin’s as
$175,000. The court also ordered that Kevin pay general spousal support of
$3,300 per month for six years, stating,
The [c]ourt considered all of the factors listed in
19-A M.R.S. § 951-A [2015] in arriving at this spousal support award.
The [c]ourt finds that Kevin currently earns significantly more income
than Lisa and that he has a much greater earning potential than Lisa.
This spousal support award allows both parties to maintain a
reasonable standard of living after the divorce.
[¶4] On March 23, 2015, Kevin filed a motion to alter or amend the
judgment, pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 59(e), and a motion for findings of fact,
pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 52(a),3 concerning, in relevant part, his rights of contact
with his daughter and the court’s finding regarding his income.4 After the court
denied both motions without indicating its reasoning, Kevin timely appealed to us
pursuant to 14 M.R.S. § 1901 (2015) and M.R. App. P. 2.
3
Maine Rule of Civil Procedure 52 was recently amended, see 2015 Me. Rules 15 (effective
Sept. 1, 2015), but these amendments do not affect this appeal.
4
Both parties note that the final judgment is captioned “Defendant’s Proposed Divorce Judgment.”
However, the text of the judgment does not indicate that the court simply copied Lisa’s proposed
judgment. See Jarvis v. Jarvis, 2003 ME 53, ¶ 14, 832 A.2d 775 (“[A] trial court’s verbatim adoption of
findings or orders proposed by one party in a case is disfavored . . . .”).
4
II. DISCUSSION
A. Rights of Contact
1. Overnight Visitation
[¶5] Kevin contends that the court erred by “depriving” him of overnight
visitation with his daughter. We review determinations of rights of contact for
abuse of discretion. Sullivan v. Doe, 2014 ME 109, ¶ 19, 100 A.3d 171.
Generally, a trial court is “afforded broad discretion to determine the custodial
arrangements for a minor child.” Jackson v. MacLeod, 2014 ME 110, ¶ 23,
100 A.3d 484. Because Kevin did not timely move for findings on the issue of
rights of contact, 5 we assume that the District Court made all the findings
necessary to support its judgment on that issue, if those findings are supported by
the record. See Young v. Young, 2015 ME 89, ¶ 5, 120 A.3d 106.
[¶6] A court’s discretion in determining rights of contact is constrained by
the principle that “except when a court determines that the best interest of a child
would not be served, it is the public policy of this State to assure minor children of
5
Kevin’s Rule 52(a) motion for findings of fact was untimely as to the issue of his rights of contact
with his daughter. Kevin filed the motion ten days after the divorce judgment was docketed, but
M.R. Civ. P. 52(a) establishes a seven-day deadline. Kevin contends that his motion should be treated as
a Rule 52(b) motion for additional findings of fact, with a fourteen-day deadline, see M.R. Civ. P. 52(b),
notwithstanding the motion’s caption. However, we have established that a motion for findings of fact is
governed by Rule 52(a) when the trial court “had not issued findings of fact and conclusions of law on the
issues that were the subject of the motion.” Young v. Young, 2015 ME 89, ¶ 10, 120 A.3d 106 (emphasis
added). Because the court did not make any findings as to parent-child contact in the judgment, Kevin’s
motion was governed by Rule 52(a) as to that issue, and was therefore untimely.
5
frequent and continuing contact with both parents.” 19-A M.R.S. § 1653(1)(C)
(2015). The District Court did not determine that frequent contact with Kevin
would not be in his daughter’s best interest. We therefore assume that the court
made the necessary findings to support its judgment that Kevin and Lisa can work
together to create a schedule assuring their daughter of frequent and continuing
contact with Kevin.
[¶7] The record demonstrates that such cooperation is possible. Lisa
testified that she would like to keep Kevin involved in their daughter’s life, and
that she has the ability to co-parent and communicate with Kevin. Lisa proposed
that Kevin would have the right to “visit with and be visited by” their daughter
every other day when he is home in Maine, from noon until 8:00 p.m. on days
when she is not in school, and from 3:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. on school days.
Finally, Lisa testified that it was Kevin who did not keep to the contact schedule
during the pendency of the divorce by missing scheduled visits with their daughter.
[¶8] Kevin’s contention that the court “deprived” him of overnight
visitation is not accurate. Despite evidence in the record that Lisa will not allow
Kevin to visit overnight with their daughter, the court’s judgment does not itself
purport to limit overnight visitation in any way. If the parties are able, over time,
to agree to expanded visits between Kevin and his daughter, the judgment will not
prevent that.
6
2. Contact Schedule
[¶9] Kevin also argues that the court abused its discretion by denying his
timely motion to alter or amend the judgment to include a specific contact schedule
for the times when he is in Maine. Essentially, Kevin’s argument is based on his
contention that the lack of a specific contact schedule “will jeopardize any
continuing relationship with [his daughter] and undoubtedly require further legal
proceedings.”6 “We review a trial court’s grant or denial of a motion seeking
clarification and amendment of a judgment for an abuse of discretion.”
Theberge v. Theberge, 2010 ME 132, ¶ 21, 9 A.3d 809. There is evidence in the
record supporting the court’s finding that Lisa and Kevin can arrange a contact
schedule ensuring frequent and continuing contact between Kevin and his
daughter. For these reasons, we affirm the judgment as it pertains to rights of
contact.7
6
Kevin’s Rule 59 motion was timely, see M.R. Civ. P. 59(b), but he has not preserved the argument
that the court’s judgment is ambiguous or vague as to the rights of contact because he failed to raise that
issue in his motion. See Foster v. Oral Surgery Assocs., P.A., 2008 ME 21, ¶ 22, 940 A.2d 1102 (“An
issue raised for the first time on appeal is not properly preserved for appellate review.”).
7
We note that if Lisa denies Kevin “frequent, meaningful and regular contact” with their daughter in
violation of the judgment, Kevin can seek modification of the terms of rights of contact and remedial
sanctions. 19-A M.R.S. § 1653(7) (2015); M.R. Civ. P. 66; see Hogan v. Veno, 2006 ME 132, ¶¶ 19-20,
909 A.2d 638.
7
B. Spousal Support
[¶10] Kevin argues that the trial court’s findings are inadequate to sustain
the amount of the spousal support award. We review a decision regarding spousal
support for abuse of discretion. Jandreau v. LaChance, 2015 ME 66, ¶ 14,
116 A.3d 1273. The trial court “has a duty to make findings sufficient to inform
the parties of the reason underlying [its] conclusions and to provide for effective
appellate review.” Brown v. Habrle, 2008 ME 17, ¶ 10, 940 A.2d 1091 (quotation
marks omitted). Because Kevin timely moved for findings of fact on his income,8
which is a consideration underlying a court’s spousal support award,
see 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(5)(B), (E), we cannot assume that the court’s findings
were sufficient to support the judgment. See Douglas v. Douglas, 2012 ME 67,
¶ 27, 43 A.3d 965 (stating that when a motion for findings has been filed and
denied, “the court’s decision must include sufficient findings to support its result or
the order must be vacated”); Bayley v. Bayley, 602 A.2d 1152, 1154 (Me. 1992)
8
We treat Kevin’s motion for findings of fact as a timely Rule 52(b) motion regarding the issue of his
income because the court did make findings on that issue. See Most v. Most, 477 A.2d 250, 256 n.2
(Me. 1984) (stating that we will regard a motion as though it were brought pursuant to the appropriate
rule of civil procedure, regardless of its caption).
Because Kevin did not raise the calculation of Lisa’s income as an issue in his Rule 59 motion, or
move for findings on this issue in his Rule 52 motion, his argument that the trial court improperly
calculated Lisa’s income in regards to the spousal and child support awards is not preserved, and there is
no obvious error. See Foster, 2008 ME 21, ¶ 22, 940 A.2d 1102. Kevin’s motion for findings of fact was
also untimely as to Lisa’s alleged economic misconduct because the court did not make findings on that
issue. Nevertheless, the evidence on that issue could reasonably have led the court to conclude that Kevin
and Lisa were equally to blame for their poor financial situation.
8
(“[W]here a party has moved for specific findings of fact the [court] is obliged to
do more than recite the relevant criteria and state a conclusion.”).
[¶11] Kevin’s most recent child support affidavit and financial statement
both listed his estimated income as $136,420 for 2015. The court did not provide
any explanation for its finding, contained in the child support worksheet, that
Kevin’s gross income is $175,000, and it is not clear whether the court was
imputing income to Kevin, despite his testimony that he is planning to no longer
take additional “winter work,” or basing its finding on previous years in which
Kevin had made more than $136,000.
[¶12] We have vacated and remanded a divorce judgment where the trial
court relied on something other than a party’s most recent statement of income
without providing its reasons for doing so, or otherwise arrived at an income figure
without adequate explanation. See Williams v. St. Pierre, 2006 ME 10, ¶¶ 9-10,
889 A.2d 1011 (vacating and remanding the judgment because the “court may have
had a reason for concluding that Williams’s earning capacity was higher than the
earnings estimated by his most recent child support affidavit, but without explicit
findings to justify the reliance on the older affidavit, our appellate analysis is
hindered”); Jarvis v. Jarvis, 2003 ME 53, ¶¶ 22-23, 832 A.2d 775 (vacating and
remanding the judgment because the “trial court did not state its reasoning for
ignoring [the party’s] current income and relying on his income . . . from his
9
former employment”); Payne v. Payne, 2006 ME 73, ¶¶ 10-11, 899 A.2d 793
(vacating and remanding the judgment where it was unclear whether an income
finding was based on imputation of income by the court).
[¶13] The trial court, despite Kevin’s Rule 52 motion, did not make findings
concerning Kevin’s income sufficient to inform the parties of the reasoning
underlying its conclusion and to provide for effective appellate review. It is
possible that Kevin “currently earns significantly more income than Lisa” no
matter how his income is computed, but we cannot speculate how a different
calculation of Kevin’s gross income would inform the trial court’s spousal support
award. Because we conclude that the court’s finding regarding Kevin’s income,
which the court implicitly relied upon in determining the spousal support award, is
insufficient to support the judgment, we vacate the spousal support award and
remand the matter for further proceedings regarding spousal support. 9
C. Child Support
[¶14] Finally, Kevin contends that the child support award should be
vacated and remanded because of the court’s unsupported finding regarding his
income. We review an award of child support for abuse of discretion. Young,
9
Kevin also argues that the trial court erred in setting the duration of the spousal support award.
Because we are vacating the spousal support award in its entirety, we do not address this aspect of the
award. However, we remind the trial court to consider the rebuttable presumption controlling the
duration of spousal support awards, 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(2)(A)(1) (2015), on remand.
10
2015 ME 89, ¶ 7, 120 A.3d 106. Because the court’s finding concerning Kevin’s
income, which is cited in connection with the child support award, is insufficient to
support the judgment for the reasons discussed above, we also vacate the child
support award and remand the matter for further proceedings regarding child
support.10
The entry is:
Judgment as to spousal and child support vacated.
Judgment affirmed in all other respects. Remanded
for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
On the briefs:
Gene R. Libby, Esq., and Tyler J. Smith, Esq., Libby O’Brien
Kingsley & Champion, LLC, Kennebunk, for appellant Kevin
Dube
Jeffrey P. Buhrman, Esq., South Portland, for appellant Lisa
Dube
Biddeford District Court docket number FM-2014-111
FOR CLERK REFERENCE ONLY
10
In her brief, Lisa asks us to require Kevin to pay her attorney fees because she contends that his
appeal is frivolous. Ordinarily, a request for sanctions of this kind must be made in a separately filed
motion. M.R. App. P. 13(f). In addition, as we are vacating and remanding the judgment in part, it is
clear that Kevin’s appeal does not meet the usual standard for sanctions—an “egregious case” of an
obviously frivolous appeal taken with no reasonable likelihood of prevailing, or with the purpose of
causing delay. See id.; Estate of Dineen, 2006 ME 108, ¶ 8, 904 A.2d 417.
|
Leftist Artists Urge Israeli Arab To Quit Eurovision
Several Israeli left-wing artists and intellectuals are pressuring a duet of a Christian Arab and Jewish singers to quit the Eurovision song contest to protest Israel's Cast Lead war against terror.
The local artists said that the duet's participation in the contest would create an incorrect impression of co-existence as a camouflage for "war crimes." The singers are Mira Awad, an Arab, and Achinoam Nini, also known as Noa. They have not commented on the issue. |
Background
==========
Syntheses of published research, such as meta-analyses and systematic reviews, are becoming increasingly important in providing relevant and valid research evidence to clinical and health policy decision making. However, published studies might represent a biased selection of all studies that have been conducted, if statistically significant or 'positive' results are published preferably, a phenomenon widely known as publication bias \[[@B1]-[@B4]\]. When searching the literature for meta-analyses, unpublished studies and studies published in the so called 'grey literature' only (such as conference abstracts, dissertations, policy documents, and book chapters) might be missed. The effect estimates of meta-analyses based exclusively on the published literature might be exaggerated and represent an overestimation of the true effect size \[[@B2],[@B5]\], and consequently the patient might be exposed to an ineffective or even harmful treatment.
Unfortunately, the elimination of publication bias can seldom be achieved, since relevant 'unpublished' studies are frequently difficult to find or not accessible. There are basically two kinds of 'unpublished' data. The first type of data, described as grey literature in the paragraph above, can still be identified through extended search strategies in computerized databases. The second type refers to data that have not been published at all and thus are far more difficult to identify. In order to tackle bias related to non-publication or distortion in the publication process of study findings there have been various calls for mandatory registration of clinical trials at inception \[[@B6]\]. In 2004, major medical journals agreed that they would only publish trials that were previously registered \[[@B7]\]. However, some of the data fields requested in the registries are frequently incomplete \[[@B8]\]. Thus, until the complete registration at inception of all trials is a well-established method and results of all trials are publicly available, it is of great importance to improve methods for detection, quantification and the adjustment for publication bias in meta-analyses and systematic reviews.
In the literature various methods to detect, quantify and adjust for publication bias in meta-analyses have been described. There are graphical approaches, such as funnel plots \[[@B9]\], formal statistical tests to detect the presence of publication bias, such as the regression test proposed by Egger and colleagues \[[@B9]\], and statistical approaches to modify effect size to adjust pooled estimates when the presence of publication bias is suspected, such as the trim-and-fill method \[[@B10]\]. Still, statistical approaches to correct for missing studies are precarious. For instance, some authors criticize that the visual interpretation of a funnel plot depends too much on the subjective impression of the observer \[[@B11],[@B12]\]. Furthermore, the performances of many of these methods have been evaluated using simulation studies, but concerns remain as to whether the simulations reflect real-life situations.
Currently, consensus on what method is best to use only exists for the special case of tests for funnel plot asymmetry in meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials \[[@B13]\]. In order to inform the future development of policies and guidelines regarding the assessment of publication bias, we will conduct a systematic review of methods described in the literature.
Objectives
----------
•To systematically review methodological articles which focus on non-publication of studies and to describe methods of detecting and/or quantifying and/or adjusting for publication bias in meta-analyses.
•To appraise strengths and weaknesses of methods, the resources they require, and the conditions under which the method could be used, based on findings of included studies.
This systematic review will be part of the OPEN project (To Overcome Failure to Publish Negative Findings) which, among other objectives, aims to elucidate the non-publication of studies through a series of systematic reviews \[[@B14]\].
Methods
=======
Search strategy
---------------
Literature searches for methodological studies are often difficult because of ill-defined boundaries and inappropriate indexing in commonly used bibliographic databases \[[@B15]\]. Previous experience by Song and colleagues \[[@B16]\] suggests that the most productive and efficient methods include searching the Cochrane Methodology Register. In addition to the suggested Cochrane Methodology Register, we will conduct electronic literature search in Web of Science and Medline to identify relevant methodological articles. Methodological articles are those that have developed or investigated methods for detecting, quantifying or adjusting for publication bias. As the MeSH term "publication bias" has been introduced only in 1994, we decided to restrict our literature search to articles published between 1994 and the present to facilitate our literature search. Key words used in the search of electronic databases will include: publication bias, file-drawer, and reporting bias. The search strategy has been developed with the support of a librarian/information specialist and we will focus on fully published articles. We will ask experts in the field for any additional references and check references of included articles. No language restrictions will be applied. The full search strategies are displayed in Additional file [1](#S1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
Eligibility criteria
--------------------
Methodological articles will be considered eligible for inclusion if they describe a method for at least one of the following tasks: i) detection, ii) quantification, or iii) adjustment for publication bias in meta-analyses.
We will exclude original clinical trial reports, observational clinical studies, and clinical systematic reviews.
Study selection
---------------
Two reviewers will independently and in duplicate screen titles and abstracts of search results. If both reviewers do not agree on exclusion based on its title and abstract, the full text will be retrieved and assessed for eligibility. Any disagreement among reviewers will be resolved by discussion and consensus or, if needed, arbitration by a third reviewer.
Data extraction
---------------
A dedicated data extraction form will be used (Additional file [2](#S2){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), and two reviewers will independently extract the following information:
○ Basic data:
○ author names
○ language
○ year of publication
○ journal name
○ type of report (for example, narrative review,
systematic review, methodological study and so on)
○ study objectives
○ funding source
○ On methods to detect and/or quantify and/or
adjust for publication bias in meta-analyses:
○ Short description of the method
○ What form of bias the method pays attention to
○ Underlying assumptions
○ Purpose of the method
○ Resources required for using the method
○ Strengths and weaknesses of the methods
described (as discussed in the article)
○ If the method has been applied to meta-analyses with real world datasets, or to a dataset for which one can be reasonably confident that all studies conducted have been included (for example, datasets from trial registries from medical regulatory authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yes the definition is correct or the European Medicines Agency (EMA)).
The full data extraction sheet is displayed in Additional file [2](#S2){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
Two reviewers will extract relevant data from each of the included methodological articles independently and in duplicate. Any disagreements will be resolved by discussion and consensus or, if needed, arbitration by a third reviewer.
Data analysis and reporting
---------------------------
A short definition of the method described to detect and/or quantify and/or adjust for publication bias in meta-analyses will be given. Each method will be classified as described by the author. If the author does not propose a classification, we will categorize the method based on a standardized method classification sheet.
The different categories comprise:
•Study registration
•Literature search
•Funnel plot
○ Tests for funnel plot asymmetry
○ Methods to adjust for publication bias based on funnel plots (trim and fill)
•Selection models
•Selection models with data augmentation
•Sensitivity analyses based on selection models
•New statistical approaches
•Updating reviews
•Publication process
•Research ethics/policy
•Confirmatory studies
•Other: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Available methods will be critically appraised in terms of underlying assumptions, conditions under which the method could be used, usefulness, limitations, and resources required. This appraisal will be based on the description provided in the included studies.
To assess the validity of the method, we will describe if the method has been tested in an empirical dataset for which one can be reasonably confident that all studies conducted have been included (for example, datasets from trial registries from medical regulatory authorities such as the FDA or EMA).
Data extracted from the included studies and results of critical appraisal will be presented in tables and described narratively. We will report this systematic review according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines \[[@B17]\].
Discussion
==========
We aim to provide a comprehensive systematic review of the various methods to detect and/or quantify and/or adjust for publication bias, as they are used and described in the literature. Furthermore, we will describe the various methods found and illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of each method in this systematic review.
Our protocol has strengths and limitations. A strength of our protocol is the systematic approach to identify methodological articles through a sensitive search strategy, which includes databases previously tested for the search of methodological studies on publication bias \[[@B16]\]. A limitation of this protocol is the assessment of the various methods based only on the information provided in the methodological articles themselves without applying them to a real world clinical dataset.
As part of the OPEN project, this systematic review aims to raise awareness of the importance of bias related to non-publication or distortion in the publication process of research findings and the complexity of this issue. This, and other systematic reviews conducted in the OPEN project, will also provide a foundation for a recommendations workshop, during which key members of the biomedical research community (for example, funders, research ethics committees, journal editors) will develop future policies and guidelines to tackle the non-publication of biomedical research findings and related biases.
Abbreviations
=============
EMA: European Medicines Agency; FDA: Food and Drug Administration; OPEN: to overcome failure to publish negative findings; PRISMA: Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Competing interests
===================
We declare that all authors and contributing members have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
======================
DB and JJM conceived the study. MB and EM designed the search strategies. KFM drafted the manuscript with the help of DB. KFM, JJM, MB, GA, EvE, BL, VG, EM, GS and DB critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content. KFM and DB are guarantors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supplementary Material
======================
###### Additional file 1
Search results and search strategies.
######
Click here for file
###### Additional file 2
Data extraction sheet.
######
Click here for file
Acknowledgements
================
The OPEN Project is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 -- HEALTH.2011.4.1-2) under grant agreement n° 285453.
|
About the game
Twilight Sparkle Messy
What do you say about a new game for today? It is a game in which you will have alot of fun playing with your favourite character from the serie My Little Pony. In this new and beautiful online game the main character is Twilight Sparkle and is a messy type of game in which you have to help Twilight Sparkle clean up because she got really messy while she went to Zecora and explored the forest.Instructions Twilight Sparkle Messy:
Use mouse. |
Lessons from sequenced genomes. Overlapping genes in Methanococcus jannaschii?
This paper describes our finding on overlapping genes in Methanococcus jannaschii genome. We found that one of the open reading frames (ORFs) within the M. jannaschii genome contains the nucleotide sequence of tRNA(Ser), which raises a serious question of the correctness of the initiation codon assignment for that ORF. We suggest that there are two other possible AUG initiation codons downstream from the TTG triplet, which was initially considered as a translation start site. Only one of the AUG triplets is preceded by the Shine-Dalgarno sequence that seems to be required for binding the ribosome and initiation of translation. |
Photo : Charles Dharapak ( AP )
It’s been a hell of a week for the Pentagon, which can’t seem to keep itself out of headlines recently. Now, it says it’s been hit by a cyber breach of Defense Department travel records that may have compromised the credit card data and other personal information of its workers.
A United States official with knowledge of the breach, who spoke with the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity while an investigation is underway, said that as many as 30,000 workers could have been affected.
Lt. Col. Joseph Buccino, a spokesman for the Pentagon, confirmed to Gizmodo in a statement by email that the Defense Department is investigating the hack, which he said occurred through a yet-unnamed contractor that maintained the department’s travel records.
“The Department is continuing to gather additional information about the incident, which involves the potential compromise of personally identifiable information (PII) of DoD personnel maintained by a single commercial vendor that provided travel management services to the Department,” he said. “This vendor was performing a small percentage of the overall travel management services of DoD.”
Buccino said that the Pentagon has begun notifying those whose information may have been compromised, adding that “the Department is assessing further remedial measures.”
The Associated Press press reported Friday that while the department’s cyber team flagged the hack to leadership on October 4, its source said it is possible the initial breach could have happened “some months ago.” And if some 30,000 affected parties sounds like a huge number, the AP’s source also said there’s a possibility that even more staffers could be found to be affected as the investigation into the cyber breach continues.
“We continue to assess the risk of harm and will ensure notifications are made to impacted personnel whose PII may have been compromised,” Buccino said.
As the Associated Press reported, this isn’t exactly new for the Defense Department, which it notes “has consistently said that its networks and systems are probed and attacked thousands of times a day.” Moreover, a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office released just days ago said the Department of Defense had not until recently prioritized the safeguarding of its weapon cybersecurity and added that Defense officials the GAO met with were dismissive of findings.
“Using relatively simple tools and techniques, testers were able to take control of systems and largely operate undetected, due in part to basic issues such as poor password management and unencrypted communications,” the report said. “In addition, vulnerabilities that DOD is aware of likely represent a fraction of total vulnerabilities due to testing limitations.”
Now may be a good time to reassess those security measures.
[Associated Press] |
Silver residues as a possible key to a remarkable oxidative catalytic activity of nanoporous gold.
Recently, several forms of unsupported gold were shown to display a remarkable activity to catalyze oxidation reactions. Experimental evidence points to the crucial role of residual silver present in very small concentrations in these novel catalysts. We focus on the catalytic properties of nanoporous gold (np-Au) foams probed via CO and oxygen adsorption/co-adsorption. Experimental results are analyzed using theoretical models represented by the flat Au(111) and the kinked Au(321) slabs with Ag impurities. We show that Ag atoms incorporated into gold surfaces can facilitate the adsorption and dissociation of molecular oxygen on them. CO adsorbed on top of 6-fold coordinated Au atoms can in turn be stabilized by co-adsorbed atomic oxygen by up to 0.2 eV with respect to the clean unsubstituted gold surface. Our experiments suggest a linking of that most strongly bound CO adsorption state to the catalytic activity of np-Au. Thus, our results shed light on the role of silver admixtures in the striking catalytic activity of unsupported gold nanostructures. |
Article content
NASHVILLE – Traditional wisdom says the fourth win of a best-of-seven playoff series is the hardest to get.
The Winnipeg Jets dismantled that tradition and scattered it in pieces along Portage Avenue in Game 5 of their first-round series against Minnesota.
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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Jets look to close out Preds, Monday, but don't expect a cakewalk... Wheeler points to Stastny deal as key... Maurice says Jets are best team he's had, by far Back to video
But head coach Paul Maurice doesn’t take much from that 5-0 win into the Jets’ next potential series clincher, Game 6 against Nashville, Monday.
“Probably nothing,” Maurice said, Sunday. “The games weren’t anything like the games that we’re playing now, just on style alone. And every single game, and I’ll include Game 4 where there wasn’t a lot of offence, there’s enough there for each team to win a hockey game.
“You’re not going to break this team and not have them show up in a game. They’re going to come and give you their best.’’
The pressure on the Predators is enormous.
This was a team that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final a year ago. |
International Wildlife Coalition Trust (IWCT)
Charity information
International Wildlife Coalition Trust (IWCT)
We are a small registered charity, first registered in 1990, with a office address at 141a, High Street, Edenbridge, Kent. TN8 5AX. Phone number 01732 866955. My direct email charles@iwcmail. Plus. Com
Since November 1998, we have been solely working on the ilegal trade in dogs for human consumption, in the Philippines. Where we have another organisation registered "Animal Kingdom Foundation Inc" (AKF). We have found it quite impossible to raise funds in the Philippines, so AKF is 100 percent funded by IWCT. I am the President of AKF and CEO of IWCT.
We are making positive progress with our work in the Philippines, through our lawyers a new law is about to come into force, which will make life impossible for dog traders to carry on, penalties are to be very severe, £55 fine for each dog, plus 1 to 4 years imprisonment.
AKF employs 14 people full time which includes 2 vets, we have a very large dog rescue centre, with a fully fitted veterinary clinic, at this time we have at our rescue centre 309 dogs, and have in the last 15 months found new safe loving homes for 83 dogs.
We have space at the recue centre for 1,000 dogs, and with this new law we will be getting many more dogs in, as I say we have the space to build more pens, what we don't have is the money to build new pens, feed more dogs and give veterinary care, drugs are expensive.
There is much more information for us to give, and our accounts are open for any inspection. My mobile number is 0777 352 9456. |
Arcen Games released the roguelike bullet hell Starward Rogue last week to near-universal acclaim: As I write this, there are 97 user reviews on Steam, and all but one are positive. But studio founder and CEO Chris Park said in a blog post today, roughly a week after the game was released, that the positive response has not translated into sales. So even though Starward Rogue is “possibly our best [game] yet,” Arcen is going to lay off almost its entire staff.
“We’re lost in a sea of other titles,” Park wrote. “About 9,000 people on Steam have wishlisted the title, which is awesome—next time this goes on discount, hopefully they’ll pick it up (but I mean, it’s only $11.99 USD and it’s 10% off already!). By contrast, about 2,100 people have bought the game across Steam and Humble.”
Arcen was actually “relatively cash-rich” when it started work on Stars Beyond Reach, the 4X game it announced in mid-2014. But that evolved into a bigger and more demanding project than anticipated, eating up extensive R&D time and beta testing, and the extra time spent in development more than doubled the cost of making it. At the same time, revenue streams from Arcen's previous games began to dry up, thanks in large part to changes in the Steam store that drastically reduced their promotional income—“our main source of income,” Park said.
Eventually, the decision was made to push Stars Beyond Reach into 2016, and to go all-out on Starward Rogue instead. “October rolled around, and we were basically hitting a point where my projected income put us running out of funds just prior to the end of December. IF things went really smoothly with SBR, which seemed unlikely, then we might be able to release it into the maelstrom that is the November release schedule. That would have been suicidal, and so that would mean releasing SBR in the new year,” Park wrote. “But that would be really putting ALL our eggs in that one basket, and if we couldn’t release anything until January anyhow… well, that might just be enough time to make the game that went on to become Starward Rogue. Going for that, and taking on some debt to accelerate the project and thus get it out faster, seemed to make more sense.”
Even now, he maintains that it was the right decision, and things from that point on actually went entirely according to plan. The accelerated development schedule was too tight for a proper PR campaign, but some attention was drummed up through a Bionic Dues giveaway, and Park “couldn't be more proud" of the final result. “It’s such a cool game! It’s possibly our best yet, and certainly better than anything other than AI War. Players seem to agree. Our beta testers had started out iffy in late November, and had really helped us shape this into something they were all hopping around excited about. Threads were popping up all over our forums about 'I love this game!' and 'Where did this come from?' and so on.”
But it didn't sell. “In the past when we have done a launch, generally we wind up on the Steam top sellers list in the top 40 at around the low side, and peak somewhere in the top 10... Usually we hang out in the teens for a few days and then drop off,” he wrote. “That’s where we make our money.”
With Starward Rogue, on the other hand, “we have mostly hung out in the 200s instead of in the teens, and mostly in the 250s at that, top-seller-chart-wise,” he continued. “We peaked, briefly, at #98. That lasted under 3 hours.” And so instead of a month of relatively high earnings that would cover previous losses and build up a cash buffer for the next project, Arcen is likely going to take another loss in January, and will lay off almost its entire staff on Monday: Only Park, Lead Programmer Keith LaMothe, and Art Director Daniette “Blue” Mann remain, and Mann will be laid off as well if things don't improve within the next few months.
Park is open and unequivocal about accepting responsibility for the decisions that led to this point, although he says he holds out hope that Starward Rogue will eventually find its audience. Regardless of how it ultimately works out—and hopefully it will work out well in the end—it's a cautionary tale about just how fragile and fraught indie game development can be. Two years ago, Arcen was riding (relatively) high; today, despite creating a game Park thought “would be a new chance to live life properly and not run around with my hair on fire all the time,” his studio has been gutted.
Park's full blog post isn't the happiest thing you'll ever read. but it's well worth the effort for anyone interested in what goes on behind the scenes at an indie game studio. His follow-ups in the comments are informative, too. Get the whole story at arcengames.com. |
I[NTRODUCTION]{.smallcaps} {#sec1-1}
==========================
In Rajasthan, mining contributes \>4% of the state\'s gross domestic product;\[[@ref1]\] sandstone is quarried in 13 districts including Karauli district.\[[@ref2]\] Rajasthan alone contributes \>90% of the total production of the stone in the country;\[[@ref3]\] its quality meets international standards.\[[@ref4]\] In the absence of irrigation facilities and alternate livelihood options, a large chunk of the rural population in the state is forced to mining sector.\[[@ref5][@ref6]\] The state has \>1.65 million poor mine workers, highest in the country, who are at high risks of contracting silicosis.\[[@ref7]\] Silicosis is a silent killer; \>3 million workers are at risk of silicosis in the country; men in young age are dying at an alarming rate in Rajasthan.\[[@ref8]\] Factories Act (1948), Employees Compensation Act (1923), and Mines Act (1952) recognize silicosis as a compensable occupational disease; miners are also vulnerable to tuberculosis (TB), and this makes diagnosis even more difficult and often misdiagnosed as TB.\[[@ref7][@ref8]\]
On an intervention of the State Human Rights Commission in 2012, the state government pays 2 lakhs (earlier 1 lakh) to those certified by the Pneumoconiosis Board and 3 lakhs to the kith and kin of those who die due to silicosis.\[[@ref7]\] Compensation settlement process is very slow; out of 33,765 suspect cases registered with the state government, only 24% have been certified for the disease, out of which, 5.80% have received their compensation and around 50% of cases are still pending for diagnosis and certification. These certificates are known as "death certificate" or "death warrant."\[[@ref6]\] During 2015--2017, around 7959 cases were diagnosed with silicosis, out of which 449 people died in the state. This compensation scheme, as any other scheme, is riddled with corruption; each death certificate costs INR 40,000.\[[@ref9]\] In the same period, there were 2548 silicosis-inducing mines; however, this number is much larger because illegal mining happens on a large scale in the state.\[[@ref10]\] There is no or little scope for workers to claim compensation in case of injury, accidents, or occupational disease as a result of mining sandstone.\[[@ref11]\] The risk of excessive and long-term exposure to airborne silica poses serious health hazards; silica is a known carcinogen.\[[@ref12]\] Silicosis is an asymptomatic disease largely until it advances to the progressive massive fibrosis stage.\[[@ref13]\] Silicosis burden is substantial globally with 30,000 annual deaths.\[[@ref14]\] Rajasthan is the highest hit in the country,\[[@ref7]\] and Karauli is the worst-hit district from silicosis; a study reported that \>74% of sandstone workers in Karauli are suffering from silicosis.\[[@ref15]\] In a cross-sectional study, it was found that 4% of men are suffering from silicosis and 8% are suspected to have silicosis in district Karauli.\[[@ref16]\] *Ex gratia* amount to 700 victims of silicosis is pending in Karauli district since 2016--2017.\[[@ref17]\]
Mining sector is infamous for the violations of human rights of mine workers and degradation of the environment.\[[@ref18]\] Unregulated mining in large scale exposes mine workers to various hazardous materials, injuries, and occupational diseases including silicosis.\[[@ref11]\] Most of the workers die in debts, and contractors get their sons forcefully to work for them to settle their fathers\' dues.\[[@ref19]\] Sandstone workers are not provided identity proof or labor records; they are cheated and paid less than the market rates.\[[@ref20]\] Hence, this study was carried out to assess the efficacy and adequacy of socio-medical and economic rehabilitation of silicosis victims in Karauli.
Research site {#sec2-1}
-------------
Karauli is the 22^nd^ most backward district of the state of Rajasthan\[[@ref21]\] and is famous for pink-colored sandstone, which is chemically composed of 96%--98% of SiO~2~. Agriculture and sandstone mining are the driving engines of the district\'s economy; sandstone is in abundance and occurs in layers, locally called Patti, below a few feet of the earth. It is mined using rudimentary tools such as hammer and chisels \[[Figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}\].
{#F1}
M[ETHODOLOGY]{.smallcaps} {#sec1-2}
=========================
A total of 250 confirmed silicosis cases were randomly recruited for interviews from four different sites frequented by these cases \[[Figure 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}\].
{#F2}
Tool {#sec2-2}
----
The study tool was a questionnaire containing series of close- and open-ended questions, which was developed and field tested for data collection.
R[ESULTS]{.smallcaps} {#sec1-3}
=====================
The study sample (*n* = 250) belonged to 38 villages spread all over the district. The results reveal that the silicosis cases earned on an average of INR 3500/month; no female was found with silicosis; 68% of victims belonged to the scheduled caste (SC) community, followed by 16% to scheduled tribe (ST) and 15% to other backward caste (OBC) \[[Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}\]. The majority of the victims (86%) lived in kutcha (mud) houses, and 72% of the participants were illiterate. On an average, victims had large families (\>6 members per family). In addition, on an average, each silicosis victim had five members to support.
######
Demographic details of the silicosis cases (*n*=250)
Demographics Frequency (%)
----------------------------- ---------------
Age (years), mean±SD 49.8±8.4
Income/month (INR), mean±SD 3692±1819
Gender
Male 250 (100)
Female 0 (00.0)
Caste
SC 171 (68.4)
ST 41 (16.4)
OBC/others 38 (15.2)
Marital status
Married 237 (94.8)
Unmarried 9 (3.6)
Widower 4 (1.6)
Family type
Nuclear 118 (47.2)
Joint 93 (37.2)
Extended 39 (15.6)
Type of house
Kutcha (mud houses) 215 (86.0)
Pakka (concrete houses) 35 (14.0)
Level of education
Nil 179 (71.6)
Up to primary 62 (24.8)
Up to middle 9 (03.6)
Family size, mean±SD 6±2
SD: Standard deviation, SC: Scheduled caste, ST: Scheduled tribe, OBC: Other backward caste
The results show that around 19% of victims were receiving old-age pensions. Around 8% of cases were covered under below poverty line category. Overall, linkage of the victims to the developmental programs and welfare schemes such as rural employment guarantee scheme (6.8%), subsidized loans (2.4%), scholarships to children (3.6%), disability benefits (3.2%), and housing schemes (4.8%) was very low \[[Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"}\]. It emerged that 24% of the silicosis victims were engaged in the loading and unloading of the mined sandstone, while 28% were involved in hammering, 25% in breaking, and 9% in drilling of the sandstone. Around 7% of the silicosis victims were predominantly engaged with the removal of the mined stone from the mines.
######
Distribution of silicosis victims availing social benefits (*n*=250)
Entitlements Linkage to entitlements, *n* (%)
----------------------------- ----------------------------------
Old-age pension 48 (19.2)
Subsidized loans 9 (2.4)
Scholarship to children 9 (3.6)
Poverty alleviation schemes 9 (3.6)
Disability benefits 8 (3.2)
Housing schemes 12 (4.8)
NAREGA 17 (6.8)
Assistance from NGOs 12 (4.8)
BPL status 21 (8.4)
NAREGA: National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, BPL: Below poverty line, NGOs: Nongovernmental organizations
Further, majority of the cases (53%) were first diagnosed at a TB hospital, Karauli, followed by 16% at a TB hospital, Jaipur, 10% of cases by the National Institute of Miners\' Health, Nagpur, and another 21% were diagnosed by other health facilities outside Karauli. Silicosis victims were visiting several cities inside and outside the state for the treatment.
The results demonstrate that 43% of silicosis victims completed TB course, whereas 9% received intermittent TB treatment and 8% stopped the treatment in between. Data further revealed that on an average, a patient received TB treatment for 24 months; 67.6% of silicosis victims were being treated or had received treatment in government hospitals, whereas 9% were being treated in private hospitals \[[Table 3](#T3){ref-type="table"}\]. Moreover, 23% of the victims were receiving treatment in both government and private hospitals. On an average, a case visits a doctor 1--3 times a month and spends an amount of INR \>1700 on medicines monthly.
######
Status of tuberculosis treatment of silicosis victims (*n*=250)
TB treatment Frequency (%)
------------------------------ ---------------
TB course completed 108 (43.2)
Intermittent treatment 20 (9.0)
Stopped treatment 17 (7.8)
Still receiving treatment 18 (8.0)
Did not receive TB treatment 87 (31.2)
Total 250 (100.0)
TB: Tuberculosis
The results reveal that only 40% of silicosis victims had received compensation from the government; 96% of the victims spent their compensation money for unproductive purposes such as in treatment and medicines, repayment of loans, domestic expenditures, and their daughters\' marriages. However, an insignificant number of silicosis victims (4%) used their compensation money for productive purposes such as buying buffaloes, cows, and goats; running small businesses such as grocery shops; purchase of tempos; and some made bank deposits \[[Table 4](#T4){ref-type="table"}\]. Further analysis revealed that 44.4% of victims were not in a position to work due to their poor health \[[Figure 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}\].
######
Utilization of the compensation money by the silicosis victims (*n*=250)
Utilization of compensation *n* (%)
--------------------------------------- -------------
Not applicable 150 (60.0)
Treatment and medicines 26 (10.4)
Loan payment 44 (17.6)
Domestic expenditure 13 (5.2)
Daughters' marriage 6 (2.4)
Bought goats/buffaloes/cows 3 (1.2)
Bank deposits 1 (0.4)
Small business (grocery shops/tempos) 7 (2.8)
Total 250 (100.0)
{#F3}
D[ISCUSSION]{.smallcaps} {#sec1-4}
========================
The study findings reported that 99% of silicosis victims were from poor and marginalized (SC, ST, and OBC) communities. Findings from similar studies report that in mining industries, 95% of people are Dalits and tribals\[[@ref22]\] and come from lower economic strata of the society.\[[@ref23]\] No female cases of silicosis were found in all these villages. This is because mining sector is a masculine industry with minuscule percentages of female workforce.\[[@ref24]\] Findings suggest that victims\' income was INR 3500/month; on an average, they were living in kutcha (mud) houses and were illiterate. Similar findings were reported in a study that most of the workers are illiterate and have no ideas about their entitlements and rights.\[[@ref11]\]
The study reported that mine workers had large families. Linkage of the silicosis victims to developmental programs and welfare schemes run by the government was poor, and around half of the victims still engage in mining activities due to economic compulsions. In a similar study, it was reported that poverty brings people to the mines, and women and children work in these mines to pay off debts passed on to them by their husbands or fathers.\[[@ref25]\]
Almost half of the victims are being diagnosed at a TB hospital, Karauli, and the same number of cases is visiting other cities in the state and outside the state for diagnoses and treatment. Around 70% of victims were treated for TB. It is reported that resistance to diagnosing silicosis is due to a couple of reasons. First, the law requires doctors to notify the disease to appropriate authorities and doctors do not want to take this added responsibility. The other reason is lack of training to identify occupational diseases.\[[@ref26]\]
The findings reveal that on an average, a silicosis patient visits the doctor 1--3 times a month, spends an amount of INR \>1500/month on medicines monthly, and pays INR 100--200 as consultation fee/visit. It is reported that when the miners develop respiratory difficulties, government doctors treat them for TB; if they visit private doctors, they charge INR 100--150/visit. Doctors also make them to purchase prescribed medicines and undergo diagnostic tests from the recommended pharmacies and laboratories.\[[@ref19]\] On an observation, the state\'s human rights body reported that district health authorities showed TB camps as silicosis camps. Most of the time, these Medical Mobile Units are found parked in the district headquarter and face challenges related to competency of the staff and adequacy of the equipment.\[[@ref27]\]
Less than half of the victims of silicosis received compensation and spent their money on unproductive purposes such as treatment and medicines, domestic expenditures, daughters\' marriages, and repayment of loans. However, a minuscule number of victims used money for productive purposes such as buying livestock and tempos, running grocery shops, and making bank deposits. A study found that contractors (called the kedars locally) lend money to these ailing workers. Most of them, at the end, die in debts. The contractors get their sons forcefully to work for them to get their dues settled.\[[@ref23]\]
C[ONCLUSIONS]{.smallcaps} {#sec1-5}
=========================
Silicosis has affected the male members of the marginalized communities the most. silicosis victims\' linkages with the social welfare schemes and with other legal entitlements were inadequate. Majority of the silicosis victims continue to work as casual laborers including in the mining sector due to economic compulsions. A large part of these silicosis victims were wrongly treated or being treated for TB. Majority of the silicosis victims are yet to receive the compensation. Those who received the compensation money spent it on unproductive purposes. Government hospitals continue to treat the majority of the patients. However, many patients continue to visit other cities in and outside the state in search of better diagnoses and treatment facilities. Almost half of the victims were incapacitated to various degrees of disability and unable to work owing to silicosis.
Financial support and sponsorship {#sec2-3}
---------------------------------
Nil.
Conflicts of interest {#sec2-4}
---------------------
There are no conflicts of interest.
|
Unclogging Your Air Conditioning Condensate Drain Line The Easy Way
It's getting to that time of year when you will begin using and relying on your Air Conditioning system again, and it's important to make sure that you’re a/c systems' condensate drain line is clear. A clogged A/C condensate drain line can cause an enormous amount of water damage to your home if left untreated.
Up until now, clearing that condensate drain line required cutting the line near the air handler drain pan and blowing out the line with either a water hose or high pressure air, both ways certainly were capable of causing a big mess or worse, blowing apart the drain line itself.
The other method many people used was to connect a wet/dry vacuum to the outlet of the drain line, usually found outside the home near the A/C condensing unit. The problem with this method is that the wet/dry vacuum does not generate enough suction to handle a tough clog and also requires you to connect it to an electrical outlet which means most times the use of an extension cord.
Introducing the Mighty Pump
Mighty Pump, which is a new product being used by many A/C Contractors, is a lightweight handheld pump which does not require any electric and has an incredible amount of suction power is now available at www.ACDrainPump.com for homeowners to buy and use.
How Does the Mighty Pump Work?
The Mighty Pump is very easy for anyone to use! Simply attach the suction hose of the Mighty Pump to the outlet of the A/C condensate drain line outside your home and pump the handle a few times. You will be amazed at what you may see come out of your drain. By using the Mighty Pump before the A/C season starts and then again once during the season and again at the end of the season will help you prevent costly water damage to your home.
Mighty Pump Condensate Line Cleaner In Action
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cOo4dYxONI
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2 thoughts on “Unclogging Your Air Conditioning Condensate Drain Line The Easy Way”
Clogged air conditioner condensate drain lines can form another source of air conditioner or heat pump condensate leakage and so will lead into some major complications.
Maintenance and other services is really needed in your air conditioning unit.
We started smelling a musty smell in the house the other day and we found the drainage line for our outside unit down in the ground the other day. When we picked it up water came rushing out. We still have the musty smell in the house. What needs to be done?
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Green Files to Divorce Barrymore
Comedian Tom Green has filed for divorce from actress Drew Barrymore after less than a year of marriage, Green's spokeswoman Ann Gurrola confirmed to PEOPLE.com. Green, who filed the papers Monday, said in a statement: "Drew is a wonderful woman. I love her very much. I wish our marriage could have worked out. I wish her much happiness." The marriage is the second for Barrymore, 26, who was married to bar owner Jeremy Thomas for less than a month in 1994. Barrymore's relationship with Green, 30, has not been without incident: She was with him as he battled testicular cancer last year, and the couple escaped without injury when a fire badly damaged her Hollywood Hills home earlier this year, according to Reuters. Green became a household name with his outrageous MTV program "The Tom Green Show." Barrymore, who became famous as a young child in high-profile movies such as "E.T.," battled alcohol and drug abuse as a youngster. She came back into the Hollywood fold in the early 1990s, and has since won popular appeal for her work in films such as "Boys on the Side," "The Wedding Singer" and "Charlie's Angels." |
'Tweet for Youcef' Keeps Spotlight on Iranian Pastor Nadarkhani 'Tweet for Youcef' Keeps Spotlight on Iranian Pastor Nadarkhani
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In an effort to ensure the court case of Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani stay in the international spotlight, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has taken to the social media platform Twitter to maintain public awareness for Nadarkhani's plight.
The ACLJ is sponsoring the "Tweet for Youcef" campaign. The Twitter application would allow the ACLJ to send a daily tweet regarding Youcef Nadarkhani via another user's account.
The tweet would entail the number of days Nadarkhani has been imprisoned, facts about his court case, and a link back to the ACLJ's Nadarkhani information page. The tweet would end in "Via OfficialACLJ."
This is just one way human rights watchdogs are attempting to keep Nadarkhani's case in the public eye. Other organizations, including The Voice of the Martyrs USA, offers those following Nadarkhani's case the opportunity to write to him, offering him words of encouragement.
"The good news is that he has really stood firm in his faith, and the other good news is that the world is still paying attention," Todd Nettleton, Director of Media Development at The Voice of the Martyrs, previously told The Christian Post.
Nadarkhani's case has also received a large amount of international pressure.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Europe Union, 89 members of Congress, France, Great Britain Mexico, and Germany have all publicly condemned Iran for holding Nadarkhani, and have demanded his swift release.
Nadarkhani, an evangelical pastor, was arrested in Oct. 2009 for protesting the teaching of Islam at his children's school. His charges were later changed to apostasy and attempting to evangelize Muslims.
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Nadarkhani has been repeatedly asked to renounce his Christian faith, but the pastor continues to hold true to his belief in Jesus Christ.
After much international pressure, Iran passed the case on to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for final review, where the case now sits, awaiting a verdict.
Today marks Nadarkhani's 840th day of imprisonment. |
yes .. to legalize this bitcoin bitcoin system it should seek approval in that country. because it concerns the security of bitcoin and the security of its users. I think this can be legitimized by the government itself. But can this ETH price rise if the whole country legalize bitcoin ..?.
Germany recently approved bitcoin, why exactly is the approval required and what will happen after approval ?
Government or country's approval play a role in increasing the usage of the bitcoin. Approval of them helps to promote and advertise the cryptocurrency such as bitcoin. In reality, bitcoin doesn't need any approval to all. You can use it anywhere and anywhen. As long as you have an internet connection and a device you can access bitcoin smoothly. People's approval only means that it is a good choice to be involve in bitcoin and use it as long as you desire.
I think bitcoin didn't not required endorsement on a nation. Since part of nation like my nation bangladesh didn't yet favor but then didn't illegallize. For whatever length of time that the nation didn't banned cryptocurrency then you put it all on the line.
It has become necessary for the governments to accept and legalize Bitcoin in a country in order to eliminate the fear, doubts and uncertainty that might be hovering over the thoughts of new investors of Bitcoin in those countries.
Approval is basically required for making the transactions legal done by merchants or exchanges for the local currency.Else btc can be used if there is a device and internet connection available.Also, i see many countries joining the club of approving btc and thats a good sign for the long term aspect.The more and more awareness spreads the more the other global nations would also look into it and make it legal faster so that they dont lag in this aspect.
all things in the country need approval from the government, because if not it will never legal, so we can called it illegal, so if we want to use bitcoin safe bitcoin should have approval from the government, usually government makes a regulation for bitcoin in a country
Germany recently approved bitcoin, why exactly is the approval required and what will happen after approval ?
I think it needs approval because if bitcoin affect our country government will be the one that will blamed by the people. Actually there is a chance that bitcoin will affect our economy and also can make our bank disappear.
Germany recently approved bitcoin, why exactly is the approval required and what will happen after approval ?
Will,in this situation the government of every country needs an approval to become the bitcoin as an legit investment and parts of economic progress in order to done a bussiness smoothly and in order,just like happen in the country of japan,they recognize the cryptocurrency investment as part of there economic growth as an capitalize country,so therefore this happen in the country of germany in approving the crypto is only a way to make the investment run in legality and according to the government law.
It doesnt truly require any endorsement or be sanctioned for individuals from a particular nation have the capacity to utilize bitcoin and even a nation restricted its utilization individuals can at present utilize it yet the issue is individuals cannot exchange it for nearby money or utilize it for installment. After an endorsement from a nation obviously individuals can openly utilize bitcoin locally and trade it for fiat without stressing that you are completing an unlawful movement. |
There are still a few tickets left to this timely free event in the centre of Bath!
With recent polls showing more than 50% of the public want a say on the final Brexit deal with the option to Remain, never has there been a time to learn more about the state of the debate on both sides of the Channel and how you can get involved.
Convened by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats MEP, Catherine Bearder, this event will be hosted by Bath’s MP, Wera Hobhouse, who will be joined by the Chair of Britain for Europe, Tom Bruffato for a morning rally and Q&A on the future of the Brexit debate.
Don’t miss your chance to attend this event! Book your ticket now on Eventbrite. |
Getty Images Soapbox Why Trump Is Right to Strip Ex-Officials’ Security Clearances There are three main reasons why the president might be right to revoke the security clearances of several top former Obama administration officials.
Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor in the administration of President George W. Bush.
Should President Donald Trump revoke the security clearances of several former Obama administration officials who have been criticizing him? Is this a scandal?
The answers are, respectively, yes, and no.
Let’s start back with a prior question: why do former officials have security clearances anyway? I’m a former official myself, and when I left the National Security Council staff on January 20, 2009, my security clearance was not canceled. If memory serves, most or all of us from the Bush administration National Security Council kept our clearances for at least a year. Why? Because the incoming Obama White House thought that in the early months of a new administration, we might have some useful insights to impart—information about how past events had developed, or impressions of top people in foreign governments—and our successors wanted to be able to discuss classified information with us and elicit our views.
Our knowledge was a wasting asset, so there would be no reason to keep the clearances going forever. The foreign officials we knew best would typically be out of their own jobs as the months and years progressed, and the crises we handled would usually recede into the past.
I kept my clearance longer than one year, because I—like very many former officials—was occasionally asked to consult for some agency or another, or to participate in a war game or conference. My clearance has (I think) expired, and there’s no real reason for it to be renewed unless some agency decides it wants me to consult with it more actively.
Why do people like Susan Rice, John Brennan, James Clapper and retired General Michael Hayden have security clearances? The same reasons: so that classified information can be discussed with them to elicit helpful reactions. But there are two caveats here that suggest Trump might be right to revoke the clearances he is reviewing.
First, people who are not government officials and who are getting classified information may leak it, whether inadvertently or deliberately. All of us now get a blizzard of information and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying one cannot always recall the source. Was it on TV, or in a newspaper or magazine, or on the computer screen, or in a conversation? If you’re getting classified information, it can be indistinguishable from the rest of that blizzard, and there’s a reasonable chance you can’t recall if—for example—some line about what the German foreign minister said was classified or not.
The likelihood that this might happen and result in disclosure of classified information is magnified if you’re on TV frequently. Think of it this way: as a former official, anything you write is supposed to be cleared by your former agency. When I wrote a memoir of my time handling Middle East policy in the George W. Bush administration, I had to submit my manuscript to the government for review. In that case, the Department of State, NSC and CIA each had the opportunity to review it. If you’re on TV all the time—especially if you’ve actually signed a contract to be a commentator, as former CIA Director John Brennan has with NBC News—you have no chance for such reviews. You say what comes into your head, and the chances that you may inadvertently pass on something classified go up.
Second, your security clearance is not supposed to be useful to you; it’s supposed to be useful to the government. If you are attacking the administration every day—if you are literally calling the president a traitor, as Brennan has—there is very little chance that you will be consulted. Officials will keep clear of you, so you’ve destroyed the utility of giving you a security clearance.
I would add a third consideration. I cannot recall previous high intelligence officials acting the way Brennan and Clapper have in vocally assaulting the succeeding administration in a highly partisan manner. Think of Directors of National Intelligence John Negroponte, John McConnell and Dennis Blair, and think of CIA Directors like William Webster, Robert Gates, James Woolsey, John Deutch and George Tenet, and you’ll immediately see that what’s happening now is unprecedented. Brennan and Clapper may well believe that Trump is a threat to the country and as such, merits a break from the norms. They are entitled to their beliefs and can go on attacking—but they shouldn’t have access to classified information.
One has to assume that the partisan views Brennan and Clapper now express were the same views they held when in office, and it is impossible to believe such views did not affect their conduct of their offices. They have done real damage to the belief and expectation that partisan politics will not affect the way our intelligence agencies operate, or the advice they give. They have also led to a reasonable suspicion they might deliberately leak something that could in their view damage the administration or contradict its assertions.
Of course, former officials—including presidents—do not take a vow of silence upon leaving office. But former presidents have usually been circumspect in attacking their successors (Jimmy Carter is an exception), and former intelligence chiefs have generally avoided partisan attacks as well. In behaving this way, they are changing the rules, and Trump is justified in changing the rules to reflect their conduct.
Needless to say, lines have to be drawn. Security clearances should not depend on party loyalty and should not be routinely and immediately revoked when a word (or many words) of criticism are spoken.But it is reasonable to ask our highest former national security officials to consider the integrity of their former offices and agencies and ask that they decide carefully before entering the political and media fray.
They are free to choose that path, but if they do, they relinquish the perquisites that have traditionally gone with their long careers—like a security clearance. |
Q:
F#: Best practices for organizing types and modules
If I take the functional approach of defining a type, and then describing functions (as opposed to instance methods) that operate on that type, how should I organize my code?
I generally go one of three ways:
(1):
module MyType =
type MyType (x : int) =
member val X = x with get
let myFunction myType y = myType.X + y
(2):
type MyType (x : int) =
member val X = x with get
[<RequireQualifiedAccess>]
module MyTypeOps =
let myFunction myType y = myType.X + y
(3):
type MyType =
{
x : int
}
static member MyFunction myType y = myType.x + y
Pro of (1) is that functions are defined in a module. Cons of (1) are that the type is defined in the module, too, resulting in ugly MyType.MyType redundancy on instantiation and the inability to [<RequireQualifiedAccess>] if you want to allow open MyType as a work-around for that redundancy.
Pros of (2) are functions defined in a module, and no module.type redundancy. Con is that the module cannot be the same name as the type.
Pro of (3) is that the methods are static, and no module.type redundancy. Cons are that you cannot define some types (e.g. non-method values and active patterns) under this method.
Normally, I prefer (2), even though I hate having to name the module something that's less descriptive and intuitive than it should be. (2) also allows me to create mutually dependent types using type ... and ... in the rare case that I need to do that, which is obviously impossible for types defined in separate modules like approach (1).
What approach do my fellow F# programmers take? I'm wondering if I'm overlooking something obvious (or not-so-obvious), or, if I'm not, whether there's a convention out there that addresses the inability to name a module the same name as its corresponding type inside the same namespace.
A:
There's a fourth way that you haven't listed, which is to have the type and the module named the same. You think it can't be done, but it's actually a very common practice; you simply have to (in F# versions prior to 4.1) use the [<CompilationRepresentation(CompilationRepresentationFlags.ModuleSuffix)>] attribute on the module. It's a bit ugly to write that everywhere, which is why F# 4.1 made this the default behavior if you define a type with the same name as a module. To see how it's done, look at the FSharpx.Collections code (among many other projects). Here's one file that isn't too horrendously big, that makes for a good example:
https://github.com/fsprojects/FSharpx.Collections/blob/master/src/FSharpx.Collections/Queue.fs
namespace FSharpx.Collections
type Queue<'T> (front : list<'T>, rBack : list<'T>) =
// ...
member this.Conj x =
match front, x::rBack with
| [], r -> Queue((List.rev r), [])
| f, r -> Queue(f, r)
// ...
[<CompilationRepresentation(CompilationRepresentationFlags.ModuleSuffix)>]
module Queue =
// ...
let inline conj (x : 'T) (q : Queue<'T>) = (q.Conj x)
// ...
When you organize your code this way, with a type and module of the same name, the F# compiler is perfectly able to keep things straight -- especially if you follow standard naming conventions, having member methods named in PascalCase style but having functions in the module named in camelCase style. The C# compiler would get confused, but the CompilationRepresentation attribute takes care of that, ensuring that other .Net languages see the module with the name QueueModule. So from F#:
let q = new Queue([1;2;3], [])
let moreItems = q |> Queue.conj 4
let stillMoreItems = moreItems.Conj 5
From C#:
Queue<int> q = new Queue<int>({1,2,3}, {}); // Not valid list syntax, but whatever
Queue<int> moreItems = QueueModule.Conj(4, q);
Queue<int> stillMoreItems = moreItems.Conj(5);
The Queue.conj function looks more natural to use from F#, and the member method moreItems.Conj looks more natural to use from C#, but both are available in both languages.
|
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Burnaby RCMP used a chainsaw to rescue an elderly man Monday night after he was trapped under a mountain of household items.
A concerned friend couldn’t get a hold of the 76-year-old man and called RCMP at around 8 p.m, spokesperson Cpl. David Reid said.
When officers arrived in his home in the 6900-block of Mandy Avenue, they found the man under a pile of his belongings.
“He was trapped under a lot of stuff,” Reid said Tuesday. “He couldn’t move or get up so we had to make a forced entry to the house. It became necessary to use a chainsaw to extract him from the material that he was trapped under.”
The hoarding was so extensive, he added, that were “piles literally up to the roof on both floors of the residence.”
The man was rushed to Burnaby General Hospital.
“He has injuries to his one leg that was trapped and the circulation was cut off,” Reid said. “Whether or not they’re going to deal with that or how they’re going to deal with it, I’m not sure.”
The man was unable to reach the phone and respond to those calling him, Reid added, and “had no one gone to his aid, the outcome could have been a lot more tragic.” |
The first 32 bit version of Gmail for Windows 95 and NT, including a 32 bit MAPI interface to 32 bit mail-aware applications is ready. A compatible version for Windows 3.x users is also available, as is a text-based, functionally compatible version for DOS and UNIX.
Highlights of 5.0 for users:
Gmail is now delivered in both 16 bit and 32 bit versions. The two versions have the same functionality. The 16 bit version is kept up to date to satisfy Windows 3.1 users. The 32 bit version allows you to run Gmail in both Windows 95 and Windows NT native mode and interact with other 32 bit applications through MAPI.
The 32 and 16 bit versions can coexist on the same Windows PC, and either one can be used to access your mailbox and folders.
The new message tag facility allows you to attach a note to any message, and in the note put your personal text, as needed by you to remind yourself about whatever is important to you as regards this particular message. The facility is the electronic equivalent of those little pads of yellow note paper with an adhesive strip on the back. Message tags are included in the search criteria.
The search facility now supports global search which lets you search in all likely folders or simply all folders. The global search supports all the existing search modes. The result is a display of all folders where there were messages matching the search criteria, with only the selected messages displayed while in selection mode.
You can switch from folder to folder while in selection mode. While in any folder you can switch from selection mode back to the normal message display, and then back again to the selection.
External Folders are now supported in Gmail. An external folder is functionally the same as a standard folder, except that it is placed in another directory (e.g. on a diskette or the C drive). You open an external folder in the same way as a standard folder. All functions are the same, e.g. displaying, moving or deleting messages.
Rules based message processing is introduced, and replaces the previous automatic forward and reply facility. Remember that Gmail automatic processing does not require a third party program, or that Gmail is running on your PC, or even that your PC is switched on!!
The open unread folder function now lets you check private folders as well as public and group folders for unread messages. The Open Unread Folder Setup function lets you configure the folders to be checked by this function.
Highlights of 5.0 for administrators:
Gmailer for Windows is now ported to 32-bit.
On NT it can be run invisibly as a Service on a system or user account, or interactively from the desktop (see note below on Gservice). When running as an invisible service, it can be monitored via the LOGFILES, or Gmonitor (see note below on Gmonitor)
When iconized on Windows 96 or NT 4.0, Gmailer adds a small icon to the Icon Tray. The icon is animated when mail transfers are in progress.
Virus checking awareness has been added to Gmailer. This allows you to run Gmailer on a Virus protected Windows or NT platform to check all message attachments that pass through. The virus scanner should be set-up to check all files which are opened, and delete any file containing a virus. Information on the message with the virus infected attachment is logged.
Gmonitor for Windows
Gmonitor for Windows is a 32-bit Windows program which has the same functionality earlier provided by the DOS Gmonitor program. Gmonitor for Windows provides Gmail administrators with an overview of the status of all installed Gmailers, and can be configured to automatically send e-mail warnings to the Gmail Postmaster when a Gmailer unexpectedly shuts down.
Gmonitor for Windows also enables administrators to send control commands to Gmailers which are running as services on Windows NT platforms. Administrators can configure a number of remote nodes for which Gmail will keep statistics. Gmonitor for Windows lets you monitor those statistics and see if any important remote nodes have stopped responding.
Gservice for Windows NT
Gservice is a new program which allows Gmailer and other Gmail servers to run as Windows NT services on an NT server.
In addition to starting a pre-configured set of Gmailers automatically at boot time, Gservice lets you start new Gmailers in the background via GmonitorW.
GlinkWeb is an extension to the Glink product family that gives web users access to mainframe applications from their browsers, without the need for additional software on the client workstation. |
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Background
==========
Proteins that evolve from a common ancestor can change functionality over time. For example, different related enzymes can bind to different substrates. Identifying the residues that cause these changes in specificity is important as this could allow one to alter the substrate specificity \[[@B1]\] or to predict the effect of mutations on the protein. The most common method for identifying SDP (specificity determining positions) starts with the construction of a multiple sequence alignment of the homologous proteins. Often the branching order of a phylogenetic tree exactly matches the known functional split between the proteins. Several methods have been used to identify the SDP\'s using only the tree and alignment \[[@B2],[@B3]\], or combined with prediction of ancestral sequences \[[@B4]\] or with analysis of structures \[[@B5]-[@B7]\]. The evolutionary trace (ET) method, for example, identifies SDPs responsible for subgroup specificity by partitioning the tree or dendrogram into an increasing number of subgroups of similar sequences with subsequent analysis of their three-dimensional (3D) structures \[[@B5]\]
In cases when the functional split does not correspond to a clear phylogenetic split in the tree, other methods for identifying the SDPs have to be used. This situation can arise in highly divergent families, as proteins have multiple features that co-evolve along with specificity, such as the sub-cellar location or interaction with other proteins which may give a larger phylogenetic signal than the functional difference \[[@B8]\]. These methods normally require a multiple alignment, and a classification for the sequences.
Livingstone and Barton implemented a method called AMAPS that highlighted positions in an alignment that had different amino acid properties conserved between different sub-groups \[[@B9]\]. A similar idea is implemented in the Conserved Property Difference Locator method \[[@B10]\] which is available as a web server \[[@B11]\]. Mutual information has also been used as a measure to identify residues that confer specificity \[[@B12]\]. It is used to measure of how often a particular position in a sequence is conserved in one sub-family, and varies in another. Improvements were made to this algorithm which included taking into account the non-uniformity of amino acid substitutions via amino acid substitution matrices and a method for automatically setting cut-off thresholds \[[@B13]\]. The method of Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] identifies the functional residues by comparing hidden Markov model profiles generated for each subgroup and calculating the relative entropy for each position. Positions with high relative entropy have very different amino acid distributions between the subgroups, and as such are considered possible SDPs. Pirovano et al. \[[@B14]\] showed that relative entropy exhibited undesirable asymptotic behaviour, and then reformulated it as \"sequence harmony\". Sequence logos \[[@B15]\] have also been used to visualise differences between two subfamilies \[[@B16],[@B17]\].
A variety of multivariate statistical approaches have been applied to sequence analysis over the years. Principal coordinates analysis \[[@B18]\] was used to plot protein sequences in a low dimensional space that preserved the distances between them \[[@B19]\]. Later, principal component analysis (PCA) was used on multiple sequence alignments to identify possible functional residues \[[@B20]\]. The columns in the alignment were converted into a vector of binary variables of length 20, which represented the absence/presence of an amino acid at this position. PCA analysis of this matrix was then used to project the sequences onto 2 or 3 dimensions, which allowed identification of possible sequence clusters. The residue variables were also projected onto the same space, so that group specific residues could be identified. This method was implemented as a package called SequenceSpace. More recently this method has been automated so that the user does not have to manually identify the sequence groups \[[@B2]\] and made available as a web server \[[@B21]\]. Correspondence analysis (CA) has also been used to identify SDPs \[[@B22]\]. CA is used to decompose a chi-squared table between residues and sequences and has the attraction of automatically plotting both in the same space. The correspondences between residues and sequences (or groups of sequences) can then be seen from their proximity on the scatter plots.
CA and PCA are usually considered to be \"unsupervised\" techniques, to use the terminology of the field of machine learning and classification. This means that groups of objects that are of a-priori interest are not specified in advance. The axes are derived as those that account for maximum variance among the objects when these are plotted on them. Often, this is sufficient to obtain the information that one is interested in. The groups of interest may separate out in a useful manner along the first 2 or 3 axes or they may not; it will depend on the data set. Particular splits in the data may not show up in a useful manner on the plots. The most interesting splits can be masked by stronger trends of a less interesting nature such as amino acid composition. The analysis can be \"supervised\" by specifying groups and forcing the analysis to focus on these. In the case of Pazos et al \[[@B22]\], the relationships between the groups of sequences and residues are determined by an analysis of CA plots. Groups of sequences are represented as mean vectors and the residues that are closest to each vector are the ones that are most related to that group of sequences.
In this paper, we demonstrate the use of Between Group Analysis (BGA) for identifying SDPs from a sequence alignment. BGA is a supervised multivariate analysis method for sample discrimination and class prediction \[[@B23]\] and has been recently used to identify genes of interest from microarray data sets \[[@B24]\]. BGA is supervised by labelling each object (sequence) in advance as belonging to one of a small number of groups and forcing the axes to be those that split these groups as much as possible. Technically, the analysis is accomplished by finding those axes that maximise the between group variances. Informally, this is accomplished by treating the group centroids as the objects to be analysed and by carrying out a CA or PCA on these centroids. This produces results that are similar in appearance to those derived from multiple discriminant analysis but with the bonus of being robust when the number of variables exceeds the number of objects. BGA carried out using PCA is very similar to partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS DA). In practice, BGA is carried out in two stages. These are automatically done using the MADE4 package \[[@B25]\]. Firstly, an ordination is computed using either PCA or CA on a data set in which the different groups are defined. BGA then finds linear combinations of the axes that maximise between-group variances and minimise within-group variances. This combination is very flexible as it can be used to examine any number of pre-specified groups. It has a further advantage in that it can be combined with a variety of data types from binary to continuous because of the way in which it can use PCA or CA.
Results
=======
Lactate/Malate dehydrogenases
-----------------------------
The results for the Lactate/Malate dehydrogenase case using the two different amino acid encoding schemes are shown in Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}. Each set of results is displayed using three vertical lines, each of which is a view of the single axis of the analysis. The sequences are plotted on the line on the left, the group centroids are in the middle and the variables/residues are plotted on the right. Each sequence is joined, by a line, to its group centroid. The ten most extreme variables at each end of the axis are displayed in the same order as they appear on the axis. In both sets of results, the variables at the top of the axis are most associated with the MDH group of sequences while the residues at the bottom are most associated with the LDH group.
{#F1}
{#F2}
{#F3}
{#F4}
In both sets of results there is a very clear separation of the two groups of sequences. This is a useful indicator to tell if the method was able to successfully separate the two groups. The inter-group separation is much more than the intra-group separation. There are no obvious outliers in either analysis.
Both sets of results correctly identify the Gln-Arg mutation as being important. This is position 107 in the alignment, which contains 7 Glutamine\'s and 1 Methionine in the Lactate set of sequences but only Arginine in the Malate set. It is the second most highly ranked position for the LDH group in the analysis with the binary representation, as well as the second position for the MDH group in the method using the AAP encoding. Figure [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"} shows the positions, highlighted in the alignment, that were identified by the analysis using the AAP encoding.
![Alignment of a sample of the lactate/malate dehydrogenase sequences with positions highlighted that the analysis using the AAP residues identified as being important for specifity. The alignment was drawn with JalView \[42\].](1471-2105-8-135-5){#F5}
The positions at the end of the axis are either strongly conserved in one group but not the other, or are strongly conserved in both groups but different from each other. If each group has a different strongly conserved residue the position will show up at both ends of the axis. This is true for the top position in the AAP encoding scheme, 152, which is a fully conserved D in the LDH group and N in MDH. The top position in the Binary encoding scheme is position 14, a fully conserved M in LDH and Q in MDH. Positions that are strongly conserved in one group and not the other will show up with a residue and position on the end of the axis corresponding to the group of sequences that they are conserved in, but there won\'t be a corresponding variable at the other end. One example of this is alignment position 106 which is an Arginine (R) in the lactate sequences but can be either A or P in the Malate case.
For this dataset, we compared our results with the SDPpred web server \[[@B26]\]. SDPpred predicted 15 residue positions as being important and these are shown in Table [2](#T2){ref-type="table"}. 13 of these positions were also found in the top 10 residues at in the BGA analysis. The two positions that were predicted by SDPpred and not by BGA were position 9 and 21. Three positions were predicted by the BGA and not by SDPpred. They were E at position 64, D at 67 and E at position 44.
######
The five factors for each of the amino acids as calculated by Altchely et al \[28\]
**Factor A** **Factor B** **Factor C** **Factor D** **Factor E**
--- -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
A -0.591 -1.302 -0.733 1.57 -0.146
C -1.343 0.465 -0.862 -1.020 -0.255
D 1.05 0.302 -3.656 -0.259 -3.242
E 1.357 -1.453 1.477 0.113 -0.837
F -1.006 -0.590 1.891 -0.397 0.412
G -0.384 1.652 1.33 1.045 2.064
H 0.336 -0.417 -1.673 -1.474 -0.078
I -1.239 -0.547 2.131 0.393 0.816
K 1.831 -0.561 0.533 -0.277 1.648
L -1.019 -0.987 -1.505 1.266 -0.912
M -0.663 -1.524 2.219 -1.005 1.212
N 0.945 0.828 1.299 -0.169 0.933
P 0.189 2.081 -1.628 0.421 -1.392
Q 0.931 -0.179 -3.005 -0.503 -1.853
R 1.538 -0.055 1.502 0.44 2.897
S -0.228 1.399 -4.760 0.67 -2.647
T -0.032 0.326 2.213 0.908 1.313
V -1.337 -0.279 -0.544 1.242 -1.262
W -0.595 0.009 0.672 -2.128 -0.184
Y 0.26 0.83 3.097 -0.838 1.512
######
Results from SDPpred web server \[26\] for the Lactate/Malate dehydrogenase sequences ranked by Z-Score
**Ranking** **Position** **Mutual Information** **Z-Score**
------------- -------------- ------------------------ -------------
1 152 4.44E-01 10.41
2 107 4.46E-01 8.44
3 61 4.61E-01 7.99
4 106 4.60E-01 7.13
5 16 4.43E-01 6.26
6 21 4.53E-01 6.19
7 157 3.67E-01 6.18
8 12 3.31E-01 6.18
9 14 4.56E-01 6.1
10 43 4.34E-01 6.05
11 127 4.40E-01 5.93
12 153 4.42E-01 5.63
13 111 3.54E-01 5.46
14 162 4.41E-01 5.23
15 9 3.87E-01 5.09
Nucleotidyl cyclases
--------------------
The results for the Nucleotidyl cyclases are shown in Figure [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}, using the two different representation schemes. In both plots there is clear separation of guanylate cyclases (GUC) and adenylate cyclases (ADC).). The two positions (158 and 68), Glu-Lys (E-\>K) and Cys-Asp (C-\>D) that are sufficient to change the specificity are both identified by the method.
{#F6}
The analysis using the binary representation identifies all of the residues identified by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\]. It also identified a position, 156 in the alignment, which only ever contains R in the GUC sequences, is mostly Q in the ADC but can be an R. This means that if there is a glutamine in that position it is likely to be an adenylate cyclase. Figure [7](#F7){ref-type="fig"}shows the positions, highlighted in the alignment, that were identified by the analysis using the binary encoding. The results were also compared with the SDPpred web server. The results are shown in Table [3](#T3){ref-type="table"}. SDPpred predicted 5 positions as being important, all of which the BGA method identified.
![Alignment of a sample of Nucleotidyl cyclases sequences with positions highlighted that the analysis using the binary variables identified as being important for specifity. The alignment was drawn with JalView \[42\].](1471-2105-8-135-7){#F7}
######
Results from SDPpred web server \[26\] for the Nucleotidyl cyclases sequences ranked by Z-Score.
**Ranking** **Position** **Mutual Information** **Z-Score**
------------- -------------- ------------------------ -------------
1 158 6.64E-01 19.87
2 162 6.49E-01 18.95
3 67 6.09E-01 18.25
4 68 6.38E-01 17.22
5 20 6.25E-01 16.63
Serine Proteases
----------------
Figure [8](#F8){ref-type="fig"} demonstrates the effect of sequence weighting for the trypsin-like serine proteases. The unweighted results are shown in Figure [8B](#F8){ref-type="fig"}), while the analysis incorporating the sequence weighting is in Figure [8A](#F8){ref-type="fig"}). Axis 1 separates the trypsins from the chymotrypsins and the elastases. Axis 2 separates the chymotrypsins from the elastases. The effect is most noticeable for the chymotrypsins. The intra group separation for the chymotrypsins is smaller in the weighted example than the unweighted example. There is also a noticeable difference for the trypsin sequences. When no weighting is applied there are five trypsin sequences in the same half of the graph as the chymotrypsin group, while after applying the weights, there is only one. There is no noticeable difference in the two examples for the elastase sequences. The results for serine proteases using the binary representation are shown in Figure [9](#F9){ref-type="fig"}. As correspondence analysis was used as ordination technique for this analysis, both the sequences and the variables are plotted in the same space. The variables associated with a particular group of sequences are plotted in the same direction as the group centroid with the variables most associated with the group plotted furthest along this direction. Axis 1 of the CA separates the trypsin and the chymotrypsin sequences, and axis 2 separates the elastase sequences from trypsin and chymotrypsin sequences.
{#F8}
{#F9}
The most striking aspect of the results is that many residues are strongly associated with the elastase group. There are 7 residues plotted in the same position, furthest along axis 1. They are 130V, 137I, 145Y, 168Q, 219G, 229H, 255V, and they are all fully conserved for the elastases and not for the other two groups. The residue most associated with trypsin is D in position 218, which was also identified by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] as is the next residue, A in position 254. These two residues are defined as part of the binding pocket \[[@B27]\]. The other residue in the pocket, G, in position 246 in the alignment is located at the negative end of axis 1, on the opposite end of the elastase group. This is because it is column 246, in this alignment, for the elastase is blank, whereas the other two groups have a G in this position. This residue highlights the critical importance of the alignment for this type of analysis, as this position didn\'t show up as significant in the Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] analysis. In the alignment used by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] this position isn\'t blank for the elastases. It in fact contains 50% of G, and as a result didn\'t show up as significant. Position 254 is also strongly associated with the chymotrypsin group, with a C at that position. The elastases have a fully conserved N in this position too, however this doesn\'t show up strongly in this analysis, as there is also an N present in one of the chymotrypsins.
Similar results can be seen when PCA is used as the ordination technique with the AAP encoding, as shown in Figure [10](#F10){ref-type="fig"}. Positions 218 and 254 strongly split the chymotrypsins and the trypsins. Interestingly, factor A at position 253 is strongly associated with the chymotrypsin group.
{#F10}
Discussions and Conclusion
==========================
The inter relationship between amino acid residues and the functional properties of a protein is of great importance in understanding how that protein acts. Investigating how amino acids vary or are conserved at particular positions, depending on the function of the protein provides valuable insight into this relationship. One approach is to take a collection of sequences from homologous proteins and to represent them as a multiple alignment. This is followed by clustering the sequences into functional or phylogenetic groups and a search for residue/property correlations \[[@B2]\]. Unfortunately, it is then challenging to disentangle patterns of residue occurrence that are due to functional differences between the groups and patterns that are merely due to the process of amino acid substitution over time down different phylogenetic lineages. The fact that phylogenetic and functional groupings often disagree makes the situation even more difficult.
Multivariate analysis provides a logical alternative to traditional hierarchical clustering and has been used a number of times to analyse residue/property relationships \[[@B20],[@B22]\]. This has proven to be useful for informal data exploration and visualisation. Most recently, Pazos et al \[[@B22]\] showed how to use Correspondence Analysis for this purpose, as an alternative to the more traditional PCA. They also showed how to analyse specific trends, of a priori interest, in the data. In this paper, we took this a stage further and showed how to use BGA as a general-purpose technique for protein alignment data exploration. We can combine it with CA in which case it becomes a way of carrying out a supervised CA, for any number of groups. With two groups, you get a single discriminating axis, which can be used like a discriminant function for classifying new sequences. This also ranks the variables (amino acids at each position) in terms of their discriminating power.
BGA can also be combined with PCA in which case there is a choice of how to encode the alignment information and measure amino acid occurrence in columns. Strict binary coding with CA enforces a strict view of presence or absence and is useful for emphasising clear trends in the data. It is, however, vulnerable to being misled by outlier amino acid occurrences. For example, if one sequence has one unusual amino acid in one position, the analysis will interpret this as potentially useful discriminating information. This is greatly improved by the use of pseudocounts. PCA has the advantage of allowing quantitative amino acid information to be used, such as amino acid physico-chemical properties \[[@B28]\]. In both case, sequence weighting is easy to apply to BGA using the MADE4 and ADE4 packages. This overall combination is powerful and flexible while being computationally very fast and simple. Finally, BGA is especially useful because it can be used to analyse any number of functional classes. In the examples we used in this paper, we have only used 2 or 3 classes for demonstration purposes but any number can be used and visualised.
In summary the method presented here is complementary to the other methods for identifying SDP\'s. It produces similar results, but provides an alternative method for viewing the results. This makes the method very suitable for data exploration.
Methods
=======
Software
--------
A combination of R packages from the Bioconductor package \[[@B29]\] were used to read in a sequence alignment, transform it into a data matrix, and to carry out the Between Group Analysis. They were:
### ADE4
A general purpose data analysis package for ecological data sets \[[@B30]\]. It contains a very large variety of clustering, ordination and discriminant data analysis methods.
### MADE4
A package that facilitates the analysis of microarray data using the ADE4 package \[[@B25]\]. It also includes graphical and visualisation tools which, for example, are used to display the results of a BGA analysis.
### Seqinr
A package for reading different types of sequence files including Fasta and ClustalW format into R \[[@B31]\]
Amino Acid Encoding Schemes
---------------------------
Two different encoding schemes were used to represent the multiple alignments for BGA.
### Binary Encoding
Each column in the sequence alignment is represented by a binary vector of length 20 which represents the presence or absence of a particular amino acid at this position \[[@B20]\]. This results in a data matrix of dimension N×L×20 where N is the number of sequences and L is the length of the alignment. Pseudocounts can also be included.
### Amino Acid Property (AAP) Encoding
Each residue in the alignment is represented by a vector of five continuous variables as given by Atchley et al \[[@B28]\]. They applied a multivariate statistic approach to reduce the information in 494 amino acid attributes into a set of five factors for each amino acid. These factors are shown in Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}
Factor A is termed the polarity index. It correlates well with a large variety of descriptors including the number of hydrogen bond donors, polarity versus nonpolarity, and hydrophobicity versus hydrophilicity. Factor B is a secondary structure index. It represents the propensity of an amino acid to be in a particular type of secondary structure, such as a coil, turn or bend versus the frequency of it in an *α*-helix. Factor C is correlated with molecular size, volume and molecular weight. Factor D reflects the number of codons coding for an amino acid and amino acid composition. These attributes are related to various physical properties including refractivity and heat capacity. Factor E is related to the electrostatic charge.
Columns in the alignment containing more than 80% gaps were removed. When using the AAP encoding, the remaining gaps were replaced with the average value for the subfamily in that column.
PCA is the most suitable ordination technique for the AAP encoding as it can be used to ordinate data that contains continuous variables. CA, on the other hand, can only be used to ordinate data that contains positive integer values, such as the binary representation of a sequence alignment.
Sequence Weights
----------------
A sequence-weighting scheme is useful to minimize the redundancy and emphasize the diversity each of the sub-family alignments. Position-based sequence weights \[[@B32]\] were calculated for the sequences in each of the sub-families and used as weights in the BGA calculation. These weights were used, as they are intuitive, easy to calculate and have previously been shown to perform well for profile searches.
The sequence weight is calculated using equation 1. The sequence weight is the sum of all the residue weights for a particular sequence. The residue weights are calculated by counting the number of different residue types (r) that are present at position i in the alignment, and the number of times that the particular residue in the sequence type appears (s). The inverse of the product of these two numbers is the residue weight. Unique residues in conserved columns are awarded the most weight.
$$Sequence\ Weight = {\sum\limits_{i}\frac{1}{\left( {r_{i} \ast s_{i}} \right)}}$$
Pseudocounts
------------
In this analysis it was very useful to add the pseudocounts to the binary encoding. This helps reduce the impact of small sample sizes if one group has very few sequences. Without pseudocounts, if a residue, at one position, is present once in one group and not present at all in a second group of sequences then the analysis will conclude this is an important residue at this position.
Pseudocounts have been widely used in calculating position specific weight matrix scores (PSSM). Again, they have been found to be useful with small sample sizes. When there are very few sequences present more pseudocounts should be added, but when there are many sequences much fewer are needed. The pseudocount frequency, g~i~, for an amino acid i in a column of a subfamily alignment was calculated using the method of Henikoff and Henikoff \[[@B33]\] as shown in equation 2 where q~ij~is the amino acid pair substitution probability for amino acid i and j, f~i~is the observed frequency of amino acid i, N is the total number of residues in the column and r is the number of residue types in the column. Q~i~is the actual amino acid frequency of amino acid i in the column after adding in pseudocounts. This method uses the amount of residue diversity in a column, r, to determine how many pseudocounts, *β*, to add. Pseudocounts were only used with the Binary Encoding scheme.
$$\begin{matrix}
{g_{i} = {\sum\limits_{j}{\frac{f_{j}}{P_{j}}q_{ij}}}} & {P_{j} = {\sum\limits_{i}q_{ij}}} & {Q_{i} = \frac{Nf_{i} + \beta g_{i}}{N + \beta}} & {\beta = 5 \ast r} \\
\end{matrix}$$
BGA
---
The BGA was carried out in R using the MADE4 package. Firstly, the alignment file was read into R using the seqinr commands. The sequence weights were then calculated, and the groups defined.
The sequences were converted into a matrix using either the binary or AAP encoding schemes. Columns with more than 80% gaps were excluded. For the AAP encoding the remaining gaps were filled in with the average of the subgroup. Pseudocounts were added to the matrix calculated with the binary encoding.
The matrix, group definition, and type of ordination technique were then passed to the BGA function in Made4. If this ordination technique is CA then the matrix is pre-processed by multiplication with the sequence weights, but if the ordination technique is PCA then the sequence weights are passed in as row weights. The results are plotted using the MADE4 function.
Test Cases
----------
Three different test cases were chosen to demonstrate the method. They are Lactate/Malate dehydrogenases, Nucleotidyl cyclases and Serine Proteases. They have been used as examples by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] and Pazos et al \[[@B22]\] as well as others.
### Lactate/Malate dehydrogenases
Lactate/Malate dehydrogenases share a similar substrate-binding domain. PFAM accession number, PF00056, \"Lactate/Malate dehydrogenases, NAD binding domain\". They are highly divergent and as such it is difficult to distinguish between lactate and malate subtypes. A single mutation Gln-Arg (position 102 in pdb 9ldta) is known to switch specifity from lactate to malate \[[@B34]\]. This example has been used by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] and Pazos et al \[[@B22]\]. In this study the alignment generated by Pazos et al was obtained from their website \[[@B35]\]. In this alignment there are 35 malate and 8 lactate sequences. The phylogenetic tree of the Lactate/Malate dehydrogenase sequences used by Pazos et al is shown in Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}. There is no simple phylogenetic separation between the two groups of sequences. There is a group of malate sequences that are more closely related to the lactate sequences than the rest of the malate sequences.
### Nucleotidyl cyclases
Nucleotidyl cyclases are a family of cytosolic proteins that catalyse the reaction that transforms a nucleotide triphosphate into a cyclic nucleotide monophosphate. The cyclases act on either guanylate (GUC) or adenylate (ADC). The alignment used in this example is the same one used by Hannenhalli and Russell \[[@B8]\] and contains 41 adenylate and 29 guanylate sequences. The phylogenetic tree in Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} was calculated from the alignment using the Neighbor-Joining method \[[@B36]\] implemented in ClustalW \[[@B37]\]. The tree was rooted using the add_root programme supplied by Manolo Gouy. Two point mutations, Glu-Lys and Cys-Asp, are sufficient to change the specificity of the enzyme from GUC to ADC \[[@B38]\]. These are positions 938 and 1018 of the protein sequence corresponding to the 3D structure of adenylate cyclase, 1ab8 \[[@B39]\].
### Serine Proteases
Trypsin-like serine proteases are a large family of enzymes that cleave peptide bonds \[[@B40]\]. They have similar catalytic mechanisms but have different preferences for the bonds that they preferentially cleave. Trypsins cleave C-terminal to the positively charged amino acid residues, arginine and lysine. Chymotrypsins cleave bond that are flanked by large aromatic residues. Elastases cleave peptide bonds that are next to small-uncharged amino acid residues. The difference in specifity is caused by changes in the binding pocket \[[@B27]\]. An aspartic acid found in trypsin (Asp189) is usually replaced by a small residue in chymotrypsins (Ser) and elastases (Gly). Glycine at positions 216 and 226 in trypsin (also in chymotrypsins) is usually a valine or threonine in elastases \[[@B8]\]. In this study all of the sequences with EC numbers corresponding to trypsin, chymotrypsin, and elastase were extracted from the full alignment of PF00089 from PFAM \[[@B41]\]. This consisted of 117 trypsins, 17 chymotrypsins, and 7 elastases and these were realigned using ClustalW. Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} gives the tree for this alignment, which was calculated using ClustalW and the Neighbor-Joining method. The elastase sequences all group together, while there is a set of chymotrypsin sequences, which are group closer to trypsin sequences than other chymotrypsins
Authors\' contributions
=======================
IW implemented and tested the experiment while, DH conceived and designed the experiment.
Acknowledgements
================
We would like to thank Alfonso Valencia, Florencio Pazos, and Antonio Rausell for helpful conversations about correspondence analysis and identifying functional residues in general. We would also like to thank Rob Russell for the cyclase example alignment used, and for helpful conversations concerning this project. We would like to thank Guy Perrière, Ian Jeffery and Ailís Fagan for all their help with BGA and R. This work was funded by Science Foundation Ireland.
|
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A federal judge today temporarily overturned the City of Philadelphia’s prohibition against giving free meals to groups of homeless people in areas classified as city parklands.
The judge ordered the city not to enforce its ban, finding that the city’s rationale was not served by the ban.
City officials said that by prohibiting the outdoor feedings, it would restore the dignity of the homeless and encourage them to come indoors, where they could be offered additional services (see related story).
US District Court judge William Yohn found, however, that the city is not offering the additional services it promised, and ordered a temporary restraining order against the feeding ban.
Religious groups which had been conducting the regular periodic food handouts expressed joy and gratitude at the judge’s ruling today. They had claimed that the city’s prohibition deprived them of their religious rights and was merely a ruse by the city to avoid an eyesore event near the new Barnes Museum (see related story).
The lead plaintiff, Rev. Brian Jenkins (right), choked up as he talked about the ruling afterward.
“This is a very emotional time,” he told KYW Newsradio. “We give praise to God and to all the people who have stood by us and stood by the homeless… they suffer so much.”
Jenkins says he’ll celebrate by going to the park on Saturday and feeding the homeless.
Mayor Nutter, calling the judge’s ruling a “preliminary of a preliminary statement,” stuck to his argument that outdoor feeding complicates efforts to help the homeless.
“We will continue our positive efforts to make sure people receive the services they need, that hunger is one element of a larger, more complicated series of issues,” the mayor told reporters. |
The appearance of the therapeutically irradiated breast on whole-breast water-path ultrasonography.
The sonographic appearance of the breast on whole-breast water-path ultrasonography in 30 patients with prior therapeutic irradiation for carcinoma is described. Skin thickening, a nonspecific increase in echogenicity of the subcutaneous fat, loss of volume, and architectural asymmetry are the prominent features. |
Reconstruction of postburn scar contracture of the neck by expanded skin flaps.
Flexion contracture of the neck after burns can produce severe functional deformity. Excision and split or full thickness skin grafts, local or distant flaps, and free flaps have been used for reconstruction. Recently, tissue expansion has been introduced as an additional reconstructive procedure. We have used tissue expansion for reconstruction of postburn neck contractures. Twelve patients with ages that ranged from 9 to 34 years were treated with expanded fasciocutaneous supraclavicular and shoulder flaps. No flap necrosis has been seen. In two patients, reconstracture occurred between the expanded flap and uninvolved skin. To date we have not seen any problems with nerve neuropraxia and impression on blood vessels. |
theory God
imports AoC
begin
consts E :: "c" ("E!")
consts G :: "c" ("G")
definition NESS :: "c \<Rightarrow> bool" where "NESS A \<equiv> \<not> P (\<^bold>~ A) "
definition PE1 :: "bool" where "PE1 \<equiv> \<forall>X. (\<not> (X \<^bold>\<in> E!)) \<longrightarrow> P (\<^bold>~ X)"
definition PE2 :: "bool" where "PE2 \<equiv> \<forall>X. (\<not> (X \<^bold>\<in> E!)) \<longrightarrow> \<not> P X"
axiomatization where
NG: "NESS G" and
PE1: "PE1"
lemma PE2ImpPE1: "PE2 \<Longrightarrow> PE1" by (meson CONJ5 NEG6 PE1_def PE2_def POSS2)
lemma PE1ImpPE2: "PE1 \<Longrightarrow> PE2" by (meson PE1 CONJ4 POSS1 POSS2 PE1_def NEG2 NESS_def NG PE2_def)
theorem GOD2: "(P G) \<longrightarrow> (G \<^bold>\<in> E!)" using PE1 PE1ImpPE2 PE2_def by auto
(*
proof -
{
(*(i) By hypothesis, the necessary being doesn‘t exist.*)
assume i: "\<not> G \<^bold>\<in> E"
(* (ii) Whenever something doesn’t exist, it possibly doesn’t exist. *)
have ii: "\<forall>X. (\<not> (X \<^bold>\<in> E!)) \<longrightarrow> P (X)" by (simp add: POSS2)
(* (iii) Whenever something possibly doesn’t exist, it is falsely maintained to be impossible not to exist. *)
have iii: "\<forall>X. P (X \<^bold>+ \<^bold>~ E!) \<longrightarrow> \<not> \<not> P (X \<^bold>+ \<^bold>~ E!)" by simp
(* (iv) Whenever something is falsely maintained to be impossible not to exist,
then it is falsely maintained to be necessary. (For necessary is what is
impossible not to exist.) *)
have iv: "\<forall>X. \<not> \<not> P (X \<^bold>+ \<^bold>~ E!) \<longrightarrow> \<not> NESS ()"
(* (v) Therefore the necessary being is falsely maintained to be necessary. *)
(* (vi) This conclusion is either true or false. *)
(* (vii) If it is true, it follows that the necessary being contains a contradiction,
or is impossible, because contradictory assertions have been proved about it,
namely that it is not necessary. For a contradictory conclusion can only be
shown about a thing which implies a contradiction. *)
(* (viii) If it is false, necessarily one of the premises must be false. But the only
premise that might be false is the hypothesis saying that the necessary being
doesn’t exist. *)
(* (ix) Hence we conclude that the necessary being either is impossible, or it
exists. *)
(* (x) So if we define GOD as an “Ens a se”, i.e. a being from whose essence
its existence follows, i.e. a necessary being, it follows that GOD, if he is
possible, actually exists. *)
}
*)
theorem GOD1: "P G" nitpick[user_axioms, satisfy] oops
theorem NOTGOD1: "\<not> P G" nitpick[user_axioms, satisfy] oops (* Not any more? ... timeout 120 is not enough for my PC*)
(*
GOD1 and its negation are both satisfiable in this logic.
Therefore non of them can be theorems in this logic,
unless one adds more axioms to it. *)
theorem GOD: "G \<^bold>\<in> E!" using CONT1 GOD3 M by blast
(*
Caution: Leibniz logic states all concepts for impossible objects.
This can be seen in:
theorem assumes "\<lfloor>\<^bold>\<not> P A\<rfloor>" shows "\<lfloor>A \<^bold>\<in> B\<rfloor>"
using CONJ4 POSS1 POSS2 assms
by blast
*)
(* We can prove that unicorns exists
if it is possible that unicorns might exists. *)
consts uni :: "c" --"being a unicorn"
theorem unicorn:
assumes "P (uni \<^bold>+ E!)"
shows "\<^bold>\<exists>X. X \<^bold>\<in> (uni \<^bold>+ E!)"
using POSS3 assms
by auto
(* Furthermore, we can prove that unicorns exists
if being a unicorn is possible for non-existing concepts
under the assumption that being a unicorn does not include
being non-existing. *)
theorem unicorn2:
assumes "P uni" and "uni \<^bold>\<notin> \<^bold>~ E!"
shows "\<^bold>\<exists>X. X \<^bold>\<in> (uni \<^bold>+ E!)"
proof -
have "\<exists>C. \<forall>A. ((uni \<^bold>\<in> A) \<longrightarrow> (C \<^bold>\<in> A \<and> C \<^bold>\<notin> \<^bold>~ A))
\<and> ((uni \<^bold>\<in> \<^bold>~ A) \<longrightarrow>(C \<^bold>\<notin> A \<and> C \<^bold>\<in> \<^bold>~ A))
\<and> ((uni \<^bold>\<notin> A \<and> uni \<^bold>\<notin> \<^bold>~ A) \<longrightarrow> (((C \<^bold>\<in> \<^bold>~ A) \<or> C \<^bold>\<in> A) \<and> (C \<^bold>\<notin> A \<^bold>+ \<^bold>~ A)))"
using assms MAX
by simp
hence "\<exists>C. C \<^bold>\<in> (uni \<^bold>+ E!) \<and> P C"
by (smt CONJ1 CONJ5 IDEN2 NEG1 NEG8 assms(2))
then obtain X where "X \<^bold>\<in> (uni \<^bold>+ E!) \<and> P X"
by blast
thus ?thesis
using POSS1 POSS3
by auto
qed
end |
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Social Security may seem like a relatively easy program to navigate, and in many ways, it is. The application process for retirement benefits is quick and straightforward, and there's little you need to do after you've applied, aside from keeping your bank account and address information current.
Having said that, there's more to Social Security strategy than you may think. The wrong moves could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in potential benefits, and here are three missteps to avoid.
Claiming too early if you're still working
Americans who qualify can claim Social Security anytime between the ages of 62 and 70, and the vast majority of Americans claim at their full retirement age or sooner. In fact, 62 is the most common claiming age, by a significant margin. And to be fair, Social Security is designed so that the average person will get roughly the same amount of benefits (inflation-adjusted) regardless of when they claim.
It's also true that once you've reached full retirement age, you are entitled to claim your entire Social Security benefit, no matter how much you earn from work.
However, if you've reached your full Social Security retirement age and are still working, it's also important to remember that your earnings can still boost your Social Security benefit. Specifically, the Social Security formula takes your highest 35 years of inflation-indexed earnings into account. And, the later years of many American's careers are also some of their highest-earning years.
Here's the key point: A year of relatively high earnings will replace the lowest of the 35 years of earnings used in the Social Security benefit formula.
If you're past full retirement age and are earning significantly more now than you were toward the beginning of your career, or if you have some gaps in your work record, holding off on claiming your Social Security retirement benefit could help boost your income in two ways. Not only will your benefit rise by 8% per year for waiting, but your 35-year average could also substantially improve, raising the base benefit amount to which those 8% delayed retirement credits are applied.
Delaying a spousal benefit past full retirement age
Thanks to Social Security spousal benefits, spouses who didn't work or earned comparatively little throughout their working life are entitled to much-needed retirement income.
If your calculated Social Security retirement benefit is less than half of your spouse's, or if you don't qualify at all, a spousal benefit will kick in to make up the difference. In other words, if your spouse is entitled to $1,600 per month at full retirement age, a spousal benefit would ensure that you received $800 per month at your full retirement age.
However, there are two very important points you need to know. First, unlike standard Social Security retirement benefits, spousal benefits don't get any bigger after full retirement age. If your spouse's full retirement age is 67, and they wait until 68 to claim a spousal benefit, their monthly check won't get any bigger.
Second, the key requirement to be eligible for a spousal benefit is that the higher-earning spouse must have claimed their own benefit already.
The bottom line: If your spouse is entitled to a benefit on your work record, think twice before you delay retirement beyond their full retirement age.
Not checking your earnings record
The Social Security Administration, or SSA, keeps track of your Social Security taxable earnings every year, and you can take a look at your earnings record on your latest Social Security statement. (Note: Your Social Security statement is available on www.ssa.gov by creating a "my Social Security" account, if you haven't already.)
Because your benefit will be based on the earnings data on your Social Security statement, it's extremely important to make sure the information on the statement is accurate.
Errors in Social Security earnings records aren't widespread, but they are more common than you may think. For example, in the 2012 tax year, the SSA said that $71 billion in wages couldn't be matched to any earnings records, and that only about half of these mismatches were eventually corrected.
Related links:
• Motley Fool Issues Rare Triple-Buy Alert
• This Stock Could Be Like Buying Amazon in 1997
• 7 of 8 People Are Clueless About This Trillion-Dollar Market
Since your Social Security benefit is primarily derived from the amount of money you earn throughout your career, wouldn't it make sense that you want credit for all of the money you've earned? A single missed earnings error could potentially cause you to miss out on $30,000 in lifetime benefits, according to Social Security Intelligence, so it's certainly worth your time to make sure your earnings record is correct. |
Reparsing block
----------
Full reparse
----------
After typing
----------
if($a){
say 'hi';
say $test->{
say => 'start',
some => '<caret>,
say =>'end'
};
}
----------
Psi structure
----------
Perl5
PsiPerlIfCompoundImpl(Perl5: IF_COMPOUND)
PsiElement(Perl5: if)('if')
PsiPerlConditionalBlockImpl(Perl5: CONDITIONAL_BLOCK)
PsiPerlConditionExprImpl(Perl5: CONDITION_EXPR)
PsiElement(Perl5: ()('(')
PsiPerlScalarVariableImpl(Perl5: SCALAR_VARIABLE)
PsiElement(Perl5: $$)('$')
PerlVariableNameElementImpl(Perl5: SCALAR_NAME)('a')
PsiElement(Perl5: ))(')')
PsiPerlBlockImpl(Perl5: BLOCK)
PsiElement(Perl5: {)('{')
PsiWhiteSpace('\n ')
PsiPerlStatementImpl(Perl5: STATEMENT)
PsiPerlPrintExprImpl(Perl5: PRINT_EXPR)
PsiElement(Perl5: say)('say')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiPerlCallArgumentsImpl(Perl5: CALL_ARGUMENTS)
PsiPerlStringSqImpl(Perl5: STRING_SQ)
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_OPEN)(''')
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)('hi')
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_CLOSE)(''')
PsiElement(Perl5: ;)(';')
PsiWhiteSpace('\n ')
PsiPerlStatementImpl(Perl5: STATEMENT)
PsiPerlPrintExprImpl(Perl5: PRINT_EXPR)
PsiElement(Perl5: say)('say')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiPerlCallArgumentsImpl(Perl5: CALL_ARGUMENTS)
PsiPerlDerefExprImpl(Perl5: DEREF_EXPR)
PsiPerlScalarVariableImpl(Perl5: SCALAR_VARIABLE)
PsiElement(Perl5: $$)('$')
PerlVariableNameElementImpl(Perl5: SCALAR_NAME)('test')
PsiElement(Perl5: ->)('->')
PsiPerlHashIndexImpl(Perl5: HASH_INDEX)
PsiElement(Perl5: {)('{')
PsiWhiteSpace('\n ')
PsiPerlCommaSequenceExprImpl(Perl5: COMMA_SEQUENCE_EXPR)
PsiPerlStringBareImpl(Perl5: STRING_BARE)
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)('say')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiElement(Perl5: =>)('=>')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiPerlStringSqImpl(Perl5: STRING_SQ)
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_OPEN)(''')
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)('start')
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_CLOSE)(''')
PsiElement(Perl5: ,)(',')
PsiWhiteSpace('\n ')
PsiPerlStringBareImpl(Perl5: STRING_BARE)
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)('some')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiElement(Perl5: =>)('=>')
PsiWhiteSpace(' ')
PsiPerlStringSqImpl(Perl5: STRING_SQ)
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_OPEN)(''')
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)(',\n say =>')
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_CLOSE)(''')
PsiErrorElement:<comma> expected, got 'end'
PerlSubNameElementImpl(Perl5: subname)('end')
PsiElement(Perl5: QUOTE_SINGLE_OPEN)(''')
PerlStringContentElementImpl(Perl5: STRING_CONTENT)('\n };\n}')
|
harrison barnes trisha nesbitt
In case you didn't hear, the 2012 NBA Draft is Thursday at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. Basketball fans are excited for a new, young crop of talent to enter the league, but BC could theoretically care less about a bunch of one-and-dones from Kentucky. You're telling us that twig Anthony Davis will be able to bang with Dwight Howard for rebounds? Wait, he's going to play shutdown defense on Kobe? Shall we keep going? Let's just worry about the girlfriends hitting the lottery. JUMP! |
KENNEDY: We Need A Work Requirement For Medicaid Recipients
In 1969 – no doubt sheepish about the cost of the Medicaid program that he signed into law already spiraling out of control – President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed the American people about breaking the back of poverty.
Here’s what he said: “I believe … that the key to success in this effort is jobs. It is work for people who want to work.”
Johnson, a Democrat, fervently believed that the people of America didn’t want handouts but a chance to support themselves. He believed Medicaid would be a safety net for the disabled, elderly and people with small children. Instead, Medicaid has turned into a Sharknado-sized health insurance program for 20% of Americans, and it gets bigger and more expensive every year.
In its infancy, Medicaid cost about $1 billion a year. Now it tops $550 billion. In Louisiana alone, the cost of Medicaid has increased from $5.9 billion in 2008 to $10.7 billion today (65% of all births in Louisiana each year are paid for by Medicaid). These are not all federal dollars. The state Medicaid contribution has increased from $1.7 billion in 2008 to $3.3 billion today. This growth is simply not sustainable unless we want to substantially cut funding for other priorities of government, such as universities, public schools, roads and public safety.
We have to make a choice: Either Medicaid is a safety net for the old, the disabled and mothers with babies or it’s a health insurance program for the masses. If the American people and Congress decide it should be a health insurance program for the population at large, then it needs to operate like health insurance does in the private sector. In other words, able-bodied adult enrollees need to work in order to receive their benefits.
I’m filing legislation entitled the “Medicaid Reform and Personal Responsibility Act of 2017” to create a Medicaid work requirement for a very simple reason. I want people to prosper. I don’t want them to remain mired in poverty. I want to break poverty’s back instead of creating a system that forces the American people to subsist on government handouts. And the best way to do that is to incent able-bodied people to know the dignity of work. Because a person without a job is neither happy nor free.
My bill is a common sense approach to reducing America’s reliance on entitlement programs. Its Medicaid work requirement is similar to the current work requirement for food stamps: Adults between the ages of 18 and 55, who have no dependents and are not disabled, must spend 20 hours a week working in a job, going to school or doing community service in order to continue to receive free health care through Medicaid. I believe there is a close correlation between getting up in the morning and getting ahead in the world. Our goal should be to get people off Medicaid because they can afford their own health insurance. I don’t want to take Medicaid away from people in need. I do want fewer people to need Medicaid.
In other words, if you’re disabled, pregnant, elderly or caring for young children, my bill doesn’t apply to you. I’m not asking a mother with a baby in her arms to get a job. I’m not asking a grandfather in a nursing home to fill out employment applications. All my bill says is that if you’re between the ages of 18 and 55 and if you’re able to work, then you need to work, go to school or do public service.
Let me be clear about something. I know our oilfield families and our flood victims are hurting in Louisiana, and I’m not looking to add to their hurt. I’m working hard to put our oilfield workers back to work and to get our flood victims the assistance they need in order to recover. This bill is not about them. It’s about able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 55 who have no dependents and who have been unemployed for years.
Our country has grown and evolved a lot since Medicaid passed in 1965. We now face new challenges at home and abroad. Medicaid has grown as well, but it hasn’t evolved in a positive way. Just three years after Medicaid was founded, we knew the program’s high costs were a problem. More than 50 years later, it’s past time to do something about it. We’ve got to break the back of poverty and stop breaking the bank. The best social program, after all, is a job.
I also don’t want the sick to get sicker or the elderly to suffer. That’s why my bill does not target the truly vulnerable people who rely on Medicaid. At the same time, I want our country to get its spending under control, and I want our people to flourish.
By implementing a work requirement for able-bodied adults, Medicaid will evolve to the logical next step. The goal of Medicaid was to ensure that people are healthy. If they’re healthy, then the next step is to help them join the workforce.
The simple fact is there are work requirements for unemployment assistance, welfare payments, subsidized housing and food stamps. These requirements have been a success, not just for stemming the programs’ costs but for helping people build careers. Yet there is no expectation for Medicaid recipients to work.
Work requirements exist because these programs are supposed to be safety nets. They’re not supposed to permanently support you unless you’re truly sick or old. These social programs were meant to be bridges, not parking lots.
Medicaid costs aren’t just a national problem. The program’s expense is clipping the wings of great states like Louisiana. We’re becoming a country in which people subsist instead of thrive. We’re becoming a country in which poverty is a way of life for generations of families, and that’s just sad.
More than 50 years after Medicaid began, it’s time to break the back of poverty once and for all. We can start with a work requirement for Medicaid.
Trending on The Hayride
Quote of the Day
"Trump’s incredible capacity to turn Democrats into defenders of all things evil has paid dividends: Democrats are slipping on the generic congressional ballot as they embrace everyone from the mullahs to the intersectional radicals of the Women’s March leadership. And the more you oppose Trump, the more support you gain on the left — which means that moderate Democrats who would be most likely to win in November are losing primaries to progressive extremists."
- Ben Shapiro |
Jim Hightower | Forget the Tea Party, This Is the Champagne Party!
Look out, they're angry. Foaming-at-the-mouth angry. And they're lashing out, saying they won't take it anymore. As one of their leaders angrily cried, "It's a war." Indeed -- they're on the move to take their country back.
Forget the tea party rowdies, this is the champagne party! More precisely, it's the Dom Perignon-$1,000-a-bottle-champagne-party, propelled by -- get this -- billionaire's rage.
Yes, some of the richest, most pampered people on the planet -- people who literally wallow in luxury every day, with never a concern about losing a job, a home or health care, or getting their kids into college -- these people are wailing in self-pity. They are Wall Street hedge-fund operators, which essentially means they are high-flying financial flimflammers. What has stoked them into an elitist fury is a Barack Obama proposal to close off a ridiculous tax loophole that has let them pay only 15 percent of their lavish income in taxes, rather than the 35 percent rate that us commoners pay.
One of the richest of the ragers, Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, sees Obama's proposal as an outrageous intrusion into the suites of the elite, comparing it to "when Hitler invaded Poland." This over-the-top-tantrum comes from a multibillionaire -- a guy who spent $3 million in 2007 just to throw himself a birthday party! Come on, Steve, you're filthy rich. Stop hyperventilating, and pay your taxes!
Pathetically, the real root of this sad Hedge Fund Rebellion is a feeling by these powerful, super-privileged megalomaniacs that they are being picked on. One even whined that asking hedge-funders to pay taxes at the same rate as everyone else amounts to the "persecution of the minority."
Good grief, man, get a grip! Next thing you know, these doofuses will hire Glenn Beck to host a weepy telethon to "Save the Billionaires Tax Loophole."
But it's not enough that the wealthy elite want to exempt their excessive, ill-gotten income from any fair contribution to the public good -- they also want to slash our incomes. Many of America's top-paid CEOs are the very ones who're ruthlessly axing America's middle-class jobs, and they are reaping gains from our pains.
A new survey finds that corporate chieftains who inflict economic pain on the company's workers receive more financial gain for themselves. The Institute for Policy Studies examined the layoff-payoff records of America's 500 largest corporations during the past couple of years. IPS researchers report that the 50 CEOs who fired the most rank-and-file employees averaged 42 percent higher pay than their peers, averaging an extra $3.5 million each.
One of the champions in this contest of convoluted corporate compensation was Mark Hurd. As chief executive of computer giant Hewlett-Packard, Hurd dumped 6,400 workers in 2009 -- a year in which he pocketed a paycheck of $24.2 million. Earlier this year, Hurd was forced to resign from HP after an internal investigation found that he falsified some expense reports. No need to weep for Mark, though -- he was comfortably compensated for this bad turn of fortune, receiving a severance package reportedly worth $40 million.
Being bad, you see, can be awfully good for a CEO's bottom line. For example, IPS documented one category of badness-to-goodness that is especially infuriating. Five of the 50 leading pink-slip-issuers last year were also bailout barons. Among them was Kenneth Chenault, honcho of American Express, which got $3.4 billion from us taxpayers in 2008 to save it from financial ruin. In gratitude, Chenault subsequently offed 4,000 employees, then helped himself to a paycheck of nearly $17 million, including a $5 million cash bonus.
National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow, Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. |
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic injector for internal combustion engine fuel injection systems.
Injectors of the aforementioned type normally comprise a hollow body with a nozzle, which is opened for injecting the fuel by an electromagnetically-operated control valve for connecting the control chamber of the nozzle to the drain conduit.
On known injectors, the electromagnet comprises a magnetic core having an axial conduit communicating with the drain conduit, which is in one piece with a flange cap supporting the core. The hollow body is fitted inside with a bush having a shoulder on which the surface of the core rests, and a ring pressed on to the cap for connecting the cap to the core and looking the core on to the shoulder.
Locking the core on to a rigid shoulder by means of the above pressing operation presents a number of drawbacks. Foremost of these is possible cracking of the core due to the poor mechanical resistance of the sintered magnetic material of which it is made. Moreover, a similar connection tends to eventually work loose, thus resulting in vibration of the core between the shoulder and flange and relatively short working life of the core. |
Autoradiographic localization of the dopaminergic agonist 3H-dihydroergotoxine within the male reproductive system.
By the use of combined radioreceptor binding and autoradiographic techniques, we analyzed the anatomical localization of the dopaminergic agonist 3H-dihydroergotoxine in tissue sections of rat male sex organs. The drug was bound by smooth muscle cells of the deferent duct, seminal vesicles and prostate gland as well as by the glandular tissue of seminal vesicles and prostate gland. These data allow us to hypothesize that the effect of dopaminergic agonists on male sexual function may be due, at least in part, to a direct interaction with dopamine receptors present in the reproductive organs. |
LANCASTER (CBSLA) — Cellphone video of a female student slapping and taunting another student who has autism is going viral.
The disturbing video shows the unidentified student first mocking the boy and making fun of the way he walks, talks, behaves, even the clothes he wears. All the while she is cursing.
She then wheels and slaps the boy hard in the face. He reacts and tries to hit her back but his punch doesn’t land.
Meanwhile, other students (after initially laughing at the incident) get between the two and pull them apart, presumably ending the fracas.
The incident reportedly happened Thursday at Lancaster High School. A student recorded the confrontation and posted it on Twitter.
KCAL9’s Chris Holmstrom said the video outraged both students and parents.
“There are two stories,” said sophomore Samantha Tirada, “one story said she was rude, the other is that his clothes smelled bad. And she felt the need to say something and he got upset and started arguing with her.”
Tirada said regardless of the reason, she thinks the girl was clearly in the wrong.
“It’s wrong,” she said, “you shouldn’t do that. There’s no logical reason to bully someone for something they have no control over.”
Victoria Jimenez, a parent, was also concerned: “My initial reaction is that I just don’t see anyone (of authority) around. And I even just see the other kids backing away and just watching and feeding it.”
The Lancaster Sheriff’s Station issued the following statement:
“[We are] aware of a video circulating social media involving an incident that occurred at one of our local high schools yesterday morning. Our school resource deputy was on campus at the time of incident and handled the situation immediately. Our investigation is currently ongoing.”
The school district did not want to comment on specifics about what happened but Dr. David Vierra, superintendent for Antelope Valley High Schools, issued a statement that read in part:
“We became aware of this matter shortly after it occurred and responded immediately. This type of behavior is not tolerated at any of our schools. Appropriate action has been taken with the parties involved by both the school and law enforcement…”
The incident is under investigation. |
Q:
Guidance in creating a dependency property in WPF/MVVMLight application
I have a WPF/MVVMLight application. My main view/viewmodel has a data grid with code behind in the viewmodel. I recently decided I'd like
this datagrid in a 2nd view, one view is live data, one view is showing history of same data. I don't want to duplicate this code in two places so I decided to create a usercontrol with a viewmodel and move the appropriate datagrid/code to the usercontrol.
Here is the issue/question: I would like to set the usercontrol->datagrid->itemsource to a property in my main viewmodel. I've seen some examples where people create dependencyproperties but I'm not sure how to handle this because I can't inherit DependencyObject in my viewmodel because it already inherits ViewModelBase (from mvvm light), so I can't use GetValue/SetValue as seen below. I'm very new to this so I may be missing something very obvious. While looking for solutions to my problem I'm seeing that MVVM Light has some messaging functionality, would this be a better way to approach this? Is there a better approach to this than what i'm taking? Thanks for any guidance.
Example not pulled from my code, just used to show the GetValue/SetValue that I can't figure out how to use because I can't inherit DependencyObject.
public class MyViewModel : ViewModelBase
{
public static DependencyProperty MyProperty =
DependencyProperty.Register("GridItemSource", typeof(EventData), typeof(MyViewModel),
new FrameworkPropertyMetadata() { BindsTwoWayByDefault = true });
public EventData GridItemSource
{
get { return (EventData)GetValue(MyProperty); }
set { SetValue(MyProperty, value); }
}
--- Attemping to be more clear in what i'm hoping to achieve..
Below is an example of the datagrid in my usercontrol. My user control has a VM with code behind with properties for the bindings you see below and some additional code related to the context menu.
The issue i'm trying to resolve is how to set the usercontrol datagrid itemsource now that it is in a usercontrol that is nested in my main view, and eventually will be nested in one more view. My mainview has a ObservableCollection with the data I want the usercontrol/datagrid/itemsource set to. My thinking was I could create a dependency property in the usercontrol that my main view could use to set the source.
So in my main view where I add the user control i want to do something like this:
<Views:MyUserControl SomePropertyInUserControl="{Binding MyObservableCollection, Mode=TwoWay}"/>
In my user control view:
<DataGrid Grid.Row="0" SelectedItem="{Binding DataGridSelectedItem, Mode=TwoWay}" HeadersVisibility="All" HorizontalAlignment="Stretch" Name="lbMain" ItemsSource="{Binding MonitorEventItems, Mode=TwoWay}" AutoGenerateColumns="False" SelectionMode="Single" >
<DataGrid.ContextMenu>
<ContextMenu ItemsSource="{Binding ContextMenuEventList,Mode=Default}"/>
</DataGrid.ContextMenu>
<DataGrid.Columns>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Date" Binding="{Binding EventDateTime}" Width="Auto"/>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Event Type" Binding="{Binding EventType}" Width="Auto"/>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Folder/File" Binding="{Binding FFType}" Width="Auto"/>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Name" Binding="{Binding EventFileFolderName}" Width="Auto"/>
<DataGridTextColumn Header="Full Path" Binding="{Binding EventFileFolderFullPath}" Width="*"/>
</DataGrid.Columns>
</DataGrid>
A:
Same issue resolved here. (Note: does not use dependency properties) Example handling this with EventHandler and using MVVM Light Messaging. Other possible solutions/answers in thread as well.
|
I think these are the new contract #'s we're looking for....
Theresa
(303) 575-6485
Theresa Staab 05/14/2001 12:38 PM To: Shelly Mendel/NA/Enron, Jacqueline P Adams/HOU/ECT, Jay Reitmeyer/HOU/ECT, [email protected] cc: Paul T Lucci/NA/Enron@Enron Subject: WBI Contract #'s
FYI-
WBI Contract #'s:
Transportation: IT-600
Storage: IS-268
Theresa
(303) 575-6485 |
Q:
How to setup blending for additive color overlays?
Is it possible in opengl to setup blending to achieve additive color overlays?
Red + green = yellow, cyan + magenta = white, etc.. (see diagram)
A:
glEnable(GL_BLEND);
glBlendFunc(GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE);
should do it.
Have a look at the full description of glBlendFunc
EDIT: Old tutorial link seems to be dead (403 Forbidden). Wayback'd.
A:
Simple additive blending is achieved with glBlendFunc (GL_ONE, GL_ONE). You need to be aware of the fact that OpenGL's color value range is limited to [0,1], and values greater than 1 will be clamped to 1, so adding bright colors may not produce physically correctly blended colors. If you want to achieve that, you will have to add and scale the colors in your own software rather than having OpenGL handle it, or write a shader program that does that while rendering.
|
Stretch wrapping machines are commercially available which automatically wrap a load disposed on a rotatable turntable with a stretchable wrapping material. These machines may be fully automatic, including conveying of the load to and from the turntable by an automated conveyor system or by the use of a lifting device, such as a forklift, which places individual loads on the turntable where fully automated wrapping is performed. Automatic stretch wrapping machines are characterized by a high throughput with an increase in the throughput, lowering of consumption of stretchable wrapping material and a decrease in wrapping time being design goals required for the wrapping of individual loads. Automatic stretch wrapping machines may wrap the load on the turntable with a stretchable wrapping material having a width equal to or greater than the height of the load being wrapped with several turns of the stretchable wrapping material or with a stretchable wrapping material having a width less than the height of the load being wrapped by vertically translating the wrapping material with respect to the height of the load to spirally wrap the load with multiple turns of the stretchable wrapping material.
In an automatic stretch wrapping machine, it is necessary to attach a leading edge of the wrapping material to the load being wrapped during the wrapping cycle and to sever the trailing edge from the supply of stretchable wrapping material and attach the trailing edge of the wrapping material to the load prior to removal from the turntable. The prior art has utilized a number of different techniques for attaching the leading and trailing edges of the wrapping material to the load.
The leading edge of the wrapping material may be gathered into a rope and clamped by a clamp carried by the rotating turntable to retain the wrapping material during initiation of the wrapping cycle. Examples of automatic stretch wrapping machines utilizing this technique are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,271,659, 4,300,326, 4,302,920, 4,432,185, 4,563,863, which is assigned to the Assignee of the present application, and 4,619,102.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,077,179, 4,216,640 and 4,235,062 disclose the retaining of the leading edge of the wrapping material during the initiation of the wrapping cycle without roping by clamping ungathered wrapping material. Clamping mechanisms for the wrapping material which do not utilize roping have the disadvantage that the thinness of the wrapping material makes it difficult for the initiation of wrapping to be started under full tension as consequence of the propensity of the thin wrapping material to slip under high applied tension between the jaws of a clamp. Furthermore, the unroped wrapping material is subject to tearing from the grip of the clamp which can cause automatic wrapping of a load to fail requiring reclamping of the wrapping material.
Mechanisms for attaching the trailing edge of the wrapping material to the load at the end of the wrapping cycle include heat sealing of the stretchable wrapping material to the load and the brushing of the full width of the stretchable wrapping material or a gathered width against the load with reliance being placed upon static attraction of the trailing edge to an underlying wrap of the wrapping material. The Assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,863 discloses the use of a brush for brushing the trailing edge of the wrapping material against the load to secure the gathered trailing edge to an underlying wrap of the material. The assignee's Model 8200AX and 8200CAX automatic stretch wrapping machines include sensors for detecting oversized loads and the height of the load which may be erroneously tripped by a loose trailing edge which can cause a shutdown of wrapping. Shutdowns which require a resetting of the system reduce the efficiency of wrapping and the throughput.
Stretch wrapping machines which rely upon gathering of the full width of the stretchable wrapping material into a rope to clamp the leading edge are limited in the width of the stretchable wrapping material which may be used. As the width of the stretchable wrapping material becomes greater, the diameter of the rope becomes so great that it is not possible to effectively clamp the rope. The center portion of a large diameter rope can pull out from the clamp. In commercially available automatic stretch wrapping machines, it becomes extremely difficult to utilize wrapping material widths greater than a dimension such as 30 inches which rely upon gathering for retention in a clamping mechanism for initiating of wrapping. Furthermore, the Assignee of the present invention has found that its Models 8200CAX and 8200AX, which are in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,863, have difficulty gathering wide widths of stretch wrapping material, such as those above 30 inches.
In the Assignee's Models 8200CAX and 8200AX when a wide width of stretchable wrapping material is used, the top edge of the stretch wrapping material is placed under high tension as a consequence of a gathering arm being rotated downward to pull the wrapping material into the clamp carried by the turntable. The loading of high tension on top of the stretchable wrapping material causes the wrapping material at the bottom edge of the width of the wrapping material to be loose or under little tension. The loose stretchable wrapping material may not be completely retained by the clamp when the loose wrapping material is forced into the clamp by the gathering arm. An unclamped loose leading edge of the stretchable wrapping material can interfere with placing full wrapping tension on the load at the beginning of the wrapping cycle. Loose stretchable wrapping material can cause the load size sensors to be tripped erroneously. Additionally, the application of high tension to the top edge of the stretchable wrapping material may cause the stretchable wrapping material feeding mechanism, such as that manufactured in accordance with U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,443, 4,590,746 and 4,862,678, which are assigned to the Assignee of the present invention, to be activated to react to the application of high tension to the top edge of the wrapping material to play out additional wrapping material further loosening the bottom edge.
Additionally, cutting of a rope formed by gathering a width of stretchable wrapping material greater than, for example, 30 inches can result in incomplete severing of the full width when the rope is not completely retained within the clamp which results in the stretchable wrapping material being retained by both the clamping mechanism carried by the turntable and to the load which has been wrapped. This condition requires manual intervention for correction which lowers throughput.
Finally, a large diameter rope is subject to being pulled loose from the clamp during initiation of the wrapping cycle especially when an attempt is made to apply full tension to the stretchable wrapping material at the beginning of the stretch wrapping cycle. Pulling loose of a rope from a clamp at the beginning of the stretch wrapping cycle can require manual intervention to attach the loose leading edge which lowers throughput.
It is well known that spiral wrapping of stretchable wrapping material on a load requires an overlap between adjacent turns to be effective which may require three or more inches of wrapping material. As a result of the required overlap, additional stretchable wrapping material is required to wrap a load with a spiral wrap when compared to the stretchable wrapping material required to wrap the load with a wrapping material which is at least as wide as the height of the load. Accordingly, the overall cost of stretch wrapping could be substantially lessened by an automatic stretch wrapping machine having the ability to wrap loads with widths of stretchable wrapping material of wide widths such as greater than 30 inches without spiral wrapping. Stretchable wrapping material is currently available in widths up to 80 inches or more. Prior art automatic stretch wrapping machines which required the use of a spiral wrapping to wrap high profile loads cannot effectively use these greater widths of stretchable wrapping material for performing non-spiral wrapping. This prevents realization of the cost savings: set forth above consequent from non-spiral wrapping. Furthermore, the inability to use wide widths of stretchable wrapping material prevents a higher number of units from being wrapped in a given time period as a consequence of the turntable making a greater number of turns with spiral wrapping to complete the wrapping cycle. |
COVER REVEAL – Edge of Retribution by Jacob Chance
Landing my dream job has me eagerly looking
toward the future. But when I see Nash Garrison after six long years, my world
is thrown completely off its axis.
He was my only friend
and confidant during the worst days of my life, and I fell hopelessly in love
with him. No eighteen year old girl could resist his protective nature and
charming grin. I was no exception.
Now, together, we’re
about to bring down the man responsible for my parents’ deaths. Revenge has
been the driving force fueling every decision I’ve ever made – except for
Nash.
What is it about him
that sends the most rational parts of my brain into a tailspin? And how do I
balance on the edge of retribution without tumbling into heartbreak once more? |
Background {#Sec1}
==========
Climate change is driving dangerous and unpredictable conditions regarding temperature and water availability, which has a direct effect on plant species distribution \[[@CR1]\]. For the Mediterranean region, the dry periods are predicted to become more severe than usual in many areas \[[@CR2]\]. In addition, a high probability of very cold winters is expected in Europe as a result of sea ice cover decrease in the Barents-Kara Sea resulting from climate change \[[@CR3]\]. Therefore, cold stress in several areas may constitute an important and recurring factor that will limit the survival of tree species mainly at higher latitudes or altitudes \[[@CR4]\]. Consequently, long-lived species, such as forest trees, will need to be able to adapt to cold temperatures and endure off-season cold and freeze-thaw cycles that are becoming more frequent \[[@CR5]\].
Trees at the seedling stage are physiologically and morphologically very sensitive to cold stress which can produce cell damage, reduce growth or even the tree's chances of survival \[[@CR6]\]. Therefore, the ability to cope with low temperatures is an important parameter driving the distribution of trees such as conifers in different locations \[[@CR7]\].
At the molecular level cold stress alters membrane fluidity and consequently membrane permeability. Plants respond to cold stress by inducing physiological and molecular changes, including the plant metabolic profile. These changes may play an advantageous role in cell cryoprotection during cold stress or prior to freezing temperatures \[[@CR8]\]. However, seedlings resistance to cold temperatures as well as the metabolic phenotype are likely to differ according to the plant genetic structure, the genetic origin or the provenance \[[@CR9]\] and this difference may affect the plant's ability to adapt to cold stress \[[@CR10]\]. For instance differential sensitivity to winter cold was reported by Colombo et al. \[[@CR11]\] in Douglas fir (*Pseudotsuga menziensii*) tissues from different seedling provenances. In a similar manner, provenance significantly affected stem and needle hardiness of Scotch pine (*Pinus sylvestris*) \[[@CR7]\]. At the molecular level there are several descriptions of genes whose role is important in cold tolerance or acclimation \[[@CR8]\] or even genes whose overexpression may increase cold tolerance \[[@CR12]\], but there are no descriptions in the literature of metabolomic or molecular changes affecting different provenances of *P. halepensis* (Aleppo pine)*,* an important conifer species widely used for afforestation or reforestation programs under climates with dry, hot summers, and cold winters. This lack of information is limiting not only our basic knowledge on the species, but the chances of success in afforestation and reforestation programs. Selection and use of provenances and genotypes with potential resistance to sudden changes in environmental conditions, including cold, is crucial. But for many provenances, we do not have any information. There are several references in the literature studying the effect of cold in *P. halepensis* \[[@CR13], [@CR14]\], but none of them considers the effect of cold at the molecular or metabolic level. One advantage of having this information is that if we identify the physiological or molecular profile of cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive species, we can have a valuable tool to select provenances with more chances to survive under cold environments, as a higher content of a given metabolite may correlate with higher chances of survival.
In a previous study we compared the cold tolerance of various seed sources of *P. halepensis*, in a 4-year field experiment in which parameters such as tree diameter, height and survival were evaluated. This allowed us to identify cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive *P. halepensis* seed sources from a pool of different seed provenances \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\]. A similar strategy has been used previously to identify distinctive physiological and molecular traits relevant for drought stress \[[@CR17]\]. In the present study, we have characterized the physiological and molecular responses of different *P. halepensis* seed sources under controlled cold stress conditions. This has allowed us to eliminate variables present in field studies, such as pathogens, different exposure or access to resources, wound stress caused by wind, rain or insect attack, etc. which can differentially affect plants and therefore influence the obtained results. The aim of this study is to characterize the molecular and physiological response of different *P. halepensis* seedlings under controlled cold stress conditions in order to identify distinctive traits between seed sources previously characterized in field as cold-tolerant or cold-sensitive \[[@CR15]\].
Results {#Sec2}
=======
In a previous study we characterized 11 different seed sources of *P. halepensis* out planted in a cold habitat and in a temperate habitat in a four-year field trial. Seed sources were selected considering not only spatial distribution but also environmental heterogeneity, prioritizing those that represent contrasted environments. The mentioned selection covered most of the climatic and ecologic regions of the natural range of this species in Spain with a wide spectrum of molecular and phenotypic variation, corresponding to nine Spanish provenances defined for the species and two seed orchards. We determined survival, plant height and plant stem diameter. Using this methodology we could characterize two seed sources as cold-tolerant ('Lev' and 'Mst') and two as cold-sensitive ('Arg' and 'Bet'). A complete description can be found in the following references \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\]. For this study, the seeds were grown under greenhouse conditions in order to avoid the variability due to the field conditions.
Physiological response {#Sec3}
----------------------
In order to attain the proposed objective, first we evaluated several physiological parameters both under control conditions and under cold stress (Fig. [1a-g](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Under control growth conditions, we only observed minor differences among the tested seed sources. However, cold stress conditions generated several differences in the physiological and molecular responses of *P. halepensis* seedlings. Water potential (Ψ~w~) of the cold-tolerant seed sources exhibited a significant decrease under the cold stress, as compared to the cold-sensitive ones (*p*-value\< 0.05) (Fig. [1a](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). In addition, cold-tolerant seed sources exhibited higher stomatal conductance (*gs*) (Fig. [1b](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}), transpiration (*E*) (Fig. [1c](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) and net photosynthesis (*P*~*n*~) (Fig. [1d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) (*p*-value\< 0.05). Also, maximal efficiency of PSII (*F*v/*F*m), comprised between 0.74 and 0.78 for both treatments, was higher for cold-tolerant seedlings (p-value\> 0.05) (Fig. [1e](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Even though the quantum yield of non-cyclic electron transport (Φ~PSII~) was slightly higher in cold-sensitive seedlings under controlled conditions, cold-tolerant seedlings manifested higher values under cold stress (Fig. [1f](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). However, most of the differences, although statistically significant, were small.Fig. 1Physiological measurements of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources. Water potential, gas exchange and photosynthesis measurements of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources under control (white bars) and cold-stress (black bars) conditions. Water potential (Ψw) (**a**), stomatal conductance (gs) (**b**), transpiration (**e**) (**c**), Net photosynthesis (Pn) (**d**), Maximal efficiency of PSII (**e**), quantum yield of non-cyclic electron transport (ΦPSII) (**f**) and instantaneous water use efficiency (WUEinst) (**g**). The letters above the bars marks the significant difference among the cold-stressed seed sources following the post hoc Duncan's test. Scale bars are mean + SE, being the number of samples *n* = 5
We completed the physiological analysis by determining the concentration of the photosynthetic pigments. Chlorophyll a concentration was lower in all conditions for cold-tolerant seedlings (Fig. [2a](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}), but concentrations of chlorophyll b and carotenoid remained similar for all seedlings under both conditions (Fig. [2b and c](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Taken together, these data indicate that we could only observe minor changes in the investigated physiological parameters and in the content of photosynthetic pigments.Fig. 2Photosynthetic pigments and soluble sugars content of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) (**a**), chlorophyll b (Chl b) (**b**), carotenoid (Car) (**c**), glucose (**d**), fructose (**e**) and sucrose (**f**) were determined for plants under control (white bars) and cold-stress (black bars) conditions. The letters above the bars marks the significant difference among the cold-stressed seed sources following the post hoc Duncan's test. Scale bars are mean + SE, being the number of samples *n* = 5
We also investigated the sugar content of the different seed sources and the changes under cold conditions. Cold stress induced a significant decrease in the glucose concentration. However, the glucose concentration of cold-tolerant seedlings was about two-fold higher than the concentration measured in cold-sensitive seedlings under cold stress conditions. Fructose concentrations were similar for all plants under control conditions, but cold-tolerant seedlings were able to increase fructose concentration under cold conditions, while the fructose concentration dropped about 20% in cold-sensitive provenances (Fig. [2d and e](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Sucrose concentration increased upon cold stress, but we did not find important differences among cold-tolerant or cold-sensitive plants (Fig. [2f](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}).
Molecular response {#Sec4}
------------------
Cold stress is known to decrease membrane fluidity which can induce membrane damage and concomitantly water loss and oxidation, as the loss of fluidity affects the different electronic transport chains and increases the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Some amino acids can act as precursors for antioxidants or osmolytes or act themselves as osmolytes to prevent the deleterious effect of cold stress. Also, the tripeptide glutathione is a main determinant of the oxidative response in *P. halepensis* \[[@CR17]\]. There is no description in the literature of the behaviour of the free amino acid pools under cold stress in the genus Pinus, so we investigated the glutathione and the complete free amino acid profiles of *P. halepensis* under the studied conditions, and the difference among provenances. The glutathione (GSH) concentration was higher in cold-tolerant seedlings, and also increased upon cold stress and accumulated approximately around five-fold more in cold-tolerant seedlings than in the cold-sensitive ones (Fig. [3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). Methionine (Met) concentrations increased under cold conditions while cysteine (Cys) and serine (Ser) concentrations decreased (Fig. [3b, d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). However, there was no clear distinctive pattern between cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive seedlings for sulphur containing amino acids and serine, as the one observed for glutathione (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}).Fig. 3Glutathione, sulphur containing amino acids and serine content of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources. Glutathione (GSH) (**a**), cysteine (Cys) (**b**), methionine (Met) (**c**) and serine (Ser) (**d**) were determined for plants under control (white bars) and cold-stress (black bars) conditions. The letters above the bars marks the significant difference among the cold-stressed seed sources following the post hoc Duncan's test. Scale bars are mean + SE, being the number of samples *n* = 5
Proline (Pro) and glycine (Gly) are known to contribute to the osmotic adjustment and, as expected, proline accumulated significantly under cold stress and the accumulation in cold-tolerant seed sources was about two-fold higher (Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Interestingly, Gly concentrations were significantly higher in cold-tolerant seed sources under controlled conditions whereas, a significant increase was noted under cold stressed conditions in cold-sensitive seedlings, in contrast to a significant decrease in cold-tolerant seedlings (Fig. [4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Gly is a component of the tripeptide GSH, so this decrease in cold-tolerant seedlings could be explained by the higher content of GSH observed in Fig. [3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}.Fig. 4Non-polar amino acids and histidine content of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources. Proline (Pro) (**a**), glycine (Gly) (**b**), alanine (Ala) (**c**), isoleucine/leucine (Ile/Leu) (**d**), histidine (His) (**e**), tyrosine (Tyr) (**f**), phenylalanine (Phe) (**g**), valine (Val) (**h**) and tryptophan (Trp) (**i**) were determined under control (white bars) and cold-stress (black bars) conditions The letters above the bars marks the significant difference among the cold-stressed seed sources following the post hoc Duncan's test. Scale bars are mean + SE, being the number of samples *n* = 5
Changes in the hydrophobic amino acids alanine (Ala), isoleucine/leucine (Ile/Leu) and valine (Val) were also noteworthy; they decreased dramatically under cold stress and were higher for cold-sensitive seedlings (Fig. [4c, d](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"} and [h](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). The Ala concentration was five-fold higher in cold-sensitive seedlings (Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). In contrast, the phenylalanine concentration (Phe) increased significantly under cold stress. Concentrations of Phe were significantly higher in cold-tolerant seedlings under both treatments (Fig. [4g](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}).
For polar amino acids, histidine (His) concentrations increased about four-fold under cold stressed conditions and its concentration was higher in the cold-tolerant seedlings under both conditions (Fig. [4e](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Under cold stress, seedlings accumulated higher concentrations of His and tyrosine (Tyr) (Fig. [4e](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"} and [f](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Tryptophan (Trp) concentrations did not differ among seedlings under controlled conditions. However, under cold stress, concentrations increased and the rise was significantly higher for cold-tolerant seedlings (Fig. [4i](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}).
Regarding polar or charged amino acids, under cold stress there was an increase in the concentrations of arginine (Arg), glutamic acid (Glu) and aspartic acid (Asp), and in all cases the content under cold stress conditions was higher for cold-tolerant seed sources (Fig. [5a, e](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"} and [f](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}), while the situation was reversed for asparagine (Asn) (Fig. [5b](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}). Cold stress induced a decrease in the concentration of Threonine (Thr) and lysine (Lys), but there were only minor differences among cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive seed sources (Fig. [5b-d](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}).Fig. 5Polar or charged amino acids content of cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant *P. halepensis* seed sources. Arginine (Arg) (**a**), asparagine (Asn) (**b**), threonine (Thr) (**c**), lysine/glutamine (Lys) (**d**), glutamic acid (Glu) (**e**) and aspartic acid (Asp) (**f**) were determined under control (white bars) and cold-stress (black bars) conditions. The letters above the bars marks the significant difference among the cold-stressed seed sources following the post hoc Duncan's test. Scale bars are mean + SE, being the number of samples *n* = 5
Discussion {#Sec5}
==========
*P. halepensis* is widely used in reforestation programs due to its aptitude to acclimate to different environmental and soil conditions \[[@CR18]\]. In this study, we have compared at the physiological and molecular level the effect of cold stress among several *P. halepensis* seed sources, previously characterized in field experiments as cold-tolerant or cold-sensitive \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\]. The main objective of this work is to characterize the *P. halepensis* response to cold stress and identify distinctive physiological and molecular parameters among cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive provenances.
The main finding was that under control conditions all seed sources behave in a similar way, with very few exceptions. Most of the differences between cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive sources appeared when plants were under cold stress conditions. Although some differences were statistically significant, the physiological parameters evaluated in Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"} and the photosynthetic pigments (Fig. [2a-c](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}) presented small changes between different seed sources both in control and stress conditions, indicating that the parameters evaluated were behaving in a similar way in both provenances.
A different scenario appeared when we evaluated soluble sugars. These molecules have been related to stress tolerance in plants \[[@CR19], [@CR20]\]. Membrane fluidity iscompromised under cold stress and damage can induce water loss, ROS production and decreases intracellular vesicular transport which affects basic processes such as auxin transport and ion homeostasis \[[@CR21]\]. Soluble sugars can act as osmoprotectants against membrane injuries and might be involved in ROS scavenging (hydroxyl radicals) under stress conditions \[[@CR20], [@CR22], [@CR23]\]. Cold tolerant seedlings accumulate about 25% more glucose and 33% more fructose than cold-sensitive seedlings under stress conditions. Sucrose concentrations increased about four-fold upon cold stress, indicating that is involved in the cold response, but changes were similar in both provenances (Fig. [2d-f](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}).
A side effect of the mentioned loss of membrane fluidity due to cold stress is the increase of oxidation due to the uncoupling of the electron transport chains. GSH is one of the most important thiols involved in the prevention of oxidative damage in plant cells \[[@CR24], [@CR25]\]. The results obtained throughout this study confirmed that GSH accumulation should be considered also as a distinctive and a key factor for cold tolerance in *P. halepensis.* We have shown that cold-tolerant seedlings exhibit a higher basal level under control conditions, and presented a four-fold increase under cold stress (Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Concomitantly cold-tolerant seedlings had less Cys and Ser (Figs. [3b, d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} and [4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Cys is a constituent of the GSH tripeptide, which is biosynthesized from Ser, and its biosynthesis may become a limiting factor for stress tolerance \[[@CR21]\].
Several studies have reported the change of the plant pattern of amino acids under cold stress \[[@CR26]\]. However, this is the first complete analysis of free amino acids performed on different *P. halepensis* seed sources under cold stress. Free amino acid pools differ significantly under cold stress. In general, there were significant increases in the contents of Pro, His, Phe, Trp, Arg, Glu and Asp, along with a decrease in Ala, Iso/Leu, and Asn, concentrations (Figs. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"} and [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}). Interestingly, Gly content increases significantly in cold-sensitive seedlings under cold-stress and decreases significantly in cold-tolerant ones (Fig. [4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). The variation of Gly content, similar to that of Cys, could be related to the GSH cell level, given that Gly is also a constituent of GSH \[[@CR21]\].
It should be noted that the Trp levels increased under cold stress mainly for cold-tolerant seedlings. Similar results were reported before in *Picea mariana* seedlings \[[@CR27]\] and *Pinus resinosa* needles \[[@CR28]\]. In yeast, Trp uptake is very sensitive to membrane fluidity \[[@CR29]\], so a similar process might occur in *P. halepensis*, as an increase in Trp content correlates with cold tolerance.
We have also determined that Pro and Arg concentrations increased upon cold stress. An increase in Pro concentration has also been observed in *Picea glauca* \[[@CR27]\]*, Picea mariana* \[[@CR28]\]*, Pinus resinosa* and *Picea obovata* \[[@CR30]\]. Arg content increased also in response to cold stress in different woody species \[[@CR31]\] . In our case, the increase in Pro and Arg concentrations were about two-fold higher and up to 60% in cold-tolerant seedlings respectively. This can be in part responsible for the in-field observed tolerance as Pro and Arg have an important role as osmolytes.
Conclusion {#Sec6}
==========
The main conclusion of our study is that when we compare cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive seedling of *P. halepensis*, we could not detect marked changes in physiological parameters such as transpiration or photosynthesis rate, indicating that the distinctive response is not exerted at the physiological level. However when we investigated the metabolite concentrations we found that glucose, fructose, GSH, Pro, Arg, and Trp were higher in cold-tolerant seedlings. GSH is an antioxidant, while glucose, fructose, proline and arginine can function as osmolytes to prevent water loss. It is likely that Trp transport is impaired under cold conditions. So the increased accumulation of antioxidants and osmolytes, together with Trp, are the most distinctive features of cold-tolerant seedlings, indicating that the differential response is due to molecular rather than physiological changes.
An outcome of this report is that the analysis and determination of glucose, fructose, GSH, Pro, Arg and Trp might constitute a valuable tool in order to select previously uncharacterized provenances with higher chances to adapt to cold environments when data from long-term field trials are not available.
Methods {#Sec7}
=======
Experimental design and treatments {#Sec8}
----------------------------------
The study was performed on four *P. halepensis* seed sources selected among the recognized variability that have been tested before in field provenance trials over 4-years (1 year in the nursery+ 3 years in field) for survival, growth (height and stem diameterunder low temperatures \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\]. Based on these results, seed sources of 'Maestrazgo Los Serranos' (Mst) and 'Levante Interior' (Lev) were considered tolerant to low temperatures whereas those of 'Bética Septentrional/Sur' (Bet) and 'Ibérico Aragonés' (Arg) were considered sensitive. Seeds were grown in Forespot© 300 containers according to the common procedures reported for this species in the literature. The 16 cm deep plastic tray consists of 54 cells providing a density of 360 seedlings m^− 2^ \[[@CR17], [@CR31]\] filled with a mixture of sphagnum peat vermiculite-pine bark (3:1:1 *v*/v) and arranged in a complete random block design with six blocks where the different seed sources were randomized within the block. Seedlings were grown under controlled conditions in a growth chamber set at a 24 °C/16 °C day/night temperatures, photoperiod of 16 h (200 μmol m^− 2^ s^− 1^) and a relative humidity at 70% (Additional file [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}: Figure S1). Irrigation was performed to full capacity every 2 days alternatively twice by water and once by complete Hoagland's nutrient solution \[[@CR32]\].
After a growth period of 25 weeks, healthy seedlings of similar size from each seed source, accounting for 15 replicates per seed source, were randomly assigned to control and low temperature treatment; control seedlings were sustained under the same growth conditions whereas low temperature treatment was applied throughout reducing temperature gradually, to avoid catastrophic xylem cavitation and deleterious associated effects, then set to a final temperature of 6 °C. Seedlings were kept under this temperature during 3 weeks and measurements were carried out at the end of the experiment.
Physiological measurements {#Sec9}
--------------------------
Seedling water potential (Ψ~w~, MPa) was measured with a Scholander-type pressure pump (model PMS-1000, PMS Instruments, Corvallis, OR, United States) on five seedlings selected randomly from each seed source per treatment. Instantaneous determinations of net CO~2~ assimilation (*P*~n~, μmol CO~2~ m^− 2^ s^− 1^), stomatal conductance (*g*~s~, mol m^− 2^ s^− 1^), transpiration *E* (mmol H~2~O m^− 2^ s^− 1^), and instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE~inst~; μmol CO~2~ mmol^− 1^ H~2~O) calculated as assimilation divided by transpiration *P*~n~/*E*, were also determined in five seedlings per seed source per treatment using a portable photosynthesis open-system (Model LI-6400, LI-COR Biosciences Inc., Lincoln, NE, United States). Gas exchange variables were estimated under conditions of saturating light (1500 μmol photon m^− 2^ s^− 1^), 25 °C and environmental CO~2~ (390 μmol mol^−1^CO~2~) maintaining the relative humidity in the chamber at approximately 55 ± 5%. All gas-exchange measurements were expressed as a function of needle-projected area. Maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (*F*v*/F*m) was determined at predawn using a chlorophyll fluorometer (PAM 2000, Walz, Effedrich, Germany). Φ~PSII~ (quantum yield of non-cyclic electron transport) was estimated as (Fm′--Fs′)/Fm′ under steady-state conditions of illumination. It was determined early in the morning by using an open gas exchange system (LI-6400; LI-COR, Inc., Lincoln, NE, United States) with an integrated fluorescence chamber (LI-6400-40 leaf chamber fluorometer; LI-COR). Φ~PSII~ was determined in the same set of needles used for the gas exchange analysis. Maximal efficiency of PSII and ΦPSII were calculated according to Maxwell and Johnson \[[@CR33]\].
Molecular analysis {#Sec10}
------------------
Chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), and carotenoids (Car) concentrations were determined spectrophotometrically using the Lichtenthaler method \[[@CR34]\]. Soluble sugars were determined by grinding 0.2 g of needles (fresh weight) in liquid nitrogen with a mortar and pestle, and then the homogenized powder was resuspended in 1 mL water and measured as described in Fayos et al. \[[@CR35]\]. Specifically, the samples were incubated at 95 °C for 10 min, cooled on ice and centrifuged at 4 °C for 5 min to remove debris. The supernatants were filtered through Sep-Pak Plus C-18 solid phase cartridges (Waters). The soluble sugar fraction (mono and oligosaccharides) was separated by chromatography in a Waters 1525 HPLC system equipped with an evaporative light scattering detector (2424 ELSD). Aliquots (20 μl) were injected into the column ProntoSil 120-amino 3 μm (125 mm × 4.6 mm i.d.) with a Waters 717 autosampler. Elution was carried out at room temperature under isocratic conditions using a mixture of acetonitrile (J.T. Baker) and H~2~O (Milli-Q Millipore) (85:15) at a flow rate of 1 mL/min during 25 min. The conditions of the light scattering detector were the following: gain 75, data rate 1 pps, nebulizer heating 60%, drift tube 50 °C, and gas pressure 40 psi. Sugars were quantified with the Waters Empower software using glucose, fructose, sucrose, and sorbitol standards for the calibration curves. Glutathione (GSH) and free amino acids were extracted from 2 g of needles according to the method described in Mulet et al. \[[@CR24]\]. In brief, plant material was pooled and homogenized in liquid nitrogen. Each pooled sample (0.10 g of FW) was heated 12 min at 95 °C in 2% isocitrate buffer (pH 2 with HCl). 1/10 dilutions of these extractions were injected in a Beckman Gold amino acid automatic analyser. The analysis was carried out following the protocol provided by the manufacturer, using a sodium citrate system and ninhydrin for detection.
Statistical analysis {#Sec11}
--------------------
Data were subjected to analysis of variance with tolerance/sensitivity and seed sources as variables, seed source was nested to tolerance/sensitivity to determine differences among cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive seed sources separately, under controlled conditions, and then under cold stressed conditions. Additional analysis of variance was carried out to determine significant differences between means at *P* \< 0.05 level. Homogeneous groups were separated using the Duncan's test. In all cases, data were examined for normality and homogeneity of variances and assessed for any violations of assumptions using the Duncan's test.
Additional file
===============
{#Sec12}
Additional file 1:**Figure S1.** Representative pictures of the greenhouse experimental set up. (JPG 613 kb)
We are indebted to Prof. Lynne Yenush for the revision and correction of the manuscript.
Funding {#FPar1}
=======
This study is a part of the research project: "Application of molecular biology techniques in forest restoration in Mediterranean environments, PAID-05-11" funded by the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), program for supporting R&D of new multidisciplinary research lines. The authors are grateful to the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2014--57431-P and BIO2016--77776-P. AV was supported by project Survive-2 (CGL2015--69773-C2--2-P MINECO/FEDER) by the Spanish Government and Prometeo program (DESESTRES Generalitat Valenciana). CEAM is funded by Generalitat Valenciana. None of the funding bodies was involved in the design of the study; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; and in writing of the manuscript which were performed entirely by the signing authors.
Availability of data and materials {#FPar2}
==================================
Relevant data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article. Raw data is available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.
KT planned, performed experiments and wrote the paper. AV designed and assisted the experiments of photosynthetic gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence and also performed some of the measurements together with KT. JB and ML-G helped with the sugar content analysis. JL-N undertook the free amino acid analysis. AdC and JM planned and guided experiments and revised the paper. JM wrote the revised version of the paper. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate {#FPar3}
==========================================
Seeds used in this study were obtained from the Spanish national center of forest genetic resources El Serranillo, in Guadalajara (Spain) and were provided by Ana Aguado, forest engineer of the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine affairs, according to the terms of the contract subscribed between the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and the public partnership TRAGSA entitled: "Study of seedling quality and field performance of 12 seed sources of *Pinus halepensis* Mill.". This contract was in agreement with all the Spanish and European regulations on the subject.
Consent for publication {#FPar4}
=======================
Not applicable
Competing interests {#FPar5}
===================
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher's Note {#FPar6}
================
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
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MICROBIOLOGY
Grows very slowly (≥2 days to detect any colonies and longer to identify species). Colonies have "fried egg" appearance on agar (denser in the center and less dense in the periphery).
Differ from bacteria due to smaller size, presence of sterols in the membrane and lack of a cell wall. The latter makes them intrinsically resistant to penicillin and other agents that target the cell wall.
MICROBIOLOGY
Grows very slowly (≥2 days to detect any colonies and longer to identify species). Colonies have "fried egg" appearance on agar (denser in the center and less dense in the periphery).
Differ from bacteria due to smaller size, presence of sterols in the membrane and lack of a cell wall. The latter makes them intrinsically resistant to penicillin and other agents that target the cell wall.
Colonizes male and female genitourinary tract.
There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers. |
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Data are available at: <https://figshare.com/articles/Data_Simon_Motion_Task/3121126>.
Introduction {#sec001}
============
In order to efficiently perform spatially directed actions, many organisms need to integrate visual information presented in different spatial locations with an appropriate motor plan. The response to different traffic lights or signs is an example of an individual's need to associate different visual input with different responses. In the laboratory, the influences of spatial processing on response have been studied using the Simon task \[[@pone.0151979.ref001]\]. In a typical Simon task, participants are asked to respond using their left and right hands to two different stimuli features (e.g., red and green colors). In every trial, a red or a green target appears at the left or right side of a fixation point. Although the location of the stimulus is task-irrelevant, it significantly affects an individual's response. That is, when the location of the stimulus and the response correspond (Simon compatible trial) response times (RTs) are faster than when the location of the stimulus and the response do not correspond (Simon incompatible trials).
Accounts for the Simon effect are based on dual-route models in which it is assumed that the appearance of the stimulus automatically activates the associated response \[[@pone.0151979.ref002],[@pone.0151979.ref003]\]. In dual-route models, one component reflects the priming of a spatially corresponding response by the abrupt stimulus onset. The second component reflects the task-defined transformation of relevant stimulus information to spatial codes. The Simon effect has been used extensively in both behavioral and neuroimaging research to study the neural basis of cognitive control and different aspects of perception and action coding \[[@pone.0151979.ref004],[@pone.0151979.ref005]\].
The fact that spatial locations cannot be ignored in this task raises a question regarding the factors that influence spatial coding. It has been shown that an individual's handedness coupled with his/her responding hand are important factors influencing the way spatial coding takes place because they are related to how attention is allocated across space \[[@pone.0151979.ref004],[@pone.0151979.ref006],[@pone.0151979.ref007]\]. The present work investigates the role of handedness and responding hand in a unimanual version of the Simon task in which participants were required to decide the direction of motion of a flowfield of moving dots.
Spatial Coding in the Simon Task {#sec002}
--------------------------------
There have been two prominent hypotheses accounting for the formation of spatial codes in the context of the Simon task: the *attentional hypothesis* and the *referential coding* hypothesis. The attentional hypothesis was first outlined by Simon himself \[[@pone.0151979.ref008]\]. Simon explained the effect as a natural tendency to respond to the source of a stimulus. This tendency is analogous to a reflexive shift of attention toward a stimulus. The attentional account for the Simon effect is grounded on the idea described in the Premotor Theory of Attention (PMTA) \[[@pone.0151979.ref009]\] that spatial attention and the motor system are coupled. According to the PMTA, shifts of spatial attention are equivalent to the preparation of an eye movement to a target's location \[[@pone.0151979.ref009]\]. Therefore, the abrupt onset of the stimulus in the visual periphery in the Simon task produces a shift of attention that facilitates the selection of a motor response.
The role of attention in the Simon effect was examined in a bimanual version of the Simon task in response to stimuli at various spatial locations \[[@pone.0151979.ref010]\]. A visual cue was presented at different spatial locations before the target. The logic behind this manipulation was that if attention was oriented toward a particular point in space, before the presentation of the stimulus, that point would be the reference to code the stimulus position as "left" or "right." Results showed that left-hand responses were faster for stimuli presented on the left side of the focus of attention (cued location), and the same pattern was found for right-hand responses. These findings were interpreted in terms of left and right sides of space being coded in reference to the location of the focus of spatial attention. Later, a number of reports provided additional evidence for the fact that shifts of attention are an important component in generating the Simon effect \[[@pone.0151979.ref011]--[@pone.0151979.ref017]\].
The *referential coding hypothesis* holds that the Simon effect is the result of spatial representation and response codes that are not dependent on absolute spatial locations \[[@pone.0151979.ref018],[@pone.0151979.ref019]\]. It is important to note that the referential coding hypothesis makes clear that the stimulus and response codes are formed with respect to one or more objects simultaneously \[[@pone.0151979.ref005]\]. For example, even though participants respond with the two fingers of the same hand, a Simon effect is expected. This is due to a correspondence between "left and right" response and "left and right" location codes. Although this account does not rule out some influence of attention, it holds that spatial coding is *not a result* of attentional shifts, but rather, of how response and spatial codes are represented.
The *grouping model* was developed to account for the role of the effectors' location on spatial coding \[[@pone.0151979.ref020],[@pone.0151979.ref021]\] and was originally not part of the debate concerning the Simon effect. However, this model speaks closely to the issue regarding possible effects of the stimulus and effectors' location. The model describes how stimuli and response units are represented in functionally different cognitive representations that use multiple and hierarchical coding schemes. The grouping model was developed using response cueing paradigms in which individuals were required to respond to visual stimuli using a four-choice finger setup \[[@pone.0151979.ref022]\]. A visual cue signaling two out of four response options was presented before the target so that participants could prepare their response. The cues could signal two fingers of the same hand or two fingers of different hands. Results from these tasks show a benefit for *same hand* over *different hand* conditions. The same-hand advantage is explained in terms of a preattentive grouping process of response units. That is, visual input elements and response elements are not processed independently, but rather, are grouped according to low-level factors, for example, by Gestalt principles. This account clearly predicts that the location of the effectors and the location of the stimulus should have an impact on the Simon effect.
Effects of Handedness, Responding Hand, and Visual Field in the Simon Task {#sec003}
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In stimulus-response compatibility effects, such as the Simon task, handedness, responding hand, and visual field are critical variables to be taken into account when studying stimulus-response coding. To examine these factors, the Simon effect needs to be analyzed as a function of visual field and responding hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref023],[@pone.0151979.ref024]\]. However, except for the few studies described here, researchers computed the Simon effect by averaging left and right target response times and visual field. Therefore, these studies do not allow for an examination of asymmetries in the Simon effect as a function of these variables. The few studies that have analyzed visual field and responding hand provide empirical support for the suggestion that these variables influence spatial coding and that a systematic investigation that includes these variables into the same experimental design is needed.
In a unimanual Simon task \[[@pone.0151979.ref025]\]---for stimulus-response compatibility \[[@pone.0151979.ref026]\]---left and right responses were mapped to the index and middle fingers of the same hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref025]\]. Across different blocks, right-handed participants were asked to respond with their left or right hand. If spatial coding is dependent on the location of the responding hand (because attention is drawn to the effector hand), an asymmetrical Simon effect should be found. Alternatively, if space is coded in abstract and not in absolute terms, the Simon effect should be symmetrical for left and right stimuli, irrespective of the location of the responding hand. In three experiments, participants performed the Simon task under palm up and palm down conditions, and the responding hand was alternated or fixed within the experimental sessions. A symmetrical Simon effect was found under the "alternated" condition. However, when hand position was fixed within the block, left-hand responses were significantly slower than right-hand responses. Interestingly, there was a trend for a smaller Simon effect for right-side stimuli versus left-side stimuli. It is important to note that this study reported on a small group of right-handed participants (eight in total). Therefore, it is possible that failure to find a significant effect of responding hand and target location was due to lack of statistical power.
Two studies looked at the effects of handedness and responding hand as a function of visual field in bimanual tasks. In one of the studies, the performance of right- and left-handed individuals was analyzed in an auditory Simon task \[[@pone.0151979.ref027]\]. An asymmetrical Simon effect was observed: The effect was significantly larger in the right hemifield for right-handers and in the left hemifield for left-handers. Later, the Simon task was conducted in three groups of individuals: left-handed, ambidextrous, and right-handed \[[@pone.0151979.ref006]\]. Results once more showed an asymmetrical Simon effect across the left and right visual field. The Simon effect was larger in the field where the dominant hand was operating; in other words, the effect was larger on the right side for right-handed participants and on the left side for left-handed participants. The ambidextrous group showed a symmetrical pattern. Authors interpreted these findings in terms of hand-centered attentional bias \[[@pone.0151979.ref006]\]. In line with the interpretation offered previously \[[@pone.0151979.ref025],[@pone.0151979.ref026]\], spatial attention was shown to be influenced by constant spatial cues, that is, by the location of the dominant hand.
A computational model on right-hand asymmetries on the Simon effect was formulated based on the performance of right- and left-handers in a bimanual Simon task \[[@pone.0151979.ref007],[@pone.0151979.ref027]\]. Results showed a smaller Simon effect on the left side for right-handers and a reverse Simon effect for left-handers. These asymmetries were interpreted to reflect left-right hemispheric specialization for both orienting of attention and response selection. This view is consistent with the attention account for the Simon effect. The referential coding account was discarded as an explanation for these asymmetries \[[@pone.0151979.ref018]\]. That is, there was no reason to expect an advantage of the corresponding response on one side but not on the other.
Taken together, these findings can be summarized as follows: 1) under bimanual response conditions, when handedness and visual field are taken into account, an asymmetrical Simon effect is found. That is, the Simon effect is larger in the field of the dominant hand for both left- and right-handed individuals; 2) under unimanual response conditions, right-handed individuals show a trend for a smaller Simon effect in the right visual field. Therefore, the results for the unimanual tasks are not conclusive. In general, the results showing an asymmetrical Simon effect (e.g., for bimanual tasks and partly for the unimanual tasks) are in agreement with the attentional hypothesis. However, the results for unimanual tasks do not provide any information on whether the subtle reduction of the Simon effect in the right visual field is derived by participant's handedness or by the manipulation of the responding hand. This inconclusive finding again stresses the necessity that handedness, responding hand, and visual field should be used as factors within the same experiment.
The Present Study {#sec004}
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The basic idea underlying the referential coding hypothesis is that the Simon effect arises as a consequence of how spatial and response codes are cognitively represented. Therefore, the best way to test this hypothesis is to use tasks that imply some kind of relative coding process, for example, by using unimanual responses in which left and right keys are associated with two fingers of the same hand. Given the importance of the position of the effectors for the attentional hypothesis and for the grouping model, the use of unimanual responses should be combined with an individual's handedness and responding hand so that the impact of hand dominance on spatial coding can be evaluated.
Accordingly, we tested four groups of participants: left-handed individuals responding with the dominant (left) hand, left-handed individuals responding with the nondominant (right) hand, right-handed individuals responding with the dominant (right) hand, and right-handed individuals responding with the nondominant (left) hand. Moreover, left and right responses were mapped with the left and right fingers of the same hand.
The referential coding hypothesis allows clear predictions regarding the effects of handedness and responding hand as a function of visual field in the Simon task. According to the referential coding hypothesis, relative location of the stimulus and responses are translated into a spatial code; therefore, an advantage (faster responses) is expected whenever stimulus and responses share similar codes. That is, compatible trials should be faster than incompatible trials, independent of which hand is used for responding. This account predicts a symmetrical Simon effect across visual field and responding hand.
The attentional hypothesis predicts that any factor influencing orienting of attention has the potential to affect spatial coding. Consistent with the idea that spatial attention and motor systems are coupled, spatial shifts of attention are considered to influence stimulus-response correspondence. According to previous work \[[@pone.0151979.ref006],[@pone.0151979.ref007],[@pone.0151979.ref025]\], the location of the dominant hand acts as a constant spatial cue that biases an individual's attention. Indeed, it was found that the Simon effect was asymmetrical in the location where the dominant hand was operating \[[@pone.0151979.ref006],[@pone.0151979.ref007]\]. If an attentional bias produced by the location of the dominant hand influences spatial coding, we should find an asymmetrical Simon effect when participants respond with their dominant hand. The Simon effect should be larger in the field of the dominant hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref006]\].
We previously introduced the grouping model \[[@pone.0151979.ref020],[@pone.0151979.ref021]\] to describe the potential impact of the location of the responding hand on the Simon effect. According to this model, preattentive grouping processes involving different response units may pose an advantage when the stimulus activates two associated responses. Therefore, this model predicts an asymmetrical Simon effect in unimanual experimental setups, independent of responding hand. In a unimanual response setting like the one used here, left and right responses were given with left and right fingers of the same hand, and therefore, the two fingers were part of the same response unit. Following the grouping model, if a participant responded with the right hand, the presentation of a target in the right visual field would automatically activate both response units (left and right fingers of the right hand) because they belong to the same response group (i.e., the right hand). Therefore, the mismatch between stimulus location and response location that characterizes the incompatible Simon effect should be substantially reduced in the field of the responding hand.
To summarize, our study has both theoretical and methodological implications. At a theoretical level, studying the effects of handedness, responding hand, and visual field provides a window into the role of the effectors' location on spatial coding in line with the models presented earlier. At a methodological level, understanding the effects of response on the Simon effect is fundamental when using the Simon task to address the neural basis of perception and action coding in neurological populations. Patients diagnosed with both cortical and subcortical lesions are often unable to respond using their contra-lesional hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref028]\]. Therefore, the study of asymmetries produced by response-related factors is important when interpreting visual field effects observed in neurological patients. Previous studies using the Simon effect in neurologically healthy individuals assumed that the Simon effect was symmetrical between left and right visual fields in unimanual response setups.
Method {#sec005}
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Participants {#sec006}
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Thirty-two right-handed (19 female) and 32 left-handed (18 female) university students received course credit in exchange for participating in the present study. Handedness was assessed according to the Edinburgh handedness inventory \[[@pone.0151979.ref029]\]. All participants had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity and were neurologically healthy. The mean age was 21 years (*SD* = 2.7 years). We only included participants with a manual preference of +90 to +100 (right-handed) and -90 to -100 (left-handed). The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. All participants provided written consent to participant in the study. After the experiment, participants were debriefed.
Apparatus and stimuli {#sec007}
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The experiment took place in a dimly light room and was programmed in E-prime \[[@pone.0151979.ref030]\]. Stimuli consisted of a flowfield of moving dots. Two patches of flowfields of upward and downward motion were used as targets. The flowfield density was set at 0.0075 dots/pixel^2^. The dots were randomly distributed within a square subtending 4° x 4° of visual angle from a viewing distance of approximately 60 cm. The boundaries of the square were not visible to the participants (see [Fig 1](#pone.0151979.g001){ref-type="fig"}). The dots moved at a speed of 45 pixels per second.
{#pone.0151979.g001}
Procedure {#sec008}
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Each trial started with a central fixation cross that remained on the screen throughout the trial (see [Fig 1](#pone.0151979.g001){ref-type="fig"}) and which subtended a visual angle of ∼.07° x .07° (from a viewing distance of approximately 60 cm from the screen). This initial size was presented for a period of 1,000 ms, after which a change in size (∼.05° x 0.5°) for 500 ms signaled the start of the trial. One of two patches of moving dots (downward or upward) appeared randomly on the left or right side of the fixation cross (eccentricity was ∼.04° of the visual angle). The patch was presented until response or for a total period of 2 seconds. If no response was given, the trial started again. The intertrial interval randomly varied from 600--800 ms. Participants were required to respond as quickly as possible, while avoiding mistakes, to the direction of motion of the moving dots by using left or right keys of a response box. We used E-prime responses boxes. The inter-key distance was 1 cm. Participants responding with the left hand had the response box positioned on the left side of the body midline. Participants responding with the right hand had the response box positioned on the right side of the body midline.
Motion direction (downward and upward) and response key (left vs. right) were counterbalanced across participants. Participants used the index and the middle fingers of the same hand to respond. The responding hand was always positioned to the right (for the right-hand response condition) or to the left side (for the left-hand response condition) of the body midline.
The experimental design consisted of two between-subject factors of handedness (left-handed individuals and right-handed individuals) and responding hand (dominant and non-dominant), and two within-subjects factors of compatibility (compatible and incompatible) and visual field (left and right). Each participant completed one practice block consisting of 12 trials and two experimental blocks of 80 trials each (80 trials in each visual field; 40 compatible and 40 incompatible), resulting in a total of 160 experimental trials. Participants received feedback during the practice block. The experiment took approximately 20 minutes to complete. Once the session was terminated, participants were debriefed.
Results {#sec009}
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Accuracy {#sec010}
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We performed a mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) on mean accuracy, with compatibility (compatible, incompatible) and visual field (left, right) as within-subject factors, and responding hand (left, right) and handedness (left, right) as between-subject factors. There was a significant main effect of compatibility, *F* (1, 60) = 18.03, *p* \< .001, *η2p =* .231, reflecting that accuracy was higher for compatible (.98) versus incompatible trials (.95). The interaction between compatibility and handedness was also significant, *F* (1, 60) = 9.67, *p* = .003, *η2p* = .139. Planned comparisons revealed that left-handed participants were significantly more accurate for compatible (.98) versus incompatible (.94) trials, *t* (31) = 6.30, *p* = .0001; whereas the right-handed participants did not show a significant difference between compatible versus incompatible trials (.97 vs. .96, respectively, *t* \< 1).
Response times {#sec011}
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Analysis of RTs was performed for correct trials only. RTs from 150 ms to 1,500 ms were included in the analysis. This procedure removed less than 2% of the trials. We ran a mixed ANOVA on mean RTs, with compatibility (compatible, incompatible) and visual field (left, right) as within-subject factors and responding hand (left, right) and handedness (left, right) as between-subject factors. There was a significant main effect of compatibility, *F* (1, 60) = 98.07, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .620; RTs for compatible trials were faster (540 ms) than for incompatible trials (588 ms), revealing the typical Simon effect.
Of main relevance for the present report is that the four-way interaction reached significance, *F* (1, 60) = 4.70, *p* = .034, *η2p =* .73, and that the three-way interaction involving compatibility, visual field, and responding hand was also significant, *F* (1, 60) = 12.58, *p* \< .001, *η2p =* .173. We decomposed the four-way interaction by conducting two 3-way ANOVAs separately for the two left-handed groups (see [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}, Panels A and B, respectively) and for the two right-handed groups (see [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}, Panels C and D, respectively). Compatibility and visual field were within-subject factors, and responding hand was a between-subjects factor. For the left-handed group, only the main effect of compatibility reached significance, *F* (1, 30) = 52.53, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .64 (see [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}). However, the results depicted in [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"} (Panel A and B, respectively) represent an asymmetrical Simon effect for the left-handed group responding with the right hand, but not for the left-handers responding with the left hand. In order to further explore this pattern, we conducted two-way ANOVAs taking compatibility and visual field on mean RTs separately for each group. For the left-handed group responding with the left hand only, the main effect of compatibility reached significance, *F* (1, 15) = 47.16, *p* \< .001, *η2p =* .78, but not the interaction between the two factors, *F* (1, 15) = 0.12, *p* = .731, *η2p =* .008. For the left-handed group responding with the right hand, again only the main effect of compatibility reached significance, *F* (1, 15) = 15.75, *p* \< .001, *η2p =* .52, but not the interaction involving compatibility and visual field, *F* (1, 15) = 1.36, *p* = .25, *η2p =* .083. Considering the pattern depicted in [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"} (Panel B), it is possible that the lack of significant effect might be due to low statistical power. Therefore, we examined the Simon effect (compatible vs. incompatible) for left-handers responding with the right hand by means of paired *t*-tests separately for the left and right visual fields. A significant Simon effect was observed for the left, *t* (15) = 2.85, *p* = .021, but not for the right visual field, *t* (15) = 1.07, *p* = .29.
{#pone.0151979.g002}
Results for the two groups of right-handed individuals showed a significant main effect of compatibility, *F* (1, 30) = 47.00, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .61, and a significant three-way interaction of compatibility x visual field x responding hand, *F* (1, 30) = 21.11, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .41. We further explored this three-way interaction with two separate ANOVAs, with compatibility and visual field as factors, for the right-handed group responding with the right hand and for the right-handed group responding with the left hand. For the right-hand group responding with the right (dominant) hand (see [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}, Panel D) there was a main effect of compatibility, *F* (1, 15) = 21.85, *p* = .001, *η2p* = .59, and also a significant interaction between compatibility and visual field, *F* (1, 15) = 13.95, *p* = .002, *η2p* = .48, reflecting the asymmetry between left and right visual field Simon effects. That is, the interaction revealed that the compatibility effect was significant for the left visual field, *t* (15) = 5.31, *p* = .001, but not for the right visual field, *t* (15) = 1.16, *p* = .27. Similar effects were found for the right-handed group responding with the left (nondominant) hand (see [Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}, Panel C). There was a significant main effect for compatibility, *F* (1, 15) = 25.19, *p* = .001, *η2* = .63, and also for the interaction of compatibility and visual field, *F* (1, 15) = 9.11, *p* = .009, *η2p* = .38. The interaction indicated that the compatibility effect was significant for the right visual field, *t* (15) = 5.96, *p* = .001, but not for the left visual field, *t* (15) = 1.10, *p* = .29. Taken together, these results suggest that the Simon effect was reduced in the field of the responding hand for the right-handed group ([Fig 2](#pone.0151979.g002){ref-type="fig"}, bottom panels).
Exploring possible effects of finger superiority {#sec012}
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Consistent with the logic used to examine effects on stimulus-response association, in the present study we used the factor of "compatibility." However, it is possible that finger superiority (e.g., faster responses with the index than the middle finger) may have played a role in the effects reported here. To examine this issue, we re-coded the factor compatibility into visual field and finger (index and middle). We conducted a mixed ANOVA on mean RTs taking visual field (left vs. right) x finger (index vs. middle) as within-subject factors and handedness (left vs. right) and responding hand (dominant vs. non-dominant) as between-subject factors. We found a significant main effect of finger, *F* (1, 60) = 12.58, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .17; RTs were faster for the index (533 ms) as opposed to the middle finger (575 ms). However, there was also a significant 3-way interaction involving visual field x finger x responding hand, *F* (1, 60) = 98.07, *p* \< .001, *η2p* = .62. That is, for individuals who responded with the left hand, index finger responses were faster for the right visual field than for the left visual field stimulus, *t* (31) = 6.47, *p* \< .001. When individuals responded with the right hand, the pattern was reversed. That is, index finger responses are faster when the stimulus appeared in the left visual field as opposed to when the stimulus appeared in the right visual field, *t* (31) = 5.56, *p* \< .001. These results show that the effects reported here cannot be attributed to the superiority of index finger responses.
Discussion {#sec013}
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In the present study we re-evaluated the role of handedness and responding hand in spatial coding by using a unimanual version of the Simon task. The Simon effect across left and right visual fields was analyzed for two groups of right-handed individuals: a group responding with the right (dominant) hand and a group responding with the left (non-dominant) hand, and for two groups of left-handed individuals under the same conditions. Results were unambiguous for the right-handed group: 1) the Simon effect was found to be asymmetrical across left and right visual fields, that is, the compatibility effect was smaller on the side of the responding hand; and 2) for the left-handed group, the asymmetry was found only for the group responding with the nondominant hand, but not for the group responding with the dominant hand.
The role of attention in the Simon effect {#sec014}
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Given the results for the right-handers, the effects of handedness and responding hand on spatial coding reported here speak to the general issue of orienting of attention \[[@pone.0151979.ref010]\]. Directing attention to a position in space brings about a right-left perceptual organization of the stimulus display, including the relevant and irrelevant elements of the task. That is, the location of the responding hand acts as a cue that produces an imbalance in the allocation of attention \[[@pone.0151979.ref025]\]. In general, our results are in agreement with the attentional account for the Simon effect, and they support the general link between attention and the motor system outlined by the PMTA \[[@pone.0151979.ref009]\].
The referential coding hypothesis cannot account for our results without considering the role of attention in the formation of spatial codes. The basic idea outlined by the referential coding hypothesis is that stimuli and responses are represented in relative terms. Therefore, the location of the responding hand should not have any impact on spatial coding as long as responses are defined in terms of left and right. Our results do not support this prediction because the Simon effect was substantially reduced in the field of the responding hand (for three of our four experimental groups).
Before we outline an explanation for the results of the left-handed individuals, let us consider the lateralization of attention, motor functions, and handedness. First, the asymmetrical Simon effect observed for left-handers using the nondominant hand does not seem to be due to hemispheric differences in attention functions. Spatial attention functions have been shown to be lateralized to the right hemisphere in right-handed individuals \[[@pone.0151979.ref031],[@pone.0151979.ref032]\]. A large degree of left-hemisphere lateralization for spatial attention has also been reported for left-handers \[[@pone.0151979.ref033]\]. Any explanation evoking differences in spatial attention alone between left and right hemispheres needs to account for the pattern of right-handers under the same conditions.
Second, any account for the symmetrical Simon effect for the left-handers responding with the dominant hand requires that both hemispheric and responding-hand activation effects should be taken into consideration. Generally speaking, the results for the left-handed group are in agreement with the observation that left-handed individuals are found to be less asymmetrical than right-handed individuals in manual tasks \[[@pone.0151979.ref034],[@pone.0151979.ref035]\]. This smaller behavioral asymmetry is in accord with the reduced asymmetry in motor cortex activation reported in brain imaging studies for left-handers relative to right-handers during motor tasks \[[@pone.0151979.ref036],[@pone.0151979.ref037]\].
Our results are partially consistent with those reported previously: Rubichi and Nicoletti used a bimanual Simon task with left and right-handed individuals and reported a large Simon effect in the field of the dominant hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref006]\]. We used a unimanual Simon task and showed a reduced Simon effect in the field of the responding hand. This previous work offered two possibilities for describing the field of operation of the dominant hand. One was based on spatial location where the dominant hand *usually operates*, and the other was based on the location where the dominant hand operates *at a given moment*. To test whether the asymmetrical Simon effect was due to a hand-centered attentional bias, Rubichi and Nicoletti asked participants to perform the task with their hands crossed. Results showed that for right-handed individuals, under a crossed-hands condition (i.e., the right hand presses the left key) the Simon effect was larger in the left visual field. They concluded that the asymmetry in the Simon effect reflects a hand-centered attentional bias that depends on the location where the dominant hand *operates at a given moment*. That is, this hand-centered attentional bias is the behavioral manifestation of the large cortical representation of the dominant hand in both right- and left-handed individuals \[[@pone.0151979.ref038]\]. According to this possibility, spatial attention processes related to the dominant hand would be more efficient than those related to the nondominant hand. As proposed, shifts of attention are one way to split the visual field between left and right \[[@pone.0151979.ref016]\]. Therefore, shifts of spatial attention determine the strength of spatial codes and thus the magnitude of the Simon effect. That is, a larger Simon effect should be observed in the field of the dominant hand. Previous results showing similar asymmetries in the Simon effect under bimanual response conditions were interpreted to be a manifestation of hemispheric differences in orienting of attention \[[@pone.0151979.ref007],[@pone.0151979.ref039]\]. Taken together, these results are in agreement with ours in that they show that factors associated with the location of the effectors affect spatial coding. However, the possibility that attention is biased according to the location of the dominant hand cannot account for the results reported here for two reasons: First, in our study the Simon effect was smaller in the field of the responding hand; and second, the reduction of the Simon effect occurred for the dominant and nondominant hand (at least for the right-handed participants).
The grouping model and the Simon effect {#sec015}
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Our results can be interpreted in line with the grouping model developed to account for response-cueing effects \[[@pone.0151979.ref020],[@pone.0151979.ref021]\]. According to this model, stimuli and response units use multiple and hierarchical coding schemes. As mentioned in the Introduction, this model accounts for the *same hand* advantage in terms of a preattentive grouping process of response units. That is, visual and response elements are grouped according to low-level factors. In the context of our task, left and right responses are given with left and right fingers of the same hand, and therefore, they are part of the same response unit. Following the grouping model, the presentation of the target in the right visual field automatically activates both response units (left and right fingers of the right hand) because they belong to the same response group. Therefore, the mismatch between stimulus location and response location that characterizes the incompatible Simon condition is substantially reduced.
The general architecture of the grouping model can also account for the results of the left-handers when coupled with the observation that left-handed individuals present a smaller degree of cortical asymmetry in motor tasks \[[@pone.0151979.ref036],[@pone.0151979.ref037]\]. That is, for left-handed individuals, grouping of responses based on the location of the responding hand might not be so powerful in reducing the Simon effect considering that left-handers are more symmetrical in motor cortex activation. Thus, it is possible that symmetry in motor cortex activation could maintain "left" and "right" response codes to be equally salient for this group. With similar levels of activation, both left and right response codes are subject to interference from the irrelevant spatial location. Consistent with this possibility is the observation that an imbalance in motor activation can be manifested when left-handers respond with the nondominant (right) hand, which in fact happens. Though speculative, the possibility outlined here based on behavioral observation might guide future brain imaging studies. The present results may be the behavioral manifestation of the interaction between motor and attention networks that might differ in right- and left-handed individuals.
Methodological implications for the effect of responding hand {#sec016}
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The results reported here have important implications for the use of stimulus-response interference tasks to address the neural basis of perception-action coding in neurological patients. Mostly bimanual versions of the Simon task have been used to study cognitive control functions in patients with Huntington disease, with both behavioral \[[@pone.0151979.ref040]\] and fMRI protocols \[[@pone.0151979.ref041]\]. However, in the last several years, a number of studies have used unimanual versions of stimulus-response inference tasks in patients with cortical and subcortical lesions \[[@pone.0151979.ref042]--[@pone.0151979.ref044]\]. These studies used a unilateral version of the flanker task, which shares features with the Simon task and, therefore, is subject to the same methodological considerations. Interestingly, differences between left and right visual fields have been reported in a unilateral version of the flanker task following lesions to cortical and subcortical areas \[[@pone.0151979.ref043]\]. Given the results reported here, it is possible that differences between left and right visual fields might be contaminated by response-related factors. Therefore, our results highlight the need to take into consideration, for both patients and control groups, the analysis of handedness and responding-hand location as a function of visual field. In addition, it is important that controls and patients are matched regarding the responding hand set-up. Note that in a number of these studies, control data on neurologically healthy individuals is not provided; therefore, the impact of task-related factors cannot be estimated.
Conclusions {#sec017}
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Our results show the impact of handedness and responding hand on the Simon effect. At the theoretical level, these findings are in general agreement concerning the importance of attention mechanisms in stimulus-response coding. In addition, they reflect that stimulus-response interference is influenced by multiple and hierarchical coding principles. Finally, our results may foster interesting lines of research when integrated with recent findings showing that the Simon effect is modulated by the presence of task-irrelevant salient events: Dolk and colleagues used a go/nogo Simon task requiring participants to respond to a lateralized auditory stimulus by pressing a single key using the right hand \[[@pone.0151979.ref045]\]. Across different experiments, an object (e.g., a Japanese waving cat, a clock) was positioned on the participant's left side. Results showed that even though the participant's action reference was right (hand position), the presence of a competing event on the participant's left side produced a leftward representation, resulting in a Simon effect. That is, including additional events to the experimental setting influenced the relevance of spatial locations. Future research is needed to address how the presence of an irrelevant event interacts with specific stimulus-response mappings in the Simon task.
These findings highlight a number of methodological aspects (e.g., handedness, responding hand, and visual field) that need to be taken into consideration when using different response set-ups for examining spatial coding and cognitive control functions in neurological populations.
[^1]: **Competing Interests:**The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
[^2]: Conceived and designed the experiments: IA PHW AH GF. Performed the experiments: IA AH. Analyzed the data: IA PHW DT AH. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: IA. Wrote the paper: IA PHW DT AH GF.
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Q:
Can not link libmysqlclient.a?
I'm using Ubuntu 14.04, and I installed libmysqlclient-dev package already. But I always get link error because mysql_init symbol missing.
My source code, Makefile, run-time result and symbol info are as follows:
igsrd@naivechou/~/project/m01/uuid_sign>cat main.cpp
#include <cstdio>
#include <cstdlib>
#include "mysql/mysql.h"
int main(int argc,char** argv)
{
auto con = mysql_init(nullptr);
//printf("mysql client version : %s\n",mysql_get_client_info());
exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
}
igsrd@naivechou/~/project/m01/uuid_sign>LANG= && make -B
g++ -o main.o -c main.cpp -std=c++11 -ggdb
g++ -o uuid_sign -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu -lmysqlclient -lpthread -lz -lm -ldl main.o
main.o: In function `main':
/home/igsrd/project/m01/uuid_sign/main.cpp:6: undefined reference to `mysql_init'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [uuid_sign] Error 1
igsrd@naivechou/~/project/m01/uuid_sign>nm -C /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libmysqlclient.a | grep mysql_init
0000000000002b10 T mysql_init
0000000000002d30 T mysql_init_character_set
U mysql_init_character_set
Source is very simple, just one line to call mysql_init().
Making process shows every options for compiler and linker, I think there are no missing options.
Error message is undefined reference of linking error, so I dump libmysqlclient.a to grep the mysql_init, and it is not on undefined state.
Now I really have no idea. What's wrong with this ?
A:
Change your second command, try this (change the position of main.o):
g++ -o uuid_sign main.o -L/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu -lmysqlclient -lpthread -lz -lm -ldl
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Bungarotoxin
Bungarotoxins are a group of closely related neurotoxic proteins of the three-finger toxin superfamily found in the venom of kraits including Bungarus multicinctus. α-Bungarotoxin inhibits the binding of acetylcholine (ACh) to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors; β- and γ-bungarotoxins act presynaptically causing excessive acetylcholine release and subsequent depletion. Both α and β forms have been characterized, the α being similar to the long or Type II neurotoxins from other elapid venoms.
There are four types:
α-Bungarotoxin
β-Bungarotoxin (not a three-finger toxin)
γ-Bungarotoxin ()
k-Bungarotoxin
History
Banded krait venom began to be studied by Chuan-Chiung Chang and Chen-Yuan Lee of the National Taiwan University in the 1950s; however, it was not until 1963 that its components were separated and isolated.
References
Category:Ion channel toxins
Category:Nicotinic antagonists
Category:Vertebrate toxins
Category:Kraits |
Christians must first understand that the issues they most care about – abortion, same-sex marriage and cultural rot – are not caused by bad politics, but are matters of the heart and soul.
Thomas goes on to write:
Some evangelicals wish to broaden the political agenda beyond these issues to poverty, social justice, and the environment. Politics can never completely cure the ills of any of these, but the message Christians bring about salvation and redemption can.
He concludes with a warning to those too wrapped up in partisan political activity:
To paraphrase a verse familiar to most Christians, what shall it profit a [person] if he gains the White House, but loses his own soul?
Cal Thomas put into words the angst I had been feeling about trying to fit in with the Religious Right in the book he co-authored with Ed Dobson (Blinded by Might). I attribute this book to helping me realize no political party has a corner on Christianity–nor should it or can it. His points here are well-said.
I don’t think this should be taken as a repudiation of conservatism in general. But this is a marker of the decline of a particularly ham-handed Christian political activism that confused political conservatism with theological orthodoxy. In time I predict we will also see the decline of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who, if you’ll forgive my being blunt, have long ago ceased being useful to either the church or conservatism. (And I might add, Sojo has paid way too much attention to these two.) As I see it James Dobson will need to move carefully — he still has some credibility but he’ll need to act judiciously to avoid getting sucked down by the undertow as Falwell and Robertson sink. I have mixed feelings about this. One one hand I remembered what evangelical Christianity was like before the eighties. This was the time of the “fundamentalist” church. It was insular, alienated from American society, and generally stupid. There was more than a whiff of racism in many corners of it I was ashamed to have to be associated with any of it. This may strike many as damning with faint praise but the era of the “Religious Right” was actually a step forward for many Christians, who quit griping about how the whole country was going to hell in a handbasket, left their pews, and actually engaged the larger society. Were their efforts effective? That’s debatable, but it would be a surprise if they didn’t make a lot of mistakes, many of them hadn’t been out in “the world” in nearly thirty years. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of otherwise intelligent Christians treat politics as if it were just another extension of theology and — much as I believe in conservatism — the two just aren’t the same. A policy person has to think very differently from a theologian and a political leader needs to think very differently from a preacher. Christianity is supposed to be eternal. Public policy is very contingent. Christianity is supposed to connect us to the spritiual realm. Public policy is very much about this world. Yes, religion has a lot to add to public policy, and public policy can sometimes enlighten spiritual meditations. Which is why there will always be a place for a Sojourners and why Christians have had so much influence at conservative institutions like National Review or the Heritage Foundation. But there are a lot of people — including some fairly bright people — who just aren’t able to switch mental gears quickly enough to move smoothly between the very different mindsets of religion and politics. (I like to think that I’m one of those who can — and concede that I may sound incredibly arrogant when I say that.) What I would like to see over time is the rise of Christian think-tanks, and Christian intellectuals who can address public policy questions in a Christian way but who are seen as primarily as experts in political matters, and only secondarily as theologians. One happy benefit of this would be that the church itself would gain what might be called “plausible deniability” in political disputes — the church would generally avoid political disputes and her reputation would be undamaged by political controversies. Individual believers would pursue political activism as part of their vocations. But for that to happen, both the Christian Left and the Christian Right will need to stand down and allow the Church to transcend politics. I’m not sure that the Christian Left is ready to do that. Hopefully you will be ready to take that step before too long though. After all, we conservatives supposedly ran the church for all these years and it didn’t get us to Nirvana. I doubt it will work out all that better for you. Wolverine
I live in the midwest. I caution against assuming that Dobsen, Falwell, Robertson and others like them are on the wane… Based on what I hear, I think not… I wonder what I would hear were I living in the south… No offense meant…
Mike: I live in central Ohio–home of the Rev. Russell Johnson and his Patriot Pastors, and of Pastor Rod Parsley and his Reformation Ohio and Center for Moral Clarity. You may remember these groups from the 2004 election. No, they’re still around and quite as active as ever. But I don’t think Thomas believes that the influence of the conservative Christians will diminish overnight, or even any time soon. Rather, I think he’s saying they’re influence has begun to peak, and will begin declining with time. After all, it took 1/4 century or more for them to come to this point; it will probably be at least that long before they really do fade into the sunset. Peace,
Just curious where Sojourner’s comments are on the National Day of Prayer? Surely this is a day where we could put forth a prayer we COULD all pray as Christians for this nation- for access to good jobs, health care, and education for all–
“Just curious where Sojourner’s comments are on the National Day of Prayer? Surely this is a day where we could put forth a prayer we COULD all pray as Christians for this nation- for access to good jobs, health care, and education for all–” Dawn Weaks | Homepage | 05.03.07 – 10:43 pm | #I don’t know anything about your National Day of Prayer but the Global Day of Prayer is May 27, Pentecost Sunday.
Dawn, We live in America. Everybody already has acces to good jobs, health care and education. What exactly did you mean by praying for that? I hope you are not advacating for socialized medicine or for the govt. to find people a job are you? As for education look at how the govt. has screwed that up? Do not forget the teachers union part in our failing education system either. Bottom line is liberals hold the individual responsible for nothing but collectivly responsible for everything.
We live in America. Everybody already has acces to good jobs, health care and education. Doug I would agree with you that the American economy does a good job of providing opportunities for people. But to make the blanket statement that everybody has access to good jobs, health care and education in this country, is clearly not true. Look around at reality. An African American child in the inner city of Newark, NJ does NOT have the same opportunities as a white kid in Montvale, NJ. Instead of disparaging liberals for recognizing this reality, maybe you could seek to understand this reality and work together with liberals to find a solution to the problem.
What is having an impact on the Religious Right,” is the corruption of young people by the evil power of Liberal/Progressive/Humanist ideology. Shattered lives will “come out” of these modern day Greco-Roman groups like they did in Nero’s and Hadrian’s day. In Sodom a few thousand years ago, King Bera was a Progressive-style leader of the exact same kinds of people that make up Liberal political organizations to this day. The western world looks just like Sodom of old. The word of God still went on.This Leftist power rise, was prophesied to happen. (The Great falling away.) Now we have the most evil of things using the word Christian in organizations promoting things that Jesus and His apostles preached against. – Wolves in sheep’s clothing, false teachers giving itching ears what they want to hear. – Known as Progressive ideologically, they only are Molech and Greco/Roman deity worshippers come back to the forefront. And the western world embracing Molech worship (Progessive ideology) are living in a world of such moral decay that they literally have laws being created to silence any voice to stop it. What evil is and does. The Democrats passed HR 1592 yesterday to silence any attempts of Christians to stop the hedonism, perversions and abominations so promoted by Progressive political and social aims. “For example.” Once the slaughter of unborn children was championed by Liberal-Progressives (Secularists) as an acceptable form of murder for sexual convenience, the die was cast for the Satanic powers to once again re-build Sodom and Gomorrah within the framework of distorting civil rights. (How is murder a civil right?) Notice the peoples attacked for not falling in line with Progressive idol worship (Molech worship) are mostly “Christians” that believe as Christ Jesus and His apostles taught. Maybe Progresives should just be called Romans? Neo-Romans? Nerodians? Though the Church is not in any danger of disappearing, political power-mongers want it to seem so. Notice that Jim Wallis always has this story popping up. As evil people within old movements called new names (like Humanism and Progressiveism today), try to wipe out Christians, the only thing that will happen, is that the women and children (the broken family) suffering under the heels of Liberal actions, will once again cry out to God, (even if Democrats further outlaw this), with a prayer that will reach even through the Darwinians’ attempts to wash it away. The Religious Right is a neologism created by todays political climate. At the beginning of the Church, they were first called “Christians” in Antioch. The Religious Left” are just the same old hedonists we see throughout history. And the same kinds of people that hated “Christians” then and for the same reasons, hate them now. Demons don’t know care what year it is. All of the tricks and cunning ploys of people like Jim Wallis are not going to end the authentic Church started by God in the flesh. (Sorry Spong, Wallis, take your Progressive circus on the road to Europe) Progressives may silence the Church for a short under “hate crimes and civil rights legislation,” but, that was the case when Peter and Paul walked into the Roman Empire and told them that same-sex sex and hedonism were wrong and preached the Gospel and that Christ Jesus was God in the flesh. Same enemies now as then, go after the Christians. NOTE: You can read about the history of what is now called “The Religious Right” in the compiliation of letters known as The New Testament. The anti-Jesus politics of their day called them “Christians” and hated them too, for their stand against sexual sins ( homosexuality, adultery, divorce and the main reason for abortions “sexual freedom) and the Roman era Liberals and Progressives “like” groups, tried with all of their might to end the Christian influence in the world. What Nero and his Roman Liberals and Progressives failed to do 2000-years ago, the Democrats and their Progresives will fail at today. The only thing that will change in the Left’s attempt to outlaw the Christian witness, is the rise of another neologism for the authentic Church to wear. What we now know as “The Religious Right” will just go on preaching the Gospel of the faith delivered only once to the saints, no matter what little label is applied over the truth that cannot be hidden.
Wolverine, “Sojo has paid way too much attention to these two” (Robertson and Falsewell) So has Aerica in general. “James Dobson will need to move carefully — he still has some credibility” He DOES??? “religion has a lot to add to public policy” WHICH religion? Perhaps you ment spirituality. I sure hope so, ‘cuz I sure as heck don’t want SOME religions making (or even contributing to) public policy because of the despicable, exclusionary, bigoted, prejudiced ideologies they uphold. “One happy benefit of this would be that the church itself would gain …” When will people on the ‘right’ realize that there is NO ‘one’ Church (as in “THE Church”). Religions DIFFER. The ramifications of your suggestion is that CERTAIN Churches would gain …”, much to the detriment of others. There shall be NO establishment of religion…! I think even YOU realize this, when you say, “But for that to happen, both the Christian Left and the Christian Right will need to stand down and allow the Church to transcend politics.” Transcend politics? How about getting the heck OUT of politics? You’re also pretty selective when you type: “I’m not sure that the Christian Left is ready to do that.” Why only the left? The ‘right” is observably not only not ready to do that, they are unwilling to do that. Get your religion out of MY life please.
“Just curious where Sojourner’s comments are on the National Day of Prayer?” Which Church’s prayers should we offer up? Why not have a National Day of Secularism instead? Or better yet, a National YEAR, or National Decade, or National Century of Secularism – to honour the Constitution?
OK – as a conservative white evangelical male, yes I have been conserned about abortion, gay activitism etc. But – truth be told, my little evangelical church has spent more time and money both here and in other countries to help imporve education – health care – hunger and poverty. Maybe the reason why some in the conservative area speak a lot about these issues is that they are the ones that are being given all the press. Frankly – if the homeless had to depend upon the gay organizations in my community and not the churches – they would be in a world of hurt as most of them seem to be very selfserving. I find it so interesting that Wallis and Sojo seem to be lying in wait for the demise of the Robertsons, Kennedys, Grahams and Dobsons of the Christian world. There are areas that I believe they could work independantly on the issues and a few they might be able to coordinate their efforts, but when conservatives are viewed by many like they are the enemy – guess that is not going to happen. (God must weep) One thing that is interesting is that Liberty University has seen growth like very few institutions of higher learning have experienced in the last 25 years. Not sure that I would say that we are wittnessing the demise of the Christian Right. (there are several other schools that are growning and look at the growth of home schooler.) Wallis and Fawell – both polarizing personalities. I have read where Wallis has taken time to blast Fawell and fellow brother in the Lord. (I believe they are both believers) But I can not find where Fawell has blasted Wallis. (if Jerry has – he would be wrong to do so) Point out your differences – fine. But to couch your verbage so to lead the reader that you are looking forward to their demise – wrong Later – .
Moderatelad and Wolverine, Good comments, but I’d also argue that Wallis and Sojo don’t want Robertson and Falwell to go away. Even though they have very little influence these days (according to polls, most evangelicals have negative views of both), whenever these two say something outrageous (as they do every few months or so) it gives Wallis an opportunity to appear as the reasonable alternative, even though he is basically a liberal democrat and there are many other places along the ideological spectrum where Christians could fall.I think it’s clear that Sojo’s focus on Robertson and Falwell has nothing to do with providing sound criticism of of them or their statements (which generally require no criticism, given their outrageousness). It has everything to do with storing up support for their movement. The disingenuousness is obvious to me.
“One happy benefit of this would be that the church itself would gain what might be called “plausible deniability” in political disputes — the church would generally avoid political disputes and her reputation would be undamaged by political controversies. Individual believers would pursue political activism as part of their vocations.” I think this should be a stated goal. Politics from the pulpit is pretty nauseating, and I am glad my church does not partake.
jesse | 05.04.07 – 10:30 am | #I as a conservative – did not support the ‘moral majority’ back in the day. I did not speak against them but did not speak for them. I believe that God would deal with them as He saw fit to do so. Fawell is a polarizing personality and I tend to shy away from him. (so is Wallis…)We have three families in our church that came to faith from watching PTL (Tammy to be specific) But they have grown in their faith and understand what God throught His Son requires of us. Now – should I tell them how wonderful it is that they now understand what a fraud that make-up madam is…NO WAY. You point out the truth and the future – not so much the past or the flaws. Have a great weekend! .
Wolverine, Great post–just a few comments: “What I would like to see over time is the rise of Christian think-tanks, and Christian intellectuals who can address public policy questions in a Christian way but who are seen as primarily as experts in political matters, and only secondarily as theologians.” I’d like to see that too, especially if you could get voices from across the Christian and political spectrum who are open minded and willing to think about opposing perspectives. We have much to add to each other, but so often strict political ideologies and pride get in the way. I’d love to see something on the lines of a task force that looks at important issues from all sides. We all have our pet solutions, and it takes those who disagree with us to show us the pitfalls in those solutions. “One happy benefit of this would be that the church itself would gain what might be called “plausible deniability” in political disputes — the church would generally avoid political disputes and her reputation would be undamaged by political controversies. Individual believers would pursue political activism as part of their vocations.” I think what you are saying here is basically that the church needs to get out of politics, freeing up believers to pursue the political activism that is in their passions. I couldn’t agree with you more. “I’m not sure that the Christian Left is ready to do that.” I don’t think the Christian Right is ready to do it, either. The Left is pretty new to the scene, at least in terms of enjoying any political power, so I’m not sure how quickly the Left would stand down, either. I agree that both need to stand down, though, and find non-political solutions to the problems this world faces. Think if the church had invested all that time and effort in action rather than political activism, the changes we could already see in this nation. “Hopefully you will be ready to take that step before too long though. After all, we conservatives supposedly ran the church for all these years and it didn’t get us to Nirvana. I doubt it will work out all that better for you.” You are right, and if for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, I am not sure this will be a fast process, either. The sooner we can set politics aside and start working together, the better.
But I can not find where Falwell has blasted Wallis. During the 2004 general election campaign, Falwell referred to Wallis as “as evangelical as an oak tree,” so, in essence, Falwell was the one who started it. But he’s not the only conservative who blasted Wallis — World magazine panned “God’s Politics” because of its “non-conservative agenda,” never mind that, for example, Wallis was as upset with both that infamous Super Bowl halftime show and “Temptation Island” as anyone. That said, I think the ideological right needs to reach out to everyone else; it’s been my experience that the right wants to hold onto its authority while appearing to want to address social issues. Not everyone who disagrees with conservatives is a “liberal,” in this context usually a slur. In fact, recently I received a book in which Woodrow Wilson was quoted as wanting an advisor of “the other political party” — “to keep me from going blind.”
“as evangelical as an oak tree”–But wait, if by oak tree Falwell was referring to a metaphorical oak tree whose roots run deep in the Word of God and whose branches and leaves provide protection for all that are under it… One can only wish, I suppose… Now he could have also said “as Evangelical as a Rock…” no, wait…an Eagle…umm…anchor?
But wait, if by oak tree Falwell was referring to a metaphorical oak tree whose roots run deep in the Word of God and whose branches and leaves provide protection for all that are under it… You wish … and so do I!
Curiouser: Well, obviously James Dobson doesn’t have any credibility with you, but in the larger political realm he is seens as someone who has a decent grassroots organization and a measure of political savvy. Certainly he has made mistakes — who hasn’t? — but he’s nowhere near as gaffe prone as Robertson and doesn’t carry the baggage of a Falwell. All of which means he has some credibility. As for getting my religion out of my life: you apparently do happen to respect “spirituality”, but what is religion other than the natural result of people getting together to share notes from their spiritual journeys? Yes, organized religions have done awful things, but that’s our fault, not God’s, and the raw stuff of both “Religion” and “Spirituality” is the same thing: mankind’s search for the divine. The point is, if there’s anything of value to your spirituality, and you share that spirituality with anyone, your spirituality is liable to become part of a religion. And if your spirituality affects the way you conduct your life in any meaningful way, that’s an “ethic”. And since you’re interested in politics, that ethic of yours is liable to affect your politics as well So I hope you don’t mind if I ask if you’d be willing to keep your spirituality out of my life too. Wolverine
It seems to me that the religious right “won”, in a sense: what has this administration been if not the election of a conservative Christian to the presidency, who then appointed people who share a similar religious and ethical perspective as advisors, judges and in other influential positions? They got what they were striving for. The result has been extremely unpopular, and Bush’s ratings suggest that many even on the right must be disappointed. Is it too much to hope for that perhaps next time people with strong religious convictions will vote for a candidate not based on their metaphysical and theological perspective, but based on their competency? http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/blog/
Doug writes: “We live in America. Everybody already has acces to good jobs, health care and education. What exactly did you mean by praying for that? I hope you are not advacating for socialized medicine or for the govt. to find people a job are you? As for education look at how the govt. has screwed that up? Do not forget the teachers union part in our failing education system either.” As for how the government has screwed up education, I hope you are referring to No Child Left Behind, because that has royally screwed up education. And if the teacher’s union was as strong as you seem to believe, I would think they would have a much bigger voice on how education should happen in this nation. Instead you have beaurocrats who have no educational training telling us what to teach and how to teach it. As for everyone having access, etc…maybe that’s true, but what isn’t true is that everyone has opportunity. What is your social economic background? Have you ever wondered if you would have enough money to pay the rent or buy food? Have you ever lived in a desparately poor neighborhood? Are you speaking from experience? As for this,”Bottom line is liberals hold the individual responsible for nothing but collectivly responsible for everything.” This is, of course, an overgeneralization used, no doubt, to stop up your ears from listening to any solutions that Liberals might have to offer. On another note, we in this nation have this adherence to society built around individuals and the needs of the individual. This is a Western approach to society. Other approaches have been based more on taking a community approach, where every individual in the community is cared for by the community and in turn works to care for the community. We have moved so far away from that kind of society, we have elevated the status of the individual almost to god status, so the thought of collectively caring for all is not palatable if it affects our individual freedoms.
Wolverine, very thoughtful reflections. So much work to be done; surely Christians of all political stripes can find common ground ministering to the sick and the down-and-out, and of course spreading the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Don, had missed you on here for a few days and glad to see you back.
Wolverine, Questions- How is his spirituality in your life? What ethic from his life affects your? To my conservative brothers and sisters: Your conversation about Sojo is absolutely fascinating. You really think we (the religious left) have been hidden or that this new. Well minor correction we aren’t hidden or new. It’s just finally the other parts of us (mainly the white folks are stepping up for the first time since the middle of the 20’th century.)We have been here for the last century. We only got into politics to address the issues of injustice that were being ignored by most of society. Some of the religious left include Howard Thurman, MLK Jr, Coretta King, Philip Berryman, Marcella Althaus-Reid, James Hal Cone, and Uriel Molina. How is Wallis polarizing? James, They have won minor victories but again they have not really won everything they wanted. No ammendment to the constitution banning gay marriage… If anything it would seem that many of their sacred cows were ignored by this President.p
Rick Nowlin | 05.04.07 – 11:18 am | #Guess I will have to search a little deeper for these comments. But these are perty lame comparied to what has been said about conservatives on this site by those who write articles. Not sure that Fawell threw the first stone – he may have.Have a great weekend .
wolverine, i thought your comments were very thoughtful and were much appreciated. i am deeply torn about christianity & politics. i think it is a gross mis-statement when people say jesus was not political (even worse when ‘render unto caesar’ is used as justification), but that does not excuse legislating one particular tradition’s view (or worse yet – one strand of one tradition’s view) of the way of things into law. as followers of jesus, a much deeper conversation about our prophetic mission needs to take place & the church’s role in it. the church that spoke up for abolition & for civil rights was clearly political & surely we can affirm they collectively spoke the voice of god for their time. as the (ideally speaking) body of christ, the church needs to be out there mixing it up, but we need to be mxing it up w/ the politics of jesus, his radical, subversive vision -‘the kingdom of god,’ not the politics of modern christianity. john howard yoder’s book by that name ‘the politics of jesus’ is very provocative on this subject & i think would be a good primer for this discussion.
Payshun: The Religious Left (If we must use this term; I hate these labels!) goes back a lot farther than your names! Just think of Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Finney, and other social-activist Christians of the 19th century, who worked on programs ranging from abolition of slavery to humane treatment of the mentally ill. And cross the ocean and meet William Wilberforce (I hope you saw “Amazing Grace”–go see it if not). And the Wesleys. They were ostracized by the Church of England for including the poor in their ministries. Social activism was part of the Methodist movement from the beginning. And don’t forget William Booth and the Salvation Army. The list is long and honorable, Donny’s diatribes notwithstanding. Peace,
nad2– “the politics of jesus, his radical, subversive vision -‘the kingdom of god,’ ” I agree with you, but the problem with Christianity and politics is that there is a wide range of opinions on what the above statement means, or how it is brought about. I think both the left and right are guilty of trying to establish God’s kingdom through political means. Maybe that shouldn’t be so, or maybe there is a way to do it, that I don’t know…
Don, I have yet to see Amazing Grace. Into the Silence is the next movie on my list of things to see. It’s about these monks that dedicated their lives to pryaer. It looks absolutely fascinating. Anywho I agree sometimes I forget about some of my European forbears. I get so caught up in the revivalist sentiment of the 19’th century that it’s easy to forget the beauty that was coming out of Europe and America at that time. p
Guess I will have to search a little deeper for these comments. But these are perty lame comparied to what has been said about conservatives on this site by those who write articles. Not sure that Falwell threw the first stone – he may have. I suggest you do check it out — and in fact many conservative publications, especially in the 1980s, were unrelentingly scornful of liberals; I personally was denounced as a “socialist” and “hedonist” in a local Christian publication for endorsing Walter Mondale for president in 1984, and Jimmy Swaggart — there’s a name from the past — once said that liberal politics bordered on Communism. (And in this context, a “liberal” was someone who disagreed with them.) That said, those commentaries I read then about liberals and liberalism were of the Ann Coulter variety (but, because they were almost exclusively in Christian publications, they didn’t have mass circulation). What you’re reading on this blog about criticism of conservatism is actually quite mild compared to that.
p, i just bought ‘into great silence’ off amazon.ca, it is not available in the US yet but you can get it from amazon canada & they will ship it to you, have not gotten to watch it yet but i am pumped to have it.
squeaky, i share your concerns deeply, but it is difficult to reconcile being a follower of jesus (or a band of followers of jesus) & who he was when he was here w/ sitting on the sidelines on matters of equality, justice, & especially yes – religious legitimization of inequality & injustice. that is god’s politics at its finest – speaking up about it is what got jesus killed, & the difficult thing is he calls us to follow him.
“Your conversation about Sojo is absolutely fascinating. You really think we (the religious left) have been hidden or that this new.” I don’t think it is new. I think it is the same-old, same-old. Who said they thought it was new? “who then appointed people who share a similar religious and ethical perspective as advisors, judges and in other influential positions? They got what they were striving for. The result has been extremely unpopular, and Bush’s ratings suggest that many even on the right must be disappointed.” I think the war in Iraq, coupled with lack of fiscal discipline, resulted in the poor numbers. That said, many judges and other influential advisors (e.g. John Roberts and Condoleeza Rice) are well-regarded.
squeaky, if we actually read the texts & have a solid grasp on their context & their meaning within their context, i think we’ll be more than fine. the problem is (as you have rightly put it), that doesn’t happen.
“religious left – jesus, james, john the baptist, amos, jeremiah, paul (the paul, all letters attributed to him aren’t his), the list could go on & on.” This carries with it the presumption that the political left has all answers to poverty, peace and prosperity. Simply calling out these names does nothing to contribute to the idea that prominent figures of the scripture were politically liberal. I also disagree the rendering unto Caesar had nothing to do with the question of political advocacy, but that is an old discussion which probably doesn’t need to be regurgitated parenthetically, eh?
I don’t think it is new. I think it is the same-old, same-old. Who said they thought it was new? Well, the right is comparatively new, as only in the last few decades — and only in America — has religion been attached to the status quo on such an overt level. That said, many judges and other influential advisors (e.g. John Roberts and Condoleeza Rice) are well-regarded. That’s what you think. Indeed, Rice was considered an abject failure at the National Security Agency, and Roberts hasn’t been on the Supreme Court long enough to make that determination. Simply calling out these names does nothing to contribute to the idea that prominent figures of the scripture were politically liberal. By your standard they might be, because they certainly would have criticized the conservatives!
nad2, “if we actually read the texts & have a solid grasp on their context & their meaning within their context, i think we’ll be more than fine. the problem is (as you have rightly put it), that doesn’t happen.” I do think this is true. I also think, that we can easily focus on one aspect of the morality of the Bible while forgetting about others. Some only think of sexual immorality as sin while forgetting it is also immoral not to care for the poor. Others do just the opposite. I think Jesus cared about both, and we can’t pick and choose what we will care about morally. And you are right–it is an inattentiveness to the whole Word that brings about this polarity.
I would urge all of you to follow the link provided and read the entire essay by Cal Thomas. He makes some excellent points. I really appreciate the tone that he always seems to approach things like this with—so much of the discussion often degenerates to nothing more than labels and name calling. Thomas avoids that and offers much to consider. Debbie
“(kevin i don’t recall much discussion of ‘render unto caesar,’ more like a detailed accounting of what it most probably means in context w/ you replying ‘i disagree’)” Um… No. I conceded that your exegesis was largely correct, but that the passage nonetheless ran counter to the idea that Jesus proposed active resistance to Roman Authority, or that this idea featured prominently in his ministry. Jesus did not demonstrate an interest in changing the political makeup of the Roman Empire, and certainly was not put to death for having done so (as you suggested). If he did so demonstrate, it is absurd that he would utter the phrase “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”. This is the explanation you have helpfully condensed to “I disagree with you”.
nad2 wrote: religious left – jesus, james, john the baptist, amos, jeremiah, paul (the paul, all letters attributed to him aren’t his), the list could go on & on. I’m sorry, this just doesn’t work. These people all lived in a very different society with different laws and customs and very different politics. I’m not saying these people are conservatives, I just don’t think they fit neatly anywhere into our political categories. Arguing whether John the Baptist is liberal or conservative makes about as much sense as arguing whether LeBron James should bat leadoff or cleanup — we’ve moved on to a totally different game. Wolverine
Too many labels, too much finger-pointing, getting too hung up on “liberal” “progressive” or “conservative.” Wolverine makes a good point-pray for the rise of Christian think-tanks without regard to a given entrenched political “position”, rather examining issues from the totality of Christian life. It seems THAT is what might get us working together. Let’s call each other brothers and sisters in Christ, leave it to that, and get on with His work. Peace!
Squeaky, By your argument you made my point. You do not hold the individual responsoble for anything. When you say that people in America do not have the same options you could not be more wrong. A poor person in harlem has every much a change to succed as a rich kid from the suburbs. All it takes it is hard work and dedication. By making that blanket statement you are already making it easier for them to fail. Life is not handed to you it is what you make of it. One last thing by your argument it would seem if I was born into a christian family I would have an easier chance of getting into heaven then if I was not. The bible makes it clear that is not the case. I have to run but I will right more later.
Too many labels, too much finger-pointing, getting too hung up on “liberal” “progressive” or “conservative.” Wolverine makes a good point-pray for the rise of Christian think-tanks without regard to a given entrenched political “position”, rather examining issues from the totality of Christian life. It seems THAT is what might get us working together. Everyone, in theory, is all for that, but befor that can happen the differences in outlook must be addressed, accepted and accounted for, otherwise nothing will get done. I see this pattern mostly in the black/white divide, especially since it’s being addressed in my church. Everyone talks about it, but few take the hard steps of recociliation to say, “You might be right and I might be wrong about that.” I’ve heard at least one person on this blog say, esentially, “Yes, I want reconciliation but I don’t want to change my pet prejudices.” You just can’t have it both ways. Now, one reality that needs to be accepted along the ideological divide is that, at least among us who call ourselves evangelicals, conservatism is clearly dominant. There’s just no way around that — in addition to churches, most parachurch and media ministries, as well as social and political action groups, tends to the right. Back especially in the 1980s there was a certain “political correctness” that a born-again believer in Jesus Christ was supposed to maintain and if you didn’t — well, your very salvation was in question. That said, it behooves the conservatives who are here to listen to what we “liberals” are saying, because in many cases they truly do not know or understand for lack of exposure, and not to be so oversensitive when we disagree. On the other hand, for the most we do understand the conservative view and usually have good reasons not to accept it as necessarily valid.
When you say that people in America do not have the same options you could not be more wrong. A poor person in harlem has every much a change to succed as a rich kid from the suburbs. All it takes it is hard work and dedication. I am proof positive that, frankly, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I came from a middle-class, highly-educated black family, but I see today that there were opportunities that were denied me simply because I didn’t live in the right neighborhood (and thus didn’t have the necessary “connections”). And since my career as a reporter has taken me to numerous place, I see the difference between such areas far more clearly.
Doug, I am not saying the individual isn’t responsible for anything. However, it is difficult for me to understand how you think someone raised in impoverished means has the same opportunities as someone from a wealthy or even a middle class family. If you had a child, where would you rather that child attend school–in a rich neighborhood or in a very poor neighborhood? And why? “All it takes is hard work and dedication.” And the amount of hard work and dedication and the obstacles that an impoverished child needs to overcome are far greater than those faced by a child from a wealthy family. The education each receive are not even close to equitable both in terms of resources and attracting the best teachers. Yes, individuals need to be responsible, but those who have no idea or have never experienced the obstacles and disparity in opportunity of those from impoverished means need to recognize the opportunities they have enjoyed and stop saying “all it takes is hard work and dedication.” That is not much better than saying “poor people are poor because they are lazy.” These prescriptions are simplistic and judgemental and do nothing to overcome the problem of poverty in our nation. We are the richest country on Earth. Why are there still people who live below the poverty line?
Hopefully I’m not beating a dead horse here, but when Jesus talked about “rendering unto Caesar’s what is Caesar’s” he was talking about money not our personal ethics. So he definitely did not mean that if we see the government doing something that is unjust that we should just ignore it and not stand up for what is right. In fact, we are called to stand for justice. So I do believe that it is our responsibility as Christians to question our governments policies that are not in line with Jesus’ ethics. Of course, there are many different beliefs about just what those ethics are, but to say that Jesus’ did not want us to stand up to the government is, I believe, an incorrect statement. Two other observations: Rick, I hear you about the fact that a certain political correctness was required in the 80’s era evangelical churches or your salvation was in question, but I have news for you—in many areas it is still the same! There are many people in my church that I am CERTAIN that I could not share my political and social viewpoints with, as is the case for many (to use a label) “progressive” Christians—it makes me very sad. And I agree with you Squeaky. Unless you have truly lived in an impoverished environment in all its aspects, you have no right to judge those who have not been able to escape it.
“as evangelical as an oak tree”–But wait, if by oak tree Falwell was referring to a metaphorical oak tree whose roots run deep in the Word of God and whose branches and leaves provide protection for all that are under it… One can only wish, I suppose… Now he could have also said “as Evangelical as a Rock…” no, wait…an Eagle…umm…anchor? squeaky | 05.04.07 – 11:26 am | #Squeaky, archaeological evidence just in indicates that your take is in fact what Falwell DID mean
“That said, it behooves the conservatives who are here to listen to what we “liberals” are saying, because in many cases they truly do not know or understand for lack of exposure,” Um, I think I was pretty well exposed to it in college. Pomona isn’t exactly known for its rampant conservatism.
“Of course, there are many different beliefs about just what those ethics are, but to say that Jesus’ did not want us to stand up to the government is, I believe, an incorrect statement.” Depends on what you mean by standing up to government. At any rate, I obviously have no qualms with Christians being politically active. However, one who died for standing up to the Roman empire (which is not why Christ was killed) would not say “render unto Caesar…” Which was my point.
Donny claims: “In Sodom a few thousand years ago, King Bera was a Progressive-style leader of the exact same kinds of people that make up Liberal political organizations to this day.” The Bible explains: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.” These are not Progressive values at all. But I agree with Donny that the industrialized world (he said Western, but geographically it’s more complicated than that) is much too like the ancient description of Sodom.
Squeaky, To others who disagree with me are you proposing we redistribute wealth as most all liberals do? The fact is it does not matter how poor or rich a country is when individuals have no desire to work and think that that they are entitled to everything that country will eventually be no more. Sadly with the liberals trying to take away individual responsibility that is where this great country is headed. Let us look at this from a christian perspective shall we. Jesus gives each one of us a choice to make. Because we are sinners we can accept his free gift of salvation by repenting of our sins and then making him Lord of our lives. If we choose to repent and make him Lord of our lives then we are saved. If we don’t then we are not. Pretty simple. Why then it is so hard for people to understandf that in this country we have many choices regardless of where or how we grew up. All you have to do is chhose to work hard and set goals to get there. I do understand that there are unforseen circumstances that can happen but for the most part people in this country are poor because of the choices they made not because of where they grew up or the color of their skin. For liberals it is all about intention not about results. In america we are so spoiled we do not realize hopw good we have it. Heck even the poor here are not really poor. You want poor go to any other country. Now I do think that you and I help the poor but only as God leadsus. Just by handing people money will not solve the problem which is why I have a problem with govt. redistributing wealth to poor people. If what you are saying is true then where I am born determines my postion in my life then why try to become anything better because I am already going to failure. Why is this concept so hard for people to understand? Stop blaming other people and take responsibilty for your actions. Yes Jesus forgives but he still makes you live with consequences. Look at King David.
No, you just think you do. I used to devour conservative publications and media, plus most of my associates were flaming conservatives. Yeah, I DO understand, and it’s because I do understand it that I disagree with it. But that kind of attitude is part of the problem I’m describing. Deep down, you still want everyone to agree with you uncritically on every issue and we just can’t do that, nor will we do so.
Um, I think I was pretty well exposed to it in college. Pomona isn’t exactly known for its rampant conservatism. Were these evangelical Christians you interacted with? Because if they weren’t true Christian believers, that’s neither her nor there.
The fact is it does not matter how poor or rich a country is when individuals have no desire to work and think that that they are entitled to everything that country will eventually be no more. That’s not what we’re talking about. The truth is that almost every person wants work — but good-paying work that allows them to pay their bills, send kids to school and perhaps even buy a house. The problem is that there are social constructs that keep people from attaining their goals, whether educational, vocational or whatever. Though I came from a solidly middle-class family that to this day values education, I eventually learned that certain doors were closed to me simply because I didn’t know the right people or run in the right social circles. This is precisely the problem many African-Americans have — and it has nothing to do with work habits or education.
Doug: I do believe that Jesus said that we should give away all that we have and follow him—that those who have the most will have the most trouble entering the kingdom of heaven. So maybe those who have the most are the one’s that are actually missing the point? Secondly, no one is saying to just hand the poor money, however we are saying that equitable opportunities are in order—it is a FACT that this is not the case in impoverished areas. Thirdly, we are also not saying that you should not try to rise above your circumstances, what we are saying is that it is much more difficult than those who are in more equitable circumstances could possibly imagine, and to state basically that these people deserve to suffer, is way off the mark. People doing a lot more sinning have a lot more money than the poor, so saying that these people are some how living with the consequences of their bad choices IN GOD’S ESTIMATION is entirely false.
“Were these evangelical Christians you interacted with? Because if they weren’t true Christian believers, that’s neither her nor there.” Inter-Varsity was active on our campus, but you could count the number of conservatives on one finger.
why do you celestial wizardry types even care about what jesus said anyway – it’s all about the magic of the manger & anselm’s good friday & the physical easter, right? belief in that is all that matters so why the concern for what jesus said while he was here? i say this because i think it has passed many of you right by. let the lefties have what jesus said, you could care less, heaven & hell (what it is all about really, right?) you have taken care of apart from jesus’ ministry.
why do you celestial wizardry types even care about what jesus said anyway – it’s all about the magic of the manger & anselm’s good friday & the physical easter, right? belief in that is all that matters so why the concern for what jesus said while he was here? i say this because i think it has passed many of you right by. let the lefties have what jesus said, you could care less, heaven & hell (what it is all about really, right?) you have taken care of apart from jesus’ ministry. Wrong, wrong, wrong. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, He said that “unless you be born from above you will not see the Kingdom of God.” But He was not at all talking about heaven (from the context of the conversation, that should be clear) — He was referring to what God was doing on this earth at that time. And besides, if the afterlife were the only issue we wouldn’t need the rest of the Bible, wouldn’t we?
Inter-Varsity was active on our campus, but you could count the number of conservatives on one finger. Well, IV isn’t known for its ideology anyway. Besides, I’m sure they weren’t hard-core liberals either — which is my point.
OK – I said before and I will say it now. It is not that the evangelicals are only focused on gay marriage, abortion, etc. But it is what the SP’s of the world are pushing so it gets the most press. If you would look at my little church budget – you will not see where we are sending money to those organization that are in the public eye dealing with those issues. We are sending it to educated people in other countries, help them develope food programs, etc. DGIH – I wish the authors and many who post on this site would understand that we are not just 2 issue – single facet people. We are believers that for the most part have a world view. Church historically were very conserned and went to the aid of many countries and the people that lived there before the developement of the para-church organization.And yes – the poor will always be with us. But most churches did not use that as an excuse to not do anything. The sick will always be with us – church built hospitals. They built schools – etc.later – .
moderatelad: “Frankly – if the homeless had to depend upon the gay organizations in my community and not the churches – they would be in a world of hurt as most of them seem to be very selfserving.” It’s like expecting the local rod & gun club to take over helping the homeless. Different charters and different interests. This is comparing apples to oranges.But we can note that there are gay-welcoming churches that certainly help the homeless and not in a cynical, self-serving manner. For example, Glide Memorial church in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district is quite active. If anyone happens to visit San Francisco on a Sunday, I’d encourage you to drop in.
Doug– It is so easy to judge, I’m sure, when you have no apparent exposure to the poor or what it is like to be poor. You imply many myths and mischaracterizations in your post. 1. the poor are lazy 2. the poor don’t work. 3. the poor have it easy. 4. the poor have no obstacles to overcome that I myself wasn’t able to overcome. 5. no one helped me get to where I am, so no one else needs help at all. 6. the liberal response is to throw money at the problem and give the poor free money. Look, I wasn’t raised in a poor neighborhood, but I am not about to judge those who are. Yes, some are able to rise above the circumstances, and yes there are opportunities available. And I deeply admire those that are able to rise above–it speaks to a measure and strength of character and determination that I know I don’t possess. But there are also a whole host of challenges that make those opportunities pale in comparison. I think you think you got to where you are today without anyone’s help at all. I highly doubt that. All of us need and receive help, no matter what socio-economic station we are at in life. In my own case, I was raised in a two parent household where my mother was a stay at home Mom. I was raised in a quiet town in Minnesota where I could safely walk down the street without having to worry about drug pushers, drive by shootings or gang violence. I attended school in a state with one of the top educational systems in the country. I had teachers who encouraged my talent. I attended college but only with the help of massive student loans. I had professors and mentors who believed in me and encouraged me to attain my best. Without these pieces to my life’s puzzle, I would not have succeeded. I was not someone with a great deal of self confidence while growing up, and I can only imagine if I had had to deal with parents who were divorced, or if I had not felt safe in the neighborhood I had been raised in, or if my education had not adequately prepared me for college, or if I had fell in with friends who were a negative influence on my life, or if no one encouraged me, I would not be the same person I am today. Look back on your own life–can you really say you would be the same person you would be without the support you have received along the way? You need to acknowledge that support and those resources and be thankful for them. You have received blessings beyond compare, and it obligates you to not take them for granted and to give back to the community that supported you on your journey. You need to acknowledge that not everyone has the same opportunities you have and help to give them those opportunities (and if you think I am talking about only throwing money at the problem, you are oversimplifying the situation). You grossly oversimplify the situation when you say all it is is a matter of choice. As if a child has much choice if his father is gone and his mother is rarely home because she has to work three jobs to support the family. As if a child has much choice when the school she attends can’t afford adequate supplies or the best teachers. As if a child has a choice when she sees another child killed in a driveby shooting. As if a child has much choice when the neighborhood gang offers him a way out of poverty through drug money. You think this has no effect on a child’s psyche while growing up? Have you gone through as much? How do you have the right to judge? By the way–you didn’t answer my question. Where would you rather raise a child, in a wealthy neighborhood or an impoverished neighborhood and why.
It is not that the evangelicals are only focused on gay marriage, abortion, etc. But it is what the SP’s of the world are pushing so it gets the most press. The cultural issues, sorry to say, also raise the most money. In fact, Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, both formerly with Moral Majority, did an interview with Jim Wallis back when their book “Blinded by Might” came out, and Thomas said, frankly, “If the gay rights issue is hot, you send out a [fund-raising] letter on gay rights. If gun control is hot, you send out a letter on gun control. [But if] the education issue isn’t particulary hot this month, you skip that — but never the poor.” When you’re so threatened and busy trying to keep whatever you have that you forget that even that is a gift from God, you get imbalanced and lose sight of God’s agenda. That’s why conservative religion’s marriage with conservative ideology is falling apart, which I knew would eventually happen. Churches historically were very concerned and went to the aid of many countries and the people that lived there before the developement of the para-church organization. That began to change around the time of the rise of the “religious right,” in large part because of its fund-raising abilities, and many of your evangelical churches fell into line. I don’t recall visiting a conservative church in the 1980s without seeing some sort of right-wing literature in it; I never set foot in those churches a second time.
I am in no way saying we should not care for the poor. I am only sayin it should be when and how God leads you. As far as saying they are lazy that is not the case either. Yes it is a fact you can work hard and not get ahead but again that is by the choices you make. People are not really poor in this country they just think they are. When did health care and all these things become an entitlement? Yes changes need to be made but govt. is not the answer. Look at Canada or Cuba and see how much in shambles there health care is in. Yes everybody has it but at what cost? I am not talking about monetary cost either here. Squeaky, It would not matter where my kids grow up if we had schhol choice but liberals opose that. Why is it that? I have my own thoughts but I will get into them later.
Rick: “I don’t recall visiting a conservative church in the 1980s without seeing some sort of right-wing literature in it; I never set foot in those churches a second time.” If you had visited the church I attended at that time, you probably would have seen the same thing. I once was about as rigid a conservative as they come. Time and some bitter experiences taught me that inflexible ideology doesn’t really fit well with the Gospel message. Maybe that’s why I react when I read echoes of the kinds of attitudes I once held myself. If you were to visit the church I attend now, you might even be willing to come back! Peace
Yup–all it takes is making the right choices. The poor get what they deserve. That’s what you are saying, Doug. Tell me this–where did Jesus ever say such a thing? And your answer to my question completely avoided the issue. It wouldn’t matter where my kid grew up as long as I could choose where they go to school. So in other words, you wouldn’t choose to put them in the poor neighborhood school. That is exactly my point, by the way–the choice you think poor people have is simply not always even there.
“Yup–all it takes is making the right choices. The poor get what they deserve. That’s what you are saying, Doug. Tell me this–where did Jesus ever say such a thing? ” This isn’t what Doug said, either. Surely you can concede that some people are poor because they make bad choices. Proverbs certainly speaks to this.The poor with whom Jesus dealt were poor entirely due to oppression. Lepers, for example, were not allowed to work, make a living, etc…How we incorporate that into our role in helping the poor in America cannot be reduced to either “screw them, they deserve it.” Even for those who make bad decisions, there needs to be some room for grace. However, as it relates to policy, the question arises as to whether we can tolerate or, worse, incentivize, people making destructive choices. Jesus would have different words for a single mother who had children by four different men than he would for the leper. Would they be graceful words? Yes. But they would surely include the admonishment not to sin again, and we can only speculate as to whether they would be accompanied by a call for economic assistance.As Christians, we ought to be able to have this discussion without being accused of hating the poor. This is where Sojourner’s errs on the side of polemic.
Yes it is a fact you can work hard and not get ahead but again that is by the choices you make. Completely false, Doug — as I know from personal experience. If you had visited the church I attended at that time, you probably would have seen the same thing. I once was about as rigid a conservative as they come. Time and some bitter experiences taught me that inflexible ideology doesn’t really fit well with the Gospel message. I already knew that — and I suspect I would probably be welcome in those same churches today. I think my present assembly would have been among them (though the pastor has been known to slam Rush Limbaugh from time to time). However, as it relates to policy, the question arises as to whether we can tolerate or, worse, incentivize, people making destructive choices. That isn’t the issue, either. Basically, to do what’s really required the poor and the rich need to be in the same neighborhood so that the rich (and I use the term “rich” as relatively speaking) become hip to what’s really happening. As I keep saying and as my church knows — we deal with this on a consistent basis — there are actually institutional forces that keep people poor. Dealing with those issues of what the Scriptures call “justice.” You see, the reason people resent assistance to the poor, really, is because they feel they are entitled to their wealth, never mind that God allowed them to make it — they are actually ingrates. But it seems to me that they would help in the process with concrete economic policies and institutions. My church is starting a credit union in the neighborhood, in part to put those check-cashing places out of business and to provide an alternative to loan-sharking.
“Yup–all it takes is making the right choices. The poor get what they deserve. That’s what you are saying, Doug. Tell me this–where did Jesus ever say such a thing? ” Squeaky This isn’t what Doug said, either. Surely you can concede that some people are poor because they make bad choices. Proverbs certainly speaks to this. Kevin S. Well it certainly was the implication. Feel free to read Doug’s post with rose colored glasses but Squeaky did not misrepresent the meaning of the post, you did.Lest there be any doubt as to animus behind the writer (Doug), this will serve to clarify: “People are not really poor in this country they just think they are.” Doug Totally insensitive. There are poor people here. “As Christians, we ought to be able to have this discussion without being accused of hating the poor. This is where Sojourner’s errs on the side of polemic.” kevin s. In other words, I’m really angry now, so I’ll take it out on Soujourner’s even though what I am saying is untrue.
The other assumption in Doug’s posts are that the wealthy are only wealthy because of hard work and dedication. It’s one thing to work yourself up from a good status to a better status, and quite another to work yourself up from a horrible status to a good one. The challenges faced are completely different, so please stop pretending that they aren’t, especially if you don’t have personal experience with it. The thing is, Kevin, no one that Jesus helped deserved His help. Given that the Bible doesn’t give the complete life stories of every person He healed, I think it is better to assume not everyone was poor because of oppression. Some were, no doubt. But I’m sure others had simply made poor life choices. Jesus helped the woman caught in adultery, and surely she was living a lifestyle that brought her to that circumstance. The tax collectors were hated for the choices they made to exploit their fellow Jews, yet Jesus helped them too. I really just don’t see Jesus judging or withdrawing help from anyone who came to Him. Why can’t you get past the rhetoric and assumptions: “the poor are poor because of life decisions and the rich apparently made all the right decisions” and “all liberals want to do is throw money at the situation and be enablers” (which is not at all what most people are talking about, by the way)? It shuts down all actual discussion and actual means of finding solutions. Look–I agree. We should not simply enable people who aren’t doing anything to better themselves. The underlying assumption there is that all poor people do is sponge off the government, and I do not for an instant believe that is the case. Yes, those who do (both poor and rich) should not get those benefits. But those who work hard should be helped. Another assumption is that the government doesn’t help the rich at all. Did you notice all the tax breaks they have been getting lately? Have you heard of corporate welfare? Have you heard of our jobs being outsourced to foreign countries?
“Lest there be any doubt as to animus behind the writer (Doug), this will serve to clarify: “People are not really poor in this country they just think they are.” Doug” I believe that he was referring to the fact that even the poor in this country are very rich by the world’s standards. Doug, feel free to clarify if that was not your meaning. “In other words, I’m really angry now, so I’ll take it out on Soujourner’s even though what I am saying is untrue.” I’m not angry at all. By conflating support of a certain set of policies with caring about the poor, I believe Sojourner’s is making a mistake.
“The other assumption in Doug’s posts are that the wealthy are only wealthy because of hard work and dedication. ” Doug, do you think that the only way to be wealthy is through hard work and dedication? If not, then this is a bit of a straw man, yes? “The challenges faced are completely different, so please stop pretending that they aren’t, especially if you don’t have personal experience with it.” I do have personal experience with it, but that is neither here nor there. I’m not pretending anything. “The thing is, Kevin, no one that Jesus helped deserved His help. Given that the Bible doesn’t give the complete life stories of every person He healed, I think it is better to assume not everyone was poor because of oppression.” But history tells us that this was precisely the case. “Jesus helped the woman caught in adultery,” He prevented her from being stoned to death. This is a bit apples to the oranges at hand, yes?”The tax collectors were hated for the choices they made to exploit their fellow Jews, yet Jesus helped them too.” Again, we are talking about policy, here. Jesus called them to follow him, taught them how to follow him, and asked them to change their lives. Nobody is arguing that we ought not disciple the poor, or that we should ignore them. “I really just don’t see Jesus judging or withdrawing help from anyone who came to Him.” You also don’t see him writing checks. he helped those who had faith in order to prove he was the Messiah. This is the problem when we start to apply the gospels to policy. “Why can’t you get past the rhetoric and assumptions: “the poor are poor because of life decisions and the rich apparently made all the right decisions” and “all liberals want to do is throw money at the situation and be enablers” (which is not at all what most people are talking about, by the way)?” In general, I don’t understand the practice of putting in quotes that which was not said. As I mention above, those are not my assumptions. However, if you want people to move beyond “the poor are poor because they deserve it”, you also have to move beyond the assumption that all people are poor for reasons beyond their control. “Look–I agree. We should not simply enable people who aren’t doing anything to better themselves. The underlying assumption there is that all poor people do is sponge off the government,”No. If anything, the assumption is that some people sponge off the government, and even that is an oversimplification of my point. “Another assumption is that the government doesn’t help the rich at all. Did you notice all the tax breaks they have been getting lately?” I get tax breaks as well. That said, I do not consider a tax break to be the same as “help”. The goal is for people to generate more revenue, improving the economy and (ultimately) generating more taxes. “Have you heard of corporate welfare?” Yeah. Dumb. “Have you heard of our jobs being outsourced to foreign countries?” This is another conversation entirely.
Sojourner’s hasn’t weighed in at all on this conversation…so how are they making a mistake? squeaky Squeaky, the answer to that is rather simple: Kevin so dislikes their (Sojo’s) political stance that he will stop short of nothing to insult them.
“Squeaky, the answer to that is rather simple: Kevin so dislikes their (Sojo’s) political stance that he will stop short of nothing to insult them.” What are you getting out of this little game you’re playing?At any rate, the point has been made, and I agree, that Sojourner’s conflates supporting governmental policies which increase entitlements with acting in a Christlike manner. That leads to this either/or mentality regarding the problem of poverty in this country.
As Christians, we ought to be able to have this discussion without being accused of hating the poor. This is where Sojourner’s errs on the side of polemic. kevin s. Sojourner’s hasn’t weighed in at all on this conversation…so how are they making a mistake? squeakyBy conflating support of a certain set of policies with caring about the poor, I believe Sojourner’s is making a mistake. kevin s. Notice how we have gone from SOJO making a mistake by “accusing” conservatives of “hating the poor” to “SOJO” making a mistake by “conflating support of a certain set of policies with caring about the poor.”In essence what happened here is that Kevin initially accused SOJO of accusing conservatives of hating the poor. When you called him in on it, Squeaky, he could not provide proof that SOJO had leveled such an accusation at conservatives. Why? Because it is patently untrue. Hence, Kevin changed the focus of his argument to SOJO “conflating support of certain policies with caring about the poor.”A plain English translation of the second phrase (“conflating support of certain policies with caring for the poor”) is that SOJO equates certain policies with caring for the poor. Note well that the first accusation (where SOJO apparently accuses conservatives of “hating the poor”) is not the same as the second (equating certain policies with caring for the poor). So what is happening here is that Kevin takes a cheap swing at SOJO, gets called on it and then accuses SOJO of an entirely different “transgression.” He couches his language in confusing terms so as to hide the difference between the two accusations.It is confusing, intellectually dishonest and a reflection of a desire to always be right, even to the point of using subterfuge to avoid the appearance of looking wrong. Sometimes, it’s easier to just to say you were wrong.
“Look at Canada or Cuba and see how much in shambles there health care is in.” Doug | 05.05.07 – 4:44 pm | #Absolute nonsense, at least as far as Canada is concerned. Our health care, like most services in life, has its fair share of challenges, but “shambles” is an entirely uninformed perspective. And “there” is spelled “their.”
At any rate, the point has been made, and I agree, that Sojourner’s conflates supporting governmental policies which increase entitlements with acting in a Christlike manner. That leads to this either/or mentality regarding the problem of poverty in this country. No, it hasn’t, and in fact there is no “either/or” mentality that you say there is. Legitimate prophetic ministry, on the other hand, includes pointing out specific ways that laws or customs hurt the powerless and should be changed, and you confuse the issue by insisting that “non-conservatives” simply want to give the poor “hand-outs.” In fact, we’re talking about giving them a “hand-up” so that they can take care of themselves the way you say they want. In my view, there’s nothing wrong with government involvement for those purposes.
Sometimes, it’s easier to just to say you were wrong. Trouble is, none of the conservatives on this blog will do so — nor do conservatives generally when it comes to supporting the ideology. Usually they literally can’t stand anyone who disagrees with them and accuse him/her, often without just cause, of doing the same.
“No, it hasn’t, and in fact there is no “either/or” mentality that you say there is” Huh? Nobody has made the point that that Sojourners considers supporting certain government policies necessary to obey Christ’s commands?Squeaky just gave an example of the either/or mentality. How can you say it doesn’t exist?
“Notice how we have gone from SOJO making a mistake by “accusing” conservatives of “hating the poor” to “SOJO” making a mistake by “conflating support of a certain set of policies with caring about the poor.” ” I said Sojourners errs on the side of polemic, then elaborated. Nice use of selective quotation, there. That said, if one conflates the support of certain policies, with which conservatives disagree, with caring about the poor, it is not a tremendous leap to suggest that conservatives hate the poor. If one does not care about someone, is it so out of bounds to say that they hate them. But you are not trying to take my arguments at face value. You are trying to twist them to make me look ridiculous. “A plain English translation of the second phrase (“conflating support of certain policies with caring for the poor”) is that SOJO equates certain policies with caring for the poor.” Um, no. That is a grammatically incorrect translation of the second phrase. By definition, policies cannot care for the poor. “It is confusing, intellectually dishonest and a reflection of a desire to always be right, even to the point of using subterfuge to avoid the appearance of looking wrong.” You are being obliquely mean, here. “Sometimes, it’s easier to just to say you were wrong.” I have no problem defending my point of view, but I am not going to apologize for your uncharitable interpretation on my point.
Nobody has made the point that that Sojourners considers supporting certain government policies necessary to obey Christ’s commands? That’s your interpretation. Sojourners does not say this per se any more than any conservative organization, but the difference, and a big one, is whom such policies benefit. The truth is that (and I will continue to say this) people want to hold on to what they have as though it actually belongs to them, and the sooner they recognize that it don’t the quicker these arguments will cease. That said, if one conflates the support of certain policies, with which conservatives disagree, with caring about the poor, it is not a tremendous leap to suggest that conservatives hate the poor. If one does not care about someone, is it so out of bounds to say that they hate them. False. It’s a truism that the opposite of love isn’t so much hate but indifference. The hate sneaks in as a result of fear and resentment.
” Sojourners does not say this per se any more than any conservative organization, but the difference, and a big one, is whom such policies benefit.” Fine. But you stated that it was false that my point had been made. I didn’t understand what you were saying.”False. It’s a truism that the opposite of love isn’t so much hate but indifference. The hate sneaks in as a result of fear and resentment.” I suppose, but I think I have sufficiently explained my point.
I suppose, but I think I have sufficiently explained my point. I disagree. Have you ever heard about the response to the book “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger”? It’s called “Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators,” a contemptuous title if I’ve ever heard one. I refuse to read the book because I pretty much know what’s in it. (For that matter, I’ve never read “Rich Christians” either.) Anyway, the ultimate issue is control. “Compassionate conservatives” have from jumpstreet have claimed to want to help the poor, but they don’t encourage the poor to vote, run for office or become community activists, the things that can really make a difference. They want to help the poor on their terms and on their schedule, which frankly displays more contempt for the poor than the welfare system and the liberals they so despise.
Again I have to laugh at how I have been taken out of context. I do not hate the poor people in this country. To put in plain english I feel the poor in this country are the homeless. The poor are not people who have a job,have a roof over their head or can put food on the table. Again it is a matter of what you constiute as poor. Most of the people in this country are rich because they did work hard and give things up for the moment to get ahead. Sure some were handed or born into wealth but the majority were not. In this country we have a problem with wanting things now and not wanting to work and to save for things. You can make 20,000 a year and if you make the right choices with your money you can become rich. By the same token you can make 100,000 a year and if you make wrong choices can end up by this country’s standards poor.If you are to take my argument one step further how do you explain the kid born into wealth that throws his life away or the poor kid who up ends making something of himself. That is all I saying. There is a reason we have people jumping at the bit to come here. Squeaky, You are right why would I or anyone else want to put our kids in failing schools? We wouldn’t which is why school choice is such a good idea. The problem is liberals are so far in the pockets of Unions that they will never allow it to happen. Why are teachers unionized anyways? You can teach or you can’t. To solve some of our problems with schools, getting rid of teachers unions would be a good place to start. That way the bad teachers would weed themselves out and the truly called to teach would still have jobs. School choice threatens teachers jobs. Do we as parents or the teachers out there really care about the kids? If we did we would demand more accountability from our schools. As with all unions there is no accountibility at all to do your job right or well. You really want to give people more and better choices in life fix our schools. The right way not by just throwing more money at them. Also let people choose where they want to go to school.
We wouldn’t which is why school choice is such a good idea. The problem is liberals are so far in the pockets of Unions that they will never allow it to happen. Why are teachers unionized anyways? You can teach or you can’t. To solve some of our problems with schools, getting rid of teachers unions would be a good place to start. That way the bad teachers would weed themselves out and the truly called to teach would still have jobs. School choice threatens teachers jobs. Do we as parents or the teachers out there really care about the kids? If we did we would demand more accountability from our schools. As with all unions there is no accountibility at all to do your job right or well. You really want to give people more and better choices in life fix our schools. The right way not by just throwing more money at them. Also let people choose where they want to go to school. As the son of former public school teachers, I know for a fact that you’re way off-base for any number of reasons. 1) Teachers are unionized for the same reason other industries were — real and potential abuse by employers. Though this is a different scenario, in my area we had a recent brouhaha in one of the local school districts in which a top basketball coach was fired because the son of a school board member didn’t get enough playing time. Just think what might happen if a teacher, even a good one, ran afoul of someone in authority. 2) Some years ago, the school district where my mother worked tried to privatize one of its schools to avoid dealing with the union — an outside company was going to run and staff it, as well offer breakfast and after-school programs for the same amount of money that they would have paid the teachers. The experiment, which under state law was flatly illegal but had a lot of right-wing backing and was tied up in court, was an abject failure — teachers being assaulted by students (and this was an elementary school) and other issues too numerous to count. 3) Did you ever notice how unpopular “school choice” actually is around the country? There’s a reason for that — people want choice for their kids but not for other people’s kids because they want to have “more than.” Voucher programs have been consistently shot down in my state because parents in suburban districts don’t want lower-class kids, especially from urban areas, in their schools, and the very attraction of a private education is its exclusivity. Besides, back in the 1990s a major “school choice” effort did take place in Milwaukee, and guess what — essentially no difference. The key is to uplift the families where those poor kids come from. How that’s done of course is subject to debate.
Kevin: “Squeaky just gave an example of the either/or mentality.” I did? where? Doug–read Rick Nowlin’s post. Good response Rick. One thing I must ask you, however, Doug, is are you a teacher have you ever had a conversation about education with a teacher? I actually am a teacher, albeit a college teacher, and I also have many friends who are high school teachers. Yes, there are bad teachers in the system. But, the majority of teachers are teachers because they are passionate about working with kids (they certainly aren’t in it for the money). The majority of teachers work extremely hard to provide the best education they can for their students. And I am sick and tired of this mentality that permeates this country that if we are going to fix education, we need to have better teachers, as if the problems with education are all the teachers’ fault. These people are extremely hard working and dedicated individuals, and if you want to fix education in this country, you would listen more to what the teachers themselves have to say about how best to teach our young people. We actually know what we are doing, and having our methodology and curriculum handed down from beaurocrats who know absolutely nothing about how to teach or how people learn does nothing but hamper our effectiveness. And, you still made my point that education in impoverished neighborhoods is not as good as education in wealthy neighborhoods and students from those neighborhoods don’t have the same advantages. Advocating for a voucher system acknowledges the situation is not equal, and it also advocates for helping the poor. Which, although solution I disagree with (I would much rather see the neighborhoods that support those schools being strengthened and made safe) you nonetheless make my point that success isn’t just about working hard and being dedicated, and that sometimes people need help to get there (I would argue that we all need help to get there).
“I did? where?” Your line of reasoning is that any discussion of personal responsibility as it relates to poverty is tantamount to believing “the poor get what they deserve” across the board.If that is what Doug is espousing (and he has said that it is not), then he would be in error. But you are similarly in error to presume that there is not gray area here.
You and Doug do the same that you accuse me of when you assume the liberal response to poverty is to simply throw money at the issue. Doug basically boiled the solution to poverty down to “with hard work and dedication, anyone can succeed”, and “the poor are poor because of bad choices” (paraphrase), thus completely oversimplifying a much more complex problem. I said nothing about excusing people from personal responsibility to be part of the solution, and yet both you and Doug say that is what I (and all liberals) am proposing. I have argued over and over that it isn’t nearly as easy for someone to pull themselves out of poverty as Doug seems to think it is. Seems to me in order to have an actual discussion and find actual solutions to poverty in this nation, we need to get past the assumptions about what we thing the underlying causes of poverty are. Yes, there is individual responsibility, but the problem is far more multifaceted and complex than that, and the causes in one community are not the same causes in another (compare inner city to Appalachia). Not everyone who is poor is poor because of bad choices, and people who are poor emphatically do not have the same opportunities that people who are wealthy.
“You and Doug do the same that you accuse me of when you assume the liberal response to poverty is to simply throw money at the issue. ” Where have I said this? I think we can both agree that a discussion needs to get beyond presumptions and extremes. I think Doug agrees, too, but I’ll let him explain himself. Once we get past the idea that supporting ‘x’ or ‘y’ policy determines who is and is not advancing God’s politics, I think we can get to the nitty-gritty. Here’s an example of the need to be careful with governmental intervention. In Minneapolis, we have a growing crime problem on the cities north side (where I live. I moved north, and the problem followed me). As a crime-fighting tactic, Mayor Rybak decided to crack down on houses in the area that were not “up to code”. Minneapolis is ridiculous w/r/t chipping paint, long grass etc, as it is, but the theory was that we would take slumlords to task for ugly properties, thereby eliminating crime. And so, he set the inspectors to work, making homeowners repaint houses, replace windows, demolish garages, add steps and railings and what not. Unfortunately, the foreclosure boom hit this area particularly hard. Thus, a number of first time homeowners in the area, who were already struggling to make payments, suddenly had assessments ranging from $400 to $25,000. And so the value of these properties drops preciptously (who wants to buy a house with a $25,000 assessment on it?) Of course, those who opposed it could have been accused of favoring slumlords and oppressing the “least of these”. Real life problems do not lend themselves to that sort of sloganeering.
But you are not trying to take my arguments at face value. You are trying to twist them to make me look ridiculous. Kevin S. Kevin, your arguments speak for themselves. I did not twist them nor do they need to be twisted in order to obtain the result that you lament.
I did mean that the poor in this country are not really poor compared to the rest of the world. The problem here is that people think they are poor when they really aren’t. Just because you can not afford a house or a new car or the latest gadgets does not mean you are poor. If you have a roof over your head and food on the table you are not poor. Thank you kevin for understanding what I am trying to say. I do stand corrected to a point on schools. I still beilieve the teachers unions have interests other then kids at play but I will concede parents must step up to the plate and start being better parents. So yes both parents and teachers must start doing a better job.
If you have a roof over your head and food on the table you are not poor. Doug I would love to introduce you to some “not poor” families that I worked with in Paterson, New Jersey. Families that met your standard- they had food (a $175/month food stamp grant for a family of four and $474 in spending money in an economy where minimum rent was $750). The “roof” over their head was a rat-infested hovel. I’m sure they’d be relieved to find out that they’re not poor. Your concept of poverty is clearly out of touch with reality.
“The problem here is that people think they are poor when they really aren’t. Just because you can not afford a house or a new car or the latest gadgets does not mean you are poor.” Doug By this criteria then, I suggest probably most of us yakking on this blog fall into the category of the super, super-rich.
rich, rich, R-I-C-H rich, rich, don’t have an itch Jesus left heaven to die on the tree so I’m rich, rich, rich After sitting on the board of an inner-city street ministry for 7 years, I resigned upon the realization that not only can I not relate to the tragic reality of those who are systemically impoverished, I have minimal interest in doing so long term b/c I’m just too uncomfortable around those poor guys with no roof over their heads – you know, guys like Jesus; I prefer my life to be uncomplicated, affluent, overflowing with the kind of wealth Jesus promised his disciples they should expect
“Your concept of poverty is clearly out of touch with reality.” Compared to the rest of the world, they are still relatively good. But yes, I doubt any of them would be glib enough to tell that to their face. My siser has a lot of economic struggles. I sympathize with her plight, even though she has it better than 95% of the world. Just because I wouldn’t say that to her doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”Kevin, your arguments speak for themselves.” Then why do you feel compelled to reword them?
Rick, You are assuming that I don’t think or know that all my money comes from and belongs to God. You assume wrong. What I am and other conservatives are opposed to is the govt. taking or stealing our money thru taxes and then spending it foolishly. If I want to help the poor it is because I choose to. Just as I am sure you don’t like to be forced to do anything as well I assume. Anyways how long have we been fighting the war on poverty by redistributing income? The real problem is Democrats know they need victims to survive and they also know that the policies they believe in do not work. They want it that way because if they worked they would have no more voters. Kind of like keeping minorities in line by promising the world and then delivering nothing. Then when a minority succeeds without help from the govt. he is called every name in the book and made to feel as an outcast. Sorry if this is harsh but the truth hurts. The problem with human nature is people are afraid to succeed. It is way easier to fail and blame someone else for your problems then to look in the mirror and accept the blame yourself. Dems and liberals are right there to tell them it is not there fault and to bail them out. Yes Jesus bailed me out for my sins but first I had to accept that I was a sinner. Once I did that what Jesus did was enough. Before I knew that I was a sinner even though he died it was not enough. Do you see what I am gettig at here? Yes people need help in life but the way to do that is by helping them make good choices. Sometimes that means making then accept the consequences for there actions and choices they made. God does. Even though we are saved once we accept him as our Lord and Savior he still holds us responsible for the choices we make while on this earth. Yes by his mercy we are saved from hell (what we really deserve)in eterninty but while we are he holds us accountable. I realize that in most churches today you are probally not hearing this preached but if you read your bible it is all there. You do not learn from past mistakes or actions if there is no pain from them.
“Yes people need help in life but the way to do that is by helping them make good choices.” Doug And what, then, do you propose we do for those who need help in life due to choices they had nothing to do with? e.g what country/city/ghetto they were born in, what color their skin is, how deeply their country is in debt to the Western world, etc? Sorry, Doug, I’m all for personal responsibility, but banging that drum exclusively is a reflection of an inadequate grasp of the reality of systemic poverty.
Doug — Once again, you completely miss the point I’ve consistently tried to make. Let me give you an example that I hope you can relate to. Back in the South before the 1960s African-Americans had it particularly difficult because of the pervasive Jim Crow laws that were often brutally enforced and that you would say are plain evil — they were forced to go to substandard schools and were not allowed to vote. In many cases the culture of oppression caused poverty and dysfunction in the black community that persists to this day. Now, based on what you have said in previous posts, had you been around in those days you would have said that blacks simply should just work within the limitations of where they were. Well, back in the day they did just that — but the system was still rotten to the core and needed to be changed so that all could benefit, and that is why Martin Luther King Jr. is today a household name. Let’s move to today. When you remove the economic vitality from “inner city” neighborhoods, which was done in most major cities beginning in the 1960s when wealthier whites began to leave for the suburbs, you have problems. When you say that people in poor neighborhoods have only themselves to blame for their plight, you simply display your complete ignorance about their true situation and utter contempt for them. Bottom line, there are systemic issues that need to be addressed along with the diaconal ones — and that may mean some “economic redistribution,” not so much in direct cash payments but in, say, grants for the establishment of businesses that can employ people and keep them off welfare and also for education. (BTW, these were cut under Reagan because people bettering themselves is the last thing conservatives want; they know the poor won’t vote for them.) I thank the LORD that my church, as theologically conservative and evangelical as it gets, understands this truth. While we certainly do believe in and teach repentance and personal responsibility, we also recognize that the immediate environment also needs to be changed and have taken steps to do that. For openers, we’re opening a credit union hopefully to get rid of those check-cashing places that charge ridiculous fees. We even have a team of lawyers who fight for fair treatment for the poor in the justice system. (Have you even thought about that?) Then when a minority succeeds without help from the govt. he is called every name in the book and made to feel as an outcast. By this I assume you’re talking about black conservatives. Well, let me tell you something — most blacks understand that they would be absolutely nowhere were they not set up by WHITE conservatives with no interest in Biblical justice and reconciliation and with more money than God. Do you think for a second that, say, Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court just because of his credentials? Not a chance, because other blacks were probably actually more qualified than he — he just happened to be in the right-wing pipeline.
Doug–“The real problem is Democrats know they need victims to survive and they also know that the policies they believe in do not work.” Kevin S–this is what I mean about Doug spouting black and white and absolute political statements. In fact, read his entire post above–where he says the government steals our money through taxes is an example of his assumptions that the only solutions liberals have for poverty is redistribution of wealth, or solving the problems by throwing money at it. It would be nice, Doug, if you actually asked what people here think the solutions are. It would be nice to have an actual discussion about this, rather than just going back and forth about why people are poor. It would be nice if you would get beyond blaming the poor for their poverty and acknowledge the issue is far deeper than you could ever imagine. True–even the poorest of our poor are (arguably) richer than the poor of third world nations. But saying stuff like that shows a callousness–basically, it is like saying “you have no right to complain. People have it worse than you, “and completely ignores the challenges that person is facing with regards to making ends meet. You seem to find it acceptable that people live in impoverished means as long as they are wealthier than people in third world nations, which shows a huge ambivalence towards them. Please also realize that people in this nation need far more money just to meet basic survival needs. The cost of living is much higher here than in third world nations, so while a poor person here would be rich in that country, they are not even close to rich here. Doug, it concerns me that you seem to have constructed a means of justifying poverty in this nation. I see it as a way of appeasing your own guilt over it or absolving any need to do something about it. “People are poor because of poor choices and they need to be held personally responsible for those choices”–I think you say that because if you truly believe that, you separate yourself from them, and it is a way of justifying your own inaction. I hope you read Rick Nowlin’s post above. He gives you a good historical perspective on the roots of poverty in this nation (at least with respect to African Americans). Try to understand this, as well as the roots of poverty in Appalachia and Native American reservations. Many conservatives I have spoken to about this issue simply shrug their shoulders when I offer the historical perspective, saying “it’s over. That’s in the past. Get over it.” I hope you won’t be quite so callous and insensitive and actually take the time to try to understand the long term effects that centuries of oppression can have on people, even though that same oppression is (seemingly) absent today. I hope you answer Canucklehead’s question above–how do you suggest people get out of poverty? We need to get past all the political stereotyping and move towards discussing solutions. For a second, stop blaming the poor for being poor and give us some solutions. The perspective of the need for personal responsibility is a good one, and that perspective needs to be part of a solution. But you need to also acknowledge there are other perspectives that are equally important to consider as well…
Canucklehead, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. I heard part of an interview with a Canadian musician yesterday, and he said something about how he senses this difference between emphasis on community in Canada vs. and emphasis on the individual found in the U.S. This is something I have just started thinking about. I do think a big part of the problem with poverty is this nation’s worship of rugged individualism. We have no concept of community responsibility. Individuals succeed or fail on their own (apparently there is an I in team, afterall). I shouldn’t have to be held responsible for someone else’s needs. This is a western construct. On another note, it also colors our reading of the Bible–gives us our emphasis on personal salvation, when the events in the Bible happened in a culture that emphasised community over the rugged individual.
Rick, When you say other blacks were more qualified who exactly? Consevatives do actually want to see the poor improve. This is not about votes. To me it seems everything dems do is about votes. That is why Dems keep on bringing up the same tired and worn out cliches every election cycle. Why would the poor vote for republicans when Dems are out there promising them the world without having to work for anything. They just tell them we will take from the rich and give it to you. That was the point I made in my earlier post about minorities who make it on there own. When they do they realize how what the dems have been pushing on them has actually kept them in bondage. They have an awakening shall we say. For politicions it might be about all the votes but for the man on the street conseravitive we really want the poor to succeed. As I said change is hard and most people do not want to do it. Dems know that if they keep them poor they will continue to vote for them because they control the money. A slave is a servent to his master. Consevatives can actually vote for either a Dem or a Rep. but when you depend on Govt. you are locked in to who will pay. That is why I believe so many people who disagree with the social policies of the Dems(Abortion,gay Marriage,etc)vote for them anyway. How else do you explain the most evil president we have had in a long time win two terms in the nineties. So Rick you seem to think conservatives only care about money and to a diagree you are right but as I have just shown Libs care about money even more. Enough to vote against what they really believe in.
“Why would the poor vote for republicans when Dems are out there promising them the world without having to work for anything. ” And you think only the Dems are guilty of “bringing up the same tired and worn out cliches.” That’s basically all you have done with your posts, Doug. Please, take some time to think and listen and try to understand instead of leaning on your cliches. Again, it would be nice if you would offer some solutions instead of throwing stones and speaking in absolute terms. “How else do you explain the most evil president we have had in a long time win two terms in the nineties.” This speaks volumes about you, Doug. How many thousands of people died under Clinton’s presidency as the result of a fraudulent and poorly planned out war that has cost this nation thousands of lives and billions of dollars? I’m going to go have a deep meaningful conversation with that brick wall over there, now. You don’t consider one word I or anyone else here says–you don’t ask for solutions, nor do you offer any.
When you say other blacks were more qualified who exactly? Consevatives do actually want to see the poor improve. This is not about votes. To me it seems everything dems do is about votes. That is why Dems keep on bringing up the same tired and worn out cliches every election cycle. Why would the poor vote for republicans when Dems are out there promising them the world without having to work for anything. Doug — please. Your uninformed blather is really getting old. Please go back and reread my previous post. And besides, it IS about votes, specifically that the conservatives don’t want the poor to vote because then they won’t have the power they crave.
My blather is uniformed now? It seems to me that liberals are the ones who have a problem with people they disagree with. Thinhk the Fairness Doctrine. Liberals are the one trying to shut up oposing points of view. Liberal ideas can not compete in the marketplace of ideas. I noticed you guys have not yet refuted anything I have posted. talk about cliches, all the left has are cliches. I am not trying to shut you up but to get you to think. As just seen by Frances election results conservatism works everytime it is tried. The reason republicans lost the last election was not because of the war but because they became not conseravitive enough. Please refute my arguments with facts and show me where I am wrong. Of course the media will never give you the straight story. As it is said My people perish for lack of knowledge. How better to control people then to keep them ignorant.
“This speaks volumes about you, Doug. How many thousands of people died under Clinton’s presidency as the result of a fraudulent and poorly planned out war that has cost this nation thousands of lives and billions of dollars? ” This, in turn, speaks volumes about you. A number of presidents have been guilty of atrocity, intentionally or no. I would argue that many thousands have dies as a result of Clinton’s foreign policy, but that is an entriely different discussion. We are obviously each more prones to magnify the offenses of those with whom we disagree. The way Clinton treated his wife (and women in general) was despicable, but I don’t think of him as the “evil” president. Most of the time, he was just trying to do his thing.
My blather is uniformed now? It seems to me that liberals are the ones who have a problem with people they disagree with. Think the Fairness Doctrine. Liberals are the one trying to shut up oposing points of view. Liberal ideas can not compete in the marketplace of ideas. Keep sticking your foot in your mouth, because that’s exactly what you’re doing. Seriously. For your information, it was Reagan who eliminated the Fairness Doctrine — you don’t have right-wing talk radio with it. It is the conservatives, not “liberals,” who have never been able to compete fairly in the marketplace of ideas, so they tried to eliminate all the competition with outright falsehoods — and now people are starting to get it. (I know that whole story, so don’t try to convince me otherwise.) And until the Iraq War, the left wing in this country was all but dead. The reason republicans lost the last election was not because of the war but because they became not conseravitive enough. Please refute my arguments with facts and show me where I am wrong. Of course the media will never give you the straight story. I’m in the media, by the way, and I can tell you that we ARE giving you the straight story. The trouble is that you, as well as most conservatives, don’t want to hear it. And as for the GOP not being “conservative enough,” voters actually supported movement on health care, limits on free trade and a rise in the minimum wage, all anathema to conservatives. Face the music — your type of conservatism is on life support and would have died long ago were it not for millions upon millions of dollars of right-wing money (much of which comes from my city), and today even evangelical Christians are rethinking their formerly-unquestioned support of right-wing policies. In fact, that’s the original subject of this thread.
Kevin S. “How else do you explain the most evil president we have had in a long time win two terms in the nineties.” Why, when I call Doug on a sweeping judgmental statement, do you defend him for it? You should be calling him out on such statements even more vociferously than I. If you don’t think of Clinton as the “evil” president, how can you let such statements just slide by without challenging it? So instead of pointing out the vileness of the statement to the person who made it, you defend him and go after me for pointing it out to him. I don’t get it.
moderatelad, “I wish the authors and many who post on this site would understand that we are not just 2 issue – single facet people.” Then tell your “leaders”, ml. THEY are the ones who keep harping on these 2 issues. TELL Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, Perkins, etc. to STOP harassing gays and poor girls who need abortions. TELL your political “leaders” too, to stop proposing bills that would restrict women’s rights to control their own bodies, and that would kick gay American citizens out of the ‘guarantees’ of the Constitution. If THEY stop doing that, maybe the world WOULD see the ‘right’ as more than 2 issue, 1 faceted people. They ARE your ‘spokespersons’, so to speak.
Unsympathetic reader, “there are gay-welcoming churches that certainly help the homeless” Yes there are. Mine does too. The Metropolitan Community Churches, the United Churches that I’ve attended ALL do that. And run schools. And supper programs. In fact, MCC Toronto was asked to take over the Toronto Star Christmas gift distribution drive.
“So instead of pointing out the vileness of the statement to the person who made it, you defend him and go after me for pointing it out to him” i don’t think it is useful or helpful to label presidents as “evil”. I think that was clear. Do you want me to swat him with a newspaper?
We interrupt Round 13 of de la Hoya vs. Mayweather Jr. to bring you this commecial sursage from the hosers up North. To attempt to answer squeaky’s request to me earlier in this thread regarding the situation in Canada… I think the fact that Canadian confederation (1867) required the accomodating of two disparate nationalities (British and French)w/ all their varying customs, perspectives and convictions, wove a more communal orientation into our national DNA than may have happened south of the 49th. As you likely know, seldom a month goes by up here w/o somebody in Quebec – in the name of French nationalism – trying to reignite the animosities that led to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759) at Mount Royal (Montreal). So I’m not suggesting for a moment that the “experiment” up here is finished yet or that it doesn’t have its detractors. That being said, I think the accomodation factor in Canadian history is something that most Canadians value altho it has its challenges to be sure. After the first 50 years or so of confederation (1867) the Liberals and the Conservatives seemed content to do nothing but polarize at the ideological level, enough Canadians were incensed enough with the fact that the poor kept getting poorer and the rich kept getting richer despite all the bugle juice being disgorged, that they created the CCF that morphed into what is now the New Democrats, an alternative to the two main parties which – altho it has never won the Prime Minister’s office – has always elected enough members to serve as a sort of collective national conscience to ensure that the the plight of the impoverished and disenfranchised doesn’t get lost amidst the never-ending jockeying for position of the Liberals and the Conservatives.In some of our Parliamentary sessions, the NDs have functioned as what we call “the balance of power” which means that neither the Libs nor Conservs elected a majority gov’t (155 out of 308 seats in the House of Commons) so were forced to cobble together an agreement with the NDs (or socialists) in order to maintain power. In my judgement, this more recent indication of the historical need/willingness of Cdns to accomodate has been a positive reality in the development of our national life.
Rick, I do not know if you are going to read this or not but no winder your perspective is Liberal. You work for a newspaper. Consevatism is not dead. It is very alive and well. The reason right wing talk radio is kicking everone’behind in the ratings is because the american people are tired of the garbage and lies the old media is giving them. Evryone who has a brain knows the print and tv media have a liberal bias. The problem is the people who work at newspapers or telvision either do not see it as bias or will not admit it. The print media gives a pass to Dems all the time on things they hang rebs. with, ie the war in Iraq. With the new media today you can now look up things the old media will not tell you. Things like that Bill and Hillary Clinton, John kerry and many other Dems said the same things about Iraq that George Bush said. The difference is George Bush did something about it. As far as the war being unpopular that is anonther lie the media is spreading. All over this great country people are proudy supporting our troops. The problem is the old media and the Dems are invested in our defeat and victory in iraq would be political suicide to them politically. You can take polls and have them give the results you want. Thank God we have a president who is willing to the right thing and does not respond to poll numbers. As far as calling former President Clinton evil it does has precedent in the bible. God called many rulers or kings evil. The problem with the Left is there is no right or wrong, only do what feels right. It is why as a Christian I can not support liberal policies. My advice to you is get out a little see America see what really makes it run and you might come back with a different perspective. I have no problem disagreeing. That is why America is so great. God bless our brave troops and have a blessed day,
curiouser and curiouser… | 05.07.07 – 4:52 pm | #They ARE your ‘spokespersons’, so to speak. They are ‘spokespersons’ not mine. I can agree with some of what they say but I do take issue with some of them on the delivery. These issues are important to them and they feel strongly about them. They have a right to express their opinion just like you or I have that right.Later – .
Doug — Your diatribe is exactly what’s wrong with conservatism — it is and always has been so emotionally invested in its warped worldview that anyone who dares to challenge it is somehow “immoral” or whatever invective you choose to use. But I’ve been studying modern conservatism since the mid-1980s, and I have nothing good to say about it and look forward to its inevitable demise. Contrary to what you believe about the mainstream media, we are indeed far, far more accurate than “new media” because we have far higher standards. On the other hand, “new media” are basically self-promoted, self-edited, answer to no one and often also tell people what they want to hear regardless of the facts on the ground, and that makes them dangerous. On a personal note, I personally have gone head-to-head with the conservative paper in town and wondered it they were at the same event I was — and I know for a fact that editors at that have been known to change stories to promote the conservative viewpoint and ignore those that don’t. (No, my paper doesn’t do that in reverse.) And do you know what? The right-wing media, especially the Fox News Channel, are now being exposed as a pack of liars and Fox’s ratings have been going down because of its overt support for the war — in fact, that’s why it ginned up that phony “War on Christmas” to keep outrage, not to mention ratings, up in 2005. As for the war in Iraq, I live in an area that is strongly anti-war; in fact, my state voted out a sitting U. S. senator last fall in part because of his unwavering support for it. And contrary to what you believe, radical Islamic forces over there want us to stay precisely because it will be easier for them to recruit — but you’ll never see Bush admit to that truth, so invested is he in this war. Indeed, two years ago we began receiving calls from readers asking why we weren’t putting the latest American casualties on the front page — that doesn’t sound like support to me. There is a reason the GOP lost big time during the last election, and it is because conservatism is finally being exposed for what it had always been — an ideology that caters to people at the top at the expense of everyone else. The conservatives, who have invested about a billion dollars into their propaganda machine over the past three decades, are eventually going down for good (though of course you are certainly free to deny this). Doug, you say you as a Christian cannot support liberal policies; I, on the other hand, as a Christian cannot support conservative policies because they divide, not unite. And contrary to what you said, you do indeed fear disagreement, otherwise you would be more charitable to those on this blog who don’t agree with you and you wouldn’t consistently slam the media, Democrats et al who don’t overtly support the conservative agenda. Furthermore, much of what you believe I have already told is just plain false, and none of your protestations will change that.
(Kevin S. swats Doug with newspaper.) Bad Doug. “Rick, I do not know if you are going to read this or not but no winder your perspective is Liberal. You work for a newspaper.” Doug Doug wets on newspaper. Good Doug.
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Verse of the Day: 'peace to the far and the near'I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort, creating for their mourners the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them. But the wicked are like the tossing sea that cannot keep still; its waters toss u |
for v.
-7
Solve -f - 11 = 3*u, 4*u + f - 101 + 63 = -52 for u.
-3
Solve -5*v - 173*x - 9 = -172*x, 4*v - 4*x = 12 for v.
-1
Solve 2*x + 4*a - 12 = 0, -51*x + 4*a = -48*x + 12 for x.
0
Solve 2*t + 12*a = 14*a, -12 = 4*t - a for t.
-4
Solve -4*j - 26*k + 47 = -29*k, -5*k = -2*j + 55 for j.
5
Solve -2*w - 295 = -3*v - 274, -42 = 4*v + 2*w for v.
-3
Solve -4*q + j = 7, 76*j - 74*j + 2 = 0 for q.
-2
Solve 0 = -3*p - 2*z + 7, -1342*z + 1341*z = -2*p - 7 for p.
-1
Solve 0 = 4*a + 11*h - 8*h + 3, -2*h + 6 = 0 for a.
-3
Solve -64*k + 59*k - 17 = 2*m, 6 = -m - 2*k for m.
4
Solve -110*t + 336 = 3*k, -7 = -5*t + 2*t + 2 for k.
2
Solve 40 = -3*k - 2*g, 6*g + 107 = -5*k + 3 for k.
-4
Solve -13*q + 10*q + 6 = 0, 0 = a + 3*q - 10 for a.
4
Solve 2*a = 4*t - 28, -a - 281*t - 14 = -140*t - 140*t for a.
-14
Solve 2*q + 10 = 0, 6*i - 10 = 4*i + q + 1 for i.
3
Solve -121 - 97 = r - 3*z - 256, -28 = 2*z for r.
-4
Solve 3*y = q + 16, -2*q = 5*y - 41 + 29 for y.
4
Solve 0 = p - 12*a - 61, -4*p = 4*a - 42 + 58 for p.
1
Solve -3*g = -v - 1, -5*g - 2678*v = -2682*v + 10 for g.
2
Solve 3*b = 5*f + 27, -33 = 330*b - 336*b + 3*f for b.
4
Solve 4*y + 18 - 57 = 3*z, 2*y + 3 = -3*z for y.
6
Solve -10*l - 5*n + 2 = -48, 3*n - 40 = -8*l for l.
5
Solve 0 = 3*u - 10*f + 6*f - 11, 0 = 2*u + 5*f + 31 for u.
-3
Solve -2*b - 55 = 3*y - 12, -5*y + 20*b - 25 = 0 for y.
-13
Solve -3*x - 25 = p - 28, 0 = -3*p - 4*x + 9 for p.
3
Solve 3*n + 4*i + 39 = 0, -12857*n + 5*i = -12855*n + 49 for n.
-17
Solve 0 = 14*z - 2*y - 30, 9*z + 15 = 6*z + 4*y for z.
3
Solve -17 = 5*f - 2*p - 36, 3*f + 14*p = 57 for f.
5
Solve 94 = 5*x - 4*d, -5*x = -51*d + 48*d - 73 for x.
2
Solve 0 = 4*i + 14*o + 4, 4*o - 14 = -2*i - 16 for i.
-1
Solve 3*c - 13 = 2*p, -30*p - 11 = -28*p - c for p.
-5
Solve -4*g + 71 = z + 60, -5*g - z + 14 = 0 for g.
3
Solve 459*j = 454*j + 2*t - 42, -4*j = 9*t - 295 for j.
4
Solve -130*a = -127*a - 2*x + 15, a - 5*x + 18 = 0 for a.
-3
Solve -816 = -3*u - 3*j - 786, -11 = -j for u.
-1
Solve -j + 5*p = 28, -82 = 4*j - 39*p + 34*p for j.
-18
Solve -528*k + 524*k = -2*n + 30, -2*n = 2*k for k.
-5
Solve -1051 + 1073 = -2*a, 34 = -6*s - 2*a for s.
-2
Solve -3*a + 23 = d + 45, -72 = -9*d + 27*d for a.
-6
Solve 1074*b = 1079*b + 3*l - 4, b + 44 = 5*l for b.
-4
Solve -16*f - 2*u + 10 = -13*f, -11 = -2*f + 3*u for f.
4
Solve 2*x = 5*p + 6781 - 6789, 4*x + 16 = 0 for p.
0
Solve -q = -2*z + 43 - 72 + 22, 0 = -4*z - 8 for q.
3
Solve v + 4 = 2*u, -4*v - 103*u + 104*u - 16 = 0 for v.
-4
Solve 0 = -v + 2*h + 5, 50*h = -3*v + 48*h + 47 for v.
13
Solve 4*u - 3*p + 1 = 3, -2*u + 5*p = -2094 + 2086 for u.
-1
Solve 2*i + 2*d + 2389 = 2391, 2*d = -4*i for i.
-1
Solve -5*u = -9*d - 74, -44*d - 4 = -40*d for u.
13
Solve 3*k + 7 = -h, 11*h + 41*k = 39*k + 47 for h.
5
Solve -418*t = 5*c - 423*t + 45, 26 = -2*c + 4*t for c.
-5
Solve 3*d + 12 = -3*q, 18*d - 17*d = -5*q - 8 for q.
-1
Solve 0 = -a - 5, -18*q = -15*q + 2*a + 22 for q.
-4
Solve -4*a + 4*n - 4 = 0, 165*n + 161 = -5*a - 524 for a.
-5
Solve 5*h + 35 = d, -4*h + 4*d - 114 = -38 for h.
-4
Solve -2*g + 14 = 0, -16*y + 15*y + 11 = -7*y - g for y.
-3
Solve 84*s = 81*s + 5*p - 2, 4*s + 8 = 4*p for s.
-4
Solve -r - 12 = 2*d, -1036*d - 23 = 2*r - 1033*d for r.
-10
Solve -2*u + 14*l - 1 = 15*l, 9*u = 5*l - 52 for u.
-3
Solve 3*g - 5*a - 5 = 0, -318*g + 323*g = 4*a - 9 for g.
-5
Solve 91*d - 5*h = 93*d - 37, 0 = 5*d + h - 58 for d.
11
Solve -1574*o + 1579*o + q = -17, -3*o - 27 = -5*q for o.
-4
Solve 5*a - g = -19, -44*g + 36 = -40*g for a.
-2
Solve 2*p - r = 13, -9759 = -5*p - 5*r - 9749 for p.
5
Solve 3*g + 21 - 28 = -2*b, -2*b - 4*g + 6 = 0 for b.
5
Solve 5*l + 42 = 4*p + 59, -l + 2*p + 1 = 0 for l.
5
Solve f + 4 = -2*a + 2, -2*f = a - 8 for f.
6
Solve -2*d = x + 3, -192*x + 436 = 4*d - 224*x for d.
5
Solve 0 = -l - 5*h, l + 73 - 80 = -0*l + 2*h for l.
5
Solve p + 5*u + 31 = 0, 8897*u = 5*p + 8894*u - 41 for p.
4
Solve 4*g + 41 = -5*b, -22*g = -4*b - 19*g - 8 for b.
-5
Solve 0 = 3*n + 9, -104*n = -3*h - 103*n - 39 for h.
-14
Solve 3*b - 5*m - 5 = 0, -2637*m + 2642*m = 10 for b.
5
Solve 281*v - 254*v - 4*i + 386 = 0, 3*v = 2*i - 46 for v.
-14
Solve -16 = -5*m - 3*a + 15, 2*m = 4*a + 2 for m.
5
Solve 4*m + 5*v - 34 + 9 = 0, -14*m = -4*v - 66 for m.
5
Solve -103*l + 104*l + 6 = 2*s, -l = -3*s + 10 for s.
4
Solve -35*y + 39*y = -3*x - 1, 0 = 5*x - 4*y + 23 for x.
-3
Solve -2*a + 1382 - 1388 = -2*p, -3*p + 17 = -5*a for a.
-4
Solve -3*w = f - 5*f, -14*f = -20*f + 11*f - w - 11 for f.
3
Solve 2*m + 2*w - 12 = 0, -2*m - 76*w + 15 = -73*w for m.
3
Solve -21 = -6*z + r, 2*z - 2 = -6*z + 3*r + 21 for z.
4
Solve -4*f = 12*d + 44, -4*d - 138 + 118 = 4*f for d.
-3
Solve -35*o = 2*i - 19*o + 122, 0 = -o - 8 for i.
3
Solve -5*d + 196085 - 196056 = 4*o, -5*o - 5 = -2*d for d.
5
Solve -3*q = -2*v - 11, -723*q + 728*q = -3*v - 7 for v.
-4
Solve 3*m = -r + 6, 2341*m + 11 = 2349*m - 0*r + r for m.
1
Solve 3*x = 104*l - 109*l - 29, -27 = 3*x + 3*l for x.
-8
Solve 4*i - 3*m = 24 - 55, 4*m - 20 = 0 for i.
-4
Solve 0 = -5*s - 5*f, -5*f + 6 = -1854*s + 1853*s for s.
-1
Solve -227 = 5*f + a - 244, 3*a = 5*f - 9 for f.
3
Solve 146*n - 2*j + 25 = 151*n, 5*n = 4*j - 5 for n.
3
Solve 5*r - 4*l = l + 65, -4*r - 47 = -3*l + 8*l for r.
2
Solve 23*l - 4 = 3*f + 24*l, 4*f + 2*l + 8 = 0 for f.
0
Solve u + u + 2 = -6*w - 18, -5*u = 5 for w.
-3
Solve 0 = 2*b - 2*i + 4, 4*b = -2*i + 1262 - 1258 for b.
0
Solve -5*w - 44*x = -49*x - 40, -4*x = 5*w - 13 for w.
5
Solve -2*z - 3433*j = -3432*j - 6, -4*z - 3*j + 12 = 0 for z.
3
Solve -90 = 5*a + 5*g, -159*g = 2*a - 164*g - 69 for a.
-3
Solve 12*l - 55 = 7*l + 5*i, -5*l + 49 = -2*i for l.
9
Solve -4*z - 5*c - 37 + 39 = 0, 2*c = -2*z + 2 for z.
3
Solve -54 = 6*y - 3*o, 53*y + 4*o + 28 = 51*y for y.
-10
Solve 3*g - 12 = 2*z, z + 9*g + 267 - 240 = 0 for z.
-9
Solve -5*z + 4*m = 32, -62*m = 3*z - 64*m + 14 for z.
4
Solve 2*v = -4*g + 34, 2*v - 5237 + 5263 = 2*g for v.
-3
Solve 5*b + 43*d - 45*d + 30 = 0, 32 = -3*b + 4*d for b.
-4
Solve 853*p - 844*p + 45 = 0, -2*f = p + 5 for f.
0
Solve 2*u - 8 = 5*o - 2*o, u + 3*o = 13 for u.
7
Solve -6*n - 6 = 2*b, 5*b - 21*n - 5 = -16*n for b.
0
Solve 4*k + 7*t = 57, -4*t - 72 = -5*k - 90 for k.
2
Solve 0 = -5*h + 10*h + g - 15, -12*g = 3*h - 15*g + 9 for h.
2
Solve 205*t - 207*t = 6*x - 32, -16 = -2*x + 2*t for x.
6
Solve -5*z + 16 - 34 = -4*k, 5*k - 4*z - 18 = 0 for k.
2
Solve -3*q = 2*g - 17, 122*g - 124*g = -6*q + 28 for q.
5
Solve 15 = -3*k - c, 5*k - 5*c = 55 - 20 for k.
-2
Solve -3*y - 4*t - 5 = 0, -32 = -2*y - 3*t - 37 for y.
5
Solve -5*p + 8*r - 48*r - 65 = 0, 0 = r + 4 - 2 for p.
3
Solve -3*t = -33*j + 35*j - 4, 4*j = -t - 2 for j.
-1
Solve 3*i - 2*g + 11 - 9 = 0, 0 = -2*i + 2*g - 4 for i.
2
Solve 2*k + 10 = 0, 0 = 2*z + 3*k + 91 - 92 for z.
8
Solve -4*y - 32*v + 11 = -35*v, -y = -4*v - 6 for y.
2
Solve -23 = 3*b - 5*a, 1787*b = 1790*b + 4*a + 14 for b.
-6
Solve -26*v = -28*v + 5*h - 39, 3*h = -4*v - 13 for v.
-7
Solve -5*b - 38 = -4*h, -66 = -625*b + 616*b - 4*h for b.
2
Solve -3*v + 1 = 4*g, 5*g + 147 - 162 = -v for g.
4
Solve j - 1 = -5*b, 3*b = -3*j + 29 - 38 for b.
1
Solve -4*s - 2*i - 16 = 0, -3*s = 343*i - 345*i - 2 for s.
-2
Solve 2*x = 4*z + 22, 32*x + 1120 = 3*z + 1167 for x.
1
Solve 5*h = 4*i + 4, 5*h - 102 = i - 101 for i.
-1
Solve -11 = 5*p - 14*r, -2*p + 5*r = -293 + 298 for p.
-5
Solve -19*a - 5*k + 67 = 142, 2 = -2*a - 2*k for a.
-5
Solve 2*m + 2*t - 22 = 0, 52*m + 36 = 54*m - 5*t for m.
13
Solve m - 5*b - 48199 + 48248 = 0, -28 = 2*m - 3*b for m.
1
Solve 0 = -14*l - 42, 0 = 158*a - 162*a + 2*l - 14 for a.
-5
Solve -o - q = -58 + 65, 0 = 3*o - 5*q + 5 for o.
-5
Solve -43*q = 14*d - 44*q + 55, 4*d + 20 = -4*q for d.
-4
Solve -3*a = 697 - 685, 3*a + 15 = -f for f.
-3
Solve -5*x + 8*x - 57 = -3*f, -5*x = -4*f + 49 for x.
3
Solve -2*z + 5*p = -47, -48 = -351*z + 348*z + 5*p for z.
1
Solve 0 = 5*a + 4*c + 61, 170*a + 4*c = 173*a + 11 for a.
-9
Solve -2*y = -10, 48900*j + 5*y - 20 = 48899*j for j.
-5
Solve 378 = -2*p - 76*r, -4*p + 11*r - 12*r - 2 + 1 = 0 for p.
1
Solve -26 = i + 36*j - 39*j, 5*i + 26 = 2*j for i.
-2
Solve -2*i - 2 = -4*q, 2*i + 256*q = 258*q - 8 for i.
-7
Solve -3*f + 8*f - 15 - 5 = -b, 10*b - 89 = -13*f for b.
5
Solve -3*f + 2 = 2*b, 155*f - 154*f + 6 = -4*b for b.
-2
Solve 3*c = |
Filed 10/30/14 Estate of Williams CA1/1
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for
publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication
or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION ONE
Estate of ROOSEVELT WILLIAMS,
Deceased.
OLEVIA STEWART-WILLIAMS, as
Administrator, etc.,
A138724
Petitioner and Appellant,
v. (Alameda County
Super. Ct. No. RP10533844)
DIONNE WILLIAMS et al,
Objector and Respondent.
Roosevelt Williams acquired a San Francisco taxi medallion in 1978 and had a
long ensuing career as a taxi driver. He married Olevia1 in 1992, and he died intestate in
April 2010. Roosevelt had three children from a prior marriage, including Dionne.2
Shortly before he died, Roosevelt surrendered his taxi medallion, and it was placed on a
list to be sold under a program allowing for such sales. The sale occurred after
Roosevelt’s death.
The issue in this case is how the proceeds from the sale are to be distributed. The
probate court determined that they are separate marital property and are to be shared
1
We refer to the involved parties by their first names because they share the same last
name.
2
The other children are Billy Williams and Natalie Carter. Dionne alone has filed a brief
on appeal.
1
among the children and Olevia. On appeal, Olevia contends that the proceeds are
community property to which she is solely entitled. We agree with her and therefore
reverse.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In 1978, Roosevelt was issued a taxi medallion authorizing him to operate a taxi in
San Francisco.3 Shortly before he died, Roosevelt surrendered his medallion under the
Taxi Medallion Sales Pilot Program of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Authority (SFMTA) that allowed medallion holders to surrender their medallions if they
were disabled or would be over 70 years of age as of December 31, 2010. Under that
program, surrendered medallions were placed on a waiting list and sold to the next
qualified buyer. When Roosevelt’s medallion sold, the sale netted about $250,000,
although $50,000 was used to pay medallion-transfer expenses and a mandatory taxi-fund
fee. The balance went to Roosevelt’s estate.
Dionne objected to Olevia’s petition for a final distribution of Roosevelt’s estate.
She claimed that the proceeds from the medallion’s sale should be characterized as
separate marital property since the medallion was acquired by Roosevelt long before his
marriage to Olevia. The probate court agreed with Dionne.
DISCUSSION
I. The Standard of Review.
The factual findings that underpin the characterization of property as either
community or separate are reviewed for substantial evidence. (In re Marriage of Rossin
(2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 725, 734 (Rossin).) But “[i]nasmuch as the basic ‘inquiry
requires a critical consideration, in a factual context, of legal principles and their
underlying values,’ the determination in question amounts to the resolution of a mixed
question of law and fact that is predominantly one of law. [Citation.] As such, it is
examined de novo.” (In re Marriage of Lehman (1998) 18 Cal.4th 169, 184 (Lehman).)
3
San Francisco Transportation Code sections 1101, subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i) and 1102
(Transportation Code).
2
II. The Proceeds from the Medallion’s Sale Are Community Property.
Whether the proceeds from the medallion’s sale are community or separate
property matters here because of Probate Code section 6401, which controls the
distribution of assets when a person dies without a will (intestate).4 If the proceeds are
deemed to be separate property under this section, Roosevelt’s three children are entitled
to share two-thirds and Olevia is entitled to the other third. But if the proceeds are
deemed to be community property, then Olevia is entitled to the entire amount.
We begin with an overview of the law governing the characterization of property
as community or separate. “In general, all property that a spouse acquires during
marriage before separation is community property.” (In re Marriage of Green (2013)
56 Cal.4th 1130, 1134; see also Fam. Code, § 760.5) Correspondingly, Family Code
section 770, subdivision (a)(1) provides that “[s]eparate property of a married person
includes . . . [¶] [a]ll property owned by the person before marriage.” This statute creates
“ ‘a general presumption that property acquired during marriage by either spouse other
than by gift or inheritance is community property unless traceable to a separate property
source.’ ” (Rossin, supra, 172 Cal.App.4th at p. 731.)
“Generally speaking, property characterization depends on three factors: (1) the
time of acquisition; (2) the ‘operation of various presumptions, particularly those
concerning the form of title’; and (3) the determination ‘whether the spouses have
transmuted’ the property in question, thereby changing its character. [Citation.] In some
cases, a fourth factor may be involved: whether the parties’ actions short of formal
transmutation have converted the property’s character, as by commingling to the extent
4
Probate Code section 6401 provides, in part: “(a) As to community property, the
intestate share of the surviving spouse is the one-half of the community property that
belongs to the decedent. . . . [¶] . . . (c) As to separate property, the intestate share of the
surviving spouse . . . is as follows: [¶] . . . [¶] (3) One-third of the intestate estate in the
following cases: [¶] (A) Where the decedent leaves more than one child.”
5
Family Code section 760 provides: “Except as otherwise provided by statute, all
property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired by a married person during the
marriage while domiciled in this state is community property.”
3
that tracing is impossible. [Citation.]” (Rossin, supra, 172 Cal.App.4th at p. 732.) But
“[p]erhaps the most basic characterization factor is the time when property is acquired in
relation to the parties’ marital status. [Citation.]’ In the words of the California Supreme
Court, ‘what is determinative is the single concrete fact of time.’ [Lehman, supra,
18 Cal.4th at p. 183.] Applying the proper analytic focus, therefore, the ‘court first looks
to see if the right to the payment accrued during marriage’ [Citation.] If not, ‘it is
separate property.’ [Citation.]” (Rossin, at pp. 735-736.)
Olevia claims that Roosevelt had no property interest in his medallion until the
Pilot Program became effective, which occurred during their marriage. She argues that
until then the medallion itself was not “property” subject to categorization as either
community or separate. According to her, the SFMTA’s resolution that adopted the Pilot
Program “created a new property right” for qualifying medallion holders, namely, the
ability to surrender and sell a previously unsellable medallion. We agree.
Our colleagues in Division Two recently described the Pilot Program and its
history. (Yesson v. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (2014)
224 Cal.App.4th 108 (Yesson).) Before 1978, San Francisco “taxi permits could be
inherited, sold, assigned and transferred.” (Id. at pp. 111-112.) But in “1978, San
Francisco voters passed Proposition K, an initiative ordinance establishing a new system
of regulation for city-issued taxi medallions. Proposition K barred the inheritance, sale,
assignment or transfer of taxi medallions. Under Proposition K, all taxi medallions
belonged to the City, had to be held by working drivers, and were distributed as they
became available to individuals on the medallion waiting list.” (Id. at p. 112, italics
added.)
But problems with the system arose. Demand for medallions far outstripped
supply, and the number of drivers on the waiting list grew to include thousands who were
required to wait many years for a medallion. (Yesson, supra, at p. 112.) Some of these
applicants did not receive a medallion until they reached an advanced age. (Ibid.) But
every medallion recipient was obligated to comply with a local law requiring them to
“actually drive his or her taxi for at least 156 four-hour shifts, or for 800 hours, during a
4
single calendar year,” and this obligation could be particularly burdensome on older
medallion recipients. (Id. at pp. 112-113; Transportation Code, § 1102.)
“In 2007, San Francisco voters passed Proposition A, giving the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors the power to transfer regulatory authority over taxi affairs to
SFMTA. Authority to regulate San Francisco taxis passed to SFMTA in March 2009.
Subsequently, the SFMTA Board of Directors . . . recodified Proposition K’s
requirements, as well as additional taxi regulations, in the Transportation Code, division
II, article 1100 et seq. Proposition A also gave the SFMTA Board the power to adopt
taxi regulations that would override ‘any prior ordinance,’ including the provisions of
Proposition K.” (Yesson, supra, 224 Cal.App.4th at p. 112.) Acting under this authority,
the SFMTA Board on February 26, 2010, “approved resolution No. 10-029 [the
resolution], adopting amendments to [the Transportation Code] to implement the Pilot
Program. The resolution explained that the ‘. . . Pilot Program represents an interim
measure that would allow the San Francisco taxi industry to gradually transition away
from the Waiting List system of Medallion distribution that has characterized the San
Francisco taxi industry for 32 years. . . .’ ” (Id. at p. 113, fn. omitted.)
As applied to Roosevelt, this legislative evolution means that until 2010 he held
his medallion subject to Proposition K and the local law enacted under it.6 Proposition K
explicitly designated taxi medallions as the property of the People of San Francisco.
Section 1, subdivision (a) of the proposition declared: “All taxicab permits and other
vehicle for hire permits issued by the City and County of San Francisco are the property
of the people of the City and County of San Francisco and shall not be sold, assigned or
transferred.” (Italics added.) And section 1105, subdivision (a)(3) of San Francisco’s
Transportation Code provides that “[p]ermits granted pursuant to this Article constitute a
privilege and are not the property of the Permit Holder.” (Italics added.)
Subdivision (a)(4) states that “[e]xcept as expressly provided in this Article or in permit
6
Roosevelt first acquired his medallion in 1978, the same year that Proposition K was
enacted. The parties do not argue that the rights Roosevelt acquired at this time were
governed by pre-Proposition K law.
5
conditions, no permit issued pursuant to this article shall be transferable or assignable,
either expressly or by operation of law.”7
Thus, before 2010, Roosevelt held an exclusive right to operate a taxi and generate
income under his medallion, but he lacked a property interest in the medallion itself. The
question we must answer, therefore, is whether he acquired a property interest in the
medallion when the Pilot Program became effective. We conclude he did.
In Yesson, the plaintiff was the successor trustee of her father’s estate, and she
petitioned for authority to sell a taxi permit, later replaced with a medallion, that her
father acquired in 1968. (Yesson, supra, 224 Cal.App.4th at p. 111.) The father died on
March 23, 2010—25 days after the SFMTA approved the resolution authorizing the Pilot
Program. (Id. at p. 113.) The court of appeal in Yesson concluded that the father never
acquired a right to sell his medallion because he died before the Pilot Program became
effective. (Id. at pp. 116, 122-124.) According to the court, the resolution did not
become effective until the expiration of the 30-day referendum period mandated under
the California Constitution for legislative acts. (Ibid.) This period did not expire until
five days after the father’s death.
Unlike the father in Yesson, 224 Cal.App.4th 108, Roosevelt was alive when the
Pilot Program became effective. Accordingly, he acquired a right to sell the medallion.
And since he acquired the right during his marriage to Olevia, the proceeds from the sale
of the medallion are community property.
Olevia rightly points to Lehman, supra, 18 Cal.4th 169 and Rossin, supra,
172 Cal.App.4th 725 in support of her contention that timing of the accrual of a property
interest is the decisive factor in characterizing it as either separate or community. Rossin
held that a wife’s disability insurance policy was her separate property even though the
wife started collecting benefits during marriage because the policy was purchased and all
7
Proposition K originally stated at section 4, subdivision (a): “No permit issued under
this Ordinance shall be transferrable or assignable, either expressly or by operation of
law. All such permits and all rights granted under them may be rescinded and ordered
revoked by the Police Commission for good cause.”
6
premium payments were paid before the marriage. (Id. at p. 735.) Thus, her right to
receive payment was perfected before the marriage.
In Lehman, the husband’s employer offered a defined-benefit plan to its
employees. (18 Cal.4th at pp. 174-175.) After the couple divorced, the employer
offered, and the husband accepted, an enhanced retirement program designed to
encourage early retirement. (Id. at p. 175.) The wife later sought a determination that
she owned a community property interest in the enhanced benefits. (Id. at p. 176.) The
trial court awarded the wife her proportionate community share of the retirement benefits
based on the length of the marriage, including an amount attributable to the enhancement.
(Ibid.) Both the court of appeal and the Supreme Court affirmed. (Id. at pp. 176-177.)
The Supreme Court reasoned that a defined-benefit pension plan can be apportioned
between separate property and community property based on the number of years that the
employed spouse worked during the marriage: “It follows that a nonemployee spouse
who owns a community property interest in an employee spouse’s retirement benefits
owns a community property interest in the latter’s retirement benefits as enhanced. That
is because, practically by definition, the right to retirement benefits that accrues, at least
in part, during marriage before separation underlies any right to an enhancement.
[Citation.]” (Lehman, at p. 179-180.)
Applying these principles here, the proceeds from the medallion’s sale are
properly characterized as community property because Roosevelt acquired his property
interest in the medallion in 2010 while he was married to Olevia. Thus, under the
provisions of Probate Code section 6401, subdivision (a), Olevia has a 100 percent
ownership interest in the proceeds from the medallion’s sale because Roosevelt died
intestate.
DISPOSITION
The order of the probate court is reversed and the case is remanded for
proceedings consistent with this opinion.
7
_________________________
Humes, P.J.
We concur:
_________________________
Dondero, J.
_________________________
Banke, J.
8
|
Social media was reeling this morning from the news that federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lost track of almost 1,500 migrant children who had been placed with sponsors.
These children—mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala—had shown up alone at America’s southwest border. ICE couldn’t verify whether they had been placed with relatives or taken by human traffickers.
The agency may not take good care of its child charges, but it seems very concerned about predators snatching them up. In fact, it even has a game-like app where American citizens can report those unsavory characters.
ICE’s Operation Predator app seeks the public’s help in finding fugitive child traffickers and reporting new ones.
Available for iOS and Google Play, the app sends alerts about wanted predators (including mug shots). Users can then share this information via email and social media.
Some Twitter users noted that citizens could game the system by simply reporting anyone who speaks Spanish or “looks Hispanic.” As such, anyone with even a passing resemblance to a suspect on the list is in danger of being snatched up
That may seem like a fun challenge to the user, but a tiny mistake could turn a person’s life upside down.
The danger continues in the reporting section of the app. ICE instructs informants to be “specific and detailed” by providing places of birth, countries of citizenship and Social Security numbers.
Of course, someone who was determined enough could likely make that information up, putting their own little twist on the game.
Admittedly most of the game-like aspects are user generated (depending on how enthusiastic the “player” is). But at the end, ICE adds a little flourish of its own.
Once a predator is arrested or prosecuted, a red “ARRESTED” banner goes over their mug shot in the app. That means the players have successfully completed their mission and can go on to the next perp.
ICE also highlights the adventure in a commercial for Operation Predator. The 30-second primer on how the app works is punctuated by loud, dramatic drumbeats that make it seem like an exciting game.
The app does warn users to refer information to law enforcement officials instead of apprehending suspects themselves.
But judging by the app reviews, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Some of the comments are earnest. For example, one woman asks for more information about the “predators on the loose” in the areas where she, her children and grandchildren live.
But most users are just trying to troll the federal government. One person on Google simply commented “Abolish ICE.” Another user posted an extended summary of the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Predator.
Since the app’s users don’t take the game seriously, and ICE’s own agents can’t keep track of children or predators, it’s no wonder many people are joining that Google Play commenter to say “Abolish ICE.” The agency really doesn’t seem to be doing any good. |
Portuguese Custard Tarts
Escape to gorgeous Portugal with these heavenly Portuguese Custard Tarts! They just might send you packing on your next adventure. 😉
Have you ever found yourself googling one of the world’s most beautiful places and then spending hours rapt with its incredible beauty; but also feeling gutted ’cause your bank balance won’t even allow a cab ride to the airport, let alone a 10-day vacation in the French Riviera?! (Okay, I just googled the French Riviera and spent 20 minutes going OH. MY. GOD!)
I do this a lot. And the most recent muse was Portugal. It started with a picturesque post on Instagram. I quickly googled Portugal, hit ‘Images’ and found myself sucked in by the colourful towns, tile-roofed homes and pristine blue waters. In this 4-hour virtual trip, I looked for flight tickets and scanned through hotels, researched places one must visit, gawked at pictures of the food and went gaga over it all!
At the tail end of this fantasy, I nursed a fresh wound in my travel-hungry spirit, telling myself that someday I will travel here. For now, I was just going to have to eat some golden Portuguese Custard Tarts; so I set out to make them! 🙂
Make the Vanilla Bean Custard: In a heavy bottom pan, mix the egg, egg yolk, sugar, and cornflour until smooth. While stirring, gradually add in the milk and stir till well combined. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and add them into the custard mixture. Add in the cinnamon stick and the split vanilla bean. Place the pan on medium heat and whisk continuously until the custard thickens and comes to a slow boil. Once done, take it off the heat, strain it into a glass bowl and cover until using.
Prep the Puff Pastry:Take a sheet of puff pastry and set it on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the surface of the pastry sheet and spread it with your fingertips. Starting with the longer edge of the pastry, start rolling it away from you tightly until you have a log. Divide the log into 6 equal portions and flatten each portion into a disc. Place each disc into the cavity of the muffin tin, and using your finger press it down and up the sides to form a cup-shaped shell.
Bake the Custard Tarts: Fill each puff pastry shell with the prepared vanilla bean custard, about three-quarters of the way. Pop the Portuguese Custard Tarts into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the tops are caramelized. Once baked, leave the tarts on the kitchen counter to cool completely, or serve warm.
Also known as Pastéis de Nata, these Portuguese Custard Tarts boast of a truly great texture profile. First comes the flaky, golden puff pastry that crunches and crackles when bitten into, creating a crumbly, yet delightful mess. Then comes the egg and vanilla custard – smooth, silky, luscious and creamy, dotted withspeckles of vanilla, bringing the lightest crack to every morsel. And then the deep amber, crinkled, caramelized top – a soft skin that breaks easily and lends a slight chewiness.
Now on to the flavours – can you imagine how beautiful the combination of buttery pastry and sweet-scented vanilla bean custard is? If you can’t, you’ve got to try it! It’s a bit of velvety heaven tucked into moreish puff pastry baked to perfection. The surprise element – and the ingredient that heightens the Portuguese Custard Tart eating experience – is the gentle hint of cinnamon. It livens up this delicate dessert like no other! I’d call this simple twist quite the work of genius!
After all this, you’re probably thinking, ‘Why on earth does this recipe call for store-bought puff pastry?’ I love making everything from scratch. And so with this recipe, I tried to make puff pastry at home. But I live in the desert with temperatures hitting 42 ºC/ 108 ºF and 50% humidity, so let’s just say it was a disaster of monumental proportions. That, and I really wanted to have a slice of scenic Portugal on my plate, and fast! Hence, I resorted to frozen puff pastry sheets.
Nevertheless, I urge you to make your own puff pastry if you have the time and the weather allows it. I know I will be making some when it gets cooler here, ’cause I’m already counting the days until I make these addictive custard tarts again!
That’s it for now; short and sweet. I do hope you give this recipe a whirl, Dear Reader. It’s all kinds of delightful, and just the kind of dish/dessert that can make you fall in love with a place even before you’ve set foot in it! ❤
Psst… If you’d like to, you could come check me out on Pinterest! I pin a tonne of fun stuff – chocolate, lots of dessert, easy weeknight recipes; and home decor (I’m obsessed with boho chic living rooms!)😛
Also, for regular updates on what’s happening in The Foodscape kitchen, follow me on Instagram at @thefoodscape! You’ll love all the deliciousness there, I promise! ❤
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5 thoughts
Wow, they look amazing Winola! You have that perfect bit of dark caramelization on top which is what I hear Portuguese tarts should have. I have only made my own puff pastry twice but perhaps I will try again another time. I can imagine how much of a struggle it must have been when trying to make it on a hot day. Keep up the great work!!
Thank you so so much, Nick, for your incredibly kind words! I love the dark caramelization, and what’s best is that it’s not hard to achieve at all. Doesn’t take extra broiling like a Creme Brulee would. And yes, working on puff pastry on a hot day is a mammoth task. Too much hard work for no payoff. Gladly there are store-bought alternatives to the rescue! 🙂 Thank you, again, Nick! 🙂 |
Mite (Der p I, Der f I), cat (Fel d I) and dog (Can f I) allergens in dust from Swedish day-care centres.
Early exposure to allergens is important for sensitization to inhalant allergens and it has been reported that there is a causal relationship between allergen exposure and bronchial asthma. We investigated the levels of major mite (Der p I/Der f I), cat (Fel d I) and dog (Can f I) allergen levels in dust collected from various locations in seven day-care centres (22 sections). The allergen levels were related to the characteristics of the day-care centres. Children and staff were questioned about contacts with animals, and cleaning personnel were asked about methods and frequency of cleaning. Mite allergen was found in nine of the 22 sections. The concentrations varied between < 16 ng/g and 106 ng/g dust (median < 16 ng/g). Mite allergen was not detected in any floor dust sample. Cat and dog allergen was detected in all centres and sections. The concentrations of dog allergen (median 4.3 micrograms/g; range < 60 ng-21 micrograms/g) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of cat allergen (median 1.6 micrograms/g; range < 16 ng-22.8 micrograms/g). Higher amounts of both Fel d I and Can f I were observed on mattresses/sofas/cushion like toys and curtains than on tables/chairs and floors. The levels of cat or dog allergen on floors significantly correlated with the total number of children and staff with either a cat or a dog at home and or frequent contacts with them. Neither cleaning methods nor the frequency of cleaning influenced the allergen concentrations. The concentration of Fel d I was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in washed than in never washed curtains.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
Are in vivo gastric bioadhesive forces accurately reflected by in vitro experiments?
Bioadhesive polymers have been used in oral drug delivery to prolong the contact of dosage forms with the site of drug absorption. Previous investigators have coated oral dosage forms in polymers that demonstrated bioadhesive properties during in vitro screens in efforts to prolong the gastric residence of drugs absorbed only in the stomach and proximal duodenum without clinical success. To further investigate the bioadhesive properties of the gastric environment, an in vivo quantitative bioadhesive fracture strength test was developed. Bioadhesive and non-bioadhesive bioerodible polymers with potential for use in oral drug delivery were tested for bioadhesive fracture strength both in vivo and in vitro. Surprisingly, no statistically significant difference was found between the bioadhesive fracture strength of fast eroding polyanhydride and slowly eroding hydrophobic polymers in vivo. When the same polymers were tested in vitro, the expected difference was observed. The lack of IVIVC (in vitro/in vivo correlation) among bioadhesive fracture strengths reflects the clinical finding that polymers that produced strong bioadhesive forces in vitro may not achieve prolonged gastric retention in vivo due to differences between the in vitro screening conditions and the in vivo bioadhesive environment. |
Redline (Armageddon; Deathline) (1997) [Marina K./Katya]: Playing a dual role, "Katya" is shot in the back by Mark Dacascos in a field, after he shoots Rutger Hauer; her body is then burned by members of the secret police. ("Marina K." survives the movie.)
Layover(2001) [Vickie Dennis]: Shot in the stomach by Gregg Henry in a hotel room while David Hasselhoff looks on in shock; she staggers out into the hallway, where Gregg finishes her off with another shot to the stomach. (Thanks to G-Man) |
That’s a classy area. I wish I could afford to live there. As much as anything else, it would make travel home to Leeds more convenient because I could go all the way home safely indoors using the hallways of Kev’s house. |
An alternative monitoring protocol for single-dose methotrexate therapy in ectopic pregnancy.
We sought to determine the sensitivity and specificity of alternative monitoring regimens in predicting the need for a second methotrexate (MTX) dose in women undergoing medical therapy for ectopic pregnancy. We reviewed 187 women who received MTX for ectopic pregnancy. We defined MTX treatment success as a clinically stable patient whose day-7 beta human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) level decreased by > or = 50%, compared with the day-of-treatment (DOT) beta-hCG. In comparison to the standard MTX monitoring protocol, this model was 100% sensitive and 57.4% specific in predicting the need for a second MTX dose in women whose DOT beta-hCG was <2000 mIU/mL and was 100% sensitive and 37.9% specific in women whose DOT beta-hCG was > or = 2000 mIU/mL. This model is an alternative to the traditional MTX monitoring regimen. |
Qatar vs Bangladesh
GDP Growth Rate in Qatar went down to -3.60 percent in Q1 2018 from -2.30 percent in Q4 2017. Bangladesh Unemployment Rate was reported at 4.20 percent in 2017. Unemployment Rate in Qatar was last registered at 0.10 percent in Q4 2017. Bangladesh Inflation Rate declined to 5.51 percent in Jul 2018 from 5.54 percent in Jun 2018. |
I T IS SOBERING to enter a school in middle America and find students and teachers frightened for their lives. It was also understandable that those at Wauwatosa East high school should feel this way when Lexington accompanied the local state representative, Robyn Vining, there. Eight high schools in Wisconsin had just experienced a real or suspected shooter incident in a three-day period. One in another school in Waukesha, a suburban area on the edge of Milwaukee, had led to its school cop shooting a pupil.
“It happened there, it can happen here,” said one 16-year-old, at a meeting of Wauwatosa East’s Democratic Society. Several of the 25 students present said they avoided going to the bathroom in class time for fear of the school corridors. When asked who was scared to come to school, all raised their hands. So did their teacher. The blame the students attached to the conservative gun lobby for this catastrophe is one reason their society has 75 members and is growing. The school’s conservative club is defunct.
The violence America’s gun fetish has wrought is polarising everywhere. Democrats consider unconscionable Republicans’ refusal to recognise that gun control makes schools safer; Republicans fear Democrats’ harping on the subject presages a wider assault on liberty. But in Wisconsin such partisan issues have become especially bitter. When the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, called a special session of its Republican-led legislature in November to debate two gun controls—including a “red-flag” bill to help relatives report unhinged gun owners—the Republicans quashed it. The mutual suspicions such rows are giving rise to, seeping through the communities of a state once known for good governance and neighbourliness, make Wisconsin acutely illustrative of America’s broader political divide.
That makes the state look like an augury of the political year ahead. So does the related fact that Wisconsin is especially likely to determine whether Donald Trump is re-elected. This is because, all else remaining equal, he needs to win only one of the three rust-belt states he took from the Democrats in 2016. And with Michigan and Pennsylvania looking fairly Democratic, he and his opponents have made Wisconsin, the whitest and most conservative of the trio, their priority. Last month the Democrats—who will hold their national convention in Milwaukee in July—knocked on 54,000 doors in the state in a weekend. Mr Trump’s campaign, which has fewer volunteers but more money, is meanwhile bombarding Wisconsinites with ads, including many lambasting his impeachment. Both parties say their activities in the state are eight months ahead of where they would normally be at this point in the cycle.
Wisconsin’s rancorous politics are in part due to the tightness of its political contest—Mr Trump won the state by 0.7% of the vote. Democrats were shocked by that. But though Wisconsin had voted for their presidential candidates since 1984, in recent times only Barack Obama won convincingly. John Kerry and Al Gore both won Wisconsin by less than 1% of the vote. As elsewhere in the Midwest, the rightward shift this denoted was driven by working-class whites and flagging union membership. In 2011, Governor Scott Walker therefore pushed through legislation to smash collective bargaining. In the process he destroyed the Democrats’ main source of campaign finance and, his opponents believed, interparty fair play. That is another reason for the rancour.
Republican voter-registration laws aimed at depressing Democratic turnout have caused more bad blood, on both sides. Wisconsin Democrats decry their opponents’ tactics; Wisconsin Republicans, without proof but with no less certainty, accuse the Democrats of what they themselves stand accused of. Encouraged by the state’s 81 talk-radio stations, many believe Mr Walker was beaten by Mr Evers last year because of electoral fraud by black voters in Milwaukee (for which there is no evidence). Meanwhile, following a court ruling this week, conservative activists appear to have succeeded in an effort to scrub 230,000 names from the electoral roll, mostly in Democratic areas. The fact that Democrats have more ground for complaint is at once provable and practicably immaterial, given how equally wronged both sides feel.
There are three strands to the 2020 augury this offers. First, the state—and therefore the country—is likely to be close-run. With only 10% of Wisconsinites considered persuadable, there is no reason to expect a breakthrough for either party. And their base-rallying tactics make that even less likely. The Democrats are focusing on registering and turning out non-whites in Milwaukee, while eroding the Republicans’ grip on suburban areas such as Waukesha, where Mr Trump is not loved. The president’s campaign is trying to boost his support further among working-class whites. Wisconsin will be an election for partisans—and therefore nasty.
The early campaigning is already raising tensions in the state. At the weekly gathering of an anti-Trump group known as the PerSisters—a stone’s throw from Wauwatosa East—its middle-aged activists said they no longer shared Thanksgiving and Christmas with pro-Trump relatives: politics was too fraught. “In their violent hatred of the president, the Democrats have raised the bar in terms of potential violence and nervousness in the state,” claimed Terry Dittrich, the Republican chairman in nearby Waukesha county.
Wisconsin not so nice
The third warning from Wisconsin is that the social damage done by such partisan enmity may be long-lasting. Almost worse than their fear was the desperation the kids at Wauwatosa East expressed at the mess their elders were making of their state and country. “You deserve not to be terrified,” lamented Ms Vining, who narrowly won Mr Walker’s old Wauwatosa seat last year in one of the Democrats’ standout successes of the mid-terms. But she will do well to retain it. Although both parties dream of Wisconsin moving towards them, America’s most contested state looks stuck, between their respective anger and fears, for some time yet.■
Correction: The original version of this article referred to a school shooting in Wauwatosa. The school is actually in Waukesha. This has been corrected.
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//
// StringToUTF8.swift
// Noze.io
//
// Created by Helge Hess on 11/05/16.
// Copyright © 2016 ZeeZide GmbH. All rights reserved.
//
import Dispatch
import core
/// Consumes Characters and produces bytes in UTF-8 encoding from that.
public class StringToUTF8: TransformStream<String, UInt8> {
override init(readHWM : Int? = nil,
writeHWM : Int? = nil,
queue : DispatchQueue = core.Q,
enableLogger : Bool = false)
{
super.init(readHWM: readHWM, writeHWM: writeHWM, queue: queue,
enableLogger: enableLogger)
}
// MARK: - Transform
public override func _transform(bucket b: [ String ],
done: @escaping ( Error?, [UInt8]? ) -> Void)
{
guard !b.isEmpty else { done(nil, []); return }
for s in b {
// FIXME: All this is lame and to much copying. It should be all redone
// for proper speed
let bytes = Array<UInt8>(s.utf8)
push(bytes)
}
done(nil, nil)
}
}
|
Simultaneous identification of the anaphylactoid components from traditional Chinese medicine injections using rat basophilic leukemia 2H3 and laboratory of allergic disease 2 dual-mixed/cell membrane chromatography model.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for prevention and treatment of various diseases for many decades. TCM injection is a new dosage form, with incidence of anaphylactoid reactions increasing every year. In this study, the rat basophilic leukemia 2H3 (RBL-2H3) and laboratory of allergic disease 2 (LAD2) dual-mixed/CMC was established and was coupled with an HPLC-ESI-IT-TOF-MS system to identify the potential allergenic components in Haqing injection. Cinobufagin, piperine, osthole, praeruptorin A, and schizandrin A were screened from Haqing injection via this coupled system. Competitive binding assay showed piperine, praeruptorin A, and schizandrin A acting on MrgprX2 and cinobufagin and osthole act on the IgE receptor. The release of mediators of anaphylaxis results showed cinobufagin and osthole can cause anaphylactoid reactions by triggering the release of β-hexosaminidase and histamine via IgE-R. Praeruptorin A and schizandrin A could promote the release of β-hexosaminidase and histamine via MrgprX2 receptor. In summary, the dual-mixed/CMC model can significantly improve the efficiency of target component identification from a complex sample. When combined with competitive binding assay and validation of biological activities, this model enables accurate determination of the dual-target components, offering improved methods for quality control of TCM injections. |
They say that a week is a long time in football, by that logic 18 months seem like an eon. It has been that long since Newcastle United last made a permanent signing, and in doing so becoming the first club not to make a permanent signing in a full Premier League season.
One man who would be somewhat miffed and I guess slightly upset with that fact is the club chief scout Graham Carr. The 69 year old has had to travel far and wide to identify players for the Magpies only to find out that the club just simply don’t seem interested in signing anyone to push on.
Geordie born Carr who has been lauded for recommending players like Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa, Cheick Tiote and Davide Santon has been rendered rather useless by some of the transfer strategy employed by the club.
There have been assurances by the club through various sources that they will spend money this summer to bolster a depleted squad to compete but looking at some of the players that have been linked in the last few weeks they hardly look like recommendations that Carr would have made.
Darren Bent, Micah Richards and Saido Berahino are some of the players that have been linked and they all come across as players who manager Alan Pardew would want to have at his disposal. Pardew has made no secret of the fact that he would like to have more British players at his disposal and may be that is what media is playing at with their stories.
The more British players come in through the door at the club one can safely assume that it is a Pardew recommended player than one suggested by the chief scout.
Normally it would not be even worth mentioning as to whether it is the manager or someone else that suggests players to be brought in but there has been a lot of bad blood between Alan Pardew and Graham Carr. It was revealed last year that Joe Kinnear was brought in as Director of football to settle a feud between the two.
A toon insider last year revealed this,
“Carr and Pardew are at daggers drawn. Carr says that the players he has brought in are good enough, Pardew says they are not.”
“There is a stand-off between Carr and Pardew. There was hardly any communication between them towards the end of last season and there is little now.
“Both are on massive contracts. Carr is stabbing Pardew in the back, and vice versa.
“It is a horrible situation. The internal wranglings and politics at the club are frightening. I’ve never seen or known a situation as intense or as bad as this.”
Add to this the fact that Kinnear cancelled the transfers of Douglas from FC Twente and William Vainqueur from Standard Liege who had both agreed to join the club on a free. Those two would typically be Carr’s recommendations.
It was also revealed in an article last year that Carr who signed an eight year deal in June 2012 was willing to resign from his position only to be persuaded by club owner Mike Ashley to carry on.
In the last two seasons Newcastle United have lost 38 games in the Premier League and that is a loss rate of 50%. Through his team selections and various interviews Pardew has suggested that the players at his disposal have not been good enough. Majority of the fans on the other hand think it is down to the limitations of management and coaching staff and I tend to agree with them. Also add to this the fact fifth place position that the Magpies achieved in 2011-12 was largely down to the same players.
If Pardew is allowed to bring in the players that he wants, considering his record at Newcastle and previous clubs, Gabriel Obertan, Hayden Mullins, and Marlon Harewood to name a few, you seriously have to ask whether he is being compromised in his role at the club. |
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